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Caddoan Archaeology on the High Plains: A Conceptual Nexus of Bison, Lodges, Maize, and Rock Art

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomas N. Huffman  and
Frank Lee Earley
Thomas N. Huffman
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (Thomas.huffman@wits.ac.za)
Frank Lee Earley
Affiliation:
Arapahoe Community College, Littleton, Colorado, Retired. Elizabeth, Colorado 80107 (FrankLEarley@aol.com)
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Abstract

The Wallace site is a thirteenth-century hamlet of rectangular lodges, situated on a bluff near Pueblo, Colorado. Commonly attributed to the Apishapa phase, it is more likely affiliated to the Upper Republican cluster, and so the people most likely spoke Northern Caddoan. Because of this identity, we use Pawnee ethnography to interpret the organization of space and spatial distribution of artifacts, including a rock art chamber below the bluff. This chamber followed the spatial layout of a lodge with a double entrance: a West Unit contained shield-bearing warriors associated with dreams and visions that provided supernatural power for low-level warfare, while the East Unit emphasized geometric images that most likely referred to the cosmológical origins of humanity. The art and artifacts show that the ideology of the domestic economy emphasized bison hunting and maize farming, and was associated respectively with doctors and priests.

Resumen

Resumen

El sitio de Wallace es una aldea de cabañas rectangulares del siglo XIII, situado en un acantilado cerca de Pueblo, Colorado. Comúnmente atribuidos a la fase de Apishapa, es probablemente asociado con el grupo Superior Republicano, y entonces la gente probablemente de habla Caddoanas del Norte. Debido a esta identidad, utilizamos etnografía Pawnee como método de interpretar la organización del espacio y la distribución espacial de artefactos, incluyendo una sala de arte parietal debajo del acantilado. La organización espacial de esta sala siguió el diseño de una cabana con una entrada doble: la Unidad Oeste contenía imágenes de guerreros con escudos asociados con sueños y visiones que proveían poder sobrenatural para guerra a nivel bajo, mientras que la Unidad Este enfatizó imágenes geométricas que probablemente se referían a los orígenes de la humanidad en los cosmos. El arte y artefactos muestran que la ideología de la economía domestica se enfocaba en la caza de búfalo y el cultivo de maíz y se asoció con doctores y sacerdotes, respectivamente.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 79 , Issue 4 , October 2014 , pp. 655 - 678
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2014

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