The Influence of Trade Networks on Great House Location in the Mesa Verde Region

Summary

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

During the transition between the Pueblo I (A.D. 750-950) (PI) and Pueblo II (A.D. 950-1150) (PII) time periods in the Mesa Verde region, some PI settlements became the locations of PII great houses. No clear patterns have been discerned concerning why only certain PI communities generated great houses, but recognizing trends that distinguish these communities from others may provide insights into the processes of community formation in PII. This poster will discern potential motivations for great house location choice, which may encompass many factors: trade networks, landscape features, environmental factors, existing communities, and many others. Specifically, this research tests the hypothesis that PI trade networks were a factor in location choice. To do so, sites in the Mesa Verde region with both PI and PII great house occupations are compared to a control group of PI sites which did not have PII occupations. The frequencies of non-locally sourced materials in the artifact assemblages of these sites are analyzed. The results of this analysis are anticipated to indicate any significant differences in trade items found at the PI/PII sites compared to the sites with no PII occupation, to draw conclusions regarding the influence of PI trade networks on great house location.

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): 25406