Waterflow procession panel, LA8970,
Wilshusen et al, Fig. 11.6, p. 213.
To continue with my review of Chapter 11 (pages 198 – 218)
of Crucible of Pueblos: The Early Pueblo
Period in the Northern Southwest by Richard H. Wilshusen, Gregson
Schachner, and James R. Allison editors, (Monograph 71, Cotsen Institute of
Archaeology Press, UCLA, Los Angeles, 2012). On April 18, 2014 I
presented the portion of chapter 11 that focused on the Procession panel from
southeastern Utah. The authors continued by stating that ”there are no known Procession panels in the central Mesa Verde region
that date to the peak period of early Pueblo villages” but that “depictions of tenth century community
organization do occur in at least some of these areas.”(Wilshusen and
Ortman 2010:4-5)
Their example of a depiction of tenth century community
organization is found at LA8970, the Waterflow site in New Mexico.
“There is a later procession panel at the Waterflow
site in northwestern New Mexico (Holmes 1878:Plate XLIII, no. 1) that likely
dates to the tenth century and portrays a similar ritual procession to a
central place. This panel shows three parallel lines of animals and one line of
ritual leaders or supernatural beings approaching from the left to the right,
where there is a square we interpret to be a gathering place or community
structure. In comparison with the earlier procession panel discussed above,
this composition presents some notable differences, but also many similar
thematic elements. The focus of the gathering is shown as a square instead of a
circle; and in place of having two lobed circles associated with the community
center, the square is divided into halves with two pendant shaped
parallelograms in each half. In place of the almost 200 anthropomorphic figures
with a handful of animal forms (elk, mountain lion, bighorn sheep) in the Comb
Ridge panel there are slightly more than 40 zoomorphic figures (elk, deer,
mountain lion, bird, dog) with a dozen anthropomorphic figures. Instead of four
lines converging from different directions, with salutes from line to line and
a variety of individuals portrayed, the later panel has a more abstract quality
with little sense of individuality or event structure.
The Waterflow Panel, with its lines of different
animals and divided square central place, is also suggestive of a dual
division, segmentary society. The two halves of the square in the Waterflow
Panel and the mirror images of double pendants within the halves encode this
dualism. The central square figure may be an abstract expression of this
concept, but two details lead us to suspect these square figures represent
actual communities of the time. First, there are more than 40 additional
squares with different interior designs at other spots along the cliffs at the
Waterflow site. In at least nine cases there are groupings of pairs or
multiples of squares, as though geographic or conceptual relationships between
social groups or identities were being mapped. Second, in seven cases at the
site these squares form the heads of anthropomorphic bodies, as though the
symbol represented the group, their central structure, and their “head man” all
at once. These figures with anthropomorphic bodies on emblematic bilateral
squares occur in other locales in direct association with later Pueblo I-early
Pueblo II communities focused on oversized pit structures or great kivas (Cole
1990; Wilshusen 1995).” (Wilshusen
and Ortman 2010:4-5)
This concept
of dualism is represented in the Waterflow Panel by the divided square
representing the central or meeting place, the paired mirror-image designs
within the halves of the divided square, and the two mountain lions guarding
this central/meeting place. (Note: see my posting of January 24, 2010 about the Stone Lion Shrine in Bandelier National Monument.)
“We believe
comparisons of the Waterflow Panel with the earlier Procession Panel
illustrates the fundamental transformations in ritual practice, community
organization, and leadership that took place between A.D. 700 and 1000. First,
we propose that the balanced dualism evident in many aspects of the Procession
Panel was institutionalized by the tenth century. As noted in the regional
summary for the central Mesa Verde region (Wilshusen et al., Chapter 2), many
early Pueblo villages appear to have been organized around dual divisions that
potentially had roots in the actual pattern of group assembly during the Basketmaker
III period. We suggest that the Waterflow Panel, with its divided-square
central place, reflects the institutionalization of a dual division, segmentary
society. This dualism is encoded primarily in the paired lions and the halved
square with the mirror-image double-pendants. The central square figure may be
an abstract representation of the concept of community, but several details
lead us to interpret these square figures as symbols of actual communities.”
(Wilshusen at al. 2012:213-4)
Cedar Hill area, Site LA79511, northeastern New Mexico,
ca. AD 900, Wilshusen et al., , Fig. 11.7, p. 214.
“First, there are a
number of additional squares with different interior designs at various spots
along the cliffs at the Waterflow site. Also, in at least three cases,
decorated squares are presented in pairs, with distinct designs in each, as
though geographic or conceptual relationships between social groups were being
mapped out (see Schaafsma 1992: fig. 16, for an illustration of a group of four
of these squares). Finally, in at least six cases, these squares form the heads
of anthropomorphic figures with emblematic bilateral square heads (Figure 11.7)
occur in other locales in direct association with tenth-century communities
focused on great kivas or oversized pit structures. We therefore propose that
these elaborated-square figures represent actual tenth-century communities of
the area in symbolic form.” (Wilshusen et al. 2012:214)
All good arguments for their premise that it is a procession
panel, but there are also a few points that seem to argue otherwise. There is a
row of human figures above, and another one below the two central lines of
animals. The lines all lead to some sort of structure or enclosure, a possible
impoundment or corral, and at least three human figures have bows and arrows
pointed at the animals. At first glance this could also suggest that the panel
is a hunting scene and represents an animal drive toward the enclosure on the
right. The presence of the pair of mountain lions could also reinforce the
drive theme as they are the animal deities of the north in Pueblo belief and
confer powerful hunting magic. However, the fact that these distinctive square
patterned designs also occur at Waterflow and elsewhere without the possible
drive context suggests otherwise. Finally the fact that they are even
personalized as the heads of anthropomorphs at Waterflow and elsewhere strongly
mitigates against their identification as a drive impoundment. If the authors
are correct and the patterned squares represent villages/communities (or at
least central ceremonial places like great kivas or dance plazas) then the
anthropomorphic figures with patterned squares for heads can be seen as persons
most representative of those places, possibly village chiefs or clan leaders.
The example that they show from LA79511 shows a pair of the figures with a
different pattern in each square, thus repeating and reinforcing the duality
discussed above. This might indicate that they are the heads of the Summer and
Winter clans in a Pueblo village.
The clans of the Pueblo peoples are organized into paired
complementary moieties, known respectively as the Summer people and the Winter
people (www.britannica.com).
In many pueblos each clan is responsible for pueblo affairs for half the year.
These paired figures could be the symbolic representation of the dual clans,
and thus a visual representation of the governing and religious
responsibilities for their division.
I wish to applaud this piece of work by Richard
H. Wilshusen, Gregson Schachner, and James R. Allison as a commendable piece of
analysis and an important contribution to the field of rock art. Good work
gentlemen.
REFERENCES:
Cole, Sally J.
1990 Legacy on Stone, Johnson Books, Boulder,
Colorado.
Schaafsma, Polly
1992 Rock Art in New Mexico, Museum of New
Mexico Press, Santa Fe.
Wilshusen, Richard H., Scott G. Ortman, and Ann Phillips
2012 Processions, Leaders, and Gathering Places,
in Crucible of Pueblos: The Early Pueblo
Period in the Northern Southwest, by Wilshusen, Richard H., Gregson
Schachner, and James R. Allison, editors, Monograph 71, Cotsen Institute of
Archaeology Press, UCLA, p. 198-218.
Wilshusen,
Richard H.
1995 The
Cedar Hill Special Treatment Project: Late Pueblo I, Early Navajo, and Historic
Occupation in Northwestern New Mexico, Research Paper No. 1, La Plata
Archaeological Consultants, Dolores, Colorado.
Wilshusen,
Richard H., and Scott G. Ortman
2010 Big
Gatherings to Big Pueblos: Using Architecture, Rock Art, and Linguistics
to Study
Organizational Change in the Early Pueblo World, handout
from
2010
SAA Meetings. St. Louis.
Wilshusen, Richard H., Gregson Schachner, and James R. Allison, editors
2012 Crucible of Pueblos: The Early Pueblo Period in the Northern Southwest, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Monograph 71, UCLA, Los Angeles.
2012 Crucible of Pueblos: The Early Pueblo Period in the Northern Southwest, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Monograph 71, UCLA, Los Angeles.
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/482769/Pueblo-Indians
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