Broken K Pueblo: Patterns Of Form And Function By James N. Hill

The article Broken K Pueblo: Patterns of Form and Function by James N. Hill is a scientific article about the archaeological excavations and study of at the Broken K Pueblo in Arizona in the 1960s. The article seeks to compare the findings, patterns and analyses of the Broken K Pueblo with those of a modern, contemporaneously occupied pueblos Hopi and Zuñi, to study the results statistically and looking at the variability within the site. The Broken K Pueblo was occupied from AD 1150 until 1280. The excavations at Broken K Pueblo found a 95-room structure with varied room sizes, locations and functions as determined by the artifacts found within each room. The entire pueblo was not excavated, as the area was too large – a total of fifty-four
Logistically, the article was well done in the use of language that was easy to follow for the reader, avoiding unnecessary confusion by using overcomplicated wording, which is appreciated and leads to an improved understanding of the article. While it was written very clearly and explicitly, the article was also written very scientifically. Making the scientific elements of the article such as the data presentation and statistics legible and comprehensible to the reader greatly facilitates the overall understanding of the research
While the conclusions and supporting evidence may not be the best, the statements made by the author were well supported using data tables to summarize and visually present the evidence. This is well encapsulated in in the discussion of the first and second propositions about the Broken K Pueblo, which state that the larger rooms should contain more evidence of all cultural remains at higher concentrations than the other rooms (Proposition One), and Proposition Two states that there should be greater variation in artifact types than in the other rooms (Hill, 1968). The evidence to support these claims is clearly stated in both a discussion of the cultural remains found and the presentation of these data in tables, showing how with both the largest quantity and greatest diversity of artifacts are found in the large rooms, citing lithic materials, pottery and various stone tools as supporting evidence of these propositions. The author works through the remaining propositions in this manner, supporting some better than others. The study was well thought out and presented in the paper, making adequate use of theories and hypotheses applied to