Economic and Land-Use Implications of Prehistoric Fire-Cracked-Rock Piles, Northern Arizona

Sullivan, Alan P.; Cook, Robert A.; Purtill, Matthew P.; Uphus, Patrick M.

doi:10.2307/3181440

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…The nonresidential sites with low piles of fire‐cracked rock (Figure 9) are relatively abundant during all ceramic periods of occupation. Paleobotanical evidence suggests that these features were used to extract and process pinyon nuts, “weeds,” cheno‐ams (such as “goosefoot” and “pigweed”), and other wild plant resources (Sullivan et al 2003), as they were in the Great Basin (e.g., Eerkens et al 2004). By roasting and drying the nuts, it was possible to preserve and store a high‐calorie food resource at residential sites for up to four years (Schellbach 1933:222).…”

Section: The Grand Canyon In the Northern Southwestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Property, Identity, and Macroeconomy in the Prehispanic Southwest

Bayman

Sullivan

2008

American Anthropologist

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Archaeology provides a compelling perspective on the evolution of property rights and macroeconomy in precapitalist societies that lacked systems of writing. Most interpretations of macroeconomy in the Prehispanic Southwest have focused on interaction networks that emanated from "heartlands" where intensive agriculturalists were aggregated in towns along major streams. Although archaeologists are aware of communities in "hinterland" territories, they rarely consider their political economies. As a remedy, we apply common-pool-resource (CPR) theory to investigate hypothesized linkages between property rights and social identity in two hinterlands in Arizona: the Papagueria and the Grand Canyon. Our analyses indicate, first, that from circa C.E. 850 to C.E. 1350, local communities negotiated their social identities in a macroeconomy of fluctuating resource values and, second, that incentives for privatizing peripheral territories intensified in some areas during periods of economic competition. These findings underscore the critical role of archaeology in modeling property rights in precapitalist societies. [

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Section: The Grand Canyon In the Northern Southwestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Property, Identity, and Macroeconomy in the Prehispanic Southwest

Bayman

Sullivan

2008

American Anthropologist

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“…Hearthstones often appear to have been utilized in large numbers within these features (e.g., Black, 2003;Brink and Dawe, 2003;Petraglia, 2002;Sullivan et al, 2001). With their high potential for preservation, attention is becoming more focused on these ubiquitous artifacts (Petraglia, 2002).…”

Section: Thermal Features Hearthstones and The Experimental Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Where were the hearths: an experimental investigation of the archaeological signature of prehistoric fire technology in the alluvial gravels of the Southern Plains

Backhouse

Johnson

2007

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…Cook-stone features that functioned as ''roasting pits'' are also characteristic of Archaic sites in southeast New Mexico (Dolman, 1997), of Hohokam sites in southern Arizona (Fish and Fish, 1997), and of sites in northern Arizona with ceramics and arrow points (Sullivan et al, 2001). The widespread and common presence of earth ovens during the agricultural period fits quite well with the concept of land-use intensification in agriculturally marginal areas wherein wild plant foods, presumably cooked in earth ovens, contributed substantially to the carbohydrate intake from domestic crops (Fish and Fish, 1997;Leach, 2005;Leach and Bradfute, 2004).…”

Section: Southwestmentioning

confidence: 98%