University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Anthropology Faculty Publications Anthropology, Department of Spring 3-2017 Continuity and Change in Puebloan Ritual Practice: 3,800 Years of Shrine Use in the North American Southwest Phil R. Geib University of Nebraska - Lincoln,
[email protected] Carrie Heitman University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[email protected] Ronald C.D. Fields University of New Mexico - Main Campus Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Geib, Phil R.; Heitman, Carrie; and Fields, Ronald C.D., "Continuity and Change in Puebloan Ritual Practice: 3,800 Years of Shrine Use in the North American Southwest" (2017). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 137. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub/137 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN PUEBLOAN RITUAL PRACTICE: 3,800 YEARS OF SHRINE USE IN THE NORTH AMERICAN SOUTHWEST Phil R. Geib, Carrie C. Heitman, and Ronald C.D. Fields Radiocarbon dates on artifacts from a Puebloan shrine in New Mexico reveal a persistence in ritual practice for some 3,800 years. The dates indicate that the shrine had become an important location for ceremonial observances related to warfare by almost 2000 cal. B.C., coinciding with the time when food production was first practiced in the Southwest. The shrine exhibits continuity of ritual behavior, something that Puebloans may find unsurprising, but also changes in the artifacts deposited that indicate new technology, transformations of belief, and perhaps shifting cultural boundaries.