Arizona Archaeologist No. 29: Apacheans Bearing Gifts: Prehispanic Influence on the Pueblo Indians

Description

This study proposes that Apacheans immigrating into the Southwest from the Northern Great Plains introduced a complex of cultural traits associated with hunting and warfare to the Pueblo Indians before the arrival of the first Spanish explorers. This hunting-warfare complex consists of three artifact types (1) the sinew-backed bow| (2) the mountain lion-skin quiver| and (3) the bison-hide shield — and two motifs that appear in rock art and on artifacts (4) the four-pointed star| and (5) the heartline. Examination of archaeological evidence from the Southwest indicates a lack of the five traits prior to the beginning of the Pueblo IV period| around A.D. 1300. Earliest datable appearances of each of the five traits within the Southwest are found to be within the A.D. 1400s| concurrent with the probable time of arrival of the Apacheans.