An Examination of Food Storage in Grand Canyon National Park And
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AN EXAMINATION OF FOOD STORAGE IN GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK AND GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENT By Jenny Engleman A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of the Arts in Anthropology Northern Arizona University May 2018 Christian Downum, Ph.D., Chair Francis Smiley, Ph.D. Michelle Parsons, Ph.D. ABSTRACT AN EXAMINATION OF FOOD STORAGE IN GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK AND GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENT JENNY ENGLEMAN Ancient occupation of the American Southwest was full of uncertainty. Precipitation was unreliable, and sufficient edible plants and animal resources were linked to the productivity of the environment. Communities had to be resourceful and flexible in the face of scarcity. To ensure reliable food sources, ancient peoples often stored crops and other plant foods in sealed masonry structures, or granaries, protected in alcoves high on canyon walls. This thesis research compares ancient methods for coping with scarcity by examining the presence of patterns in prehispanic granary construction in the Grand Canyon and the Fiftymile Mountain region of Grand Staircase-Escalante. Granaries in the two regions date between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1250 and are associated with three main cultural groups: the Kayenta branch of the Ancestral Puebloans, the Virgin branch of the Ancestral Puebloans, and the Cohonina. Food storage practices are analyzed using adaptive concepts of optimization and risk minimization, adding to the understanding of the complex nature of human interaction with the environment. Although similar Ancestral Puebloan groups occupied the Grand Canyon and Grand Staircase-Escalante, the results of the research show variability in how granaries were incorporated into scarcity management. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I could not have completed this research without the guidance of my committee, Dr. Christian Downum, Dr. Francis Smiley, and Dr. Michelle Parsons. Thank you for your valuable feedback and encouragement along the way. Special thanks to Ellen Brennan, Matt Zweifel, and Meghann Vance for access to data and other resources. I would like to thank my friends and family for their unrelenting support and belief that I could make it through the process of writing. Special thanks to the queen of grammar, my Mom. iii Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………........ii Acknowledgments …………………………………………………………………………….…iii List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………………….vi List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………………vii Chapter One – Why food scarcity? ................................................................................................. 1 Research Questions ..................................................................................................................... 2 Significance ................................................................................................................................. 3 Chapter Two – Environmental and Cultural Context and the Archaeology of Food ..................... 5 Environmental Overview of the Northern Southwest ................................................................. 6 Culture History in the Southwest .............................................................................................. 10 Grand Canyon ........................................................................................................................... 11 Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument ....................................................................... 15 Previous Archaeological Research ............................................................................................ 17 Legacy Data ............................................................................................................................... 20 Archaeology of Food Storage ................................................................................................... 21 Food stress ................................................................................................................................. 21 Scarcity and Surplus .................................................................................................................. 23 Coping with Food Stress ........................................................................................................... 23 Sedentism .................................................................................................................................. 25 Social Complexity ..................................................................................................................... 25 Carrying Capacity ..................................................................................................................... 26 Economics ................................................................................................................................. 27 Nutrition .................................................................................................................................... 27 Threats ....................................................................................................................................... 28 Chapter Three – Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................... 29 History of Human Behavioral Ecology ..................................................................................... 30 Key Concepts in Human Behavioral Ecology ........................................................................... 31 Ecological Conditions ............................................................................................................... 33 Critique ...................................................................................................................................... 35 Chapter Four – Data Collection and Analysis .............................................................................. 37 Grand Canyon Data ................................................................................................................... 37 Grand Staircase-Escalante Data ................................................................................................ 39 iv Assumptions .............................................................................................................................. 39 Statistical Analysis .................................................................................................................... 40 Challenges ................................................................................................................................. 40 Chapter Five – Construction Patterns ........................................................................................... 42 Grand Canyon Results ............................................................................................................... 42 Variation by Cultural Group ..................................................................................................... 49 Granary Style ............................................................................................................................. 50 Granary Size .............................................................................................................................. 50 Quantity of Granaries ................................................................................................................ 51 Chronology ................................................................................................................................ 53 Grand Staircase-Escalante Results ............................................................................................ 57 Granary Style ............................................................................................................................. 57 Granary Size .............................................................................................................................. 58 Variation by Group .................................................................................................................... 58 Comparative Results ................................................................................................................. 59 Chapter Six – Modeling Food Storage in the Southwest .............................................................. 64 Quantifying Storage Capacity ................................................................................................... 64 Assumptions .............................................................................................................................. 65 Regional Comparison ................................................................................................................ 66 Chapter Seven – Discussion and Conclusions .............................................................................. 70 Patterns ...................................................................................................................................... 70 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 73 Grand Canyon Chronology ....................................................................................................... 75 Optimization .............................................................................................................................