The Powers Ranch Site: Identity and Affiliation West of the Mimbres Heartland

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Mogollon, Mimbres, and Salado Archaeology in Southwest New Mexico and Beyond" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

What does it mean to be Mimbres at the far edge of the Mimbres heartland? Here, we consider questions of Mimbres identity and affiliation by examining ceramics and architecture from the Powers Ranch site. We also analyze Powers Ranch in relation to other Mimbres Classic components along the Gila River to the south. The Powers Ranch project is virtually the only excavation of a Mimbres Classic site west of sites on the Gila River in New Mexico. Located on a high mesa on the Gila River in southeast Arizona, about 179 km west of the Mimbres Valley, it likely represents the far western edge of things Mimbres. Powers Ranch was professionally excavated in 1983, revealing two surface rooms, two smaller, contiguous exterior rooms, extramural activity areas, three or four pithouses, two burials, and a substantial ceramic assemblage of over 29,000 sherds. To analyze whether Powers Ranch was affiliated with the Mimbres heartland and/or the Western Mimbres region in New Mexico, we compare designs and frequencies of the assemblage’s Mimbres black-on-white sherds with pottery from sites in the Mimbres Valley. We also evaluate whether room block layouts and architectural materials are like those of the Mimbres and Gila Valleys.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Mogollon, Mimbres, and Salado Archaeology in Southwest New Mexico and Beyond   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36042.0