Pueblo Agricultural Adaptations to Socioeconomic Changes in New Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This presentation illustrates the results of the survey work of the agricultural areas around two precontact villages (Poshuouinge and Pueblo Blanco) and two contact-era villages (Cuyamungue and San Marcos). One hundred and fifty-six agricultural features were documented on the survey and ranged from Pueblo irrigation ditches in and slightly above the floodplain to raised gravel mulch fields on upland ridges above the villages. Analyzing the changes in the location, type, size, and density of these features before and following contact enable a better understanding of Pueblo agricultural adaptations over time and the extent to which Spanish plants, animals, and agricultural methods were incorporated into Pueblo agriculture. This survey work is part of a larger project investigating how (and to what extent) Pueblo people in the Rio Grande region of New Mexico adjusted their agricultural practices when confronted with Spanish colonization. The project consists of (1) developing agricultural potential models to identify where the optimal growing areas likely were, (2) surveying the areas around multiple precontact and contact-era Pueblos to document agricultural features and any changes in those features or technologies with colonization, and (3) analyzing sediment samples to determine the types and density of plants grown in the fields.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32984