Platform Mounds and Pueblos: A Focus on Diversity and Function

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Why Platform Mounds? Part 2: Regional Comparisons and Tribal Histories" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

A unique set of architectural forms, known as platform mounds, emerged in the Phoenix Basin during the early Classic period, presumably evolving from older Hohokam dance mounds. Usually surrounded by walls enclosing compounds, platform mounds initially served as the focal points of dispersed rancheria-style villages composed of clusters of smaller residential compounds. By the late Classic period, platform mounds had developed into much larger residential structures that presumably housed the elite members of hierarchically organized communities. The emergence of these platform mound communities in the Phoenix Basin was closely tied to the expansion of irrigation systems, and probably represented the organizational development required for the management of these systems. Similar platform mound-village agricultural systems developed in surrounding areas such as the Lower Verde Valley, Tonto Basin, Tucson Basin, and San Pedro Valley. The term platform mound and its associated model of hierarchical settlement, however, has been applied to a much greater diversity of architectural forms and settlements in these surrounding areas where Hohokam and Puebloan cultures commingled. This presentation explores the diverse form, construction history, and function of these structures and their social and economic implications.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Why Platform Mounds? Part 2: Regional Comparisons and Tribal Histories

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23367