PREFACE

The above scenario is grounded in concepts from ecological and hunter-gatherer theory, but it is clearlyspeculative. The hypotheses developed here must be tested using archaeological data. At the most basiclevel, chronological, subsistence, and settlement data are needed from a wide range of late Ceramic sitesin order to reconstruct the settlement/subsistence strategies employed by the various groups in the region,and the changes in those strategies through time. In addition, high-resolution paleoclimatic data areneeded to reconstruct climatic conditions during this period. These intermediate questions must beanswered in order to provide the higher-level data needed to address the more general questions posed atthe regional/integrative level.ProtohistoricRelatively few Protohistoric sites have been identified in southeastern New Mexico and fewer still havebeen excavated. Assumptions about Protohistoric subsistence strategies in the region are therefore basedalmost exclusively on ethnographic analogy and the meager evidence from historical accounts. Theaccounts of Coronado’s expedition describe two groups of nomadic bison-hunters on the Llano Estacado,both of which had base camps or villages located in Texas. Those groups, the Querechos and Teyasappear linked to the archaeologically defined Tierra Blanca and Garza complexes, respectively (Boyd2001; Habicht-Mauche 1992).As described by Hughes (1989:35), the Tierra Blanca Complex (ca. AD 1450–1700) is characterized bytwo classes of sites, large villages marked by stone foundations – located mainly along Tierra BlancaCreek and Palo Duro Canyon – and hunting camps scattered over the Panhandle Plains. The lithicassemblage includes Washita, Harrell, and Fresno arrowpoints; beveled knives; and Plains-style endscrapers. Ceramics are a utility ware resembling Apachean Perdido Plain and various Pueblo tradewares.Hughes speculates that the complex represents a semi-nomadic, semi-sedentary population who huntedbison and possibly grew corn. He suggests that the Querecho dog nomads that Coronado encountered onthe Plains and the corn-growing Faraones described by Onate might be eyewitness accounts of the twoaspects of the Tierra Blanca settlement system. Boyd (2001:8–9), however, argues that the complexreflects a population of semi-nomadic hunters whose yearly movements were probably dictated in largepart of the movement of bison, which were clearly the focus of their subsistence system.The Garza Complex (ca. AD 1450–1700) occurs south of the Tierra Blanca Complex and appears centeredin the upper Brazos drainage near Lubbock. The lithic assemblage is similar to that of the Tierra BlancaComplex with the addition of triangular, basally notched Garza and Lott points. Although no evidencefor fixed dwellings has been found at Garza sites, Hughes speculates that they may have had the samekind of hunting/base village settlement pattern inferred for the Tierra Blanca Complex (1989:36).Habicht-Mauche (1992:251) also argues that there are a few references in the early Spanish recordssuggesting that the Teya may have cultivated some crops at semi-sedentary villages along the easternedges of the Llano Estacado. Boyd challenges the latter point, arguing that there is currently nosubstantive archaeological evidence indicating that horticulture was practiced by Tierra Blanca or Garzapeoples (2001:10).While the evidence remains inconclusive, there is a possibility that common perception of protohistoricgroups on the Southern High Plains as nomadic hunters following the bison herds is overstated anddescribes only one component of the settlement-subsistence system. Although bison hunting was clearlythe focus of the subsistence strategy, protohistoric groups appear to have been operating from seasonalbasecamps or even semi-permanent villages on eastern edges of the Llano Estacado. In these areas,subsistence pursuits seem to have been more varied and may have included some cultivation. The generalsubsistence questions relating to the protohistoric period are therefore:4-43