Caddoan Archaeology on the High Plains: A Conceptual Nexus of Bison, Lodges, Maize, and Rock Art

Abstract

AbstractThe Wallace site is a thirteenth-century hamlet of rectangular lodges, situated on a bluff near Pueblo, Colorado. Commonly attributed to the Apishapa phase, it is more likely affiliated to the Upper Republican cluster, and so the people most likely spoke Northern Caddoan. Because of this identity, we use Pawnee ethnography to interpret the organization of space and spatial distribution of artifacts, including a rock art chamber below the bluff. This chamber followed the spatial layout of a lodge with a double entrance: a West Unit contained shield-bearing warriors associated with dreams and visions that provided supernatural power for low-level warfare, while the East Unit emphasized geometric images that most likely referred to the cosmológical origins of humanity. The art and artifacts show that the ideology of the domestic economy emphasized bison hunting and maize farming, and was associated respectively with doctors and priests.