Archaeology of eastern Sonora, Mexico: A reconsideration of Rio Sonora/Serrana social organization through comparative ceramic analysis

This study will provide an additional perspective on the socio-political organization of the late precolonial and protocolonial period (AD 1250 to ~1550) in the Rio Sonora/Serrana region through an analysis of textured ceramic traditions. This research consists of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the decorative treatments of ceramic collections, from three rivers valleys from eastern Sonora (Sonora, Moctezuma, and Fronteras valleys). The Sonora Valley sample is newly analyzed and includes ceramics from multiple sites and importantly several discrete architectural zones of the primate village site of San Jose. The samples permit evaluation at three spatial scales of variation in the use of texturing and painting treatments and defined layout “styles”. The variation is compared to preexisting models regarding pan-regional political confederacies, intra-valley “statelet” organization, and inter-site relationships. Some support is found for these classic models, which are reconsidered in an updated discussion of group identity at all three scales