Mimbres Region Research Articles

Children in Mimbres Pithouse Society

Children were active participants in past village life and reconstructing their activities and social roles can provide important insights into domestic and economic dynamics at archaeological sites. In this paper, we use data from two excavated pithouse sites in the Mimbres region of southwestern New Mexico and data from cross-cultural studies of children’s activities to explore children’s roles and contributions to Mimbres pithouse society. This work seeks to build on work being done on children and childhood in other regions. Our data show that children were active and productive participants at these sites and their roles extended beyond just economic production.

Reevaluating Mobility and Sedentism in Classic Mimbres and Salado Villages, Southwest New Mexico

Fourteenth-century Cliff phase Salado (AD 1300–1450) villages in southwest New Mexico show interesting contrasts with earlier villages in the same region from the Classic Mimbres period (AD 1000–1130). One of the most intriguing differences is that although people in both time periods relied heavily on maize agriculture, Salado period villagers may have employed a more mobile land-use strategy in comparison to Classic Mimbres period residents of the same areas. Researchers in the 1980s suggested that “short-term sedentism” characterized Salado period sites but had limited comparative data. This study reexamines evidence for mobility and sedentism in the Classic Mimbres and Salado periods using burial and architectural data from 49 excavated archaeological sites in the Mimbres region, including recent work on Salado villages.

Situational Power in Cooperative Communities: Indicators from Bioarchaeology in the Mimbres Region of Southwest New Mexico

Situational Power in Cooperative Communities: Indicators from Bioarchaeology in the Mimbres Region of Southwest New Mexico

The Social Significance of Mimbres Painted Pottery in the U.S. Southwest

Mimbres painted pottery from the U.S. Southwest is renowned for its spectacular designs. Literature on style and identity suggests three concepts helpful for understanding its social significance: boundaries, multiple dimensions of variation, and historical context. This article investigates these concepts by synthesizing past studies with new analyses. The distribution of Mimbres pottery is strongly bounded, demonstrated with data from the cyberSW project. Variation in designs is multidimensional: (1) individual artists created distinctive styles; (2) specific designs are distributed homogeneously across the region, a conclusion demonstrated in part with new analyses of the geometric designs; and (3) pan-regionally, the designs’ content, regular structure, and appearance on multiple media suggest they were meaning-charged. Considering these findings in their historical context provides insights into the pottery's social significance and elaboration: population growth in the resource-rich Mimbres region engendered land tenure systems, marked in part by burials that included pottery. The pottery came to convey the message “I belong here” from two perspectives. By adopting the pottery, people, including migrants, signaled their acceptance of established ways of life in the region, and their access to the pottery indicated their acceptance in the social milieu.

Environmental Precarity and Religious Transformation during the Mimbres Transitional Phase

This article examines the 10th century AD Mimbres Transitional phase and the significant social transformations that occurred during that time. While archaeological studies of the Mimbres region have been conducted for over a century, the Transitional phase, falling between the Late Pithouse (AD 550–1000) and Classic periods (AD 1000–1130), was not definitively delineated until recently. Data from a few key sites in particular—NAN Ranch, the Woodrow Site, and the Harris site—have not only helped define the Transitional phase, but also suggest that the social reconfigurations evident during this time correspond with significant ritual transformations and environmental downturn. Instead of violence, collapse, or other deleterious social responses, Mimbres people were able to persist and even thrive during declining environmental conditions, thus providing a somewhat unique case study of human-environmental interaction in American Southwest archaeology.

Violence and Social Structure in the Mimbres Region of Southwest New Mexico: Interpretations from Bioarchaeological Data

A comprehensive bioarchaeological assessment of health and interpersonal violence was completed using data from a sample of 247 adult burials from Late Pithouse (AD 550–1000) and Pueblo (AD 1000–1350) sites in the Mimbres region of the American Southwest. The results of skeletal analysis demonstrate evidence of social interactions that have not been well described in case studies that have highlighted individual burials and/or singular communities. This larger sample of adult burials reveals mostly nonlethal trauma among 11.3% of crania, suggesting that previous assertions of a peaceful existence may not be entirely accurate. While Mimbres communities do not appear to have experienced endemic raiding and warfare, conflict was still present throughout the majority of their chronology. Social mechanisms including corporate group community structures may have promoted cooperation and reduced lethal trauma among Mimbres adults.

The Diversity of the Postclassic Mimbres Periods (AD 1150–1450): Insights from Las Animas Village in Southwestern New Mexico

The Postclassic period (ca. AD 1150–1450) in the Mimbres region is diverse and variable. Excavation data from Las Animas Village (LA3949) is used to explore this variability and better delineate the regional sequence. Las Animas Village is a large multicomponent site with Pithouse, Classic, and Postclassic occupations. Focus here is on the Postclassic component, a roughly oval adobe pueblo, two-story in parts, that surrounded a plaza. There was extensive evidence of remodeling; some lower story rooms were filled in and use of the second story continued, in one case the second story was remodeled into small storage units. Both ceramic and chronometric dates indicate that the adobe pueblo was used in the AD 1300s and probably after 1400; it has numerous late types though little Roosevelt Red Ware. Las Animas Village is one of the only eastern Mimbres sites known for this time period, and it may have been where remaining populations gathered in late prehispanic times.

Long-Term Interactions of People and Animals in the Mimbres Region, Southwest New Mexico AD 200–1450

Understanding how people maintain long-term access to animals for food and other uses is important in the context of archaeology and may also have implications for contemporary societies’ access to animal resources. This study gathers information from 70 sets derived from existing data and museum collections to examine the long-term record of human population and settlement patterns, land use, and animal remains at archaeological sites in the Mimbres area. In some periods, the increasing aggregation of the population and the increasing sedentism contributed to altered environments near the villages and for that reason, the access to certain resources became more difficult. The recovery of some animal populations is also evident during periods when many human residents left the area to live elsewhere. These long-term trends demonstrate the power of recovery of different animal species to human hunting and anthropogenic changes in the landscape.

Public engagement and student archaeological projects: Lessons from research at Woodrow Ruin, New Mexico, USA

ABSTRACTArchaeology students face many hurdles while completing thesis or dissertation projects. Acquiring funding, collecting and analyzing data, conducting fieldwork, and presenting results are just some of the obstacles students must overcome. I argue that public engagement must also be part of student-led archaeological projects. First, students need to develop the skills for collaborative research. Second, the public, including local communities and indigenous groups, should be afforded opportunities to share their knowledge, voices, and skills in student projects. In this paper, I describe (and self-critique) several public archaeology strategies (including new opportunities such as crowdfunding) from my dissertation research at Woodrow Ruin, a large, multi-component site in the Mimbres region of southwest New Mexico, USA. My project demonstrates that public engagement is indeed possible as an archaeology student, and could be an integral part of more student research projects.

Re-evaluating the Mimbres Region Prehispanic Chronometric Record

Many decades of archaeological research in the Mimbres region have resulted in hundreds of chronometric dates obtained from contexts dating prior to A.D. 1450, but until now these data have not been compiled into a single database. Using dendrochronological, radiocarbon, and archaeomagnetic dates, we analyze each of the chronometric data sets to identify patterns and biases that help us better understand the tempo and duration of fundamental transitions in the Mimbres archaeological record. We also identify critical gaps in our knowledge of the chronometric record that provide new research opportunities.

Pithouse Retirement and Dedication in the Mimbres Mogollon Region of Southwestern New Mexico

The Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico has been a key area where evidence of the ritual dedication and retirement of communal structures has been found. We present data that extends these activities to domestic contexts, documenting evidence for the incorporation of dedicatory objects during pithouse construction and the ritual retirement of several Late Pithouse period (AD 550–1000) structures in the Mimbres region. We suggest that symbolic activities associated with construction and abandonment were important components of Late Pithouse period occupations and discuss the implications of their presence in relation to household rituals.

Ritual Change and the Distant: Mesoamerican Iconography, Scarlet Macaws, and Great Kivas in the Mimbres Region of Southwestern New Mexico

AbstractThe Mimbres Classic period (A .D. 1000–1130) in southwestern New Mexico was marked by dramatic and complex changes. The use of Great Kivas ended, and macaws and Mesoamerican-inspired iconography appeared. We argue that these events were systematically related and signify observable changes in Mimbres ritual economy. The presence of macaws, images of macaws, and representations of characters and motifs from the Hero Twins saga suggest that ideology accompanied macaws north from the Gulf Coast of Mexico. We recognize and discuss episodes and icons from the saga painted on Mimbres black-on-white bowls and propose that the macaws and narrative reached the Mimbres region through direct acquisition rather than down-the-line trade. This research has significant implications for the importance of long distance travel to faraway places and interaction with distant peoples, Mesoamerican-southwestern United States relationships, changing religious practices in non-hierarchical societies, and the adoption of extrinsic elements into local settings.

Large game, agricultural land, and settlement pattern change in the eastern Mimbres area, southwest New Mexico

The 12th-century depopulation of large villages in the Mimbres region of the US Southwest has been attributed to a number of causes, including resource stress. This study combines archaeological evidence and models of environmental conditions in the eastern Mimbres area of southwest New Mexico to assess the magnitude and timing of food stress from a combination of a period of reduced precipitation and the effects of prolonged hunting and farming activities on the landscape. Results indicate that large game in the area was quite sensitive to hunting pressure, and was locally depleted long before settlement reorganization occurred. Access to arable land was somewhat reduced around the time of settlement reorganization, but productive land remained locally plentiful. Although the settlement reorganization did not improve access to large game or arable land, farmers’ perceptions of below-average conditions for agriculture relative to their expectations and past experience would have contributed to decisions to move.

Archaeological and Ecological Perspectives on Reorganization: A Case Study from the Mimbres Region of the U.S. Southwest

Collapse and abandonment dominate the popular literature on prehistoric societies, yet we know that reorganization is a more common process by which social and ecological relationships change. We explore the process of reorganization using the emerging perspective of resilience theory. Ecologists and social scientists working within a resilience perspective have argued that reorganization is an important component of long-term adaptive cycles, but it remains understudied in both social science and ecology. One of the central assumptions to emerge from the resilience perspective is that declines in the diversity of social and ecological units contribute to transformations in social and ecological systems. We evaluate this assumption using archaeological data, which offer an opportunity to investigate a time span rarely examined in studies of resilience and reorganization. We focus on the 11th to 13th century in the eastern Mimbres area of southwestern New Mexico, a period within which a substantial reorganization occurred. Much is known about the regional-scale changes that resulted in the depopulation of nearly every large village in the Mimbres region, what some have referred to as the “Mimbres collapse.” Our analyses examine both continuity and change in aspects of house- and village-level reorganization.

Archaeological and Ecological Perspectives on Reorganization: A Case Study from the Mimbres Region of the U.S. Southwest

Collapse and abandonment dominate the popular literature on prehistoric societies, yet we know that reorganization is a more common process by which social and ecological relationships change. We explore the process of reorganization using the emerging perspective of resilience theory. Ecologists and social scientists working within a resilience perspective have argued that reorganization is an important component of long-term adaptive cycles, but it remains understudied in both social science and ecology. One of the central assumptions to emerge from the resilience perspective is that declines in the diversity of social and ecological units contribute to transformations in social and ecological systems. We evaluate this assumption using archaeological data, which offer an opportunity to investigate a time span rarely examined in studies of resilience and reorganization. We focus on the 11th to 13th century in the eastern Mimbres area of southwestern New Mexico, a period within which a substantial reorganization occurred. Much is known about the regional-scale changes that resulted in the depopulation of nearly every large village in the Mimbres region, what some have referred to as the “Mimbres collapse.” Our analyses examine both continuity and change in aspects of house- and village-level reorganization.

PREHISPANIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IN THE MIMBRES REGION, SOUTHWESTERN NEW MEXICO

Prehispanic settlements often had archaeologically visible impacts on their surrounding environments, including changes in local plant communities that affected the presence and abundance of both plant and animal species. Here, data from sites in the Mimbres region of southwestern New Mexico are used to identify evidence for such impacts around habitation sites, and to investigate four factors (site size, elevation, water availability, and occupational history) that influence the degree of impact different settlement types had on their surroundings. Patterning in riparian tree species ubiquity, weed ubiquity, and lagomorph ratios indicates that environmental impact is linked not only to settlement size, but also to the history of human occupation in an area. These combined factors outweigh differences in settlement elevation and water availability in the study area.

Recent issues in the Archaeology of the Mimbres region of the North American Southwest

Archaeological research in the Mimbres region (southwestern New Mexico) has focused on the post-A.D. 500 ceramic/agricultural occupations, especially the Mimbres Classic period (1000–1130). This work has advanced general anthropological issues regarding mobility, land use and human impact, and the concept of “abandonment.” Deeper understandings of some of these issues require more detailed demographic estimates, which in turn are dependent on methodological advances, particularly studies of site use life. Research on the production and distribution of Mimbres pottery—famous for its naturalistic black-on-white designs—is advancing rapidly. Although the designs have been well illustrated and much discussed, more systematic anthropological research on Mimbres design style is badly needed. Various aspects of Mimbres social and ideational realms (e.g., household and community organization, social hierarchy, the symbolism of the pottery designs) have received some attention but await new perspectives derived from current social theory.

Corrugated Pottery, Technological Style, and Population Movement in the Mimbres Region of the American Southwest

An understanding of small-scale population movements is essential to recent research on migration. Consideration of the technological style (processes of manufacture) of pottery, in conjunction with petrographic sourcing analyses, provides means of identifying and interpreting population movements at various scales. Diverse styles characterizes Postclassic Mimbres (A.D. 1150-early 1200s) regional reorganization in southwest New Mexico. One new style, indented corrugated pottery, is similar to northern types. Postclassic assemblages include both roughly and finely made examples, both locally produced. The finely executed vessels were made by migrants from the north and possibly by local potters who learned the northern techniques. The roughly made vessels were produced by local potters who copied the technique. The rough and fine vessels are found in the same contexts, suggesting no spatial or temporal differentiation. Thus in-migration to the eastern Mimbres area involved individuals or small groups who joined a preexisting network, possibly through intermarriage.

Abandonment and Reorganization the Mimbres Region of the American Southwest

Archaeological research on abandonments has focused primarily on their causes, as though they were final events. This article investigates the abandonment at the end of the Mimbres Classic Period as a process of reorganization within a larger social context. Analyses of pottery and architecture demonstrate that previously homogeneous material culture was replaced by a diversity of technological styles. These material changes indicate that the reorganization involved the development of broader regional ties and the redefinition of community.

A Re-Evaluation of Mimbres Faunal Subsistence

ABSTRACTData from NAN Ruin, Grant County, and Old Town, Luna County, New Mexico, suggest that spatial factors influenced variability in faunal subsistence in the Mimbres Valley from A.D. 1150. It had been accepted that environmental effects from the increase of agriculture in the valley caused the jackrabbit population to increase and the cottontail and artiodactyl populations to decrease. However, this reconstruction is not supported when previously published studies are re-examined with new data from NAN Ruin and Old Town. Throughout the Mimbres region, prehistoric inhabitants appear to have relied primarily on rabbits, while also consuming rodents and artiodactyls. Spatial differences were found throughout the valley, with jackrabbits more common in the middle and lower valley and cottontails more common in the upper valley. These spatial differences reflect variations in local environments. This study indicates that variability in Mimbres faunal subsistence is related to these local environmental vari...