Matthew Liebmann

Multiscale perspectives of fire, climate and humans in Western North America and the Jemez Mountains, USA

Interannual climate variations have been important drivers of wildfire occurrence in ponderosa pine forests across western North America for at least 400 years, but at finer scales of mountain ranges and landscapes human land uses sometimes over-rode climate influences. We reconstruct and analyse effects of high human population densities in forests of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico from ca 1300 CE to Present. Prior to the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, human land uses reduced the occurrence of widespread fires while simultaneously adding more ignitions resulting in many small-extent fires. During the 18th and 19th centuries, wet/dry oscillations and their effects on fuels dynamics controlled widespread fire occurrence. In the late 19th century, intensive livestock grazing disrupted fuels continuity and fire spread and then active fire suppression maintained the absence of widespread surface fires during most of the 20th century. The abundance and continuity of fuels is the most important controlling variable in fire regimes of these semi-arid forests. Reduction of widespread fires owing to reduction of fuel continuity emerges as a hallmark of extensive human impacts on past forests and fire regimes. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.

Is poverty in our genes? A critique of Ashraf and Galor, "The 'out of Africa' hypothesis, human genetic diversity, and comparative economic development," American Economic Review (Forthcoming)

We present a critique of a paper written by two economists, Quamrul Ashraf and Oded Galor, which is forthcoming in the American Economic Review and which was uncritically highlighted in Science magazine. Their paper claims there is a causal effect of genetic diversity on economic success, positing that too much or too little genetic diversity constrains development. In particular, they argue that “the high degree of diversity among African populations and the low degree of diversity among Native American populations have been a detrimental force in the development of these regions.” We demonstrate that their argument is seriously flawed on both factual and methodological grounds. As economists and other social scientists begin exploring newly available genetic data, it is crucial to remember that nonexperts broadcasting bold claims on the basis of weak data and methods can have profoundly detrimental social and political effects.

Native American depopulation, reforestation, and fire regimes in the Southwest United States, 1492-1900 CE.

Significance Debates about the magnitude, tempo, and ecological effects of Native American depopulation after 1492 CE constitute some of the most contentious issues in American Indian history. Was population decline rapid and catastrophic, with effects extensive enough to change even the earth’s atmosphere? Or was depopulation more moderate, with indigenous numbers declining slowly after European colonization? Through a study of archaeology and dendrochronology, we conclude that neither of these scenarios accurately characterizes Pueblo peoples in the Southwest United States. Among the Jemez pueblos of New Mexico, depopulation struck swiftly and irrevocably, but occurred nearly a century after first contact with Europeans. This population crash subsequently altered the local environment, spurring the growth of trees and facilitating the spread of frequent forest fires. Native American populations declined between 1492 and 1900 CE, instigated by the European colonization of the Americas. However, the magnitude, tempo, and ecological effects of this depopulation remain the source of enduring debates. Recently, scholars have linked indigenous demographic decline, Neotropical reforestation, and shifting fire regimes to global changes in climate, atmosphere, and the Early Anthropocene hypothesis. In light of these studies, we assess these processes in conifer-dominated forests of the Southwest United States. We compare light detection and ranging data, archaeology, dendrochronology, and historical records from the Jemez Province of New Mexico to quantify population losses, establish dates of depopulation events, and determine the extent and timing of forest regrowth and fire regimes between 1492 and 1900. We present a new formula for the estimation of Pueblo population based on architectural remains and apply this formula to 18 archaeological sites in the Jemez Province. A dendrochronological study of remnant wood establishes dates of terminal occupation at these sites. By combining our results with historical records, we report a model of pre- and post-Columbian population dynamics in the Jemez Province. Our results indicate that the indigenous population of the Jemez Province declined by 87% following European colonization but that this reduction occurred nearly a century after initial contact. Depopulation also triggered an increase in the frequency of extensive surface fires between 1640 and 1900. Ultimately, this study illustrates the quality of integrated archaeological and paleoecological data needed to assess the links between Native American population decline and ecological change after European contact.

The Mickey Mouse kachina and other “Double Objects”: Hybridity in the material culture of colonial encounters:

Hybridity is a term used by anthropologists to characterize the amalgamation of influences from two (or more) different cultural groups. Hybridity has captivated archaeology in recent years, especially archaeologists investigating colonialism in Native American contexts. At the same time, a growing chorus of critics has begun to question anthropology’s devotion to hybridity and hybrid objects. These critics take issue with the term’s alleged Eurocentrism, implications of cultural purity, and evolutionary etymology. In this article, I address these critiques and advocate a more circumscribed use of hybridity in archaeology. I caution against the abandonment of the term entirely, because the archaeological identification of hybridity provides insights into both present-day (etic) and past (emic) perspectives on cultural amalgamation. Hybridity reveals the biases of contemporary researchers regarding the societies we study, as well as highlighting the ways in which power structures centered and marginalized colonial subjects in the past. To illustrate these points, I draw on case studies involving the Hopi Mickey Mouse kachina, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Indigenous-colonial whips from the American Plains and southeast Australia, and seventeenth-century Pueblo ceramics from the American Southwest.

The Archaeology of the Pueblo Revolt and the Formation of the Modern Pueblo World

Abstract The Pueblo Revolt and its aftermath (A.D. 1680–1696) was a crucial period in the history of the American Southwest. Previous studies of this era have focused primarily on the causes of the revolt, often casting it as an isolated and anomalous event. This article takes a different approach, investigating the effects of the revolt era on Pueblo cultures and communities in the years, decades, and centuries that followed the uprising of 1680. Recent archaeological research on ancestral Keres and Jemez villages in the northern Rio Grande reveals evidence for cultural revitalization and ethnogenesis in the wake of the revolt. The long-term implications of revolt-era diaspora and migration are also reviewed as well as the role of memory and oral traditions of this tumultuous period in the formation of modem Pueblo cultures and communities. Abstract La rebelión de los Pueblos γ sus consecuencias (1680–1696) fue un período crucial en la historia del sudoeste estadounidense. Los estudios anteriores de esta era se han centrado sobre todo en las causas de la rebelión, comúnmente exponiéndola como un acontecimiento aislado y anómalo. Este artículo toma un acercamiento diferente, investigando los efectos de la era de la rebelión en las culturas y comunidades Pueblos en los años, las décadas, y los siglos que siguieron la insurrección de 1680. La investigación arqueológica reciente sobre las aldeas ancestrales de Keres y de Jemez en el septentrional del Río Grande revela evidencia para la revitalización cultural y de etnogenésis en la traza de la rebelión. Las implicaciones de largo plazo de diáspora y de migración en la era de rebelión también son nuevamente analizadas, así como el rol que tuvo la memoria y las tradiciones orales de este período tumultuoso en la formación de las culturas y las comunidades modernas Pueblo.

FROM LANDSCAPES OF MEANING TO LANDSCAPES OF SIGNIFICATION IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

This article builds upon two convergent trends in landscape archaeology: (1) investigations of symbolic meaning and (2) collaboration with descendant and stakeholder communities. The recent merger of these research agendas in the Southwest US provides an innovative approach to addressing meaning in the past. But the interpretations that result can inadvertently propagate notions of static and unchanging indigenous landscapes. Archaeologists can develop more dynamic studies of meaning and landscape by paying greater attention to the indexical properties of the archaeological record. To illustrate this point, I present a case study focused on ancestral Jemez (Pueblo) meanings associated with the Valles Caldera in northern New Mexico between AD 1300 and 1700. By combining contemporary Jemez understandings of this landscape with the indexical properties of obsidian revealed through pXRF analysis, this study illustrates how the uses of this landscape changed through time, particularly as a result of European colonization in the seventeenth century. It concludes that increased attention to the indexical properties of the archaeological record is critical for archaeological studies of meaning to reconstruct more robust and dynamic past landscapes. Este artículo se basa en dos tendencias convergentes en la arqueología del paisaje: (1) la investigación de los significados simbólicos; y (2) la colaboración con las comunidades de descendientes y partes interesadas. La reciente fusión de estas agendas de investigación en el suroeste de los Estados Unidos ofrece un enfoque innovador para abordar el estudio del significado en el pasado. Sin embargo, las interpretaciones que resultan pueden propagar involuntariamente unas nociones de los paisajes indígenas como estáticos e inmutables. Se pueden desarrollar estudios más dinámicos sobre significado y paisaje si se presta mayor atención a las propiedades indiciales del registro arqueológico. Para ilustrar este punto, se presenta un estudio de caso centrado en los significados ancestrales de Jemez (Pueblo) asociados con la cuenca de Valles Caldera en el norte de Nuevo México entre los años 1300 y 1700 d.C. Al combinar las interpretaciones contemporáneas de este paisaje de Jemez con las propiedades indiciales de la obsidiana reveladas a través del análisis de fluorescencia por rayos X portátil (pXRF), este estudio ilustra cómo los usos de este paisaje cambiaron a través del tiempo, particularmente como resultado de la colonización europea en el siglo XVII. Se concluye que una mayor atención a las propiedades indiciales del registro arqueológico es fundamental para los estudios arqueológicos centrados en el significado para reconstruir paisajes pasados más robustos y dinámicos.

Demystifying the Big Horn Medicine Wheel: A contextual analysis of meaning, symbolism, and function

Abstract The Big Horn Medicine Wheel in northern Tfj;oming has been the subject of anthropological curiosity for more than a century. Yet despite this long history of investigation, relatively little is known about the uses and meanings embedded in this stone configuration in the past. Previous studies have tended to focus exclusively on the original purpose and function of this structure, resulting in essentializing and unsatisfactory hypotheses regarding its construction. In an attempt to rectify this situation, this study utilizes a contextual approach to examine the multiple meanings and symbolic aspects of the Big Horn Medicine Wheel previously ignored in purely functional analyses. Specifically, this study focuses on two features of this famous monument: 1) the placement of this medicine wheel within the surrounding landscape and geology of Medicine Mountain; and 2) the numerical symbolism and meanings embedded in the structure itself The results of this analysis suggest that the Big Horn Medicine Wheel is affiliated with the regeneration of game and notions of new life for indigenous Plains peoples, and was likely used in association with precontact and historic period vision quests.