Everything Old Is New Again: Recent Approaches to Research on the Archaic Period in the Western United States

McBrinn, Maxine

doi:10.1007/s10814-010-9039-5

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…Although maize arrived in the Southwest before 2100 BC, archaeologists debate whether maize was incorporated into the existing hunter-gatherer economy with a minimal impact (Minnis 1992; Wills 1995) or a moderate impact (Diehl and Waters 2006) or quickly became a dietary staple (Coltrain, Janetski, and Carlyle 2007; Hard et al 2008). Despite the disagreement, paleoethnobotanists concur that early maize varieties were not as productive as those grown later in the prehispanic era (Adams 1994; Diehl 2005a; Huckell 2006), and recent research suggests that maize was quickly and intensively adopted by some groups but only casually adopted by others (McBrinn 2010:303–306; Roth 2016). The Las Capas site contains the most thoroughly documented preceramic evidence of increasing investment in maize cultivation in the Southwest.…”

Section: The Las Capas Site In a Regional Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity-Disturbance Relationships in the Late Archaic Southwest: Implications for Farmer-Forager Foodways

Sinensky

Farahani

2018

Am. Antiq.

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The analysis of more than 1,300 flotation samples from thousands of excavated cultural features dating to the San Pedro phase (1220–730 BC) at the Las Capas site in southern Arizona provides evidence of long-term continuity and change in plant cultivation and collection practices in response to environmental disturbances during the Late Archaic period (2100 BC–AD 50). Although preceramic foodways in the region are widely considered to have been stable for roughly 2,500 years following the introduction of maize prior to 2100 BC, analyses of macrobotanical data reveal that moderate-intensity flood events during the Middle San Pedro phase (930–800 BC) preceded the greatest richness and diversity of harvested plants, while reliance on maize was reduced. In contrast, in periods with little environmental disturbance maize was more dominant, with less diversity in other cultivated and foraged plants. Novel cultivation, processing, and foraging practices were initiated in response to disturbance but persisted after floodplain conditions stabilized. It is argued that the reciprocal relationship between disturbance and botanical diversity is integral for understanding the long-term resilience of Late Archaic foodways and that this relationship is best modeled using ecological theories termed the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis and the Intermediate Productivity Hypothesis.

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Section: The Las Capas Site In a Regional Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity-Disturbance Relationships in the Late Archaic Southwest: Implications for Farmer-Forager Foodways

Sinensky

Farahani

2018

Am. Antiq.

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“…This means that they had fixed places in the landscape that they moved between and returned to annually or over the course of several years. They would be stationary at a given location for one or more seasons depending on factors like resource availability, other groups in the area, and cultural or ceremonial needs (McBrinn, 2010; Vierra, 2013). They needed to have long term risk management strategies in place to remain resilient in the face of changing climates that impacted those factors.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building resilient landscapes in a semi-arid watershed: Anthropogenic and natural burning histories in Late Holocene Tesuque Creek, northern New Mexico

2022

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As mega-fires have swept the North American West in recent decades, studies of past fire events have gained academic interest. Deep-time perspectives are necessary to better understand the periodicity of fire events and to identify basic drivers of frequent fire episodes through time, including potential anthropogenic fire use. Our study contributes to the growing field of archeological fire ecology in the Southwest with an examination of a high-resolution geobotanical dataset for Holocene fire regimes as indicated within sediments from an alluvial section from Tesuque Creek in northern New Mexico. Using phytolith, geochemical, and sedimentological data, we reconstruct indices for burn cycle seasonality and destabilization of riparian vegetation communities that suggest potential anthropogenic land use and possible patterns distinguishing human burning from lightning ignitions. Through this study, we consider the potential role of hunter-gatherer behavior in producing fire landscapes as part of their strategies for managing risks in the fragile environments of the Middle-Late Holocene in northern New Mexico. We suggest that combining geo and botanical datasets from alluvial sections with archeological evidence will allow researchers to fine-tune the resolution of local climate sequences and their environmental impacts on small landscape scales. When such small-scale studies can be aggregated, they may further contribute to testing models of regional patch-burning, either natural or anthropogenic. We further posit that human relationships with fire in the past should be considered as collaborative efforts with lightning-ignited burns, to manage the risks associated with both too much and too little fire in fragile dryland ecosystems.

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“…The Archaic Period landscape was populated by nomadic and semi-nomadic foragers who exploited a broad range of plants and animals. The Late Archaic marks the emergence of new technologies and subsistence patterns demonstrating complex land management strategies that are considered foundational in the development of agricultural societies throughout the region [ 36 , 40 – 42 ]. Vierra and Ford have suggested low level cultivation of wild plants and imported cultigens around cave sites [ 19 ].…”

Section: Study Area and Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palm springs on the Rio Grande: Insight into Archaic forager plant use from phytoliths recovered from a Late Holocene alluvial section in northern New Mexico

2021

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In this study we present new evidence from phytolith studies for the presence of Sabal sp. (likely minor), an allochthonous plant, around Tesuque Creek in northern New Mexico during the early part of the Late Holocene, in the vicinity of known Late Archaic hunter-gatherer communities using the area at that time. We analyzed phytoliths from sediments taken from an alluvial section on the east side of Tesuque Creek dating to c. 3600–2400 cal. BP. The phytoliths demonstrated a change over time from a succulent dominated landscape to a shrubby one, with the later introduction of high densities of palmetto phytoliths associated with marshy deposits and adjacent burn levels. This evidence suggests a more diverse resource landscape available to local hunter-gatherer groups than previously understood, and may have implications for the early management of microenvironments, plant communities. This evidence demonstrates the value of phytolith analysis from alluvial sections for understanding human land and plant use practices over time. Our study provides a new perspective on what resources and land use areas were available for Archaic peoples inhabiting the area, and how they may have experimented with managing lesser known types of wild plant resources before the establishment of the triad of crops from Mesoamerica. This opens up new avenues for understanding the landscapes, land use practices, and environmental impacts of pre-agricultural communities in the northern Rio Grande and in other semi-arid environments worldwide.

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Everything Old Is New Again: Recent Approaches to Research on the Archaic Period in the Western United States

Cited by 6 publications

References 97 publications

Diversity-Disturbance Relationships in the Late Archaic Southwest: Implications for Farmer-Forager Foodways

Diversity-Disturbance Relationships in the Late Archaic Southwest: Implications for Farmer-Forager Foodways

Building resilient landscapes in a semi-arid watershed: Anthropogenic and natural burning histories in Late Holocene Tesuque Creek, northern New Mexico

Palm springs on the Rio Grande: Insight into Archaic forager plant use from phytoliths recovered from a Late Holocene alluvial section in northern New Mexico

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