Long and spatially variable Neolithic Demographic Transition in the North American Southwest

Abstract

Significance Population size greatly affects the human condition but is difficult for archaeologists to estimate. For the Neolithic North American Southwest, we use indirect methods to estimate birth rate and life expectancy, two major factors determining population size. The population boom usually accompanying the introduction of cultivated plants and animals, the “Neolithic Demographic Transition,” was slow to emerge here and was marked by considerable subregional variability in birth rate. This variability is likely related to differing morbidities and availability of agricultural lands in various subregions. In common with many Neolithic peoples, pre-Hispanic Puebloans experienced very high birth rates, especially between A.D. 500 and 1300 when they possibly exceeded the highest in the world today, and quite low life expectancy at birth.

Genetic Affiliation of Pre-Hispanic and Contemporary Mayas through Maternal Linage

“…Our results also support the expansion of maize with the human populations from the Mexican Gulf Coast to the south, as maize cultivation was dispersed from the lowland tropics of Tabasco earlier than 5,050 BCE to North and South America (Pohl et al 2007;Merrill et al 2009). This finding is consistent with the introduction of maize into the US Southwest prior to 2050 BCE (Merrill et al 2009;Kohler and Reese 2014), according to the population expansion from the Maya area to North and South America (Figure 4) through the long-distance migration of farmers from the Mexican Gulf Coast (Malhi et al 2003). These results support the historically based migration theories supported by archaeological data.…”

“…Furthermore, a phytolith analysis of sediments from San Andres, Tabasco, confirmed the diffusion of maize cultivation from the tropical Mexican Gulf Coast >7,000 years ago (~5800 BCE), followed by the rapid spread of the crop to South and North America by the ancestors of the Maya (Pohl et al 2007;da Fonseca et al 2015;Piperno et al 2009;Grobman et al 2012). This diffusion is further supported by evidence suggesting that the introduction of maize into the Southwest United States occurred before 2050 BCE (Merrill et al 2009;Kohler and Reese 2014).…”

The Osteological Paradox 20 Years Later: Past Perspectives, Future Directions

“…Sattenspiel and Harpending (1983) and Paine (1989), among others, have described the problem of demographic nonstationarity from a bioarchaeological perspective. Several researchers have proposed methods that address the probable violation of the stationarity assumption in past populations, such as using models that allow for the estimation of population growth rates or using proxies for birth rates based on the proportions of subadults in skeletal samples Buikstra et al 1986;Kohler and Reese 2014;White 2014;Wood et al 2002). Archaeological research is also addressing migration and population growth (or decline) through isotope analysis (e.g., Beaumont et al 2013;Keenleyside et al 2011;Knudson et al 2012), ancient DNA studies (e.g., Li et al 2011;O'Fallon and Fehren-Schmitz 2011;Raff et al 2011), biodistance analysis (e.g., McIlvaine et al 2014;Torres-Rouff et al 2013), and GIS-based analyses of settlement patterns and trends in population size (Jones 2010(Jones , 2014.…”

Postclassic expansion of Mesoamerican biocultural characteristics into Sonora, Mexico

“…The median age at death was sometime during the third decade of life (20-35 years old) and very few adults survived into older adulthood (>45 years old). These patterns in mortality are fairly common to late pre-contact populations in the region (Kohler and Reese 2014;McClelland 2015).…”