Prehistoric Reservoirs and Water Basins in the Mesa Verde Region: Intensification of Water Collection Strategies during the Great Pueblo Period

1997 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 664-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard H. Wilshusen ◽  
Melissa J. Churchill ◽  
James M. Potter
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Mesa Verde ◽  
Temporal Placement ◽  
Collection Strategies ◽  
Mesa Verde Region

More than 20 examples of probable prehistoric water basins with minimum storage capacities of 10,000–25,000 gallons of water are known in the Mesa Verde region of the American Southwest. The temporal placement of these artificially constructed basins, their exact uses, and their importance as public architecture have been poorly understood. We summarize the general literature on these features, give a detailed account of the excavation results of a dam and basin that we tested and dated, and then synthesize all available data from the gray literature on prehistoric water basins in our area. We argue that water basins and reservoirs in the northern Southwest typically stored domestic water for particular communities and that the first evidence of these public features is probably associated with Chaco-era communities. These features represent early experiments with large-scale water conservation and suggest a long-term commitment to locales by specific communities. Their locations along the canyon edges foreshadow shifts in settlement and increased water conservation strategies that become more pronounced in the later Great Pueblo-period villages-the last villages in this area before the migration of Puebloan people to the south after A.D. 1280.

Cannibalism, Warfare, and Drought in the Mesa Verde Region during the Twelfth Century A.D.

2000 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Billman ◽  
Patricia M. Lambert ◽  
Banks L. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Heat Exposure ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Cut Marks ◽  
Broken Bones ◽  
Mesa Verde ◽  
Bone Fragments ◽  
Habitation Site ◽  
Mesa Verde Region

AbstractThe existence of cannibalism has emerged as one of the most controversial issues in the archaeology of the American Southwest. In this paper, we examine this issue by presenting the results of our investigation at 5MT10010, a small early Pueblo III habitation site in southwestern Colorado. Battered, broken bones from seven individuals were discovered in two adjacent pithouses at 5MT10010. Mixed and incomplete remains of four adults and an adolescent were recovered from the floor and ventilator shaft of one pithouse; the remains of two subadults were found on the floor and in various subfeatures of the second. Cut marks and percussion scars implicate humans in the disarticulation and reduction of these bodies. Evidence of heat exposure on some bone fragments and laboratory analyses of a human coprolite recovered from one of the pithouses support the interpretation that people prepared and consumed human body parts. The discovery of disarticulated human remains at 5MT10010 is one of a number of similar finds in the northern Southwest. Analysis of cases from the Mesa Verde region indicates a sharp increase in cannibalism around A.D. 1150, a time of drought and the collapse of the Chaco system. The causes, consequences, and nature of this apparent outbreak of cannibalism are examined in light of 5MT10010 and other recent finds.

Evaluation of Painted Pottery from the Mesa Verde Region Using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)

2002 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Speakman ◽  
Hector Neff
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Laser Ablation ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Inductively Coupled ◽  
Mesa Verde ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
Plasma Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Mesa Verde Region

For decades archaeologists have struggled with the problem of accurately determining organic and mineral-based paints in pottery from the American Southwest. Using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), we have developed a simple and cost-effective method that permits classification of painted surfaces into mineral and organic-based categories. By applying this method to Mesa Verde and Mancos Black-on-white pottery from the Mesa Verde Region, we were able to distinguish easily between mineral and organic-based paints. Preliminary data also suggest that multiple sub-groups of mineral-based paints exist within these ceramic types, indicating that multiple recipes for manufacturing paint may have been employed by prehistoric potters from this region.

Improving scheduling, benchmarking and forecasting to boost irrigation productivity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Western ◽  
Danlu Guo ◽  
Arash Parehkar ◽  
Zitian Gao ◽  
Dongryeol Ryu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Limited Resource ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Project Outcomes ◽  
Crop Types ◽  
Irrigation Practices

<p>Irrigation water is an expensive and limited resource, and optimized water use is beneficial to saving water while boosting productivity. This project aims to develop integrated irrigation scheduling, benchmarking and forecasting capabilities to inform optimal irrigation practices and the suitable tools and information required for this. To achieve this, we designed a three-year project which combines simulations and field-scale monitoring. One aspect of this project is to develop a comprehensive uncertainty framework to better understand the uncertainty in scheduling, which is informed by soil water models, along with multiple sources of information such as soil, crop, weather and field management. Besides, we are also conducting large-scale benchmarking study to identify better irrigation practices across multiple farms, fields, crop types and seasons. The project outcomes will be integrated with our partner, Rubicon’s water ordering portal and adopted by most Australian irrigation farmers, with significant long-term benefits expected in agricultural production and water conservation. </p>

High-Resolution Climatic Analysis and Southwest Biogeography

Science ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 232 (4746) ◽  
pp. 27-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
RONALD P. NEILSON
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Ecological Monitoring ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Photosynthetic Pathway ◽  
Desert Shrubs ◽  
The North ◽  
High Frequency Variability ◽  
Effect Relation ◽  
Effect Hypothesis

Meteorologists and climatologists have produced significant new data on the fluid dynamics of the atmosphere, thus allowing biologists to examine more closely the cause-effect relation between the large-scale structure of the atmosphere and the dominant patterns of global biogeography. The inability to characterize the high-frequency variability of the weather has constrained such efforts. A method that allows year-to-year patterns of weather variability to be characterized in the contexts of global warming and cooling trends is applied in a combined analysis of long-term monthly weather records and data from an ecological monitoring project in southern New Mexico. The analysis suggests a cause-effect hypothesis of recent desertification in the North American Southwest. The links between the atmosphere and the biosphere are based on the fundamentally different responses to specific weather regimes of semidesert grasses with a C4photosynthetic pathway and desert shrubs with a C3photosynthetic pathway. The hypothesis appears to be of sufficient generality to explain the complex, but well-documented, floristic changes that have occurred in the same region since the last glacial maximum.

scholarly journals Perception-based Assessment of Ecosystem Services of Abijata-Shalla National Park Wetlands in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denbel Bedo ◽  
Abate Mekuriaw ◽  
Amare Bantider
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Water Abstraction

Abstract Abijata-Shalla Park was established as one of Ethiopia's national parks to safeguard wetlands and ecosystem services (ESs). Some of the ESs that are offered by the wetlands are currently depleting and disappearing rather than being protected. Understanding the drivers behind these changes can help individuals and policymakers design mitigation measures. The objective of this case was to assess ESs and the drivers of change with highlighting on the Abijata wetland. In addition to a household survey and group discussion, personal interviews and field observation were employed to collect data. Using these data, the various ESs were assessed and ranked from 1-10 according to local perception. Grading scales such as very high (−2), high (−1), neutral (0), low (+1), and very low (+2) were employed to analyse the drivers of ESs change. Analyses of the study revealed that some of the ESs, including fish, papyrus, water reeds, hunting and spiritual services, existed before 1991, but have since disappeared from the site. Twenty ESs are available; 11 services pertain to provisioning, followed by 4 regulating, 3 cultural and 2 supporting services. Wetland for cultivation ranked highest, followed by domestic water supply and pasture. All services, with the exception of arable land and pasture, are on the decline. Water abstraction is the primary driver of ESs change, followed by population growth and deforestation. The park existed as a "paper park." Water withdrawals from the Ziway-Shalla sub-basin should be restricted. Instead, focus on water conservation strategies to make better use of abstracted water.

The Depopulation of Sand Canyon Pueblo, A Large Ancestral Pueblo Village in Southwestern Colorado

2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin A. Kuckelman
Keyword(s):  
Human Remains ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Ancestral Pueblo ◽  
Mesa Verde ◽  
Hunting And Gathering ◽  
Archaeobotanical Remains ◽  
The Village ◽  
Abundant Data ◽  
Mesa Verde Region

Archaeologists in the Mesa Verde region of the American Southwest have long sought the catalysts of the complete depopulation of the region by Pueblo farmers in the late thirteenth century. Ten years of excavations by the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center at Sand Canyon Pueblo, a large village that was occupied from approximately A.D. 1250 to 1280, yielded abundant data regarding the depopulation of the village and shed new light on causes of this intriguing regional emigration. Comparative analyses of faunal and archaeobotanical remains from middens vs. abandonment assemblages reveal a shift from farming to hunting and gathering that coincided with the onset of the Great Drought about A.D. 1276. Osteological and taphonomic analyses of human remains found in abandonment contexts reveal details of an attack during which many residents were killed and that ended the occupation of the village. These findings from Sand Canyon Pueblo suggest that climate-induced food stress and consequent violent conflict contributed to the depopulation of the Mesa Verde region in the late A.D. 1200s.

Botanical Signatures of Water Storage Duration in a Hohokam Reservoir

1997 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Bayman ◽  
Manuel R. Palacios-Fest ◽  
Lisa W. Huckell
Keyword(s):  
Sonoran Desert ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Tohono O'odham ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Storage Duration ◽  
Canal Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation Technology ◽  
South Central

Although large-scale canal irrigation technology is commonly associated with the prehistoric Hohokam (A.D. 200–1450) of south-central Arizona, earthen reservoirs were essential for domestic water storage in areas of the Sonoran Desert away from perennial streams. Interpretations of seasonal water storage in prehistoric Hohokam reservoirs are often based on direct analogy with the historic Tohono O'odham (formerly called the Papago). This assumption of seasonal water storage is a hypothesis that should be tested rather than uncritically accepted by archaeologists. Sediments recovered with a hand-driven bucket auger from an earthen reservoir at a large Classic-period (ca. A.D. 1200–1450) Hohokam site (AZ AA:3:32 [ASM]) yielded uncarbonized seeds of an aquatic plant belonging to the genus Lemna (duckweed). The high number of Lemna seeds indicates that water may have been stored on a long-term, perhaps perennial, basis. Analyses of sediments from other reservoirs should generate further discoveries of uncarbonized seeds or other biological remains (e.g., pollen, phytoliths, diatoms, snails) and refine our understanding of prehistoric water storage facilities throughout the world.

scholarly journals Synthesis of past isotope hydrology investigations in the area of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Geologija ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-270
Author(s):  
Klara Nagode ◽  
Tjaša Kanduč ◽  
Sonja Lojen ◽  
Branka Bračič Železnik ◽  
Brigita Jamnik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Numerical Data ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Sava River ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ljubljansko Barje ◽  
The Sava River

Water isotope investigations are a powerful tool in water resources research as well as in understanding the impact that humans have on the water cycle. This paper reviews past hydrological investigations of the Ljubljansko polje and Ljubljansko barje aquifers that supply drinking water to the City of Ljubljana, with an emphasis on hydrogen, oxygen and carbon stable isotope ratios. Information about the methods used and results obtained are summarised, and the knowledge gaps identified. Overall, we identified 102 records published between 1976 and 2019. Among them, 41 reported stable isotope data of groundwater, surface water and precipitation and were further analysed. Isotope investigations of the Ljubljansko barje began in 1976, while groundwater and surface water investigations of the Ljubljansko polje and along the Sava River began as late as 1997. Isotope investigations of carbon started even later in 2003 in the Ljubljansko polje and in 2010 in the Ljubljansko barje. These investigations were performed predominantly in the frame of short-term groundwater research projects at five main wellfields and sites along the Sava River. Almost no large-scale, long-term stable isotope studies have been conducted. The exceptions include groundwater monitoring by the Union Brewery in Ljubljana (2003- 2014) and precipitation in Ljubljana since 1981. Since 2011, more detailed surveys of the Ljubljansko barje were performed, and in 2018, the first extensive investigation started at wellfields and objects that form part of the domestic water supply system. Given the number of available studies, we felt that publishing all the numerical data and appropriate metadata would allow for a better understanding of the short and long-term dynamics of water circulation in the urban environment. In the future, systematic long-term approaches, including the appropriate use of isotopic techniques, are needed.

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