COALITION PERIOD SUBSISTENCE ON THE PAJARITO PLATEAU

Abstract

The Coalition Period (A.D. 1150–1325) occupants of the Pajarito Plateau were farmers, hunters, and gatherers who used the natural landscape to flourish in a risky environment. Analyses of faunal remains recovered from sites excavated at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in northern New Mexico have amassed subsistence data from five Coalition period room blocks. This paper focuses on the faunal remains recovered from these sites and briefly summarizes preliminary data compiled from the macrobotanical and pollen remains. The subsistence data demonstrate that a diversified subsistence strategy was pursued, despite a dramatic increase in the production of maize and other domesticates. But even though maize farming was a critical component of the Pajaritan subsistence strategy during the Coalition period, the continued use of wild plant and animal resources from the surrounding biotic communities is substantiated. The plant and animal materials show a subtle change in species procurement, with more variation in the relative importance of particular species (e.g., turkey and maize) during the Coalition period.