Landscape Ecology, GIS and Faunal Abundances in Ancestral Puebloan Sites in the San Juan River Basin

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The abundance of faunal remains in archaeological sites is generally associated with the availability of those fauna on the landscape. However, over time, the spatial variability in faunal abundances could change due to environmental or anthropogenic factors. In the American Southwest, the occurrence and abundance of artiodactyls and lagomorphs varies spatially, especially during the Pueblo periods. There are two competing hypotheses to explain these patterns. Either the landscape supported different types of fauna or the faunal composition is the result of anthropogenic harvest pressure. To evaluate the role of landscape in the distribution of fauna, we use methods developed in landscape ecology and biogeography to describe the realized niche of lagomorphs and artiodactyls in the San Juan River basin. We expect that if landscape is the driving factor in faunal abundances, we should see distinct landscapes associated with each species.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25886