Resource Stress and Settlement Pattern Change in the Eastern Mimbres Area, Southwest New Mexico
Summary
Dissertation by Karen Gust Schollmeyer based in part on EMAP Mimbres Classic period and Reorganization phase faunal data in tDAR.
This dissertation examines the role of resource stress in the dramatic depopulation of large, long-occupied villages in the Mimbres region of the U.S. Southwest. I examine archaeological evidence and models of environmental conditions in the eastern Mimbres area of southwest New Mexico to assess the magnitude and periodicity of food stress from a combination of reduced precipitation and prolonged human farming and hunting activities on the landscape. The results indicate that levels and frequencies of food stress in the area were unlikely to have been a major influence on decisions to change settlement and land use strategies. Environmental explanations focused on long term population-resource imbalances may have been overemphasized in accounting for dramatic cultural changes in the area. Some changes in productive land availability around the time of transition from villages to hamlets, however, suggest that farmers' perceptions of increased risk may have influenced changes in demography and settlement patterns.
Cite this Record
Resource Stress and Settlement Pattern Change in the Eastern Mimbres Area, Southwest New Mexico. Karen Schollmeyer. . Ph.D. dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Univeristy Microfilms, Ann Arbor. 2009 ( tDAR id: 3183) ; doi:10.6067/XCV89G5K0H
Keywords
Material
Ceramic
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Chipped Stone
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Dating Sample
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Fauna
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Ground Stone
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Macrobotanical
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Mineral
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Shell
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Wood
Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation
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Research Design / Data Recovery Plan
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Systematic Survey
Geographic Keywords
Animas Drainage
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Eastern Mimbres
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Palomas Drainage
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Rio Grande Drainage
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Seco Drainage
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Southwest New Mexico
Temporal Keywords
Black Mountain Phase
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Classic Mimbres Period
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Early Mogollon Pithouse Period
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Late Mogollon Pithouse Period
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Mimbres Reorganization Phase
Spatial Coverage
min long: -107.428; min lat: 32.927 ; max long: -107.356; max lat: 32.982 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Principal Investigator(s): Karen Schollmeyer
Sponsor(s): School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University
File Information
| Name | Size | Creation Date | Date Uploaded | Access | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| document_3183_schollmeyer_dissertation_2009.pdf | 3.37mb | Oct 16, 2010 10:43:14 AM | Public |