Great House Formation: Agricultural Intensification, Balanced Duality, and Communal Enterprise at Mitchell Springs
Creators: name: Dove, David
Publisher: name: Colorado Archaeological Society
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: American Southwest
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/149/american-southwest
subject: Basketmaker III, Pueblo I, Pueblo II, Pueblo III
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5671/basketmaker-iii-pueblo-i-pueblo-ii-pueblo-iii
subject: Ancestral Puebloan
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/19/ancestral-puebloan
subject: Anasazi
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/84/anasazi
subject: Mitchell Springs Ruin Group
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/4859/mitchell-springs-ruin-group
subject: Cemetery
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/302/cemetery
subject: Burial Mound
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/303/burial-mound
subject: Ancient Structure
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/335/ancient-structure
subject: Burial Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/307/burial-pit
subject: Artifact Scatter
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/340/artifact-scatter
subject: Hearth
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/343/hearth
subject: Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/251/domestic-structure-or-architectural-complex
subject: Ancient Communal / Public Structure
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/315/ancient-communal-public-structure
subject: Great House / Big House
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/317/great-house-big-house
subject: Sheet Midden
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/349/sheet-midden
subject: resevoir, quarry
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/605/resevoir-quarry
subject: Town / City
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/255/town-city
subject: Trash Midden
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/351/trash-midden
subject: Domestic Structures
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/256/domestic-structures
subject: Kiva / Great Kiva
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/321/kiva-great-kiva
subject: Milling Bin
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/354/milling-bin
subject: Refuse Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/356/refuse-pit
subject: Ancient Earthwork
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/325/ancient-earthwork
subject: Road, Trail, and Related Structures or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/294/road-trail-and-related-structures-or-features
subject: Storage Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/358/storage-pit
subject: Post Hole / Post Mold
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/359/post-hole-post-mold
subject: Rock Alignment
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/360/rock-alignment
subject: Petroglyph
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/363/petroglyph
subject: Pollen
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/13/pollen
subject: Shell
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/14/shell
subject: Wood
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/15/wood
subject: Textile
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/16/textile
subject: Basketry
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/17/basketry
subject: Ceramic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/1/ceramic
subject: Chipped Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/2/chipped-stone
subject: Dating Sample
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/3/dating-sample
subject: Fauna
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/4/fauna
subject: Fire Cracked Rock
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/5/fire-cracked-rock
subject: Glass
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/6/glass
subject: Ground Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/7/ground-stone
subject: Human Remains
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/9/human-remains
subject: Macrobotanical
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/10/macrobotanical
subject: Mineral
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/12/mineral
subject: Great house formation, Duality, Agricultural Intensification, Ritual Structure Decommissioning
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/165710/great-house-formation-duality-agricultural-intensification-ritual-structure-decommissioning
subject: Architectural Documentation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/16/architectural-documentation
subject: Site Stewardship Monitoring
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/19/site-stewardship-monitoring
subject: Remote Sensing
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/22/remote-sensing
subject: Geophysical Survey
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/23/geophysical-survey
subject: Archaeological Overview
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/1/archaeological-overview
subject: Architectural Survey
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/2/architectural-survey
subject: Collections Research
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/3/collections-research
subject: Data Recovery / Excavation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/5/data-recovery-excavation
subject: Methodology, Theory, or Synthesis
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/6/methodology-theory-or-synthesis
subject: Reconnaissance / Survey
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/7/reconnaissance-survey
subject: Records Search / Inventory Checking
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/8/records-search-inventory-checking
subject: Research Design / Data Recovery Plan
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/9/research-design-data-recovery-plan
subject: Site Evaluation / Testing
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/10/site-evaluation-testing
subject: Systematic Survey
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/12/systematic-survey

description: Mitchell Springs provided the central Montezuma Valley of southwestern Colorado a rare and reliable water source that has been used by ancients for millennia. People began to settle near the springs in the middle of the AD seventh century and by the twelfth century a sprawling watershed-wide community with large-scale architectural and agricultural works had formed. Using a combination of data from surveys and recent excavations, this article explores the ties between the rise of elite groups in the watershed and the use of innovative methods to enhance agricultural production. Food abundance appears to have been the primary engine that drove the formation of these groups whose presence was symbolized by a greathouse and other monumental creations. Excavations have revealed evidence that suggests one such group was tied to the same physical space at the center of the community for at least 400 years. Agricultural production at a scale that is demonstrably greater than what could be generated by a few households or extended households is suggested by repeated feasting at this location, room suites with unusually large storage capacities, and the presence of rooms and features that were created and used principally for the preparation and consecration of food for these events. The earliest architectural footprints of this group consisted of two physically linked but distinctly separate adobe block houses in the early ninth century. Over time, elements of these entities became associated with, or evolved into, a greathouse and tri-wall building that appear to have served similar functions as the earlier houses and features that underlie those buildings. They symbolized success, power, past ancestors, and revered space, and they were enshrined and deliberately protected over the course of centuries.