The archaeology of Pueblo population change on the Jemez Plateau, A.D. 1200 to 1700: The effects of Spanish contact and conquest (New Mexico)

The decline of Native American populations after 1492 was one of the most dramatic events in recent North American history. However, the demographic experiences of different Native groups across the continent varied widely. This study addresses the factors contributing to variability in Native population decline by measuring demographic change among Pueblo peoples on the Jemez Plateau of north-central New Mexico. Population change on the Jemez is explored by examining the archaeological record of field houses, and by using variability in field house use to measure changes in agricultural intensification and population density.; The decline of Pueblo populations in the northern Southwest has been a recent concern of researchers, but research has been hampered by a lack of suitable archaeological and historical evidence. To circumvent these evidentiary problems, I examine relative change in population through its relationship to agricultural intensification and settlement use. The process of intensification is directly dependent on population density, and changes in intensification are manifested in the settlement patterns of subsistence agriculturalists. In the northern Southwest, Pueblo farmers' use of secondary settlements dedicated to agriculture, field houses, conform to the effects that intensification has on settlement behavior. Intensification at field houses is best measured by settlement use, and several variables of field house architecture and associated artifact assemblages can be examined to monitor variability in usage.; Field houses are prevalent on the Jemez Plateau between A.D. 1200 and 1700. To examine changes in intensification, I examine variability in use at 30 field houses using in-field surface analysis techniques. Examination of nine usage indicators demonstrates that the use of field houses increased significantly between the periods A.D. 1200 to 1525 and 1525 to 1650. This evidence runs counter to expectations that the plateau suffered a significant population decline during either the sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries. Instead, population decline occurred in the late seventeenth century. The timing of Pueblo population decline on the Jemez indicates that disease may not have been a major factor in demographic change, and that warfare, emigration, and shifts in ethnic identity may have instead been significant.