Hinterlands and Regional Dynamics in the Ancient Southwest
Hinterlands and Regional Dynamics in the Ancient Southwest

Author: Alan P. Sullivan

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9780816525140

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Hinterlands and Regional Dynamics in the Ancient Southwest is the first volume dedicated to understanding the nature of and changes in regional social autonomy, political hegemony, and organizational complexity across the entire prehistoric American Southwest. With geographic coverage extending from the Great Plains to the Colorado River, and from Mesa Verde to the international border, the volumeÕs ten case studies synthesize research that enhances our understanding of the ancient SouthwestÕs highly variable demographic, land use, and economic histories. For this volume, ÒhinterlandsÓ are those areas whose archaeological records do not disclose the ceramic, architectural, and network evidence that initially led to the establishment of the Hohokam, Chaco, and Casas Grandes regional systems. Employing a variety of perspectives, such as the cultural landscapes approach, heterarchy, and the common-pool resource model, as well as technical methods, such as petrographic and stylistic-attribute analyses, the volumeÕs contributors explore variation in hinterland identities, subsistence ecology, and sociopolitical organization as regional systems expanded and contracted between the 9th and 14th centuries AD. The hinterlands of the prehistoric Southwest were home to a substantial number of people and were often used as resource catchments by the inhabitants of regional systems. Importantly, hinterlands also influenced developments of nearby regional systems, under whose footprint they managed to retain considerable autonomy. By considering the dynamics between hinterlands and regional systems, the volume reveals unappreciated aspects of the ancient SouthwestÕs peoples and their lives, thereby deepening our awareness of the regionÕs rich and complicated cultural past.

A Survey of Vandalism to Archaeological Resources in Southwestern Colorado
A Survey of Vandalism to Archaeological Resources in Southwestern Colorado

Author: U.S. Department of the Interior

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2014-02-23

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 9781496044853

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One of the most critical concerns for land managers and professional archaeologists is vandalism or unwarranted destruction of vestiges of the nation's historic and prehistoric cultural resources. Though illegal since 1906, the attrition of archaeological sites and data on public lands has been and continues to be a serious problem. This study undertakes analysis of the factors affecting vandalism to archaeological sites in the Bureau of Land Management's Sacred Mountain Planning Unit, located in southwestern Colorado. The study area has long been known for its many spectacular prehistoric ruins and, as a consequence, relic or artifact collecting has been a common pastime since the 1880s. In order to define factors associated with vandalism from which recommendations for improved management and conservation of the area's ruins could be made, several phases of inquiry were outlined. These include: 1) a review of activities which are deleterious to cultural resources; 2) an overview of cultural resource destruction in the project area; 3) a compilation of known site data through the use of certain variables thought to be important to the problem; 4) a field implementation phase designed to verify the trends and factors identified in the known site file data; and 5) interviews with known collectors of antiquities living in the area. As a result of these efforts, quantitative data are offered to support previous ideas that in the project area archaeological site density, distribution, and visibility, along with relatively easy access, are the principal factors associated with vandalism to cultural resources. Other factors of secondary importance include the local and family traditions of artifact collecting, and a commercial or profit motive. Recommendations to management center on actions related to the need for demonstrable intent to prosecute violators of extant antiquities laws, expansion of existing preventative programs, and continued and increased emphasis on public education approaches. This study of vandalism to archaeological resources represents a new management approach by the Bureau of land Management in protecting our cultural heritage. The intent of the work was to use different sources of information such as data on known vandalized sites and interviews with former or current artifact collectors to determine the source, type, and extent of the vandalism problem in southwestern Colorado. The result of this study has allowed the BLM to make better and more productive use of its limited protection funds. Our protection effort is now emphasizing three areas: public education on the heritage value of cultural resources, interpretation and stabilization of the more visible and important resources, and the use of patrol and law enforcement to deter vandals from further destruction of these nonrenewable heritage values.