THE HARLAN GREAT KIVA SITE: CIVIC ARCHITECTURE AND COMMUNITY PERSISTENCE IN THE GOODMAN POINT AREA OF SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO

Great kivas in the Southwest have long been studied as structures representative of community organization and location. Recent work at the Harlan Great Kiva site, in the Goodman Point Unit of Hovenweep National Monument, suggests that some great kivas served as social anchors, effectively tethering a community to the landscape for generations. Different building episodes at the Harlan Great Kiva site correspond to the initiation, development, and restructuring of the associated community spanning about 250 years. These observations suggest the site may serve as a proxy for related developments in the community, and is likely reflective of a persistent community identity that was constructed and altered by generations of Pueblo people in the Goodman Point Area.