Traditional Arid Lands Agriculture

Scott E. Ingram is a senior lecturer of anthropology at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he investigates human vulnerability to climate change, social and ecological sustainability, and long-term human and environmental interactions.   Robert C. Hunt is a professor emeritus of anthropology at Brandeis University, where he researches economic and social structure and dynamics in human societies, with an emphasis on agriculture, irrigation, and systems of exchange.

• Introduction. Traditional Arid Lands Agriculture: Known Unknowns, Scott E. Ingram and Robert C. Hunt1. The Archaeology and Agronomy of Ancient Maize (Zea mays L.), Karen R. Adams2. Agricultural Soils of the Prehistoric Southwest: Known Unknowns, Jonathan Sandor and Jeffrey A. Homburg3. Defining the Environmental Context of Indigenous Agriculture in the Southwest: What We Don't Know about Middle to Late Holocene Climate Change and Floodplain Dynamics, Gary Huckleberry4. Human Vulnerability to Dry Periods, Scott E. Ingram5. Estimates of Prehistoric Irrigated Field Crop Productivity: Sonoran Desert, Robert C. Hunt6. The Impact of Flooding on Hohokam Canal Irrigation Agriculture, Kyle Woodson7. Water Fight: Archaeology, Litigation, and the Assessment of Precontact Canal Irrigation Technologies in the Northern Rio Grande Region, Michael Adler8. Rain-Fed Farming and Settlement Aggregation: Reflections from Chihuahua, Mexico, Robert J. Hard, William L. Merrill, A. C. MacWilliams, John R. Roney, Jacob C. Freeman, and Karen R. Adams9. The Archaeology of Ruderal Agriculture, Alan P. Sullivan III10. Understanding the Agricultural Consequences of Aggregation, Suzanne K. Fish and Paul R. Fish11. Precontact Agriculture in Northern New Mexico, Richard I. Ford and Roxanne Swentzell12. What More We Need to Know about 'Southwestern' Agriculture, Paul E. MinnisContributorsIndex

The lessons from arid lands agriculture in the past, highlighting what we know and don't know, are strikingly relevant in the context of current challenges facing millions of smallholder farmers." - Daniel Gustafson, Deputy Director-General, Operations, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations"This volume presents a thorough assessment of our current understanding but also sets a research agenda for years to come. No doubt countless research projects, theses, and dissertations will be inspired by this volume." - Melissa Kruse Peeples, author of The Agricultural Landscape of Perry Mesa: Modeling Residential Site Location in Relation to Arable Land"Offers a fresh perspective by synthesizing past research and also presenting new methods and directions for future arid lands agricultural research." - Ethnobiology Letters"This book is a welcome breath of fresh air, in that its contributors-again, all seasoned veterans-challenged tradition! The authors expose all the warts and blemishes in their respective areas of specialization, and they do so enthusiastically for the benefit of future scholars and future research." - Journal of Anthological Research