Social Differentiation in Animal Use and Subsistence: A Case Study of the Marana Platform Mound

Abstract

The Marana Platform Mound Community (AZ AA:12:251[ASM]) in the Tucson Basin of southern Arizona provides a unique opportunity to examine the mechanisms of social organization within an early Classic Period Hohokam community. The role of the platform mound for integrative communal ritual or segregated elite-controlled activity is examined through faunal remains from the platform mound and nearby residential localities. Taxonomic diversity, relative abundance, and element distribution are used to measure the extent to which the platform mound served to integrate or distinguish site residents. Subtle differences in the diversity of taxa, the quantity of deposited faunal remains, and the quality of portions and taxa are indicative of differential access to resources between residents at the Platform Mound and residents in sites further away in the Tucson Basin. The findings support the current hypothesis that a dual mode of network and corporate strategy was used to organize the community.