5.6 FS-6 (La Sirena Site)

UTM: Zone 13R, E196XXX N3518XXX (NAD 27) [redacted
USGS Quadrangle: Victorio Ranch, NM 
PLSS: E ¼, N ½, S ½, Section 6, T29.5S R13W 
Cultural Affiliation: Late Pithouse, Dexter phase (A.D. 650-850)
Site Type: Petroglyph 
Nearest Water Source: Unnamed tributary to Hachita Valley, 250 m SW 
Environmental Setting: Mountain slope 
Soil type: Mariner clay loam, rocky, 12 to 20 percent slopes 
Elevation: 1497 m (4910 ft) amsl 
Site Size: 1-meter 
NRHP Eligibility Recommendation: Unknown 

Field Site-6 was first identified within visual inspection of the S ½ of Section 6 (T29.5S R13W) which MCD incorporates in this area. Survey transects at 30-m increments were traversed west (270°), perpendicular to the western MCD perimeter fence. The site was first identified as a large petroglyph on a rock face approximately 250 m northeast of a mountain-fed spring (Figures 5.11 and 5.12). The spring flows through the playa floor below into the Hachita Valley in Hidalgo County to the east. FS-6 is several hundred meters below the Sierra Rica Road at this point. The vegetation in this portion of the base consists largely of the occasional creosotebush, or four-wing saltbush growing amongst the talus.

FS-6 was identified on the surface of exposed migmatite bedrock; shovel tests could not be excavated in any direction. The expected NRCS designation for this area is Mariner clay loam, rocky, 12 to 20 percent slopes. No portable cultural material (i.e. artifacts) was identified in this area.

Figure 5.11. FS-6 shown in S ½  Section 6, T29.5S R13W.

FS-6 is comprised of the carved figure of a in the rock face. FS-6 is stick figure anthropomorph with round face and triangular. It is interpreted as a female earth goddess symbol giving birth, or a male figure with a penis. Similar figures are common in the Dexter phase of the Middle Mogollon, or Late Pithouse period in Loteria Township.  Regardless of gender the figure has clear ear spools and hair adornments, and the triangular lower half is interpreted as a moth-wing skirt, which was recorded as still fashionable ceremonial ware in the historic period (cf. Tarantino 1561).[1] In this case, the penis and skirt likely indicates this to be a berdache in a shamanistic role. 

These berdache figures are reportedly very common in the area although scientific recordation is absent (Foss 2001: 256).[2] The so-called “mermaids”[3] are though to ring the foot slopes of the Sierra Rica above the former playa mudflats. Ford (1942)[4] has argued the provenance of the figures, suggesting them to be much older,; he has made the case that the mermaids are anthropomorphized Pleistocene seals, landlocked in the drying pluvial lakes. Von Däniken (1977)[5] among others have made much of Middle to Late Mogollon hair adornments which they recast as antennae. In any case, this is a simplistic[6] view which does not take account of the full range of human sexual expression as was proudly expressed prior to western influence.

What is clear is that by these antennaed mermaids is that  the drying mudflats  where a gathering place for transvestite priests in the Late Middle Mogollon period.

Regardless, given that the well preserved condition of the site on the rock face, further investigations of in the areas FS-6 may provide produce additional petroglyphs depicting life for Dexter phase peoples in the Hachita Valley and southern New Mexico in general. Particularly the location and recording of  additional glyphs  may provide significant information of the shamanistic rites and faunal compliment in this remote area. 

Figure 5.12. Detail of “mermaid” anthropomorphic petroglyph at FS-6.

However the NRHP eligibility of this site cannot be firmly established at the Phase I level of data collection. Further Phase II investigations, including additional documentation, sampling and research in gender roles and sympathetic magic in the southwestern desert, is required to fully assess this site’s potential significance. Therefore pending additional study, FS-6 remains of unknown eligibility for the NRHP.

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[1] Tarantino, A. B. A. 1691.  Un Viaje al Oeste de las Cataratas del Río El Paso. <https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Tarantino_A_B_A_Un_Viaje_al_Oeste_de_las_Cataratas_del_Río_El_Paso _S?id=QsAZAAAAYAAJ&hl=en>  Site accessed February 14, 2012.

[2] Foss, Gene 2001. Mountweazel Chemical Depot Cultural Resources Management Plan. Prepared for the GloboMax, Inc., Richmond, Virginia, under contract with US Army Corps of Engineers, El Paso District. Third Square Consulting, LLC., Philadelphia.

[3] The resemblance needs no explanation [fjt]

[4] Ford, H. 1942.  Technical Notes, Surprising Find (Loteria, NM). National Geographic LXXXI, No. 13: 5.

[5] von Däniken, E. 1977.  Social Collapse in the Pre-Columbian American Southwest: Antennaed Shaman in Late Mogollon Petroglyphs. Archaeology Tomorrow, Today. May, 28-32.

[6] Frankly politically incorrect, as well. [fjt]

3.0 Environmental and Cultural Overview, part XI.

Late Pithouse (A.D. 550–1000)

Coburn phase (A.D. 550-650). The Late Pithouse Subperiod is correlated with increasing intra- and extra-regional trade (exemplified by more exotic items), developing social hierarchies, technological innovations in ceramics, and a presumed increase in political organization. Dwellings become more permanent, are situated in denser concentrations and are extended as part of more continuous settlements. The trend increases throughout the Middle and Late Mogollon subperiods with the addition of mound building and the extension of greater emphasis on sedentary agriculture.

Late Pithouse settlements presumably included large villages located along the larger creek and river floodplains, as well as many smaller sites located in a variety of environments. Hunting and gathering were supplemented by increased use of cultivated foods, in the Loteria Township region, these included cacti, agave and other succulents. Trading networks became well established, and ritual mortuary behavior increased in outward visibility. Beginning around 600 BC, the Late Pithouse/Middle Mogollon subperiod in extreme southern New Mexico is identified as the Coburn phase (Foss 2001).[1] The Coburn phase is marked by an influx of grit and crushed-gila-bone-tempered ceramics. Within the lower Wamels Draw drainage, these vessels appear with bone-impressed motifs. Within the upper basin, lizard bones, and occasionally cactus spines are often found imbedded directly in the body of the vessel. This has been suggested to be  a sign of warning to potential lower Wamels Draw water poachers searching for spring head in times of draught, which would have been constant (Brokenbell 1980).[2]As Bonzai (1984)[3] notes, assigning a type bone and spine festooned ceramics (and their seemingly less dire bone-impressed kin) is problematic. Questions arise about using the existing typology put forth by Tecate and Modelo (1940)[4] utilizing temper-based schema as opposed to motif-based typologies suggested by American scientists (cf. Brokenbell 1980, et al.). If the latter occurs, these areas maintain their own typological identify surrounding the northern and southern populations in the drainage during the Coburn phase.  The Middle Mogollon/Late Pithouse Subperiod otherwise is not easily distinguished from the preceding Early Mogollon/Early Pithouse Subperiod. Diagnostic projectile points of this period include medium size lance points, likely used to safely skewer and roast a variety of cacti. However the period is well known by the distinctive hafted flint knives of the Derrick cluster.

Dexter phase (A.D. 650-850). The Middle Mogollon Subperiod represents a time of population growth and increased cultural complexity; these characteristics are expanded in the Middle-Late Pithouse period, recognized in Loteria Township as the Dexter phase. Characteristics of the Middle-Late Pithouse period are increased site size and density, the appearance of large earthen mounds containing elaborately furnished graves, the emergence of agriculture, and the development of ceremonialism and a complex inter-regional trade network (Tecate and Modelo 1940; Brokenbell 1980). Subsistence in the Middle Mogollon remained essentially that of hunting and gathering with increasing reliance on horticulture as well as addition of the Chihuahua mosquito to the diet. As evidenced in petroglyphs from the period, these large insects were observed the primary food source of the gila and available within the same biomes.  Presumably abandoned carcasses would have been scavenged from behind the advancing lizard herds. Further, the bow and arrow was regionally in use at the time and, as in times of gila scarcity, mosquito populations would likely have expanded, this would have been a logical expansion of the Mogollon pallet (Irwin 2006).[5]

The artifact assemblages of the Dexter phase remain virtually unchanged from the previous cultural period. Medium to large stemmed projectile points are still present, but are gradually replaced by small triangular points such as migmatite celts and rough anthophyllite or uranium hoes (Angelucci 1955:46; Irwin 2006:337).[6] Trade and grave goods include golden eagle medallions, woven mesquite fiber “bedspread” mats, gila teeth, and exotic lithic material (Brokenbell 1980: 82). The typical ceramic assemblage of the Middle Mogollon subperiod in the Dexter phase includes Cajun Simple Stamped as the majority ware and Dollar Check Stamped and Permisso Complicated Stamped as minority wares (Brokenbell 1980: 86). All of these types are unique to Loteria Township.

Vaughn phase (A.D. 850-1000). During the Late Middle Mogollon , there appears to be an increase in population and small seasonal occupations along river terraces. Hunting and gathering remains important, but cultivated plants are added to the diet. Experiments had begun with corn and chili peppers during the Dexter phase of Loteria Township, and are now replaced by more successful cultivation of cacti, agave and other succulent crops. Bonzai (1985) reports the identification of storerooms of beans from this period. This addition of cultivated plants may have allowed groups to become more sedentary. There is a resultant cessation of most extra-regional influences at this time as many areas are deserted.

In the Loteria Township, older bone tempered wares in the region give way to a variety of Wamels ceramics, tempered with insect parts largely from the local Chihuahua mosquitos and giant lunar moths. Vaughn phase groups seem to have followed a seasonal round with summer settlement along the Wamels Draw followed by small upland winter camps in the Sierra Ricas, and off-site burial grounds in the sand wastes south of the mountains (cf. Foss 2001: B-61). A terminal trend of the Vaughn culture exhibited a high percentage of crushed uranium ceramics and has been termed Magnificent ware by Adams et al. (1960) [7]and others, extending from the Laguna los Moscos basin to MCD.

Few Vaughn phase sites extend down river of the facility, and the local manifestation in the Wamels Draw basin is hypothesized to have developed out of the Dexter culture replacing bone with insect tempered Coburn-like ceramics.  The elaborate Dexter phase ceremonial and burial customs appear to be in decline and small horticultural based settlements located along the river and tributaries and hunting-gathering sites in upland rock shelters appear to be the norm (Tecate and Modelo 1940: 89). At the Vaughn type-site there is evidence of substantial long-term occupations suggested via numerous postmolds, middens, and structures. Gila Monsters suggested to be unimportant in the Dexter phase, again remained an important dietary component. 

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[1] Foss, Gene 2001. Mountweazel Chemical Depot Cultural Resources Management Plan. Prepared for the GloboMax, Inc., Richmond, Virginia, under contract with US Army Corps of Engineers, El Paso District. Third Square Consulting, LLC., Philadelphia.

[2] Brokenbell, P. 1980. Settlement and Subsistence in the Sierra Rica Range of Southern New Mexico. New Mexico Historical Society, Occasional Publications, 33, 81-105.

[3] Bonzai, B. 1984. Effects of Low Altitude Nuclear Blasts on Archaeological Sites in New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. National Park Service Briefs, 64: 34-90).

[4] Tecate, C. and N. Modelo. 1940. Un Resumen del Hallazgo Arqueológico en la Región Norte de Chihuahua antes de que los Yanquis Tomen la Tierra. Informes Ocasionales del Departamento de Arqueología de la Universidad de Tijuana, 14.

[5] Irwin, S., ChD. 2006. Hunting in the Mogollon Period: A Game Theory Model. Walkabout Press, Brisbane.

[6] Angelucci, O. 1955. Technologies of Southern New Mexico, Primitive to Post Modern. Lockheed Press, Burbank, CA.

[7] Adams, Chris, V. Tanner, B.  O’Reilly, Lee H. Luck, and Britt Chico. 1960. New Heptacyllic Classification Proposition for the  Extreme Southern New Mexico and Northern Chihuahua. Journal of Magnificent Science VII, Spring, 11-85.

3.0 Environmental and Cultural Overview, part X.

Early Pithouse (A.D. 200–550)

Buchholz phase (A.D. 200-550). In Loteria Township the Early Pithouse period is recognized as the Buchholz phase. The transition from Archaic to Mogollon lifeways lasted from approximately A.D. 200 to 300. The Early Pithouse Period retained vestiges of earlier Archaic material culture, including stemmed projectile points and other chipped stone tools, but new additions include shell-tempered Chico ceramics. Tecate and Modelo (1940)[1] defined the Chico tradition as a means to classify the earliest ceramic producing cultures of the Early Pithouse

The development of pottery may have been in response to the decrease in nomadic lifestyle, or the prolonged occupation of preferred sites (Tecate and Modelo 1937[2]; Brokenbell 1980[3]). Settlement during this stage experienced a shift from upland locales to sites located on the floodplains of larger streams, such as Wamel’s Draw in Loteria Township. Settlement size also increased. Native societies increased in complexity in the southwestern US during this stage, perhaps reaching a pinnacle in the Laguna los Moscos region of northern Chihuahua. This complexity was revealed in more elaborate trade networks and burial practices.

The Buchholz phase is characterized largely by the ceramic assemblages, which in the Loteria Township consist of the shell-tempered ceramics of the Chico ceramic series and the sand tempered Petra series. Projectile points associated with this stage include a variety of small moth points in the Sturges cluster as well as a continuance of Gila tradition into the Late Pithouse period (Tecate and Modelo 1940). Other Artifacts from the Buchholz phase in Loteria Township include pink migmatite vessels similar in form to the shell-tempered pinch-pots. Baked clay objects, typically long hand-rolled snake effigies and ashtrays, appear early in this stage, replaced by ceramic vessels for boiling. Chico Phase ceramics emerged from the Laguna los Moscos sites of northern Chihuahua. They first appeared around A.D. 100; these were molded from single coils of clay typically stacked into wide-mouthed bowls, occasionally with simple decorative finger-paint motifs (Rogers 1974).[4] The Laguna los Moscos culture occurs in the Middle Early Pithouse subperiod; this horticultural chiefdom level society is associated with extensive earthworks and a trade network extended into the Sierra Rica. Locally, the Buchholz phase burial complex includes perforated box burials, with cross-legged position, and often, distinctive grave goods, often art created from dried beans, maize,  and shells and clay tablets with hand prints (Rogers 1974; Bonzai 1984).[5]    

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[1] Tecate, C. and N. Modelo. 1940. Un Resumen del Hallazgo Arqueológico en la Región Norte de Chihuahua antes de que los Yanquis Tomen la Tierra. Informes Ocasionales del Departamento de Arqueología de la Universidad de Tijuana, 14.

[2] Tecate, C. and N. Modelo. 1937.  Huesos de lagarto desechados en la cuenca Laguna los Moscos. Diario de la Antigüedad Mexicana, 106: 1113-1368.

[3] Brokenbell, P. 1980. Settlement and Subsistence in the Sierra Rica Range of Southern New Mexico. New Mexico Historical Society, Occasional Publications, 33, 81-105.

[4] Rogers, F. 1974. First Ceramics in the Southwest. Neighborhood Archaeology Time, 8. June: 12-36.

[5] Bonzai, B. 1984. Effects of Low Altitude Nuclear Blasts on Archaeological Sites in New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. National Park Service Briefs, 64: 34-90).