Mimbres Lives and Landscapes
Edited by Michelle Hegmon and Margaret Nelson
People have called the mountains, rolling hills, wide valleys and broad desert plains of southwestern New Mexico home for at least 10,000 years. When they began to farm a little more than 2,000 years ago, they settled near the rich soils in the river flood plains. Then, around 900 CE, the people of this region burned all of their kivas and started gathering in large villages with small ritual spaces and open plazas. Between about 900 and 1100 CE, they also made the intricately painted geometric and figurative bowls in a style that is today called Mimbres, their best-known legacy. In the 1130s they stopped making this kind of pottery and drifted out of villages to more dispersed settlements.
These dramatic changes frame the story told in "Mimbres Lives and Landscapes." The well-illustrated essays in this book offer the latest archaeological research to explain what we know and what questions still remain about the ancient people of this region. Beginning with an overview of the abrupt change in lifestyle that launched the distinctive Mimbres culture, the book explores the lives of men and women, their sustenance, the changing nature of leadership, and the possible meanings of their dramatic pottery designs.
Bios
Margaret C. Nelson is a President's Professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and a vice dean in Barrett, The Honors College. Her current interest is on changing economic and social strategies associated with population aggregation and dispersion among pueblo dwellers of the 11th through 14th centuries in the Mogollon Region.
Michelle Hegmon is a professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. Her research focuses on the archaeology of the U.S. Southwest,<strong> </strong>particularly the Mimbres region of southwest New Mexico.
Praise for this book
The book is so appealing. Just layman enough to engage the regular person and packed with information to satisfy the more scholarly. … Hooray for science!
Laurel Thornburg
In this volume designed for the general reader, 15 leading Mimbres scholars present the latest information on these fascinating people, their lives, and their art. … 'Mimbres Lives and Landscapes' is a valuable addition to the literature of one of the ancient Southwest's most intriguing cultures."
American Archaeology
