Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

Residential architecture has traditionally been of special interest to archaeologists (Trigger 1967), and in recent studies of hunter and gatherer societies it has assumed new importance as an indicator of social complexity (Price and Brown 1985) and residential mobility (Ames 1991). A great deal of productive research has been conducted in southern Idaho in the last 15 years, resulting in the identification of 15 sites with house features and information on 29 separate structures. This paper describes the prehistoric houses built in southern Idaho, compares these with other residential structures in the Intermountain West, and identifies needed research to place these features in a broader interpretative framework. The geographic area of the study includes the Snake River Plain in southern Idaho, and the Boise, Payette, and Weiser river drainages in western Idaho (Fig. 1). For recent overviews of southern Idaho prehistory see Butler (1986), Holmer (1990), Meatte (1990), Titmus and Woods (1991), and Pavesic and Studebaker (1993).