Eleventh-century shift in timber procurement areas for the great houses of Chaco Canyon

Guiterman, Christopher H.; Swetnam, Thomas W.; Dean, Jeffrey

doi:10.1073/pnas.1514272112

Cited by 40 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…As an independent test of origin for the Plaza Tree, we compared the single tree-ring width series of JPB-99 to each tree-ring site chronology across the network of eight sites surrounding the San Juan Basin (Guiterman et al 2016). Ideally, we would also compare JPB-99 to a control site in Chaco Canyon, but there is no local tree-ring master chronology that extends back in time early enough (i.e., AD 700s–900s) to directly compare with the JPB-99.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ideally, we would also compare JPB-99 to a control site in Chaco Canyon, but there is no local tree-ring master chronology that extends back in time early enough (i.e., AD 700s–900s) to directly compare with the JPB-99. A chronology built from Chaco great-house timbers also cannot be used because it would contain a majority of nonlocal trees (Guiterman et al 2016). The oldest known local tree from Chaco Canyon is a remnant Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ; LTRR specimen CHM-190) that was found on the ground near the East Community great house (29Mc 560), dating to AD 917–1574 (Windes 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Strontium isotope data used in this study are provided in Table 1 and can be obtained from previously published studies cited herein. The regional network of tree-ring chronologies is available from Guiterman and others (2016:online supplemental materials). Raw tree-ring measurements for JPB-99 and the living Chaco trees will be made available upon request.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Convergence of Evidence Supports a Chuska Mountains Origin for the Plaza Tree of Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon

et al. 2020

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The iconic Plaza Tree of Pueblo Bonito is widely believed to have been a majestic pine standing in the west courtyard of the monumental great house during the peak of the Chaco Phenomenon (AD 850–1140). The ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) log was discovered in 1924, and since then, it has been included in “birth” and “life” narratives of Pueblo Bonito, although these ideas have not been rigorously tested. We evaluate three potential growth origins of the tree (JPB-99): Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, or a distant mountain range. Based on converging lines of evidence—documentary records, strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr), and tree-ring provenance testing—we present a new origin for the Plaza Tree. It did not grow in Pueblo Bonito or even nearby in Chaco Canyon. Rather, JPB-99 originated from the Chuska Mountains, over 50 km west of Chaco Canyon. The tree was likely carried to Pueblo Bonito sometime between AD 1100 and 1130, although why it was left in the west courtyard, what it meant, and how it might have been used remain mysteries. The origin of the Plaza Tree of Pueblo Bonito underscores deep cultural and material ties between the Chaco Canyon great houses and the Chuska landscape.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Convergence of Evidence Supports a Chuska Mountains Origin for the Plaza Tree of Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon

et al. 2020

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“…Samples were precisely crossdated using local tree‐ring chronologies (Guiterman , Guiterman et al. ). In the event that a specimen could not be crossdated by visual and/or skeleton‐plot techniques, we measured the growth patterns and used the program COFECHA (Holmes ) to aid in identifying dates that we checked visually.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal variability of human–fire interactions on the Navajo Nation

et al. 2019

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Unraveling the effects of climate and land use on historical fire regimes provides important insights into broader human-fire-climate dynamics, which are necessary for ecologically based forest management. We developed a spatial human land-use model for Navajo Nation forests across which we sampled a network of tree-ring fire history sites to reflect contrasting historical land-use intensity: high human use, primarily in the Chuska Mountains, and low human use, primarily on the central Defiance Plateau. We tested for and compared human-and climate-driven changes in the fire regimes by applying change point detection, regression, and superposed epoch analyses. The historical fire regimes and fire-climate relationships reflect those of similar forests regionally and are similar between the two Navajo landscapes until the early 1800s. We then determined that a previously identified, localized, early (1830s) decline in fire activity was geographically widespread across higher human-use sites. In contrast, fires continued to burn uninterrupted through this period at the lower use sites. Though the 1830s included significantly wet and cold periods that could have contributed to fire regime decline, human factors pose a more spatiotemporally consistent explanation. A rise in Navajo pastoralism in the 1820s-1830s was concentrated seasonally in the heavy use sites. By the 1880s, livestock numbers more than doubled, grazing became far more spatially widespread, and frequent fire regimes of Navajo forests collapsed. The last widespread fire recorded on either landscape was in 1886. In the Chuska Mountains, livestock and fire coexisted for over 50 yr between the initial 1832 fire decline and the end of frequent fires after 1886, an exceptional pattern in the western United States. Though unique in its timing, character, and spatial dynamics, the collapse of historical fire regimes in Navajo forests contributed to now over a century without frequent surface fire, leaving Navajo forests at risk for large, uncharacteristic high-severity fires.

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“…AD 800 to 1200), when the canyon emerged as the core of a regional socioeconomic system extending across the Colorado Plateau (Lekson 2006). Strontium isotope analyses are prominent in these approaches (Benson et al 2003; Benson et al 2006; English et al 2001; Grimstead et al 2015; Guiterman, Swetnam, and Dean 2016; Reynolds et al 2005) but with ambiguous results because 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios do not clearly differentiate Chaco Canyon from other potential long-distance sources (Drake et al 2014; Wills, Drake, and Dorshow 2014). Grimstead, Quade, and Stiner (2016) have used oxygen isotope analyses to assess the importation of animal resources into Chaco, but they did not include (or have access to) modern fauna from Chaco Canyon.…”

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confidence: 99%

Stable Oxygen Isotope Sourcing of Archaeological Fauna From Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Hamilton¹,

Drake²,

Wills³

et al. 2017

Am. Antiq.

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Modern datasets provide the context necessary for accurate interpretations of isotopic data from archaeological faunal assemblages. In this study, we use the oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) of modern small mammals from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to quantify expected isotopic variation in a local population. The δ18O values of local, modern small mammals encompass a broad range (−6.0‰ to 4.8‰ VPDB), which is expected given the extreme seasonal variation in the δ18O of precipitation on the Colorado Plateau (−11‰ to −3‰ VPDB). Isotopic ratios of small mammals obtained from excavated archaeological sites in Chaco Canyon (ca. AD 800 to 1200) show no significant differences with their modern counterparts, suggesting that there is no difference in the origins of the archaeological small-mammal collection and the modern, local Chaco Canyon small-mammal collection. In contrast, δ18O values of large mammals from Chaco archaeological sites are significantly different from those of modern specimens, reflecting a nonlocal, but also nonspecific, source in the past.

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Eleventh-century shift in timber procurement areas for the great houses of Chaco Canyon

Cited by 40 publications

References 31 publications

Convergence of Evidence Supports a Chuska Mountains Origin for the Plaza Tree of Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon

Convergence of Evidence Supports a Chuska Mountains Origin for the Plaza Tree of Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon

Spatiotemporal variability of human–fire interactions on the Navajo Nation

Stable Oxygen Isotope Sourcing of Archaeological Fauna From Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

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