Prehispanic Environmental Impact in the Mimbres Region, Southwestern New Mexico

Part of the EMAP - Reports project

Author(s): Karen Schollmeyer

Year: 2005

Summary

Prehispanic settlements often had archaeologically visible impacts on their surrounding environments, including changes in local plant communities that

affected the presence and abundance of both plant and animal species. Here, data from sites in the Mimbres region of southwestern New Mexico are used to identify evidence for such impacts around habitation sites, and to investigate four factors (site size, elevation, water availability, and occupational history) that

influence the degree of impact different settlement types had on their surroundings. Patterning in riparian tree species ubiquity, weed ubiquity, and lagomorph ratios indicates that environmental impact is linked not only to settlement size, but also to the history of human occupation in an area. These combined factors outweigh differences in settlement elevation and water availability in the study area.

Cite this Record

Prehispanic Environmental Impact in the Mimbres Region, Southwestern New Mexico. Karen Schollmeyer. The Journal of Southwestern Archaeology and History. 70 (4): 375-398. 2005 ( tDAR id: 391632) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8W66MND

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Keywords

Culture
Mimbres • Mogollon

Material
Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Dating Sample • Fauna • Ground Stone • Macrobotanical • Mineral • Shell • Wood

Site Type
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Research Design / Data Recovery Plan • Systematic Survey

Geographic Keywords
Animas Drainage • Eastern Mimbres • Palomas Drainage • Rio Grande Drainage • Seco Drainage • Southwest New Mexico

Temporal Keywords
Black Mountain Phase • Classic Mimbres Period • Early Mogollon Pithouse Period • Late Mogollon Pithouse Period • 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): Margaret C. Nelson; Michelle Hegmon

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