Investigating Social Boundaries in Southwestern New Mexico

Author(s): Kendall Baller

Year: 2018

Summary

Social network analyses provide insight into the strength and weakness of social connections across geographic areas. Discussions in the literature of the Mimbres region in New Mexico have stated that during the Classic period, the Mimbres ceramic tradition is confined to southwestern New Mexico, though this has not been tested with statistical assessments of data. Using ceramic style data from sites within and surrounding the Mimbres region, I investigate the levels of social ‘boundedness’ in the area through statistical computing methods. Social network analysis can determine whether boundaries were more clinal or rigid, and test whether or not this region is statistically more ‘bounded’ than others visible in the archaeological record. With access to deep archaeological time scales and the breadth of data from the Mimbres region, I will present my research on the impact of social networks on connections between groups of people living in the past. By furthering our understanding of social networks in the past, we can inform our understanding of how people today interact and exchange ideas across perceived social boundaries.

Cite this Record

Investigating Social Boundaries in Southwestern New Mexico. Kendall Baller. Presented at The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC. 2018 ( tDAR id: 442830)

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Spatial Coverage

min long: -124.365; min lat: 25.958 ; max long: -93.428; max lat: 41.902 ;

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22446