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The Archaeological Visibility of Storage: Delineating Storage from Trash Areas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Susan Kent
Susan Kent*
Affiliation:
Anthropology Program, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529
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Abstract

Despite the importance attributed to the study of storage behavior, little research has been conducted to determine whether it is even possible to distinguish storage áreas from refuse áreas. Archaeologists routinely separate storage pits from trash pits, but few have systematically investigated the defining characteristics of each. This study suggests that there is an archaeologically visible signature that can help researchers correctly interpret these loci. Research at occupied and recently abandoned camps among the now sedentary residents of Kutse in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana shows that refuse areas have a more homogeneous artifact inventory, regardless of the number of objects present. In contrast, non-trash activity areas at the same camps have a more heterogeneous, or diverse, inventory. The applicability and utility of this finding to the archaeological record is evaluated through the analysis of a Pueblo II Anasazi archaeological site from the southwestern United States. Patterns first recognized ethnoarchaeologically also appear to be recognizable in the archaeological record using the same methods. The results indicate that the statistical tests described here are applicable to distinguishing trash from other activity areas at archaeological sites.

Résumé

Résumé

A pesar de la imporancia atribuida al estudio del almacenamieno, no se ha conducido suficiente investigación para determinar si es posible distinguir entere áreas de almacenamiento y áreas de desecho. Los arqueólogos rutinariamente separan pozos de almacenamiento de los de desecho, peropocos han estudiado sistematicamente las características que definen cada tipo depozo. Este estudio sugiere que existe una huella visible arqueologicamente, la que puede ayudar a investigadores a interpretar correctamente estos rasgos. Investigaciones conducidas en campamentos ocupados o abandonados recientemente por los residentes sedentarios de Kutse en el Desierto Kalahari en Botswana indican que las áreas de desecho tienen un inventario artefactual más homogéneo, independientemente del número de artifactos presentes. En contraste, las áreas de actividad y almacenamiento tienen un inventario más heterogéneo o diverso. Se investiga la aplicabilidad y utilidad de este hallazgo a través del análisis de un sitio arqueológico. Anasazi del período Pueblo II en el suroeste de los Estados Unidos. Los patrones reconocidos etnoarqueologicamente también se reconocen en el registro arqueológico utilizando los mismos métodos. Los resultados indican que las pruebas estadísticos descritos aquí son aplicables para distinguir descho de otras áreas de actividad en sitios arqueológicos.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , January 1999 , pp. 79 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1999

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