Historical Ecology in the Mesa Verde Region: Results from the Village Ecodynamics Project
Historical Ecology in the Mesa Verde Region: Results from the Village Ecodynamics Project
复制标题
梅萨维德地区的历史生态：村庄生态动力学项目的结果
DOI：
10.2307/40035814
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发表时间：
2007
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
C. D. Johnson
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Mark D. Varien;S. Ortman;Timothy A. Kohler;D. Glowacki;C. D. Johnson
利用3,176个居住地的占领历史，玉米农业生产力的新估计，以及对1,700多个建筑木材的分析，我们研究了普韦布洛人在七个世纪（公元600-1300年）占领梅萨维德考古区的一个密集定居点的历史生态。我们确定了两个人口增长和下降的周期，在公元9世纪后期，较早和较小的峰值，在公元13世纪中期，较晚和较大。我们还发现了几个移民事件。聚集定居点的形成，我们称之为社区中心，与人口的增加和每个定居周期所经历的时间呈正相关，并且在区域人口下降期间持续存在，但它与各时期平均的气候变化无关。建筑和土地利用的做法耗尽Pinyon-Juniper林地在第一个周期，但更稳定的领域系统和更大的建筑木材回收导致木材资源的可持续管理在第二个周期，尽管人口密度高得多。我们对玉米产量的估计低于以前的估计，特别是公元13世纪，当时研究地区的人口达到顶峰。即便如此，在我们研究地区人口完全减少之前的几十年里，相当大的潜在农业生产仍然没有得到利用。
Using the occupation histories of 3,176 habitation sites, new estimates of maize-agriculture productivity, and an analysis of over 1,700 construction timbers, we examine the historical ecology of Pueblo peoples during their seven-century occupation (A.D. 600–1300) of a densely settled portion of the Mesa Verde archaeological region. We identify two cycles of population growth and decline, the earlier and smaller peaking in the late-A.D. 800s, the later and larger in the mid-A.D. 1200s. We also identify several episodes of immigration. Formation of aggregated settlements, which we term community centers, is positively correlated with increasing population and the time elapsed in each settlement cycle, and it persists during periods of regional population decline, but it does not correlate with climatic variation averaged over periods. Architectural and land-use practices depleted pinyon-juniper woodlands during the first cycle, but more stable field systems and greater recycling of construction timber resulted in more sustainable management of wood resources during the second cycle, despite much higher population densities. Our estimates for maize production are lower than previous estimates, especially for the A.D. 1200s, when population reached its peak in the study area. Even so, considerable potential agricultural production remained unused in the decades that immediately preceded the complete depopulation of our study area.