With the exception of red-on-brown pottery, wares already described continued to be made. A black-on-white pottery, which apparently shows a Pueblo influence from the north, was added to the assemblage. Textured pottery became more important.
Shell was widely used as a material, although only a few species were represented. Olivella shells and double-lobed pieces of cut shell were used as beads. Thin bracelets were made of glycymeris shell. Some beads were tubular forms made of bone. Others were made from hackberry seeds, and one infant was found buried with hundreds of these.
In general, burials were like those of the preceding period. Cremations continued to be very rare.
THE MIMBRES [PHASE]
More and more the Mogollon people were affected by outside cultural influences. By about 950 or 1000 A.D. their [culture] had been so greatly altered and was submerged to such an extent that the resulting blend may be considered a new entity and given another name. This [phase] or culture is called the Mimbres. It was named after the Mimbres River, for this valley seems to represent the focal point of the culture. The greatest development centers in Grant County, New Mexico, where excavated sites include the Swarts Ruin,[21] the Mattocks Ruin,[98] the Galaz Ruin,[8] and Cameron Creek Village.[6]
In these sites is found evidence of rapid changes in the construction of dwellings. The earliest houses were Mogollon-type pit houses, sometimes slab-lined. These were followed by semi-subterranean and single surface houses with rubble masonry. In the latest stage, houses were built entirely above the surface. They were one-story pueblolike buildings consisting of clusters of rooms. In some cases there were no more than five rooms, in others there were more than fifty. The larger structures sometimes had inner courts or plazas and at Swarts Ruin, where there are two big houses, there was a large dance [plaza] between the two buildings. Walls were built of masonry, often made of river boulders. Roofs were made of beams covered with brush, grass, reeds, and adobe. Some contained trap-doors, covered with stone slabs, which provided a means of entrance. In one architecturally advanced building there were windows. In the rooms were fireplaces and rock-walled storage bins. Kivas were rectangular, underground chambers.
One interesting [trait] of the Mimbreños was the practice of burying the dead under the house floors, although the houses continued to be occupied. In one room a total of thirty-two, sub-floor burials were found. Although this practice was the most common one, it was not always followed, for there were some burials outside of the houses and in the fill of unoccupied rooms, and a few cremations have been found.
Archaeologists are very grateful to the ancient Mimbres people for their habit of burying pots with the dead, for it is to this that we owe our knowledge of some of the most beautiful and interesting pottery that has ever been made. A few old people and children were buried without offerings, but most bodies had one or more bowls placed over the head. Metates and manos were also often placed in women’s graves, and there was some jewelry. One interesting feature of burial pottery, apart from the magnificent skill which went into its decoration, was the presence of a hole, usually punched into the pot with a sharp instrument, or sometimes drilled. It is believed that this was done to release the spirit or soul of the vessel which was thought to be a part of the maker. The ceremonial killing of pottery probably took place at the grave, for the piece knocked out of a pot is often found associated with it in the burial. Metates were often similarly treated.
The plain burnished-buff and polished-red wares of the Mogollon continued to be made, but black-on-white pottery assumed the greatest importance, and fine corrugated cooking ware began to be produced. There is also some polychrome ware with red and black designs on a white background. It was in the field of black-on-white ware that the ancient Mimbreños reached an artistic peak which has seldom, if ever, been surpassed in the medium of pottery. The black-on-white color combination at once suggests Pueblo influence. Certain design elements are reminiscent of the Hohokam, however.
Bowls were the usual shape. Designs were sometimes positive, sometimes negative. They were of two types, geometric and naturalistic. Both are equally remarkable. The geometric designs are very beautiful and are characterized by an extraordinary sureness of touch which is revealed by the accuracy of spacing and the precision of line. In one case, for example, twenty-seven parallel lines are to be found in a band less than two inches in width. The bowls with naturalistic designs show the same fine sense of composition. Some depict charming, surrealist creatures which Dali might be proud to claim, but others are quite realistic. The forms shown include birds, insects, quadrupeds, fish, and human beings.