The Geoglyph as a Medium for Anarchist Ritual

Geoglyphs, traditionally viewed as expressions of sacred landscapes, are reinterpreted in this study as anarchist and decentralized mediums for ritual activity. The research challenges the conventional understanding by highlighting that geoglyphs, unlike other earthworks, exhibit a rare spatial and temporal distribution, predominantly found in middle-range societies across the Americas rather than states or empires. This pattern is attributed to the anarchist affordances of the geoglyph medium, which provided a counterbalance to incipient centralization in agricultural societies like ancient Nasca. The study theorizes that the incorporation of geoglyph-based ritual practices represented a form of constitutional reform, where ancient peoples consciously redistributed power and authority.

Wilkinson, D. (2020). The Geoglyph as a Medium for Anarchist Ritual. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 31(1), 95–110. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774320000244