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Site Structure of the Orbit Inn: An Application of Ethnoarchaeology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Steven R. Simms  and
Kathleen M. Heath
Steven R. Simms
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-0730
Kathleen M. Heath
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
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Abstract

One goal of ethnoarchaeology is to strengthen archaeological inferences about the past. A fifteenth-century hunter-gatherer, open site in Utah is used to examine ethnoarchaeological contributions toward determining the use of space, duration of occupation, assemblage composition, and site function. Comparisons between macrorefuse and microrefuse patterning suggest that (1) the distribution of macrorefuse can help identify locations of ephemeral structures and household activity areas; (2) the distribution of microrefuse in this intermittently occupied open site is useful for assessing assemblage composition; (3) determining the characteristics of macro- and microrefuse improves hypotheses about duration of occupation; and (4) interpretation of plant remains can be improved by considering site-formation processes. The study points to the need for a closer linkage between ethnoarchaeology and the archaeology of the past.

Résumé

Résumé

Una de las metas de la etnoarqueología es fortalecer los modos de inferencia para interpretar casos de la arqueología del pasado. La comparación entre un sitio abierto de cazadores-recolectores en Utah, el cual data del sigh XV, y varios casos etnoarqueológicos ayuda a determinar: uso del espacio, duratión de la ocupación, composición del conjunto artefactual y función del sitio. Comparaciones entre lospatrones de desecho macroscópico y microscópico sugieren que (1) la distributión del desecho macroscópico puede ayudar en la identificatión de la localizatión de estructuras efimeras y áreas de actividad doméstica; (2) la distributión del desecho microscópico, en el caso de este sitio abierto quefue occupado intermitentemente, no es eficaz para este propósito, pero puede ser usada para evaluar la composición del conjunto artefactual; (3) la determinatión de las características del desecho macroscópico y microscópico fortalece las hipótesis sobre duratión de la ocupación; y (4) la interpretatión de desechos de plantas puede mejorarse mediante la consideratión de los procesos de formatión del sitio. Este estudio indica la necesidad de mejorar las relaciones entre etnoarqueología y arqueología del pasado.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 55 , Issue 4 , October 1990 , pp. 797 - 813
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1990

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