The Transition from the Preceramic to Ceramic Period in the Mogollon Highlands of Western New Mexico

Abstract

New excavations at the SU site have provided chronological and artifactual data leading to several revisions of long-standing interpretations of this important early pithouse settlement in the Mogollon Highlands of western New Mexico. As the type site for the Pine Lawn phase, conventionally dated at ca. A.C. 200 to 550, the SU site has been assumed to represent evidence for a cultural continuum between the preceramic and ceramic horizons in this region. This study presents information indicating that although a preceramic occupation is present at the SU site, stratigraphic and chronological data supporting a cultural continuum from the preceramic are ambiguous. In addition, chronological data from the SU site and other local early ceramic period sites do not indicate pottery use until about A.C. 450 or later, suggesting that the beginning of ceramic manufacture in the rugged highland portions of the Mogollon cultural area occurred later than in most other areas of the American Southwest. In addition, other new data help refine current models for the emergence of sedentary villages in this region.