Environmental Characteristics of the<scp>a.d.</scp>900–1300 Period in the Central Mesa Verde Region

West, Carla R. Van; Dean, Jeffrey

doi:10.1080/00231940.2000.11758420

Cited by 39 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In each run, the same fixed paleoproductivity pattern is used. This pattern is based upon tree-ring data (Van West, 1994) and an impression of its changing mean and variability through time can be gained from figure 7 (Van West and Dean, 2000), which is however considerably smoothed. Notice that the rainfall pattern exhibits substantial variability over the 400-year period which will put some stress on the system's resilience, or ability to bounce back following perturbation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Generalized Reciprocal Exchange on the Resilience of Social Networks: An Example from the Prehispanic Mesa Verde Region

Reynolds

Kohler

Kobti

2003

Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory

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The initial version of the model used in this study, Village 1.0, was implemented by Tim Kohler and a team of developers mostly from Washington State University. The original model addressed environmental constraints only and did not attempt to model social interaction. In a recent paper we employed Cultural Algorithms as a framework in which to add selected social considerations. In this paper we extend our previous model by adding the ability of agents to perform symmetrically initiated or asymmetrically initiated generalized reciprocal exchange. We have developed a state model for agents' knowledge and, given agents' different responses based on this knowledge. Experiments have shown that the network structure of the systems without reciprocity was the simplest but least resilient. As we allowed agents more opportunities to exchange resources we produced more complex network structures, larger populations, and more resilient systems. Furthermore, allowing the agents to buffer their requests by using a finite state model improved the relative resilience of these larger systems. Introducing reciprocity that can be triggered by both requestors and donors produced the largest number of successful donations. This represents the synergy produced by using the information from two complementary situations within the network. Thus, the network has more information with which it can work and tended to be more resilient than otherwise.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Generalized Reciprocal Exchange on the Resilience of Social Networks: An Example from the Prehispanic Mesa Verde Region

Reynolds

Kohler

Kobti

2003

Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory

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“…Archaeological studies of the causes of the depopulation have focused primarily on specific areas, such as the Mesa Verde region of southwestern Colorado , Van West and Dean 2000, Kohler et al 2010) and the Lower Salt River Valley of modern day Phoenix, Arizona (Graybill et al 2006, rather than on the greater SW/NW region. Most studies have moved beyond early single cause depopulation explanations such as droughts and floods and increasingly identify complex interactions between multiple social and environmental variables, such as the relationship between rising population levels, the increasing use of lands marginal for farming, and social conflict .…”

Section: Southwest/northwest Depopulation and Causesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human securities, sustainability, and migration in the ancient U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest

Ingram¹,

Patrick²

2021

E&S

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“…Although drought is a perennial concern in the US Southwest, this period was complicated by severe and prolonged droughts in the middle 1100s and during the 1200s C.E. [ 26 , 27 ]. Almost the entire twelfth century, in fact, was dry.…”

Section: The Zuni and Mesa Verde Socio-ecological Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Warning Signals of Social Transformation: A Case Study from the US Southwest

et al. 2016

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Recent research in ecology suggests that generic indicators, referred to as early warning signals (EWS), may occur before significant transformations, both critical and non-critical, in complex systems. Up to this point, research on EWS has largely focused on simple models and controlled experiments in ecology and climate science. When humans are considered in these arenas they are invariably seen as external sources of disturbance or management. In this article we explore ways to include societal components of socio-ecological systems directly in EWS analysis. Given the growing archaeological literature on ‘collapses,’ or transformations, in social systems, we investigate whether any early warning signals are apparent in the archaeological records of the build-up to two contemporaneous cases of social transformation in the prehistoric US Southwest, Mesa Verde and Zuni. The social transformations in these two cases differ in scope and severity, thus allowing us to explore the contexts under which warning signals may (or may not) emerge. In both cases our results show increasing variance in settlement size before the transformation, but increasing variance in social institutions only before the critical transformation in Mesa Verde. In the Zuni case, social institutions appear to have managed the process of significant social change. We conclude that variance is of broad relevance in anticipating social change, and the capacity of social institutions to mitigate transformation is critical to consider in EWS research on socio-ecological systems.

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Environmental Characteristics of thea.d.900–1300 Period in the Central Mesa Verde Region

Cited by 39 publications

References 28 publications

The Effects of Generalized Reciprocal Exchange on the Resilience of Social Networks: An Example from the Prehispanic Mesa Verde Region

The Effects of Generalized Reciprocal Exchange on the Resilience of Social Networks: An Example from the Prehispanic Mesa Verde Region

Human securities, sustainability, and migration in the ancient U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest

Early Warning Signals of Social Transformation: A Case Study from the US Southwest

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