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256 Edward Staski This emerging new view is so different that the region’s chronological framework has been restructured. Traditional chronology building, with its dependence on simple stage-schemes, has been questioned. Frontier archaeologists should take heed. We can no longer view frontier history as consisting of a series of mutually exclusive situations or stages of development. As mentioned, this history has always been dynamic and multidimensional, not simply progressive and unilinear. We must remember the complexities when developing chronologies and reconstructing culture history. Until fairly recently, the transition from Archaic (ca. 7000 BC–AD 200) to Formative (ca. AD 200–1400) in southern New Mexico was viewed as an all-inclusive adaptive shift from gathering-hunting to agriculture, along with a sedentary style of settlement. The Formative was divided into the Mesilla, Doña Ana, and El Paso phases, distinguished from one another by the occurrence of certain ceramic and architectural forms (Lehmer 1948). In the last few decades, however, the same researchers who pioneered the study of those obscure ephemeral sites have questioned the utility of these temporal labels (e.g., Carmichael 1985; Kauffman 1984; Kauffman and Batcho 1983; Upham 1994). How useful is it to chronologically demarcate the Late Archaic from the Early Formative, given that large portions of the population continued to gather and hunt well into recent times? Was the division between Mesilla and El Paso phases all-inclusive or even real? Are these nothing more than chronological heuristic devices and weak as well as misleading ones at that? It is worth repeating that prehistorians have recently recognized both of these related problems, and they continue to correct them. Their reward is a more complete picture of prehistory. This is not a new story, although I am not creating a straw man when discussing the Paraje de San Diego and the Historical Site. Historical archaeologists do not appear to have done so well. We can do better. ConCluSion The Camino Real had all the characteristics of a trail, not a road. I believe this was the outcome of structural inertia, a frontier phenomenon best described as resistance to developmental change. An obvious outcome of structural inertia is the existence of many ephemeral sites, places of short-term, although repeated, occupation. Such ephemeral sites appear to be common along the Camino. The Paraje de San Diego and the Historical Site are two good examples of ephemeral sites along the Camino Real. They were similar to the numerous transitory encampments of prehistory that were contemporary with larger, more permanent settlements and that have only recently been fully appreciated by prehistorians . The Paraje de San Diego and the Historical Site, and other comparable 257 ephemeral SiteS and inertia along el Camino real de tierra adentro historical sites, need to be treated like the numerous gathering camps, hunting stands, quarries, and other temporary occupations that did not disappear with the development of food production, that reflect a significant range of behaviors and life experiences, and that continued until relatively recent times because of structural inertia. This inertia did not cease with the coming of historical times. Indeed, it continues today and plays an important role in shaping the lives of numerous people. If we recognize it more often in the archaeological record at the diverse ephemeral sites scattered across the landscape, we will gain an even deeper understanding of the complexities of culture change. referenCeS Cited Carmichael, David 1985 Archaeological Excavations at Two Prehistoric Campsites Near Keystone Dam, El Paso, Texas. Occasional Papers 14. New Mexico State University Museum, Las Cruces. Earle, Timothy 1991 Paths and Roads in Evolutionary Perspective. In Ancient Road Networks and Settlement Hierarchies in the New World, ed. Charles D. Trombold, 10–16. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Ensminger, M. E. 1962 The Stockman’s Handbook. Interstate Publishers and Printers, Danville, IL. Fournier, Patricia 1996 Ceramic Analysis from Paraje de San Diego Excavations. Report submitted to and on file at the Bureau of Land Management, State Office, Santa Fe. Giese, Regan W. 1994 Human Subsistence and Adaptation in the Mesilla Valley, New Mexico: 1000 BC–AD 1000. Master’s thesis, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. Hassig, Ross 1991 Roads, Routes, and Ties That Bind. In Ancient Road Networks and Settlement Hierarchies in the New World, ed. Charles D. Trombold, 17–27. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Hockman, Aaron 2004 El Camino Real: Effects on Eastern Puebloan Assimilation during the Spanish Conquest. McNair Journal 7. New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. Hyslop...

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