Mogollon Manos, Metates and Agricultural Dependence: Pithouse Villages, A.D. 200-1000

Comparative analyses of the morphological attributes of maize processing tools are used to estimate relative differences in the agricultural dependence of prehistoric Mogollon pithouse dwellers. The interval from A.D. 200--650/700 was a period of subsistence stability. Beginning around A.D. 650--700, dependence on maize agriculture began to increase. By A.D. 1000 Mogollones were producing at least 20 percent more maize per grinder that in A.D. 650/700. The introduction or indigenous development of a new strain of maize (with larger cobs, larger kernels, and higher yields) instigated this increase in agricultural dependence. I close with a discussion of the potentially destabilizing effect of reliance on the new maize. This is a preliminary report on research in progress. It includes approximately 80 percent of the data that will be used in the final version.