EXAMINING ORTHODOXY IN THE UPPER SAN JUAN REGION OF THE NORTHERN SOUTHWEST

Abstract

Conventional interpretations of architecture and artifacts have concluded that the Ancestral Puebloans of the Upper San Juan (or uplands of the Eastern Mesa Verde) region were slow to respond to cultural changes that were occurring in the Central Mesa Verde region to the west and Chaco/Cibola region to the South. Rather than being a “cultural backwater,” this paper examines the idea that these groups practiced an orthodox form of the Puebloan lifeway, rejecting the changes that were occurring elsewhere in the northern Southwest. During the Pueblo II period (A.D. 900–1150), this orthodoxy is evident in the retention of material culture and architecture that is reminiscent of earlier time periods, such as plain gray ceramics and pit structures. The rejection of change in the Upper San Juan region is significant because it argues for a socially diverse landscape inhabited by both progressive groups accepting of change and groups that had a more conservative attitude toward change over time.

Interpretaciones convencionales sobre arquitectura y artefactos han concluido que los Pueblo Ancestrales de la parte alta de la región de San Juan (o tierras altas orientales de Mesa Verde) respondieron lentamente a cambios culturales que estaban ocurriendo en la región central de Mesa Verde al oeste de la región Chaco/Cibola al sur. Más que la noción de un lugar apartado culturalmente, este ensayo examina la idea de que estos grupos practicaron una forma ortodoxa de modo de vida Pueblo, rechazando los cambios que estaban ocurriendo en otros lugares en el norte del Suroeste. Durante el periodo Pueblo II (900-1150 D.C.), esta ortodoxia es evidente en la retención de la cultura material y la arquitectura que recuerda la de períodos más tempranos, tales como cerámica gris lisa y estructuras subterráneas. El rechazo al cambio en la parte alta de la región de San Juan es importante porque sostiene la existencia de un paisaje socialmente diverso habitado tanto por grupos progresistas que aceptaban el cambio como por grupos que tuvieron una actitud más conservadora hacia los cambios a lo largo del tiempo.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research presented in this paper stems from the Northern San Juan Settlement Survey Project that encompassed approximately 148,800 acres in La Plata and Archuleta Counties, Colorado (SJNF #09-013/SJFO #09-017). This project was funded by a grant from the Colorado Historical Society and Federal funds from the Bureau of Land Management, San Juan Public Lands. We would like to thank Julie Coleman (Heritage Team Lead, San Juan Public Lands), Wendy Sutton (Pagosa Ranger District Archaeologist), Tom Carr (Colorado Historic Fund), and the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association. Any and all errors in the data or interpretations are the responsibility of the authors.