Dissertation Research: Mobility and Farmers: Adaptive Diversity in the American Southwest

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Under the direction of Dr. E. Charles Adams, Ms. Lisa Young will analyze materials from two archaeological sites located within Homolovi Ruins State Park, near Winslow, Arizona. These will provide the basis for her doctoral dissertation. The sites, a pithouse village labeled HP-36 and a nearby pueblo Homolovi II, span the period between ca. 700 A.D. - 1350 A.D. and document the development of a Native American settled way of life in the southwestern United States. Analyses will be conducted on the abundant faunal and floral remains recovered from the sites. Detailed examination of the associated lithic assemblages will provide insight into stone tool use. The data, taken together, will allow Ms. Young to determine when within this period the shift to a settled lifestyle occurred. Archaeologists working in the Southwest have long believed that the construction of semi-underground dwellings, given the amount of labor involved, indicate a sedentary way of life and have used such dwellings as an indicator of an agricultural mode of subsistence and sign of increased cultural complexity. Recently, however, other archaeologists have suggested that such is not the case and the builders of such houses may still follow a hunting and gathering way of life. Through examination of lithic, faunal, and floral remains Ms. Young will directly evaluate this hypothesis. This research is important for several reasons. It will increase our understanding of how complex societies such as our own emerge. It will also aid in the development of analytic techniques which can be applied to a variety of sites in many parts of the world. The project will increase our understanding of Native American prehistory and also assist in the training of an extremely promising young scientist.