Households on the Mimbres Horizon: Excavations at La Gila Encantada, Southwestern New Mexico

By Barbara J. Roth

Pithouse sites represent the basic form of occupation in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico from AD 200 to the late 900s. This study presents the results of excavations of one such site, called La Gila Encantada.

Little is known about the variability present at pithouse sites away from the major Mimbres and Gila River Valleys. Nonriverine occupations have been understudied until now. This book describes subsistence and settlement practices and compares the results with recent research conducted at the larger villages in the Mimbres River Valley. Despite basic similarities in material culture, households at La Gila Encantada appear to have followed different trajectories than those along the rivers. Examining these differences, archaeologist Barbara J. Roth provides insights into some of the reasons why they existed and shows that the variability present in pithouse occupations over the years was tied to multiple factors, including environmental differences, economic practices, and the social composition of groups occupying the sites. With chapters assessing ceramic data, chipped and groundstone analysis, shell and mineral jewelry, and regional context, this look at the past offers relevant insights into current issues in Southwest archaeology, including identity, interaction, and household organization.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Release date: Mar 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9780816548552

Book preview

ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA NUMBER 82

Households on the Mimbres Horizon

Excavations at La Gila Encantada, Southwestern New Mexico

Barbara J. Roth

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY

Christina Dykstra

Jeffrey R. Ferguson

Linda M. Gregonis

Thomas E. Gruber

Pamela J. McBride

Dylan J. Person

Bruce G. Phillips

Danielle Romero

Denise Ruzicka

Kari Schmidt Cates

Mollie S. Toll

Arthur W. Vokes

TUCSON

The University of Arizona Press

www.uapress.arizona.edu

© 2023 The Arizona Board of Regents

All rights reserved. Published 2023.

Printed in the United States of America.

28  27  26  25  24  23      6  5  4  3  2  1

ISBN-13: 978-0-8165-4854-5 (paper)

                 978-0-8165-4855-2 (ebook)

Editing and indexing by Linda Gregonis.

InDesign layout by Douglas Goewey.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Roth, Barbara J., 1958– author.

Title: Households on the Mimbres horizon : excavations at La Gila Encantada, southwestern New Mexico / Barbara J. Roth ; with contributions by: Christina Dykstra [and eleven others].

Other titles: Excavations at La Gila Encantada, southwestern New Mexico | Anthropological papers of the University of Arizona ; no. 82.

Description: [Tucson] : The University of Arizona Press, 2023. | Series: Anthropological papers of the University of Arizona ; number 82 | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022026736 (print) | LCCN 2022026737 (ebook) | ISBN 9780816548545 (paperback) | ISBN 9780816548552 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Mimbres culture—New Mexico—Grant County. | Pit houses—New Mexico—Grant County. | Earthworks (Archaeology)—New Mexico—Grant County. | Excavations (Archaeology)—New Mexico—Grant County. | La Gila Encantada Site (N.M.) | Grant County (N.M.)—Antiquities.

Classification: LCC E99.M76 (print) | LCC E99.M76 (ebook) | DDC 978.9/01—dc23/eng/20221014

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022026736

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022026737

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper)

Cover Photos: Overview of La Gila Encantada, looking south towards Silver City. The lozenge-shaped artifact on the left, found in Pithouse 2, was made from a Mimbres Black-on-white Style 1 sherd; the mano and metate at lower right, found in Pithouse 8, were used by a left-handed person. Photos by Danielle Romero (overview and pottery artifact) and Barbara Roth (metate and mano).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BARBARA J. ROTH is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Her research focuses on the Mimbres region of southwestern New Mexico, where she has excavated several pithouse sites and more recently directed excavations at Elk Ridge, a Classic period pueblo. She received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Arizona.

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

CHRISTINA DYKSTRA received her undergraduate degree from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

JEFFREY R. FERGUSON is a research associate professor at the Archaeometry Laboratory at MURR in Columbia, Missouri, and an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Missouri. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Colorado.

LINDA M. GREGONIS is an independent archaeological researcher in Tucson, specializing in ceramic analysis. She has a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Arizona. Linda is currently the editor of the Anthropological Papers of the University of Arizona.

THOMAS E. GRUBER is owner of Open Range Archaeology, LLC, a private Cultural Resource Management firm in Norman, Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Oklahoma.

PAMELA J. MCBRIDE is a paleoethnobotanist in the Paleoethnobotany Laboratory in the Office of Archaeological Studies at the Museum of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

DYLAN J. PERSON is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, specializing in the study of lithic technology in the Mimbres region.

BRUCE G. PHILLIPS is owner of BGP Consulting in Flagstaff, Arizona, which provides geoarchaeological and ethnobotanical services to archaeological firms and researchers.

DANIELLE ROMERO is the director of the Western New Mexico University Museum in Silver City, New Mexico, and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She specializes in the study of ceramics from pithouse and pueblo sites in the Mimbres region.

DENISE RUZICKA received her master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She currently works for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention.

KARI SCHMIDT CATES is a senior staff scientist with Environmental Planning Group in Tempe, Arizona. She received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of New Mexico.

MOLLIE S. TOLL is a paleoethnobotanist in the Paleoethnobotany Lab at the Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

ARTHUR W. VOKES has a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Arizona. He was the Curator and Manager of the Archaeological Repository Collections at the Arizona State Museum for 30 years before retiring in 2020. He has specialized in research on shell artifacts.

Contents

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: Households on the Mimbres Horizon

The Pithouse Period in the Mimbres Region

Research Goals

Monograph Organization

2. Excavations at La Gila Encantada

Excavation Methods

Excavation Results—Pithouses

Excavation Results—Extramural Features

Summary

3. Ceramic Data

BARBARA J. ROTH, DANIELLE ROMERO, THOMAS E. GRUBER, CHRISTINA DYKSTRA, AND LINDA M. GREGONIS

Decorated Ceramics

Plainware, Corrugated, and Redware Ceramics

Whole or Reconstructible Vessels

Worked Sherds and Modeled Clay Artifacts

Summary of Ceramic Data

4. Chipped and Ground Stone

BARBARA J. ROTH, DYLAN J. PERSON, DENISE RUZICKA, AND JEFFREY R. FERGUSON

Regional Geology

Chipped Stone Tools

Cores

Debitage

Summary of Core and Debitage Assemblages

Obsidian Sourcing

Ground Stone

Summary of Chipped and Ground Stone

5. Shell, Minerals, and Stone and Bone Jewelry

BARBARA J. ROTH AND ARTHUR W. VOKES

Shell

Minerals

Stone and Bone Jewelry

6. Plant and Animal Remains Including Bone Tools

BARBARA J. ROTH, PAMELA J. MCBRIDE, MOLLIE S. TOLL, BRUCE G. PHILLIPS, AND KARI SCHMIDT CATES

Flotation Data

Pollen Samples

Faunal Analysis

Summary of Plant and Animal Remains

7. La Gila Encantada in Regional Context

Mobility Strategies

Subsistence Practices

Household Organization

Summary

Appendix: Project Participants

References Cited

Index

Abstract

Resumen

TABLES

1.1. Mimbres Mogollon Cultural Sequence

2.1. Excavated Pithouses by Phase

2.2. Excavated Extramural Features

3.1. Decorated Ceramic Types from the 2004 and 2005 Seasons

3.2. Decorated Sherds by Pithouse

3.3. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis

3.4. Distribution of Worked Sherds

3.5. Perforated Sherd Measurements

4.1. Stone Tool Assemblage

4.2. Artifact Count by Debitage Category

4.3. Complete Flake Platform Types

4.4. Debitage Raw Material Types

4.5. Obsidian Source Assignment by Phase and Context

4.6. Breakdown of Obsidian Source Assignments by Artifact Type

4.7. Ground Stone Artifacts by Context

5.1. Shell Material Summarized by Context

5.2. Minerals Recovered by Context

6.1. Flotation Analysis Results from Pithouses

6.2. Flotation Analysis Results from Extramural Hearths

6.3. Pollen Analysis Results

6.4. Faunal Remains from All Contexts

6.5. Faunal Remains from Pithouse Contexts

6.6. Lagomorph and Artiodactyl Indicies

FIGURES

1.1. Pithouse sites in the Mimbres Valley in relation to La Gila Encantada

2.1. Photo of La Gila Encantada

2.2. Site Map of La Gila Encantada

2.3. Pithouse 14 floor map

2.4. Stratigraphic profile of north wall of excavation unit in Pithouse 14

2.5. Profile of the west wall of San Francisco phase Pithouse 22

2.6. Pithouse 22 floor map

2.7. Pithouse 8 floor map

2.8. Pithouse 2 floor map

2.9. Photo of Pithouse 2 floor

2.10. Pithouse 25 floor map

3.1. Mimbres Black-on-white Style I bowl from Pithouse 2 floor

3.2. Three Circle Red-on-white and Mimbres Black-on-white Style I bowls from Pithouse 8

3.3. Mimbres Black-on-white Style I bowl from Pithouse 25 floor

3.4. Plainware bowl from Pithouse 2 floor

3.5. Perforated sherd disks

3.6. Unperforated sherd disks

3.7. Dish forms

4.1. Stemmed projectile point from Pithouse 14 floor

4.2. Arrow points

4.3. Metate and compatible mano from Pithouse 8

4.4. Palette fragment from extramural work surface in Unit 22

5.1. Shell artifacts

7.1. Distribution of artifacts on floors of Pithouses 2, 8, 22, and 25

Acknowledgments

I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of the many people who made this project possible. Thanks are due to the Archaeological Conservancy, specifically to Jim Walker, for granting permission to do the work at the site; to Bob Schiowitz, who first told me about La Gila Encantada and convinced me that it would be a great place to work; and to Dr. Dennis McMullen for granting permission to work on two pithouses located on land that he owns on the west side of the site.

Many people participated in the excavations at La Gila Encantada (Appendix) and thanks are due to each one of them, especially the late Leon Lorentzen, who served as the field director and my sounding board; Robert Jake Hickerson, crew chief for both excavation seasons; the late Jodi Dalton, crew chief in 2004; and Beau Schriever, lab director. Hearty thanks to the Grant County Archaeological Society volunteers and other volunteers who helped us dig, screen, and backfill, without whom we literally could not have finished the project (Appendix). Special thanks are due to Marilyn Markel, Judy and Carroll Welch, Josh Reeves, Kyle Meredith, and Carol McCanless (Russell). Nancy Curtis made this project possible by letting us use her water, park in her driveway, and generally disrupt her life for six weeks every summer. The inferences made in this report have come from years of discussion with Roger Anyon, Darrell Creel, Pat Gilman, Danielle Romero, and Bob Stokes. I thank them for their input, insights, and support.

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction: Households on the Mimbres Horizon

Pithouse sites represent the basic form of settlement in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico for much of the prehistoric occupation, spanning the period from A.D. 200 to the late 900s. Yet despite its predominance in terms of the time sequence (Anyon and others 2017), the Pithouse period has often been viewed as a way station on the way to the Classic Mimbres period (A.D. 1000–1130), best known for its elaborate black-on-white pottery and cobble adobe pueblos. Pithouse sites played an important role in the initial classification of the Mimbres branch of the Mogollon (Haury 1936; Wheat 1955). These early investigations of pithouse components beneath pueblos and of pithouse sites themselves generally focused on architecture and ceramics, which were used to classify them and document the development of the Mimbres Mogollon through time. As a result, only limited attention has been paid to the variability in pithouse occupations across the Mimbres area, with most researchers focusing instead on shared material culture and the distinctiveness of the Mimbres in relation to other southwestern cultural groups.

This monograph seeks to explore some of the variability present in pithouse occupations in the Mimbres region using the La Gila Encantada site (LA 113467) as a case study. The goal of this study is to show that the variability present in pithouse occupations across time and space was tied to multiple factors including environmental differences, economic practices, and the social composition of groups occupying the sites. The Pithouse period was not static and homogeneous but instead exhibited variation that can be used to explore issues related to differences in diet, sedentism, and social organization.

La Gila Encantada is an upland site situated away from the Mimbres and Gila river valleys. Its residents do not appear to have been involved in the economic and social networks that were participated in by people living in riverine settings. Yet, the site exhibits many of the characteristics generally used to classify Mimbres Pithouse period occupations and at some level its inhabitants participated in region-wide social dynamics (Anyon and Roth 2018; Haury 1936). Investigations at La Gila Encantada thus provide supplemental data to studies of larger riverine pithouse sites (Anyon and LeBlanc 1984; Creel 2006; Roth 2015; Sedig 2015; Shafer 2003) and establish a framework for addressing why differences in these occupations developed and how those differences impacted the overall cultural trajectories in the Mimbres region.

The research goals addressed during this project focused on placing the households at La Gila Encantada into a broader context within the Mimbres region and using data recovered from the site to address how and why different household configurations developed. Despite basic similarities in overall adaptations, especially in terms of the environmental setting and access to agricultural technology and knowledge, some Late Pithouse period groups went on very different trajectories than others. Swanson, Anyon, and Nelson (2012) link much of this to agricultural potential, arguing that during the Late Pithouse period sites located in areas with high agricultural potential in terms of access to arable land and reliable water supplies represent larger populations