Domesticated food production is widely acknowledged as a crucial
innovation that led to significant transformations in human demography and
social organization. Here, we address demographic and social dimensions of the
Neolithic Revolution in the Mesa Verde region of Southwest Colorado. We first
propose a new method of dating habitations to one of two phases of the
Basketmaker III period (AD 600–725) using relative frequencies of vessel
forms in pottery assemblages. Then we adapt this method to new survey and
excavation data from Indian Camp Ranch to investigate demographic processes
behind the formation of Mesa Verde Pueblo society. Finally, we investigate the
distribution of agricultural storage space across Basketmaker III households to
investigate the development of private property during this period. Our results
indicate that both in-migration and intrinsic growth were involved in the
formation of Mesa Verde pueblo society; that agricultural households initially
clustered around public architecture but became increasingly dispersed over
time; and that household agricultural outputs took the form of a log-normal
distribution typical of societies with private property rights. Collectively,
these findings provide evidence that private property rights co-evolved with the
commitment to agriculture and settled communities in Southwest Colorado, as
researchers have suggested for other world areas.
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