Fields, Shrines, and Paths—Ancestral Tewa Landscape Usage at Cuyamunge

Summary

This is an abstract from the "From Collaboration to Partnership in Pojoaque, New Mexico" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Over the past five years, collaborative work between the Pueblo of Pojoaque and the University of Colorado, Boulder at the ancestral Tewa site of Cuyamunge has revealed a network of agricultural fields, shrines, and paths. Studies suggest that shrines have been used as a centerpiece of Puebloan ritual observances for at least 4,000 years. Given the richness and complexity of the Tewa shrine system, this paper addresses only the archaeologically identifiable shrines located within the boundaries of Cuyamunge. I use ethnographic knowledge derived from many years of collaboration with members of the Pueblo of Pojoaque as a basis for interpreting the relationship between agricultural fields, shrines, and paths. More specifically, I identify patterns in the archaeological record that reflect explanations rooted in Tewa ethnography for both shrine selection and placement within the village itself.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• From Collaboration to Partnership in Pojoaque, New Mexico

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23969