Reduced Population Variance in Strontium Isotope Ratios Informs Domesticated Turkey Use at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA

Grimstead, Deanna N.; Reynolds, Amanda C.; Hudson, Adam M.; Akins, Nancy; Betancourt, Julio L.

doi:10.1007/s10816-014-9228-5

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…The narrow range suggests that small mammals were collected from a single source region, rather than hunted from a variety of resource patches located throughout the San Juan Basin, as we see in deer. The same narrow range is also observed in domesticated turkey archaeofaunal remains from Chaco Canyon (Grimstead et al, 2014).…”

Section: Modern Faunasupporting

confidence: 73%

Isotopic Evidence for Long‐Distance Mammal Procurement, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA

2016

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Previous research on the prehistoric communities of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico (ca. A.D. 800–1250) provides evidence of an extensive procurement system of nonlocal food and economic goods. In this paper, we use oxygen and strontium isotope analyses to establish whether animal protein followed a similar pattern. We contextualized our isotopic analyses of the archaeofaunas from recent excavations at Pueblo Bonito with data on modern faunas across an area of approximately 100,000 km2 around the site. Our results show that most archaeological deer, rabbits, and prairie dogs were obtained from >40 km away from Pueblo Bonito with the latter two likely being garden hunted. The Chuska Mountains west of Chaco Canyon and more distant San Juan Mountains to the north were the main source areas. These results closely align with previous results on architectural wood, corn, and other key resources. The importation of small game animals suggests that the local supplies could not meet the needs of the community. Long‐distance meat procurement may have been embedded within a more complex network of ritual‐goods exchange or tribute that helped to offset the transport costs. Resource depletion may have contributed to the eventual abandonment of the region during the Medieval Warm Period.

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Section: Modern Faunasupporting

confidence: 73%

Isotopic Evidence for Long‐Distance Mammal Procurement, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA

2016

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“…Previously, the Zuni area had been identified as a logical procurement area for timber (11) and other resources (29,30). Our study is the first to our knowledge to source great-house timbers to the Zuni Mountains.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Eleventh-century shift in timber procurement areas for the great houses of Chaco Canyon

Guiterman

Swetnam

Dean

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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An enduring mystery from the great houses of Chaco Canyon is the origin of more than 240,000 construction timbers. We evaluate probable timber procurement areas for seven great houses by applying tree-ring width-based sourcing to a set of 170 timbers. To our knowledge, this is the first use of tree rings to assess timber origins in the southwestern United States. We found that the Chuska and Zuni Mountains (>75 km distant) were the most likely sources, accounting for 70% of timbers. Most notably, procurement areas changed through time. Before 1020 Common Era (CE) nearly all timbers originated from the Zunis (a previously unrecognized source), but by 1060 CE the Chuskas eclipsed the Zuni area in total wood imports. This shift occurred at the onset of Chaco florescence in the 11th century, a time with substantial expansion of existing great houses and the addition of seven new great houses in the Chaco Core area. It also coincides with the proliferation of Chuskan stone tools and pottery in the archaeological record of Chaco Canyon, further underscoring the link between land use and occupation in the Chuska area and the peak of great house construction. Our findings, based on the most temporally specific and replicated evidence of Chacoan resource procurement obtained to date, corroborate the long-standing but recently challenged interpretation that large numbers of timbers were harvested and transported from distant mountain ranges to build the great houses at Chaco Canyon.

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“…87 Sr/ 86 Sr values for small mammals from Pueblo Bonito(Grimstead et al 2014). We believe that while there are overlaps in 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values across Chaco Canyon and the larger San Juan Basin region, there are also some distinctive differences that are useful for isotopic proveniencing. Moreover, the application of multi-isotope analyses using oxygen and lead supplements the potential limitations of the more homogeneous strontium isotope ratios.Average  18 O for modern precipitation measured at field stations throughout the northern Southwest show significant correlation with elevation (n=12, r = -0.621, p<.05).…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

“…A variety of food, goods, and other resources were transported substantial distances to the Great Houses in Chaco Canyon beginning as early as the late 9 th century, including some corn (Benson et al 2008;Benson et al 2003;Cordell et al 2001;Cordell et al 2008), venison (Benson et al 2003;Grimstead et al 2014;Watson 2012), pottery (Mills et al 1997;Shepard 1939;Toll and McKenna 1997), lithic raw materials (Cameron 2001;Mathien 1997), ornaments and minerals such as marine shells, turquoise, and copper (Mathien 1997;Thibodeau et al 2013;Vargas 1995), macaws and construction timber (Betancourt et al 1986;English et al 2001;Guiterman et al 2016;Reynolds et al 2005). Several of these studies are discussed in more detail in the Supplementary Material.…”

Section: Archaeological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Great House origins and population stability at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico: The isotopic evidence

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LeBlanc

et al. 2017

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Reduced Population Variance in Strontium Isotope Ratios Informs Domesticated Turkey Use at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA

Cited by 15 publications

References 59 publications

Isotopic Evidence for Long‐Distance Mammal Procurement, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA

Isotopic Evidence for Long‐Distance Mammal Procurement, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA

Eleventh-century shift in timber procurement areas for the great houses of Chaco Canyon

Great House origins and population stability at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico: The isotopic evidence

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