Assessing Agricultural and Hydrologic Potential of Ancestral Puebloan Community Centers using Open Source Data

• Main Author: Zarzycka, Sandra Elzbieta
• Other Authors: Nagaoka, Lisa
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Texas 2020
• Subjects: Ancestral Pueblo people; community centers; landscape; agriculture; hydrology
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1703409/

The Pueblo III period marks a critical shift in settlement location of Ancestral Puebloan people within the Mesa Verde region. Community centers during the Pueblo I and Pueblo II periods were built on mesa tops, whereas canyon-rims and alcoves became the preferred settlement location during the Pueblo III period. Beginning in the Pueblo I period, community centers consisted of linear roomblock villages. By the late Pueblo II period great house community centers influenced by the Chaco culture system spanned the Mesa Verde region. The Pueblo III period hallmarks the transition to canyon-rim villages and cliff dwellings. The location of these Pueblo III centers is thought to be related to the need for a defensive position on the landscape, and access to water sources. This shift in settlement locations undoubtedly led to change in the access to resources, such as water, arable farmland, and wild food plants and game. This study aims to evaluate whether the change in community center location impacted the accessibility to arable farmland and water sources immediately available to Ancestral Puebloan people throughout time. Specifically, several variables related to farming potential and hydrologic potential, including soil type, soil moisture, elevation, cropland suitability, distance to water sources, drainage density, and hydrogeologic units were evaluated. Nine community centers within the McElmo drainage area in southwestern Colorado ranging in age from the Pueblo II to Pueblo III periods were included in this study.