PREFACE

The list of radiocarbon dates assembled by Katz and Katz (2001) provides the most readily available datafor assessing regional demographic trends. Assuming that the number of radiocarbon dates is related topopulation levels, the small number of early dates suggests that population density probably remainedbelow Binford’s subsistence stress threshold for hunters until 1500–1000 BC. Although the number ofradiocarbon dates increases after that period, regional population density probably did not approach thestress threshold for groups primarily dependent on terrestrial plants until AD 100–500 at the earliest andpossibly not until AD 500–1000. If these guesses are anywhere close to accurate, then there should besome initial evidence for intensification, primarily an increase in diet breadth, between 1500 and 1000 BCbut there would appear to be little selective pressure favoring the adoption of cultigens until AD 100-500or later.If the preliminary dates from Fresnal Shelter are accepted (Carmichael 1982), then it appears that huntingand gathering groups in southeastern New Mexico may have had access to primitive maize and beans asearly as 1500 BC. The earliest evidence of cultivation in southeastern New Mexico, however, is from theSunset Archaic Site (LA 58971). The seven radiocarbon dates from this site suggest that it was occupiedintermittently during the first five centuries AD, with the earliest occupation occurring at about AD 1–50(Wiseman 1996:52–55). These dates appear consistent with the demographic trends suggested above andprovide tentative support for the hypothesis that population packing was a critical factor in the adoption ofcultigens by hunter-gatherer populations in New Mexico. If this hypothesis is correct, then theexplanation for why cultigens were not adopted by late Archaic hunter-gatherers in southeastern NewMexico may be simply that the density threshold at which cultigens would provide a selective advantagewas not reached until near the end of that period.The questions remaining are what other intensification options were open to hunting and gathering groupsin southeastern New Mexico, and whether agriculture would have offered any selective advantages overthose options. Neither of these questions is easily addressed given the limited subsistence data currentlyavailable for the Archaic period. The archaeological evidence for intensification includes settlement dataindicating reduced residential mobility and a reduction in the size of food procurement areas, more laborinvested in specialized facilities for food procurement and storage, and increased exploitation of speciesthat require extensive processing (Binford 2001:189). The available evidence for intensification insoutheastern New Mexico is limited largely to the third data category.The Archaic subsistence data now available relates almost exclusively to the late Archaic period, asdefined here (4500–1500 BP). Data for the early and middle Archaic periods is reported only fromLubbock Lake, which is located on the Llano Estacado, beyond the boundaries of the study region. Forthe early Archaic, Johnson and Holliday (1986:20,25) report remnants of a bison kill/butchering locale inStratum 2e containing at least three bison that were incompletely butchered with the hump musclesremoved. This evidence suggests a hunting strategy similar to that postulated for the Paleoindian period.For the Middle Archaic, there are a number of campsites and kill/butchering locales from Strata 3 and 4that are stratigraphically dated between about 6400 and 5000 BP. The faunal assemblages consist largelyof bison but also include pronghorn, coyote, jackrabbit, woodrat, pocket gopher, and turtle. Assumingthat all of these taxa were used for food, this evidence could indicate a broader diet breadth, but similarvariability is also evident in Paleoindian faunal assemblages. The primary evidence for plant utilization isa rock-covered baking oven with an associated metate from Stratum 4B that is radicarbon dated to 4900–4700 rcy BP (Johnson and Holliday 1986:22–23, 37). Based on the evidence from Lubbock Lake andother excavated sites on the Llano Estacado, Johnson and Holliday (1986:47–48) propose that Archaicsubsistence patterns were characterized by more emphasis on bison hunting during periods of increasedmoisture (i.e., 8500–6400 BP, 5500–5000 BP, 4500–1000 BP) and more emphasis on plant gatheringduring periods of drought (i.e., 6400–5400 BP and 5000–4500 BP). Their model is simplistic in relatingchanges in subsistence strategies solely to climatic change (Shelley 1994:380) but if they are correct, thenthere appears to be little evidence for intensification during the Archaic period other than an increase indiet breadth during intervals of mid-Holocene drought. The model is specific to the Llano Estacado,however, and cannot be applied generally to the other areas of southeastern New Mexico.4-31