Climate Change and the Neolithic in the American Southwest.

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]