Introduction

If a complex society, such as a chiefdom, is characterized as a polity that centrally organizes a regional population (Carneiro 1981; Earle 1987; 1991b: 1), the reconstruction of its regional social systems is crucial to our understanding of the social and political organization of that chiefdom. Such reconstruction is best achieved by studying regional settlement patterns (Drennan and Uribe 1987: 60).

Settlement patterns are concerned with the distribution of different types and sizes of sites over the landscape, and so provide important information about the organizational complexity of a society. Complex societies manifest an increased range of settlement types, as defined by their function and size. While the majority of settlements are small villages, a few places will emerge as local administrative centers which play integrating roles. As complexity increases, central places become ranked (e.g., Johnson 1977; Steponaitis 1981). The primary center may also be a highest-order central place for many reasons, such as economic, cultural, ritual, or administrative factors. Second-order central places might also function as local centers for the transfer of goods and services up from lower-order centers and, reciprocally, down to the mass of population in the hinterland (e.g., Kipp and Schortman 1989).