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Archaeologists have conducted much research on the Classic Mimbres ceramics (A.D. 1000-1130) in southwestern New Mexico, but there exists a strange oversight of Mimbres bowls fired in an oxidizing environment.  Bonded iron oxides in the paint give it a distinctive reddish color when fired. While still classified as part of the black-on-white design tradition and found in similar mortuary contexts, I argue that these oxidized bowls were intentionally manufactured. The resulting red color and its placement on bowls may be indicative of the symbolic function of these vessels as “visual metaphors” of the Mesoamerican ideology and religion that may have been adopted in part during the Classic Mimbres period.

Currently archaeologists have conducted little research concerning how prehistoric Mimbres potters (A.D 750- 1130) experimented with firing procedures to create bowls with designs that are fully oxidized or half-oxidized and half-reduced.  Shafer (2003) suggested that fully oxidized bowls could be produced by simply placing a bowl upright to allow oxygen to reach the paint.  His assertion serves as the foundation of my experiment.  This poster tests three possible firing techniques that Mimbres potters may have used.  Were Mimbres potters placing a sherd over part of the design, placing a bowl inside another bowl, or burying part of the vessel to prevent oxygen from reaching part of the painted design, or perhaps using different mineral elements to ensure a predictable color?  Ultimately, I will paint with differing amounts of hematite (iron oxide) and magnesium dioxide and experiment with an open-air firing technique to try to recreate Mimbres bowls with a half-red and half-black effect.

The purpose of the Southern Mimbres Archaeological Project (SMAP) is to record sites in New Mexico on BLM land that augment the archaeological data within this underrepresented southern part of the Mimbres region.  Our survey data allow for an evaluation of site relationships to each other at a regional scale within the larger Mogollon cultural area, in particular, connections to the more intensively studied Mimbres Valley and to external areas throughout the North American Southwest and northwest Mexico.  Can we observe differences in material culture and settlement patterns as we move beyond the Mimbres Valley?  More precisely, can we examine resource procurement strategies using obsidian XRF data and stylistic differences on painted pottery to assess the degree of interaction and affiliation of people at these sites with other groups in the Mimbres Valley proper from A.D. 550-1450?  Our preliminary results suggest there are distinctive variations in obsidian source use and ceramic iconography south and southwest of the Mimbres Valley, most notably during the Classic Mimbres period in the Pyramid and Cedar Mountains, and other small ranges.  We discuss these differences and elaborate on the significance of the results and put it into the larger context of Mogollon archaeology.

At Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), one constantly encounters cultural remains of the past, whether they are of research buildings utilized during the Manhattan Era, or the remnants of dwellings of Precolumbian farmers on the Pajarito Plateau. Rock art sites are often encountered places where images of various meanings have been physically pecked and scratched out by people inscribing their identities and worldviews onto the surrounding landscape. Because a landscape can persist in form and memory in various states of visitation, deterioration, and commemoration, we need to view rock art in relation to surrounding habitation and activity sites, as well as natural resources at various scales. I take a landscape approach combining Puebloan ethnography and GIS applications to examine approximately 150 rock art sites in the LANL cultural resources database dating from A.D. 600 -1600. This approach allows for recognition of robust spatial and temporal patterns, such as the range of variation in topographic settings through time. Are there differences in where certain motifs can be seen and accessed, and conversely, are there places where certain images are not depicted and cannot be viewed? Can we identify differences between interior cavate or kiva art and isolated petroglyph panels?

At Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), one constantly encounters cultural remains of the past, whether they are of research buildings utilized during the Manhattan Era, or the remnants of dwellings of Precolumbian farmers on the Pajarito Plateau. Rock art sites are often encountered places where images of various meanings have been physically pecked and scratched out by people inscribing their identities and worldviews onto the surrounding landscape. Because a landscape can persist in form and memory in various states of visitation, deterioration, and commemoration, we need to view rock art in relation to surrounding habitation and activity sites, as well as natural resources at various scales. I take a landscape approach combining Puebloan ethnography and GIS applications to examine approximately 150 rock art sites in the LANL cultural resources database dating from A.D. 600 - 1600. This approach allows for recognition of robust spatial and temporal patterns, such as the range of variation in topographic settings through time. Are there differences in where certain motifs can be seen and accessed, and conversely, are there places where certain images are not depicted and cannot be viewed? Can we identify differences between interior cavate or kiva art and isolated petroglyph panels?

The Cultural Resources program at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) manages nearly 2000 archaeological and historic properties, spanning thousands of years of human history. Due to its remoteness on the Pajarito Plateau, LANL boasts exceptional preservation of many sites. However, archaeologists must contend with an equally singular set of compliance-driven issues, such as back-logged legacy projects, difficulty in accessing sites on an operational national laboratory, and little time to conduct and disseminate research. As using photogrammetry programs to create 3D digital imaging has become an increasingly utilized tool in archaeology, can photogrammetry can be more widely used here at LANL to help mitigate some of the above circumstances? Can photogrammetry be implemented into routine site recording and updating in lieu or to augment the complex sketch mapping process? Would employing photogrammetry techniques support current erosional and long-term monitoring of significant cultural properties? Would having 3D models assist in increasing access and experience of these unique ancestral and historic places for a wider public?

Beginning in the 1880s, Euro-and Hispanic-American homesteaders expanded from the Rio Grande Valley onto the Pajarito Plateau in northern New Mexico. In 1943, the US Army/ Government displaced these groups in preparation of the coming of Manhattan Project scientists. While journals and documentary accounts from visitors and descendants provide insight into the everyday livelihood of these farmers and ranchers, few studies have investigated their shared experience based on examination of physical remains. A comparative analysis of artifacts recovered from these homesteads allow us to better understand the similarities and differences among homestead experiences for both of these groups. This poster examines common functional artifact categories, as well as variations in site structures between Euro-and Hispanic-American homesteads in order to develop a richer and more nuanced understanding of pre Manhattan Project life on the Pajarito Plateau.

Sometimes our work takes us to unexpected places. My current postdoctoral project at Los Alamos National Laboratory focuses on the Vigil y Montoya homestead, a Hispanic-owned homestead occupied from 1912-1943, and an under-represented period of history of the Pajarito Plateau in northern New Mexico. This research has been greatly enhanced through the chance meeting of a direct descendant and subsequent collaboration with the local lineal descendants. This poster summarizes the recent work at the homestead, including survey, excavation, artifact analysis, and drone work. I discuss the fascinating spatial patterns, issues with multiple occupations, important facts learned through exchange with descendants, and even how certain artifacts can be attributed to named individuals. Collaborations such as these are unparalleled as additional lines of evidence and have larger impacts on the field of historical archaeology and archaeology in general; most importantly highlighting the need for and returns of collaborating with descendant communities and constructing richer narratives of the past together.

Archaeologists working on the Pajarito plateau have proposed that petroglyph panels (rock art) functioned as "billboards" associating certain groups with territories. Presumably, smaller panels, not placed on the cliff face below the large residential pueblos, and less inter-visible, functioned as something other than billboards. Equally, panels with wide viewsheds or direct line of sight of prominent natural features might have functioned as shrines. I test this assumption by answering the following questions concerning variously placed panels in Mortandad Canyon Technical Area-05 (Figures 1-3). 1. What other landmarks or built cultural features are visible from the panels themselves? 2. Are the vantage points many, few in number, or isolated near pueblo village sites? 3. From where are these carved images visible?