Mobile visitors to the Eastern Frontier Pueblos: An archaeological example from Tabirá

Abstract

For some time archaeologists have sought evidence of interactions noted in Spanish documents between mobile groups and the Eastern Frontier Pueblos specifically at the Salinas Pueblos. Most effort has focused on the examination and excavation of the pueblos themselves, either under the assumption that visitors routinely lived within the pueblos or because evidence of mobile visitors around and outside the pueblo has not been forthcoming. Surveys over the past decade have revealed evidence of mobile group encampments at the perimeter of these pueblos, consistent with mobile group signatures defined elsewhere in the region. One example described in this article, site LA 152447 is located near and within the influence zone of the pueblo inferred to be the historically referenced Tabirá. This site is a large mobile group encampment with numerous structures. Site LA 152447 is described and discussed with reference to documentary and ethnographic data. Implications for recognizing these types of mobile group sites are discussed.