essay

Potluck in the protokiva: ceramics and ceremonialism in Pueblo I villages

architecture of social integration in prehistoric pueblos • (1) • Published In 1989 • Pages: 113-124

By: Blinman, Eric.

Abstract

Richard Wilshusen (Wilshusen, 1989) has described a range of ritual features that occur in Anasazi pit structures and has argued that different combinations of these features define a hierarchy of ritual activity within villages (such as corporate and community kivas). To Blinman this architectural hierarchy is evident at McPhee Village, a Pueblo I community in the Dolores area of southwestern Colorado. One of the implications of the hierarchy is that the intensity and elaboration of associated rituals should be detectable in material culture through differential participation in exchange or through subtle differences in site function related to hosting gatherings. Nonlocal red ware sherds are relatively more abundant, the ratio of cooking jar sherds to decorated bowl sherds is lower, and cooking jars are generally smaller at the roomblocks highest in the hierarchy. The jar:bowl ratio and the differential distribution of cooking jar sizes suggest that potluck-style gatherings occurred most frequently at the ritually most complex roomblocks of the village. The concentration of exchanged red ware sherds is partly an epiphenomenon of the potluck gatherings, but it is likely that the more intense ritual activity at the highest-ranking roomblocks did confer on their residents some degree of preferential access to exchanged goods (p. 113).

HRAF PubDate

2012

Region

North America

Sub Region

Southwest and Basin

Document Type

essay

Evaluation

Creator Type

Archaeologist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

John Beierle; 2011

Field Date

No Date

Coverage Date

1250-1100 BP (AD 750-900)

Coverage Place

McPhee Village, Dolores Area, Southwestern Colorado, United States

Notes

Eric Blinman

Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-124)

LCCN

89081117

LCSH

Pueblo architecture

Pueblos--Social aspects--Southwest, New.

Indians of North America--Southwest, New--Social life and customs