The Household in Transition: Spatial Organization of Early Anasazi Residential-Domestic Units, Southeastern Utah

This study examines the spatial organization of residential-domestic units in two early periods (covering ca. A.D. 200-275) of the Anasazi tradition in the American Southwest. It asks whether or not there is evidence that observed changes in the spatial organization of Basketmaker II and Basketmaker III period residential-domestic units can be explained by subsistence intensification and/or increased sedentariness. Architectural attributes, artifact assemblages, and spatial placement of artifacts and features from 24 residential-domestic units form the data base. The data base is principally from surface archaeological survey on Cedar Mesa, southeastern Utah.The spatial organization of Basketmaker II residential-domestic areas is found to be similar to that of later Anasazi residential-domestic areas. Changes between the Basketmaker II and Basketmaker III periods in this traditional spatial organization support an inference that there was subsistence intensification between the two periods, but are inconclusive with regard to increased sedentariness.