Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-01T05:00:01.745Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Patterns of Population Movement and Long-Term Population Growth in Southwestern Colorado

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Sarah H. Schlanger
Sarah H. Schlanger*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In spite of considerable fluctuations in the likelihood of agricultural success from place to place and from time to time, the southern Colorado Plateaus show a smooth increase in farming populations between A.D. 1 and 1150. At the local level, however, population curves in this region often register a pattern of short-lived occupations and abandonments that are tied to specific patterns of short-term and long-term climatic conditions. The prehistoric population record from the Dolores area, in the southwestern corner of Colorado, demonstrates how localized population adjustments to climatically sensitive environments can result in long-term population increases. Here, a 600-year history of population increase was maintained primarily through population movements between environmentally complementary places. When that strategy failed, due to a combination of adverse short-term and long-term climatic conditions, agricultural methods shifted from rainfall farming to intensified agriculture supported by water-control facilities.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , October 1988 , pp. 773 - 793
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References cited

Adams, E. C. 1979 Cold Air Drainage and Length of Growing Season in the Hopi Mesas Area. The Kim 44 : 285–296.Google Scholar
Ahlstrom, R. V. N. 1984 A Comparative Approach to the Interpretation of Tree-Ring Data. Paper presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Portland, Oregon. Google Scholar
Ammerman, A. J. 1981 Surveys and Archaeological Research. Annual Review of Anthropology 10 : 63–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barry, R. G., and Bradley, R. S. 1976 Historical Climatology. In Ecological Impacts of Snowpack Augmentation in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado : San Juan Ecology Project, Final Report, edited by Steinhoff, H. W. and Ives, J. D., pp. 43-67. Colorado State University Publications. Fort Collins.Google Scholar
Berry, M. S. 1982 Time, Space, and Tradition in Anasazi Prehistory. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Blinman, E. 1984 Dolores Archaeological Program Ceramic Dating : Justification and Procedures. Technical Reports DAP-144. Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Final report submitted to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Salt Lake City, Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562. Google Scholar
Blinman, E. 1985 Additive Technologies Group Final Report. Technical Reports DAP-200. Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Final report submitted to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Salt Lake City, Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562.Google Scholar
Bradfield, R. M. 1971 The Changing Pattern of Hopi Agriculture. Occasional Paper No. 30. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, London.Google Scholar
Breternitz, D. A., and Martin, D. W. 1973 Report of the Dolores River Project Archaeological Reconnaissance, 1972-1973. Ms. on file, Midwest Archeological Center, National Park Service, Lincoln, Nebraska.Google Scholar
Breternitz, D. A., Rohn, A. H. Jr., and Morris, E. A. (compilers) 1974 Prehistoric Ceramics of the Mesa Verde Region. Ceramic Series No. 5. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Burns, B. T. 1983 Simulated Anasazi Storage Behavior Using Crop Yields Reconstructed From Tree Rings : A. D. 652-1968. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Colson, E. 1979 In Good Years and Bad : Food Strategies of Self-reliant Societies. Journal of Anthropological Research 35 : 18–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cordell, L. S. 1984 Prehistory of the Southwest. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Dean, J. S., Euler, R. C., Gumerman, G. J., Plog, F., Hevly, R. H., and Karlstrom, T. N. V. 1985 Human Behavior, Demography, and Paleoenvironment on the Colorado Plateaus. American Antiquity 50 : 537–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drew, L. G. 1974 Tree-ring Chronologies of Western North America IV : Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Chronology Series No. 1. University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Tucson.Google Scholar
Euler, R. C. 1981 Demography and Cultural Dynamics on the Colorado Plateaus. Paper presented at the School of American Research Advanced Seminar, “Anasazi Cultural Developments and Paleoenvironmental Correlates,” Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Euler, R. C, Gumerman, G. J., Karlstrom, T. N. V., Dean, J. S., and Hevly, R. H. 1979 The Colorado Plateaus : Cultural Dynamics and Paleoenvironment. Science 205 : 1089–1101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fetterman, J. E., and Honeycutt, L. 1980 Cultural Resources Inventory, MAPCO Rocky Mountain Liquid Hydrocarbon Pipeline, Southwestern Colorado. Ms. on file, Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Google Scholar
Fetterman, J. E., and Honeycutt, L. 1982 Cultural Resource Inventory Shell C02 Laterals and Shell Oil Flowlines. Ms. on file, Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Google Scholar
Ford, R. I. 1972 An Ecological Perspective on the Eastern Pueblos. In New Perspectives on the Pueblos, edited by Ortiz, A., pp. 1-18. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Goulding, D. A., and Orcutt, J. D. 1984 Cultural Resources Survey of Dolores Project Central Impact Areas : Borrow Areas A, B, and E, Great Cut Dike and Pumping Plant, and McPhee Dam Site and the McPhee Dam Site Access Road Part II. Technical Reports DAP-116. Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Final report submitted to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Salt Lake City, Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562.Google Scholar
Hack, J. T. 1942 The Changing Physical Environment of the Hopi Indians of Arizona. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology 35(1). Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hallasi, J. A. 1979 Archaeological Excavation at the Escalante Site, Dolores, Colorado, 1975and 197'6. In The Archaeology and Stabilization of the Dominguez and Escalante Ruins, edited by Reed, A. D., Hallasi, J. A., White, A. S., and Breternitz, D. A., pp. 197-425. Cultural Research Series 7. Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office, Denver.Google Scholar
Hayes, A. C. 1964 The Archeological Survey of Wetherill Mesa, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. Archeological Research Series No. 7-A. National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Hill, J. N. 1970 Broken K Pueblo : Prehistoric Social Organization in the American Southwest. Anthropological Papers No. 18. University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Honeycutt, L. and Fetterman, J. E. 1982 Cultural Resources Inventory, Empire Electric Association 115 KV Transmission Line Project. Ms. on file, Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Google Scholar
Hough, W. 1915 The Hopi Indians. The Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.Google Scholar
Ives, G. A., and Errickson, M. 1983 Dove Creek Canal Reach-II, Fairview Pumping Plant, Cahone Pumping Plant, and a Portion of Dove Creek Canal Reach-I : Letter Report. Ms. on file, Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Google Scholar
Ives, G. A., and Orcutt, J. D. 1981 The Dove Creek Canal Reach-I Survey, 1981. Ms. on file, Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado.Google Scholar
Jorde, L. B. 1977 Precipitation Cycles and Cultural Buffering in the Prehistoric Southwest. In For Theory Building in Archaeology, edited by Binford, L. R., pp. 385-396. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kane, A. E. 1975a Archaeological Resources in the Great Cut Dike-Dove Creek Area. Dolores River Project : Report of the 1974 Season. Ms. on file, Midwest Archeological Center, National Park Service, Lincoln, Nebraska.Google Scholar
Kane, A. E. 1975b Archaeological Resources of the Dolores River Project : Report of the 1975 Field Season. Ms. on file, Interagency Archaeological Services, National Park Service, Denver.Google Scholar
Kane, A. E. 1977 Archaeological Resources of the Dolores River Project : Report on Field Operations, Fall 1976. Ms. on file, Bureau of Reclamation, Western Colorado Projects Office, Durango, Colorado.Google Scholar
Karlstrom, T. N. V., Gumerman, G. J., and Euler, R. C. 1976 Paleoenvironmental and Cultural Correlates in the Black Mesa Region. In Papers on the Archaeology of Black Mesa, Arizona, edited by Gumerman, G. J. and Euler, R. C., pp. 149-161. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Kohler, T. A., and Blinman, E. 1987 Solving Mixture Problems in Archaeology : Analysis of Ceramic Materials for Dating and Demographic Reconstruction. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 6 : 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipe, W. D. 1983 The Southwest. In Ancient North Americans, edited by Jennings, J. D., pp. 421-493. W. H. Freeman, New York.Google Scholar
Matson, R. G., and Lipe, W. D. 1978 Settlement Patterns on Cedar Mesa : Boom and Bust on the Northern Periphery. In Investigations of the Southwestern Anthropological Research Group : The Proceedings of the 1976 Conference, edited by Euler, R. C. and Gumerman, G. J., pp. 1-12. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Newberry, J. S. 1876 Geological Report. In Report of the Exploring Expedition from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Junction of the Grand and Green Rivers of the Great Colorado of the West, in 1859, Under the Command ofm Capt. J. N. Macomb, Corps of Topographical Engineers (now Corps of Engineers); with Geological Report by Prof. J. S. Newberry, Geologist of the Expedition, by Macomb, J. N., pp. 9-118. U. S. Army Engineer Department, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Orcutt, J. D., and Goulding, D. A. (compilers) 1984 Archaeological Survey of the McPhee Reservoir. Technical Reports DAP-117. Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Final report submitted to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Salt Lake City, Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562. Google Scholar
Palmer, W. C. 1965 Meteorological Drought. Research Paper No. 45. U. S. Weather Bureau, U. S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Petersen, K. L. 1984 Summer Warmth : A Critical Factor for the Dolores Anasazi, Southwestern Colorado. Technical Reports DAP-204. Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. First draft report submitted to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Salt Lake City, Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562. Google Scholar
Petersen, K. L. 1985a Summer Precipitation : An Important Factor at the Dolores Project, Southwestern Colorado. Technical Reports DAP-213. Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. First draft report submitted to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Salt Lake City, Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562. Google Scholar
Petersen, K. L. 1985b Environmental Constraints on Agriculture at Dolores. Paper presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Denver.Google Scholar
Petersen, K. L. 1985c Palynology in Montezuma County, Southwestern Colorado : The Local History of Pinyon Pine. In Late Quaternary Palynology of the American Southwest, edited by Jacobs, B., Davis, O., and Fall, P.. Contribution Series No. 16. American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists, Dallas, in press.Google Scholar
Petersen, K. L. 1988 Climate and the Dolores River Anasazi. Anthropological Papers 113. University of Utah, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Petersen, K. L., and Clay, V. L. 1984 Characteristics and Archaeological Implications of Cold Air Drainage in the Dolores Project Area, Southwestern Colorado. Technical Reports DAP-206. Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. First draft report submitted to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Salt Lake City, Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562. Google Scholar
Plog, F. 1974 The Study of Prehistoric Change. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Plog, F. 1975 Demographic Studies in Southwestern Prehistory. In Population Studies in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology : A Symposium, edited by Swedlund, A. C., pp. 94-102. SAA Memoirs No. 30. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Plog, S. 1986 Patterns of Demographic Growth and Decline. In Spatial Organization and Exchange : Archaeological Survey on Northern Black Mesa, edited by Plog, S., pp. 224-255. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Plog, S., and Hantman, J. L. 1986 Multiple Regression Analysis as a Dating Method in the American Southwest. In Spatial Organization and Exchange : Archaeological Survey on Northern Black Mesa, edited by Plog, S., pp. 87-113. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Plog, S., Plog, F., and Wait, W. 1978 Decision Making in Modern Surveys, la Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 1, edited by Schif Fer, M. B., pp. 384-412. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Rohn, A. H. 1977 Cultural Change and Continuity on Chapin Mesa. The Regents Press of Kansas, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Rose, M. R., Robinson, W. J., and Dean, J. S. 1982 Dendroclimatic Reconstruction for the Southeastern Colorado Plateau. Final report to the Dolores Archaeological Project. Ms. on file, Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado.Google Scholar
Schlanger, S. H. 1984 1982 Probabalistic Sampling Survey of Windy Ruin and Yellowjacket Crest Localities. Technical Reports DAP-159. Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Final report submitted to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Salt Lake City, Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562.Google Scholar
Schlanger, S. H. 1985 Prehistoric Population Dynamics in the Dolores Area, Southwestern Colorado. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman.Google Scholar
Schlanger, S. H., and Harden, P. L. 1983 1979 and 1980 Probability Survey of Cline Crest, Grass Mesa, Beaver Point, Trimble Point, and Hoppe Point Localities. Technical Reports DAP-118. Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Final report submitted to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Salt Lake City, Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562. Google Scholar
Scudder, T. 1971 Gathering Among African Woodland Savannah Cultivators. A Case Study : The Gwenbe Tonga. Manchester University Press, Manchester, England.Google Scholar
Shuster, R. A. 1981 Factors Affecting Productivity in Subsistence Agriculture. Unpublished M. A. thesis, Department of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Shuster, R. A. 1983 Preliminary Report Demonstration and Experimental Garden Studies 1979 and / 950. Technical Reports DAP-062. Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado. Final report submitted to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, Salt Lake City, Contract No. 8-07-40-S0562. Google Scholar
Slatter, E. D. 1979 Drought and Demographic Change in the Prehistoric Southwest United States : A Preliminary Quantitative Assessment. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Stevenson, M. C. 1904 The Zuni Indians, Their Mythology, Esoteric Fraternities, and Ceremonies. 23rd Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Titiev, M. 1944 Old Oraibi : A Study of the Hopi Indians of Third Mesa. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology No. 22. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Toll, H. W. III 1974 Archaeological Resources in the Dolores River Canyon Below the Proposed McPhee Reservoir, Montezuma, Dolores, and San Miguel Counties, Colorado. Report submitted to the State Director, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office. Ms. on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Toll, H. W. III 1977 Dolores River Archeology : Canyon Adaptations As Seen Through Survey. Cultural Resources Series No. 4. Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office, Denver.Google Scholar
Turner, C. G. II, and Lofgren, L. 1966 Household Size of Prehistoric Western Pueblo Indians. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 22(2) : 117-132. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service Google Scholar
Turner, C. G. II, and Lofgren, L. 1976 Land Use and Natural Plant Communities, Montezuma County, Colorado. Map M7-0-23444-43, 2 sheets. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Portland, Oregon. U. S. Department of Commerce, Environmental Data and Information serviceGoogle Scholar
Turner, C. G. II, and Lofgren, L. 1948-1960a Climatological Data, Annual Summary : Colorado. National Climatic Center, Asheville, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Turner, C. G. II, and Lofgren, L. 1948-1960b Climatological Data, Annual Summary : Utah. National Climatic Center, Asheville, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Walkenhorst, R., Goulding, D., Errickson, M., and Ives, G. 1983 Fairview Lateral : Letter Report. Ms. on file, Dolores Archaeological Program, Dolores, Colorado.Google Scholar
Wetterstrom, W. E. 1976 The Effects of Nutrition on Population Size at Pueblo Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Whiting, A. J. 1937 Hopi Indian Agriculture II. Museum Notes 10 : 11-16. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Whiting, A. J. 1939 Ethnobotany of the Hopi. Bulletin No. 15. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Winter, J. C. 1976 Hovenweep 1975. Archeological Report No. 2. San Jose State University, San Jose, California.Google Scholar
Winter, J. C. 1977 Hovenweep 1976. Archeological Report No. 3. San Jose State University, San Jose, California. Google Scholar