Mimbres Archaeology

The Mimbres cultural tradition once dominated southwestern New Mexico and adjacent areas, and is best known for intricate and beautiful pottery with black designs painted on a white background. The apex of population and tradition—1000–1130 ce—is labeled the Mimbres Classic period. Several major changes distinguish this period from earlier Pithouse periods, including the appearance of the first pueblos in the southern Southwest, increased population, change from enclosed to open ritual spaces, elaboration of black-on-white pottery, and a shift in pan-regional connections from west with the people of the Hohokam region to south into Mesoamerica. This chapter describes these trends and their implications. It then explores three research themes that have contributed to this cultural tradition and to broader understandings of society, ecology, and worldview: human-environment interactions; organizational variation of large pueblos, room layouts, ritual practices, and ceramic production; and the representational and geometric black-on-white pottery.