Resource Distribution and Health at Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581)

Abstract

Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581) is a Pueblo IV period site in New Mexico. This study addresses two research goals: first, to examine burial distribution for indicators of spatial clustering, and second, to test whether association to such units affected resource access and the health of individuals. Using geographic information systems (GIS), I define spatial units applying Nearest Neighbor and Kernel Density Analysis. Osteological data, including age, sex, and health indicators, as well as mortuary data, serve to examine the interrelatedness between spatial units and resource distribution. Data stem from 55 individuals excavated from Tijeras Pueblo during the 1970s. Results show a significant clustering of burials associated with room blocks, interpreted as household units. No hierarchical differences between households were found based on burial goods, although some types of burial goods varied in frequency between the clusters. Differences exist in the frequency of linear enamel hypoplasia.

Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581) es un sitio del período Pueblo IV en el centro de Nuevo México. Este estudio aborda dos objetivos de investigación interconectados: primero, examinar los datos del entierro en busca de indicadores de distintas unidades espaciales dentro del sitio, y segundo, probar si la asociación a tales unidades afecta el acceso a los recursos materiales y la salud de un individuo. Utilizando sistemas de información geográfica (GIS), defino unidades espaciales en función de la distribución de los entierros dentro del sitio. Los datos osteológicos, incluidos los indicadores de edad, sexo y salud, así como los datos mortuorios y la información espacial, sirven para examinar la interrelación entre las unidades espaciales y la distribución de recursos. Los datos provienen de una muestra demográficamente diversa de 55 individuos de contextos de enterramiento conocidos excavados en Tijeras Pueblo durante la década de 1970. Los resultados muestran una agrupación significativa de entierros asociados con bloques de habitaciones, interpretados como unidades del hogar. No se encontraron diferencias jerárquicas entre hogares basadas en cantidades totales de bienes funerarios, aunque la distribución de ciertos tipos de bienes varía. Existen diferencias en la distribución de hipoplasia de esmalte.

KEYWORDS:

• Skeletal indicators of stress
• burial practices
• social units
• GIS
• hot spot analysis
• bioarchaeology
• Pueblo IV
• Tijeras Pueblo

Acknowledgements

My heartfelt thanks to Isleta Pueblo for the permission to conduct this study. I am grateful to the Cibola National Forest and Grasslands, to the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology for facilitating collection access, and to Sandra Arazi-Coambs and Judith Habicht-Mauche for their invitation and helpful comments on this article. I thank the anonymous reviewers whose constructive feedback substantially improved this work. Any remaining errors are my own. Special thanks to staff and students at the Laboratory of Human Osteology and to Heather Edgar’s Bridge Lab. Thank you Will Marquardt for invaluable help with ArcGIS. Since this study represents aspects of my master’s research, I am intensely grateful to my committee: Emily Jones, Heather Edgar, and Osbjorn Pearson.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Georeferenced by Will Marquardt.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.