Innovation and Population Dynamics in Drylands

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Innovation and Population Dynamics in Drylands" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Do dyland environments experience similar trajectories of innovation and population change over time, or do these environments display unique trajectories of change? This is a basic question that our session explores. We present case studies and comparative papers of dryland systems that attempt to explain variability in social-technological and population change over time. We draw on formal models, large datasets of archaeological radiocarbon, and data on changes in technology and social organization over time to help explain culture change in dryland environments.

Other Keywords
demography • Political economy • Settlement patterns • Worldwide

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)

  • Documents (6)
Documents
  • A Deep-Time Comparison Using Stable Isotope Data to Compare Gender-Based Protein Consumption (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Alyssa Ahmann.

    This is an abstract from the "Innovation and Population Dynamics in Drylands" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Gender differences in work, mobility, political status, and diet have long been topics of interest in demographic anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology. However, comparative studies of gender differences in diet and the consumption of resources over time, while standard for individual case studies, are rare. Drawing on...

  • From Migration to Adaptation: A Morphological Study of Fremont Maize Cobs in the Northern Colorado Plateau (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sara Saouma.

    This is an abstract from the "Innovation and Population Dynamics in Drylands" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Approximately 5,000 years ago, maize (Zea mays) spread from its native region in southern Mexico into the American Southwest, where it underwent significant phenotypic changes due to human selection pressures. These changes were crucial for maize to adapt to various environmental conditions, including heat, water stress, and cold climates....

  • A Multi-Scalar Analysis of Population Dynamics at the Margins of Maize Agriculture in the American Southwest (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Judson Finley.

    This is an abstract from the "Innovation and Population Dynamics in Drylands" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Utah’s northern Uinta Basin represents the maximum biophysical extent of maize agriculture in the American Southwest. The adoption of maize agriculture between AD 200–300, as well as the subsequent development of early agricultural villages, occurred within well-defined multidecadal precipitation parameters. Here we focus on the...

  • Neolithic Mobility and Persistence in the Arabian Interior: Results from the KHS-A Site, Al-Khashbah, Oman. (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lucas Proctor.

    This is an abstract from the "Innovation and Population Dynamics in Drylands" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This poster presents the results of recent fieldwork at the Neolithic site of KHS-A, located north of the modern Al-Khashbah oasis in central Oman. The KHS-A site was identified in 2022 and consists of a cluster of stone structures, prepared fireplaces and lithic artifact scatters covering an area of over 3600 sq. meters on top of a relict...

  • The Rockshelters Of The Vernal Area: Re-Examining The Leo C. Thorne Perishable Collection In The Uintah Basin (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Cassandra Holcomb.

    This is an abstract from the "Innovation and Population Dynamics in Drylands" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the early 1930s, a local photographer, named Leo C. Thorne, documented twelve rockshelters in the Ashley-Dry Fork and Steinaker Draw area northwest of Vernal, Utah. Thorne amassed a substantial artifact collection from these and other local sites around the Uintah Basin, now displayed at the Uintah County Heritage Museum (UCHM) in...

  • Understanding the emergence of alternative social-ecological regimes of food production (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jacob Freeman.

    This is an abstract from the "Innovation and Population Dynamics in Drylands" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Progressive models of cultural evolution have long been criticized. Yet, archaeologists sometimes struggle to replace these models with non-linear theories of cultural change that (1) explain the diversity of food production strategies observed over time and (2) provide propositions amenable to empirical testing. In this paper, we explore...