Prehistoric Agricultural Strategies in West-Central New Mexico

Summary

Environmental fluctuations are frequently cited as a major factor effecting population displacement and cultural development in the American Southwest. Recent research suggests that the interaction of environmental, demographic, and behavioral variables might account for these presumed causal relationships, but behavioral responses to environmental fluctuations remain poorly understood.

The environmental factors most likely to have been stressful to agriculturalists such as the prehistoric Puebloan populations are those that most directly affected crop production. For the same reason, the agricultural strategies employed by these groups would constitute the most direct behavioral response to environmental change. An agricultural strategies model describing these relationships is presented here.

This model has two components. First, the growth requirements of traditional maize varieties were examined, and summer rainfall and the length of the frost-free period were identified as the climatic factors most limiting to crop yields. Minimal requirements for these variables and probable crop losses due to frost or moisture stress were estimated. Second, the agricultural techniques of modern Western Pueblo farmers were reviewed to identify the geomorphic factors conditioning where fields are established and the recorded responses to changing environmental conditions.

The resulting model was evaluated using archaeological data from a study area in west-central New Mexico. Palynological, dendroclimatic, and geomorphological data from several areas of the southern Colorado Plateaus were integrated into a paleoenvironmental reconstruction for the study area. On the basis of this reconstruction, geomorphic data from the study area, and the agricultural strategies model, I then predicted the agricultural strategies were most likely employed by Puebloan groups between AD 950 and 1200. The patterning of archaeological remains in the study area generally was consistent with these predictions, so the agricultural strategies model seems to have some utility in explaining prehistoric Puebloan adaptive strategies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Salt River Project Digital Library

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 950 to 1200 (Dating for agricultural strategies employed by Puebloan groups)

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Sponsor(s): Salt River Project

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