Architecture and the Organization of Labor at Tsegi Phase (AD 1250-1300) Cliff Dwellings, Navajo National Monument

This study focuses on the organization of architectural labor at Betatakin and Keet Seel during the Tsegi Phase (AD 1250-1300). The goal of this project is to identify whether people worked together as households, suprahouseholds, communities, or had specialists come in to build. I document variability in architectural attributes across rooms within individual houses, which is then linked to builder choices, and thus allows for the identification of architectural products associated with discrete production groups. Builders that work together share their decisions to the extent that their output is distinct from the work of others. This project expands on traditional archaeological assessments of architecture by focusing on earthen architectural materials, such as mortars, plasters, and daub. Results indicate that variability patterns onto room clusters. Architectural labor at Betatakin and Keet Seel thus seems to have been organized at the household level, with individual households responsible for constructing their own spaces.