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Microrefuse and Site Structure: The Hearths and Floors of the Heartbreak Hotel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Duncan Metcalfe  and
Kathleen M. Heath
Duncan Metcalfe
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Kathleen M. Heath
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
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Abstract

This paper presents the results of a research project investigating the types, frequencies, and spatial distribution of small items of refuse on and in floors of a prehistoric structure–the Heartbreak Hotel–excavated in central Utah. Excavation and analytical procedures specifically were designed to recover microrefuse–refuse with a minimum dimension of less than .25 cm. There is strong empirical support for the proposition that microrefuse recovered from such contexts will be found in its area of production, and that patterning in its spatial distribution will, other things being equal, indicate spatial patterning in the performance of the activities that produced the microrefuse. We demonstrate that there is rather dramatic patterning in the types and frequencies of microrefuse between and within rooms of the structure and discuss possible explanations for the character of that patterning. We conclude with a discussion of the present limitations of our understanding of refuse disposal and suggest avenues of ethnoarchaeological inquiry likely to produce better archaeological and behavioral expectations relating to spatial patterning of microrefuse.

Résumé

Résumé

Este artículo presenta los resultados de un proyecto de investigación acerca de los tipos, frecuencias y área de distribución de objetos pequeños de desecho en los pisos de una estructura prehistórica, el Hotel Heartbreak, excavado en la parte central de Utah. Los procedimientos de excavación y de análisis fueron especificamente designados para recoger objetos de desecho minúsculos, que poseyeran dimensiones de menos de .25 cm. Existe suficiente evidencia empírica como para proponer que estos pequeños objetos de desecho, obtenidos en sus propios contextos, podrían ser encontrados en el lugar de su productión, y que el área se podría dividir en espacios que corresponderían a las distintas actividades que produjeron los desperdicios, siempre teniendo en cuenta que todo lo demás permanezca igual. Alegamos que existe una clara distribución de tipos y frecuencias de objetos de desecho tanto entre distintas estructuras como dentro de cada una de éstas, y también proponemos posibles argumentos que puedan explicar el carácter de dicha distributión. Concluímos con un examen de las limitaciones que actualmente nos impiden un entedimiento más amplio de los objetos pequeños de desecho y sugerimos formas de investigatión etnográfica y arqueológica que puedan ofrecernos mejores expectativas arqueológicas y etnográfkas en lo que se refiere a la distributión de desechos pequeños

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 55 , Issue 4 , October 1990 , pp. 781 - 796
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1990

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