Fieldhouses, Villages, and the Tragedy of the Commons in the Early Northern Anasazi Southwest

Abstract

The appearance of field houses and villages in the early northern Anasazi Southwest is interpreted as containing information concerning inclusiveness of land ownership or control. Early northern Anasazi villages probably practiced patterns of resource control much like those documented historically in many pueblos, where agricultural lands were frequently controlled at an atomistic level (by individuals or households) so long as fields were in use, but remained communal property in theory and could be reallocated to other members of the community. The appearance of field houses may he an attempt to limit access to previously free and unregulated lands and the resources thereon.