Bat Cave (archaeological site)
Bat Cave, located in the plains of San Agustin in southwestern New Mexico, is a significant archaeological site that provides critical insights into the Cochise culture, a variant of the broader Desert culture of the Archaic period in western North America. This site is notable for its well-preserved organic remains, which include evidence of early agricultural practices, such as carbonized squash, beans, and maize. The maize found here is among the earliest examples recorded north of Mexico, marking a pivotal moment in the transition from a hunting and gathering lifestyle to one focused on agriculture.
Excavations led by archaeologist Herbert Dick revealed artifacts spanning nearly four thousand years, including stone tools, milling stones, and a variety of organic materials like bones and fibers. The dry conditions of the cave have facilitated the exceptional preservation of these items, providing insights into the subsistence activities of the Cochise people, who relied on both cultivated and non-cultivated plants, as well as a diverse array of animal remains.
While there is some debate regarding the dating of the maize, it is acknowledged as significant for understanding the early phases of agriculture in the Southwest. The area surrounding Bat Cave later became part of the Mogollon tradition, which was characterized by the establishment of pottery-producing villages and a reliance on cultivated crops. Overall, Bat Cave serves as a crucial site for studying the cultural and agricultural evolution of the region.
Bat Cave (archaeological site)
Category: Archaeological site
Date: 4000-200 b.c.e.
Location: New Mexico
Cultures affected: Cochise culture, Desert culture
The site of Bat Cave, on the plains of San Agustin in southwestern New Mexico, has provided some of the most complete evidence for manifestations of the Cochise culture, a regional variant of the more widespread Desert culture of the Archaic period in western North America. Although the Cochise were primarily a hunting and gathering culture, carbonized floral samples from dry deposits in the cave have yielded remains of squash, beans, and maize. These provide valuable information about the origins of agriculture in the Southwest. Although the age of the earliest remains of maize at the site is the matter of some debate, these remains represent some of the earliest examples of this cultigen north of Mexico. Experimentation with maize cultivation by the Cochise culture is interpreted as representing early stages in the growth of agricultural practices that became the foundation of settled village life in the southwestern United States.
Archaeological remains at Bat Cave, excavated by archaeologist Herbert Dick, span a period of almost four thousand years. These include a series of projectile points together with abundant scrapers, blades, and other chipped stone tools. Ground and pecked implements include milling stones and manos for processing seeds and other plant foods. The dry environment of the cave created an ideal situation for the preservation of organic remains. Bone, horn, and shell were used to make punches, needles, scrapers, ornaments, and gaming pieces. Well-preserved basketry, both coiled and twilled, and three dozen fiber sandals were recovered. Other organic artifacts included squash and leather containers, eagle feathers wrapped in grass, arrow shafts, and fire-making tools.
Perhaps the most important evidence from Bat Cave was the large amount of remains from subsistence activities. Noncultivated plant remains included piñon nuts, juniper berries, yucca quids, walnuts, acorns, prickly pears, and various grasses and seeds. Abundant animal remains consisted of bison, mountain sheep, deer, antelope, elk, wolf, badger, porcupine, jackrabbit, cottontail, gophers, and rats.
The earliest maize at Bat Cave was reportedly found in the context of the Chiricahua phase (3000 to 1500 b.c.e.). Radiocarbon dates associated with the remains of maize are internally inconsistent; the site’s excavator interpreted them as dating the appearance of this cultigen to around 3500 b.c.e. A more recent appraisal, however, concludes that the remains of cultigens at Bat Cave cannot be demonstrated to date any earlier than 500 b.c.e., appearing during the San Pedro phase (1500 to 200 b.c.e.). This does not alter the significance of Bat Cave maize as the earliest yet documented for the Southwest region, but it has a profound effect on how one interprets the introduction of this cultigen from its hearth of domestication in central Mexico and its relative importance during the late Archaic period.
The area in which Bat Cave is located was later the homeland of the Mogollon tradition, which corresponds to the establishment of pottery-producing sedentary villages reliant on the rainfall cultivation of maize, squash, and other crops.