Native residents of the Slone site village organized their commuity in concentric activity zones around a central plaza. A storage/cooking zone bordered the plaza. It contained hearths, earth ovens, and storage pits. The lack of trash in this zone indicated that residents regularly swept it to keep their work place clean.
Bordering the storage/cooking zone was the residential zone, where the houses stood. On average, houses measured 19 by 28 feet and each had a central hearth. Residents disposed of their trash - ceramic jar fragments, broken arrowheads, and animal bone - behind their houses. These materials accumulated in large piles. Family and kin-related cemeteries also were located behind the houses.
A wooden palisade encircled the village. Judging by the circumference of the earliest palisade, the village initially measured just over 200 feet in diameter. Sometime during the life of the village, residents dismantled the initial palisade and built several houses where it had once stood. A second palisade was then built to include the new houses. This village measured 240 feet in diameter. A third palisade, measuring 255 feet in diameter, was built toward the end of the village’s occupation.
Residents may have encircled their community with a palisade to protect the village from attack. The palisade also could have served as a clear boundary that distinguished community residents from outsiders.