Re: Turtle Island and Ecology
Debbie Conner (dconner@nmsu.edu)
Thu, 13 Jun 91 17:32:16 MDT
I'm not an archaeologist, but some of my professors are, and they
state that the large Anasazi complexes (eg Bandolier, Chaco Canyon,
Gila, etc.) were only inhabited for an average of about 40 to 60
years. This means that these folk would occasionally concentrate in
large settlements, and then separate into smaller groups. In other
words, settlement patterns were flexible, and probably adjusted to
meet the immediate needs of the people involved.
As for environmental changes, I recall hearing that they were both the
result of human agency and climactic change. The southwestern climate,
rainfall, and vegetation patterns vary widely and often (on the scale
of centuries), and archaeologists include regional drought and
rainfall in their analyses of settlement patterns.
The only two names I know of offhand are Fred Plog and Steadman Upham.
Debbie Conner
dconner@nmsu.edu