essay
The depopulation of the northern San Juan: Conditions in the turbulent 1200s
Journal of anthropological archaeology • 14 (2) • Published In 1995 • Pages: 143-169 p,
By: Lipe, William D..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Lipe discusses the push and pull forces that lead to the depopulation through emigration of the four corners region. He is mostly concerned with the AD 1200-1300 time period, but his discussion ranges from AD 900 to 1600. He discusses the chronology of the abandonment and how completely various areas were abandoned. He uses tree cutting dates to examine construction periods to determine when areas were abandoned. Population densities are discussed along with settlement and community patterns. Push forces that are examined include subsistence and resource depletion, conflict such as warfare, the reduction of long-distance trade items in the AD 1200s, and the 'great drought' of AD 1276-1299. Forces that might have pulled or encouraged people to migrate may have included new developments in the Rio Grande or Western Pueblo area, more reliable summer rainfall, and different religious ideologies. The answers to the reasons people migrated aren't fully understood as Lipe points out that "once some people left, the situation should have improved for those who remained." (page 163). Lipe also points out that the katsina cult spread in the AD 1300s and 1400s along with a pan-Southwestern earth and fertility cult. Both of these would then be too late to act as attractions for migration. However, movement and social networks for various kinds of exchange is a long-established element of the area so "people of the Northern San Juan had both historical traditions and current information to bring to bear on the question of whether or not to emigrate." (page 164).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Internal migration
- Settlement patterns
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Population
- Geography
- Environmental quality
- War
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Early Anasazi
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2012
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry; 2011
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 900-700 BP (AD 1100-1300)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- northeastern Arizona, southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- William D. Lipe
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 164-169)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 82644021
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Indians of North America--Antiquities