The Zuni/Cibola Region

The Zuni/Cibola region of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico was the setting for some of the earliest formal archaeological investigations in the U.S. Southwest. From the outset, research in the region has been regional in scope, focusing in particular on issues of population movement, community organization, and social identity. Importantly, although the Cibola region is often treated as a single unit of analysis, the regional boundaries are crosscut by broader distinctions between the Anasazi or Ancestral Pueblo culture area to the north and the Mogollon culture area to the south. The apparent complexity of social boundaries in the Cibola region reflects a high degree of mobility and fluid social organization. Due in part to this complexity, the Cibola region has played a major role in conceptualizations of social and cultural identity in the Southwest for both archaeological research and cultural heritage legislation.