The Mogollon Culture evolved in the southwestern corner of New Mexico and extended along the Mogollon Rim into east-central and southeast Arizona and southward into the Chihuahua region of northern Mexico.

The Mogollon seem to have developed from an earlier culture, the Cochise, an archaic culture of small nomadic bands who lived in the more mountainous parts of the territory. The introduction of pottery, probably from the south, signals the beginnings of the culture we call Mogollon. The people grew corn and beans, and were also hunters and gatherers. Villages consisted of small pithouse or pueblo groupings, and usually had a large ceremonial structure known as a kiva. A variety of burial practices were used, most often in shallow pit-graves either intramurally, (inside the dwellings), or in the refuse heaps surrounding the villages.

More information at Ancient Cultures of the Southwest