The Intensification of Mimbres Cave Ritual: Empirical Phenomenon or Disciplinary Artifact?

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Subterranean" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Over two dozen cave shrines are known from the Mimbres Mogollon region, more than have been reported from any other cultural region in the United States Southwest and Northwest Mexico (SW/NW). Despite some variation, the archaeological record of these sites is remarkably consistent and readily allows for their identification as shrines due to the presence of an ethnographically recognizable complex of offertory materials that includes prayer sticks (pahos), painted wood objects (“tablitas”), and cane cigarettes. It remains difficult to determine, however, whether this phenomenon represents a stronger interest in cave ritual among the Mimbres or is simply the product of more thorough cave survey in that region, especially the work of Hattie and C. Burton Cosgrove in the 1920s and Walter Hough in 1905. Neighboring regions show related patterns but fewer cave shrines. This paper synthesizes a wide range of data in order to place Mimbres cave ritual in its spatial and temporal context. Available data, including the few available 14C dates, supports the conclusion that cave ritual did indeed reach unprecedented levels during the Mimbres Classic (ca. 1000-1130 CE). Available evidence suggests that this intensification was driven simultaneously by population expansion, religious reformation, and environmental factors.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Subterranean   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37883.0