Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest

by Plog,Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780500286937
• ISBN10: 0500286930
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-04-21
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Summary

Most people are familiar with the famous pre-Columbian civilizations of the Aztecs and Maya of Mexico, but few realize just how advanced were contemporary cultures in the American Southwest. Here lie some of the most remarkable monuments of America's prehistoric past, such as Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Ten thousand years ago, humans first colonized this seemingly inhospitable landscape with its scorching hot deserts and upland areas that drop below freezing even during the early summer months. The initial hunter-gatherer bands gradually adapted to become sedentary village groups. The high point of Southwestern civilization was reached with the emergence of cultures known as Anasazi, Hohokam, and Mogollon in the first millennium AD. Interweaving the latest archaeological evidence with early first-person accounts, Stephen Plog explains the rise and mysterious fall of Southwestern cultures. For this revised edition, he discusses new research and its implications for our understanding of the prehistoric Southwest. As he concludes, the Southwest is still home to vibrant Native American communities who carry on many of the old traditions.

Author Biography

Stephen Plog is Professor of Anthropology and Associate Dean for Academic Programs at the University of Virginia.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 7
Introduction: People and Landscape	p. 13
The Pueblos of the north and east
Rancherias of the south and west
'The snow and cold are unusually great': the environmental setting
Studying Southwestern archaeology: from Model T's to models of the past
Paleo-Indians: Early Hunters and Gatherers 9500 to 7000 BC	p. 37
The earliest periods: Clovis and Folsom
The vanishing ice age megafauna
The Archaic: Questions of Continuity and Change 7000 BC to AD 200	p. 46
The gathering gourmets
Continuity or change: examining the evidence
Social groups and regional networks
Beginning the transition to agriculture
The first steps toward village life
The Rise of Village Life AD 200 to 700	p. 56
Villages and the time lag: a millennium of change
Pithouses and houses in pits
Public buildings and collective ritual
More villages, more people
Diet, nutrition, and technological innovation
The emergence of Hohokam, Mogollon, and Anasazi groups
From Village to Town: Hohokam, Mogollon, and Anasazi AD 700 to 1130	p. 71
The Hohokam
The Mogollon
The Anasazi
Hohokam communities in the Phoenix Basin
Art and aesthetics: the Mimbres of southwestern New Mexico
The burgeoning Anasazi of northern Black Mesa
The Great Houses of Chaco Canyon
Universal trends in the Southwest
Understanding the perspective of the ancient Southwesterners
Cliff dwellings, Cooperation, and Conflict AD 1130 to 1350	p. 118
Emigration and oral histories
Regional variation and localized polities
Common threads but different fabrics
Denouement in the Four Corners region
Towns, Mounds, and Kachinas	p. 154
Community cycles: boom and bust in the Rio Grande Valley
Farming, food, and famine?
Warfare and defense
Ancestors, clouds, and kachina ritual
Green stones for red feathers: trade and elites in the Southwest
Conclusions
From Prehistory to History	p. 181
The transition to history in the Hohokam region
The transition in the Pueblo region
Epilogue	p. 194
Changing protagonists: the American intrusion
The late 19th and 20th centuries in the Southwest
Map of the Southwest	p. 200
Guide to the Southwest	p. 202
Notes to the Text	p. 207
Further Reading	p. 211
Sources of Illustrations	p. 220
Index	p. 222
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