Settlement Patterns
Investigations in other parts of Dinetah have determined that sites are usually located within 0.5 km of a
seep or spring, and never more than 1.5 km from water. Generally our sites hold with this pattern. Inter-
estingly, there appear to be clusters of potentially contemporaneous sites centered on several of the
springs. Each potential community may represent one extended family, or a small group of families that
wintered together, even if some of the community members spent part of the year away hunting animals
or gathering plants. The fact that two or more groups of people shared the use of a spring would at least
imply cooperation over access to an important resource and probably implies other social contacts as
well. The occupants of the separate sites around a particular spring might have been members of one
extended family or clan.
seep or spring, and never more than 1.5 km from water. Generally our sites hold with this pattern. Inter-
estingly, there appear to be clusters of potentially contemporaneous sites centered on several of the
springs. Each potential community may represent one extended family, or a small group of families that
wintered together, even if some of the community members spent part of the year away hunting animals
or gathering plants. The fact that two or more groups of people shared the use of a spring would at least
imply cooperation over access to an important resource and probably implies other social contacts as
well. The occupants of the separate sites around a particular spring might have been members of one
extended family or clan.
