Deborah L. Huntley

Transformation of social networks in the late pre-Hispanic US Southwest.

The late pre-Hispanic period in the US Southwest (A.D. 1200–1450) was characterized by large-scale demographic changes, including long-distance migration and population aggregation. To reconstruct how these processes reshaped social networks, we compiled a comprehensive artifact database from major sites dating to this interval in the western Southwest. We combine social network analysis with geographic information systems approaches to reconstruct network dynamics over 250 y. We show how social networks were transformed across the region at previously undocumented spatial, temporal, and social scales. Using well-dated decorated ceramics, we track changes in network topology at 50-y intervals to show a dramatic shift in network density and settlement centrality from the northern to the southern Southwest after A.D. 1300. Both obsidian sourcing and ceramic data demonstrate that long-distance network relationships also shifted from north to south after migration. Surprisingly, social distance does not always correlate with spatial distance because of the presence of network relationships spanning long geographic distances. Our research shows how a large network in the southern Southwest grew and then collapsed, whereas networks became more fragmented in the northern Southwest but persisted. The study also illustrates how formal social network analysis may be applied to large-scale databases of material culture to illustrate multigenerational changes in network structure.

Spatializing Social Network Analysis in the Late Precontact U.S. Southwest

Abstract In this article we explore the relationship between spatial proximity and indices of social connectivity during the A.D. 1200–1450 interval in the United States (U.S.) Southwest. Using geographic information systems (GIS), we develop indices of spatial proximity based on the terrain-adjusted cost distance between sites in a regional settlement and material cultural database focused on the western U.S. Southwest. We evaluate the hypothesis that social interaction is a function of proximity and that interactions will be most intense among near neighbors. We find that this hypothesis is supported in some instances but that the correlation between proximity and interaction is highly variable in the context of late precontact social upheaval. Furthermore, we show important discrepancies between the Puebloan north and the Hohokam south that help to explain differences in community sustainability in the two regions.

RUDD CREEK PUEBLO: A LATE TULAROSA PHASE VILLAGE IN EAST CENTRAL ARIZONA

Abstract Rudd Creek Pueblo is a late Tularosa phase (A.D. 1225-1300) village located in the Upper Little Colorado region south of Springerville, Arizona. In 1996, Arizona State University, in cooperation with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, conducted archaeological fieldwork at Rudd Creek. This paper summarizes the results of that field season, which included the clearing of disturbed fill from a number of looted rooms, as well as limited test excavations in two great kivas, undisturbed rooms, and extramural areas. Comparison of the archaeology of Rudd Creek Pueblo with other Tularosa phase settlements in the Mogollon highlands along the Arizona-New Mexico border highlights key dimensions of variability in thirteenth century settlement in this area. Our investigations suggest that future research focusing on Tularosa phase settlements has the potential to contribute greatly to current debates in Southwest archaeology concerning migration, exchange, and population aggregation. Abstract Rudd Creek es un pueblo de la fase tarde Tularosa (A.D. 1225-1300) situada en la región del alto Río Little Colorado al sur de Springville, Arizona. En 1996, la Universidad Estatal de Arizona, en conjunto con el Departamento de Caza y Pesca de Arizona, realizó un trabajo de campo arqueológico. Este ensayo es un resumen de la temporada de trabajo de investigación en el campo, que incluyó el desmonte de terreno abandalizado en varios cuartos saqueados, y también excavaciones limitadas de prueba en dos grandes kivas, cuartos no perturbados y áreas extramurales. Comparación en la arqueología de Rudd Creek con otros poblados de la fase Tularosa en los altos mogollones a lo largo de la frontera entre Arizona y Nuevo México hace notar dimensiones claves en la variabilidad en los poblados en esta área durante el decimotercero siglo. Nuestras investigaciones sugieren que trabajo futuro con enfoque en los poblados de la fase Tularosa tiene la gran potencia de contribuir a los debates prevalecientes en la arqueología del sudoeste de los Estados Unidos al respecto con la migración, intercambios y agregación de población.