Circular Villages of the Monongahela Tradition

5. Models and Hypotheses Related to Community Organization

The cross-cultural research presented in Chapter 4 certainly demonstrates that some societies draw on geometric models to localize discrete social groups within the layouts of their ring-shaped settlements. This research also indicates that the seemingly simple layout of the ring-shaped settlement can mask several distinct and diverse underlying geometric models. The ¤rst section of this chapter presents a discussion of how models are employed in the remainder of this work. The next section outlines a set of geometric models against which Allegheny Mountains region village components are later evaluated. A second set of models is presented next that seeks to elucidate more directly the kinds of social groups that may have once been present within each village component. A set of hypotheses is then delineated that examines variation between Allegheny Mountains region village components and whether there were any differences that might re®ect directional change within a local developmental sequence. Each individual model or hypothesis has its basic premise presented in italics, and archaeological correlates are listed after an abbreviated discussion of the model or hypothesis. IMPLEMENTING MODELS IN THIS WORK The primary purpose of a model is to relate observations to theoretical ideas. Models can vary widely in how they are implemented and what classes of observations are employed in them (Clarke 1972:1). Clarke (1972:2) notes that the purpose of a model is to isolate essential factors and interrelationships that account for variability of interest. The ¤rst set of models implemented in this work is designed to isolate the geometric nature underlying the community patterns of ring-shaped settlements. Archaeological correlates for this set of models are derived from the theoretical understanding of each geometric model developed in Chapter 4. 5 Models and Hypotheses Related to Community Organization The theoretical underpinnings of some geometric models, such as those proposed by Lévi-Strauss, are derived from attempts to understand native cognitive models used to plan settlements. These cognitive models could be perceived as providing an emic, or insiders’, understanding of village-wide planning principles. However, these cognitive models rely on arti¤cial constructs created by anthropologists, notably kinship categories, and therefore should not be seen as pure emic models. Fabian (1992:63), for example, cautioned that concentric and diametric models of spatial organization are an approximation of native spatial perceptions. Those geometric models developed by archaeologists , including Yellen and Dunnell, explicitly rely on outsider, or etic, analyses and interpretations to uncover patterning in the distribution of material items that have a geometric basis. The archaeological correlates for the second set of models are derived from a simpli¤ed view of the types of social groups discussed in Chapter 3. These models are related to social groups that represent abstractions of what can be complex social entities. The social groups themselves represent etic descriptions of native social organizations that may emphasize similarities over differences . Therefore, the models of social groups presented in this work focus on broader social categories that may leave behind a physical signature in the archaeological record. GEOMETRIC MODELS AND A RING-SHAPED SETTLEMENT’S COMMUNITY PATTERN More than one geometric model can in®uence the layout of a ring-shaped settlement, each operating on different levels or different classes of material remains. One scenario would see con¤gurations of dwellings within a ringshaped village settlement—at its founding—resulting from an ideal geometric model that governed the disposition of individual families or larger corporate social groups along the lines of a lineage, clan, or Lévi-Straussian house. However , as members of a community adjust to the physical reality of co-residence, different geometric models—possibly derived variants from an ideal model— might then act on other elements of a village settlement and in®uence the locations of various activities. Village components from the Allegheny Mountains region are analyzed with respect to select geometric models described in Chapter 4. A diametric model accounts for a nonrandom distribution of village elements. Lévi-Strauss described Central Brazilian village settlements as having a dualistic structure because they are socially, conceptually, and physically divided in half. In terms of a site’s community pattern, a diametric model could be pres70 / Chapter 5 ent where all or some elements fall into one of two spatial divisions within the village site. Archaeological correlates: 1. Dwellings form two major clusters arrayed on opposite sides of the village site. 2. With the potential exception of...