Culture and History of the Southwest: Archaeological Perspectives #2

Eric Blinman, Director, Office of Archaeological Studies Florescence and Crisis in the New Mexican Southwest: AD 900-1300 When agriculture is successful and reliable, it can fuel the development of social and economic complexity. Sustainability of cultural innovation, however, is dependent on the fit between climate variation and community needs. The tenth through thirteenth centuries of New Mexico history represent the best and worst outcomes of climate change. Benign and predictable farming conditions supported the florescence of Mimbres and Chaco, but as climate changed in ways less suited to reliable agriculture, those cultural patterns were challenged. Climate doesn’t determine how people and cultures respond, but in the Southwest is constrains economic potential, either allowing or requiring adaptation to changed conditions.

John Ware, Executive Director (retired), Amerind Foundation Bridge to the Present: Migrations and Cultural Adaptations in the Post-AD 1300 Southwest The climate changes of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries resulted in dramatic reshaping of the Puebloan world and culture. Economic and social crises encouraged migration and often fragmenting of long-stable communities. Assimilation, tolerance, or rejection of migrants is evident in all parts of New Mexico as Puebloan peoples endeavored to reestablish successful families and communities. No region was spared direct or indirect impact, and adaptation to new geographic and social landscapes was progressive over the period. Experimentation with new social and ceremonial institutions, and the interactions between distinct cultural groups, continued into the Spanish Colonial period. The result has been the complex pattern of similarity and difference of modern Pueblo peoples.

This lecture will take place at the Santa Fe Woman’s Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail, 1pm – 4pm, $75 for both dates, $45 for one date. Reservations will be accepted by calling and leaving a message on (505) 982-7799, ext. 5 after 7am on February 14, 2017.