Southwest Peoples
The Southwest Peoples refer to the diverse groups that have inhabited the American Southwest for over ten thousand years, adapting to its arid environment. Early inhabitants, such as the Clovis and Folsom peoples, were primarily hunter-gatherers who utilized specialized tools to hunt large game and gather local flora. As the climate evolved and larger animals became extinct, these groups began to settle and develop more complex societies around 200 B.C.E., transitioning to agriculture that included the cultivation of corn, squash, and beans. This agricultural shift led to the establishment of permanent villages and a more sophisticated social organization.
Distinct cultural groups emerged, notably the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Anasazi, characterized by unique architectural styles and ceramics. While traditionally viewed as peaceful, recent studies suggest the possibility of conflict and violence among these ancient communities, as indicated by defensive structures and evidence of warfare. Additionally, some controversial theories propose practices such as cannibalism, which, although speculative, highlight the complexity of these societies. The archaeological record provides insight into the lives and adaptations of the Southwest Peoples, reflecting a rich tapestry of cultural history that continues to influence modern descendants.
Southwest Peoples
Related civilizations: Clovis technological complex, Folsom technological complex, Hohokam culture, Mogollon culture, Anasazi.
Date: 9500 b.c.e.-700 c.e.
Locale: Southwestern United States
Southwest Peoples
For at least ten thousand years, maybe longer, people have struggled to make a homeland out of the arid Southwest. Apart from archaeology, little is known of the first peoples who came into the region more than ten thousand years ago, but the ancient remains contain evidence of ways of life that have persisted to modern times among the descendants of these peoples, including adobe and wattle-and-daub structure construction.
History
The American Southwest was wetter in ancient times and home to large animals such as the American mammoth and the American lion, now extinct. Peoples identified as Clovis, from the site in New Mexico where their spear points were first unearthed, moved into the region by about 9500 b.c.e. These people followed the migrating herds and slew them with arrow points especially designed to penetrate the rough hides of these animals. These points have small flutes in relation to the overall surface area. Recent discoveries elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere have challenged the notion that these Southwestern peoples invented the spear points that bear their name. The social organization and beliefs of these peoples cannot be determined from archaeological evidence.
As the climate changed around 8500 b.c.e., and the larger animals became extinct, peoples known as Folsom hunted smaller game and gathered native nuts and berries in the region. The Folsom point has a larger flute relative to its surface area and is better suited to slaying deer and elk. Like the Clovis people, Folsom hunters fixed the projectile point to a shaft and enhanced their ability to hurl this spear with an atlatl, a spear-thrower that lengthened the arc of the hunter’s throw. The Folsom may have been descended from the Clovis people. Their numbers were relatively small, given the fragile resource base and paucity of rainfall in the region. Recent discoveries along the Continental Divide in Colorado indicate that these people ranged widely in search of food.
By 5500 b.c.e., food gathering had become more important to the Southwestern peoples, who began to trap small game such as rabbits with snares. These peoples, termed Archaic, migrated into the higher country in the summer, following the vegetation and animal herds, and remained in the lower elevations during the winter. Typically, fire pits are the most readily observed remains of early Archaic peoples. Relics found in caves, especially large concentrations of artifacts in given locations, seem to indicate that these people were less nomadic than their Clovis and Folsom ancestors. Among the artifacts found are woven bags, cradle boards for transporting infants, and sandals made from the yucca plant.
By about 1500 b.c.e., limited agriculture along watercourses characterized some of these Archaic groups. Corn and squash were grown first, and around 200 b.c.e., if not before, Archaic people cultivated beans. Agriculture laid the foundation for village life but also marked a turning point in social organization. People had to work harder to secure this food source, and most likely, social organization had to become more sophisticated. Furthermore, seeds and harvests were initially stored in natural shelters and later in specially designed storage pits. If artifacts and projectile points have been correctly interpreted, any given group of Archaic peoples ranged over less of the Southwest than did their Clovis and Folsom ancestors, and the style of manufacture varied from group to group.
Between 200 b.c.e. and 600 c.e., Southwest peoples increasingly moved toward agriculture and began to live in villages more or less full time. At first, they lived in pit houses but gradually built more elaborate structures out of stones and adobe. Early on, some of these structures seemed to have been devoted to civil or spiritual rituals that helped bind the village community together and mediate disputes among the peoples. The appearance of ceramic vessels by 200 c.e. serves as a watershed of the primacy of village life. These containers were too heavy and too fragile to be transported, but they did make it possible to cook food. In addition, late Archaic peoples developed specialized grinding tools, indicating that agriculture was their major source of food. At the same time, smaller archaic projectile points may be indicative of the introduction of the bow and arrow, which would have made small game hunting more efficient.
Increasingly, the architecture and ceramics indicate distinct cultural groups, such as the Hohokam in southern Arizona, the Mogollon in eastern Arizona, and the Anasazi in northern Arizona and New Mexico. Linguistic differences among peoples had appeared at or before the same time.
Current views
Scholars have traditionally viewed the peoples of the Ancient Southwest as benign, having had little impact on the environment and engaging in little conflict with one another. Indeed, inhabitants of the ancient Southwest were seen as the counterpoint to the modern, rapacious inhabitant of European descent. More recent research has raised the possibility of violent prehistoric warfare, especially as village sites in some places seem to have been built for the purposes of defense and the physical remains in mass graves seem to indicate the likelihood of death by combat. Even more controversial is that some inhabitants of the Southwest, either indigenous to the region or interlopers, may have practiced cannibalism as a means of controlling subject populations. All this remains speculative because the archaeological record, although large, is far from conclusive.
Bibliography
LeBlanc, Stephen. Prehistoric Warfare in the American Southwest. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1999.
Plog, Stephen. Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997.
Turner, Christy, and Jacqueline Turner. Man Corn: Cannibalism and Violence in the Prehistoric American Southwest. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1999.