Search

There are 11 species of triatomines in the USA, with seven reported in the American Southwest. These species are capable of transmitting Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, but are generally sylvatic and rarely infect humans in the USA. iNaturalist is one of the most popular citizen science data portals, where users record encounters with any individual organism. As of November 2023, iNaturalist reported 722 confirmed triatomine observations in the American Southwest. Maximum entropy ecological niche modelling and bioclimatic environmental variables were used to predict zones of highest human-triatomine interaction. Models fit well for Triatoma protracta (0.85), T. rubida (0.94), and T. recurva (0.96). Precipitation in the warmest quarter was most predictive of T. protracta presence, while precipitation in the driest quarter was most predictive of T. rubida and T. recurva. Locations identified in the American Southwest with highest potential for human-triatomine interaction, and potential T. cruzi transmission, were coastal California, the Sierra Nevada foothills, southern Arizona and border areas of northern Mexico. Study findings can be used for targeted surveillance efforts to address the paucity of contemporary information regarding triatomine species diversity and geographical and ecological associations in the American Southwest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract There are 11 species of triatomines in the USA, with seven reported in the American Southwest. These species are capable of transmitting Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, but are generally sylvatic and rarely infect humans in the USA. iNaturalist is one of the most popular citizen science data portals, where users record encounters with any individual organism. As of November 2023, iNaturalist reported 722 confirmed triatomine observations in the American Southwest. Maximum entropy ecological niche modelling and bioclimatic environmental variables were used to predict zones of highest human-triatomine interaction. Models fit well for Triatoma protracta (0.85), T. rubida (0.94), and T. recurva (0.96). Precipitation in the warmest quarter was most predictive of T. protracta presence, while precipitation in the driest quarter was most predictive of T. rubida and T. recurva. Locations identified in the American Southwest with highest potential for human-triatomine interaction, and potential T. cruzi transmission, were coastal California, the Sierra Nevada foothills, southern Arizona and border areas of northern Mexico. Study findings can be used for targeted surveillance efforts to address the paucity of contemporary information regarding triatomine species diversity and geographical and ecological associations in the American Southwest.

We examine provenance data collected from three types of geological resources recovered at Goat Spring Pueblo in central New Mexico. Our goal is to move beyond simply documenting patterns in compositional data; rather, we develop a narrative that explores how people's knowledge and preferences resulted in culturally and materially determined choices as revealed in those patterns. Our analyses provide evidence that residents of Goat Spring Pueblo did not rely primarily on local geological sources for the creation of their glaze paints or obsidian tools. They did, however, utilize a locally available blue-green mineral for creation of their ornaments. We argue that village artisans structured their use of raw materials at least in part according to multiple craft-specific and community-centered ethnomineralogies that likely constituted the sources of these materials as historically or cosmologically meaningful places through their persistent use. Consequently, the surviving material culture at Goat Spring Pueblo reflects day-to-day beliefs, practices, and social relationships that connected this village to a broader mosaic of interconnected Ancestral Pueblo taskscapes and knowledgescapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the literary symbolism of the desert landscape in combination with an ecocritical perspective and subsequently proceeds to analyze selected plays by Sam Shepard, focusing on the significance of the desert landscape, which has a profound impact on the psyches of his characters. Sam Shepard, as an author of American myths, adds an ancient and mystical quality to his desert environment, which intricately contributes to the development of the protagonists' identities. The Western viewpoint of the desert as a place of danger and death is compared and contrasted with the spiritual potential of this arid land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the Pueblo I to the Late Pueblo III periods (725–1280 CE), in the Mesa Verde and McElmo Dome regions of the American Southwest, turkey use continuously increased, then declined during the final period of widespread residential occupation in the region. Increasing aridity in the Late PIII period may have limited agricultural productivity, and consequently, the ability to provision turkeys. In this paper, we use C, Sr, and O isotope analyses of turkey bone (n = 95) from archaeological contexts to investigate whether the turkey diets and the locations where they were raised changed over time as a consequence of demographic and social changes in the region. Our results show that almost all turkeys were raised by Puebloan maize farmers in or in the vicinity of the McElmo Dome region and fed a C4-based diet, presumably dominated by maize, during the whole period under study. However, it seems that they were fed less maize during the late thirteenth century. Perhaps facing lower yield harvests, maize was prioritized for human consumption, which resulted in less intensified turkey production efforts and reduced investment in maize-provisioned flocks. Our results also attest to the occasional use of local (likely wild) turkeys not provisioned with maize, and one wild turkey brought in from a more distant area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts on global climate of the AD 536 and 541 volcanic eruptions are well attested in palaeoclimatic datasets and in Eurasian historical records. Their effects on farmers in the arid uplands of western North America, however, remain poorly understood. The authors investigate whether extreme cold caused by these eruptions influenced the scale, scope and timing of the Neolithic Transition in the northern US Southwest. Archaeological tree-ring and radiocarbon dates, along with settlement survey data, suggest that extreme cooling generated the physical and social space that enabled early farmers to transition from kin-focused socio-economic strategies to increasingly complex and widely shared forms of social organisation that served as foundational elements of burgeoning Ancestral Pueblo societies.

This scientific commentary discusses the importance of tree seedling research in understanding how forests will respond to climate change. The study focuses on the American southwest and examines the survival of seedlings from five conifer species under drought and extreme heat conditions. The results show that xeric species, which inhabit warmer and drier regions, are better able to tolerate hotter and drier conditions compared to mesic species. However, when considering future climate change projections, mesic species are likely to maintain their current performance better due to the cooler and wetter regions they inhabit. The study highlights the need to prioritize the conservation of landscapes and consider the impacts of climate change on both nature and human populations, particularly indigenous peoples who rely on ecosystem services provided by forests. The study acknowledges the limitations of controlled experiments and calls for future research to include field-based observational studies to contextualize findings. Overall, this research provides valuable insights into the composition and structure of future forests in the American southwest and informs land managers and conservation practitioners on how to best manage forests in the face of climate change. [Extracted from the article]

The Gallinas Mountains of west-central New Mexico were home to agriculturalists between ca. a.d. 850 and 1450. Ongoing research of the Lion Mountain Archaeology Project (LMAP) has allowed for in-field analysis of surface obsidian artifacts via portable handheld energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (ED-XRF). Influenced by principles of preservation archaeology and the archaeological repository curation crisis, the LMAP has sought to design and conduct field research to gather the most data with the least amount of impact to sites. Non-destructive in-field analysis via portable handheld ED-XRF subscribes to these goals while also providing answers to significant questions about human behavior. Results show that variable patterns of obsidian source utilization and procurement strategies existed both through time and between contemporaneous populations. These results are indicative of a shifting system of exchange and social interaction between residents of the region and surrounding areas during the Ancestral Pueblo occupation of the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This visual essay, based on three years of visual ethnographic research in the American Southwest, asks: What social-analytical interpretation can be made from landscape photographs, and even more generally, of panoramic depictions of the world at the intersections of the social and natural? The essay tackles some of the complexities of this question by examining "waterscapes," defined as water infrastructure, technology, and geography as they are shaped by human experience with nature. Deploying the method of panoramic photography in these "liminal spaces," the essay argues for a visual sociological approach that should not limit photographic confrontations with reality to obviously photogenic urban or humanistic scenes. Furthermore, the images illustrate how photography, can be used not only as an "ethnographic passport" to people(s) as a means of gaining privileged access, but also in a broader sense of encountering spaces, processes, and institutions, thus assisting in unpacking various layers of society. The images are presented according to their depictions of (1) provision and regulation, and (2) nature and culture, which have become key axes of struggle in the ongoing "water wars" of the American Southwest and Borderlands region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network analysis has a strong foundation in Southwest archaeology, yet the analysis of multiple network layers in a single analysis– (multilayer network analysis)– has not been formally applied except within a single artifact type. Many studies consider material culture holistically, yet network analysis has the advantage of focusing specifically on the relationships between entities. This study uses architecture, ceramic, projectile point, and site locations from the Roosevelt Platform Mound Study and combines these data in a multilayer network analysis. This analysis provides a way to test the co-variance of these types of material culture with each other and with spatial variation. Overall, the ceramic and projectile point networks exhibit significant differences. This indicates that the social networks that created these patterns had different social mechanisms. One potential cause of these differences is gendered spheres of interaction with men producing and exchanging projectile points and women producing and exchanging ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores linguistic imitation as a strategy of socialization. It focuses on the ethnographic context of New Mexico's Jewish community, which some Hispanic New Mexicans are beginning to join after discovering their Sephardic, or Iberian Jewish, ancestry. Although several are choosing to formally 'return,' or convert, to Judaism, they often feel unwelcome in the community and, therefore, do not always have interlocutors who might help to linguistically integrate them. In this context, they adopt various strategies for learning community language norms, including imitating the speech of veteran community members and reproducing Jewish English as learned from books and internet resources, even if doing so results in non-normative usages. They may also use elements of Yiddish to mirror language used within the local Jewish community, positioning themselves as Sephardic through the use of an Ashkenazi language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Amphibians are declining worldwide due to disease, invasive species, and habitat loss. Climate change may exacerbate habitat loss by altering the availability or suitability of aquatic breeding habitat through changes in precipitation, temperature, and the biophysical factors they influence. Measuring biological vital rates and the environmental covariates that affect them are crucial to understanding amphibian responses to a changing climate. However, doing so can be difficult due to access constraints, funding limitations, and difficulty of measuring spatially structured populations at landscape scales. Simulation-based approaches may provide reliable approximations of amphibian responses to changing environmental conditions. Objectives: In this study, we constructed a spatially explicit individual based model to simulate the response of the Arizona treefrog (Hyla wrightorum), a species of conservation concern, to reductions in breeding habitat availability. The Arizona treefrog metapopulation in the Huachuca Mountains and Canelo Hills of Arizona is known to breed at fewer than 20 breeding ponds that may become unsuitable due to climate change-induced shifts in hydroperiod, increased rates of invasion by non-native predators, or filling by sedimentation. Methods: We simulated Arizona treefrog response to bioclimatically realistic scenarios that included reduced breeding habitat availability, failed recruitment, and a combination of both. Simulations included variable landscape configuration through space and time that were informed by an empirical hydroperiod dataset. Results: We found that climate-driven reductions in breeding habitat alone resulted in mean population declines of nearly 65%, even when reductions targeted the ponds least likely to fill with water. However, scenarios with concurrent breeding habitat loss and recruitment failure or very high recruitment failure resulted in 79% and 83% population declines, respectively. Reduced breeding habitat also increased spatial synchrony of occupancy through time and among simulations, pointing to a potential transition from a metapopulation to multiple isolated populations. Conclusions: In the face of anthropogenically driven climate change and continually emerging management challenges, individual-based models provide a useful, mechanistic tool to explore how a combination of biological and environmental factors may interact to influence the future of species of conservation concern. We found evidence of a potential transition to isolated populations that may lead to limited functional connectivity and an increased risk of regional extinction for this species of conservation concern. Sensitivity analyses suggest our model was robust to uncertainty in model parameters and point to the critical role of dispersal in maintaining demographic and landscape connectivity among spatiotemporally heterogeneous habitat. A spatially explicit approach also enabled identification of specific habitat patches that may be less sensitive to climate change as well as those that may require more intensive management to conserve key populations or preserve metapopulation dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional analyses of projectile points often use visual identification, the presence or absence of discrete characteristics, or linear measurements and angles to classify points into distinct types. Geometric morphometrics provides additional tools for analyzing, visualizing, and comparing projectile point morphology utilizing the whole or parts of the form in either two or three dimensions. This study is an analysis of the effectiveness of geometric morphometric methods for identifying technological similarity in 2D projectile point outlines for previously classified late prehistoric projectile points found in the U.S. Southwest and unclassified projectile points from Tonto Basin, Arizona. Various methods from geometric morphometrics were compared to determine which method best reproduced the original classification scheme. Elliptical Fourier analysis was compared with various configurations of semilandmark and landmark analyses using generalized Procrustes analysis. These methods were applied to the complete projectile point form, and the landmark analysis was also applied to half of the lower quadrant of the projectile point—essentially one corner of the projectile point. The landmark analysis applied to the corner of the projectile point provided the best results. This method was then applied to the Tonto Basin points. Hierarchical clustering was used on the Tonto Basin projectile point morphometric data to explore the variation in shapes between sites. To demonstrate that geometric morphometric methods can be used without relying on typologies, a network analysis of the morphometric distances was also conducted. This network graph produced distinct clusters of technological similarity in projectile point outlines, while also showing the continuous variation between points. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of geometric morphometrics for the 2D analysis of late prehistoric arrow points in the U.S. Southwest.

Comparisons of intraspecific genetic diversity across species can reveal the roles of geography, ecology, and life history in shaping biodiversity. The wide availability of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences in open-access databases makes this marker practical for conducting analyses across several species in a common framework, but patterns may not be representative of overall species diversity. Here, we gather new and existing mtDNA sequences and genome-wide nuclear data (genotyping-by-sequencing; GBS) for 30 North American squamate species sampled in the Southeastern and Southwestern United States. We estimated mtDNA nucleotide diversity for 2 mtDNA genes, COI (22 species alignments; average 16 sequences) and cytb (22 species; average 58 sequences), as well as nuclear heterozygosity and nucleotide diversity from GBS data for 118 individuals (30 species; 4 individuals and 6,820 to 44,309 loci per species). We showed that nuclear genomic diversity estimates were highly consistent across individuals for some species, while other species showed large differences depending on the locality sampled. Range size was positively correlated with both cytb diversity (phylogenetically independent contrasts: R 2 = 0.31, P = 0.007) and GBS diversity (R 2 = 0.21; P = 0.006), while other predictors differed across the top models for each dataset. Mitochondrial and nuclear diversity estimates were not correlated within species, although sampling differences in the data available made these datasets difficult to compare. Further study of mtDNA and nuclear diversity sampled across species' ranges is needed to evaluate the roles of geography and life history in structuring diversity across a variety of taxonomic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sonoran Desert archaeological settlement is one of the most representative sites in Northwestern Mexico/Southwestern United States of the Early Agriculture period because of various cultural processes involved, such as the introduction of the first cultigens and the construction of Pit Houses. These early desert village settlements used geomorphological features of the local landscape to facilitate their sophisticated form of agriculture. Most of the features and artifacts at the site are associated with the Early Agricultural period of 3150-1900 cal B.P., while most occupation dates are in the Cienega phase (2800-1900 cal B.P.). Later stages are poorly documented because of the apparent reduction in population, less marked archaeological features, and extreme erosion processes. Systematic archaeological excavation revealed evidence of completely burned Pit Houses. We analyzed 56 samples belonging to four Pit Houses and one different combustion feature (Kiln or Horno, as they are locally known) in different areas of the settlement. The experimental procedure included continuous susceptibility vs. temperature measurements and step-wise alternating field demagnetizations. Only 36 samples yielded technically acceptable determinations that allowed the determination of archaeomagnetic directions. Statistically indistinguishable results were obtained from all five studied features. This finding reinforces archaeological evidence of ritual-related paraphernalia and/or apparent abandonment or, at least, migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protistan genus Epistylis contains freshwater colonial species that attach to aquatic organisms in an epibiotic or parasitic relationship. They are known to attach to the epidermis and shells of aquatic turtles, but have not been reported to cause heavy infestations or morbidity in turtles. We documented heavy infestations of Epistylis spp. in several populations of Sonoran mud turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense) inhabiting livestock ponds in Arizona, USA, and rough-footed mud turtles (Kinosternon hirtipes) from livestock ponds in Texas, USA, over the course of several years. Severe Epistylis spp. infestations on mud turtles appeared to alter diving and swimming behavior when compared to uninfested conspecifics. Infestations were cleared in captivity using tap water or a 10% salt solution, and the turtles had no permanent damage to their shell or epidermis upon clearing. While several of the mud turtles we observed had poor body condition, it is possible that the severe infestations we observed were caused by a comorbidity associated with a pathogen, parasite, or poor habitat quality that made the turtles more susceptible to the Epistylis spp. infestation. Further research on causes for these severe infestations are warranted because they contribute to changes in behavior of the heavily infested turtles and may contribute to morbidity in Kinosternon spp. when mud turtles inhabit extremely warm, shallow, eutrophic aquatic habitats, such as livestock ponds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phylogeography of the American black bear (Ursus americanus) is characterized by isolation into glacial refugia, followed by population expansion and genetic admixture. Anthropogenic activities, including overharvest, habitat loss, and transportation infrastructure, have also influenced their landscape genetic structure. We describe the genetic structure of the American black bear in the American Southwest and northern Mexico and investigate how prehistoric and contemporary forces shaped genetic structure and influenced gene flow. Using a suite of microsatellites and a sample of 550 bears, we identified 14 subpopulations organized hierarchically following the distribution of ecoregions and mountain ranges containing black bear habitat. The pattern of subdivision we observed is more likely a product of postglacial habitat fragmentation during the Pleistocene and Holocene, rather than a consequence of contemporary anthropogenic barriers to movement during the Anthropocene. We used linear mixed‐effects models to quantify the relationship between landscape resistance and genetic distance among individuals, which indicated that both isolation by resistance and geographic distance govern gene flow. Gene flow was highest among subpopulations occupying large tracts of contiguous habitat, was reduced among subpopulations in the Madrean Sky Island Archipelago, where montane habitat exists within a lowland matrix of arid lands, and was essentially nonexistent between two isolated subpopulations. We found significant asymmetric gene flow supporting the hypothesis that bears expanded northward from a Pleistocene refugium located in the American Southwest and northern Mexico and that major highways were not yet affecting gene flow. The potential vulnerability of the species to climate change, transportation infrastructure, and the US–Mexico border wall highlights conservation challenges and opportunities for binational collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The phylogeography of the American black bear (Ursus americanus) is characterized by isolation into glacial refugia, followed by population expansion and genetic admixture. Anthropogenic activities, including overharvest, habitat loss, and transportation infrastructure, have also influenced their landscape genetic structure. We describe the genetic structure of the American black bear in the American Southwest and northern Mexico and investigate how prehistoric and contemporary forces shaped genetic structure and influenced gene flow. Using a suite of microsatellites and a sample of 550 bears, we identified 14 subpopulations organized hierarchically following the distribution of ecoregions and mountain ranges containing black bear habitat. The pattern of subdivision we observed is more likely a product of postglacial habitat fragmentation during the Pleistocene and Holocene, rather than a consequence of contemporary anthropogenic barriers to movement during the Anthropocene. We used linear mixed‐effects models to quantify the relationship between landscape resistance and genetic distance among individuals, which indicated that both isolation by resistance and geographic distance govern gene flow. Gene flow was highest among subpopulations occupying large tracts of contiguous habitat, was reduced among subpopulations in the Madrean Sky Island Archipelago, where montane habitat exists within a lowland matrix of arid lands, and was essentially nonexistent between two isolated subpopulations. We found significant asymmetric gene flow supporting the hypothesis that bears expanded northward from a Pleistocene refugium located in the American Southwest and northern Mexico and that major highways were not yet affecting gene flow. The potential vulnerability of the species to climate change, transportation infrastructure, and the US–Mexico border wall highlights conservation challenges and opportunities for binational collaboration.

Lake Bottom oxbow is a partially-filled oxbow lake within an alluvium filled sandstone canyon reach of the Dolores River in eastern Utah, USA. Two adjacent sediment cores were obtained from the Lake Bottom oxbow to better understand the depositional and environmental history of the site and region. Depositional ages were determined using radiocarbon dating (14C) of pollen extracts, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of sand, concentration of 137Cs and 210Pb radioisotopes, and the first occurrence of pollen from human-introduced crops (Zea mays) and trees and shrubs (Tamarix) found in the oxbow sediments. Age control from OSL, short-lived radioisotopes, and pollen are stratigraphically consistent and fit the geomorphic character of the partially-filled oxbow, which suggests it is a late Holocene feature. In contrast, the 14C results appear to be contaminated by old carbon and produced age overestimates of 3000–12,000 years. Our findings suggest that multiple dating methods should be employed when applying radiocarbon dating to settings that are susceptible to contamination by recycled old carbon, especially when dating pollen extracts that are difficult to determine organic purity. The OSL results suggest initial oxbow formation by 860 ± 270 yr (±2σ) and then rapidly infilled with fluvial sediment. The OSL age control indicates the oxbow formed during the Medieval Climate Anomaly, a time of enhanced summer moisture and active flooding in the Dolores River watershed. Similar low-elevation records in the arid Colorado Plateau are rare, making this site an important contribution to the regional paleoenvironmental record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of the Roman Warm Period and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation by geoscientists and climate researchers over the past several decades and recognition of their role in shaping human history elsewhere have offered Southwestern archaeologists new tools for understanding how climatic changes may have contributed to the forager-to-farmer transition. Our study evaluates the possible effects of climate change and severe drought conditions across the region with respect to the Colorado Plateau, Northern Rio Grande Valley, and Tucson Basin. Each area appears to be characterized by a separate historical trajectory that would serve as the foundation for the Neolithic societies that followed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testimonies of early Spanish chroniclers consistently emphasize the Athapaskan practice of long-distance trade with Pueblo communities aided by hundreds of pack dogs. Despite being the subject of numerous anthropological studies that focus generally on issues of social evolutionary trajectories leading up to European contact, we actually understand very little about how these regional exchange networks operated and the multi-species interactions and gendered labor requirements that made them possible. Using data derived from Spanish accounts, ethnographic information on the management of pack dogs, and modern studies of packing energetics, I model the number of dogs that would be required to sustain interregional trade under different packing conditions. Rather than focusing on the general dynamics of human behavior, this study highlights the details and mechanics of caring for large packs, the historical relationships between Apache women and their dogs, and the role of this partnership in Athapaskan migration and long-distance trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goals and background of this study are presented. A sample of rudimentary artifacts, recovered through survey and excavation from contexts in the American Southwest and southern Mexico, were physically examined to verify or reject their assumed validity as tools and their use in agricultural activities. Macroscopic and microscopic examinations were undertaken on these often overlooked and misidentified artifacts to ascertain evidence of human manufacture and use-wear. The results of the study indicate the specimens represent three general form categories of tools that have uses related to excavation and earth moving. To augment this evidence, information was gathered regarding find contexts, historic records, and from relevant literature. The geographic find locations and contexts of the artifacts, as well as their temporal placement, and likely group affiliations, are then discussed. Evidence indicates that, although probably used for other purposes, these minimally-retouched, hand-held, digging and earth moving tools were used in the preparation and maintenance of agricultural fields and irrigation canals, and functioned to support the subsistence system from ca. 400-1450 CE. These implements evidently also held social and ceremonial values and functions. The rudimentary nature of these tools is often found not to be commensurate with the sophisticated complexity of the associated agricultural infrastructure. Initial, very tentative, hypotheses are presented for this incongruity.

Sonoran Desert archaeological settlement is one of the most representative sites in Northwestern Mexico/Southwestern United States of the Early Agriculture period because of various cultural processes involved, such as the introduction of the first cultigens and the construction of Pit Houses. These early desert village settlements used geomorphological features of the local landscape to facilitate their sophisticated form of agriculture. Most of the features and artifacts at the site are associated with the Early Agricultural period of 3150-1900 cal B.P., while most occupation dates are in the Cienega phase (2800-1900 cal B.P.). Later stages are poorly documented because of the apparent reduction in population, less marked archaeological features, and extreme erosion processes. Systematic archaeological excavation revealed evidence of completely burned Pit Houses. We analyzed 56 samples belonging to four Pit Houses and one different combustion feature (Kiln or Horno, as they are locally known) in different areas of the settlement. The experimental procedure included continuous susceptibility vs. temperature measurements and step-wise alternating field demagnetizations. Only 36 samples yielded technically acceptable determinations that allowed the determination of archaeomagnetic directions. Statistically indistinguishable results were obtained from all five studied features. This finding reinforces archaeological evidence of ritual-related paraphernalia and/or apparent abandonment or, at least, migration.

Hydroperiod, or the amount of time a lentic waterbody contains water, shapes communities of aquatic organisms. Precise measurement of hydroperiod features such as inundation timing and duration can help predict community dynamics and ecosystem stability. In areas defined by high spatial and temporal variability, fine‐scale temporal variation in inundation timing and duration may drive community structure, but that variation may not be captured using common approaches including remote sensing technology. Here, we provide methods to accurately capture inundation timing by fitting hidden Markov models to measurements of daily temperature SD collected from temperature loggers. We describe a rugged housing design to protect loggers from physical damage and apply our methods to a group of intermittent ponds in southeastern Arizona, showing that initial pond inundation timing is highly variable across a small geographic scale (∼50 km2). We also compare a 1‐logger (pond only) and 2‐logger (pond + control) design and show that, although a single logger may be sufficient to capture inundation timing in most cases, a 2‐logger design can increase confidence in results. These methods are cost‐effective and show promise in capturing variation in intraregional inundation timing for a range of temporary lentic habitats that may have profound effects on aquatic communities, with implications for how these communities may respond to hydroperiod alteration from a changing climate. Key Points: Hydroperiod inundation timing and duration are key factors that drive many biotic processes in temporary lentic watersTools to assess fine‐scale hydroperiod dynamics are needed to understand and predict responses of lentic habitats to a changing climateUse of temperature loggers and hidden Markov models are a cost‐effective and reliable way to estimate hydroperiod dynamics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deserts of southwestern North America have undergone dramatic changes over their recent geological history including large changes in size and connectivity during the Pleistocene glaciopluvial cycles. This study examines the population history of the rare spider Saltonia incerta, once thought to be extinct, to determine the role of past climatological events in shaping the structure of the species. This species is restricted to salt crusts of intermittent or dry lakes, streams or rivers in the desert southwest, a region that was much wetter during glacial periods. We examine the distribution and genetic variability of populations to test whether there is recent dispersal throughout the range of the species. Analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA indicate significant population structure, with one major clade comprising New Mexico localities and one comprising California-northern Baja California localities. Finer-scale structure is evident within the California clade, although not all of the subclades are reciprocally monophyletic. However, isolation with migration analysis suggests that migration is very low to non-existent. These results extend the known distribution of Saltonia, provide genetic evidence of strong isolation among localities within drainage basins and between drainage basins and provide a mechanistic understanding of population connectivity after the aridification of the American southwest. The implication is that although the species distribution has been fragmented, populations have persisted throughout this area, suggesting that desert salt flats may have served as refugia for at least some terrestrial species.

To better understand risk management and mutual aid among American ranchers, we interviewed and mailed a survey to ranchers in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, and Cochise County, Arizona, focusing on two questions: (1) When do ranchers expect repayment for the help they provide others? (2) What determines ranchers' degrees of involvement in networks of mutual aid, which they refer to as "neighboring"? When needs arise due to unpredictable events, such as injuries, most ranchers reported not expecting to be paid back for the help they provide. When help is provided for something that follows a known schedule or that can be scheduled, such as branding, most ranchers did expect something in return for the help they provide. This pattern makes sense in light of computational modeling that shows that transfers to those in need without expectations of repayment pool risk more effectively than transfers that create debt. Ranchers reported helping other ranchers more often when they belonged to more religious and civic organizations, when they owned larger ranches, when they relied less on ranch vs. other income, and when they had more relatives in the area. Operators of midsize ranches reported helping other ranchers more frequently than did those on smaller and larger ranches. None of our independent variables predicted how many times ranchers reported receiving help from other ranchers. Although ranch culture in the American West is often characterized by an ethic of individualism and independence, our study suggests that this ethic stands alongside an ethic of mutual aid during times of need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging adults depend on complex treatment plans to manage chronic conditions, yet little is known about their ability to perform the sophisticated behaviors required of technologically engaged patients. This qualitative descriptive study describes engagement with the plan of care. Forty chronically ill adults participated in this study, which involved an observation of the clinical encounter and an interview. Data were collected and analyzed simultaneously in keeping with principles of qualitative research. Multiple techniques were used to test conclusions and findings were constructed as thematic sentences, including the following: I act in ways that support my health, I manage my health-related information, I make visits with my doctor part of my routine, I participate in treatment planning. Older adults work to achieve self-management to the best of their ability, shunning the use of health information technology (HIT) and demonstrating a preference for provider-created treatment plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines imagery of the American Southwest and its history in the transmedia of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks. Elements in season three and The Secret History of Twin Peaks reveal a contemporary perspective on the consequences of western expansion. A social construct, the mythos of the American West has always been propagated through artistic mediums such as paintings, radio drama, and most importantly television and film. Twin Peaks’ contemporary imagery of ghost towns through Rancho Rosa, perspectives on nuclear testing, and ufology expand upon those narratives of the west. This paper argues that when one recognizes the incorporation of the mythos of the American West in the mythos of Twin Peaks—the creators’ usage of the Trinity Test in New Mexico, products of gold rushes and oil booms as well as their abandonment, and Southwestern desert rituals—a larger statement is revealed on the boundlessness of western conquest and the evil that men do.

Poor chronology has long plagued the Patayan archaeological tradition of the far-western reaches of the North American Southwest. Archaeologists typically rely upon ceramics to assign associated materials to the broadly defined Patayan I, II, and III periods. However, as data amass, it is becoming increasingly clear that the established date ranges for certain types of Patayan pottery tied to those periods are inaccurate, and that the overall chronology may benefit from revision. Consequently, there are renewed calls to reassess the ceramic typologies and identify attributes with utility for dating affiliated archaeological phenomena. Here I focus on one such attribute, the stucco surface treatment on Lower Colorado Buff Ware. While the prevailing typology regards stucco as diagnostic of the Patayan II and III periods (circa AD 1000–1900), I present data that show stucco is conspicuously absent from contexts dating before AD 1400 but is rather common thereafter. I conclude Lowland Patayan potters began applying stucco to their wares between 1400 and 1600, and this attribute is therefore useful for dating associated material to a narrower AD 1400–1900 timeframe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from the dart to the arrow, and the commensurate changes in lithic technology is poorly understood in the American Southwest. This transition has often been linked to shifts in sedentism and the increasing use of expedient flake tools. However, the relationship between the use of bifacial and core reduction strategies are conditioned by a variety of factors, and not primarily in response to the use of the bow-and-arrow, or simply sedentism. We, therefore, evaluate a series of potential factors which can be used to understand the variability exhibited in the use of biface and flake technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brian K. Vaughan's and Marcos Martin's science fiction comics series, Barrier (2015–18), is a five-issue story set on the US-Mexican border and contributing to the continuing public discourse surrounding undocumented immigration in the United States. First appearing as a webcomic on Vaughan's Panel Syndicate website and later published in comic book form by Image Comics, Barrier's story of two characters, a Honduran refugee and a Texas rancher who struggle with and eventually come to rely on one another, depicts linguistic and cultural boundaries and borders, as well as the frustration and hostility they can generate. As comics, Barrier's very medium works by means of crossing boundaries and borders: binaries (like word and image) are complicated if not subverted, and the borders of each panel remain closed yet open for sequential art to function as a medium for narrative. Moreover, as a bilingual webcomic crossing into print yet all but encouraging an ongoing virtual engagement through web searches and Google Translate, the series demands further creative energy from the reader in reimaging various barriers, borders and positions of liminality. Although stories that represent various kinds of borders (social, cultural and geopolitical) and various ways of establishing, challenging, crossing or deconstructing borders are frequently found in graphic narratives, Barrier demonstrates the south-west border to be one the medium of comics is especially suited to explore. Barrier is a work that takes as its very subject, to borrow a phrase from Ramzi Fawaz, 'spatially drawn analogies' in order to engage graphically matters of genuine political import. In doing so, Barrier not only reflects obliquely on its own form, but also engages creatively with one of the most politically and culturally contested spaces in contemporary US culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1928, Noel Morss was shown "irrigation ditches" along Pleasant Creek on the Dixie National Forest near Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, by a local guide who contended they were ancient. We relocated the site and mapped the route of an unusual mountain irrigation canal. We conducted excavations and employed OSL and AMS 14C showing historic irrigation, and an earlier event between AD 1460 and 1636. Geomorphic evidence indicates that the canal existed prior to this time, but we cannot date its original construction. The canal is 7.2 km long, originating at 2,450 m asl and terminating at 2,170 m asl. Less than half of the system was hand constructed. We cannot ascribe the prehistoric use-event to an archaeological culture, language, or ethnic group, but the 100+ sites nearby are largely Fremont in cultural affiliation. We also report the results of experimental modeling of the capital and maintenance costs of the system, which holds implications for irrigation north of the Colorado River and farming during the Little Ice Age. The age of the prehistoric canal is consistent with a fragmentary abandonment of farming and continuity between ancient and modern tribes in Utah. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the historical archaeology of migration in the American Southwest. I raise three points for consideration. First, the archaeology of migration in the Southwest following Spanish colonialism has been relatively absent, but is a rich area of inquiry for historical archaeologists. Second, migration has shaped the regional consciousness, landscape, and myth-making of the historic Southwest in significant ways that merit archaeological attention. Finally, drawing on the example of Alsatian migration to Texas, I propose that an attention to scale – how migrations occur alongside and within other movements – can add nuance to historical narratives of the West by highlighting the great diversity that characterizes the region throughout the historic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eared Grebes (Podiceps nigricollis) are colonial-nesting waterbirds that use waterbodies along Great Salt Lake (GSL), Utah, during the breeding season. We examined the habitat characteristics of nesting colonies established by Eared Grebes, including water depth, invertebrate biomass density, vegetation species, vegetation cover, waterbody area, distance to shore, distance to nearest emergent vegetation, and distance to GSL. Samples and measurements were taken during the summer of 2018 from inside Eared Grebe nesting colonies, outside colonies but within the same waterbody, and unused waterbodies that did not contain colonies. We compared colonies sites to non-colonies sites that were within the same waterbody using logistic regression to build models and found no differences between them, suggesting that space for a colony is not lacking within a colony waterbody. Colony waterbodies differed from unused waterbodies (those not containing a colony) in having deeper water and higher percent cover of submerged aquatic vegetation. Results from Eared Grebe colonies around GSL were compared to colonies found in a literature review. Water depth in colonies around GSL were shallower than colonies located elsewhere. All of the colonies in this study were established on mats of submerged aquatic vegetation as opposed to colonies in other studies that were built on emergent vegetation. Wildlife biologists around GSL can manage for nesting Eared Grebes by maintaining a water depth (35–55 cm) that is conducive for submerged aquatic vegetation growth and high invertebrate densities. Climate change models predict that the American Southwest, which is already arid, will become drier in the future. When combined with increasing diversions of water for human uses, the waterbodies where Eared Grebes currently locate their colonies may become entirely dry or too shallow in the future to sustain them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past thirty years, incorporating Native American voices into North American history has become a guiding principle of academic scholarship within both history and archaeology. While scholars have turned to an expanded array of evidence, including oral histories, ethnography, and material culture, to develop complex narratives about Indigenous pasts, they have largely treated these sources as alternatives to the written record. In this article, we argue that Biographic-style rock art is a historical text in its own right. Composed by and for Native people, this iconographic tradition is an "Indigenous archive" that can be read by archaeologists in collaboration with Indigenous community members. We develop this concept of the Indigenous archive through an analysis of rock art produced by Comanche people in the northern Rio Grande region of New Mexico during the eighteenth century. A close examination of these images, accompanied by conversations with Comanche tribal members offers historical insights into the process of constructing and interpreting Indigenous history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I explore how digital data collection in the context of the Berkeley-Abiquiú Collaborative Archaeology (BACA) project works, some of the affordances of this new-ish technology, and how they articulate with analogue art practices to achieve the goals of engaged research. Thinking with affordances helps me reflect critically on what digital data recording offers our research goals. In this case, the most important aspect of using digital data recording is how it changes our relationship to time. New orientations of research time created by such technology is an opportunity to engage creatively with how archaeology can represent complexity, produce embodied experience, and share senses of place through both digital and analogue practices. As archaeologists trying to think trans-humanistically, we need to reflect critically on digital technologies to produce engaged research. This is always a shifting target. New uses reveal new possibilities, and vice versa. But newness is not what makes an impact, a difference, or changes the way we do research together; what makes a difference is the result, effects, and affects of these affordances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from foraging to farming is certainly one of the most dramatic processes in human history. The use of domesticated plants and animals spread widely across Southwest Europe from the Near East. By contrast, domesticated plants solely moved across the American Southwest from Mexico. Research in Western Europe has traditionally focused on the movement of farming communities across the region which displaced or subsumed local foragers. Recently various aspects of this process have been debated including Mesolithic and Neolithic subsistence packages, continuity versus replacement, regional mobility and sedentism, the nature of early Neolithic villages, and the forager to farmer transition. We will explore this dynamic and varied process through studies conducted in Southwest Europe and the American Southwest. Although these two regions seem quite different, researchers in both areas are grappling with similar research issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide a 2,508‐year reconstruction (492 BCE–2015 CE) of hydroclimate variability for west‐central New Mexico using the long‐lived conifer Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.). The reconstruction model explains 53% of the instrumental soil moisture variance and all validation statistics indicate a skillful record. More hydroclimate flips (extreme wet‐dry, vice versa) occur during the 20th–21st century than any other century in the past 2,500 years. Yet, drought and pluvial events captured during the instrumental period (since ca. 1900) do not represent the full range and variability of historical conditions. Since ca. 500 BCE, over 50 drought events have surpassed the severity of recent 21st century conditions, including the first documentation of a prolonged and severe drought during the second to third century BCE (Pre‐Ancestral Puebloan). Continued extreme hydroclimate variability (e.g., flips) in the 21st century could create infrastructure challenges for regional water planning authorities in this arid region. Key Points: Over the past 2,500 years, over 50 drought events surpass the severity of the recent 21st century droughts20th to 21st century had more extreme hydroclimate flips than any other periodDocument previously unknown prolonged and severe drought during the second to third century BCE (Pre‐Ancestral Puebloan) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photographs, and work with photograph collections, are among the delights of archival research. We are visual creatures; images speak to us with an immediacy and on a different level from that of words. For that reason, photographs taken across cultural boundaries present problems and issues that need to be revealed and addressed. This essay is concerned with archival photographs of Native American tribes and pueblos in the American Southwest; it will describe issues specific to the Southwest that have been raised in a series of discussions carried on by archivists, curators, and members of the surrounding American Indian communities that have an interest in photographs. This informal group has been meeting at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe since 1990.The use of historic images of Native Americans can be viewed from three different perspectives: that of archivists, that of Indian users, and that of non-Indian users. Each of these groups has special interests and each raises issues, and within each there are divisions and different voices. In this essay, I shall explore how these groups overlap, contrast, and differ, and I will explain how important some of these issues are, yet how they seem to collide.

The scale of prehistoric canal construction in the North American Southwest peaked in A.D. 450-1450, during what has been named the Hohokam Millennium. Explanations for the eventual Hohokam "collapse" remain elusive. Environmental disturbances, such as floods, that were once manageable may have become unmanageable. Recent archaeological excavations of Hohokam canals in Phoenix identified stratigraphic evidence for three destructive floods that date to A.D. 1000-1400 within two large main canals in System 2, Hagenstad and Woodbury's North. Woodbury's North Canal was flood-damaged and abandoned sometime after A.D. 1300. Thereafter, no main canals of similar size were constructed to supply villages within System 2 and the area was depopulated. Our investigation provides the first stratigraphic evidence for a destructive flood during the late Classic period in the lower Salt River Valley and is compatible with the hypothesis of diminished resilience to environmental disturbance at the end of the Hohokam Millennium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Identify the optimal combination of sampling techniques to maximize the detection of diversity of cave‐dwelling arthropods. Location: Central‐western New Mexico; north‐western Arizona; Rapa Nui, Chile. Methods: From 26 caves across three geographically distinct areas in the Western Hemisphere, arthropods were sampled using opportunistic collecting, timed searches, and baited pitfall trapping in all caves, and direct intuitive searches and bait sampling at select caves. To elucidate the techniques or combination of techniques for maximizing sampling completeness and efficiency, we examined our sampling results using nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), analysis of similarity (ANOSIM), Wilcoxon signed‐rank tests, species richness estimators and species accumulation curves. Results: To maximize the detection of cave‐dwelling arthropod species, one must apply multiple sampling techniques and specifically sample unique microhabitats. For example, by sampling cave deep zones and nutrient resource sites, we identified several undescribed cave‐adapted and/or cave‐restricted taxa in the south‐western United States and eight new species of presumed cave‐restricted arthropods on Rapa Nui that would otherwise have been missed. Sampling techniques differed in their detection of both management concern species (e.g., newly discovered cave‐adapted/restricted species, range expansions of cave‐restricted species and newly confirmed alien species) and specific taxonomic groups. Spiders were detected primarily with visual search techniques (direct intuitive searches, opportunistic collecting and timed searches), while most beetles were detected using pitfall traps. Each sampling technique uniquely identified species of management concern further strengthening the importance of a multi‐technique sampling approach. Main conclusions: Multiple sampling techniques were required to best characterize cave arthropod diversity. For techniques applied uniformly across all caves, each technique uniquely detected between ~40% and 67% of the total species observed. Also, sampling cave deep zones and nutrient resource sites was critical for both increasing the number of species detected and maximizing the likelihood of detecting management concern species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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/NWregion, 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 nearcomplete 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 inMexico 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Transitional Zone of central Arizona is a mountainous region dissected by rivers that created barriers and drove movement between prehistoric Hohokam groups to the south and Ancestral Peoples groups to the northeast and northwest. Although never suitable for large-scale agricultural irrigation, this region provided small areas of arable land scattered across rugged terrain rich in wild foods and alboreal resources. Archaeological data recovery related to road improvement projects throughout Arizona Route 260 allowed us to examine paleobotanical and osteofaunal remains of five archaeological sites. We relate changes in diet breadth and anthropogenic land effects modeled and described using the methods of the optimal foraging theory, with modes of use modeled using concepts from the frontier theory. We found that brief intervals of prey suppression and concomitant expansion of diet breadth between low value resources coincide with intervals of prey recovery and diet amplitude contraction between low value resources and more intensive settlement. On the other hand, ranges of prey recovery and diet breadth contraction among low value resources coincide with a reduced population and seasonal, extractive, and short-term occupations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growing body of evidence demonstrating that proteins can survive for thousands to even millions of years in selected contexts, there are relatively few examples of the successful recovery and identification of archaeological protein residues from ceramic artifacts. Claims of positive results are sometimes contentious and frequently challenged. One source of confusion in the debate is a general lack of consideration for the taphonomic histories of ceramic-bound proteins. To gain insight into this issue, we conducted an integrated, mass spectrometry-based study examining ceramic-bound protein that was experimentally aged over the course of 12 months. Results demonstrate the rapid degradation of proteins, raise questions about the degree to which ceramic-bound proteins can be expected to survive over time, and reveal some of the limitations of non-targeted mass spectrometry-based analyses. Further, by comparing results from our experimentally-aged samples to the those we obtained from a multi-pronged study of archaeological ceramics from the American Southwest, we are able to draw more confident conclusions regarding our lack of meaningful matches in the archaeological samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ancestral Puebloan people in the North American Southwest suffered high rates of disease, poor health, and early age-at-death. Four individuals with skeletal expressions of cancer were found in a pre-Columbian population in the Taos Valley - Reports of malignant neoplasms in the archaeological record are uncommon and their presence in four of 82 individuals is a high occurrence. This study continues Whitley and Boyer's (2012) research testing whether concentrations of ionizing radiation were sufficiently high to induce cancer and related health issues. Access to a preserved and partly reconstructed subterranean pit structure inhabited between AD 1120 and 1170, allows us to test radon concentrations in a residential dwelling. This study found radon occurring in high levels, 19.4–20.3 pCi/L (717.8–751.1 Bq/m 3 ) within the structure. Epidemiological reports are inconsistent when linking specific cancers and radon exposure. However, this study can control for many of the confounding factors plaguing other studies, provide unique data that have the potential to initiate dialogue on the etiology of neoplastic disease in the American Southwest, and add new dimensions to the study of the living conditions and health of the Ancestral Puebloans and their descendants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although aircraft-acquired lidar has proven to be a transformative technology for archaeology in forested regions around the world, drone-acquired lidar systems that could potentially offer higher-resolution imagery at much lower cost remain difficult to deploy in field settings, while the data they produce are prone to large errors and are challenging to process. This paper presents results of a study that employs a new ultra-compact drone-based lidar system, alongside aerial thermal and visible light imaging, to document ancient agricultural landscapes at Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico. We discuss the advantages of this new instrumentation, various approaches to field data collection, and as well as our novel data processing and filtering methods, which collectively offer key methodological advances for archaeological investigations using drone-based lidar. Results reveal extensive remains of a vast system of terraces and stone-built field systems, preserved below the modern piñon-juniper-ponderosa forests of the Picuris Reservation and surrounding areas. These findings offer new perspectives on the scale and intensity of past agricultural activities in this highland region of the American Southwest, while demonstrating the power of combining multiple drone-based remote sensing datasets with detailed surface surveys to aid in the discovery, mapping, and interpretation of archaeological landscapes in forested regions. • Drone-based lidar and thermal survey at Picuris Pueblo reveals vast archaeological landscape. • We detail novel approaches to drone lidar data collection, processing, and visualization. • We offer new perspectives on the extent of agricultural landscape features. • Results raise questions about past subsistence and environment in the Southwest. • Results demonstrate the power of multi-sensor drone surveys in archaeology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural ranges of ecosystem variability (NRVs) describe the array of conditions and processes common to relatively intact or natural ecosystems, and are used to help land managers plan ecological restoration efforts and better understand ecosystem dynamics. In an effort to describe the variation in forest reference conditions and NRVs related to forest structure and spatial pattern across the American Southwest (Arizona and New Mexico, USA) prior to widespread fire exclusion (ca. late 1800s), we used historical inventory data and dendrochronology to reconstruct 33 Pinus ponderosa- dominated sites (0.8–3.2 ha in size) throughout the region. Though the historical stand densities, species compositions, tree spatial patterns, and modern increases in density varied widely among sites, site-level differences could partially be explained by abiotic factors and by forest type. Soil parent material and US Forest Service Terrestrial Ecosystem Units (TEUs) were important predictors of historical stand density, and species composition was a significant predictor of spatial pattern on our sites, with sites dominated by Pinus ponderosa and Quercus gambelii showing more distinct clustering of overstory trees. Reconstructed stand density (live trees ha −1 ) was also correlated with the proportion of trees found in groups. Lastly, the sites showing the smallest increases in stand density tended to be in the warmest, driest locations studied, suggesting that densities in these types of sites may be climatically limited and have changed comparatively less since the late 1800s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turquoise has been used in the American Southwest since “time immemorial,” and remains an important material for contemporary indigenous groups of the region. Detailed studies of ancient turquoise mines are few, however, and inferences of turquoise procurement and provenance have been limited. Our intensive investigation of one mine, the Canyon Creek locale in Arizona, integrates archaeology and geochemistry to enhance understanding of the mine and its output. A detailed description of the mine's morphology and geologic setting lays foundations for interpreting an isotopic analysis of specimens from the mine's four localities. The analysis reveals extremely radiogenic Pb isotope ratios, which distinguish Canyon Creek turquoise from that of other known sources in the American Southwest. Its distinctive isotopic signature makes Canyon Creek turquoise readily identifiable in archaeological assemblages. The presence of turquoise from Canyon Creek at late prehispanic settlements in east-central Arizona helps clarify the mine's chronology of use and regional distribution. Our observations suggest the mine was larger than previously supposed, and that it provided an important source of turquoise for inhabitants of the region during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeologists have been studying Chaco roads for more than a century. The articles in this special issue represent new empirical studies of these features and new frameworks for their interpretation. The introduction places research on Chaco roads in context and outlines the relevance of the subsequent chapters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

[Resesarch Article] Stone cupules remain an enigma to archaeologists due to both their ubiquity in the archaeological record and apparent ‘non-utilitarian’ function. While researchers have primarily focused on the functional aspects of cupules, including their symbolic meaning, the global ethnographic record suggests that the act of creating a cupule can be as important as the resulting cupule itself. Cupules are artefacts of practice and reflect the actions, representation, and negotiations of people who were pounding on boulders and bedrock. I argue that cupule studies should move beyond ahistorical interpretation and acknowledge that the action and intentionality of creating cupules – and the resulting material remains of these practices – are subject to historical change. To illustrate this change I examine the history of the Tewa Pueblos of northern New Mexico who historically pounded cupules on landscape features to communicate with the spiritual world through prayers and offerings. I document both the morphology and landscape context of cupules associated with ancestral Tewa sites to demonstrate that while elements of cupule morphology remain constant, the context (and possibly the meaning) of cupule practice changes through time. This suggests that long-lived practices of prayer (creating cupules) were reinterpreted in the crucible of dramatic social and residential transformation.