Time and Technology at Kwastiyukwa, a Large Classic-Period Pueblo in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

Summary

This paper is part of an ongoing study associated with the FHiRE Project, which examines the interaction of fire, landscapes, and people in prehistory in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. Before we can examine higher-level questions of demography and interaction through time, it is necessary to firmly establish time with as much precision as possible. This paper represents the first step toward building and anchoring a detailed chronological framework for occupation at Kwastiyukwa, a large Classic-period pueblo in the Jemez Mountains. Technological analysis of the two most abundant kinds of ceramics in the Jemez region, the ubiquitous utility wares and Jemez Black-on-white, provides a data set from which many questions can be addressed. A large sample of the approximately 20,000 sherds obtained through systematic surface collection at Kwastiyukwa allows us to seriate these ceramics according to multiple technological attributes, both in isolation and in combination, achieving a finer-grained understanding of temporal change. This analysis provides insight into the occupation of the pueblo, as well as temporal patterns and technological change in ceramics. This ceramic analysis will be replicated at several other large pueblos targeted by the FHiRE Project, expanding this temporal framework to the broader Jemez region.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Fire and Humans in Resilient Ecosystems in the American Southwest

Keywords

Spatial Coverage