Tompiro culture, subsistence and trade

Abstract

This study explores links between differences in the material culture of the two divisions of the Tompiro Indians, their subsistence systems and a hypothesized trade system. The Tompiros, now extinct, Indians living in central New Mexico period (A.D. 1300-1700). were a group of Pueblo during the Pueblo IV The major differences in material culture between the Eastern Tompiros and Western Tompiros lay in the gross structure of their ceramic assemblages. linked to an importation of ceramics This was closely by the Eastern Tompiros. An examination of the Tompiro subsistence systems reveals the probability of unpredictable shortfalls in production of agricultural foodstuffs. It is hypothesized that the trade in ceramics and other artifacts between the Tompiro divisions was a part of a trade relationship designed to provide emergency food supplies in years of need. Further, it is hypothesized that a three-part trade system linking the Tompiros with adjacent Indian groups to the east and west was necessary to insure the stability of food supplies available to the Tompiros. The study examines the evidence for such a trade system and concludes that such a system was certainly feasible, if not conclusively demonstrated.