Culture · Late Prehistoric
Mimbres
1000–1130 CE, North America — Southwest
Mimbres is the Mogollon branch of the Mimbres Valley in southwestern New Mexico whose Classic phase, roughly 1,000 to 1,130 CE, produced black-on-white bowls painted with animals, people and geometric designs that are the most celebrated pottery of the ancient Southwest. Bowls were placed over the faces of the dead with a hole punched through the base. Collectors hold bowls, mostly with kill holes and restoration, plus small points and beads; the great bowls are in museums.
| Dates | 1000–1130 CE |
|---|---|
| Period | Late Prehistoric |
| Region | North America — Southwest |
| Areas | Mimbres Valley, Southwestern New Mexico |
| Typical objects | Bowl, Projectile point |
| Typical materials | Chert, Obsidian |
Identification
A Mimbres bowl is hemispherical with a single figure or a geometric field painted inside in black or dark brown on a white slip, with a kill hole in the centre. Boldface, Transitional and Classic styles are distinguished by line weight and framing. Bowls from the same painters can be recognised by hand.
Legality
In the United States, prehistoric artifacts may be collected and sold only when they come from private land with the landowner's permission; removal from federal, tribal or most state land is prohibited under ARPA and state statutes. Funerary objects, human remains and sacred items are covered by NAGPRA and are not legitimately traded, and Canadian provinces treat archaeological finds as Crown or provincial property. Mimbres bowls are almost by definition grave goods, and the systematic bulldozing of Mimbres sites in the 1960s and 1970s led to ARPA and to a strong museum and tribal consensus against trade in them.
Reproductions and fakes
Mimbres bowls are widely faked and even more widely over-restored, with some 'bowls' consisting of a few genuine sherds in a modern matrix with a repainted figure. Ultraviolet light reveals restoration, and fake paint lacks the slight iron sheen of mineral pigment. Modern reproduction bowls signed by contemporary potters are sold openly and should not be mistaken for ancient work.
Elsewhere
- Wikidata: Q121600318
Cite this article
Stratum Strata. "Mimbres" (Culture). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/cultures/mimbres. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-mimbres,
title = {Mimbres},
author = {{Stratum Strata}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/cultures/mimbres}},
year = {2026},
note = {Culture article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, wikidata, cleveland. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.