Affiliation: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Barbara Roth is Professor and Chair in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Arizona. She has done fieldwork in the Southwest US, Mojave Desert, and France. Her research has focused on the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture, the social changes (household organization, gender roles) that occurred as groups became more sedentary and agriculturally dependent, and the role of ritual in community integration in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico. She has directed excavations at several pithouse sites and a large Classic period pueblo in the Mimbres region. She has recently been doing work in the Mojave Desert examining past hunter-gatherer land use.
The Mojave Desert is one of the most arid environments in North America and yet foragers exploited the desert resources for at least 10,000 years. They crossed the landscape following a series of springs and seeps using networks of trails. We can trace their use of the landscape by examining data from archaeological sites, including rock writing, combined with ethnographic information provided by groups who lived in the desert when Europeans arrived. In this presentation, I discuss evidence for the long-term use of the Mojave Desert using data from recent archaeological fieldwork in the desert around Las Vegas, NV. Our work has highlighted the diverse ways that foragers shared information on water sources and plant and animal resources such as mesquite and bighorn sheep. We have been able to reconstruct how they crossed the landscape and how that knowledge was passed down through generations. I also discuss the implications that our results have for understanding how past people adapted to challenging environments.
Great kivas and associated plazas served as important ritual spaces in the Mimbres region of southwestern New Mexico throughout the Pithouse period (AD 550-1000). In this presentation, I discuss information obtained from excavations at the Harris site, a large pithouse village located in the central Mimbres Valley that has enabled us to explore the role of great kivas and a central plaza in community integration. We have documented changes in the way that great kivas were used as the village grew, extended family households formed, and social distinctions developed. I highlight the role of these ritual spaces in ensuring that people in the community were connected in an interacting, cooperating social group.
Elk Ridge was the largest pueblo in the northern portion of the Mimbres River Valley of southwestern New Mexico during the Classic Mimbres period (AD 1000-1130). Mimbres pueblos are best known for their elaborately decorated black-on-white pottery, which has led to widespread looting and destruction of many pueblos. Elk Ridge pueblo is unique because much of the site has been preserved by alluvial deposits. Recent excavations by archaeologists from UNLV have provided important information on the people who lived at the pueblo and their participation in a thriving community. This presentation discusses insights we have gained from our work at Elk Ridge and how the pueblo served as a ritual and economic hub for this portion of the Mimbres Valley.
