Site Scale Analyses

Abstract

In this and the next chapter, we examine evidence from the Sitkalidak Archaeological Survey project that addresses predictions of the “four act” model in Chapter 6. To do this, we need to reorganize the predictions into data-specific groupings. The lines of evidence available to test these predictions, controlled for time, addressed in this chapter include: component frequencies as a measure of changing settlement density; site size measures of population aggregation (site area and number of houses per site); measures of site function variability (spatial and geographical parameters and artifact assemblage character); and settlement patterns. In Chapter 9, we examine social inequality and trends in demography by means of: house attributes as a measure of social variability; and two methods of population estimation (the house/site area method, and the carbon-date frequency method). Predictions specific to each data category will be presented at the beginning of each analytical section and the findings summarized at the end of each section. Chapter 10 assembles all predictions and their results by time period, enabling a comprehensive view of the relative success of the model.