Movin’ on Up: Insights into Habitations on the Slopes of Cañon de San Diego, New Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeology in the Jemez Province of New Mexico has been explored and studied since the late 19th century. High site densities and pueblo complexes are common, but most of the areas suspected to contain pueblo settlements have been thoroughly reconnoitered. These resources are primarily identified within drainage bottoms and atop the numerous mesas between canyons. In 2017, Logan Simpson surveyed 662 acres of steep, heavily incised, and extremely rugged Santa Fe National Forest land on the western slopes of the Cañon de San Diego immediately north of Jemez Springs. The parcels, sandwiched between the Jemez River and the edge of Virgin Mesa, were anticipated by all involved to contain relatively few cultural resources. Instead, 48 new sites were identified, most of which contain standing architecture with intact mortar, including several on slopes greater than 30 percent. Diagnostic artifacts indicate that most sites date from the late Coalition and Classic periods (A.D. 1250–1650), a time that saw rapid population increase in the area and an intensification of villages on mesa tops. This paper discusses results of survey, assesses the spatial and temporal distribution of sites, and provides new insights into the habitation of "less-than-ideal" landforms.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23786