6 - Subsistence-settlement systems and vessel form

Summary

In Chapter 3, it was proposed that the numerous small sites in the Purcell–Larson area might be seasonal farming villages used primarily for agricultural activities. The primary reasons for suggesting this hypothesis are the small size (in terms of the number of rooms) of Purcell–Larson sites relative to some nearby areas, such as the Hay Hollow Valley area of east-central Arizona, and the low densities and low total amounts of lithics and ceramics on these sites.

A comparative study of settlement data from Hay Hollow Valley and from the southern block survey in the Purcell–Larson area by F. Plog (1974) has illustrated the differences in site size and site density between these two areas. During the periods between A.D. 1125 to 1200 and A.D. 1200 to 1275, the Purcell–Larson area had an average number of rooms per site of 2.0 and 3.0, and the percentages of all rooms occurring on sites with five or more rooms were 38 percent and 46 percent, respectively. During these same periods, the Hay Hollow Valley had an average number of rooms per site of 22.0 and 14.5, respectively, and the percentage of all rooms occurring on sites with five or more rooms was 100 percent during both periods (F. Plog 1974: Tables 3 and 4).