ABSTRACT
The role played by individual settlements in a larger socioeconomic system is reflected in their physical structure. A basic element of structure is the overall arrangement, or patterning, of structures and activities at a habitation site and their differential use through time. Archaeologists have long recognized that patterns of settlement are sensitive indicators of economic, social, and political organization (Chang 1967; Trigger 1967; Willey 1953), and are capable of revealing continuity as well as change in adapting societies. Consequently, the observation of settlement patterning should be useful in identifying both traditional settlements and those evolving to meet changing conditions. This essay is concerned with a particular colonial settlement type and the relationship between function and the general layout of its activities.
