Ancient Households of the Americas: Conceptualizing What Households Do

2. Occupation Span and the Organization of Residential Activities

| 47 IntrOductIOn The anthropological study of households was revitalized during the 1980s when researchers began to examine household organization from a behavioral perspective (Netting, Wilk, and Arnould 1984a; see also Douglass and Gonlin, this volume). Archaeology was well equipped to meet the challenge posed by this emphasis on what households do. There was a long tradition of identifying and interpreting activity areas at archaeological sites, and a robust method and theory for undertaking these studies had developed as a result of this intense scrutiny (c.f. Binford 1976, 1981; Kent 1984, 1987, 1990a; Schiffer 1972, 1975, 1976, 1987). These factors combined to produce a renewed interest in the study of household organization in the past through the excavation of residential sites and the reconstruction of the activities that occurred at these residences (c.f. Lightfoot 1994). The study presented in this chapter builds on this tradition. I examine the organization of activities at residential sites with a focus on one of the most important activities undertaken by a household: the construction of a new resit w o Occupation Span and the Organization of residential Activities A Cross-Cultural Model and Case Study from the Mesa Verde Region Mark D. Varien 48 | Mark D. Varien dence. I show how the organization of activities and aspects of the construction of residences were influenced by the anticipated occupation span of residences and the length of time the residences were actually occupied. I also examine the effects of restricted space at residential sites. This study combines two approaches. The first is a cross-cultural study of the spatial organization of residential sites (see also chapters by Beaule, CiolekTorrello , Henderson, McCormack, and Snow for other types of studies of households related to architecture). I develop this study by synthesizing numerous ethnoarchaeological analyses. This cross-cultural study suggests that there are general principles that structure the organization of activities at residential sites. I test the applicability of this cross-cultural model by comparing it to a case study from the central Mesa Verde region of the northern San Juan River drainage in the US Southwest (Figure 2.1). In so doing, I achieve two goals: I demonstrate the general applicability of the cross-cultural model with the central Mesa Verde region case study, and I explain the changing organization of selected activities that occurred at ancient Pueblo residences over a period of seven centuries. To better understand Pueblo household archaeology I examine nineteen residential sites that were constructed and occupied at different times between AD 600 and 1300. My analysis of these sites unfolds in several parts. I begin by examining the relationship among three key concepts: household social organization , coresidence, and the organization of activities at residential sites. Next, I examine the archaeological features found at residential sites in the central Mesa Verde region and discuss how households are identified in the archaeological record of this area. Then I discuss the continuity and change that occurred in the form of these features over a period of seven centuries. To complete the study Figure 2.1. Map showing the location of the central Mesa Verde region in the northern San Juan drainage of the southwestern United States Occupation Span and the Organization of Residential Activities | 49 of household residences in the central Mesa Verde region, I measure the length of occupation of these sites and document how their occupation span changed through time. After presenting these archaeological data, I summarize the ethnoarchaeological studies and develop a cross-cultural model that specifies how the spatial organization of selected activities at residential sites changes as occupation span increases and as space becomes more restricted. Finally, I examine the archaeological case study in light of this cross-cultural model to evaluate the link between occupation span and the changing form of ancient residences in the central Mesa Verde region. To examine household archaeology in the central Mesa Verde I examine nineteen excavated residential sites. These sites are located in two study areas, the Dolores River valley and the Sand Canyon locality (Figure 2.2); those in the Dolores River valley were excavated as part of the Dolores Archaeological Program (Breternitz 1993) and those in the Sand Canyon locality as a part of the Sand Canyon Archaeological Project, which was sponsored by the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center (Lipe 1992; Varien and Wilshusen 2002). The period during which each residence was occupied is established using tree-ring dates or...