A Study of the Site Specific Distribution of<i>Agave Parryi</i>in East Central Arizona

Minnis, Paul E.; Plog, Stephen

doi:10.1080/00231940.1976.11757854

Cited by 24 publications

(27 citation statements)

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“…At least four species were probably cultivated prehistorically in central Arizona: Agave murpheyi Gibson, Agave delamateri Hodgson and Slauson, Agave phillipsiana Hodgson, A . parryi and two unclassified taxa (Minnis & Plog 1976; Gentry 1982; Hodgson & Slauson 1995; Hodgson 2001b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of these, only A. parryi still occurs in both wild and relict populations near archaeological sites. Minnis & Plog (1976) found a number of A. parryi populations growing near archaeological sites in a 30‐km 2 area just above and northeast of the Mogollon Rim in north‐central Arizona, where pre‐Columbian Agave cultivation has been less intensively studied than farther south in Arizona and Mexico. Based on the absence of any nearby wild populations and their occurrence outside the documented range of A. parryi (and at higher elevations), Minnis and Plog concluded that these were relict populations remaining from AD 700–1300 that represented anthropogenic range expansion from A. parryi ’s more widespread wild distribution south of the rim.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the absence of any nearby wild populations and their occurrence outside the documented range of A. parryi (and at higher elevations), Minnis and Plog concluded that these were relict populations remaining from AD 700–1300 that represented anthropogenic range expansion from A. parryi ’s more widespread wild distribution south of the rim. Although they commented that D. Braun had found A. parryi associated with archaeological sites below the rim in the Agua Fria watershed near Perry Mesa, Minnis & Plog (1976) merely attributed the A. parryi populations north of the rim to human introduction; they stopped short of calling them relicts from prehistoric cultivation. Some question remains as to whether Agave was actively cultivated in this area, or, alternatively, relict populations are remnants from refuse piles after harvest of wild plants and transport to settlements for processing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inferring ancientAgavecultivation practices from contemporary genetic patterns

et al. 2010

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Several Agave species have played an important ethnobotanical role since prehistory in Mesoamerica and semiarid areas to the north, including central Arizona. We examined genetic variation in relict Agave parryi populations northeast of the Mogollon Rim in Arizona, remnants from anthropogenic manipulation over 600 years ago. We used both allozymes and microsatellites to compare genetic variability and structure in anthropogenically manipulated populations with putative wild populations, to assess whether they were actively cultivated or the result of inadvertent manipulation, and to determine probable source locations for anthropogenic populations. Wild populations were more genetically diverse than anthropogenic populations, with greater expected heterozygosity, polymorphic loci, effective number of alleles and allelic richness. Anthropogenic populations exhibited many traits indicative of past active cultivation: fixed heterozygosity for several loci in all populations (nonexistent in wild populations); fewer multilocus genotypes, which differed by fewer alleles; and greater differentiation among populations than was characteristic of wild populations. Furthermore, manipulated populations date from a period when changes in the cultural context may have favoured active cultivation near dwellings. Patterns of genetic similarity among populations suggest a complex anthropogenic history. Anthropogenic populations were not simply derived from the closest wild A. parryi stock; instead they evidently came from more distant, often more diverse, wild populations, perhaps obtained through trade networks in existence at the time of cultivation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inferring ancientAgavecultivation practices from contemporary genetic patterns

et al. 2010

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“…They include a list of other resources that may have been as important, such as mesquite pods, sotol caudex, pinyon nuts, and tunas (Castetter et al 1938). This view is not supported by either the archaeological (Dering 1979(Dering , 1999Evans 1992;Fish et al 1985;Minnis 1976;Phippen 1999;Thoms 2008a) or ethnohistoric (De Leon 1971;Griffen 1969;Taylor 1972;Wade 2003) evidence, which both confirm that agave resources were the major dietary staple across the Northern Chihuahuan Desert.…”

Section: Ethnographic Data From the Greater Southwestmentioning

confidence: 71%

Assessing diet and seasonality in the Lower Pecos canyonlands: an evaluation of coprolite specimens as records of individual dietary decisions

Riley

2012

Journal of Archaeological Science

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were not readily available and may be considered a dependable but undesirable meal.The second menu consists of pit-baked lechuguilla (Agave lechuguilla) and sotol (Dasylirion sp.) caudices, or hearts, common throughout the cool season. This menu entails high processing costs, but would provide a reliable caloric return. The third menu exhibits a monolithic reliance on prickly pear fruits, or tunas, during the summer.The ease of harvest and consumption is reflected in the seasonal dominance of this resource, which was assuredly a highly desirable meal. The dietary patterns recorded in the coprolite specimens from the Lower Pecos canyonlands demonstrate a seasonally variable diet-breadth that incorporated low-ranked resources during times of seasonal scarcity as well as a monolithic dependence on high-ranked resources when they were available in the local landscape.

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“…It is well established, however, that agave was cultivated at pre-Hispanic sites in central and northern Mexico and the American Southwest (Evans 1992;McClung de Tapia et al 1992;Minnis and Plog 1976;Phippen 1999;Trombold 1985). Evidence demonstrating agave cultivation archaeologically is found in many sites dating from ca.…”

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confidence: 96%

Analyzing the Impact of Agave Cultivation on Famine Risk in Arid Pre-Hispanic Northern Mexico

2008

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Cultivation of agave was common in preHispanic northern Mexico and the American Southwest, and scholars generally accept that it was a strategy to ensure food supply during years of drought when the maize crop failed. Some even suggest that incorporating agave cultivation make large, nucleated settlements possible in arid northern Mexico ca. 500-900 CE. Yet the environmental circumstances under which farmers could reasonably expect such a strategy to decrease the chances of agricultural failure are not well understood. We explore the potential of this crop complementarity by assessing the risk of famine-induced migration events in different idealized environmental settings. We use Monte Carlo simulation to analyze a simple discrete-time, age-structured stochastic model for maize and agave agroecology, deriving the climatological conditions under which agave could have significantly reduced the probability of short-and long-term famine events. Investments in agave production made the most sense where average annual rainfall was between the levels that would ensure maximum maize yield and those that would mean loss of the maize crop due to droughtrelated mortality. Cultivating agave had little impact on famine risk at high (maize yields sufficient) and low (failure of both maize and agave) rainfall levels. Perhaps more surprisingly, it had its highest impact at moderate rainfall levels when variance in rainfall was relatively low. While a higher variance in rainfall increased the number of 'good' years for maize-where production would exceed demand and allow for storage-it also increased the probability of simultaneous failures in both agave and maize production. These findings are difficult to apply to specific times and places in the past, because rainfall distribution in complex, environments change, and it is difficult to take all relevant human interventions into account. The analysis does, however, offer support for the proposition that agave cultivation could have significantly enhanced survival probabilities of large, nucleated settlements in certain circumstances. It remains for further study to identify such circumstances more precisely geographically and temporally.

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A Study of the Site Specific Distribution ofAgave Parryiin East Central Arizona

Cited by 24 publications

References 1 publication

Inferring ancientAgavecultivation practices from contemporary genetic patterns

Inferring ancientAgavecultivation practices from contemporary genetic patterns

Assessing diet and seasonality in the Lower Pecos canyonlands: an evaluation of coprolite specimens as records of individual dietary decisions

Analyzing the Impact of Agave Cultivation on Famine Risk in Arid Pre-Hispanic Northern Mexico

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