Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

286 Chaco Project Synthesis• change from low to increasing spatial variabilityat A.D. 1000, and• change from high to decreasing spatialvariability at A.D. 810 and 1130.In a semiarid environment where horticulture/agriculture is often marginal, there is a need forflexibility in subsistence practices and leadershiporganization to encompass changes in environmentalconditions and habitation location (Schelberg 1982a;stuart 2000; Gwinn Vivian 1990). As Vivian (1990)proposed, the importance of summer/winter, agriculture/hunting-warfare,would have been recognizedby Basketmaker III and probably earlier. Dual socialorganization accommodates the seasonality of agriculture,as well as the skills and physical attributes ofmen and women. Women would have been morelikely to stay closer to home to gather or tend crops,vs. men, who are unencumbered by children and couldhunt or take part in expeditions to obtain non localresources or to trade (Hagstrum 2001; Peregrine2001). A form of duality was probably recognized inmost societies as soon as dependence on cUltigensresults in part-time sedentism (see discussion in Willsand Windes 1989). The size of the community,composed of habitation sites and public architecture,would extend well beyond the local settlement,especially if scheduled activities allowed those fromoutside the immediate area to meet and find matesduring seasonal gatherings. Oral histories wouldretain information about the locations of resourcesaway from agricultural lands and proper behaviorduring interactions with kinsmen and associates indifferent areas where game, minerals, and othernecessary resources are found (Jojola 1987).During the years with beneficial floodplainconditions between A.D. 400 and 750, families wouldestablish ties to productive lands; yet neighbors neednot necessarily be relatives. Gwinn Vivian (1990)suggested that at least four popUlation segments livedin the San Juan Basin during Basketmaker III. Seealso data in Matson and Dohm (1994), Reed (2000),and Wilshusen and Ortman (1999), who indicate thepresence of at least two different groups living side byside in the northern and western Anasazi sites duringBasketmaker II through Pueblo I. The two styles ofpithouses discerned by Truell (1986:218-219) duringthe A.D. 600s suggest that more than one populationsegment was present in Chaco Canyon.With a number of different families/lineages, oreven linguistic segments, present in Chaco Canyon,sodalities and/or moieties would integrate membersand maintain solidarity; these organizations wouldbenefit from neutral public architecture. Early greatkivas would provide public space (Adler 1989; Adlerand Wilshusen 1990; Mahoney 2oo0b; Van Dyke2002), where information could be exchanged anddifferent population segments could perform specificrituals to ensure good crop production and successfulhunts. Recovery of turquoise and shell placed duringconstruction events in the great kiva at 29SJ423 by theA.D. 500s suggests the beginnings of a ritual practicethat continues into the present (Parsons 1936).In summary, the period from approximatelyA.D. 400 to 750 would have provided an improVedclimate for those practicing horticulture in the SanJuan Basin, where diverse and mobile populationsranged across a large area to obtain other resources.During periods of aggregation near farmable lands,integrating mechanisms would be needed to pass oninformation about regional resources, subsistencetechniques, and other groups who share some territorieswhere hunting and resource extraction tookplace. The existence of sodalities and moieties wouldhave enhanced the integration of these diverse andmobile populations that used a central locationintermittently. During some events, exchange ofspecial items would signify solidarity. Althoughfamilies who farmed a small local area probably madetheir own decisions about scheduling, larger groupswould have cooperated for some tasks; e.g., to hunt orprocure other resources at a distance. These groupswould have been led by the most experienced orsuccessful person, but a single leader throughout theyear was not needed. More likely, multiple leaders orspecialists whose knowledge about specific regionsand resources would be called upon as necessary.Overall high temporal variability in precipitationbetween A.D. 750 and 1000 would encourage increasedstorage to ensure sufficient crops duringperiods of poor return, suggesting a need for anincreased labor investment. The Pueblo I shift fromindividual storage cists to connected above-groundstorage rooms associated with pithouses has been welldocumented(Gillespie 1976; Truell 1986:249-250).