In Ancient Households of the Americas archaeologists investigate the fundamental role of household production in ancient, colonial, and contemporary households. Several different cultures-Iroquois, Coosa, Anasazi, Hohokam, San Agustín, Wankarani, Formative Gulf Coast Mexico, and Formative, Classic, Colonial, and contemporary Maya-are analyzed 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 socioeconomic 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. "There are a number of excellent studies that scholars interested in household archaeology will find highly useful." ―Charles R. Riggs, Journal of Anthropological Research "This collection underscores the importance of household archaeology to the study of social dynamics." ―J.A. Hendon, Choice "This excellent book should be heavily used by anyone with an interest in household archaeology." ―Kenneth M. Ames, North American Archaeologist "This volume is an impressive one . . . . In an era in which household archaeology has become essential to archaeological praxis, this volume is indeed essential reading." ―Bradley Parker, Cambridge Archaeological Journal "In an era in which household archaeology has become essential to archaeological praxis, this volume is indeed essential reading." -Bradley J. Parker,  Cambridge Archaeological Journal John G. Douglass is a principal investigator and research director at Statistical Research, Inc. Nancy Gonlin is a senior associate professor of anthropology at Bellevue College in Bellevue, Washington. Nancy Gonlin is a Mesoamerican archaeologist who specializes in daily and nightly practices, household studies, and inequality. She serves as co-editor of the Cambridge journal  Ancient Mesoamerica . Her publications include the co-edited volumes Commoner Ritual and Ideology in Ancient Mesoamerica,  Ancient Households of the Americas, and Human Adaptation in Ancient Mesoamerica. She is   co-author of Copán: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Maya Kingdom . Watch her TEDx talk "Life After Dark in the Ancient World" here. Ancient Households of the Americas Conceptualizing What Households Do By John G. Douglass, Nancy Gonlin University Press of Colorado Copyright © 2012 University Press of Colorado All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-60732-538-3 Contents List of Figures, List of Tables, Preface, Acknowledgments, 1. The Household as Analytical Unit: Case Studies from the Americas John G. Douglass and Nancy Gonlin, Section I: Household Production Organization: Spatial and Social Contexts in the Past and Present, 2. Occupation Span and the Organization of Residential Activities: A Cross-Cultural Model and Case Study from the Mesa Verde Region Mark D. Varien, 3. Production and Consumption in the Countryside: A Case Study from the Late Classic Maya Rural Commoner Households at Copán, Honduras Nancy Gonlin, 4. Iroquoian Households: A Mohawk Longhouse at Otstungo, New York Dean R. Snow, 5. Activity Areas and Households in the Late Mississippian Southeast United States: Who Did What Where? Ramie A. Gougeon, 6. The Social Evolution of Potters' Households in Ticul, Yucatán, Mexico, 1965-1997 Dean E. Arnold, 7. Pots and Agriculture: Anasazi Rural Household Production, Long House Valley, Northern Arizona John G. Douglass and Robert A. Heckman, Section II: Households as Primary Producers: Implications for Domestic Organization, 8. Hohokam Household Organization, Sedentism, and Irrigation in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona Richard Ciolek-Torrello, 9. Understanding Households on Their Own Terms: Investigations on Household Sizes, Production, and Longevity at K'axob, Belize H. Hope Henderson, 10. Late Classic Period Terrace Agriculture in the Lowland Maya Area: Modeling the Organization of Terrace Agricultural Activity L. Theodore Neff, Section III: Inter- and Intrahousehold Organization of Production: Households and Communities, 11. Fluctuating Community Organization: Formation and Dissolution of Multifamily Corporate Groups at La Joya, Veracruz, Mexico Valerie J. McCormack, 12. Relationships among Households in the Prehispanic Community of Mesitas in San Agustín, Colombia Víctor González Fernández, 13. Interhousehold versus Intracommunity Comparisons: Inci