Sarah Trabert

Kansas and the Postrevolt Puebloan Diaspora: Ceramic Evidence from the Scott County Pueblo

Abstract Native American communities underwent significant upheaval, ethnic blending, and restructuring in the Spanish colonial period. One archaeological example is the appearance of a seven-room stone and adobe structure in western Kansas, known as the Scott County Pueblo (14SC1). Previous researchers used Spanish documents to attribute the site to Puebloan refugees from Taos or Picuris in the mid- to late 1600s. Here we examine the Smithsonian and Kansas Historical Society ceramic collections for evidence of Puebloan women at the site. We find a high proportion of bowls at 14SC1, suggesting the maintenance of Puebloan food-preparation and-serving patterns, as well as some vessels apparently made by Puebloan potters in western Kansas. We cannot falsify our null hypothesis that the Scott County Pueblo included people from one or more northern Rio Grande pueblos during the mid-1600s, or A.D. 1696–1706, or both.

Following A Glittering Trail: Geo-Chemical and Petrographic Characterization of Micaceous Sherds Recovered from Dismal River Sites

Abstract Protohistoric Ancestral Apache Dismal River groups (A.D. 1600–1750) participated in large exchange networks linking them to other peoples on the Plains and U.S. Southwest. Ceramic vessels made from micaceous materials appear at many Dismal River sites, and micaceous pottery recovered from the Central High Plains is typically seen as evidence for interaction with northern Rio Grande pueblos. However, few mineral or chemical characterization analyses have been conducted on these ceramics, and the term “micaceous” has been applied to a broad range of vessel types regardless of the form, size, or amount of mica in their pastes. Our recent analyses, including macroscopic evaluation combined with petrography and neutron activation analyses (NAA), indicate that only a small subset of Dismal River sherds are derived from New Mexico clays. The rest were likely manufactured using materials from Colorado and Wyoming. Seasonal mobility patterns may have given Dismal River potters the opportunity to collect mica raw materials as they traveled between the Central Plains and Front Range, and this has implications for the importance of internal Plains social networks during the Protohistoric and Historic periods.

A HARD TIME TO DATE: THE SCOTT COUNTY PUEBLO (14SC1) AND PUEBLOAN RESIDENTS OF THE HIGH PLAINS

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Puebloan women (if not entire families) were incorporated into Apache Dismal River communities in western Kansas. In at least one site (14SC1), Puebloan people lived in a small masonry pueblo. We evaluate the timing and nature of the Puebloan occupation at 14SC1 and its relationship to the Dismal River population at the site. We use a Bayesian analytical framework to evaluate different models of the pueblos use history, constraining 12 radiocarbon dates by their stratigraphic data and then comparing this framework with different temporal models based on the historical record. We conclude that Dismal River people lived at 14SC1 prior to the appearance of Pueblo migrants, sometime between cal AD 1490 and 1650. Construction and early use of the pueblo by migrants from the Rio Grande valley occurred between cal AD 1630 and 1660, and the pueblo was closed by burning sometime between cal AD 1640 and 1690. Site 14SC1 lacks Rio Grande Glaze Ware, and its residents seem rarely to have engaged with the groups in the Southern Plains Macroeconomy. Our results contribute to studies of indigenous community formation and Puebloan residential mobility during the Spanish colonial period. Durante los siglos XVII y XVIII, las mujeres Pueblo (o posiblemente familias enteras) fueron incorporadas a las comunidades Apaches de la cultura Dismal River en Kansas occidental. Por lo menos en un sitio (14SC1), los indígenas Pueblo vivieron en un pequeño poblado de mampostería. Evaluamos la cronología y la naturaleza de la ocupación Pueblo en 14SC1 y su relación con la ocupación Dismal River en el sitio. Usamos un marco analítico bayesiano para evaluar diferentes modelos de la cronología ocupacional del pueblo, delimitando los rangos de doce fechas de radiocarbono por sus posiciones estratigráficas y luego comparando este marco con diferentes modelos temporales basados en el registro histórico. Concluimos que los indígenas Dismal River vivieron en 14SC1 antes de la aparición de los migrantes Pueblo en algún momento entre 1490 y 1650 cal dC. La construcción y el uso inicial del pueblo por migrantes procedentes del valle del Río Grande ocurrió entre 1630 y 1660 cal dC, y el pueblo fue cerrado por un incendio entre 1640 y 1690 cal dC. El sitio 14SC1 carece de vajillas del estilo Río Grande con engobe, y sus residentes parecen haber tenidos interacciones limitadas con los grupos que participaron en la macroeconomía de las Planicies del Sur. Nuestros resultados contribuyen al estudio de la formación de comunidades indígenas y la movilidad residencial Pueblo durante el período colonial español.

Reconsidering the Dismal River aspect: A review of current evidence for an Apachean (Ndee) cultural affiliation

Researchers debating whether Dismal River people of the Central Plains were culturally affiliated with Ndee (Apache) groups have used evidence from site chronology, house form, baking pit use, and dietary preference. This paper assesses the quality of evidence traditionally used by prior researchers. We conclude that the archaeological features traditionally used to argue for a Dismal River–Apache association are highly variable in expression and should not be treated as emblematic of Ndee ethnicity. Despite the variability observed in the Dismal River record, evidence still supports the contention that the Dismal River complex is situated correctly in time and space for an association with Athapaskan-speaking groups.