Competition, Cooperation, and Conflict: Agricultural Production and Community Catchments in the Central Mesa Verde Region

Abstract

Using geographical information system (GIS) analyses, we integrate archaeological and environmental data in order to examine the changing social landscape in a portion of the central Mesa Verde region between A.D. 1050 and 1290. We identify the largest and most persistent communities in this area and define their agricultural catchments. These catchments overlapped increasingly through time, creating a social landscape in which people competed increasingly for agricultural land. We quantify agricultural production in these community catchments by year and find that on average, productivity decreased through time. We use these results to evaluate how catchment overlap affected the productive potential of each community and whether the increased competition for land stimulated cooperation and/or conflict among communities.