Tracing Lineages and Regional Interaction in the Upper Mimbres Valley: Preliminary Bioarchaeological Indicators at the Elk Ridge Site

Summary

Three seasons of excavation at the Elk Ridge site in the Upper Mimbres Valley suggest close familial social structures within this Classic period community. As a part of this preservation project, excavation of endangered burials has revealed mortuary and biological patterns that renew thinking of community dynamics in the region. Previous research by Harry Shafer has proposed that Mimbres communities organized around the family unit and lineage groups. Data from Elk Ridge thus far support this in the continued use of architectural plots and numerous burials within pueblo rooms. In this paper, mortuary treatments and cranial characteristics (especially occipital flattening) of 20 burials are considered as markers of familial identity. Observations of adult individuals suggest multiple ethnic identities and contact with contemporary Mogollon groups to the north. Preliminary interpretations of Elk Ridge are presented and compared to other examples of regional interaction observed in skeletal remains during a period of reduced extra-local activities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20098