The Social Construction of Communities: Agency, Structure, and Identity in the Prehispanic Southwest (Archaeology in Society)

337 Pages·2008·3.53 MB·English

by  James M. Potter

SocialConstructionPODLITH.qxd 6/3/08 3:42 PM Page 1
Archaeology | Native American Studies A V
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Archaeology in Society
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Series Editors: Ian Hodder and Robert W. Preucel P IE THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
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“The authors of The Social Construction of Communitiesraise the right questions as they T
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attempt to break with the ecofunctionalist models of past decades. Southwest archaeologists R
will find the volume’s substantive, synthetic discussions of recent research to be particularly OF COMMUNITIES
useful.” —Ruth Van Dyke, Colorado College
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“This volume is an admirable combination of social theory and substantive results that redefines H
how archaeologists look at past communities. Although the case studies are from the American E
Southwest, they have broad applicability to many archaeological regions and should serve as
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important sources for agency-oriented approaches in archaeology.” O
—Barbara J. Mills, University of Arizona C
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The Social Construction of Communitiesdraws on the archaeology of the southwestern United
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States to examine how communities are created through social interaction. The archaeological

record of the Southwest is unparalleled in many respects, including its precise dating, exceptional C
preservation, unusually large number of sites, millennia-long occupation, intensive research, O
detailed environmental reconstructions, and the link between ancestral and modern Pueblo N
people. Taking advantage of that rich archaeological record, the contributors present case studies S
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of the Mesa Verde, Rio Grande, Kayenta, Mogollon, and Hohokam regions. Each case study
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draws on a wide range of archaeological data to tease out the details of social interaction that
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result in the social construction of communities. Modern social theory is used to examine each
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case, producing an enhanced understanding of the ancient Southwest, a new appreciation for
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the ways in which humans construct communities and transform society, and an expanded theo-
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reticaldiscussion of the foundational concepts of modern social theory.
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Contributors O
James R. Allison, Jeffrey J. Clark, Michelle Hegmon, J. Brett Hill, Kristin A. Kuckelman, Patrick D. F
Lyons, Tessie Naranjo, Scott G. Ortman, Timothy R. Pauketat, Elizabeth M. Perry, James M. Potter,
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Susan C. Ryan, Gregson Schachner, James E. Snead, Mark D. Varien, Thomas D. Yoder
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Mark D. Varienis director of research at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Research Center and
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the author of Sedentism and Mobility in a Social Landscape: Mesa Verde and Beyond (1999).
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James M. Potteris the senior scientist in archaeology at SWCA, Inc., and author of Prehistory N
AGENCY, STRUCTURE, AND IDENTITY
in West Prescott, Arizona(2005). I
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IN THE PREHISPANIC SOUTHWEST
For orders and information please contact the publisher S
AltaMira Press
A Division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
1-800-462-6420 • www.altamirapress.com ISBN-13: 978-0-7591-1008-3
ISBN-10: 0-7591-1008-5
Cover photo: Tse-Ping. Clay sculpture (1991) by Roxanne EDITED BY MARK D. VARIEN AND JAMES M. POTTER
Swentzell. From the permanent collection of the Heard Museum,
Phoenix, Arizona. Photograph by Craig Smith. Used with permission
of the Heard Museum and Roxanne Swentzell.
The Social Construction
of Communities
ARCHAEOLOGY IN SOCIETY SERIES
SERIES EDITORS
Ian Hodder, Stanford University
Robert W. Preucel, University of Pennsylvania
In recent decades, archaeology has expanded beyond a narrow focus on economics
and environmental adaptation to address issues of ideology, power, and meaning.
These trends, sometimes termed “postprocessual,” deal with both the interpretation
of the past and the complex and politically charged interrelationships of past and
present. Today, archaeology is responding to and incorporating aspects of the
debates on identity, meaning, and politics currently being explored in varying fields:
social anthropology, sociology, geography, history, linguistics, and psychology.
There is a growing realization that ancient studies and material culture can be
aligned within the contemporary construction of identities under the rubrics of
nationalism, ethnoscapes, and globalization. This international series will help
connect the contemporary practice of archaeology with these trends in research
and, in the process, demonstrate the relevance of archaeology to related fields and
society in general.
Volumes in this series:
Appropriated Pasts: Indigenous Peoples and the Colonial Culture of
Archaeology, Ian J. McNiven and Lynette Russell (2005)
Archaeology of Performance: Theatre, Power, and Community, edited by
Takeshi Inomata and Lawrence S. Coben (2005)
Collaboration in Archaeological Practice: Engaging Descendant Communities,
edited by Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh and T.J. Ferguson (2007)
Archaeology and the Postcolonial Critique, edited by Matthew Liebman and
Uzma Z. Rizvi (2008)
The Social Construction of Communities: Agency, Structure, and Identity in the
Prehispanic Southwest, edited by Mark D. Varien and James M. Potter (2008)
The Social Construction
of Communities
Agency, Structure, and Identity
in the Prehispanic Southwest
MARK D. VARIEN AND JAMES M. POTTER
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
AltaMira Press
A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200
Lanham, MD 20706
www.altamirapress.com
Estover Road
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Copyright © 2008 by AltaMira Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
The social construction of communities in the prehispanic Southwest / [edited by] Mark
D. Varien and James M. Potter.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7591-1008-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-7591-1008-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7591-1238-4 (electronic)
ISBN-10: 0-7591-1238-X (electronic)
1. Indians of North America—Southwest, New—Antiquities. 2. Indians of North
America—Southwest, New—Social life and customs. 3. Social archaeology—
Southwest, New—Methodology. 4. Southwest, New—Antiquities. 5. Southwest,
New—Social life and customs. I. Varien, Mark. II. Potter, James M.
E78.S7S534 2008
979.004’97—dc22 2008005173
Printed in the United States of America
 ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992.
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Chapter 1: The Social Production of Communities:
Structure, Agency, and Identity 1
Mark D. Varien and James M. Potter
Part I: Identity
Chapter 2: Space, Houses, and Bodies: Identity Construction
and Destruction in an Early Pueblo Community 21
James M. Potter and Thomas D. Yoder
Chapter 3: Exchanging Identities: Early Pueblo I Red Ware
Exchange and Identity North of the San Juan River 41
James R. Allison
Chapter 4: Constructing Community and Transforming
Identity at Albert Porter Pueblo 69
Susan C. Ryan
Part II: Agency and the Individual
Chapter 5: Agency and Gender in Prehispanic
Puebloan Communities 89
Elizabeth M. Perry
v
vi Contents
Chapter 6: An Agent-Centered Case Study of the
Depopulation of Sand Canyon Pueblo 109
Kristin A. Kuckelman
Part III: Place and Landscape
Chapter 7: Action, Place, and Space in the Castle
Rock Community 125
Scott G. Ortman
Chapter 8: History, Place, and Social Power in the
Galisteo Basin, A.D. 1250–1325 155
James E. Snead
Part IV: Migration, Settlement, and Community Organization
Chapter 9: Imagining Communities in the Cibola Past 171
Gregson Schachner
Chapter 10: Demography, Agricultural Potential, and
Identity among Ancient Immigrants 191
Patrick D. Lyons, J. Brett Hill, and Jeffrey J. Clark
Part V: Social Theory and Southwestern Communities
Chapter 11: Structure and Agency in Southwest Archaeology 217
Michelle Hegmon
Chapter 12: The Grounds for Agency in Southwest Archaeology 233
Timothy R. Pauketat
Chapter 13: Life as Movement: A Tewa View of
Community and Identity 251
Tessie Naranjo
Bibliography 263
Index 307
About the Contributors 319
Figures
2.1 Map showing the location of Ridges Basin in
southwestern Colorado. 23
2.2 Pueblo I habitation sites in Ridges Basin and
immediate surrounding areas. 24
2.3 Distribution of the Piedra and Rosa culture areas. 25
2.4 Examples of pit structures in Ridges Basin. 27
2.5 Distribution of Basketmaker II pit structures and
Pueblo I pit structures with 6–8 roof posts. 28
2.6 Examples of large pit structures at Sacred
Ridge and other sites in Ridges Basin. 31
2.7 Map of the Sacred Ridge site. 32
2.8 Map of the ridge-top complex at Sacred Ridge. 34
2.9 Computer-generated reconstruction of the ridge-top
complex at Sacred Ridge, A.D. 800, facing east. 35
3.1 Map of the northern San Juan region. 48
3.2 Schematic maps of large early Pueblo I villages in the western
part of the northern San Juan region, and small early Pueblo
I sites from Dolores and Ridges Basin. 49
3.3 Schematic maps of early Pueblo I features
at Grass Mesa Village and Sacred Ridge. 51
3.4 Comparison of designs on Abajo Red-on-orange bowls
from Site 13 on Alkali Ridge and Rosa Black-on-white
bowls from Ridges Basin. 54
3.5 Plot of percentages of red ware versus sample
size for DAP early Pueblo I pottery assemblages. 57
vii
viii Figures
3.6 Plot of the percentage of bowl sherds versus sample size
for DAP early Pueblo I pottery assemblages. 58
3.7 Plot of the percentage of bowl sherds versus sample
size for early Pueblo I sites in Ridges Basin. 59
3.8 Plot of percentages of red ware versus sample size
for early Pueblo I sites in Ridges Basin. 60
3.9 San Juan Red Ware vessels from recent
excavations in Ridges Basin. 62
4.1 The northern San Juan drainage and the
central Mesa Verde area. 69
4.2 Distribution of population in recorded sites
near Albert Porter Pueblo. 74
4.3 Map showing the architectural blocks at Albert Porter Pueblo. 76
4.4 Map showing the great house at Albert Porter Pueblo. 79
4.5 Kiva, structure 112, at Albert Porter Pueblo. 80
5.1 The distribution of deltoid (clavicle MSM) asymmetry
scores by sex. 98
5.2 The distribution of deltoid (humerus MSM) asymmetry
scores by sex. 99
5.3 The distribution of clavicle costoclavicular
ligament asymmetry scores by sex. 100
5.4 The distribution of male common flexor origin superior-
inferior diameter asymmetry scores by age group. 101
6.1 The location of Sand Canyon Pueblo. 110
6.2 A plan map of Sand Canyon Pueblo. 112
6.3 The remains of Block 100 man on the floor of Room 105. 119
7.1 The McElmo Dome/Sand Canyon area
in southwestern Colorado. 128
7.2 The McElmo Dome/Sand Canyon area, A.D. 1225–1260. 130
7.3 Castle Rock Pueblo, constructed in lower Sand
Canyon between A.D. 1256 and 1277. 133
7.4 The McElmo Dome/Sand Canyon area, A.D. 1260–1280. 135
7.5 The northern directional shrine in lower Sand Canyon. 136
7.6 The landscape of Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo)
(after Anschuetz et al. 2002). 139
8.1 A view of Petroglyph Hill from Burnt Corn Pueblo. 156
8.2 Map showing the Pindi Phase sites in
the northern Galisteo Basin. 160
8.3 Photograph of LA 27, Lamy Pueblo, view to the northwest. 160
8.4 GIS Map of Burnt Corn Pueblo, LA 359 (original by G. Greene). 162
9.1 The Cibola area. 179
Figures ix
9.2 The OBAP survey area. 180
9.3 The HARP survey area. 181
9.4 The El Morro Valley survey area. 184
9.5 El Morro PIII sites with communal architecture. 185
9.6 An aerial photograph of the Kluckhohn Ruin. 188
10.1 Map of Arizona showing the locations of
places mentioned in the text. 193
10.2 Examples of compound architecture and roomblock
architecture in the Tonto Basin. 197
10.3 Map of the Lower San Pedro River valley, showing
excavated sites and district boundaries. 200
10.4 Plan and profile of the Kayenta entrybox complex. 202
10.5 Fragments of perforated plates. 203
10.6 Kiva at the Davis Ranch site, in the Lower
San Pedro River valley. 204
10.7 Comparison of population density in the Tonto Basin
and the Lower San Pedro Valley. 210
10.8 Comparison of required and available arable floodplain land
in the Lower San Pedro Valley and the Tonto Basin. 211