Kin, Clan, and House: Social Relatedness in the Archaeology of North American Societies

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Kin, Clan, and House: Social Relatedness in the Archaeology of North American Societies," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ethnographic and ethnohistoric accounts of non-state societies across the world have clearly demonstrated the centrality of social relatedness in structuring social, political, economic, and religious institutions. From the social organization of labor and subsistence economies, to rhythms and cycles of ritual practice, categories of social relatedness seem to underlie the most basic social forms. Although archaeologists often employ middle-range theories that move us towards social categories like lineages, clans, moieties, and houses, we continue to shirk away from fully exploring the role of these social groups in giving form to past societies, choosing instead to rely on more neutral concepts like "community of practice," "corporate group," or "signaling networks." In this session, participants are challenged to engage with concepts of social relatedness that have remained interpretively "difficult" for archaeologists. These include concepts related to descent groups, residence patterns, lineages, clan structures, or other dimensions of relatedness that are often regarded as "invisible" in the archaeological record.