Aggregation, which includes village formation, refers to the concentration of population into larger settlements or communities from previously small, dispersed settlements. An outgrowth of studies of aggregation is explaining the social organization of aggregated communities. This study examines the impact of aggregation on Anasazi social organization and community dynamics in the northern San Juan region using information from milling tools. Milling tools (manos and metates) are usually associated with studies of subsistence. By considering technology to be imbedded in social contexts and taking a technological approach to milling tool (mano) analysis, this project produced new insights into mano variability and the relationship between technological behavior and social change. The theoretical basis of this study are design theory and ideas about changes in the structure of organizations. Theories of organizational change in response to growth such as that entailed by aggregation, propose that one way in which unranked societies with no formalized leadership positions mediate scalar stress and promote community integration is by elaborating the ritual-ceremonial system. Another proposed consequence of aggregation is an increase in the size of households. Both of these consequences have implications for grinding activities such as maize milling. This study uses information from a technological analysis of manos to refine models of household milling activities and the organization of aggregated communities inferred from architecture and ceramic analysis. The research focuses on investigating (1) whether there were differences in milling between households in aggregated and unaggregated settlements and (2) whether there were differences in milling among households in villages. By using design theory as a framework for the technological analysis, technological profiles of mano assemblages from households in unaggregated and aggregated Pueblo I and Pueblo III period communities were developed. The analysis results suggest that milling was more intensive at aggregated settlements than unaggregated settlements, and that the level of this activity in different households in aggregated settlements varied with the household's inferred status and participation in the ritual-ceremonial system. The household was identified as the locus of technological change, and the study suggests that changes in grinding technology are linked to household differentiation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/282285 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Fratt, Lee, 1953- |
| Contributors | Adams, E. Charles |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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