Mogollon tradition
The Mogollon tradition is an archaeological and cultural development that emerged in central and eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, particularly in mountainous regions, around the beginning of the Common Era. This tradition is marked by the advent of pottery and a shift towards settled village life, transitioning from pit house communities to the architectural styles associated with the Western Pueblo culture. The timeline of this development is complex, with evidence suggesting that pottery appeared between 600 BCE and 200 CE, although most scholars advocate for later dates. Early Mogollon villages typically consisted of small clusters of pit houses, often strategically located for defense, and relied on rainfall for agriculture rather than irrigation.
As the tradition progressed, the architectural style evolved, with larger villages forming and ceremonial structures known as "great kivas" being constructed. Farming was supplemented by hunting, utilizing various tools such as digging sticks and bows. By around 1000 CE, the Mogollon tradition began to merge into the Western Pueblo pattern, leading to larger, more complex community structures. In the southern regions, the tradition transformed into the Mimbres culture, noted for its impressive pottery and larger populations that engaged in trade with nearby societies, including those in Mexico. The Mogollon tradition reflects a significant chapter in the history of Native American cultures, characterized by innovation in subsistence practices and community organization.
Mogollon tradition
Category: Prehistoric tradition
Date: 200 b.c.e.-1000 c.e.
Location: Arizona, New Mexico
Cultures affected: Western Pueblo tribes
The Mogollon tradition represents the emergence and florescence of agricultural village life in central and eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, especially in mountainous, highland regions. It begins with the appearance of pottery and ends with the transition from pit house villages to a Western Pueblo settlement pattern. Definitions of the Mogollon cultural sequence have become very complex with the proliferation of regionalized phases, and there is a lack of agreement on a generalized nomenclature.
Excavations at Tularosa Cave and Bat Cave (New Mexico) have provided evidence for the local development of the Mogollon tradition from Archaic period Cochise cultures, signaled by the emergence of pottery and increased sedentism. The timing of this transition is still poorly understood, and interpretations of dates for the beginning of ceramics in the Mogollon region range from 600 b.c.e. to 200 c.e., with most scholars favoring the later date. The earliest Mogollon pottery is plain, with a red wash or slip. Red-on-brown and black-on-white styles appear around 650 c.e., with a red-on-white type appearing around 800.
Early Mogollon villages were situated on mesas and high ridges, close to cultivable alluvial valleys, possibly for defensive purposes. The earliest dwellings were pit houses with central posts and circular or D-shaped layouts, entered via sloping ramps. Over time, these became more rectangular in shape. In the final Mogollon phase before the transition to the Western Pueblo tradition (circa 800-1000), pit houses were often lined with stone masonry and occasionally had roof entries instead of inclined ramps. Typical Mogollon villages were small, averaging about six to eight houses, although larger examples may have had as many as fifty dwellings. At larger villages, especially large pit houses were used for ceremonial rather than residential functions, and some scholars have identified these as “great kivas.”
Mogollon farming was based on the use of rainfall rather than irrigation, as with the Hohokam culture. Given the proximity of highland forest regions, hunting remained an important adjunct to Mogollon agriculture. Typical subsistence technology included digging sticks, milling stones, bows and arrows, fine baskets, and pottery.
By the year 1000, the Mogollon tradition had given way to that of the Western Pueblo pattern of aboveground, multiroomed structures with great kivas (subterranean ceremonial structures with circular plans). As population density grew, reaching a peak in the late thirteenth century, populations in the northern Mogollon area coalesced into large pueblos such as Point of Pines, Kinishba, and Grasshopper. To the south, in the Mimbres Valley, the Mogollon tradition evolved into the Mimbres culture (1100-1150), characterized by large pueblos of several hundred inhabitants and beautiful black-on-white Mimbres pottery. This was followed by the Animas phase (1150-1300), during which the southern pueblos had close ties to cultures such as that of Casas Grandes in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Casas Grandes, also known as Paquimé, was a large pueblo occupied between 1060 and 1350 c.e. At its height, the site had a central core of sixteen hundred rooms and an estimated population of twenty-two hundred people. There is abundant evidence at Casas Grandes for craft specialization, especially in the working of marine shell. The people of this site engaged in long-distance trade with Mesoamerican civilizations to the south, exchanging painted pottery and turquoise for marine shells, macaws, and exotic bird feathers.