Mogollon culture

The Mogollon culture is a prehistoric Native American culture in the southwest of North America, the BC began depending on interpretation between 200 to 250 AD and either went up in 1400 in the culture of the Anasazi, or until the first appearance of the Spaniards in 1540 existed. It emerged from the Archaic period predecessors and took over the production of ceramics and possibly the oldest house types from the earlier begun, adjacent Hohokam culture. The Mogollon influenced in turn the subsequent bordering north Anasazi culture strong. The majority of the Mogollon Indians spoke probably a Penutian language. First, the Mogollon built pit houses, later detached houses of stone and adobe. From about the year 1000, they preferred to build pueblos. Unlike the Anasazi were designated as Kiva cult chambers of minor importance for the Mogollon.

The Mogollon developed a high- agriculture with irrigation and processing of crops. Other cultural products were a variety of tools, pottery, basketry and turquoise, stone and shell jewelry. These goods they offered in wide areas to trading. It is believed that the Mogollon are ancestors of today's Pueblo culture.

Discovery and definition

The Mogollon culture was defined in 1934 by HS Gladwin during excavations around the Gila Cliff Dwellings and 1936 first described by Emil W. Haury scientifically. He used as a boundary to neighboring cultures in time and space, the combination of pit houses and two typical ceramic styles. Joe Ben Wheat led 1955, a classification with five periods of the Mogollon culture, which later became one of the three phases of Early pit houses ( 200-600 ), Late Pit houses ( 600-1000 ) and Mogollon - Pueblo ( 1000-1400 ) were combined.

Named is the culture according to the Mogollon Mountains, where the first discoveries were made and for which the Spanish governor of Nuevo Mexico from 1712 to 1715, Juan Ignacio Flores Mogollón was eponymous.

Settlement area

The settlement area of ​​the Mogollon lies mainly in the southern U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico. It is bordered by the rivers Little Colorado River in the north, the Verde River in the west and the Pecos River to the east. The southern boundary is not sharply defined, the sphere of influence reached as far as present-day Texas and Mexico in the mountain and desert region of western Chihuahua and some areas in the east of Sonora. The region as a whole is a rugged highlands, which was loosely forested despite marked by drought climate. In the area of ​​the mountain ranges and plateaus were predominantly populated, the deserts and semi-deserts deeper were hardly used.

The Mogollon culture is divided according to regional flow systems. Are deferred the Mimbres ( in the valley of the Mimbres River) and the Pine Lawn or Cibola - Mogollon ( in the valley of the San Francisco River) in New Mexico, the Point of Pines ( Black River), San Simon (San Simon River ) and Forestdale Mogollon ( Forestdale Creek ) in Arizona.

The Jornada Mogollon - are named after the Jornada del Muerto (Route of Death), along which the most important settlements of this subgroup were excavated. They settled in the south and east of the territory in an arc from El Paso Texas and in New Mexico almost to Albuquerque. As a resident of the lowlands they lived much longer and to a greater extent than hunter-gatherers and developed differing agricultural practices, pottery styles and designs for cabins and underground storehouse. Therefore considered to be relatively distantly related culture.