Apache Archaeology in Northeastern New Mexico

Abstract

Abstract Excavations in northeastern New Mexico have confirmed the presence of a variety of Jicarilla Apache house types mentioned in Spanish documents of ca. 1700. Associated with a 7-room adobe structure and a pit house was an artifact complex closely resembling that of the Plains Apaches represented by the Dismal River aspect. The predominant pottery, however, is a thin micaceous ware, herein described as Ocate Micaceous, accompanied by trade sherds of Tewa Polychrome, plain black Pueblo ware, and Puebla (Mexico) blue and white majolica. Mid-19th-century Apache sites in the area are “tipi-ring” sites yielding a thicker micaceous ware, herein described as Cimarron Micaceous, White man’s trade goods, and a few stone artifacts. The relationship between Apache micaceous pottery, made from ca. 1600 (or earlier) until the early 1900’s, and that made at Taos and Picuris is still not clear.