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The Exotic Origins of Fishes Depicted on Prehistoric Mimbres Pottery from New Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen C. Jett  and
Peter B. Moyle
Stephen C. Jett
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616
Peter B. Moyle
Affiliation:
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616
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Abstract

A variety of fishes is depicted on Classic Mimbres figurative pottery of ca. A.D. 950-1150. Bowl paintings show fishing scenes and equipment. We have tentatively identified depictions of 20 fish taxa, 18 of which are of marine origin. The suite of species suggests a provenience in the Gulf of California, near Guaymas, Sonora. Mimbres traders apparently traveled 1,500 km from New Mexico's Mimbres Valley to the Gulf and back, probably to obtain shells and other materials for home use and for commerce.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 51 , Issue 4 , October 1986 , pp. 688 - 720
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1986

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