Settlement Succession on the Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico

Previous explanations of puebloan settlement pattern change in the northern Rio Grande have largely been atheoretical and unparticularistic. In contrast, this study uses Hudson's theory of rural settlement to explain settlement change on the Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico, from A.D. 1150 to 1550. Quadrat and nearest-neighbor analyses are used to describe settlement distribution, and basic descriptive statistics are used to characterize changes in site size over time. The results of the analyses suggest that despite certain theoretical limitations and methodological problems, Hudson's model provides an important starting point for the explanation of settlement succession in the study area.