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| San Jose Phase | |
|---|---|
| Name | San Jose Phase |
| Period | Late Prehistoric |
| Region | Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico |
| Dates | ca. 1100–1300 CE |
| Major sites | Palomas, Valdez, Arroyo Hondo, Puaray |
| Preceded by | Pueblo II period |
| Followed by | Pueblo IV period |
San Jose Phase The San Jose Phase denotes a regional cultural manifestation in the northern Rio Grande basin centered in present-day New Mexico during the late prehistoric period. It is characterized by distinctive black-on-white pottery, specific pueblo architecture, and settlement patterns that interact with major centers such as Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Pecos Pueblo. Archaeologists working with institutions like the Smithsonian Institution, University of New Mexico, Peabody Museum, and School for Advanced Research have integrated dendrochronology, radiocarbon dating, and ceramic seriation to refine its chronology.
The phase reflects communities linked to broader traditions including Ancestral Puebloans, Acoma Pueblo, and Tewa people, showing material and social ties to sites like Bandelier National Monument, Kivas, and Salinas pueblos. Pottery types commonly attributed to the phase appear alongside artifacts from Hohokam exchange networks, Pecos Classification parallels, and influences traceable to Zuni Pueblo and Mogollon developments. Cultural-historical models proposed by scholars at University of Arizona and the Field Museum situate the San Jose Phase within migrations, climatic shifts related to the Great Drought (1276–1299) narrative, and regional reorganization preceding the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Chronological frameworks place the phase roughly between 1100 and 1300 CE, overlapping late Pueblo II period and early Pueblo III period horizons. Tree-ring sequences from timber recovered at sites like Arroyo Hondo and Puaray anchor occupation episodes to specific decades, while radiocarbon samples analyzed by labs at Los Alamos National Laboratory provide calibration. Geographically, the San Jose Phase occupies the middle and upper Rio Grande Valley from the Pecos River junction to the Jemez Mountains, incorporating tributary valleys near Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Taos Pueblo country. Settlement distribution maps from the National Park Service and surveys by the Museum of New Mexico document aggregation at defensible mesa tops, floodplain hamlets, and irrigation-adapted terraces.
Ceramics are diagnostic: black-on-white bowls, jars, and corrugated wares echo styles cataloged in the Pecos Classification and comparative collections at Harvard University and the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Lithic assemblages include projectile points comparable to Scottsbluff points and groundstone tools similar to assemblages recovered at Chaco Canyon outliers. Architectural forms comprise multiroom pueblos built of stone and adobe, roofed with timber beams of piñon and ponderosa pine identified through dendrochronology studies, and subterranean circular kivas related to ritual spaces documented at Bandelier National Monument and Pecos National Historical Park. Ornamentation such as shell beads from Gulf of California sources and turquoise sourced from Mount Chalchihuitl deposits appear in burial contexts.
Agriculture focused on maize, beans, and squash, with irrigation and dry farming strategies paralleling practices recorded at Taos Pueblo and reconstructed in ethnobotanical studies by the Smithsonian Institution. Faunal remains show hunting of mule deer, pronghorn, and small mammals consistent with procurement strategies seen at Mesa Verde and Chacoan communities. Wild plant use, including piñon pine and agave, aligns with subsistence patterns documented by University of New Mexico ethnographers. Storage features such as cists and subterranean bins indicate surplus management akin to storage systems at Pecos Pueblo.
Settlement hierarchy suggests nucleated villages with community ritual structures, reflecting social arrangements comparable to those described for Ancestral Puebloan polities and inferred social networks documented by researchers from Arizona State University and the University of Colorado Boulder. Long-distance trade connections linked San Jose Phase inhabitants to turquoise routes, marine shell exchange with Pacific Coast and Gulf of California intermediaries, and macaw and copper items probably moving via pathways documented in studies of Mesoamerica to Southwest interaction. Community craft specialization in pottery and lithic production is evidenced by kiln and workshop debris similar to assemblages curated by the Peabody Museum.
Material parallels indicate interaction with neighboring phases and traditions includingChacoan outliers, Mesa Verde region, Mogollon Rim groups, and later Pueblo IV period communities. Archaeological indicators—pottery temper, architectural features, and iconography—show bidirectional influence with Salinas Phase sites and exchange nodes at Pecos and Abó mission area. Climatic episodes such as the Medieval Warm Period and documented droughts likely precipitated demographic shifts and increased connectivity among these regions as reconstructed in paleoenvironmental studies by the US Geological Survey and NOAA paleoclimate programs.
Key sites attributed to the phase include Palomas Pueblo, Valdez site (New Mexico), Arroyo Hondo Pueblo, and Puaray Pueblo, excavated or surveyed by teams from the University of New Mexico, Smithsonian Institution, Pecos National Historical Park, and the National Park Service. Excavations recovered stratified ceramic sequences, kiva complexes, midden deposits, and burials cataloged in collections at the Museum of New Mexico and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Fieldwork methodologies have employed GIS mapping developed at Pennsylvania State University and remote sensing collaborations with NASA-funded programs. Continued collaboration with descendant communities including Pojoaque Pueblo, San Ildefonso Pueblo, and Santo Domingo Pueblo informs interpretation and repatriation under Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act frameworks.
Category:Archaeological phases in North America