Quantitatively Modeling the Relationship between Watershed Size and Site Size in Sixth–Tenth-Century Gila and Mimbres Regions, Southwestern New Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Mogollon, Mimbres, and Salado Archaeology in Southwest New Mexico and Beyond" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This project quantitatively investigates the relationship between watershed size and site size within the Gila and Mimbres regions of southwestern New Mexico. Throughout the later first millennium CE, larger sites in these regions tended to occupy areas where smaller tributaries flowed into primary drainage systems and where floodplains widened after narrower areas. Archival GIS and spatial reference data and structural information for hundreds of sites will allow us to determine whether primary settlements in the Gila and Mimbres regions were located in comparatively large catchment areas, as well as the extent to which these sites were susceptible to flooding. The resulting map and model of the greater region will provide insight into the impact of environmental stressors on socially important settlements, enabling us to better understand how people may have mitigated the effects of recurring natural disasters to ensure regional social stability.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Mogollon, Mimbres, and Salado Archaeology in Southwest New Mexico and Beyond   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36280.0