Deconstructing Hybrid Architectures: A Bayesian Methodology for the Analysis of Precontact Southwest Architecture

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Our collaborative practice operates at the intersection of architecture, archaeology, and Bayesian statistics to formulate a new methodology for the analysis of precontact architecture. Our methodology expands the quantity and the scope of indicators previously considered in order to provide deeper insight into possible ideational, functional, cultural, and social affinities and the complex relationship between materiality and social relations. Utilizing Bayesian network analysis, our method seeks to track the movement of architectural ideologies and methods through the analysis of similar formal building types at discrete locations. Our initial analysis selects two sites, McPhee Pueblo, Dolores, Colorado (AD 850–910)—often cited in the literature as a precedent for Pueblo Bonito—and the large Hohokam ballcourt at Snaketown, Arizona (AD 700–1000) and asks: which is most similar to Pueblo Bonito ca. AD 920?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33111