Site visibility and the interpretation of Mimbres Mogollon demography in the U.S. Southwest

Abstract

Models of Pithouse period cultural change in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico rely on a combination of surface and excavation data. Recent fieldwork at La Gila Encantada, a Late Pithouse (A.D. 550–1000) period site in the uplands west of the Mimbres River Valley, showed that surface data significantly under-represented earlier, less visible occupations at the site; the same was true at other Pithouse period sites. Investigations at La Gila Encantada and elsewhere demonstrate that the appearance of "villages" late in the Pithouse period represents a culmination of long-term land-use strategies and the stable use of particular sites over many generations. The observed changes in occupational intensity reflect a general pattern of demographic change tied to increasing population size and sedentism.