Engaged Anthropology at Cuyamunge, New Mexico

Summary

In 2014 The Pueblo of Pojoaque and University of Colorado-Boulder began a collaborative project at Cuyamungue ( K’uuyemugeh ‘stones falling down place’), an ancestral Tewa village. The goals of the project are to increase awareness of local ancestral sites in contemporary Pueblo communities; to strengthen local community identities; and to integrate archaeological, historical and traditional knowledge in telling the story of Cuyamungue. The first season of work involved surface survey, low-altitude aerial survey, assessment of museum collections and site visits with Tewa scholars and leaders. Initial results suggest the pueblo was founded in the late 13th century and was home to more than 1,000 people by 1400 CE. Cuyamungue continued as a smaller community through the first century of Spanish colonization, and its inhabitants participated in the Pueblo Revolt. In 1696, the remaining inhabitants moved to Tesuque and Pojoaque pueblos but returned periodically over the years to maintain their connection to their ancestral home. Cuyamungue also remains an important place in the consciousness of present-day Tewa people. Another important finding is that, under certain conditions, it is possible to trace adobe wall-lines from vegetation patterns in low-altitude aerial photos.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage