Pithouse Period Research Articles

Food Processing and Cooking Technology during the Late Pithouse Period in the Mimbres Mogollon Region

Food processing and cooking were critical aspects of daily life in all past societies and the technologies associated with these practices can provide important information on domestic and economic activities. In this paper, we explore food processing and cooking technology during the Late Pithouse period (AD 550-1000) in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico using data from the Harris site, a large pithouse village located in the north-central portion of the Mimbres River Valley. The goal of this study is to document developments in food-related technology, determine if and how they changed through time, and examine how these technologies can inform domestic activities and household organization.

Persistent Places and Socialized Landscapes in the Pine Lawn/Reserve Region during the Pithouse Period

Regional culture histories of the Pithouse Period in the Pine Lawn/Reserve region of the Mogollon in west-central New Mexico note considerable variability in site location, site layout, and ritual structures, with some increase in variability through time. Additionally, most Pithouse Period sites are occupied during only one phase, with few having evidence of occupation in two phases. Only three sites (Mogollon Village, SU, and Turkey Foot Ridge) have evidence of occupation in all three phases of the period. This paper explores why these three sites may have become persistent places throughout the Pithouse Period. I argue the reasons for this continued reuse of a limited number of places is tied to developing religious beliefs and concepts of landscape socialization.

Great Kivas and Community Integration at the Harris Site, Southwestern New Mexico

Great kivas served as important ritual spaces and played significant roles in community integration throughout the Pithouse period (AD 550–1000) occupation of the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico. This article uses data from excavations at the Harris site, a large pithouse village located in the Mimbres Valley, to explore the role of great kivas and an associated plaza in community integration as the village grew, extended family households formed, and social distinctions developed. Data from excavations of sequentially used great kivas surrounding the plaza along with household data from domestic structures are used to examine the role of ritual space during the Pithouse period.

Movement of Pots (and People) Across the Landscape: Insights from the Chemical Characterization of Mogollon Early Pithouse Pottery

Ceramics from the Mogollon Early Pithouse period (AD 200-700) of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico consist of plain and red-slipped pottery. Even though numerous neutron activation analysis (NAA) studies have been conducted in the Mogollon region to examine pottery circulation and social networks, these studies generally focused on later types. We report the results of our NAA study that focused exclusively on Mogollon Early Pithouse pottery. We use the NAA data to explore how the pots (and people) moved across the landscape during the Early Pithouse period in the Mogollon region. We suggest that the pottery was not all locally produced. There was movement of pots, and likely people, within and between regions as well as between sites. Our analysis reveals differences in the movement of the plain brown and red-slipped ceramics. Our study shows that unpainted ceramics can provide insights into movement (pots and people) and social interaction.

GIS modeling of agricultural suitability in the highlands of the Jornada branch of the Mogollon culture of southcentral New Mexico

Changes in the importance of agriculture in prehistoric economies are of major interest in a range of contexts worldwide. Measures of site location in relation to agricultural potential are an important tool for identifying relative shifts in the importance of agriculture over time within a given region. Here we examine the application of GIS modeling of agricultural potential based on soil characteristics, topography, and proximity to drainage in the highlands of the Jornada branch of the Mogollon culture of southcentral New Mexico to explore shifts in agricultural reliance over time. We describe the methods, potential limitations, and potential advantages of this approach, as well as preliminary results. Identifying variables that reliably predict agricultural potential is complicated by the limited resolution of available data for the large study area, overlapping legal jurisdictions (state versus federal land), complex topography, as well as by a lack of modern non-mechanized farming data to ground-truth estimates of relative productivity. Nevertheless, the approach allows comparisons for relative changes in settlement placement over time in relation to variables that are likely to impact agricultural productivity. Our results support other evidence of strong agricultural reliance in the pithouse period, substantially greater than in the Archaic; the pueblo period occupation may be slightly more tightly linked to optimal agricultural land, though the latter conclusion is uncertain.

Using residue analysis to explore household activities at the Harris Site, Mimbres Valley, New Mexico

This paper uses data obtained from several different kinds of residue analyses to explore household activities and evaluate differences and similarities between households at the Harris Site, a Late Pithouse period (550–1000 CE) site located in the Mimbres River Valley of southwestern New Mexico. We used three different methods to explore these topics: lipid analysis from ceramic vessels, spot tests of fatty acids from pithouses, and FTIR from several artifact classes. The results were somewhat mixed, with information obtained on food processing, diet, and formation processes, but in the long run they have provided data that can be used in concert with other analysis data to document household activities and similarities and differences between households through time.

Early Mimbres households: Exploring the Late Pithouse period (550–1000 AD) at the Florida Mountain Site

Many studies have explored the household to understand social organization, production, and other dynamics of societies throughout the world. In this work, the approach outlined by Richard Wilk and colleagues is used to investigate households at the Florida Mountain Site, an intermittently occupied Late Pithouse period (550–1000AD) residential site in the Mimbres Mogollon area of Southwestern New Mexico. Drawing on the similarities of this intermittent residential site to contemporaneous pitstructure sites in the Mimbres area, we suggest that one or more household units occupied the site. Our analysis also supports previous inferences that Mimbres households were integrated into more inclusive levels of social organization (e.g., extended kin groups, villages, communities), but also indicate that this integration maintained cohesion during seasonal residential movements from more permanently occupied pitstructure sites.

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.

Kin Groups and Social Power at the Harris Site, Southwestern New Mexico

The Late Pithouse period in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico was a dynamic time during which many social changes occurred. One of the more significant of these changes appears to be related to the role of land-holding kin groups at some of the larger pithouse sites. We present bioarchaeological data from our recent excavations at the Harris Site in the Mimbres River Valley to illustrate that certain kin groups were gaining social power compared to others in the village. We discuss the reasons for these power differentials and the implications that they have for understanding the myriad other social changes occurring valley-wide at the end of the Pithouse period.

THE ADVENT OF BOW AND ARROW TECHNOLOGY IN THE MIMBRES MOGOLLON REGION

Recent studies have suggested that bow and arrow technology entered the Southwest earlier than previously thought, perhaps in the early centuries B.C. Our investigations at two upland Pithouse period sites in the Mimbres Mogollon region point to a later introduction of this technology into this area, ca A.D. 500. Our data also document a period of co-occurrence of arrow and dart points, indicating a gradual rather than abrupt transition to the exclusive use of the bow and arrow. We present the results of our study and discuss its implications for evaluating Pithouse period subsistence and technological change.

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

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.

A tale of two sites: Functional site differentiation and lithic technology during the Late Pithouse period in the Mimbres area of Southwestern New Mexico

The raw materials from which stone tools are made can provide considerable information relevant to behavioral variation within a prehistoric population. By examining the stone used for tools from two different types of Late Pithouse period (A.D. 550–1000) residential sites from the Mimbres Mogollon area of Southwestern New Mexico, this paper illustrates how understanding the lithic landscape of a region provides a means to assess behavioral variation in stone procurement practices. The analysis indicates that the differences in mobility and economic pursuits between longer-term residential sites containing pit structures and a shorter-term seasonal residential site with ephemeral architecture structured the raw material procurement practices of site’s occupants. Pit structure sites were focused on agricultural pursuits and used a technology that centered on the production of informal tools fashioned from locally available raw materials. The seasonal residential site focused on wild resources and evidenced greater reliance on formal tool production using raw materials acquired from beyond the immediate vicinity of the site. Despite increasing sedentism and agricultural dependence of the region’s population, some portion of the population exercised seasonal mobility strategies and associated technological and behavioral practices more typical of hunting and gathering populations, suggesting a diverse socio-economic system within the region.

A REEVALUATION OF THE MOGOLLON-MIMBRES ARCHAEOLOGICAL SEQUENCE

A new series of radiocarbon and tree-ring dates from the Mimbres area of the Mogollon region has modified the accepted chronology in the area. Recent work in the Mogollon-Mimbres area has firmly established the existence of a plain ware pit house period dated about a.d. 200–550. The dates of phases between a.d. 550–1000 have been modified, and the termination of the Classic period is dated at a.d. 1150. The Mangas phase is dropped, and it is shown that black-on-white ceramics and puebloan architecture do not appear almost simultaneously as previously believed. These changes have implications for the investigation of past settlement subsistence and social interaction patterns in southwestern New Mexico.

LATE PERIOD PITHOUSES IN THE POINT OF PINES REGION OF ARIZONA

Late period pithouses (post A.D. 1100) have been identified in several areas of the central mountains and northern plateaus in the American Southwest. These pithouses are generally interpreted as either temporary shelters used while more labor and time intensive masonry structures were built at a site or as winter residences used in a seasonally mobile agricultural system. I test these two interpretations with data from pithouses excavated in the Point of Pines region dated between A.D. 1265 and 1300. These structures are then compared to pithouses dated to the Pithouse period. The late pithouses are significantly different from early pithouses in the area and likely were used as temporary structures.

Mobility, Sedentism, and Settlement Patterns in Transition: The Late Pithouse Period in the Sapillo Valley, New Mexico

Recent research in the uplands of the Mimbres Mogollon area of SW New Mexico has produced insight into the adaptability of the Mimbres with regard to mobility, settlement, and land use through time. This paper investigates the transition from mobility to sedentism during the Late Pithouse period in the Sapillo Valley, Gila National Forest, New Mexico. We introduce new data for the pithouse period derived from two recent research projects that document changes in settlement and land use resulting from a sharp increase in sedentism during the Three Circle phase (A.C. 750–1000) of the Late Pithouse period. The timing and nature of the transition to sedentism in upland areas of SW New Mexico is argued to be more variable than currently suggested for the Mogollon region in general. We argue that sedentism in upland and mountainous areas such as SW New Mexico should occur only when it is economically justifiable and cost-effective. In the Sapillo Valley this did not occur until the Three Circle phase and it was a consequence of social and economic changes in the nearby, heavily occupied Mimbres Valley.

Mobility, Sedentism, and Settlement Patterns in Transition: The Late Pithouse Period in the Sapillo Valley, New Mexico

Mobility, Sedentism, and Settlement Patterns in Transition: The Late Pithouse Period in the Sapillo Valley, New Mexico

The Intensity of Maize Processing and Production in Upland Mogollon Pithouse Villages A.D. 200–1000

Analyses of the size, shape, and wear on western Mogollon manos and metates reveal that the dietary importance of maize remained low and stable from the Early Pithouse period (A.D. 200–550) through the Georgetown phase (A.D. 550–700). The consumption of maize increased during the San Francisco phase (A.D. 700–825/850) and continued to increase through the Three Circle phase (A.D. 825/850–1000). Changes in the ubiquity of charred pieces of maize (Zea mays) from paleoethnobotanical samples also indicate an increase in maize consumption from the Early Pithouse period through the Three Circle phase. The onset of increased maize consumption roughly coincided with the introduction of an improved variety of eight-row maize, around A.D. 650–700 (Upham et al. 1987). The analyses presented in this study do not agree with recent suggestions (Gilman 1987; Mauldin 1991) that maize consumption in the western Mogollon region remained stable and low until the Classic Mimbres phase (A.D. 1000–1150).

Resource Variability, Risk, and the Structure of Social Networks: An Example from the Prehistoric Southwest

Social interactions within a region may reduce the risk of resource stress by facilitating access to resources in other areas. Archaeological implications of this view of social networks are considered for the part-agricultural inhabitants of central New Mexico during the Pithouse period (ca. A.D. 900—1250). Spatial patterning of climatic variables suggests that social networks at least 50 km in extent and oriented in an east-southeastern direction from the focal site toward the Sierra Blanca region could have provided access to extralocal resources during years of poor local productivity. Similarity of ceramic assemblages (measured by Brainerd—Robinson coefficients) between the focal site and sites in the proposed alternative resource area confirms some degree of social contact during the Pithouse period; dissimilar ceramic assemblages from comparably distant sites to the west (in the Socorro area) indicate that geographic distance alone is not a good predictor of social interactions in this region.

A Primary Cremation at the NAN Ranch Ruin, with Comparative Data on Other Cremations in the Mimbres Area, New Mexico

AbstractIn 1980 a primary cremation was excavated at the NAN Ranch Ruin in Grant County, New Mexico. This cremation has been dated to the Three Circle Phase (A.C. 750–1000) of the Late Pithouse Period (A.C. 550–1000) on the basis of both stratigraphy and archaeomagnetic dating. Cremation was a rare form of mortuary treatment at the NAN Ranch Ruin and was equally rare in a review of other Three Circle Phase and Classic Period (A.C. 1000–1150) sites in the Mimbres region. During these periods, cremations were interred in special rooms and special areas within the community proportionally more often than were inhumations; and cremations were much more likely to have projectile points accompanying them. These fact and the rare occurrence of cremation during these phases are perhaps most easily attributed to unusual conditions of death, although some cremations may represent individuals with higher status.During the following Black Mountain Phase (A.C. 1150–1350), cremation became a more frequently–used method...

Settlement and Subsistence Patterns in the Reserve Phase and Mountain Mogollon: A Test Case in Devils Park, New Mexico

ABSTRACTAn inventory of sites in the highland basin of Devils Park in west- central New Mexico indicates a long-term occupation from Paleoindian to Puebloan periods. Data for Preceramic period and Pit House period settlement are limited in extent but suggest that use of the Park expanded during the Reserve phase (ca. A.D. 1000 to 1150). A dispersed system of one-room and small multi-room farmsteads is closely correlated with potential pockets of arable land as well as with communal structures distributed throughout the park. Abandonment appears to have occurred at the end of the Reserve phase, reflecting major changes in regional settlement dynamics documented elsewhere in the Reserve, New Mexico area.