R. G. Matson

Basketmaker II Subsistence: Carbon Isotopes and Other Dietary Indicators from Cedar

Four separate lines of evidence show that the Cedar Mesa Basketmaker II were dependent on maize horticulture: the settlement pattern of the mesa-top Basketmaker II; stable carbon-isotope analysis of Basketmaker and other skeletal remains from the Cedar Mesa area; and two different analyses of coprolites and midden constituents from the Turkey Pen Cave site (a Basketmaker II site in Grand Gulch, which drains parts of Cedar Mesa). All of these analyses concur with a dependence on maize horticulture for the Cedar Mesa Basketmaker II, a dependence not differing significantly from later Pueblo inhabitants of Cedar Mesa and elsewhere. Whether other Basketmaker II variants were as reliant on maize is uncertain, but there are good indications that at least some, and probably all, were. By 2,000 years ago the Basketmaker II peoples on Cedar Mesa were not modified hunters and gatherers, but relied on maize.

Adaptational Continuities and Occupational Discontinuities: The Cedar Mesa Anasazi

Abstract Survey of the Cedar Mesa areaSE Utah, has documented three main periods of Anasazi (ancestral Pueblo Indian) occupation: A. c. 200–400 (Basketmaker II); 650–725 (late Basketmaker III); and 1060–1270 (Pueblo II–III). These are separated by intervals of little or no occupation. Despite marked changes in material culture and architecture generally characteristic of the Anasazi sequence, the three Cedar Mesa occupations display similar patterns of settlement and population density (estimated at 0.75 to 1.5 persons/sq km). The basic adaptation throughout is inferred to have been low-intensity farming, with frequent movement of small, dispersed settlements having low investment in fixed facilities. Departures from this basic pattern are described and evaluated, as are processes possibly responsible for the episodic nature of occupation. These include responses to climatic change and the cumulative effects of shifting cultivation.

Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Evidence on Basketmaker II Diet at Cedar Mesa, Utah

ABSTRACTSince the early 1900s various estimates have been made about Anasazi diet, particularly regarding their use of maize. Stable-carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis on the bone gelatin from ten humans recovered from sites in the Cedar Mesa area of Utah (carbon isotope results for eight of them were reported in Matson and Chisholm 1991) indicates that both the Basketmaker II and Pueblo people in that area relied heavily on C4 plants, or C4- eating herbivores, in their diets. About 79 percent, or more, of their protein was obtained from these sources, indicating that maize was extremely important in their diet. The Pueblo diet appears to have been approximately 5 percent higher in C4 food intake than the Basketmaker II diet. The single Archaic period individual presents a different pattern in both nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios.

Anomalous Basketmaker Ii Sites On Cedar Mesa: Not So Anomalous After All

ABSTRACTIn 1991 I investigated a series of Basketmaker II (BM II) sites on Cedar Mesa that had been located, mapped, collected, and classified during the Cedar Mesa Project of the 1970s, but were situated in unusual places, or in environmental locations that were similar to those in which late Archaic sites were reported elsewhere. Limited excavation showed that four sites were good BM II habitation sites, complete with pit houses, albeit in unique settings. Others, interpreted as BM II “campsites” during the Cedar Mesa Project, were found to be associated with diagnostic BM II sandstone slab-lined cists, and to date to BM II times, confirming their initial identification. One habitation site appears to be the earliest known Anasazi defensive “cliff dwelling.” Most of these sites appear to date to the widespread, mesa-top BM II Grand Gulch phase, although several, including one pit house, may date to the earlier rockshelter White Dog Cave phase.

WHAT IS BASKETMAKER II

Abstract The Basketmaker II culture is well known as a stage in the Pecos synthesis, but now it is understood to consist of a number of different cultural units, at least two different ethnicities, and to extend to a minimum of 900 years in different geographical areas. The term is also used in very different ways, resulting in confusion. The original stage definition is revisited, and the best known variants (White Dog, Lolomai, Grand Gulch, Durango, and Los Pinos) are reviewed. Recent usage of “Basketmaker II” is surveyed and the reasons for the different uses are suggested, as well as possible solutions to the current situation. Abstract Se considera la cultura de Basketmaker II una etapa en la síntesis de Pecos, pero ahora se entiende que Basketmaker II consta de varias unidades culturales diversas, por lo menos dos diferentes pertenencias étnicas, y que extiende a un mínimo de 900 años en distintas áreas geográficas. El término también se utiliza en maneras muy diferentes, dando por resultado confusión. En este trabajo se visita de nuevo la definición original de la etapa, y se repasan las variantes más comunes (White Dog, Lolomai, Grand Gulch, Durango, and Los Pinos). Se examina el uso reciente del término Basketmaker II, y se sugieren las razones de las diversas aplicaciones y también las soluciones posibles a la terminología actual.

Cultural and Genetic Contexts for Early Turkey Domestication in the Northern Southwest

Abstract The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) was independently domesticated in Mesoamerica and the Southwest, the latter as the only case of Native American animal domestication north of Mexico. In the upland (non-desert) portion of the American Southwest, distinctive closely related mtDNA lineages belonging to haplogroup H1 (thought to indicate domestication) occur from ca. 1 A.D. (Basketmaker II period) through early historic times. At many sites, low frequencies of lineages belonging to haplogroup H2 also occur, apparently derived from the local Merriam’s subspecies. We report genetic, stable isotope, and coprolite data from turkey remains recovered at three early sites in SE Utah and SW Colorado dating to the Basketmaker II, III, and early Pueblo II periods. Evidence from these and other early sites indicates that both the H1 and H2 turkeys had a predominantly maize-based diet similar to that of humans; prior to late Pueblo II times, the birds were kept primarily to provide feathers for blankets and ritual uses; and ritualized burials indicate turkeys’ symbolic value. We argue that viewing individuals from the H1 and H2 haplogroups as “domestic” versus “wild” is an oversimplification.

The Scars that Never Heal: Identifying Projectile Point Manufacturing Techniques from Flake Scars: A Case from Cedar Mesa, Utah

Abstract Geib has recently argued that there are major differences between the ways that Archaic and Basketmaker II (BM II) peoples made projectile points, namely that BM II peoples used indirect punches and wide compound pressure flakers to produce very thin, broad bifaces. We build on this analysis by measuring six attributes related to flake scar morphology on samples of Archaic and BM II bifaces from Cedar Mesa, Utah. The differences between the two groups for each variable are strongly statistically significant. Metric multidimensional scaling of these attributes reveals clear differences between Archaic and BM II bifaces based on flake scars and also allows us to detect previously misclassified artifacts. We suggest that the BM II tradition of making bifaces and points with indirect punches and compound flakers is an example of enculturated style.