Award Date

5-15-2018

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Anthropology

First Committee Member

Karen Harry

Second Committee Member

Barbara Roth

Third Committee Member

Alan Simmons

Fourth Committee Member

Joshua Bonde

Number of Pages

95

Abstract

The distribution of ceramics from upland regions in Northern Arizona into Southern Nevada is one of the many curiosities concerning the Virgin Branch Puebloan culture. From the Shivwits Plateau, it is more than 100 kilometers to the Moapa Valley, yet Shivwits Wares make up a sizeable proportion of sherds found at many lowland sites. These networks appear to reach their height in the Middle Pueblo II period and then collapse sometime around AD 1150. The reason for this is not yet fully understood; however, research performed on the southern end of the Shivwits Plateau concerning landscape usage and settlement placement suggests that the collapse of the distribution networks is coincident with possible changes in subsistence strategies. These changes coincide with climate anomalies that occur prior to the secession of Puebloan culture traits in the region.

Keywords

Ceramic Production Zones; Flexible Adaptation; Grand Canyon Prehistory; Settlement Patterns; Shivwits Plateau; Virgin Branch Puebloan Archaeology

Disciplines

Archaeological Anthropology

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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