Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
There is a long history of applying “hard science” techniques to the archaeology of the Southwest/Northwest, with transformational results. Dendrochronology, radiocarbon dating, archaeomagnetic dating, and a variety of methods of provenance analysis used to address ceramics and stone artifacts have refined the chronologies of our models of past processes and illuminated ancient networks. Recently, studies focused on stable isotope data derived from animal bones and shells, as well as trees used as construction timbers, have revealed complementary and sometimes unexpected patterns at local, regional, and interregional scales. Research on DNA recovered from archaeological fauna has also yielded critical insights. Data resulting from work with the remains of many animals (including turkeys, macaws, dogs, bighorn sheep, deer, marine mollusks, and cattle) and plants (including trees, shrubs, and corn) have been used to model ancient migrations (using animals as proxies for humans), document and better understand domestication, demonstrate relationships among different ancient groups, explore livestock management practices, define procurement areas, and trace changes in resource use associated with the Entrada. This group of papers consists of case studies intended to provide a glimpse of the state-of-the-art in terms of applying these techniques to key research questions in Southwest/Northwest archaeology.
Other Keywords
Zooarchaeology •
Mogollon •
Ancestral Pueblo •
Archaeometry & Materials Analysis •
Subsistence and Foodways: Domestication •
Stable Isotopes •
Political economy •
Chronology •
Marine Shell •
Mobility
Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
USA (Country) •
New Mexico (State / Territory) •
Oklahoma (State / Territory) •
Arizona (State / Territory) •
Texas (State / Territory) •
Sonora (State / Territory) •
Chihuahua (State / Territory) •
Baja California (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-8 of 8)
- Documents (8)
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Eleventh-Century Aviculture in the Mimbres Valley: An Archaeology of the Human Experience Approach (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. For the past 2,000 years, people throughout the US Southwest and Northwest Mexico have woven scarlet macaws and turkeys into their economic, social, and ceremonial fabric. Pueblo groups in the past did not view all birds as being equal, and neither do archaeologists today, as we study macaws and turkeys more so than any other...
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Embodied Political Ecology in Colonial Livestock: Using Tooth Enamel Serial Sampling to Understand Seasonal Herd Management in Colonial Arizona (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Political ecology examines the relationship between politics and the environment and how that relationship affects ecosystems. While bioarchaeologists have shown the extensive biochemical connections in human remains resulting from political and economic inequalities, less attention has been given to the ways in which animals...
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Hydrogen and Oxygen (δ2H and δ18O) Isotopes and the Study of Human-Turkey Relationships in the Northern US Southwest (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Previous studies have established consistency, but also substantial anomalies, in how turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) were managed across the US Southwest/Mexican Northwest. In this paper, we present bone collagen derived stable hydrogen (δ2H) and bone apatite derived stable oxygen (δ18O) isotopes in turkeys from Tijeras Pueblo...
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Integrating Isotopic and Paleopathological Perspectives on Prehistoric Turkey Management at Turkey Creek Pueblo (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Prehistoric inhabitants of the American Southwest and Mexican Northwest utilized domestic and wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) for food, feathers, and ceremonial purposes. Existing archaeological studies on turkey domestication and management emphasize isotopic and genetic data, typically focusing on assemblages from the...
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Prospects for Dendrochronology and Isotopic (14C) “Wiggle-Matching” in the Southwest/Northwest (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The contributions of tree-ring dating to American archaeology are well known but the benefits of the technique have largely been restricted to the uplands of the northern Southwest. While tree-ring dates have been successfully obtained from a handful of sites in the Southwest/Northwest, dendrochronology has been hampered in...
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Scarlet Macaw Avicultural Dynamics in Southern Arizona (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Our understanding of scarlet macaw aviculture throughout the southwestern United States has greatly benefited from recent methodological advances, leading to new discoveries in regional management dynamics, breeding regimes, and exchange networks between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries. These studies have mainly focused...
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Sclerochemistry in Northwest Mexico: Evaluating Marine Shell Conveyance through Stable Isotope Analysis (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents an updated interpretation of marine shell exchange in the NW/SW. Isotopic analyses of marine shell can yield novel insights into regional trade networks. Our paper reviews C and O assays from archaeological assemblages in the NW/SW. These results demonstrate that the northern stretches of the Sea of Cortez...
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Turkey Provisioning, Exchange, and the Isotopic Zooarchaeology of Social Transformations in the Mesa Verde Region (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Changes in resource acquisition patterns are important components of larger social transformations, including shifts in the source areas and transport patterns of important animal resources. In the Mesa Verde region, increasing population aggregation and shifting settlement locations from AD 750 through 1225 also increased...