ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on three pre-European contact Southwestern art traditions—the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Anasazi—in addition to the traditions of the Hopi peoples of northern Arizona. The Mogollon settled in an area slightly to the east of the Hohokam—an area bordering southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, and along the Mimbres River. Hunting and gathering, which were the primary means of subsistence for the Eskimo and Northwest Coast tribal peoples, were also important for the Hopi and the pre-European contact peoples of the Southwestern United States, but these peoples also relied on food grown by various agricultural methods. The art forms are consistent with a culture with a strong hunting-gathering component and to a large extent reflect an interest in varied animal forms human images engaged in ceremonial behaviors. The most famous art form produced by the Mogollon people is the painted ceramic burial bowls placed over the skulls and bones of the deceased in Mogollon settlements.
