1. xi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES xxii
LIST OF TABLES xxxiii
CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION 1
Background 6
Research Design 10
Dissertation Layout 11
2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO SETTLEMENT
ABANDONMENT 16
Demography of Settlement Abandonment 18
Relative Population Decline 19
Long-Term Decline 19
Short-Term Decline 22
Absolute Population Decline 25
Long-Term Decline 25
Short-Term Decline 26
Archaeological Approaches to Settlement Abandonment 29
Abandonment Processes and the Archaeological Record 31
Patterns of Material Discard 31
What Is Abandoned, When, and How? Behavioral
and Material Variability in Structure Abandonment 36

2. xii
Discard Behavior and Structure Abandonment:
Mining Camps in the Canadian Yukon 36
Population and Architectural Change: Oraibi
1870-1950 40
Summary and Implications for Research at Plaza Montoya 45
3. PHYSICAL SETTING 53
Defining the Piro Area 54
Physiography and Climate 64
Geology and Topography 64
Climate and Ecology 74
Regional and Local Climate 74
Plant and Animal Life 79
Changing Landscapes and the Archaeological Record 85
The Lowland Environment 87
Pre- to Post-Regulation Changes in the Floodplain Area 87
Modern Versus Ancient Settlement 95
The Upland Environment 104
The Impact of Ranching and Mining 104
Modern Versus Ancient Settlement 110
4. ARCHAEOLOGY OF ANCESTRAL AND COLONIAL PIRO
SETTLEMENT 114
Archaeological Research in the Piro Area 121
The Archaeological Record: Characteristics and Caveats 129
Spatial Coverage 129

3. xiii
Site Distribution 129
Site Structure 135
Chronology 138
Artifact-Based Chronology 138
Ceramics 140
Rio Grande Glazewares 140
Tabirá Black-on-White 151
Plainwares 156
Foreign Ceramics 160
Non-Ceramic Artifacts 172
Chronometric Dating 187
5. THE MATERIAL RECORD OF ANCESTRAL AND COLONIAL
PIRO SETTLEMENT 191
Sevilleta (LA 774) 192
Cerro Indio Pueblo (LA 287) 196
Estancia Acomilla (LA 286) 199
Las Cañas Pueblo (LA 755) 201
Las Huertas Pueblo (LA 282) 203
Site Structure 204
Excavations in the West Room Block 206
Plaza and Offsite Tests 209
Chronology 210
Ceramics 210

4. xiv
Chronometric Dates 213
Summary 214
Plaza Montoya Pueblo (LA 31744) 216
Pargas Pueblo (LA 31746) 219
Site Structure 220
Room-Block Excavations 223
Excavations in the Midden Area 225
Chronology 226
Ceramics 226
Chronometric Dates 230
Summary 231
Qualacú (LA 757) 233
Site Structure 235
The Channel-Cut Excavations I: Room Proveniences 235
The Channel-Cut Excavations II: Midden Proveniences 239
Chronology 240
Ceramics 241
Chronometric Dates 243
Summary 244
San Pascual (LA 487) 248
Tiffany Pueblo (LA 244) 251
Milligan Gulch Pueblo (LA 597) 253

5. xv
Bear Mountain Pueblo (LA 285) 255
Site Structure 256
Excavations in the North Room Block 258
Plaza and Offsite Tests 260
Chronology 261
Summary 262
Pueblo Magdalena (LA 284) 263
Gold Station (LA 45885) 267
Site Structure 268
The Field-House Excavation 269
Excavated Outdoor Features 270
Chronology 271
Ceramics 271
Chronometric Dates 272
Summary 273
6. “FIRST PROVINCE IN THIS KINGDOM”:
THE PIRO AREA IN THE HISTORICAL RECORD 274
The Documentary Record: Characteristics and Caveats 276
First Encounters: The Contact Period, 1540-98 285
The Early Colonial Period, 1598-1626 293
The Piros Encounter Oñate 293
Early Piro-Spanish Relations 295
The Years After Oñate 300

6. xvi
The Early Mission Period, 1626-c. 1640-50 302
Chronology of the Piro Missions 302
The Process of Missionization 304
Early Mission Structure and Organization 306
Settlement Consolidation 309
Beyond the Mission 310
Mission Estancias 311
Private Estancias 312
Land and Encomienda Grants 314
Land Use and Land Grants (Mercedes de Tierra) 315
The Encomienda 318
Summary: The Piros in the Early Colonial/Mission Periods 321
The Late Colonial/Mission Period, c. 1650-80 322
The Mission Pueblos 323
Administrative Structure 323
Residential Stability 325
Mission Economies 329
Beyond the Mission Pueblos 332
Piro-Spanish Relations 334
The End of the Piro Province 338
7. PIRO POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT 343
The Ancestral- and Colonial-Period Occupation of the Piro Area 344
Ancestral Piro Settlement Patterns 344

7. xvii
Colonial Piro Settlement Patterns 354
Archaeological Patterning 354
Settlement Trends in the Documentary Record 361
Estimating Piro Population Levels 363
Settlement Decline and Abandonment: Possible Factors of
Post-Contact Change 369
The Physical Spanish Presence 369
Disease 371
Conflict 379
Dietary Stress 385
8. THE PLAZA MONTOYA CASE STUDY, PART I:
SITE STRUCTURE 393
The Plaza Montoya Surface Record 394
Site Structure 394
Surface Ceramics 398
Summary and Outlook 402
Review of Fieldwork at Plaza Montoya Pueblo 408
The Excavated Sample 409
The West Room Block 413
The South Room Block 419
The East Room Block 422
The North Room Block 426
Plaza and Offsite Locations 432
Area V 433

8. xviii
Area VIII 433
Area X 436
Room-Block Sequences 437
The West Room Block 438
Area I Bond-Abut Patterns 438
Area I Stratigraphies 441
Rooms I-1 and I-5 441
Rooms I-11, 12, and 13 445
Area XI Bond-Abut Patterns 449
Area XI Stratigraphies 451
Room XI-9 451
Rooms XI-12, 13, and 16 454
The South Room Block 458
Area II-III Bond-Abut Patterns 458
Area II Stratigraphies 460
Rooms II-1, 2, and 4 460
Area III Stratigraphies 463
Rooms III-1 and III-4 463
Rooms III-7 and III-19 463
The East Room Block 466
Area IV Bond-Abut Patterns 466
Area IV Stratigraphies 468

9. xix
Rooms IV-1 and IV-2 468
Rooms IV-3 and IV-4 473
Rooms IV-5 and IV-6 477
Rooms IV-7 and IV-16 480
Area VI Bond-Abut Patterns 486
Area VI Stratigraphies 487
Room VI-2 and plaza entrance 487
Rooms VI-6 and VI-7 492
The North Room Block 494
Area VII Bond-Abut Patterns 494
Area VII Stratigraphies 496
Rooms VII-11 and VII-15 496
Rooms VII-5 and VII-9 500
Room VII-17 503
Area IX Bond-Abut Patterns 504
Area IX Stratigraphies 506
Room IX-10 506
Area XII Bond-Abut Patterns 507
Area XII Stratigraphies 508
Rooms XII-4 and XII-6 508
Plaza and Offsite Tests 511
Area VIII Stratigraphies 511
Trench VIII-34 511

10. xx
Trench VIII-38 513
Summary 515
9. THE PLAZA MONTOYA CASE STUDY, PART II:
SITE OCCUPATION AND ABANDONMENT 530
Site Chronology 531
Radiometric Dates 531
Ceramics 537
Native Ceramics 537
Native and Foreign Tradewares 542
Other Chronologically Sensitive Materials/Features 544
Metal and Glass 544
Faunal and Botanical Remains 548
Architecture 549
Cremations 554
Summary: Comparative Site Chronology 555
Site Occupation and Abandonment 558
Site Structure and Occupation 559
Scale, Direction, and Implications of Site Growth 559
Structure Use, Remodeling, Maintenance 568
Room Function and Household Structure 568
Room Remodeling and Maintenance 582
General Patterns of Refuse Deposition 589
In-Room Deposits 589

11. xxi
Outdoor Deposits 593
Structure and Site Abandonment 596
Terminal Structure Decay 596
Terminal Refuse Deposition 599
Ceramics 599
Groundstone 603
Other Materials 607
Post-Abandonment Site Use 607
Abandonment at Plaza Montoya – Timing, Process,
Regional Implications 613
10. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 624
BIBLIOGRAPHY 635