The Basketmaker Communities Project: Early Pueblo Society in the Mesa Verde Region

Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez CO

Investigators

Abstract

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Scott Ortman and colleagues will conduct two seasons of archaeological research in southwest Colorado, USA. The Basketmaker Communities Project (BCP) is a collaborative, public-private partnership between Crow Canyon Archaeological Center (CCAC), the University of Colorado-Boulder, and landowners in Indian Camp Ranch, a private residential community. The research will examine the demographic, social and environmental impacts of the adoption of domesticated food production in a well-preserved early agricultural settlement dating from the 7th century A.D. The adoption of domesticated food production is widely acknowledged as a pivotal moment in human evolution that set in motion a number of transformations in human demography, social organization, and environmental relationships. The results of this process are apparent in the archaeological record of Neolithic societies worldwide, but in many regions the archaeological record is either too spotty or too imprecisely-dated to observe these transformations in progress. However, the archaeological record of the northern U.S. Southwest is amenable to such study, and the BCP will take advantage of this opportunity through survey, excavation, and collections research on the Basketmaker III (A.D. 500-750) period in the Mesa Verde region. Specific project goals are: to determine the relative contribution of migration and intrinsic growth to the formation of Mesa Verde Pueblo society; to place the organization of BMIII communities within the continuum bracketed by Late Archaic foragers and Early Pueblo villages; and to evaluate the anthropogenic legacy of the first farmers to colonize the region. This will be accomplished through re-analysis of well-dated collections, surface survey of a well-preserved BMIII settlement cluster, and excavations at BMIII habitations and public architecture within this cluster. The BCP will develop a case study of the demographic, social and environmental impacts of the adoption of a Neolithic economy using one of the best-preserved archaeological records available. It will develop refined methods for dating BMIII habitations and will apply these methods to gauge the relative roles of migration and intrinsic population growth to the formation of Mesa Verde Pueblo society. It will also examine the socionatural transformations initiated by the adoption of a Neolithic economy by focusing on the period when they were actually underway. This will extend knowledge of how village communities emerged from the blending of indigenous foragers and immigrant farmers in the U.S. Southwest. The BCP will also support training and experience in excavation, laboratory and survey methods for 18 student interns and two graduate assistants over the next two years. Several thousand learners aged 12 and up will also participate directly in the research through informal science education programs at CCAC that emphasize the STEM concepts inherent in archaeology, the importance of historic preservation, and the extent of cultural diversity in the United States. American Indians will contribute to the research through service on CCAC's Native American Advisory Group. Finally, project results will be disseminated to researchers and the public through publication on CCAC's web site, and all project collections will be curated at Crow Canyon or another appropriate facility.