Keywords

Fremont archaeology, landscapes, art

Abstract

Physical and cultural landscapes are integral aspects of everyday life; however, traditionally Fremont archaeologists have focused on studying sites or even features as discrete units instead of attempting to understand them in the broader context of their natural and cultural landscapes. Many Native American groups imbue the landscapes that surround them with cultural and religious meaning which are often materialized in rock art, alignment with celestial phenomena or prominent geographic features, and/or repeated use of meaningful locations. Discerning these meanings is difficult, particularly without ethnographic continuity, but we examine Fremont cultural landscapes from the perspective of several Fremont villages. More specifically, we examine the alignment of buildings within Fremont villages, which are strongly patterned but vary from one village to another, as well as the rock art and other sites in their immediate vicinity. These demonstrate that, as for societies across the Greater Southwest, cardinal directions and landscape features were important to Fremont worldviews.

Original Publication Citation

Katie K. Richards, James R. Allison, and Lindsay D. Johansson 2019 Fremont Villages in Their Cultural Landscapes. Paper presented at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, New Mexico.