ASM Occasional Electronic Papers No. 1: Homol'ovi IV

Chapter Seven:
Architecture, cont.

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Summary

Only cultural surfaces will be considered in this discussion of the relationship of plaza surfaces to nearby structure or to the occupation of the village as a whole.

Surface 2 is the earliest cultural surface, sometimes resting on bedrock, and is associated with the initial occupation of the village. It was identified in every plaza excavation unit. Except for areas at or near the bottom of the slope of the butte, where there was 5-10 cm of natural fill, the surface occurred over bedrock. In some areas surface 2 appeared to be a prepared surface consisting of adobe with caliche flecks. In areas where fill occurred and the surface was more eroded, it had the appearance of resulting from extensive use. Features on this surface suggest limited activities, which may be due to the concentration of occupation considerably upslope from the plaza. Feature 4, the series of grooves that probably represent a feature or structure consisting of upright slabs, is difficult to interpret without a better context, including associated structures, features, and artifacts.

Surface 2A for all intents and purposes appears to be the uppermost of a closely spaced series of surfaces that began with surface 2. Its extent in the plaza excavations is almost as extensive as surface 2. No features originated on surface 2A, so it is difficult to differentiate specific activities. The series of surfaces from 2 to 2A are probably associated with the initial expansion of Homol'ovi IV, perhaps down slope from the earliest occupation on the top of the butte. The lack of features suggests the plaza area was still some distance from the village surface structures and intense activities.

Surface 3 had a single feature, a small, adobe-caped pit. In general the surface was spotty and almost impossible to see while excavating. This suggests this surface was not prepared and was not in use for long. The lack of features and its ephemeral nature again suggest the plaza was not yet being extensively used and structures were not yet nearby. The contention that structures were not nearby is supported by the fact that structure 201 was built while plaza surface 4 was in use. That means Structure 301, which is two rows of rooms removed from the final plaza, was the nearest room when plaza surfaces 3 was in use. Surfaces 2 and 2A are visible under structure 301.

Surface 4 is the most extensive and intensively used surface at Homol'ovi IV since surface 2 and was probably the only surface associated with extensive and intensive use of the plaza space. This is because for the first time structures, such as 201, were occupied nearby. Additionally, surface structure 101 and subterranean structure 2 were both constructed on surface 4. For the first time, a large roasting pit occurs on a Homol'ovi IV plaza surface. These features are characteristic of the plazas at Homol'ovi I and III and have been interpreted to indicate communal activities rather than single household activities as indicated by small firepits and postholes. Surface 4 was not the latest surface in use at Homol'ovi IV, because structures 4 and 5 were built over it, but it was evidently in use during the most intensive occupation of the village, near the end of its life.

Surface 5 was ephemeral and only identifiable in thevicinity of structure 201 and associated with structures 4 and 5, which probably rest on surface 5. If Surface 5 is an occupation surface, it was probably the latest occupied surface at Homol'ovi IV and the village was probably abandoned shortly after its use. Given the chronology developed through excavation at all four Homol'ovi villages, this would place use of surfaces 4 and 5 in the 1280s.

Conclusions

As with the other Homol'ovi villages, Homol'ovi IV grew over the course of 30 years from a village of perhaps 25 rooms to one closer to 200 rooms in size, most of which were probably occupied given the short occupation span of the village. Although only 10 structures and 57 sq. m of the plaza were excavated in the single season of fieldwork at the village, still some general conclusions about the life history of the village can be made. Details of chronology were covered in the last chapter. This chapter has been devoted to a description of the architecture and plaza area and to contextualizing the use and association of both.

Homol'ovi IV grew from the top of the butte down its east and south slopes over the course of its occupation. Given the steepness of the slope of the butte, the area at the bottom of the butte, which has been termed the plaza area, seems to have always been a place of activities. As the size of the population of Homol'ovi IV increased and the slopes of the butte became crowded with rooms, use of the plaza intensified. This is probably a result not only of increased village size and population, but also the reduction in space available for outside activities as the village began to cover the flat areas once reserved for plaza activities. Thus, areas to the north of the plaza area, below the east slope of the village, were covered with structures late in the occupation of Homol'ovi IV. The construction of rooms, such as 201, adjacent to the plaza also intensified activities in the plaza area associated with daily household events.

The most significant development in the plaza area occurred in conjunction with surface 4, when structures 201, 101, and 2 were built. Structure 2 is disconnected from other structures in the village and is also subterranean, both traits associated with ritual use as identified at other Homol'ovi villages (Adams 2002). The construction of structure 2 and the creation of such features as the large roasting pit on surface 4 beneath structures 4 and 5, mark a transition in the use of plaza space from an informal area in which to do various daily household activities to a space set aside, at least part of the time, for supra-household activities. This trend is amplified at the other later villages at Homol'ovi II, which culminated in the huge formal plaza filled with kivas at Homol'ovi II. At Homol'ovi IV we can see this process just beginning. Ritual structures, which includes kivas, and large communal roasting pits are just two of the features indicating this shift in function of the village plaza.

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