Peter M. Whiteley

Early procurement of scarlet macaws and the emergence of social complexity in Chaco Canyon, NM

Significance New accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) 14C dates of scarlet macaw (Ara macao) skeletons from Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico reveal the earliest (A.D. 900–975) direct evidence for procurement of this Neotropical species by Pueblo people from Mesoamerica. By directly dating the macaws, we demonstrate the existence of long-distance acquisition networks throughout much (A.D. 900–1150) of Chaco’s history. In contrast to models of societal evolution that attribute procurement of macaws to the 11th-century peak of Chacoan influence and architectural expansion, most 14C dates significantly predate this period. We propose that access to and control of these important status markers from Mesoamerica before A.D. 1040 was thus linked to the early formalization of social hierarchy in Chaco. High-precision accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) 14C dates of scarlet macaw (Ara macao) skeletal remains provide the first direct evidence from Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico that these Neotropical birds were procured from Mesoamerica by Pueblo people as early as ∼A.D. 900–975. Chaco was a prominent prehistoric Pueblo center with a dense concentration of multistoried great houses constructed from the 9th through early 12th centuries. At the best known great house of Pueblo Bonito, unusual burial crypts and significant quantities of exotic and symbolically important materials, including scarlet macaws, turquoise, marine shell, and cacao, suggest societal complexity unprecedented elsewhere in the Puebloan world. Scarlet macaws are known markers of social and political status among the Pueblos. New AMS 14C-dated scarlet macaw remains from Pueblo Bonito demonstrate that these birds were acquired persistently from Mesoamerica between A.D. 900 and 1150. Most of the macaws date before the hypothesized apogeal Chacoan period (A.D. 1040–1110) to which they are commonly attributed. The 10th century acquisition of these birds is consistent with the hypothesis that more formalized status hierarchies developed with significant connections to Mesoamerica before the post-A.D. 1040 architectural florescence in Chaco Canyon.

Archaeogenomic evidence reveals prehistoric matrilineal dynasty

For societies with writing systems, hereditary leadership is documented as one of the hallmarks of early political complexity and governance. In contrast, it is unknown whether hereditary succession played a role in the early formation of prehistoric complex societies that lacked writing. Here we use an archaeogenomic approach to identify an elite matriline that persisted between 800 and 1130 CE in Chaco Canyon, the centre of an expansive prehistoric complex society in the Southwestern United States. We show that nine individuals buried in an elite crypt at Pueblo Bonito, the largest structure in the canyon, have identical mitochondrial genomes. Analyses of nuclear genome data from six samples with the highest DNA preservation demonstrate mother–daughter and grandmother–grandson relationships, evidence for a multigenerational matrilineal descent group. Together, these results demonstrate the persistence of an elite matriline in Chaco for ∼330 years.

Historical linguistics as a sequence optimization problem: the evolution and biogeography of Uto-Aztecan languages

Language origins and diversification are vital for mapping human history. Traditionally, the reconstruction of language trees has been based on cognate forms among related languages, with ancestral protolanguages inferred by individual investigators. Disagreement among competing authorities is typically extensive, without empirical grounds for resolving alternative hypotheses. Here, we apply analytical methods derived from DNA sequence optimization algorithms to Uto‐Aztecan languages, treating words as sequences of sounds. Our analysis yields novel relationships and suggests a resolution to current conflicts about the Proto‐Uto‐Aztecan homeland. The techniques used for Uto‐Aztecan are applicable to written and unwritten languages, and should enable more empirically robust hypotheses of language relationships, language histories, and linguistic evolution.

Mapping the Hopi Landscape for Cultural Preservation

For the Hopi people, named places on the landscape localize, commemorate, and transmit traditional knowledge within a spatial context used to reference and explain Hopi history and culture—geographic information the Hopi Tribe seeks to preserve. This paper discusses the Hopi Cultural Preservation Offices use of geospatial technologies during recent collaborative efforts to document important places and associated cultural information. It considers how GIS and other geospatial technologies have been used to produce maps and digital imagery in a manner guided by traditional landscape perspectives and native epistemologies. Mapping Hopi lands provides many benefits, foremost being the preservation of place-related knowledge for future generations of Hopis. Geospatial technologies also facilitate Hopi efforts of heritage management by providing a medium that effectively demonstrates use of traditional landscapes to non-Hopi audiences.

Archaeogenomic evidence from the southwestern US points to a pre-Hispanic scarlet macaw breeding colony

Significance Archaeogenomic analysis of scarlet macaw bones demonstrates that the genetic diversity of these birds acquired by people in the southwestern United States (SW) between 900 and 1200 CE was exceedingly low. Only one mitochondrial DNA haplogroup (Haplo6) is present of the five historically known haplogroups in the lowland forests of Mexico and Central America. Phylogenetic analyses indicate the ancient macaw lineage in the SW shared genetic affinities with this wild lineage. These data support the hypothesis that a translocated breeding colony of scarlet macaws belonging to only one haplogroup existed some distance north of their endemic range, and SW peoples continuously acquired these birds from this unknown location for nearly 3 centuries, as no evidence currently exists for macaw breeding in SW. Hundreds of scarlet macaw (Ara macao cyanoptera) skeletons have been recovered from archaeological contexts in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico (SW/NW). The location of these skeletons, >1,000 km outside their Neotropical endemic range, has suggested a far-reaching pre-Hispanic acquisition network. Clear evidence for scarlet macaw breeding within this network is only known from the settlement of Paquimé in NW dating between 1250 and 1450 CE. Although some scholars have speculated on the probable existence of earlier breeding centers in the SW/NW region, there has been no supporting evidence. In this study, we performed an ancient DNA analysis of scarlet macaws recovered from archaeological sites in Chaco Canyon and the contemporaneous Mimbres area of New Mexico. All samples were directly radiocarbon dated between 900 and 1200 CE. We reconstructed complete or near-complete mitochondrial genome sequences of 14 scarlet macaws from five different sites. We observed remarkably low genetic diversity in this sample, consistent with breeding of a small founder population translocated outside their natural range. Phylogeographic comparisons of our ancient DNA mitogenomes with mitochondrial sequences from macaws collected during the last 200 years from their endemic Neotropical range identified genetic affinity between the ancient macaws and a single rare haplogroup (Haplo6) observed only among wild macaws in Mexico and northern Guatemala. Our results suggest that people at an undiscovered pre-Hispanic settlement dating between 900 and 1200 CE managed a macaw breeding colony outside their endemic range and distributed these symbolically important birds through the SW.

Revising the Bantu tree

Phylogenetic methods offer a promising advance for the historical study of language and cultural relationships. Applications to date, however, have been hampered by traditional approaches dependent on unfalsifiable authority statements: in this regard, historical linguistics remains in a similar position to evolutionary biology prior to the cladistic revolution. Influential phylogenetic studies of Bantu languages over the last two decades, which provide the foundation for multiple analyses of Bantu sociocultural histories, are a major case in point. Comparative analyses of basic lexica, instead of directly treating written words, use only numerical symbols that express non‐replicable authority opinion about underlying relationships. Building on a previous study of Uto‐Aztecan, here we analyse Bantu language relationships with methods deriving from DNA sequence optimization algorithms, treating basic vocabulary as sequences of sounds. This yields finer‐grained results that indicate major revisions to the Bantu tree, and enables more robust inferences about the history of Bantu language expansion and/or migration throughout sub‐Saharan Africa. “Early‐split” versus “late‐split” hypotheses for East and West Bantu are tested, and overall results are compared to trees based on numerical reductions of vocabulary data. Reconstruction of language histories is more empirically based and robust than with previous methods.

Francisco Garcés's 1775–1776 Diary and the Napac: A Further Inquiry

This paper is a sequel to “Who Were the Napac?” (Whiteley, Peter M. 2011 Who Were the Napac? Decoding an Ethnohistorical Enigma. Kiva (77:59–86), which demonstrated how the term “Napac,” in the 1775–1776 diary of Francisco Garcés, has been misinterpreted as “Navajo.” “Napac” rather was shown to be a Havasupai reference to the San Francisco Peaks and to a Yavapai band seasonally resident there. The present paper examines additional manuscript copies of Garcéss diary, both to test that earlier inference, and to better understand variations among different versions of the diary. Concentrating on watermarks and on a phylogenetic analysis of textual forms, the argument highlights two previously unexamined manuscript copies (at The University of Arizona Special Collections and the Huntington Library). A new interpretation of the history of Garcéss diary includes further comparison to nine additional manuscript copies in European and Mexican archives.