Landscape Legacies of Prehistoric Agricultural Land Use in the Perry Mesa Region, Central Arizona

The Perry Mesa region in central Arizona was the location of a major pulse of residential occupation and extensive agricultural land use from about a.d. 1275 to a.d. 1450. Recent research carried out by a collaborative team of archaeologists and ecologists has documented the ways in which short-term and small-scale agricultural land use transformed ecological systems in the region over long periods of time. Results from recent analyses relating to different spatial scales of prehistoric transformations are presented: agricultural features and field areas, prehistoric communities, the entire Perry Mesa region, and central Arizona as a whole. This research highlights both the importance of collaboration between archaeologists and ecologists in investigations of the ecological dynamics of contemporary landscapes and the role of past human activities in shaping prehistoric as well as contemporary landscapes.

亚利桑那州中部的佩里台地（Perry Mesa）地区，在公元1275年至1450年左右迎来了一次大规模居住聚落开发与农业土地广泛利用的兴盛期。由考古学家与生态学家组成的跨学科合作团队近期开展的研究，系统阐明了长期时间尺度下，短期小规模农业土地利用活动如何改变该区域的生态系统。本数据集展示了针对不同空间尺度史前环境演变的最新分析结果，涵盖农业遗存与农田区域、史前聚落、整个佩里台地地区以及亚利桑那州中部全域。此项研究既强调了考古学家与生态学家跨领域协作在当代景观生态动态研究中的重要意义，也揭示了过往人类活动在塑造史前与当代景观进程中发挥的关键作用。