A research prospectus for a study of the paleoecology and prehistoric agriculture in the environs of Bandelier National Monument
Cully JF. 1986. A research prospectus for a study of the paleoecology and prehistoric agriculture in the environs of Bandelier National Monument. University of New Mexico, Department of Biology. Albuquerque, NM
INTRODUCTION The purpose of this prospectus is to provide a coherent research plan that will allow the National Park Service to coordinate paleoecological and paleoagricultural research at Bandelier National Monument. There has been extensive archeological work on the Pajarito Plateau (Hill and Trierweiler 1986) and at White Rock Canyon (Biella and Chapman 1977) recently, with an interest in the adaptedness of settlement patterns and the ecological underpinnings of that settlement. There is, however, a paucity of data on natural and agricultural productivity. The research proposed in this prospectus is an attempt to fill some of the gaps in our knowledge. The prospectus reviews the literature on the modern climate, ecology and paleoecology at Bandelier as well as some of the ethnographic literature on the nearby modern Pueblos. Tree ring analysis performed by the Tree Ring Lab at the University of Arizona (Rose and others 1982) was analyzed to see if climate changes could be identified during the period 1100-1400 and the present. Based on the results of that analysis, a modern ecological research program is recommended that will provide data on the distributions and abundance of plants and animals that are thought to have been important to the Anasazi occupants at Bandelier.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Cully, Jack
- Date of Issue
- 1986-06-04
- Publisher
- University of New Mexico, Department of Biology
- Units
- BAND
- Keywords
- Archaeology, CRBIB, Pajarito Plateau (N.M.), Paleoecology, Pueblo Indians-Agriculture