The Relationship Between Abandonment Mode and Ritual Use in Pueblo I Anasazi Protokivas

Abstract

Data from 44 pit-structures excavated as a part of the Dolores Archaeological Program are used to test two hypotheses about the relationship between the ritual use of a structure and the manner in which that structure was abandoned. The pit structures all date to 860–900 A.C. and are associated with large Pueblo villages located along the Dolores River in what is now SW Colorado. Three basic levels of ritual use have been defined for these structures based on the number and type of features associated with the structures. Those structures with evidence of the most important ritual usage are significantly associated with a mode of abandonment in which the structure was purposefully burned down. Those having ritual features that appear to be of secondary importance are significantly associated with an abandonment mode in which the roof of the pit-structure was intentionally collapsed to bury human individuals on the structure's floor. It is more difficult to characterize the abandonment mode of structures which represent the simplest level of ritual use, though it is most common to have a simple abandonment in which the roof simply deteriorated and collapsed with time. The recognition of a probable hierarchy of ritual usage in early Pueblo pit-structures and the association of special abandonment modes with each type of ritual pit-structure specifically allow a better glimpse of ritual activities in early Pueblo societies. In a more general sense these data show that it is possible to archaeologically detect patterned associations between a structure's use and its mode of abandonment.

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