Post-Archaic Occupation of the American Southwest and Adjoining Areas of Mexico (original) (raw)

Subsistence During the Pithouse Periods

Southwestern Pithouse Communities, A.D. 200-900, 2012

This chapter presents a new (2012) synthesis of paleoethnobotanical and osteofaunal data from pithouse communities during the interval A.D.200-1000 in Arizona and New Mexico with a discussion of trends in farming and foraging throughout the region.

Two fragmentary pit house sites near Mayhill, New Mexico (Laboratory of Anthropology note ; no. 201) / by Jane Holden Kelley, Stewart Peckham. Santa Fe, N.M. : Laboratory of Anthropology, 1962.

Laboratory of Anthropology note, 1962

Salvage archaeology of two disturbed sites. Provides an extensive discussion of pottery classification and pottery types and also of pithouses of southeastern New Mexico. Pottery analysis by Jane Holden Kelley with additional analysis and commentary on Jornada region pottery and pithouses by Stewart Peckham. Salvage archaeology Human remains (Archaeology) Jornada Mogollon Indians Burial Pit houses Lithic analysis Pottery analysis Pottery types Jornada Mogollon pottery Chupadero Black-on-white pottery El Paso Polychrome pottery Jornada Brown ware pottery Plain Brown pottery Red-on-brown pottery San Andres Red-on-terracotta pottery Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta pottery Capitan phase Three Rivers phase AD 1050-1150 AD 1175-1275 Otero County (N.M.) Sacramento Mountains (N.M.) James Canyon (N.M.) LA 3249 LA 3323

Early Pueblo Pit Structure Architectural Practice in the Chuska Valley, New Mexico

Kiva, 2018

This paper analyzes pit structure architectural practice in the Chuska Valley, New Mexico and investigates the scale and kinds of interactions among early Pueblo groups with emphasis on the communication of identity through architecture. The paper examines a sample of structures dating to the Basketmaker III and Pueblo I periods. Viewing pit structure architecture through the lens of the communities of practice approach, I contend early Pueblo Chuska Valley pit house communities had a certain way of designing and constructing architecture and using internal main chamber space that community members perpetuated intergenerationally through continual practice. This research demonstrated that pit structure practice in the Chuska Valley during the early Pueblo period represents a community of practice local to the Chuska Valley and Chaco Plateau. Architectural similarities and trade of material culture between the Chuskan and Chaco regions suggest strong ties related to shared communities of practices and possibly sociocultural identities.

AN ANALYSIS OF PREHISTORIC PIT STRUCTURE ARCHITECTURE IN THE MIDDLE VERDE VALLEY

Journal of Arizona Archaeology, 2015

0ver 30 sites with pit structures dating between A.D. 120 and 1425 have been excavated in the Middle Verde Valley, the stretch of Verde River Valley between Sycamore Canyon to the northwest and the East Verde River to the southeast. However, an in-depth comparative analysis of these pit structures has not been conducted. The current study compiled much of the available information on pit structures in this region. Data on 100 pit structures compiled from 20 different studies were analyzed for synchronic and diachronic patterns using attributes such as floor area, shape, depth, construction methods, subfeature configuration, site elevation, and function. The analysis found that the size of pit structures in this region changed significantly over time, and that there was a small group of much larger structures that might have been communal spaces. There was no apparent correlation between site elevation and structure size, depth, or shape, and most pit structures were dug to a fairly consistent depth until around A.D. 1150. In contrast, there is a highly significant difference in the proportions of various structure shapes based on whether they were in riverine or highland environments. Environmental controls and culturally-based stylistic differences are presented as possible explanations for this phenomenon, but further research must be conducted to reach a definitive conclusion. Furthermore, these represent preliminary results that may change as larger sample populations are assembled.