Climates of Change: Chacmool 2011 Conference Program

Climates of Change: The Shifting Environments of Archaeology 44th Annual Chacmool Archaeology Conference

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Thank You to our Sponsors and Funder


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In Memory of Dr. David H. Kelley One of the cornerstones of the University of Calgary’s Archaeology Department, and a prominent participant in Chacmool conferences over the past forty years, passed away on May 19, 2011. David Humiston Kelley and his wife, Dr. Jane Kelley, arrived at the University of Calgary in 1968, and they became the heart and soul of Chacmool. The annual Kelley parties were epic, featuring abundant conversation and controversy. Dave Kelley was often at the center of spirited debates, holding forth from his lounge chair with colleagues and former students huddled at his feet. Dave was an amazing scholar with vast and diverse interests across academic disciplines and beyond, ever ready to tackle a topic with a twinkle in his eye. David Kelley received his PhD from Harvard University in 1957, with a dissertation on linguistic evidence for trans-Pacific contact in pre-Columbian times. His profound knowledge of linguistics contributed to his fundamental insights that led to the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing. His scholarly interests knew no bounds, and prominent publications covered such topics as archaeo-astronomy, world calendrical systems, and trans-oceanic contacts. He continued his research long after his retirement, and was regularly consulted by leading scholars in the field. Among his many achievements, Dr. Kelley was the first recipient of the Tatiana Proskouriakoff Award from Harvard University for his contributions to Maya decipherment. Chacmool warmly honours the memory of David Kelley.


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Our Volunteers The 44th Annual Chacmool Archaeological Conference organizers are endlessly appreciative of all the volunteers and their work to make this conference possible. Green Initiative The Chacmool Archaeological Conference would like you to assist us in keeping with our green initiative. To reduce the amount of paper used at our conference we have taken the presenter abstracts and put them on the conference website. You may access it at http://arky.ucalgary.ca/chacmool2011/sites/arky.ucalgary.ca.chacmool2011/files/ChacmoolAbstracts_2011.pdf or if you have a qr code reader on your mobile phone (there are several free QR reader apps) – use this.

Please recycle this program.

Organizing Committee Members

Chacmool Conference 2011 Co-ordinator Sheila Lacey

Bookroom Co-ordinators Kelsey Pugh

Jennifer Gainer

Department Manager Nicole Ethier

Donation Liason Alex Gordon

Faculty Advisors Dr. Pete Dawson

Dr. Geoff McCafferty

Graduate Advisors Mike Moloney

Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown Brett Watson

Graphic Design Robyn Lacy

Poster Competition Co-ordinator Gina Carroll

Program Co-ordinators Colleen Hughes Shelby Magilton Christina Poletto

Silent Auction Co-ordinators Lindsay Wright

Kat Heaney

Treasurer Maddy Sawyer

Volunteer Co-ordinators Tyson Smith

Nathan Haylett

Webmaster Tyson Smith

Chacmool Archaeological Association Nathan Haylet, President

Tyler Murchie, Vice-President Harrison Boss, Treasurer

Christina Pitre, Social Coordinator


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Welcome from the Chacmool Conference Chair Welcome to the 44th annual Chacmool Archaeological Conference, Climates of Change!

This year’s conference continues a 43-year tradition of addressing significant themes in archaeology. Archaeological practice is constantly faced with changing environments, whether they be climatic, political, theoretical, ecological, technological, or social, just to name a few. This is what we intend to examine this year: how we, as archaeologists, respond and react to these changing environments, both in the present and the past. We have a particularly significant theme this year, in light of the wide scale changes happening on the world stage. From uprisings in the Near East and Africa, to our own government being brought down by a vote of non-confidence, 2011 is experiencing major shifts and changes. Presenters, I greatly appreciate your contribution to this dialogue.

This year will also be the celebration of the third annual “Archaeology Week” in Calgary. Inaugurated in 2009 by Mayoral Decree, Archaeology Week is designed to spotlight this popular aspect of the Social Sciences with public lectures, broadcasts, and exhibits. We are participating this year with a screening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Many thanks to Dr. Kathryn Reese-Taylor for organizing this event, and to the Plaza Theatre for hosting the event.

I would like to extend heartfelt gratitude to all of the individuals who have worked exceptionally hard over the past year to put this conference together. The conference committee this year was made up of a number of tremendously dedicated, hardworking individuals. Countless hours were put in, all of which I greatly appreciate. Nicole Ethier, the Archaeology Department Manager, deserves special recognition – without her, none of this would at all be possible.

The executive of the Chacmool Archaeological Association also deserve a heartfelt thanks; Nathan Haylett (President), Tyler Murchie (Vice-president), Harrison Boss (Treasurer), and Christina Pitre (Events Coordinator) were all incredibly helpful throughout the past year, and are hosting the Departmental Reception on Friday evening.

Also deserving of countless thanks are the local consulting companies, whose financial assistance make this all possible. Furthermore, thank you to everyone who donated to our silent auction, the proceeds of which will go towards publishing the proceedings of this year’s conference. To all who have provided their support to this year’s conference, I give you my sincere thanks. I hope everyone enjoys their stay in Calgary, and the topics presented at this year’s conference. We look forward to seeing you at future Chacmool conferences!

Sincerely, Sheila Lacey Chacmool Conference Chair


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Social Events Wednesday, November 9th 7:00 PM WELCOME RECEPTION Location: CASSIO A/B

Thursday, November 10th 3:00 PM CHACMOOL CONFERENCE COMMUNITY OUTREACH INITIATIVE (MOVIE - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Panel Discussion) Location: PLAZA THEATRE: 1133 KENSINGTON ROAD NW, CALGARY

Discussion organized and led by: Kathryn Reese-Taylor (University of Calgary) Participants include:

• Dr. Richard D. Hansen (Idaho State University) • Dr. Peter Dawson (University of Calgary)

6:30 PM SOCIAL EVENING Location: MOLLY MALONE’S IRISH PUB (VICTORIAN ROOM): 1153 KENSINGTON CRESCENT NW

Following the panel discussion, all participants and guests are welcome to join at Molly Malone’s for a fun social evening! These events are open to the public and anyone interested is welcome to attend! There is a $7.00 charge for non-registered participants for the movie.

Friday, November 11th – REMEMBRANCE DAY 6:00 PM DEPARTMENT RECEPTION Location: EARTH SCIENCES 8TH FLOOR (follow the signs)

Please join us in the Archaeology Department for an open house, and wine and cheese.

Saturday, November 12th 7:00 PM RECEPTION BANQUET Location: MACEWAN BALLROOM KEYNOTE ADDRESS by Richard D. Hansen (Idaho State University)

The Climate of Change and the Collapse of Complex Societies: A Case Study from the Mirador Basin, Guatemala


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Schedule of Sessions

Wednesday, November 9th

7:00pm GENERAL POSTER DISPLAY Location: CASSIO A/B

Thursday, November 10th

There will be a 20 minute coffee and pastry break at 10:40am.

8:00 – 8:55am COMPLIMENTARY BREAKFAST - MACEWAN BALLROOM PLENARY SESSION Location: MACEWAN BALLROOM

9:00 – 9:10am Peter Dawson (University of Calgary) Climates of Change: The Shifting Environments of Archaeology

9:10– 9:55am Arthur A. Joyce (University of Colorado) Human Impact on the Landscapes of Ancient Oaxaca, Mexico

9:55 – 10:40am Michelle Hegmon The Human Experience of Social Change and Continuity: The Southwest and North Atlantic in the Interesting Times circa 1300

10:40 – 11:00am Coffee Break

11:00 - 11:45am William W. Fitzhugh (Smithsonian Institute) Changing Climate--Changing Paradigms: Interpreting Arctic Archaeology from Vikings to Modern Times

11:45 – 12:30pm Marty Magne (Parks Canada Agency) Changing Approaches to Understanding Athapaskan Migrations

12:30pm COMPLIMENTARY LUNCH – MACEWAN BALLROOM

Friday, November 11th – Morning Sessions There will be a 20 minute coffee and pastry break at 9:30am.

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS: GENDER AND ARCHAEOLOGY - A SESSION IN HONOR OF JANET SPECTOR Location: CASSIO A Session Chairs: Eve Shaw and Jenna Hurtubise

8:30– 8:50am Margaret Conkey (University of California, Berkeley)


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Along the Pathway of a Truly Feminist Archaeologist: The Legacies of Janet Spector

8:50 – 9:10am Michelle Rich (South Methodist University) and Kathryn Reese-Taylor (University of Calgary) Sacrifice or Symbol?: Changing Interpretations of Three Royal Maya Tomb Dating to the Time of the “Entrada”

9:10 – 9:30am Jenna Hurtubise (University of Calgary) The Archaeology of Children – Differing Mortuary Practices Between Children and Adults in the Necropolis of Ancon, Peru

9:30 – 9:50am Coffee Break - MACEWAN BALLROOM

9:50 – 10:10am Teresa Holmes (University of Calgary) Gender Constructs and Field Research: Personifying masculinity in Ghana, West Africa

10:10 – 10:30am Judy Sterner (Alberta College of Arts and Design) Archaeological approaches to gender, craft production and technology: a view from the Mandara Mountains

10:30-11:00am Discussion MATRICES OF CHANGE Location: CASSIO B Session Chair: Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer

8:00 – 8:20am Brianna Mack (University of Saskatchewan) Agents and Patients: Exploring the Human Relationship with Material Culture

8:20 – 8:40am Nathalie Cahill (University of Saskatchewan) What’s Ours is Yours, What’s Yours is Mine: Decolonizing Western Archaeology

8:40 – 9:00am Kelsey Pugh (University of Calgary) Phylogenic Analysis of Hominins with Consideration of Postcranial Locomotor Characters

9:00 – 9:20am Margarita J. de Guzman (SVG Public Archaeology Program) and Jode McKay (SVG Public Archaeology Program) Effecting and Affecting Change in St. Vincent and the Grenadines


9:50 – 10:10am Peter Sillen (Uppsala University) Changes in Lithic Technologies and their Context in Southern Mozambique

10:10 – 10:30am Alice B. Kehoe (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) Chilly Climates Engulf Thinking Archaeologists

10:30 – 11:00am Discussion


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MAYA COLLAPSES, DECLINES, AND TRANSFORMATIONS (PART ONE) Location: ESCALUS Session Chairs: Meaghan Peuramaki – Brown and Julie A. Hoggarth

8:00 – 8:10am Introduction

8:10 – 8:30am Denise Fay Brown (University of Calgary) Reflections on How the Maya Have Persisted Despite “Collapse, Decline and Transformation”

8:30 – 8:50am Timothy Beach (Georgetown University) and Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach (George Mason University) Collapse and Maya Wetland Fields

8:50 – 9:10am Jennifer Chmilar (University of California, Riverside) Rock Alignments in Wetlands: The Enigmatic Case at El Edén, Quintana Roo, México

9:10 – 9:30am Daniel Leonard (University of California, Riverside) Regional Soil Diversity and Paleoenvironmental Change in the Yalahau Wetlands of the Northeastern Yucatan

9:30 – 9:50am Coffee Break -‐ MACEWAN BALLROOM 9:50 – 10:10am Holley Moyes (University of California, Merced) and Jaime Awe

(Director, Belize Institute of Archaeology) Climate Change and Ritual Response in Western Belize

10:10 – 10:30am Cara Tremain (Trent University) Investigations in Looters’ Trenches: The Architectural Indicators of Change at Ka’Kabish, Northern Belize

10:30 – 10:50am Varinia Matute Rodriguez (University of Calgary) The Burials of Terminal Classic Nakum, Petén, Guatemala

10:50 – 11:10am Discussant – Part 1: Richard Hansen

11:10 – 12:00am Questions 12:00 – 1:30pm COMPLIMENTARY LUNCH - MACEWAN BALLROOM

Friday, November 11th – Afternoon Sessions

There will be a 20 minute coffee and pastry break at 3pm.

SHIFTING OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY Location: CASSIO A Session Chair: Mike Moloney

1:30– 1:50pm Sacha Wilke (University of British Columbia)


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Bringing life back to the dead: Interpreting mortuary practices with a focus on the ritual aspect

1:50 – 2:10pm Natalia Ruth Donner (Universidad Veracruzana) and Jonathan Hernandez Arana (Universidad Veracruzana) – Presented by TBA Political Complexities in Classic South-Central Veracruz: Views From El Carrizal

2:10 – 2:30pm Discussion

9:30 – 9:50am Coffee Break - MACEWAN BALLROOM CLIMATE FOR CHANGE: ARCHAEOLOGY ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS Location: CASSIO B Session Chair: Dale Walde

1:30 – 1:50pm Elizabeth Robertson (University of Saskatchewan) Problems and Potential in the Reassessment of the Early Middle Precontact Period on the Northern Plains

1:50 – 2:10pm Brent Kevinsen (University of Saskatchewan) Mid Holocene Climatic Optimum, Pronghorn Procurement, and the Great Plains

2:10 – 2:30pm Colleen Hughes (University of Calgary) Cretaceous Outcrop Survey of the Siksika Nation

2:30 – 2:50pm Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer (University of Calgary) Footprints in the Forest and Islands in a Sea of Grass: A Comparison of Blackfoot and Kayapo Agoforestry Practices

3:00 - 3:20pm Coffee Break - MACEWAN BALLROOM

3:20 – 3:40pm Lauren Stead (University of Saskatchewan) Geoarchaeology at the Redtail Site, Wanuskewin Heritage Park

3:40 – 4:00pm Discussion MAYA COLLAPSES, DECLINES, AND TRANSFORMATIONS (PART TWO) Location: ESCALUS Session Chairs: Meaghan Peuramaki – Brown and Julie A. Hoggarth

1:20 – 1:40pm Kathryn Reese-Taylor (University of Calgary) The Waning Preclassic in Mesoamerica

1:40 – 2:00pm Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown (University of Calgary) Social Landscape and Decline Scenarios: An Example from Buenavista del Cayo, Belize

2:00 – 2:20pm Julie A. Hoggarth (University of Pittsburgh) Domestic and Community Integration and Reorganization in the Classic to Postclassic Transition at Baking Pot, Belize


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2:20 – 2:40pm Shawn G. Morton (University of Calgary) and Christopher Andres (Indiana University, Fort Wayne) A Brief Flame Among the Embers: The Fluorescence of a Frontier Polity During the Classic Period Collapse

2:40 – 3:00pm Scott Johnson (Tulane University) The Transition Hits Home: How the Collapse of One Regional Center and the Rise of Another Affected Locals at the Small Site of Popola, Yucatan, Mexico.

3:00 – 3:20pm Coffee Break - MACEWAN BALLROOM

3:20 – 3:40pm James Aimers (State University of New York at Geneseo) Some People Got It and Make It Pay or, What did Tipu have that Tikal Didn’t?

3:40 – 4:00pm Stanley P. Guenter (Idaho State University) The Early Postclassic and Other Dark Ages: A Comparative Approach to the Classic Maya Collapse

4:00 – 4:30pm Discussant - Part 2: Jaime Awe

4:30 – 5:00pm Discussant -‐ Session: Arlen Chase

Saturday, November 12th – Morning Sessions There will be a 20 minute coffee and pastry break at 9:30am.

THE QUIJOS AND THE EASTERN ANDES OF ECUADOR: A CHANGING FRONTIER IN ECUADORIAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND POLITICS Location: CASSIO A Session Chair: Andrea M. Cuéllar

8:00 – 8:20am Andrea M. Cuéllar (University of Lethbridge) The Pre-Columbian Quijos: Amazonian Models, Andean Histories, Changing Archaeological Perspectives

8:20 – 8:40am Charles L. F. Knight (University of Vermont) The Distribution and Consumption of Obsidian Along the Eastern Slopes of the Cordillera Real in Northern Ecuador: Changes in our Understanding of Ecuador’s Domestic Economies

8:40 – 9:00am Brett Freeman (University of Lethbridge) From the Ground Up: Investigating the Role of Ground Stone Production, Distribution, and Consumption in the Eastern Ecuadorian Andes

9:00 – 9:20am Estanislao Pazimno (University of Lethbridge) Ceramic Production and Social Complexity in the Eastern Andes of Ecuador



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9:50 – 10:10am Joanna Waszkiewicz (University of Lethbridge) Histories of Agrarian Change: Re-colonization and Changing Economies in Baeza, Eastern Ecuador

10:10 – 10:30am Gonzalo Alvarado (Asociacion Mushuj Kawsay) and Patrick Wilson (University of Lethbridge) Politics of the Past and Present: The Movement Towards a Quijos Indigenous Nationality


FROM STONE TOOLS TO COMPUTERS: THE CONSTANTLY CHANGING WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY Locations: CASSIO B Session Chair: Don Butler

8:00 – 8:20am Dave Blaine (Independent) Unearthing Data: Excavating and Preserving our Digital History

8:20 – 8:40am Don H. Butler (University of Calgary) Inside to Out: Advancing Outdoor Activity Area Studies on Hunter-Gatherer Sites in the Canadian Arctic using Multi-Element Analyses of Sediments

8:40 – 9:00am Brad Himour (Parks Canada) Parks Canada Pictograph Project

9:00 – 9:20am Julie Martindale (University of Saskatchewan) Changing Perspectives on Quarrying Behaviour


9:50 – 10:10am Discussion PERCEPTUAL CHANGES: CHIHUAHUAN ARCHAEOLOGY SINCE 1990 (PART ONE) Location: ESCALUS Session Chairs: Jane H. Kelley and Christine S. VanPool 8:00 – 8:20am Colleen Haukaas (University of Lethbridge)

The Pithouse to Pueblo Transition in Chihuahua, Mexico

8:20 – 8:40am Christopher Casserino (NW Museum of Arts and Culture) presented by Megan Moreau Casas Grandes: Nobel Savages or Regular Joe’s?

8:40 – 9:00am Tanya Chiykowski (Binghamton University) Changes in Perspective on Pithouse Architecture from South-central Chihuahua

9:00 – 9:20am Elizabeth A. Bagwell (Aspen Environmental Group) presented by Tanya Chiykowski The Continuing Influences of Di Peso on the Archaeology of Architecture


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9:50 – 10:10am Mitch Hendrickson (University of Illinois, Chicago) Does Size Really Matter? Evaluating Form Within the Design Horizons of Chihuahuan Polychrome Ceramics


12:00 – 1:30pm COMPLIMENTARY LUNCH – MACEWAN BALLROOM

Saturday, November 12th – Afternoon Sessions

There will be a 20 minute coffee and pastry break at 3:00pm.

“WOULD YOU LIKE THAT HOT OR COLD?” CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS AND ANIMALS Location: CASSIO A Session Chair: Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown 1:30 – 1:50pm William Patterson (University of Saskatchewan)

Sea Ice and Sagas: Two Millennia of Climate Change in the North Atlantic

1:50 – 2:10pm Robert Brunswig1, James Doerner1, and David Diggs1 (1University of Northern Colorado) Eleven Millennia of Human Adaptation in Colorado’s High Country: Modeling Cultural and Climatic Change in the Southern Rocky Mountains

2:10 – 2:30pm Seth D. Brewington (City University of New York) The Key Role of Wild Resources in the Viking-Age to Late-Norse Palaeoeconomy of the Faroe Islands: The Zooarchaeological Evidence from Undir Junkarinsfløtti, Sandoy

2:30 – 2:50pm Rebecca A. Rainville (University of Calgary) High-resolution Vegetation History of the Aishihik Region, Yukon Territory, Canada: Grassland or No Grassland? And Other Unanswered Mysteries



CHANGES IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST: A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY VIEW Location: CASSIO A Session Chair: William D. Glanzman

3:20 – 3:40pm William D. Glanzman (Mount Royal University) The Tides of Change: Problems and Solutions in Tracing the Indigenous Communities from pre-Islamic to Islamic Times in Dhofar, Oman

3:40 – 4:00pm Kimberly Consroe (The City University of New York)


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Taphonomy Transforms Bioarchaeology at Tell Atchana 4:00 – 4:20pm Paul David Ritchie

An Evaluation of the Significance of Climate Factors in the Collapse of the Mycenaean Palaces: Some Anticlimactic Results

4:20 – 4:40pm Discussion CHANGE, TRANSFORMATION, CONVERSION AND REVOLUTION IN MESOAMERICA: A SESSION IN HONOR OF MARY CIARAMELLA Location: CASSIO B Session Chairs: Geoff McCafferty and Karen Bassie

1:30 – 1:50pm Karen Bassie (University of Calgary) The Work of Mary Ciaramella

1:50 – 2:10pm Nicholas A. Hopkins Paradigm Lost: The Current State of Maya Epigraphy

2:10 – 2:30pm David F. Mora Marín (University of North Carolina) Reconstructing Proto-Mayan-Mixe-Zoquean

2:30 – 2:50pm Michael D. Carrasco (Florida State University) We Eat of the Earth and the Earth Eats of Us: The Representation of Ethnoecological Systems in Mesoamerica


3:20 – 3:40pm Jon Spenard (University of California, Riverside) and Dr. Terry Powis (Kennesaw State University) The Ch'eenob of Pacbitun: Subterranean Community Organization in a Precolumbian Maya Polity

3:40 – 4:00pm Judith Strupp Green A Maya Prince’s First Bloodletting Rite as a Route to Power

4:00 – 4:20pm Karon Winzenz (University of Wisconsin, Green Bay) Cloth and Garments as Transformative Agents in the San Bartolo Murals

4:20 – 4:40pm Helen R. Haines (Trent University) The Major, The Minor, and What Lies Between: Ka’Kabish, Belize, and Changing Ideas of Ranking of Ancient Maya Sites

4:40 – 5:00pm Sharisse McCafferty (University of Calgary) and Geoffrey McCafferty (University of Calgary) Costume and Identity in the Mixtec Codices

5:00 – 5:20pm Karen Bassie (University of Calgary) Change your God, Change your Luck.



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PERCEPTUAL CHANGES: CHIHUAHUAN ARCHAEOLOGY SINCE 1990 (PART TWO) Location: ESCALUS Session Chairs: Jane H. Kelley and Christine S. VanPool

1:30 – 1:50pm Candace A. Sall (Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri) Pottery Pigments in the Northern Casas Grandes Area

1:50 – 2:10pm Jerimy J. Cunningham (University of Lethbridge) Casas Grandes as Social Field

2:10 – 2:30pm Michael Mathiowetz (University of California, Riverside) “Our Sun, Send Us Rain”: Katsinas in the Casas Grandes World

2:30 – 2:50pm Stephen H. Lekson (University of Colorado) Paquimé as Altepetl: Secondary States in North America


3:20 – 3:40pm Todd L. VanPool (University of Missouri) and Christine S. VanPool (University of Missouri), presented by Candace Sall A Little from Here and a Little from There: Obsidian Use at 76 Draw


Saturday, November 12th - Evening

7:00pm RECEPTION BANQUET

KEYNOTE ADDRESS by Richard D. Hansen (Idaho State University) The Climate of Change and the Collapse of Complex Societies: A Case Study from the Mirador Basin, Guatemala

Sunday, November 13th – Morning Sessions There will be a 20 minute coffee and pastry break at 9:30am.

GENERAL POSTER SESSION Location: MACEWAN BALLROOM Session Chair: Cara Tremain 8:00 – 9:30am

• Lisa Daly (Memorial University) and Eric Guiry (Memorial University) Uncovering Gander: Public Archaeology in the Former Town Site of Gander, Newfoundland

• Eric Guiry (Memorial University) Towards a Canine Surrogacy Approach: A Cross-Contextual Comparison of Dogs and Humans in Bone Chemistry


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• Carmen Ting1, Linda Howie2 and Elizabeth Graham1 (1Institute of Archaeology, University College London 2 University of Western Ontario) Island Records: Technological Analyses of the “Chalices” from Marco Gonzalez, Belize

• Lindsay Wright (University of Calgary) Determining Staple Crops in Pacific Nicaragua

• Alicia Hightower (University of Calgary) Nicaraguan Figurine Examination - A Window to the Past: Figurines and Ethnic Identity


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Conference Banquet Schedule November 12th, 2011

6:00pm MacEwan Ballroom and Cash Bar opens. 6:45pm Dinner 7:30pm A few words from:

Sheila Lacey – Chair, Chacmool Archaeological Conference

Announcement of the Bea Loveseth Memorial Award

Geoffrey McCafferty – Chacmool Conference Faculty Advisor, University of Calgary Introduction of keynote speaker, Richard Hansen

8:00pm Richard D. Hansen – Idaho State University

The Climate of Change and the Collapse of Complex Societies: A Case Study from the Mirador Basin, Guatemala

Please note, only a limited amount of banquet tickets are available at the registration table. First come, first served.


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Keynote and Plenary Speakers Keynote Speaker Hansen, Richard D. - Idaho State University

The Climate of Change and the Collapse of Complex Societies: A Case Study from the Mirador Basin, Guatemala Investigations of the Mirador Basin of northern Guatemala have demonstrated a major Maya occupation of the region during the Middle and Late Preclassic periods. The massive architectural complexes of numerous major sites and evidence for associated logistics and resource procurement systems suggest a vibrant and precocious cultural florescence that ultimately faced a drastic demographic reduction. Major abandonments of primary structures, degeneration of associated logistics and import systems, and non-functional utilization of monumental architecture suggest a collapse. Although the causes are almost certainly not mono-causal, experimental replications suggest that the investment of labor and resources for lime procurement, stone, and mortar for the construction programs had profound negative environmental, economic, and political impacts near the close of the Late Preclassic period. The excesses and exorbitant costs contributed to societal and environmental stresses and ultimately were some of the primary factors for the long-term abandonment of the major Preclassic sites of the Basin. Plenary Speakers Hegmon, Michelle - University of Michigan

The Human Experience of Social Change and Continuity: The Southwest and North Atlantic in the Interesting Times circa 1300 Archaeological research has great potential to contribute to policy and decision tools for addressing challenges today and in the future, and such contributions will be enhanced by perspectives that consider the human costs of such processes. Drawing on comparative study of the US Southwest and the North Atlantic, I investigate how some societies maintain continuity in the face of major changes in the environment, broadly construed. Specific focus is on Iceland and Greenland (in the North Atlantic) and Zuni, and Salinas (in the Southwest) in the “interesting times” of the 13th and 14th centuries AD. Both regions experienced (1) new climatic regimes that resulted in generally more difficult and more variable biophysical conditions; and (2) migrations, violence, political changes, and religious developments that changed their social and demographic environments. Societies in the four cases persisted, albeit with some reorganization, with varying long term trajectories and consequences. Research is based on a new method to operationalize – in archaeological research -- multiple dimensions of human security, as were defined by the United Nations Development Programme. Fitzhugh, William W. - Smithsonian Institution

Changing Climate--Changing Paradigms: Interpreting Arctic Archaeology from Vikings to Modern Times. The dramatic changes in global climate and its profound impacts in the Arctic necessitate re-evaluation of the role climate change has played in the history of northern cultures. Once ridiculed as the ravings of Elizabethan pedants, an open Arctic Ocean may be a seasonal reality in just a few decades. The onset of such conditions radically changed opportunities for peoples in the past, just as the imposition of ice curtains has forced northern peoples to retreat, adapt, and sometimes disappear. This address surveys how archaeologists have interpreted new discoveries in Arctic history according to the perspectives of their times. What is striking is the importance of the status quo and the cultural perspective of the observer, rather than the evidence observed. Although paleoenvironmental sciences have offered accurate reconstructions for nearly 100 years, it has taken the climate shift of the past two decades to bring the surprising dynamism of the Arctic into focus for the first time. How our new encounters with environmental change will influence our ability to reconstruct the past remains to be seen.


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Joyce, Arthur A. - University of Colorado

Human Impact on the Landscapes of Ancient Oaxaca, Mexico This talk summarizes 25 years of interdisciplinary research on the long-term history of human impact on the environment along the Río Verde drainage basin of Oaxaca. Geomorphological research in the Nochixtlán Valley of the Río Verde’s upper drainage basin provides evidence for four cut-and-fill cycles from the Terminal Pleistocene to the present. The research indicates that after 2000 B.C. sedentary farmers cleared the valley of its natural vegetation increasing sediment transfers and the frequency of local cut-and-fill cycles. As early as ca. 1000 B.C. farmers modified streams by building cross-channel agricultural terraces known as lama-bordos. The erosion in the highlands altered the drainage system and led to changes in the agriculturally productive floodplain of the lower Río Verde Valley on the Pacific coast more than 100 km downriver. Sediment discharged into the Pacific Ocean also contributed to the formation of bay barriers and back barrier estuaries. The implications for human settlement and subsistence in the lowlands are considered. Magne, Marty – Parks Canada Agency

Changing Approaches to Understanding Athapaskan Migrations Models for the Athapaskan migrations have not explored very completely the theoretical implications of how and why the migrations occurred as process. Here I borrow from, and modify elements of, recent thinking about colonization, applying concepts to the particulars of the Athapaskan case. This yields a clearer understanding of how we need to change our frames of reference to design future investigations into the routes of the migrations and the signs of their occurrence.


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Documents

Climates of Change: Chacmool 2011 Conference Program