Faunal Remains and Social Organization at Albert Porter Pueblo, a Great House Community in the Northern Southwest

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Albert Porter Pueblo great house, located in the central Mesa Verde region was surrounded by numerous residential structures during the Pueblo II and Pueblo III periods. Using a variety of ratios to measure the exploitation of wild game and domestic turkeys, we examine evidence of social organization by evaluating similarities and differences in faunal assemblages from the great house and the domestic households that surrounded it. Although the great house was a unique and prominent architectural feature at Albert Porter Pueblo, the fauna from the great house are generally similar to those from surrounding structures. There is some evidence that more meat was consumed in the great house than in domestic structures. All members of this community seem to have had equal access to animals consumed for food and used in ritual and ceremonial practices. We explore different interpretations of social organization suggested by faunal remains.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23740