Perception, visibility, and intervisibility in the late Archaic landscape of the Black Mesa region of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado

Abstract

Phenomenology, as an interpretive framework centered on perception and life experience, aids archaeologists in understanding past human relationships with landscapes and their features. In the Black Mesa region of Cimarron County, Oklahoma, six enigmatic stone circles may have formed part of a line-of-sight communications network during the late Archaic stage around 3,000 years ago. In all but one instance, the sites are accompanied by a nearby petroglyph feature that suggests some special or ritual significance beyond mere communication. Although it is challenging to craft a coherent narrative of late Archaic life in this transitional region, this study focuses on questions of visibility and intervisibility in order to investigate whether observers at each site could see and be seen by others at different locations (rather than specifically identifying the intended audience of signals emanating from these locations), and how phenomenological and ontological considerations, including language, may have affected Archaic peoples’ perception of their landscape. Distinguishing between seeing, visibility, and perception, I utilize a GIS-based visibility to show that visibility and intervisibility among these stone circles may indeed have been an important consideration to Archaic people in the area.