The Spanish conquest and colonization of New Mexico first received scholarly attention in the late nineteenth century and continues to interest scholars today. The purpose of this study is to document shifts in settlement patterns in the sedentary Pueblo communities of the Rio Grande Valley and nearby regions, from the first Spanish incursion through the reconquest of New Mexico by Diego de Vargas in the 1690s. Barrett combines archaeological site records with Spanish historical accounts to show changes in the location of settlements, particularly refugee communities, along with the abandonment of many village sites. Tables correlate archaeological site record data with historical accounts, and maps identify the communities abandoned and the ones still extant at the end of the seventeenth century.
Barrett provides a convenient summary of the information on settlement occupation, abandonment, and temporary or permanent relocation. However, the book lacks sufficient explanation for the causes of changing settlement...
