Ancestral Pueblo Fishing Associated with Mixed Foraging Goals and Environmental Stability in the Middle Rio Grande of New Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Stability and Resilience in Zooarchaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

It is a common misconception that fishes were unimportant in the diet of past Pueblo people in the US Southwest. Yet, small numbers of fish remains are consistently recovered from late prehispanic/early historic (ca AD 1300–1600) archaeological sites in the Middle Rio Grande of New Mexico. The end of drought conditions may have impacted food choice and fishing decisions during this time. I use models from human behavioral ecology to test whether Ancestral Pueblo farmers blended risk minimization and energy maximization foraging strategies. Stable isotope analysis on fish bones reveals the presence of aquatic ecological stability in the protohistoric Middle Rio Grande, which suggests fishing was less risky during this time. Fish body size estimation provides a way to evaluate whether environmental conditions impacted the health of fishes and Ancestral Pueblo food choice. Stable isotope analysis and body size estimation suggest Ancestral Pueblo fishing strategies were associated with energy maximizing and risk-reducing foraging behavior linked with environmental change. This research demonstrates that Ancestral Pueblo fishing decisions were complex, linked to ecological stability, and likely sustainable.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Stability and Resilience in Zooarchaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37713.0