Classic Mimbres Phase Archaeology: A Contrastive Study of Two Sites at the Headwaters of the Upper Gila River

Summary

Classic Mimbres sites can be seen across the Mimbres Valley and Upper Gila areas. For one tributary of the Gila River, Diamond Creek, there are several of these sites that lay alongside it. As a part of the "Northern Mimbres Project," two sites–Twin Pines Village (a large Classic Mimbres village) and South Diamond Creek Pueblo (a small four room site)–have been excavated by New Mexico State University field schools over the course of three years. Our excavations and research of these sites have led us to better understand the relationship between large and small scale habitation during the Classic Mimbres phase in the Upper Gila. The relationships between these two sites can be observed in the differences in: 1) architectural style, 2) pottery assemblages, and 3) amounts of exchanged items. Based on the results of our field work, we argue that data from the Twin Pines and South Diamond Creek Pueblo sites offer a deeper understanding of the Upper Gila region as well as a broad perspective of the Classic Mimbres culture in the American Southwest.

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): 22257