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Kin Groups and Social Power at the Harris Site, Southwestern New Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Barbara J. Roth  and
Kathryn M. Baustian
Barbara J. Roth
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154 ([email protected])
Kathryn M. Baustian
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154 ([email protected])
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Abstract

The Late Pithouse period in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico was a dynamic time during which many social changes occurred. One of the more significant of these changes appears to be related to the role of land-holding kin groups at some of the larger pithouse sites. We present bioarchaeological data from our recent excavations at the Harris Site in the Mimbres River Valley to illustrate that certain kin groups were gaining social power compared to others in the village. We discuss the reasons for these power differentials and the implications that they have for understanding the myriad other social changes occurring valley-wide at the end of the Pithouse period.

Résumé

Résumé

El perίodo Late Pithouse de la regiίn de Mimbres Mogollίn del suroeste de Nuevo México era un tiempo dindmico durante el cual se produjeron muchos cambios sociales. Uno de los más significativos de estos cambios parece estar relacionado con el papel de grupos de parentesco tierra que sostiene en algunos de los sitios Pithouse más grandes. Se presentan los datos bioarqueológicos de nuestros recientes excavaciones en el sitio de Harris en el valle del rio Mimbres para ilustrar que determinados grupos de parentesco fueron ganando poder social en comparación con otras personas de la aldea. Se discuten las razones de estas diferencias de poder y las implicaciones que tienen para la comprensión de la mirίada de otros cambios sociales que seproducen en todo el valle al final del perίodo Pithouse.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 80 , Issue 3 , July 2015 , pp. 451 - 471
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2015

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