Architectural Studies in the U.S. Southwest: Theory, Methods, and Data

This session explores household architecture in the US Southwest/Northwest Mexico by considering methodology, theoretical perspectives, and the strengths and weaknesses of regional datasets. The materiality of the house and the dynamic, recursive relationship between houses and people makes architecture an ideal medium for archaeologists to access the daily lives and practices of people in the past. Household architecture provides insight on social organization, economy, cultural transmission, migration, seasonal movement, and interaction. In addition, architecture provides access to the cultural meanings and cosmological significance attached to place and space.

Big datasets present methodological challenges to the analysis of architectural data, but also great promise for understanding large patterns at a regional scale. In addition, theoretical perspectives such as materiality and agency are helping archaeologists reframe their consideration of the house and household. The "communities of practice" perspective has been particularly popular in recent Southwest/Northwest research. These perspectives are changing the way that patterns (or the lack of patterns) in the archaeological record are recognized and evaluated. Papers in this session draw on these themes to present recent research on methodology, theory, and data in the study of architecture in the Southwest/Northwest.