Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nmvwc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-22T05:15:54.029Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Great Basin Prehistory and Uto-Aztecan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Nicholas A. Hopkins
Nicholas A. Hopkins*
Affiliation:
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Studies of the Great Basin show that the Desert cultures of 8000 B.C. closely resemble the historic cultures of that area, but linguistic evidence indicates that the ancestors of the historic inhabitants moved into the Great Basin as late as 1000 years ago. The linguistic affiliation of the prehistoric cultures thus cannot be directly inferred. Taylor has proposed that Hokaltecans settled in the Great Basin at an early age and were only recently replaced by Uto-Aztecans who moved in from the northeast—an offshoot from a major Uto-Aztecan movement down the western flanks of the Rocky Mountains. This hypothesis does not satisfactorily account for the distribution of the major subdivisions of Uto-Aztecan and directly contradicts the implications of the distribution of Numic (Plateau Shoshonean) languages. An alternate hypothesis is proposed, namely, that Uto-Aztecans moved southward from the northern Great Basin as the Altithermal began; that they moved in two major branches which skirted the Great Basin, one along the Rocky Mountains, the other along the Sierras; and that, as the Medithermal set in, the Numic branch (northernmost Sierran branch) began to move back into the Great Basin proper, this movement being retarded until about 1000 years ago by the presence of horticulturists. This hypothesis is supported by correlations between lexico-statistical dating of the separation of Uto-Aztecan languages and the dates of climatic periods, and by the distributions of the major Uto-Aztecan branches. Identification of these branches follows recent linguistic studies by Voegelin and Hale. Previous classifications of Uto-Aztecan languages, theories concerning the location of the ancestral Uto-Aztecan community, and the implications of these for the present hypothesis are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , July 1965 , pp. 48 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1965

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

Arana Osnaya, Evanqelina 1953 Reconstrucción del protototonaco. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos, Vol. 13, pp. 1–10. Mexico.Google Scholar
Brinton, Daniel G. 1891 The American Race: A Linguistic Classification and Ethnographic Description of the Native Tribes of North and South America. N. D. C. Hodges, New York.Google Scholar
Bryan, Alan Lyle and Gruhn, Ruth 1964 Problems Relating to the Neothermal Climatic Sequence. American Antiquty, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 307–15. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Buschmann, J. C. 1859 Die Spuren der aztekischen Sprache im nörd-lichen Mexico und höheren americanischen Norden. Zugleich eine Musterung der Völker und Sprachen des nördlichen Mexico’s und der Westseite Nordamerica’s von Guadalaxara an bis zum Eismeer. Berlin.Google Scholar
Cressman, L. S. 1956 Klamath Prehistory. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 46, Pt. 4. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Dyen, Isidore 1956 Language Distribution and Migration Theory. Language, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 611–26. Baltimore.Google Scholar
Eggan, Fred 1950 The Social Organization of the Western Pueblos. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Euler, Robert C. 1964 Southern Paiute Archaeology. American Antiquity, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 379–81. Salt Lake City.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunnerson, James H. 1962 Plateau Shoshonean Prehistory: A Suggested Reconstruction. American Antiquity, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 41–5. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hale, Kenneth 1958 Internal Diversity in Uto-Aztecan. International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 104–07. Baltimore.Google Scholar
Hale, Kenneth 1959 Internal Diversity in Uto-Aztecan: II. International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 114–21. Baltimore.Google Scholar
Hale, Kenneth 1964 The Sub-grouping of Uto-Aztecan Languages: Lexical Evidence for Sonoran. XXXV Congreso International de Americanistas, Actas y Memories, 2, pp. 511–18, Mexico.Google Scholar
Harrington, J. P. 1910 On Phonetic and Lexical Resemblances between Kiowa and Tanoan. American Anthropologist, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 119–23. Menasha.Google Scholar
Harris, Jack S. 1938 Western Shoshoni. American Anthropologist, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 407–10. Menasha.Google Scholar
Harris, Jack S. 1940 The White Knife Shoshoni of Nevada. In Acculturation in Seven American Indian Tribes, edited by Ralph Linton, pp. 39–118. Appleton-Century, New York.Google Scholar
Haury, Emil W. 1962 The Greater American Southwest. In “Courses Toward Urban Life,” edited by Robert J. Braid-wood and Gordon R. Willey, pp. 106–31. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology, No. 32. New York.Google Scholar
Hoijer, Harry 1956 The Chronology of the Athapascan Languages. International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 219–32. Baltimore.Google Scholar
Hymes, D. H. 1960 Lexicostatistics So Far. Current Anthropology, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 3–44. Chicago.Google Scholar
Hymes, Virginia Dosch 1955 Athapascan Numeral Systems. International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 26–45. Baltimore.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jennings, J. D. 1957 Danger Cave. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, No. 14. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Jennings, J. D. and Norbeck, Edward 1955 Great Basin Prehistory: A Review. American Antiquity, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 1–11. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Jett, Stephen C. 1964 Pueblo Indian Migrations: An Evaluation of the Possible Physical and Cultural Determinants. American Antiquity, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 281–306. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Kroeber, A. L. 1907 Shoshonean Dialects of California. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 4, No. 3. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Kroeber, A. L. 1934 Uto-Aztecan Languages of Mexico. Ibero-americana: 8. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Kroeber, A. L. 1939 Cultural and Natural Areas of Native North America. University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Lamb, Sydney M. 1958 Linguistic Prehistory in the Great Basin. International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 95–100. Baltimore.Google Scholar
McQuown, Norman A. 1942 Una posible síntesis lingüística Macro-Mayance. In Mayas y Olmecas, Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología: Reunión sobre Problemas Antropológicos de México y Centro América, Vol. 2, pp. 37–8. Mexico.Google Scholar
Mason, J. Alden 1962 The Native Languages of Middle America. In The Maya and Their Neighbors, edited by C. L. Hay and others, pp. 52–87. University of Utah, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Miller, Wick R. 1959 A Note on Kiowa Linguistic Affiliations. American Anthropologist, Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 102–05. Menasha.Google Scholar
Morss, Noel 1931 The Ancient Culture of the Fremont River in Utah. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Vol. 12, No. 3. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Powell, J. W. 1891 Indian Linguistic Families of America North of Mexico. Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 1–142. Washington.Google Scholar
Romney, A. Kimball 1957 The Genetic Model and Uto-Aztecan Time Perspective. Davidson Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 35–41. Seattle.Google Scholar
Sapir, Edward 1929 Central and North American Languages. Encyclopedia Britannica (14th edition), Vol. 5, pp. 138–41. New York.Google Scholar
Steward, J. H. 1937 Linguistic Distribution and Political Groups of Great Basin Shoshoneans. American Anthropologist, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 625–34. Menasha.Google Scholar
Steward, J. H. 1955 Theory of Culture Change. University of Illinois, Urbana.Google Scholar
Stewart, Omer C. 1941 Culture Element Distributions: XIV Northern Paiute. University of California Anthropological Records, Vol. 4, No. 3. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Swadesh, Morris 1954 Time Depths of American Linguistic Groupings. American Anthropologist, Vol. 56, No. 3, pp. 361–77. Menasha.Google Scholar
Swadesh, Morris 1954–55 Algunas fechas glotocronológicas importantes para la prehistoria nahua. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos, Vol. 14, pp. 173–92. Mexico.Google Scholar
Swadesh, Morris 1956 Problems of Long-range Comparison in Penutian. Language, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 17–41. Baltimore.Google Scholar
Swadesh, Morris 1959 Indian Linguistic Groups in Mexico. Escuela Nacional de Antrgpología e Historia, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Mexico.Google Scholar
Swadesh, Morris 1960 Estudios sobre Lengua y Cultura. Acta Antropológica, segunda época, Vol. 2, No. 2. Mexico.Google Scholar
Taylor, Walter W. 1961 Archaeology and Language in Western North America. American Antiquity, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 71–81. Salt Lake City.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voegelin, C. F., Voegelin, F. M., and Hale, Kenneth 1962 Typological and Comparative Grammar of Uto-Aztecan: I (Phonology). Indiana University Publications in Anthropology and Linguistics; Memoir 17 of the International Journal of American Linguistics. Baltimore.Google Scholar
Whorf, B. L. 1935a Review of “Uto-Aztecan Languages of Mexico,” by A. L. Kroeber. American Anthropologist, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 343–5. Menasha.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whorf, B. L. 1935b The Comparative Linguistics of Uto-Aztecan. American Anthropologist, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 600–08. Menasha.Google Scholar
Whorf, B. L. 1936 Appendix to “The Classification of the Sonoran Languages,” by J. Alden Mason. In Essays in Anthropology Presented to A. L. Kroeber in Celebration of His Sixtieth Birthday, edited by Robert H. Lowie, pp. 197–8. University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Whorf, B. L. and Trager, G. L. 1937 The Relationship of Uto-Aztecan and Tanoan. American Anthropologist, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 609–24. Menasha.Google Scholar
Wormington, H. M. and Lister, Robert H. 1956 Archaeological Investigations on the Uncompahgre Plateau in West Central Colorado. Denver Museum of Natural History, Proceedings, No. 2, pp. 1–129. Denver.Google Scholar