Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change: A.D. 700 –1300

Table 3.2. Descriptive Statistics for Floor Area (square meters) of Dwellings at Fort Hill
Statistic Occupation I Occupation II
Range 15.29 - 67.07 21.24 - 68.45
Mean 26.90 38.69
Median 25.97 40.48
Standard Deviation 9.82 11.52
between dwellings was used as a proxy measure for
characterizing the size and distribution of these smaller
spaces. The spacing between dwellings can also be
used as an indicator of the degree of crowding within
a village settlement and of the strength of social and
economic ties between households. The distances
between each dwelling and its first “adjacent” neighbor
were quite variable, ranging from 0.2 meters to 3.2
meters, though the majority of dwellings were within
1.5 meters of one another (Table 3.3). There is also considerable
variation in the distance between each
dwelling and its second “adjacent” neighbor, ranging
from 0.5 to 7 meters, and its third “adjacent” neighbor,
ranging from 1.5 to 11.6 meters. However, these three
distance measures do not show a proportionate
increase relative to each dwelling. That is, the distance
of each individual dwelling to its second “adjacent”
neighbor sometimes showed a slight increase over the
distance to its first “adjacent” neighbor or was much
greater. A similar pattern holds true for the distance
between an individual dwelling and its third “adjacent”
neighbor. Most dwellings within Fort Hill I were
generally, but not always, very close to at least one
other dwelling. Several households intentionally built
their dwellings closer to one another than absolutely
required by the limited amount of available occupational
space, probably forming cooperative economic
and social groups that manifested along kin lines. The
degree of crowding within Fort Hill I is a relative measure
best assessed in comparison to Fort Hill II.
Fort Hill II. Since part of Fort Hill II has eroded
away, the outer palisade line was extrapolated to estimate
its total maximum settlement area at 13,032
square meters. The single largest space within Fort Hill
II was the plaza, which, at 6883.6 square meters,
accounted for 53 percent of the total settlement area.
The geometric center of the plaza was only 7.6 meters
from the geometric center of the village component
(Table 3.1). This distance is quite small relative to the
maximum dimensions of both the plaza, 98.3 meters by
85.7 meters, and the entire village component, 135.5
meters by 121.8 meters. A possible ceremonial post that
was located within Fort Hill I’s plaza and 5 meters
from its center was only 2.7 meters from the center of
Fort Hill II’s plaza, supporting Cresson’s (1942:23-24)
assertion that this feature was associated with Fort
Hill II.
In Fort Hill II, the total maximum dwelling floor
area of 1241.4 square meters was estimated, because
two dwellings were partly destroyed by erosion and
one dwelling was partly obliterated due to modern
farming practices. This represented approximately 10
percent of the total settlement area. Dwellings ranged
in floor area from 21.2 square meters to 68.5 square
meters, with all but two dwellings having a floor area
less than 53.1 square meters (Table 3.2) (Figure 3.12).
Dwelling floor area increased almost continuously
from the smallest dwelling to the third largest
dwelling, with the exception of a slight break at
around 30.7 square meters. Pronounced abrupt
increases in this range are noticeable between the
third and second largest dwellings and the second
largest and the largest dwellings. Until the second
largest dwelling in Fort Hill II was expanded from its
original size of 46.8 square meters to 60.7 square
meters, the size difference between the largest
dwelling and the next largest dwelling would have
been more pronounced. As with the largest dwelling
in Fort Hill I, the largest dwelling in Fort Hill II may
have functioned as a men’s house/council house.
Other than the plaza and the space contained within
each dwelling, there were no other discretely
bounded areas within Fort Hill II. While destruction
by erosion makes it difficult to estimate, the space
between the two palisade lines minimally encompassed
1029.7 square meters, or at least 7.9 percent of
the total settlement area. A larger portion of the total
settlement area occurred in an arc between several
dwellings and the inner palisade line. At 1619.6
square meters, this space behind these 17 dwellings
represented 12.4 percent of the total settlement space,
Chapter 3 Modeling Village Community Organization Using Data From the Somerset County Relief Excavations 61