The Archaeology of Art in the American Southwest

217 Pages·2011·3.99 MB·English

by  Marit K. Munson

THE ARCHAEOLOGY
OF ART IN THE
AMERICAN SOUTHWEST
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Issues in Southwest Archaeology
Edited by John Kantner
Issues in Southwest Archaeology features volumes that critically evalu-
ate current archaeological research in the U.S. Southwest and Northwest
Mexico. Titles investigate pervasive themes both in the archaeology of the
region but also in contemporary anthropological inquiry, such as ethnicity,
gender, migration, and violence. Authors discuss not only what archaeolo-
gists already know about the prehistory of the Southwest, but they also
consider issues that impact the practice of archaeology today, including the
roles of cultural resource management, oral history, and cultural property
rights. Each contribution to the series is ultimately synthetic, comparative,
and fully engaged in broader anthropological interests.
Editor John Kantner may be contacted at the following address:
Vice President for Academic and Institutional Advancement
School for Advanced Research
P.O. Box 2188
Santa Fe, NM 87504-2188
Books in the series:
Living Histories: Native Americans and Southwestern Archaeology, by Chip
Colwell-Chanthaphonh (2010)
The Archaeology of Art in the American Southwest, by Marit K. Munson (2011)
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THE ARCHAEOLOGY
OF ART IN THE
AMERICAN SOUTHWEST
MARIT K. MUNSON
ALTAMIRA PRESS
A Division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Lanham (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
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Published by AltaMira Press
A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.altamirapress.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2011 by AltaMira Press
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Munson, Marit K.
The archaeology of art in the American Southwest / Marit K. Munson.
p. cm. — (Issues in Southwest archaeology) (Introduction : art and other
practicalities — The problem of art in archaeology — Artists — Audiences —
Images — Aesthetics — The future of art in archaeology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7591-1077-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7591-2025-9
(electronic : alk. paper)
1. Archaeology and art—Southwest, New. 2. Indian art—Southwest, New.
3. Southwest, New—Antiquities. 4. Material culture—Southwest, New. 5. Indians
of North America—Material culture—Southwest, New. I. Title.
N72.A56M86 2011
709.79—dc22 2010049878
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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C
ONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
CHAPTER 1
Introduction 1
CHAPTER 2
The Problem of Art in Archaeology 21
CHAPTER 3
Artists 43
CHAPTER 4
Audiences 71
CHAPTER 5
Images 95
CHAPTER 6
Aesthetics 121
CHAPTER 7
The Future of Art in Archaeology 143
v
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vi CONTENTS
Notes 157
References 161
Index 195
About the Author 207
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Acknowledgments
I
n 2005, John Kantner asked if I would be interested in contributing
something on art and iconography for the series Issues in Southwest
Archaeology. Without his prompting, I never would have dared to start
such a project. The structure and content of the book owe a great deal to
Candace Greene, who has shaped my thinking about anthropology, art,
and museums, and to the students in my classes on the anthropology of art
at Trent University.
I wrote most of this manuscript while on sabbatical as a visiting re-
search associate at the School for Advanced Research (SAR) in Santa Fe.
The SAR is an amazing place to work, with lots of peace and quiet, plus
a whole community of marvelous people for interesting conversations and
welcome distractions. Many thanks to James Brooks and all of the staff
at SAR, to scholars Danny Hoffman, Tim Pauketat, Dean Falk, Wenda
Trevathan (Jessie thanks you too), Audra Simpson, and Susan Alt, and to
artists Cedar Sherbert and Pat Courtney Gold.
I would like to acknowledge my great debt to the thoughtful, creative,
and sometimes provocative work of Patty Crown, Kelley Hays-Gilpin,
Jerry Brody, Steve Plog, and Steve Lekson, and Howard Morphy. This
manuscript benefited from formal reviews by Michelle Hegmon, John
Kantner, and an anonymous reviewer. Many thanks to Wendi Schnaufer
and everyone else at AltaMira. I also greatly appreciate the comments and
feedback of Linda Cordell, Cam Cocks, Willow Powers, and Wolky Toll.
Finally, thanks to Bruce Munson for wanting to know how we recognize
the difference between a dog and a cat and to Barbara Munson for reining
him in.
vii
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1
Introduction
[R]ather than fleeing from the word “art,” . . . researchers . . .
would benefit from considering the concept. (Morales 2005:70)
M
imbres bowls are known and celebrated worldwide as mas-
terpieces of ancient art (figure 1.1). Painted around a thousand
years ago, the bowls came to light in the Mimbres Valley of
southwestern New Mexico in the early 20th century. They were intro-
duced to the wider world through the work of anthropologist J. Walter
Fewkes, who wrote several reports that publicized the amazing images on
the newly excavated artifacts—scenes of men and women, of birds and
fish, of farming and ceremonies and even human sacrifice. Often dubbed
“story bowls,” Mimbres ceramics charmed and engaged viewers, tantaliz-
ing them with the promise of a glimpse into the past. Today, the bowls’
incredible display value is both a blessing and a curse. They are featured in
museum exhibits and collections around the world; they inspire contem-
porary artists. Thanks to contemporary art markets, the bowls also have
great monetary value, along with the attendant problems of looting, illegal
trade, and forgery (Brody 2005:xvi; Lekson 1992). Mimbres pottery is the
quintessential example of ancient Southwestern art.
But what if the Mimbres bowls are not art? While art historians and
collectors have readily claimed these bowls as art, many archaeologists are
fundamentally uneasy with extending such a concept to 1,000-year-old
artifacts, beautiful or not. Archaeologists may use Mimbres images for lo-
gos, book covers, and T-shirt designs (Lekson 1992), but we shrink from
the implications of calling Mimbres pottery art. How, we worry, can we
1
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