Resource Competition Among the Uinta Basin Fremont

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Resource Competition Among the Uinta Basin Fremont Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 12-2018 Resource Competition Among the Uinta Basin Fremont Elizabeth A. Hora-Cook Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Hora-Cook, Elizabeth A., "Resource Competition Among the Uinta Basin Fremont" (2018). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7338. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7338 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RESOURCE COMPETITION AMONG THE UINTA BASIN FREMONT by Elizabeth A. Hora-Cook A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Anthropology Approved: _____________________________ _____________________________ Judson Byrd Finley, Ph.D. Molly Boeka Cannon, Ph.D. Major Professor Committee Member _____________________________ _____________________________ David Byers, Ph.D. Laurens H. Smith, Ph.D. Committee Member Vice President for Research and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2018 ii Copyright © Elizabeth A. Hora-Cook 2018 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Resource Competition among the Uinta Basin Fremont by Elizabeth A. Hora-Cook Utah State University, 2018 Major Professor: Judson Byrd Finley Department: Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology This study uses the Ideal Free Distribution (IFD) model to explain material culture changes in the Uinta Basin between A.D. 0 – 1300. IFD predicts the order in which habitats will be exploited based on their relative suitability and suggests hypothetical behaviors that individual actors might engage in to improve or maintain the relative suitability of a habitat (Codding and Bird 2015; Fretwell and Lucas 1970). One prediction of IFD is that behaviors indicating resource competition will become more frequent when population density increases. I test whether this hypothesis explains the changes in storage features by considering storage behavior as a manifestation of resource competition. To determine changes in habitat suitability I monitor changes in population frequency and drought severity through radiocarbon and tree-ring data, respectively. Using these proxy datasets, I test whether behaviors indicative of resource iv competition correlate with periods of Fremont population increases and paleoenvironmental degradation (Bettinger 2006; Fretwell and Lucas 1970). These tests explain aspects of Fremont culture change between A.D. 0 – 1300. Relatively low frequencies of storage features between A.D. 0 – 700 suggest low competition for resources due to habitats that could absorb population expansions. Aggregation of Fremont agriculturalists into large villages and the use of larder storage to secure agricultural surpluses were likely made possible by low population densities (Leach 1970; Spangler 2000a, 2000b; Talbot and Richens 1996). After A.D. 700 increasing competition for resources as evidenced by higher frequencies of storage features drove the shift to smaller village sites and defensive architecture (Boomgarten 2009; Patterson and Flanigan 2010; Spangler 2000a, 2000b). This study affirms the utility of IFD in archaeological contexts and the use of radiocarbon dates as population and behavioral proxies but reveals that more work is necessary to use some climatological reconstructions as proxy measures of habitat suitability. (105 pages) v PUBLIC ABSTRACT Resource Competition among the Uinta Basin Fremont Elizabeth A. Hora-Cook Archaeologists describe the Uinta Fremont (A.D. 0 – 1300) as a mixed foraging- farming society that underwent a dramatic social change from A.D. 700 – 1000. Researchers observe through different architectural styles and subsistence activity a change from large, aggregated settlements to more dispersed and defensively oriented villages and hamlets. The Ideal Free Distribution (IFD) model provides an explanatory framework through which to interpret these changes. IFD predicts the order in which people or animals will occupy habitats based on a habitat’s relative suitability and suggests hypothetical behaviors that people or animals might engage in to improve or maintain the relative suitability of a habitat. One prediction of IFD is that behaviors indicating resource competition will become more frequent when population density increases. I test whether this hypothesis explains changes in storage features by considering storage behavior as a manifestation of resource competition, and I investigate whether storage feature frequency correlates with periods of Fremont population increases and paleoenvironmental degradation. These tests explain aspects of Fremont culture change and suggest future research possibilities. Storage feature frequency, representing resource competition, remains low vi from A.D. 0 – 700, suggesting that the habitats could absorb growing Fremont populations. After A.D. 700, however, resource competition rose and remained high, a condition that likely spurred the defensive architecture and dispersed settlements that became increasingly common after A.D. 1000. The successes and limitations of applying IFD to the archaeological record point the way toward future uses of the model to investigate settlement spacing and reaffirm the use of radiocarbon data in archaeological science. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people and agencies share credit for helping me complete this study. I could not have begun my studies at all without financial assistance from the SSWA department secured for me by Dr. Steven Simms and continuing research assistantships provided by Dr. Finley’s research. I received extensive help completing tree-ring research from Dr. Justin Derose, including access to his lab and Dr. Roger Kjelgren’s lab in the College of Agricultural Science at Utah State University. Access to our tree sampling site was funded by the National Park Service Dinosaur National Monument and permitted through the Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery (U.S Fish and Wildlife Service). The development of the radiocarbon database was possible in large part due to Jerry Spangler, who allowed me to use his previous database to build on. Additional records were obtained with the help of Wayne Prokopetz and Lisa Baldwin at Dinosaur National Monument, Arie Leeflang at the Utah Division of State History, and access to Colorado Compass. The staff of Utah State History, principally Dr. Chris Merritt, provided additional support for this study. My cohort, Anastasia Lugo Mendez and Hillary Jones, endured hundreds of hours of thesis chatter and offered invaluable advice. My major advisor, Dr. Judson Finley, and my committee members, Drs. David Byers and Molly Boeka Cannon provided much needed expertise and aid. Lastly thank you to my husband, Rhett, for holding our lives together. Elizabeth A. Hora-Cook viii CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii PUBLIC ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x TABLE OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xi INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 PREDICTING CONFLICT IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS: A HYPOTHESIS DRAWN FROM THE IDEAL FREE DISTRIBUTION ...................... 3 The Ideal Free Distribution .................................................................................... 3 Resource Competition Hypothesis ......................................................................... 8 Hypotheses and Test Prediction ........................................................................... 10 THE UINTA BASIN FREMONT .................................................................................... 13 Uinta Fremont Cultural Change and Trends ........................................................ 17 A CLIMATE RECORD FOR THE UINTA BASIN ........................................................ 23 FREMONT DEMOGRAPHY IN THE UINTA BASIN: A RADIOCARBON RECORD OF LATE HOLOCENE FORAGER-FARMERS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT .............................................. 31 ix Fremont Population Frequencies .......................................................................... 38 Summed Probability Distributions of Storage Behaviors .................................... 43 Summary .............................................................................................................. 45 TESTING THE ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS: TRENDS IN UINTA BASIN STORAGE PRACTICES..................................................................................... 47 PDSI as a Predictor of Resource Competition ..................................................... 49 Population Frequency as a Predictor of Resource Competition ........................... 52 Periods of IFD Model Non-Conformity and
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