Prior to the advent of agriculture, the native peoples in our area lived a hunting-and-gathering (H-G) life style, or moving across the landscape in a seasonal pattern hunting and gathering the food and materials necessary for survival. Following the development of agriculture, the Basketmakers, Fremont, and Anasazi farmed this area for close to 2,000 years. Somewhere around 1250 AD the agricultural system failed, and the local peoples either moved away or returned to a H-G lifeway. With the Euroamerican settlement of our area in the late 1800s, we essentially returned to an agricultural lifeway (although with a modern industrial component). Considering climate change, modern technology, population increase, and other factors both positive and negative, how long do you think this second event of southwestern agriculture will last? Will our descendants still be farming and raising livestock here in 2,000 years? Defend your answer.
Exercise 10 – A (Advanced School Activity)
Artifact Stories: Understanding Ancient Human Lifestyle
In studying prehistoric human settlements that are found in the same geographical region as the expedition will take place, investigators have unearthed a variety of items used by the early human inhabitants. What objects from these early settlements have in fact been unearthed? What kinds of objects reflect the human settlements in this region in the period of time ~15,000 to 1,000 years before present? Learn facts regarding specific sites of early North American native settlements in this area, including the length of time that each settlement is believed to have been occupied, major food sources, elevation, and economic basis. Are there similarities and differences between the facts and interpretations of these settlements compared to your environment? The ancestral Puebloans moved out of this region abruptly in the mid-1200s AD – why?
Exercise 10 – B (Advanced School Activity)
Human evolution has spanned several million years, with essentially modern humans present by about 200,000 years ago. Man entered the North America probably between 20,000 and 30,000 years ago, but we will be discussing local prehistory in the Formative (agricultural) period, about 1000 years ago. The people found in this area at that time were of the Fremont and Anasazi cultures, or Ancestral Peubloans.
Exercise 10 – C (Advanced School Activity)
Throughout the 800 years of ceramic (pottery) production, the styles of pottery and decoration changed. Archaeologists divide the Formative (agricultural) period in this area into four basic parts. From earliest to latest these are Basketmaker III, Pueblo I, Early Pueblo II, and Late Pueblo II (BM-III, P-I, early P-II, and late P-II). Each of these had distinct characteristics of the painted designs on the pots and bowls. Using Internet and library resources, can you note the differences in these period designs?
Exercise 10 – D (Advanced School Activity)
Prehistoric agriculture was dependent on several factors, chief among these were the amount of and timing of precipitation, and the elevation above sea level. How would these factors influence or determine agricultural possibilities? Can you identify other factors that the Anasazi and Fremont farmers would have had to take into account? The Anasazi farmers in our area used a dry-farming technique in that they used no irrigation or water control features. How would a prehistoric farmer minimize the potential for crop failure under these circumstances? Keep in mind that the climate 1000 years ago in our area was essentially the same as it is today.