PREHISTORIC CULTURES OF NORTH AMERICA

S. Crouthamel, American Indian Studies/Anthropology, Palomar College

VII. Southwest Traditions

The American Southwest is a variable desert/mountain environment that incorporates the lower parts of Utah and Colorado, all of Arizona and New Mexico and the northern deserts of Mexico. Also, the region west of the Pecos R. in Texas is often included. These deserts have more fertile volcanic soils for agriculture and rivers that run into larger bodies of water (unlike the Great Basin on both counts). As a result CBS agriculture was more successful; but was dependent on irrigation and rain. In the late summer huge tropical weather fronts from the Gulf of Mexico or the Sea of Cortez move into the Southwest and the Plains. This provided a much needed drenching of water at the driest time and was carefully channeled into fields and storage reservoirs.

Since these farming cultures developed a greater material culture, American archaeologists viewed this area as a primary field lab. This is reflected with research efforts of the Pecos Project and Pecos Conference established by Alfred Kidder. In 1927 archaeologists gathered to develop a classification system of cultures for the Southwest. Subsequently many excavations were conducted in the Southwest; producing large amounts of data. This produced an unfortunate distortion of importance the Southwest, that was further reinforced by a discipline is biased on Western European materialist values. In turn many pot-hunters zeroed in on such artifacts like pottery. At least archaeology served to protect many sites that surely would have been totally destroyed. In addition to these factors the Southwest is one of the few areas where American Indians were still residing in their homelands on much reduced reservations and pueblos. As a result there is considerably more interaction between the living peoples and archaeologists in the Southwest. The state of Arizona actually developed repatriations laws before the federal government.

Here is the general classification system for the Southwest, including the links to living people. Some of the dates are not always the same as the text. Notice that dates are rather specific, which is due the advantage of tree-ring dating (dendrochronology) timbers in later periods. Also, these dates are expressed in the old historical format of BC/AD.

Southwest Traditions

Time Periods (years)

 Contemporary Cultures

Desert Archaic Traditions
San Dieguito-Pinto (W)
Cochise (S)
Oshara (N)
Chihuahua (SE)
 all ~ 6,500 BC-200 BC (8,500- 2200 BP) These cultures for the most part evolved into the formative cultures below.
Anasazi (Ancient Pueblo) 2100-300 BP
Basketmaker II 100 BC-AD 400
Basketmaker III AD 400-700
Pueblo I AD 700-900
Pueblo II AD 900-1100
Pueblo III AD 1100-1300
Pueblo IV AD 1300-1700
Western and some Eastern Pueblo people: Hopi, Taos, San Juan.
Mogollon (sub regions below) 3300-600 BP
Sinagua
Salado
Mimbres
Mogollon 1300 BC-AD 400
Mogollon 2  AD 400-600
Mogollon 3 AD 600-900
Mogollon 4 AD 900-1000
Mogollon 5 AD 1000-1400
Acoma, Laguna, Zia, Zuni, Pueblo people.

 

Hohokam  2100-600 BP
Pioneer  100 BC-AD 500
Colonial AD 500-900
Sedentary AD 900-1200
Classic AD 1200-1400
O'odham (Piman peoples)

Fremont

~AD 400-1350 Pueblo/Numic people?
Patayan (Hakataya) 1600-500 BP
Patayan I  <AD 400-1050
Patayan II AD 1050-1500
Patayan III AD 1500-
Colorado Plateau and River Yumans
Dene/Athabascans migrated from the Subarctic to SW AD 900/1450-? Dene (Navajo and Apache people)

All of these Southwest Traditions (except the Dene) developed CBS agriculture that either depended on rain (called dry horticulture/agriculture) or used irrigation systems (called wet horticulture/agriculture). CBS (corn, beans, and squash) were the principle domestic plants developed in Meso-America ~ 7,000 BP in the Tehuacan Valley, Puebla, Mexico. At some time in the late Desert Archaic, by about 4,000 BP, some of these domestic plants appeared in the Southwest area. The word corn is confusing since it is an English term meaning any kind of hard kernel grain, thus our corn should be referred to as American corn or maize; which is a grass, Zea mays, that was a hybrid developed with unusually large ears with no husk on the individual kernels. During the Fall many grocery stores will feature multi-colored ears of corn and refer to it as Indian corn, however all corn including yellow and white sweet corn is Indian corn. The Dent and Flint varieties (sometimes referred to as feed corn) were allowed to mature into hard kernels (called ripe corn) that were cooked in wood ash in water (limewater) to produce pazole or hominy and ground up to produce grits or masa. Sweet corn was harvested early (called green corn) and steamed on the cob in earthen pits.

  Am. Corn (Maize) Dent, Flint, Sweet, Pop, and Pod in many colors
  Beans Pinto, Tepary, Anasazi, Navy, etc.
 Squash Summer: Crookneck, Zucchini/Winter: Pumpkin, Acorn, etc.

Other domestic plants made their way up into the Southwest or were developed in the Southwest.

 Sunflower (SW native)  Cotton  Tobacco
 Tomato  Avocado  Chili Peppers (Hot and Sweet)
 Gourd  Amaranth  Squash 
  Agave  Cactus Cacao

The Anasazi and Mogollon  Traditions represent the ancient Pueblo people. They eventually developed the distinctive above ground multi-level stone masonry apartment-like complexes with unique underground or semi-underground structures used for religious purposes, called  kivas. The Mogollon and Anasazi are sometimes referred to as 'cliff-dwellers', but they did not always live in rockshelters or cliffs, and sometimes built structures in open canyons or on mesa tops. The Mogollon were located in the mountains of SE Arizona/SW New Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico. Some scholars divided the Mogollon into the Sinagua, Salado and Mimbres subcultures/phases, but even this is probably over simplistic. Some overlap exists between Anasazi, Mogollon and Hohokam, especially in terms of ceramic traditions. Certainly, the Mimbres culture had very specialized zoomorphic ceramic designs that emerged around AD 1100, but show up in other locations and traditions later. In fact we are not sure specifically which prehistoric sites are linked to the Pueblos of today. Both Anasazi and Mogollon are thought to emerge from Desert Archaic Traditions and developed pottery and CBS horticulture. Initially both traditions developed semi-subterranean pit houses and slowly developed above ground stone masonry houses and storage facilities that eventually reached 4-5 stories. However, the pit house did not disappear but evolved as the underground kiva. We will look at the Anasazi in greater detail:

The Anasazi were centered in the four corners region on mesas and plateaus and began in canyon/cliff dwellings in semi-subterranean pit houses. They continued to predominately use baskets, thus they were called 'Basketmaker' culture. With time their settlements increased in size and by AD 700 (Pueblo I) the people built small single level D-shaped stone masonry structures with nearby kivas. These became more dispersed in Pueblo II AD 900-1100, but by Pueblo III, AD 1100 villages had a tighter and integrative configuration with multi-storied stone masonry that was plastered over and white washed. The kivas got bigger and more numerous; in some areas huge communal or Great Kivas were built between multi-villages. Artifacts, like pottery (because of preservation and the ability to generate seriation charts) provided distinctive regional and chronological sequences and could be checked with tree ring dating. During the Pueblo III times the following regions are distinctive:

Region

 Sites/ Towns
Kayenta Betatakin, Keet Seel, Inscription House
Canyon De Chelly Antelope House, White House
Chaco Canyon Site #4: Pueblo Bonito, Pueblo Alto, Kin Kletso, Hungo Pavi, Pueblo de Arroyo, Casa Rinconada, Wijiji, Chetro Ketl
Bandolier Tyuoriyi, Ceremonial Cave, Frijoles Canyon
Mesa Verde Cliff Palace, Balcony House, Spruce Tree House, Step House, Long House

 Also, Pueblo III was distinguished by unprecedented communal building projects that may have integrated a number of communities and areas. Our Site # 4: Pueblo Bonito represents some kind of central religious and economic focus in Chaco Canyon and beyond. Additionally the people built a road system that may have linked other centers to Chaco Canyon. By AD 1130s Chacoan power waned and some of the people moved to Mesa Verde. The collapse marks the Pueblo IV sequence, which brings us to one of the great puzzles and controversies of Southwestern archaeology. The collapse is marked by either a decline and/or abandonment of Pueblo III towns and centers. Minimally severe droughts (AD 1125-1180; 1270-1274; 1275-1289) were a primary factor for people to change or move. Secondary problems of war, religious conflict, disease, etc. may have contributed. The dissolution of trading partners in Meso-America added to local problems. Also, the drought may have further hurt the great building project but resulted in deforestation in the mountains causing erosion and ruining the existing drainage systems. Evidence of cannibalism has fueled further debate and controversy. Unlike certain areas where ritualistic cannibalism was practiced more recent Pueblo cultures had strong taboos against cannibalism. This might indicate a traumatic and desperate breach of such a taboo. Proof of who committed the cannibalism is not definitive. Nevertheless Pueblo IV represents the decline and eventual relocation to the 100 + Pueblos to the Rio Grande River, a more reliable source of water. Some refugees settled on mesa tops like the Hopi, who adopted dry agriculture techniques and intensified their religious practices in what is called the Kachina Cult.

The third great Southwest Tradition was the Hohokam. They centered their civilization in the lower desert floors in the Salt and Gila River Valleys near present day Phoenix and Tucson. These CBS based cultures developed irrigation canals that are still being used by the present Salt River Project. These canals were 15'-20' wide and 100s of miles long. This was full scale desert reclamation, that started as early as AD 400. Cultural development after the Colonial Period had outside influence from either new people (pioneers/conquerors) or just ideas from Meso-America. Many cultural artifacts found in the Hohokam have definitive origins in Meso-America.

Artifacts/ Feature

Source
Red-on-buff ceramic designs Mogollon and pre Classic Meso-America
cremation/cremation urns Meso-America
platform mounds Meso-America/Valley of Mexico
ball courts Meso-America/Valley of Mexico
copper cast (lost wax) bells imported NW Meso-America
polychrome ceramics Salado/Mimbres-Mogollon
coffee-bean eye figurines NW Meso-America
shell Pacific and Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez
parrots imported from tropical Meso-America through Casa Grande (Mexico)

During the Sedentary Period (AD 900-1200) at towns like Snaketown, the Meso-American influence is strongest with trade partnerships from Meso-America to Hohokam and Mogollon; with continued links to Anasazi and Patayan culturals to the north and west. At Casa Grande the Classic Period (AD 1200-1400) revealed a much greater influence from Mogollon/Anasazi cultures with building of the Great House and polychrome ceramics.(Casa Grande- Great House w/ shelter built to protect it in 1932) Again drought and outsiders brought declines for the Hohokam. In fact the word 'Hohokam' is Pima (Akimel O'odam)  and translates as "all used up" or "those who are gone".

The fourth Southwest tradition was the Patayan who were influenced by Mogollon and Hohokam  traditions, but also lived on the Colorado Plateau and along the Colorado River with a distinctive environmental influence. Basically, the Patayan were CBS horticulture but planted in the river floodplains and continued to hunt and gather in the desert a great deal. Mesquite beans were a staple from the desert, along with some fishing and water plants. Ceramic traditions and cremation practices came from the Hohokam and were in turn an influence on Southern Californians. The river adaptation was practiced by the ancestors of the Mohave, Cocopa and Maricopa peoples. Some of the Plateau people lived in the river bottom for part of the year and moved up to the Plateau for game and pinyon pine nuts in the Fall/Winter. These included the ancestors of the Havasupai who still live at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

The final Southwestern tradition was the Athabascans that were originally from the Subarctic. Very little archaeological evidence has ever been discovered to definitely pin point the entrance of the Athabascan (Dene) peoples of the Southwest. They include the Navajo, Jicarilla Apache, Western Apache, Chiricahua Apache and the Mescalero Apache. The Lipan Apache and Kiowa-Apache were on the edge of the Eastern Deserts of the Southwest and Western Plains (Llano Estacada or Staked Plains). The minimal archaeological evidence of houses and ceramics at sites in the Chacra Mesa area of New Mexico put Athabascan/Dene entrance into the Southwest at about AD 1100. However, others contest their origins citing possible Ute or Pueblo peoples occupying these sites and they come up with dates of ~AD 1500 for Athabascan presence in the Southwest. Certainly, the Athacbascan/Dene people occupied areas that had been abandoned by the other traditions or took advantage of a declining cultures due to drought and other factors. The Athabascan/Dene were mostly hunters and gatherers but the Navajo and some Western Apache groups quickly adopted CBS horticulture. The Navajo (Dene) also became pastoralists when they acquired Churro sheep for the Spanish in the 1600s.

Southwest  Photo Gallery

Next Lecture: VIII. Eastern Woodland Traditions

 

                                                                                                   Copyright  ©  S. J. Crouthamel  2013