Erina Gruner | Desert Archaeology, Inc. (original) (raw)
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Papers by Erina Gruner
American Antiquity, 2023
During the Early Agricultural period (2100 BC–AD 50), preceramic farmers in the Sonoran Desert in... more During the Early Agricultural period (2100 BC–AD 50), preceramic farmers in the Sonoran Desert invested considerable labor in canal-irrigated field systems while remaining very residentially mobile. The degree to which they exercised formal systems of land tenure, or organized their communities above the household level, remains contested. This article discusses the spatial and social organization of Early Cienega–phase settlements in the Los Pozos site group, an Early Agricultural site complex located along the Santa Cruz River in southern Arizona. At Los Pozos, the formal spatial organization of seasonal farmsteads suggests that despite continued residential mobility, multihousehold lineages maintained distinct territories. Enduring “house groups”—likely lineal groups—are associated with disproportionately large cemeteries, suggesting the revisitation of ancestral territory through occupational hiatuses. However, variability in the formality and permanence of Early Cienega–phase settlements throughout the region indicates a flexible continuum of occupational mobility. These higher-order affiliations were only expressed in persistent settlements near highly productive farmland, where the relative priority of households over improved land might be contested.
![Research paper thumbnail of The Mobile House: Religious leadership at Chacoan and Chacoan Revival Centers [In Religion and Politics in the Ancient Americas, edited by Sarah B. Barber and Arthur A. Joyce, pp. 27-50. Routledge, London.]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/55826979/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Many scholars position the Chaco phenomenon as a hierarchically ranked, centralized polity, which... more Many scholars position the Chaco phenomenon as a hierarchically ranked, centralized polity, which must necessarily be integrated by an ideology and social organization radically different from that of the decentralized villages of Puebloan descendent communities. However, examination of perishable assemblages from Chacoan centers reveals ritual objects nearly identical to those used by modern Puebloan priesthoods. Likewise, burial data reveals systems of hereditary control over religious roles and associated material privileges that are strikingly similar to those in the historic Pueblos. I argue that during the post-Chacoan period, the material foundations of Chacoan theocracy--including Chacoan ritual paraphernalia and Chacoan patterns of ritual consumption--were co-opted by leaders of peripheral communities to create continuity in a time of political rupture. The priesthoods that emerged developed into the backbone of theocratic leadership in the autonomous Pueblos of later periods.
In the spring of 2016, Westland Resources surveyed 3,123 acres of river corridor between the town... more In the spring of 2016, Westland Resources surveyed 3,123 acres of river corridor between the towns of Mammoth and San Manuel, Arizona. From A.D. 1175-1275, this area acted as a corridor for Puebloan migrants from the Mogollon Highlands and Kayenta regions, who travelled to join Hohokam communities in the Lower San Pedro and Tucson areas. Jeffrey Clark and Patrick Lyons (2012) proposed that initial migration into the area from the Mogollon Highlands can be mapped as a “corrugated corridor”: a path towards the Tucson basin where 13th century sites have locally produced corrugated ceramics; a Puebloan plainware technology. Connections along this corridor allowed later 14th century Kayenta migrants to follow the same route south. Ceramic data and site mapping from the Westland survey project show how early migrants were integrated into different local communities during the Classic period.
Archaeological analyses of the Pueblo Revolts have emphasized the agency of indigenous leaders in... more Archaeological analyses of the Pueblo Revolts have emphasized the agency of indigenous leaders in materializing a nativistic cultural revitalization movement. Evidence from refuge pueblos in the northern Rio Grande shows that leaders drew on pre-Hispanic traditions from a variety of culture groups, creating a hybrid religious practice which integrated diverse populations. Evidence that these same leaders were using Catholic ecclesiastical paraphernalia in traditional religious contexts, however, has been downplayed in archaeological discussions of Revolt-era nativism. This paper examines the contexts of these appropriations during and prior to the revolts, and elsewhere in the Spanish colonies. I argue that the multiple indexical properties of the particular objects which were appropriated lend them to reinterpretation as markers of indigenous autonomy, and that “nativism” is more appropriately defined as the consolidation of indigenous identity than the elimination of foreign influence.
In the American Southwest, complex bundles, fetishes, staves and prayer sticks are found at regio... more In the American Southwest, complex bundles, fetishes, staves and prayer sticks are found at regional centers dating from the tenth century AD to the present. In Pueblo Indian societies, where esoteric knowledge constitutes a power resource, power relations can shift significantly when the religious knowledge materialized in ritual ritual paraphernalia is destroyed or appropriated by an opposing faction. However, archaeological analyses rarely address the actual mechanics of how knowledge might be materialized in an artifact. This chapter explores this question using a specific paraphernalia assemblage found in prehistoric centers in the Flagstaff area of Northern Arizona and the Chacoan center of Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico. I argue that the individual materials of of which ritual paraphernalia is composed serve as physical mneumonics anchoring the social, natural, and supernatural relations that the object is intended to effect. The portability of ritual paraphernalia allows it to serve as the "seed" of complex religious organizations in new communities where specific social roles are replicated via the movement of things. Conversely, the destruction of paraphernalia can accomplish the destruction of the collective roles, rights, and identity of the corporate groups that own them.
Conference Presentations by Erina Gruner
Recent analyses of Clovis sites in resource-rich areas suggest diversified subsistence strategies... more Recent analyses of Clovis sites in resource-rich areas suggest diversified subsistence strategies supplemented big-game hunting (Waguespeck and Surovell 2003). The Rainbow Forest Playa at Petrified Forest National Park formed a lush riparian micro-environment with abundant raw lithic resources during the Pleistocene. Concentrated loci of Clovis materials suggest multiple short-term occupations of the area, which has been proposed to be a quarry/restocking locality (Tumelaire 2014; Wandler et. al. 2011). This poster examines use wear on formal and expedient lithic tools from Clovis loci at the Rainbow Forest Playa. These analyses assess whether lithic materials were produced for local resource processing, or represent discard from tools produced at a lithic source for transport elsewhere. Preliminary results suggest that while the Rainbow Forest Playa was likely significant as a lithic restocking area, a significant proportion of lithic reduction at the site seems to have been focused on the immediate needs of procuring local resources.
Drafts by Erina Gruner
In this dissertation, I argue that we cannot simply consider exotic materials as static indices o... more In this dissertation, I argue that we cannot simply consider exotic materials as static indices of status, or isolated variables within a prestige economy. Rather, we must examine their roles as inalienable objects within complex assemblages of ritual paraphernalia. Prestige among historic Pueblo groups is anchored in religious authority, which in turn is validated by possession of material objects including ritual paraphernalia and rare materials. Materials such as feathers, shell, and precious stones are used in ritual, and the procurement, distribution, and use of these sacra is often proscribed to specific religious roles and contexts. I argue that similar systems were operant during the preHispanic period. As exotic materials were exchanged between different regions of the preHispanic Southwest, so too were embedded ideologies regarding their use within a suite of cult objects, and ideologies regarding the social roles of the persons that possessed them.
My study addresses the construction and circulation of ritual paraphernalia and exotic trade goods between elite sodalities and kin groups during the Chacoan and the post-Chacoan periods, A.D. 875-1300, through examination of artifact technologies, distributions, and depositional contexts. During the late expansion of the Chaco system, Chacoan ritual objects were selectively replicated at allied centers along the Chacoan periphery. The distribution of Chacoan ritual paraphernalia beyond the San Juan Basin coincides with important nodes in macro-regional exotic exchange networks, suggesting that shared religious affiliation between distant leaders facilitated the exchange of exotic materials—and conversely, that exchange of exotic materials prompted the exchange of religious ceremonies between regions. As Chacoan hegemony unraveled during the 12th century, Chacoan ritual paraphernalia appeared at rising centers in new regions; as did new patterns in the acquisition, distribution, and use of ritually significant exotic materials. I argue that during the post-Chacoan period, the material foundations of Chacoan theocracy were co-opted by leaders in peripheral regions to create continuity in a time of political rupture. The reframing of post-Chacoan ritual practice had significant organizational implications for the multi-regional networks that distributed ritually significant exotic materials.
American Antiquity, 2023
During the Early Agricultural period (2100 BC–AD 50), preceramic farmers in the Sonoran Desert in... more During the Early Agricultural period (2100 BC–AD 50), preceramic farmers in the Sonoran Desert invested considerable labor in canal-irrigated field systems while remaining very residentially mobile. The degree to which they exercised formal systems of land tenure, or organized their communities above the household level, remains contested. This article discusses the spatial and social organization of Early Cienega–phase settlements in the Los Pozos site group, an Early Agricultural site complex located along the Santa Cruz River in southern Arizona. At Los Pozos, the formal spatial organization of seasonal farmsteads suggests that despite continued residential mobility, multihousehold lineages maintained distinct territories. Enduring “house groups”—likely lineal groups—are associated with disproportionately large cemeteries, suggesting the revisitation of ancestral territory through occupational hiatuses. However, variability in the formality and permanence of Early Cienega–phase settlements throughout the region indicates a flexible continuum of occupational mobility. These higher-order affiliations were only expressed in persistent settlements near highly productive farmland, where the relative priority of households over improved land might be contested.
Many scholars position the Chaco phenomenon as a hierarchically ranked, centralized polity, which... more Many scholars position the Chaco phenomenon as a hierarchically ranked, centralized polity, which must necessarily be integrated by an ideology and social organization radically different from that of the decentralized villages of Puebloan descendent communities. However, examination of perishable assemblages from Chacoan centers reveals ritual objects nearly identical to those used by modern Puebloan priesthoods. Likewise, burial data reveals systems of hereditary control over religious roles and associated material privileges that are strikingly similar to those in the historic Pueblos. I argue that during the post-Chacoan period, the material foundations of Chacoan theocracy--including Chacoan ritual paraphernalia and Chacoan patterns of ritual consumption--were co-opted by leaders of peripheral communities to create continuity in a time of political rupture. The priesthoods that emerged developed into the backbone of theocratic leadership in the autonomous Pueblos of later periods.
In the spring of 2016, Westland Resources surveyed 3,123 acres of river corridor between the town... more In the spring of 2016, Westland Resources surveyed 3,123 acres of river corridor between the towns of Mammoth and San Manuel, Arizona. From A.D. 1175-1275, this area acted as a corridor for Puebloan migrants from the Mogollon Highlands and Kayenta regions, who travelled to join Hohokam communities in the Lower San Pedro and Tucson areas. Jeffrey Clark and Patrick Lyons (2012) proposed that initial migration into the area from the Mogollon Highlands can be mapped as a “corrugated corridor”: a path towards the Tucson basin where 13th century sites have locally produced corrugated ceramics; a Puebloan plainware technology. Connections along this corridor allowed later 14th century Kayenta migrants to follow the same route south. Ceramic data and site mapping from the Westland survey project show how early migrants were integrated into different local communities during the Classic period.
Archaeological analyses of the Pueblo Revolts have emphasized the agency of indigenous leaders in... more Archaeological analyses of the Pueblo Revolts have emphasized the agency of indigenous leaders in materializing a nativistic cultural revitalization movement. Evidence from refuge pueblos in the northern Rio Grande shows that leaders drew on pre-Hispanic traditions from a variety of culture groups, creating a hybrid religious practice which integrated diverse populations. Evidence that these same leaders were using Catholic ecclesiastical paraphernalia in traditional religious contexts, however, has been downplayed in archaeological discussions of Revolt-era nativism. This paper examines the contexts of these appropriations during and prior to the revolts, and elsewhere in the Spanish colonies. I argue that the multiple indexical properties of the particular objects which were appropriated lend them to reinterpretation as markers of indigenous autonomy, and that “nativism” is more appropriately defined as the consolidation of indigenous identity than the elimination of foreign influence.
In the American Southwest, complex bundles, fetishes, staves and prayer sticks are found at regio... more In the American Southwest, complex bundles, fetishes, staves and prayer sticks are found at regional centers dating from the tenth century AD to the present. In Pueblo Indian societies, where esoteric knowledge constitutes a power resource, power relations can shift significantly when the religious knowledge materialized in ritual ritual paraphernalia is destroyed or appropriated by an opposing faction. However, archaeological analyses rarely address the actual mechanics of how knowledge might be materialized in an artifact. This chapter explores this question using a specific paraphernalia assemblage found in prehistoric centers in the Flagstaff area of Northern Arizona and the Chacoan center of Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico. I argue that the individual materials of of which ritual paraphernalia is composed serve as physical mneumonics anchoring the social, natural, and supernatural relations that the object is intended to effect. The portability of ritual paraphernalia allows it to serve as the "seed" of complex religious organizations in new communities where specific social roles are replicated via the movement of things. Conversely, the destruction of paraphernalia can accomplish the destruction of the collective roles, rights, and identity of the corporate groups that own them.
Recent analyses of Clovis sites in resource-rich areas suggest diversified subsistence strategies... more Recent analyses of Clovis sites in resource-rich areas suggest diversified subsistence strategies supplemented big-game hunting (Waguespeck and Surovell 2003). The Rainbow Forest Playa at Petrified Forest National Park formed a lush riparian micro-environment with abundant raw lithic resources during the Pleistocene. Concentrated loci of Clovis materials suggest multiple short-term occupations of the area, which has been proposed to be a quarry/restocking locality (Tumelaire 2014; Wandler et. al. 2011). This poster examines use wear on formal and expedient lithic tools from Clovis loci at the Rainbow Forest Playa. These analyses assess whether lithic materials were produced for local resource processing, or represent discard from tools produced at a lithic source for transport elsewhere. Preliminary results suggest that while the Rainbow Forest Playa was likely significant as a lithic restocking area, a significant proportion of lithic reduction at the site seems to have been focused on the immediate needs of procuring local resources.
In this dissertation, I argue that we cannot simply consider exotic materials as static indices o... more In this dissertation, I argue that we cannot simply consider exotic materials as static indices of status, or isolated variables within a prestige economy. Rather, we must examine their roles as inalienable objects within complex assemblages of ritual paraphernalia. Prestige among historic Pueblo groups is anchored in religious authority, which in turn is validated by possession of material objects including ritual paraphernalia and rare materials. Materials such as feathers, shell, and precious stones are used in ritual, and the procurement, distribution, and use of these sacra is often proscribed to specific religious roles and contexts. I argue that similar systems were operant during the preHispanic period. As exotic materials were exchanged between different regions of the preHispanic Southwest, so too were embedded ideologies regarding their use within a suite of cult objects, and ideologies regarding the social roles of the persons that possessed them.
My study addresses the construction and circulation of ritual paraphernalia and exotic trade goods between elite sodalities and kin groups during the Chacoan and the post-Chacoan periods, A.D. 875-1300, through examination of artifact technologies, distributions, and depositional contexts. During the late expansion of the Chaco system, Chacoan ritual objects were selectively replicated at allied centers along the Chacoan periphery. The distribution of Chacoan ritual paraphernalia beyond the San Juan Basin coincides with important nodes in macro-regional exotic exchange networks, suggesting that shared religious affiliation between distant leaders facilitated the exchange of exotic materials—and conversely, that exchange of exotic materials prompted the exchange of religious ceremonies between regions. As Chacoan hegemony unraveled during the 12th century, Chacoan ritual paraphernalia appeared at rising centers in new regions; as did new patterns in the acquisition, distribution, and use of ritually significant exotic materials. I argue that during the post-Chacoan period, the material foundations of Chacoan theocracy were co-opted by leaders in peripheral regions to create continuity in a time of political rupture. The reframing of post-Chacoan ritual practice had significant organizational implications for the multi-regional networks that distributed ritually significant exotic materials.