Pre-spanish pueblos in New Mexico

Abstract

Pre-Spanish (1300-1600) pueblos in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico were compact multistoried buildings which enclosed small plazas. Most of their several hundred rooms were probably occupied by single families, but some were storerooms. Most of the cultivated land was on the flatter areas, but slopes up to 40° were terraced. The agricultural area probably was cultivated in common, and private ownership of fields was unknown. Each cultivated area had one or several fieldhouses or small caves, mostly of only one room, in which a single family lived and watched the crops during the growing season. Smaller structures, which might be interpreted as observation cabins occupied by only one person, commanded views of larger areas. All structures were connected by foot trails. Perhaps five to seven hundred people lived in a pueblo with 250 to 300 rooms and a cultivated area of 500 to 625 acres (200 to 250 ha). The community had a tight social structure based on religious societies and elected chiefs rather than on a nobility as in Mexico, key words: Field patterns, New Mexico, Population density, Pueblo, Social organization, Trails.