Changing Occupational Pattern Among Prehistoric Horticulturalists in sw New Mexico

Abstract

Studies of the land use patterns of prehistoric agriculturalists have traditionally assumed that cultivation implies sedentism. Recent research has challenged this as a necessary assumption, offering various views on the mobility patterns of prehistoric agriculturalists. This paper presents an evaluation of the occupational history of a Mimbres and Tularosa Mogollon site located in SW New Mexico, but outside core population areas. Although cultivation was the primary activity throughout the history of site occupation, discontinuity of site use and change in occupation patterns indicate considerable movement by these prehistoric cultivators. Abandonment of large sites in core population areas of the Mimbres branch occurred during the occupation of this small site. The change in its role in the settlement system may indicate regional reorganization of the Mimbres population or abandonment by that population, preceding reoccupation by a different group.