Mimbres During the Twelfth Century
Mimbres During the Twelfth Century

Author: Margaret Cecile Nelson

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9780816518685

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During the mid twelfth century, villages that had been occupied by the Mimbres people in what is now southwestern New Mexico were depopulated and new settlements were formed. While most scholars view abandonment in terms of failed settlements, Margaret Nelson shows that, for the Mimbres, abandonment of individual communities did not necessarily imply abandonment of regions. By examining the economic and social reasons for change among the Mimbres, Nelson reconstructs a process of shifting residence as people spent more time in field camps and gradually transformed them into small hamlets while continuing to farm their old fields. Challenging current interpretations of abandonment of the Mimbres area through archaeological excavation and survey, she suggests that agricultural practices evolved toward the farming of multiple fields among which families moved, with small social groups traveling frequently between small pueblos rather than being aggregated in large villages. Mimbres during the Twelfth Century is the first book-length contribution on this topic for the Classic Mimbres period and also addresses current debates on the role of Casas Grandes in these changes. By rethinking abandonment, Nelson shows how movement by prehistoric cultivators maintained continuity of occupation within a region and invites us to reconsider the dynamic relationship between people and their land.

Mimbres During the Twelfth Century
Mimbres During the Twelfth Century

Author: Margaret Cecile Nelson

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 9780816548972

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During the mid twelfth century, villages that had been occupied by the Mimbres people in what is now southwestern New Mexico were depopulated and new settlements were formed. While most scholars view abandonment in terms of failed settlements, Margaret Nelson shows that, for the Mimbres, abandonment of individual communities did not necessarily imply abandonment of regions.

New Perspectives on Mimbres Archaeology
New Perspectives on Mimbres Archaeology

Author: Barbara J. Roth

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2018-11-27

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0816539073

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In the early 1970s, understanding of the Mimbres region as a whole was in its infancy. In the following decades, thanks to dedicated work by enterprising archaeologists and nonprofit organizations, our understanding of the Mimbres region has become more complex, nuanced, and rich. New Perspectives on Mimbres Archaeology brings together these experts in a single volume for the first time. The contributors discuss current knowledge of the people who lived in the Mimbres region of the southwestern United States and how our knowledge has changed since the Mimbres Foundation, directed by Steven A. LeBlanc, began the first modern archaeological investigations in the region. Many of these authors have spent decades conducting the fieldwork that has allowed for a broader understanding of Mimbres society. Focusing on a variety of important research topics of interest to archaeologists—including the social contexts of people and communities, the role of ritual and ideology in Mimbres society, evidence of continuities and cultural change through time, and the varying impacts of external influences throughout the region—New Perspectives on Mimbres Archaeology presents recent data on and interpretations of the entire pre-Hispanic sequence of occupation. Additional contributions include a history of nonprofit archaeology by William H. Doelle and a concluding chapter by Steven A. LeBlanc reflecting on his decades-long work in Mimbres archaeology and outlining important areas for the next wave of research.

Hinterlands and Regional Dynamics in the Ancient Southwest
Hinterlands and Regional Dynamics in the Ancient Southwest

Author: Alan P. Sullivan

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9780816525140

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Hinterlands and Regional Dynamics in the Ancient Southwest is the first volume dedicated to understanding the nature of and changes in regional social autonomy, political hegemony, and organizational complexity across the entire prehistoric American Southwest. With geographic coverage extending from the Great Plains to the Colorado River, and from Mesa Verde to the international border, the volumeÕs ten case studies synthesize research that enhances our understanding of the ancient SouthwestÕs highly variable demographic, land use, and economic histories. For this volume, ÒhinterlandsÓ are those areas whose archaeological records do not disclose the ceramic, architectural, and network evidence that initially led to the establishment of the Hohokam, Chaco, and Casas Grandes regional systems. Employing a variety of perspectives, such as the cultural landscapes approach, heterarchy, and the common-pool resource model, as well as technical methods, such as petrographic and stylistic-attribute analyses, the volumeÕs contributors explore variation in hinterland identities, subsistence ecology, and sociopolitical organization as regional systems expanded and contracted between the 9th and 14th centuries AD. The hinterlands of the prehistoric Southwest were home to a substantial number of people and were often used as resource catchments by the inhabitants of regional systems. Importantly, hinterlands also influenced developments of nearby regional systems, under whose footprint they managed to retain considerable autonomy. By considering the dynamics between hinterlands and regional systems, the volume reveals unappreciated aspects of the ancient SouthwestÕs peoples and their lives, thereby deepening our awareness of the regionÕs rich and complicated cultural past.

Salado Archaeology of the Upper Gila, New Mexico
Salado Archaeology of the Upper Gila, New Mexico

Author: Stephen H. Lekson

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2002-03

Total Pages: 126

ISBN-13: 9780816522224

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Salado is an enigma of the past. One of the most spectacular cultures of the ancient Southwest, its brilliant polychrome pottery has been subjected to varied interpretations, from religious cult to artistic horizon. Stephen Lekson now uses data from two Salado sitesÑa large pueblo and a small farmsteadÑto clarify long-standing misconceptions about this culture. By combining analysis of the large whole-vessel collection at Dutch Ruin with the scientific excavation of Villareal II, a picture of Salado emerges that enables Lekson to evaluate previous competing theories and propose that Salado represents a major fourteenth-century migration of Pueblo peoples into the Chihuahuan deserts. Lekson demonstrates that late, short-lived Salado farmsteadsÑdifficult to identify archaeologically in areas with larger Mimbres concentrationsÑcoexisted with larger Salado towns, and he argues that Salado in the Upper Gila region appears as a substantial in-migration of Mogollon Uplands populations into what was a vacant river valley. Throughout the fourteenth century, Salado communities in the Upper Gila were integrated into the larger Salado horizon and were closely connected to Casas Grandes, as indicated by the export of serpentine to the city of PaquimŽ and the occurrence of Casas Grandes pottery at Upper Gila Salado sites. The book includes illustrations of 71 vessels from Dutch Ruin plus a full-color frontispiece. Through analysis of these two sites, Lekson has taken a large step toward clearing up the mystery of Salado. His work will be welcomed by all who study the movements of peoples in the prehispanic Southwest.

Surviving Sudden Environmental Change
Surviving Sudden Environmental Change

Author: Jago Cooper

Publisher: University Press of Colorado

Published: 2012-04-15

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 1607321688

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Archaeologists have long encountered evidence of natural disasters through excavation and stratigraphy. In Surviving Sudden Environmental Change, case studies examine how eight different past human communities-ranging from Arctic to equatorial regi

The American Southwest and Mesoamerica
The American Southwest and Mesoamerica

Author: Jonathon E. Ericson

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-11-11

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 1489911499

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Regional approaches to the study of prehistoric exchange have generated much new knowledge about intergroup and regional interaction. The American South west and Mesoamerica: Systems of Prehistoric Exchange is the first of two volumes that seek to provide current information regarding regional exchange on a conti nental basis. From a theoretical perspective, these volumes provide important data for the comparative analysis of regional systems relative to sociopolitical organization from simple hunter-gatherers to those of complex sociopolitical entities like the state. Although individual regional exchange systems are unique for each region and time period, general patterns emerge relative to sOciopolitical organization. Of significant interest to us are the dynamic processes of change, stability, rate of growth, and collapse of regional exchange systems relative to sociopolitical complexity. These volumes provide basic data to further our under standing of prehistoric exchange systems. The volume presents our current state of knowledge about regional exchange systems in the American Southwest and Mesoamerica. Each chapter synthesizes the research findings of a number of other researchers in order to provide a synchronic view of regional interaction for a specific chronological period. A diachronic view is also prOvided for regional interaction in the context of the developments in regional SOciopolitical organization. Most authors go beyond description by proposing alternative models within which to understand regional interaction. The book is organized by geographical and chronological divisions to pro vide units of the broader mosaic of prehistoric exchange systems.

Population Circulation and the Transformation of Ancient Zuni Communities
Population Circulation and the Transformation of Ancient Zuni Communities

Author: Gregson Schachner

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2012-04-01

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0816529868

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Because nearly all aspects of culture depend on the movement of bodies, objects, and ideas, mobility has been a primary topic during the past forty years of archaeological research on small-scale societies. Most studies have concentrated either on local moves related to subsistence within geographically bounded communities or on migrations between regions resulting from pan-regional social and environmental changes. Gregson Schachner, however, contends that a critical aspect of mobility is the transfer of people, goods, and information within regions. This type of movement, which geographers term "population circulation," is vitally important in defining how both regional social systems and local communities are constituted, maintained, and--most important--changed. Schachner analyzes a population shift in the Zuni region of west-central New Mexico during the thirteenth century AD that led to the inception of major demographic changes, the founding of numerous settlements in frontier zones, and the initiation of radical transformations of community organization. Schachner argues that intraregional population circulation played a vital role in shaping social transformation in the region and that many notable changes during this period arose directly out of peoples' attempts to create new social mechanisms for coping with frequent and geographically extensive residential mobility. By examining multiple aspects of population circulation and comparing areas that were newly settled in the thirteenth century to some that had been continuously occupied for hundreds of years, Schachner illustrates the role of population circulation in the formation of social groups and the creation of contexts conducive to social change. Ê

Climate and Culture Change in North America AD 900–1600
Climate and Culture Change in North America AD 900–1600

Author: William C. Foster

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2012-05-15

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 0292742703

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Climate change is today’s news, but it isn’t a new phenomenon. Centuries-long cycles of heating and cooling are well documented for Europe and the North Atlantic. These variations in climate, including the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), AD 900 to 1300, and the early centuries of the Little Ice Age (LIA), AD 1300 to 1600, had a substantial impact on the cultural history of Europe. In this pathfinding volume, William C. Foster marshals extensive evidence that the heating and cooling of the MWP and LIA also occurred in North America and significantly affected the cultural history of Native peoples of the American Southwest, Southern Plains, and Southeast. Correlating climate change data with studies of archaeological sites across the Southwest, Southern Plains, and Southeast, Foster presents the first comprehensive overview of how Native American societies responded to climate variations over seven centuries. He describes how, as in Europe, the MWP ushered in a cultural renaissance, during which population levels surged and Native peoples substantially intensified agriculture, constructed monumental architecture, and produced sophisticated works of art. Foster follows the rise of three dominant cultural centers—Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, Cahokia on the middle Mississippi River, and Casas Grandes in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico—that reached population levels comparable to those of London and Paris. Then he shows how the LIA reversed the gains of the MWP as population levels and agricultural production sharply declined; Chaco Canyon, Cahokia, and Casas Grandes collapsed; and dozens of smaller villages also collapsed or became fortresses.

Food Production in Native North America
Food Production in Native North America

Author: Kristen J. Gremillion

Publisher: University Press of Colorado

Published: 2018-09-09

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 0932839584

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This book in the SAA Press Current Perspectives Series provides a broad overview of the development of agriculture and other forms of resource management by the Native peoples of North America. Its geographical scope includes most of the continent’s temperate zone, but regions where agriculture took hold are emphasized. Temporally, this volume looks back as far as the first indigenous domesticates that emerged in the midcontinental region and follows the story into the era of European conquest.