Hopi Dwellings: Architectural Change at Orayvi [Hardcover]

Catherine M. Cameron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999

The dramatic split of the Hopi community of Orayvi in 1906 had lasting consequences not only for the people of Third Mesa but also for the very buildings around which they centered their lives. This book examines architectural and other effects of that split, using architectural change as a framework with which to understand social and cultural processes at prehistoric Southwestern pueblos. Catherine Cameron examines architectural change at Orayvi from 1871 to 1948, a period of great demographic and social upheaval. Her study is unique in its use of historic photographs to document and understand abandonment processes and apply that knowledge to prehistoric sites. Photos taken by tourists, missionaries, and early anthropologists during the late nineteenth century portray original structures, while later photos show how Orayvi buildings changed over a period of almost eighty years. Census data relating to house size and household configuration shed additional light on social change in the pueblo. Examining change at Orayvi afforded an opportunity to study the architectural effects of an event that must have happened many times in the past--the partial abandonment of a pueblo--by tracing the effects of sudden population decline on puebloan architecture. Cameron's work provides clues to how and why villages were abandoned and re-established repeatedly in the prehistoric Southwest as it offers a unique window on the relationship between Pueblo houses and the living people who occupied them.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A skillful example of how to incorporate various types of historical data into analyses of architecture to produce results that can be used in archaeological research." —Journal of Anthropological Research "An enlightening study of an important episode in Hopi history. Her interpretation of Pueblo history in light of Oraibi implies that the presence of the U.S. military, missionaries, and Indian agents did not disrupt a process evident in centuries of Hopi history." —New Mexico Historical Review

About the Author

Catherine M. Cameron is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Colorado-Boulder and co-editor with Steve A. Tomka of The Abandonment of Settlements and Regions: Ethnoarchaeological and Archaeological Approaches.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816517819
• ISBN-13: 978-0816517817
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,522,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars it's a research paper, August 29, 2001

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Todd Bradley (Broomfield, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hopi Dwellings: Architectural Change at Orayvi (Hardcover)

I'm not sure exactly how to review this book. I bought it sight unseen and without having read any reviews of it. From the title, I hoped this was an historical and archeological look at changes in pueblo architecture at Orayvi (Oraibi) over the course of its use. I assumed it would cover things like changes in building materials, design, and pueblo orientation over the past 600 to 800 years.
However, this book looks at one specific question - how did pueblo room sizes, numbers, and usage change from the 1880s to the 1940s? It covers that in great detail, but reads very much like a graduate thesis. That is, it's very dry reading and repetitive.
If you are an archaeologist studying puebloan sites, you probably already have the book. If you're an interested lay person (like me) it's probably not going to satisfy you.