Labor Investment and Organization in Platform Mound Construction: A Case Study from the Tonto Basin of Central Arizona

Southwestern archaeologists have long recognized that platform mounds required a considerable amount of labor and organizational skill to build. Attempts to specify these behavioral dimensions have generally met with failure, however, either due to a lack of data or because researchers have been una...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of field archaeology 1998-10, Vol.25 (3), p.245-259
Main Authors: Craig, Douglas B., Holmlund, James P., Clark, Jeffery J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adobe buildings
America and Arctic regions
Archaeological sites
Architecture
Ceramic cultures
Cobbles
Field archaeology
Field Reports: Excavation and Survey
Labor costs
Mound complexes
North America
Platform mounds
Prehistory and protohistory
Roofs
Rooms
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Summary:Southwestern archaeologists have long recognized that platform mounds required a considerable amount of labor and organizational skill to build. Attempts to specify these behavioral dimensions have generally met with failure, however, either due to a lack of data or because researchers have been unable to place mound construction within a larger social context. Recent excavations at the Meddler Point site in central Arizona provide important new data for addressing these issues. In this article, the material and labor costs involved in building the Meddler Point platform mound are considered. The implications of these figures for understanding Classic period social organization at the site are then examined.
ISSN:0093-4690
2042-4582
DOI:10.2307/530532