Room Size, Organization of Construction, and Archaeological Interpretation in the Puebloan Southwest

Author: Cameron C.M.

Source: Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Volume 18, Number 2, June 1999 , pp. 201-239(39)

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Abstract:

The size of architectural space (floor area) is a variable that is readily preserved in the archaeological record, is easy to measure, and has been used in a variety of types of archaeological interpretations, from determinations of room function to reconstructions of social organization. The use of room size in the interpretation of Southwestern pueblos is reviewed here. Assumptions about the meaning of room sizes are explored using data on rooms, houses, and households from the historic Hopi Pueblo of Orayvi. Finally, room size is used, along with other variables, to examine the organization of construction at large, late prehistoric pueblos. Planning and coordination of construction identified at some of these sites suggest a more centralized social system like those of the historic and modern Eastern Pueblos. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0233

Publication date: 1999-06-01