Thesis
Population dynamics and sociopolitical instability in the Central Mesa Verde Region, A.D. 600-1280
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2007
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/103455
Abstract
This thesis examines the relationship between population and warfare in the archaeological record of the central Mesa Verde region of southwest Colorado and southeast Utah between A.D. 600 and 1280. Analysis of human skeletal data from a total of 621 individuals from 88 sites forms the basis of this study. The total sample of 621 ndividuals was divided into the modeling periods used in the Village Ecodynamics Project. I examine the skeletal remains data following Peter Turchin and Andrey Korotayev's (2006) non-linear, dynamic model of population and warfare. In a dynamic relationship, population growth leads to increased warfare, but increased warfare in turn causes population to decline. I argue that this type of dynamic relationship between population and warfare is apparent at certain time periods between A.D. 600 and 1280. The portion of the Basketmaker III period (A.D. 600-700) included in this thesis suggests a slightly higher-than-expected level of warfare. It is likely this level of warfare may actually be an accurate interpretation. I did not merely focus on evidence of human modification and disarticulation on skeletal remains which is a common interpretation by some researchers as evidence of warfare. The first cycle of population and warfare, which includes the entire Pueblo I period and the first part of the Pueblo II period, is in accord with the model's predictions. However, from about A.D. 1000-1200, the data do not fall within the model's predictions. It is highly likely that the northward expansion of the Chacoan system on the south and its later demise significantly impacted the central Mesa Verde region during this period. In the final cycle of population and warfare in the 1200s, I see a lower-than-expected level of warfare. This is likely due to a combination of three factors: (1) the small number of large sites systematically excavated; (2) the loss of women to raiders from the Totah region; and (3) underestimating the impact of village-level massacres when I calculated the warfare index.
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Details
- Title
- Population dynamics and sociopolitical instability in the Central Mesa Verde Region, A.D. 600-1280
- Creators
- Sarah Cole
- Contributors
- Timothy A. Kohler (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525299201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis