William D. Lipe

A Conservation Model for American Archaeology

ABSTRACTArchaeological research on any particular segment of the past is based on a non-renewable resource, and one that is being very rapidly eroded. If archaeological field work is to continue very much into the future, we must slow down the attrition of the resource base and must see that from now on it is expended very frugally. Some implications of conservation thinking in archaeology are explored. Foremost are direct conservation measures, such as public education, involvement of archaeologists in land use planning, and establishment of archaeological preserves. These require archaeologists to become involved in all aspects of archaeological resource management, not just in the exploitive aspect. Emergency salvage archaeology should be carried out only as a last resort, and should combine a strong problem orientation with additional work designed to preserve a representative sample of the data to be lost when the site or sites are destroyed. Sites not immediately threatened with destruction should b...

Ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals complexity of indigenous North American turkey domestication.

Although the cultural and nutritive importance of the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) to precontact Native Americans and contemporary people worldwide is clear, little is known about the domestication of this bird compared to other domesticates. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of 149 turkey bones and 29 coprolites from 38 archaeological sites (200 BC–AD 1800) reveals a unique domesticated breed in the precontact Southwestern United States. Phylogeographic analyses indicate that this domestic breed originated from outside the region, but rules out the South Mexican domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo) as a progenitor. A strong genetic bottleneck within the Southwest turkeys also reflects intensive human selection and breeding. This study points to at least two occurrences of turkey domestication in precontact North America and illuminates the intensity and sophistication of New World animal breeding practices.

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.

SPATIAL PATTERNING IN NORTHERN SAN JUAN VILLAGES, A.D. 1050-1300

ABSTRACT Detailed maps of Puebloan village sites were made photogrammetrically from aerial photos; wall lines and other details were added by field survey. These maps were used to document three successive community center types, dating from late Pueblo II (A.D. 1050–;1150) through Pueblo III (1150–1300). The maps were also analyzed, in conjunction with other relevant survey and excavation data, to define patterns of village layout and architecture in late Pueblo III. These villages represent highly aggregated communities that are buitt on canyon rims and talus; enclose or are close to a good spring; are usually divided into two unequal parts by a drainage or other natural feature; and typically have low walls enclosing the village or a precinct within it. One area of the village usually displays a concentration of public architecture, including a D-shaped multi-walled structure, towers, and a plaza.

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.

Dynamics of the thirteenth century depopulation of the northern San Juan: the view from Cedar Mesa.

Tree-ring dates and ceramic seriations are used to refine the chronology of Pueblo depopulation of the Cedar Mesa-Natural Bridges area of southeastern Utah. The early to mid-1200s saw increased occupation in the canyons, but mesa settings continue to be inhabited throughout as well. Wood-cutting for construction tapers off in the 1250s and ends in the 1260s, well before the onset of 1276–1299 “great drought.” Factors contributing to the depopulation are reviewed, including regional evidence for shorter growing seasons. Widespread warfare may have motivated people to leave areas of low population density, such as Cedar Mesa, to join the more secure large settlements that continued to grow in southwestern Colorado, even as overall population in that area began to decline.

Mastodon Bone Age and Geomorphic Relations in the Susquehanna Valley

Two radiocarbon ages provide a stratigraphic framework for some events in the Susquehanna Valley. A 13,320 ± 200 yrs B.P. date on a mastodon pelvic fragment from outwash gravels aids in refining the Valley Heads substage in central New York. A 1,690 ± 100 yrs B.P. date on wood provides an age for the first preserved flood-plain deposits.