Prehistoric population dynamics in the Silver Creek area, east-central Arizona

Abstract

The Silver Creek area has been the focus of archaeological research since the late nineteenth century. Many of the theories resulting from this work have incorporated estimates of population, either explicitly or implicitly, into the fabric of their arguments. Topics such as sociopolitical structure, migration, aggregation, and social integration require population reconstructions as a foundation for understanding the processes of culture change. Numerous population reconstructions have been presented in the past for the Silver Creek area; however, much of the data incorporated in the present study was unavailable for the previous reconstructions. In this study, several models based on numerous plausible assumptions are presented to determine if a best fit can be found. The results show that there was a major increase in population in the Silver Creek area between A.D. 900-1100, and population declined steadily after about A.D. 1100-1150 until the region was abandoned by about A.D. 1400.