Pueblo Bonito as a Material and Spatial Network

Summary

While formal network analyses (and traditional statistical analyses) can be used to understand the network relationships between archaeological sites they can also be geared towards understanding relationships within sites, both between architectural units and between different classes of artifacts. Using these techniques on a network of general material categories (like turquoise or shell) from different room contexts within Pueblo Bonito potentially reveals different "sets" of material classes grouped either through common use or deposition together. Similar "sets" can be derived from a network of room assemblages by using cluster analysis. Comparison between the room assemblage network and the material class network helps confirm the validity of the material sets. Mapping these sets of associated material types onto an architectural plan of Pueblo Bonito reveals differences both between construction sequences and across the East-West divide of the building, reinforcing an interpretation of a dual division in the architecture.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Chaco and Hopewell: Rethinking "Interaction Spheres" Through Multiscalar Network Analyses

Keywords

Spatial Coverage