Peopling Landscapes between Villages in the Middle Gila River Valley of Central Arizona

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2592007
AutoresE Christian Wells (0000-0003-1966-2680, University of South Florida, autor de correspondencia), Glen E Rice (0009-0006-8231-8910, Arizona State University), John C Ravesloot (Gila River Indian Community)
Año2004
Volumen69
Número4
Páginas627-652
Fecha de publicación2004-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/4128441
OpenAlexW2314441258
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas16
Referencias citadas71

The prehistoric Hohokam conducted a great variety of activities in the spaces between their villages, including social gatherings and ceremonial observances as well as economic and subsistence practices. Recent full-coverage pedestrian survey along the middle Gila River in central Arizona indicates that nonresidential sites are more numerous and cover considerably greater area than residential settlements. Unfortunately, in the Hohokam region researchers are not always able to distinguish residential sites from activity areas based on features observable on the surface. In this study, quantitative measures of artifact density and diversity of surface collections from artifact scatters are used to distinguish residential sites from nonresidential sites. This is accomplished by assessing the extent to which their assemblages resemble artifact collections from known habitations, campsites, or specialized or diverse activity loci. Differences in artifact density and diversity enable many ambiguous artifact scatters to be classified into these general functional site types. Knowing the distribution of site types relative to elements of the natural and cultural landscapes can provide insight into past social and ecological or economic behaviors not offered by site-specific approaches. The study concludes that considering both the physical and cultural dimensions of landscapes significantly increases the research value of nonresidential sites for understanding the use and meaning of spaces between villages

Agriculture · Archaeology · Artifact (error) · Diversity (politics) · Geography · Human settlement · Natural (archaeology) · Prehistory · Sociology · Subsistence agriculture · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Ecology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation