House 47: A Case Study of Abandonment and Trade in the Lowland Virgin Branch Puebloan Region

Summary

Considerations of chronology, chronometry, and systemic contexts of archaeological sites in the American Southwest have primarily focused among the larger prehistoric cultural centers (e.g., Hohokam) throughout the history of archaeological research in this region. Research pursuits beyond the southern and eastern regions of the American Southwest—particularly within the Virgin Branch Puebloan cultural region—have not been pursued accordingly for various reasons. Seminal work by Margaret Lyneis (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) in the lowland Virgin Branch Puebloan (VBP) region, among other scholars, provide the context for the present study in which a fuller understanding of the prehistory of the VBP region is sought. House 47, an archaeological site in the lowland VBP dating to the early Pueblo III period, likely represents one of the final occupations prior to abandonment of the lowland region. This paper considers both the unusually large size of House 47 (comprising more than 100 houses) and what recent excavations at the site suggest regarding abandonment of the region and related impacts on trade networks during the Pueblo III period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20929