Craniometric variation and population history of the prehistoric Tewa

Abstract

Although the population history and social organization of the prehistoric Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest have received attention in the archaeological literature, little research on this topic has been conducted by biological anthropologists. Here, we examine postmarital residence at two ancestral Tewa Indian pueblos located in north-central New Mexico using determinant ratio analysis. In addition, we examine genetic relationships among pueblos, as well as levels of within-pueblo heterogeneity due to gene flow from extraregional sources, or regional aggregation. Results from determinant ratio analysis indicate greater within-pueblo male variation, consistent with matrilocal residence for at least one Tewa pueblo. Less than expected heterogeneity at two pueblos suggests that endogamy might have been practiced among some prehistoric Tewa pueblos. Gene flow from extraregional sources is indicated for two different pueblos by greater than expected within-group heterogeneity. Distance matrix correlation analyses indicate little if any relationship between phenotypic and geographic distances, suggesting that geography was not the primary basis of gene flow or mate exchange. The weak relationship between phenotypic and geographic distances may be the combined effects of endogamy at some pueblos, nonrandom extraregional gene flow or migration at other pueblos, and limited nonproximity-dependent regional gene flow or migration among pueblos, possibly structured on ritual exchange networks based on medicine society affiliation. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.