While most archaeological measures of population rely on material proxies uncovered through excavation (rooms, hearths, etc.), we identify a technique to estimate population at unexcavated sites (the majority of the archaeological record). Our case study focuses on ancestral Tewa Pueblo villages in northern New Mexico. Uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV) and instrument mapping enables us to quantify the volume of adobe architectural rubble and to construct a decomposition model that estimates numbers of rooms and roofed over space. The resulting metric is applied at ten Pueblo villages in the region to 'rebuild' architecture, and calculate maximum architectural capacity and the maximum extent of population size. While our focus is on population histories for large Classic period (A.D. 1350-1598) pueblos in the American Southwest, the model and method may be applied to a variety of archaeological contexts worldwide and is not limited to building material, site size, or construction technique.
Economic reforms introduced by the Bourbon Monarchy after A.D. 1750 ushered in an Hispanic social formation in the northern Rio Grande identified as Vecino. Aspects of Vecino gendered economy are examined through a detailed analysis of five ceramic assemblages from the Chama and Taos Valleys of New Mexico. Geochemical (NAA) and stylistic clues identify the ethnic identities of producers and their relationships to Vecino consumers. Evidence for ceramic production by Vecino women during the nineteenth century is evaluated on the basis of detailed paste analysis of plain and micaceous ceramics as well as the occurrence of pottery-producing tools and clay-cleaning debris. Analytical results reveal that Jicarilla women dominated the production of micaceous cook ware to supply Vecino kitchens. Implications for understanding Vecino economics and the constitution of female-based systems of economic value are considered.
Protohistoric Ancestral Apache Dismal River groups (A.D. 1600–1750) participated in large exchange networks linking them to other peoples on the Plains and U.S. Southwest. Ceramic vessels made from micaceous materials appear at many Dismal River sites, and micaceous pottery recovered from the Central High Plains is typically seen as evidence for interaction with northern Rio Grande pueblos. However, few mineral or chemical characterization analyses have been conducted on these ceramics, and the term “micaceous” has been applied to a broad range of vessel types regardless of the form, size, or amount of mica in their pastes. Our recent analyses, including macroscopic evaluation combined with petrography and neutron activation analyses (NAA), indicate that only a small subset of Dismal River sherds are derived from New Mexico clays. The rest were likely manufactured using materials from Colorado and Wyoming. Seasonal mobility patterns may have given Dismal River potters the opportunity to collect mica raw materials as they traveled between the Central Plains and Front Range, and this has implications for the importance of internal Plains social networks during the Protohistoric and Historic periods.
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