The Mogollon region of the American Southwest contains a large number of prehistoric sites in southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northern Chihuahua. It includes the Mimbres Culture, Highland Mogollon, and Casas Grandes, and spans a period of about A.D. 200 to 1450. The Mogollon share some characteristics of the nearby Hohokam and Ancestral Puebloan, but are markedly different.
This volume examines Mogollon communal spaces: architectural and non-architectural spaces used by groups of people larger than a single household to engage in public and/or non-public ritual, religious, and socio-political activities. Twenty-five scholars contribute 15 essays on various aspects of Mogollon communal space, ranging from great kivas to ceremonial precincts and communal architecture. The most distinctive of these spaces are great kivas—very large, circular underground structures used for specialized ceremonial purposes. Great kivas from a number of Mogollon cultures and time periods are examined.
This book reports on recent research in the Mogollon region, one of the most interesting cultural areas in the Southwest. It provides the reader with the most up-to-date information available and is a must read for students of the Mogollon culture. —Mark Michel