A Spatial Analysis of Anasazi Architecture, A.D. 950–1150, Moapa Valley, Nevada

ABSTRACT

Until recently, there has been no temporal sequence within the Lost City phase, the expression of Pueblo I and II in the lowland Virgin Branch area. Recently isolated trends in the local ceramic sequence permit identification of sites dating to A.D. 950–1100, the later part of the Lost City phase. This ceramic chronology allows study of architecture by time period. During the Lost City phase, household units occupy contiguous habitation and storage rooms, but room sizes are not sharply differentiated. In the final phase of Anasazi occupancy, dating ca. A.D. 1100–1150 and known as the Mesa House phase, the room size distribution at the type site exhibits a strong positive skew toward very small enclosures of less than 2.5 m². At Mesa House, the area of storage space, about 12.5 m² per habitation unit, is higher that at late Lost City phase sites, suggesting a shift to communal storage, and may indicate the emergence of multifamily corporate groups in the lowland Virgin Branch.