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Journal ArticleDOI

Pit Structure Abandonment in the Four Corners Region of the American Southwest: Late Basketmaker III and Pueblo I Periods

Catherine M. Cameron
- 21 Jan 1990 - 
- Vol. 17, Iss: 1, pp 27-37
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TLDR
Anasazi pit structures dating to the Basketmaker III and Pueblo I periods (ca. A.C. 500 to 900) in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest experienced a variety of different processes at abandonment, ranging from dismantling the superstructure to intentional burning.
Abstract
Anasazi pit structures dating to the Basketmaker III and Pueblo I periods (ca. A.C. 500 to 900) in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest experienced a variety of different processes at abandonment, ranging from dismantling the superstructure to intentional burning. Data from 88 pit structures are used to examine the relationship between these processes and the causes of pit structure abandonment. Results suggest that burning was not usually the result of catastrophic events, such as accident or warfare, but may be part of ritual activities or even a response to insect infestation. The incidence of burning does not seem to increase over time as a result of the postulated transition of pit structures from domestic to ceremonial uses. Dismantled and trash-filled pit structures suggest that new dwellings were often constructed near abandoned ones, perhaps because the old structure was deteriorating. A few pit structures with human bodies on the floor at the time of abandonment may signal ...

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Citations
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Middle Stone Age Bedding Construction and Settlement Patterns at Sibudu, South Africa

TL;DR: The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is associated with early behavioral innovations, expansions of modern humans within and out of Africa, and occasional population bottlenecks and may coincide with population fluctuations in Africa.
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Public and Private, Domestic and Corporate: The Emergence of the Southwest Asian Village

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an interpretation of temporal transformations in community organization utilizing the results from the detailed analysis of Beidha, one of the most extensively excavated early Neolithic villages in Southwest Asia.
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Understanding Abandonments in the North American Southwest

TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore abandonment as a process that involves economic, social, and political decisions about the places from which people move and to which they move and explain the processes by which abandonments occur.
Journal ArticleDOI

News from the Northern American Southwest: Prehistory on the Edge of Chaos

TL;DR: Recent developments in the study of the prehistory of the northern Mogollon and Anasazi areas of the North American Southwest are reviewed, with emphasis on the pre-A.D. 1150 period.
Journal ArticleDOI

Arson or Accident? The Burning of a Neolithic House at Çatalhöyük, Turkey

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the results of interdisciplinary research on the recently excavated Building 52 at the Anatolian Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk, which provides the richest combination of faunal, botanical, and lithic assemblages of all those uncovered since work at the site was renewed in 1995.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Where the garbage goes: Refuse disposal in the Maya Highlands

TL;DR: According to the needs of each household and the nature of the refuse, material slated for discard may be sorted and dumped in separate locations, within or outside compounds as discussed by the authors, according to the material's nature.
Journal ArticleDOI

Is There a "Pompeii Premise" in Archaeology?

TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that an insidious Pompeii premise can be found in archaeology, but it is different from the one identified by Binford, but by those who fail to evaluate in detail how specific house-floor assemblages were formed by cultural and non-cultural processes.
Journal ArticleDOI

Household pottery disposal in the Maya highlands: An ethnoarchaeological interpretation

TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the relationship between depositional behavior and material culture in the Maya household and found that the behavioral factors that affect assemblage change can significantly alter the spatial patterning and condition of the vessels in the pottery inventory of a given household unit.
Journal ArticleDOI

Toward an understanding of site abandonment behavior: Evidence from historic mining camps in the southwest Yukon

TL;DR: In this article, a review of discard and abandonment behaviors at gold rush sites in the Kluane region, Yukon Territory, appears to provide a unique opportunity for formulating and testing hypotheses relevant to a better understanding of site abandonment behavior.
Journal ArticleDOI

Long-term Anasazi Land-Use Patterns and Forest Reduction: A Case Study from Southwest Colorado

TL;DR: Kohler, Timothy, and Meredith Matthews as discussed by the authors (1988). Long-term Anasazi Land Use Patterns and Forest Reduction: A Case Study from Southwest Colorado. American Antiquity 53:537-564.
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How long does a copper fire pit last?

The incidence of burning does not seem to increase over time as a result of the postulated transition of pit structures from domestic to ceremonial uses.