Dwellings and Corporate Groups in Montegrande, Jequetepeque Valley, Peru: A Household Study of Social Differentiation

Summary

This research takes two kinds of analytical unit, dwelling and hypothetical corporate group, to analyze and compare spatial relationship between the east and west sectors in Montegrande, a Early Formative site locates in Jequetepeque Valley, Peru.

The map-based analysis reveals different changing pattern during the two phases of occupation. The primary result shows that east sector went through a significant transition from phase 1 to phase 2 in the configuration of corporate group and in the location of largest dwelling. On the other hand, the nature of west sector didn't change significantly, while the dispersed dwellings in phase 1 became better connected through patios in phase 2 occupation. The comparison of dwelling size shows that there was no significant difference between the two sectors in phase 1 and there is a tendency that east sector had larger dwelling area than west sector in the latter occupation.

The result of comparison not only depicts a possible social differentiation, but implies various social strategies taken by different households: the rich households tried to isolate themselves from others and regular households tended to incorporate themselves into a larger corporate group in the settlement.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage