From left to right. Back row: Arthur Vokes, Arizona State Museum; R. G. Matson, University of British Columbia; Todd Howell, Zuni Cultural Resource Enterprises; Jeffrey Dean, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona; Stephen Kowalewski, University of Georgia; Jeffery J. Clark, Center for Desert Archaeology; Fred Nials, GeoArch and Center for Desert Archaeology; Don Fowler, University of Nevada. Front row: Jonathan Damp, Zuni Archaeological Program; Barbara Mills, University of Arizona; Laurie Webster, visiting scholar in the Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona; Polly Schaafsma, Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Museum of New Mexico; Michael Diehl, Desert Archaeology, Inc.; David R. Wilcox, Museum of Northern Arizona; Jane Hill, University of Arizona; T. J. Ferguson, Heritage Resources Management Consultants. Not pictured: David A. Gregory, Center for Desert Archaeology; Keith Kintigh, Arizona State University; and C. Dean Wilson, Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico.

An Exploration of Zuni Origins

When the Coronado Expedition entered the Southwest in 1540 they were pursuing reports of lost cities of gold. They ended up at the seven major pueblos that we now know as Zuni. Not quite cities, and totally lacking in gold, these settlements were a source of great disappointment to the Spaniards. To anthropologists and archaeologists, Zuni has been a continuing source of great interest. Recently a provocative hypothesis has been developed that attempts to account for how the Zuni language could have become a linguistic isolate, unrelated to other languages known in the new world. That hypothesis proposes that Zunian emerged as a distinct language between 6000 and 7000 years ago in the Mogollon highlands of the central Southwest.

The Center for Desert Archaeology has partnered with the Museum of Northern Arizona to bring together a cross-section of experts to consider the puzzling fact of Zuni as a linguistic isolate. At a five-day advanced working seminar held on October 14-19, 2001 at the Museum of Northern Arizona, a group of respected archaeologists, linguists, and tribal representatives met to address this research problem. This seminar grew out of a paper entitled "Adaptation of Man to the Mountains: Revising the Mogollon Concept" which David Gregory, Senior Research Archaeologist, Center for Desert Archaeology, and David Wilcox, Senior Curator of Anthropology, Museum of Northern Arizona, presented in 1999.

Gregory and Wilcox argued that the problem could be viewed profitably in organizational and adaptational terms, focusing on the kinds of social boundaries that may have evolved as a result of adaptations by groups to elevations above about 6500 feet in east-central Arizona and west-central New Mexico. Maintenance of such boundaries over long periods of time would provide one mechanism by which Zuni retained its identity as a discrete language.

Testing this hypothesis requires a thorough assessment of existing information, and will involve new approaches that stress social archaeology and human ecology. The scope of the seminar was comprehensive, attempting to bring together all currently available data from linguistics, archaeology and paleo-environmental studies, as well as Zuni tribal perspectives. This seminar and upcoming publication have the potential to establish a new standard for the construction and testing of anthropological models across sub-disciplines and between natural and social sciences.

The University of Arizona Press publication summarizing this seminar
is now available for purchase through our secure webstore.