EMAP LA3949 Unit 5 writeup 2017

EMAP LA3949 Unit 5 writeup 2017

Part of the EMAP Las Animas (LA 3949) – Unit Summaries project

Year: 2003

Summary

Unit 5 was a very well-preserved two-story room in the South Two-Story section of the Postclassic pueblo at Las Animas Village (3.5 x 4 = 14 square meters). It was built on top of a much earlier pithouse or pit feature. Unit 5 was part of a larger two-story construction, including Unit 8/15 to the north. When it was built, the first and second story rooms seem to have been very similar, both with hearths just east of center, both bisected by a row of roof support posts.

After some use the ceiling above the first story floor (i.e., the underside of the second story floor) began falling in, as indicated by the chunks of daub with reed impressions in Level 28. The absence of replastering suggests that the first story floor was relatively lightly used. The inhabitants then filled in the space between the two floors with mixed deposits, including midden. The second story floor continued to be used and repaired (as indicated by the several layers of plaster). It may have begun to sag prehistorically, or it may have dropped at a later date, as indicated by pieces of ceiling in the upper levels of the fill. Collapse of the second story is indicated by some roof fall in the upper levels. Adjacent units (8, 10, 14) show evidence of later remodeling that turned the second story rooms into smaller storage rooms; this is not seen in Unit 5.

Sometime later, the area above Unit 5 was used again by people who created a surface, which they replastered several times. Although the surface is not clearly associated with any walls (other than a row of cobbles) the replastering suggests it was used consistently or intensely in prehistoric times. Sometime in the historic period, the burial of a young child or infant was placed in the northwest corner of Unit 5, between what had been the first and second story floors.