Publication Date

Spring 5-14-2021

Abstract

It has long been assumed that fishes were unimportant in the diet of past Pueblo people in the U.S. Southwest. Yet, small numbers of fish remains are consistently recovered from Late pre-Hispanic/Early Historic archaeological sites in the Middle Rio Grande of New Mexico. The end of drought conditions may have impacted food choice and fishing decisions during this time. I use behavioral ecology to understand how fishing could have been an optimal food-getting strategy for Ancestral Pueblo farmers. Stable isotope analysis offers a way to account for environmental change. I provide a refined 13C Suess correction model to support the analysis of past fishing. The presence of aquatic ecological stability in the protohistoric Middle Rio Grande is revealed using stable isotope analysis and the refined 13C Suess correction model. Fish body size estimations provide a way to evaluate whether environmental conditions impacted the health of fishes and Ancestral Pueblo food choice. Stable isotope analysis and body size estimation suggest Ancestral Pueblo fishing strategies were associated with energy maximizing and risk reducing foraging behavior linked with environmental change. This mix of foraging goals could be significant in the development of fishing behavior throughout human history, and the analysis of Ancestral Pueblo fishing charts a course to change the human/fish narrative across the globe.

Keywords

Ancestral Pueblo, desert fishes, stable isotope analysis, ecological stability, 3D geometric morphometrics, 13C Suess effect

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Anthropology

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Anthropology

First Committee Member (Chair)

Emily Lena Jones

Second Committee Member

Frances M. Hayashida

Third Committee Member

Patricia L. Crown

Fourth Committee Member

Seth D. Newsome

Fifth Committee Member

Thomas F. Turner

Sixth Committee Member

Torben C. Rick

Download

Share

COinS