Mimbres Games, Gambling and Gods

Summary

This paper reviews the archaeological evidence for the presence of games played by the prehistoric inhabitants of the Mimbres region in the US Southwest/Northwest Mexico, emphasizing perishable materials recovered from cave/rock shelter deposits and iconic imagery present on Mimbres ceramic vessels. He compares the archaeological evidence with ethnographic information for gaming and gaming-related activities among Western Puebloan groups. Gaming and gambling among the ethnohistoric Hopi, Zuni and Acoma were important ritual as well as secular activities, and serve as an interpretive framework for understanding the relationship of prehistoric games and gambling with Mimbres ritual.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Games People Play: Prehistoric Games of Indigenous North Americans

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 1000 to 1900

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contributor(s): Steve Swanson

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