Long-Term Interactions of People and Animals in the Mimbres Region, Southwest New Mexico AD 200–1450

Abstract

Understanding how people maintain long-term access to animals for food and other uses is important in the context of archaeology and may also have implications for contemporary societies’ access to animal resources. This study gathers information from 70 sets derived from existing data and museum collections to examine the long-term record of human population and settlement patterns, land use, and animal remains at archaeological sites in the Mimbres area. In some periods, the increasing aggregation of the population and the increasing sedentism contributed to altered environments near the villages and for that reason, the access to certain resources became more difficult. The recovery of some animal populations is also evident during periods when many human residents left the area to live elsewhere. These long-term trends demonstrate the power of recovery of different animal species to human hunting and anthropogenic changes in the landscape.