EMAP (2011) Deer in Prehistory in the South Western United States

The southwestern United States has a spectacular arid landscape of broad desert basins, wooded plateaux and canyons, and forested mountains. When Spanish explorers first entered the region they met Native American populations who had lived for a thousand years in small agricultural settlements called pueblos, as well as mobile hunting and gathering groups that had moved into the area more recently. Despite subsequent centuries of colonization these people have maintained their cultural identities, including the use of deer in religious ceremonies and as food.