Ancient Households of the Americas : Conceptualizing What Households Do

In this book archaeologists investigate the fundamental role of household production in ancient, colonial, and contemporary households. Several different cultures -- Iroquois, Coosa, Anasazi, Hohokam, San Agustin, Wankarani, Formative Gulf Coast Mexico, and Formative, Classic, Colonial, and contemporary Maya -- are analysed through the lens of household archaeology in concrete, data-driven case studies.

The text is divided into three sections: Section I examines the spatial and social organization and context of household production; Section II looks at the role and results of households as primary producers; and Section III investigates the role of, and interplay among, households in their greater political and socio-economic communities. In the past few decades, household archaeology has made substantial contributions to our understanding and explanation of the past through the documentation of the household as a social unit -- whether small or large, rural or urban, commoner or elite. These case studies from a broad swath of the Americas make Ancient Households of the Americas extremely valuable for continuing the comparative interdisciplinary study of households.