Prehistoric Indians of the SouthwestWormington, H. M. (Hannah Marie)
History
Prehistoric Indians of the Southwest
Wormington, H. M. (Hannah Marie)
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New -- Antiquities; Southwest, New -- Antiquities
The earliest dendrochronologically dated Mogollon site yet found lies in
the Forestdale Valley of Arizona. Tree-rings indicate that it was
occupied about 300 A. D. As far as it is possible to judge on the basis
of the very meager information available in publications at this time,
the people who lived at this site, which is known as Bluff Ruin, had a
very simple culture. They lived in round pit houses which were entered
through the side. The little pottery which has been found is plain brown
ware.
THE PINE LAWN PHASE[84][85]
At present the Mogollon in New Mexico is divided into four periods. To
the first has been assigned the name _Pine Lawn Phase_. It is known only
from one location, the SU site which lies about seven miles west of
Reserve, New Mexico. The site name was taken from a local cattle brand.
No wood suitable for dating has been found, so it has been necessary to
estimate the time of occupation on typological evidence. On this basis,
it is thought that the SU site was inhabited prior to 500 A. D.
Most of the inhabitants of the SU site lived in very shallow pit houses.
These were so irregular in shape, and there was such variation in size
and construction, that it has been suggested that the indications are
that house building was a relatively new trait. The greater number of
the pit houses were entered by inclined passageways opening to the east.
There were no deflectors such as are found in Basketmaker houses.
A few surface houses with wattle-and-daub walls have also been found.
They are similarly irregular in shape and size. House floors, both in
pit and surface structures, contained pits. There were usually several
of these and in one case as many as eight. The largest were over three
feet in diameter. Most were empty, and it is thought that they served as
storage spaces, but a few contained burned stones and bones and may have
been used for cooking. Few houses contained fire pits such as are
normally found in Anasazi dwellings.
Pottery consisted of three undecorated wares which, like all early
Mogollon pottery, were produced by a coiling and scraping technique and
fired in an oxidizing atmosphere. Included are a burnished buff to
reddish-brown ware, a thick unpolished brown, and a polished red. All
were made of the same type of clay and this argues against the polished
red pottery having been of foreign manufacture as has sometimes been
suggested.
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