Papers by Matthew Liebmann
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021
The intersection of expanding human development and wildland landscapes-the "wildland-urban inter... more The intersection of expanding human development and wildland landscapes-the "wildland-urban interface" or WUI-is one of the most vexing contexts for fire management because it involves complex interacting systems of people and nature. Here, we document the dynamism and stability of an ancient WUI that was apparently sustainable for more than 500 y. We combine ethnography, archaeology , paleoecology, and ecological modeling to infer intensive wood and fire use by Native American ancestors of Jemez Pueblo and the consequences on fire size, fire-climate relationships, and fire intensity. Initial settlement of northern New Mexico by Jemez farmers increased fire activity within an already dynamic landscape that experienced frequent fires. Wood harvesting for domestic fuel and architectural uses and abundant, small, patchy fires created a landscape that burned often but only rarely burned extensively. Depopulation of the forested landscape due to Spanish colonial impacts resulted in a rebound of fuels accompanied by the return of widely spreading, frequent surface fires. The sequence of more than 500 y of perennial small fires and wood collecting followed by frequent "free-range" wildland surface fires made the landscape resistant to extreme fire behavior, even when climate was conducive and surface fires were large. The ancient Jemez WUI offers an alternative model for fire management in modern WUI in the western United States, and possibly other settings where local management of woody fuels through use (domestic wood collecting) coupled with small prescribed fires may make these communities both self-reliant and more resilient to wildfire hazards. cultural burning | Ancestral Pueblo | ponderosa pine | New Mexico | fire history
This article builds upon two convergent trends in landscape archaeology: (1) investigations of sy... more This article builds upon two convergent trends in landscape archaeology: (1) investigations of symbolic meaning and (2) collaboration with descendant and stakeholder communities. The recent merger of these research agendas in the Southwest US provides an innovative approach to addressing meaning in the past. But the interpretations that result can inadvertently propagate notions of static and unchanging indigenous landscapes. Archaeologists can develop more dynamic studies of meaning and landscape by paying greater attention to the indexical properties of the archaeological record. To illustrate this point, I present a case study focused on ancestral Jemez (Pueblo) meanings associated with the Valles Caldera in northern New Mexico between AD 1300 and 1700. By combining contemporary Jemez understandings of this landscape with the indexical properties of obsidian revealed through pXRF analysis, this study illustrates how the uses of this landscape changed through time, particularly as a result of European colonization in the seventeenth century. It concludes that increased attention to the indexical properties of the archaeological record is critical for archaeological studies of meaning to reconstruct more robust and dynamic past landscapes.
Este artículo se basa en dos tendencias convergentes en la arqueología del paisaje: (1) la investigación de los significados simbólicos; y (2) la colaboración con las comunidades de descendientes y partes interesadas. La reciente fusión de estas agendas de investigación en el suroeste de los Estados Unidos ofrece un enfoque innovador para abordar el estudio del significado en el pasado. Sin embargo, las interpretaciones que resultan pueden propagar involuntariamente unas nociones de los paisajes indígenas como estáticos e inmutables. Se pueden desarrollar estudios más dinámicos sobre significado y paisaje si se presta mayor atención a las propiedades indiciales del registro arqueológico. Para ilustrar este punto, se presenta un estudio de caso centrado en los significados ancestrales de Jemez (Pueblo) asociados con la cuenca de Valles Caldera en el norte de Nuevo México entre los años 1300 y 1700 d.C. Al combinar las interpretaciones contemporáneas de este paisaje de Jemez con las propiedades indiciales de la obsidiana reveladas a través del análisis de fluorescencia por rayos X portátil (pXRF), este estudio ilustra cómo los usos de este paisaje cambiaron a través del tiempo, particularmente como resultado de la colonización europea en el siglo XVII. Se concluye que una mayor atención a las propiedades indiciales del registro arqueológico es fundamental para los estudios arqueológicos centrados en el significado para reconstruir paisajes pasados más robustos y dinámicos.
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, Jan 5, 2016
Interannual climate variations have been important drivers of wildfire occurrence in ponderosa pi... more Interannual climate variations have been important drivers of wildfire occurrence in ponderosa pine forests across western North America for at least 400 years, but at finer scales of mountain ranges and landscapes human land uses sometimes over-rode climate influences. We reconstruct and analyse effects of high human population densities in forests of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico from ca 1300 CE to Present. Prior to the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, human land uses reduced the occurrence of widespread fires while simultaneously adding more ignitions resulting in many small-extent fires. During the 18th and 19th centuries, wet/dry oscillations and their effects on fuels dynamics controlled widespread fire occurrence. In the late 19th century, intensive livestock grazing disrupted fuels continuity and fire spread and then active fire suppression maintained the absence of widespread surface fires during most of the 20th century. The abundance and continuity of fuels is the most important con...
Interannual climate variations have been important drivers of wildfire occurrence in ponderosa pi... more Interannual climate variations have been important drivers of wildfire occurrence in ponderosa pine forests across western North America for at least 400 years, but at finer scales of mountain ranges and landscapes human land uses sometimes overrode climate influences. We reconstruct and analyse effects of high human population densities in forests of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico from ca 1300 CE to Present. Prior to the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, human land uses reduced the occurrence of widespread fires while simultaneously adding more ignitions resulting in many small-extent fires. During the 18th and 19th centuries, wet/dry oscillations and their effects on fuels dynamics controlled widespread fire occurrence. In the late 19th century, intensive livestock grazing disrupted fuels continuity and fire spread and then active fire suppression maintained the absence of widespread surface fires during most of the 20th century. The abundance and continuity of fuels is the most important controlling variable in fire regimes of these semi-arid forests. Reduction of widespread fires owing to reduction of fuel continuity emerges as a hallmark of extensive human impacts on past forests and fire regimes. This article is part of the themed issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'.
Native American populations declined between 1492 and 1900 CE,
instigated by the European coloniz... more Native American populations declined between 1492 and 1900 CE,
instigated by the European colonization of the Americas. However,
the magnitude, tempo, and ecological effects of this depopulation
remain the source of enduring debates. Recently,
scholars have linked indigenous demographic decline, Neotropical
reforestation, and shifting fire regimes to global changes in
climate, atmosphere, and the Early Anthropocene hypothesis. In
light of these studies, we assess these processes in coniferdominated
forests of the Southwest United States. We compare
light detection and ranging data, archaeology, dendrochronology,
and historical records from the Jemez Province of New Mexico to
quantify population losses, establish dates of depopulation events,
and determine the extent and timing of forest regrowth and fire
regimes between 1492 and 1900. We present a new formula for the
estimation of Pueblo population based on architectural remains and
apply this formula to 18 archaeological sites in the Jemez Province.
A dendrochronological study of remnant wood establishes dates of
terminal occupation at these sites. By combining our results with
historical records, we report a model of pre- and post-Columbian
population dynamics in the Jemez Province. Our results indicate that
the indigenous population of the Jemez Province declined by 87%
following European colonization but that this reduction occurred
nearly a century after initial contact. Depopulation also triggered
an increase in the frequency of extensive surface fires between 1640
and 1900. Ultimately, this study illustrates the quality of integrated
archaeological and paleoecological data needed to assess the links
between Native American population decline and ecological change
after European contact.
Hybridity is a term used by anthropologists to characterize the amalgamation of influences from t... more Hybridity is a term used by anthropologists to characterize the amalgamation of influences from two (or more) different cultural groups. Hybridity has captivated archaeology in recent years, especially archaeologists investigating colonialism in Native American contexts. At the same time, a growing chorus of critics has begun to question anthropology’s devotion to hybridity and hybrid objects. These critics take issue with the term’s alleged Eurocentrism, implications of cultural purity, and evolutionary etymology. In this article I address these critiques and advocate a more circumscribed use of hybridity in archaeology. I caution against the abandonment of the term entirely, because the archaeological identification of hybridity provides insights into both present-day (etic) and past (emic) perspectives on cultural amalgamation. Hybridity reveals the biases of contemporary researchers regarding the societies we study, as well as highlighting the ways in which power structures centered and marginalized colonial subjects in the past. To illustrate these points I draw on case studies involving the Hopi Mickey Mouse kachina, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Indigenous-colonial whips from the American Plains and southeast Australia, and seventeenth-century Pueblo ceramics from the American Southwest.
The words "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" are probably more likely to evoke scenes of combat in hostile... more The words "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" are probably more likely to evoke scenes of combat in hostile foreign terrain than of archaeologists in northern New Mexico. But UAVs, more popularly known as drones, are not used exclusively for military incursions in the mountains of Afghanistan and deserts in Iraq. In recent years, drones have been widely used in civilian contexts across the globe in the aid of wildlife conservation efforts, Environmental Sciences, forest fire detection, Search and Rescue operations, Meteorology, construction, and Geology. Archaeology is one of the more recent disciplines to join that list, with drone technology serving as a rapid and comparatively inexpensive technique for the large-scale mapping and spatial analysis of archaeological sites. In June 2012, we used a drone to map Ancestral Pueblo archaeological sites in and around the Jemez Valley in the Santa Fe National Forest. The drone is mounted with a standard, off-the-shelf digital camera that captures low-level aerial images of the landscape. These two-dimensional images are then processed to produce three-dimensional textured digital elevation models (DEMs), taking advantage of recent advances in photogrammetric software technology. The final result is a series of remarkably precise and accurate topographic maps, produced in a fraction of the time it typically takes to capture these data using traditional survey methods.
The Archaeology of Hybrid Material Culture, edited by Jeb Card. Center for Archaeological Investigations, SIU-Carbondale., 2013
In recent years, archaeologists have used the term hybridity with increasing frequency to describ... more In recent years, archaeologists have used the term hybridity with increasing frequency to describe and interpret amalgamated forms of material culture. But do postcolonial notions of hybridity (sensu Bhabha 1994; Hall 1990; Young 1995) differ in any meaningful ways from models of cultural mixture traditionally employed by anthropologists such as syncretism, creolization, and acculturation? Or is this simply a matter of semantics, citation practices, and the adoption of yet another example of trendy anthropological jargon by archaeologists? In this chapter I consider the meanings associated with the concept of hybridity, exploring what this term offers for the archaeological interpretation of colonial encounters. In doing so, I compare and contrast hybridity with acculturation, syncretism, bricolage, creolization, and mestizaje in order to identify the subtly differing connotations of these concepts, as well as highlighting the contributions that postcolonial notions of hybridity offer for contemporary archaeology through a case study from the seventeenth-century Pueblos of the American Southwest.
"Decolonizing Indigenous Histories: Exploring Prehistoric/Colonial Transitions in Archaeology,” edited by Siobhan M. Hart, Maxine Oland, and Liam Frink, pp. 19-44. University of Arizona Press, Tucson., 2012
We present a critique of a paper written by two economists, Quamrul Ashraf and Oded Galor, which ... more We present a critique of a paper written by two economists, Quamrul Ashraf and Oded Galor, which is forthcoming
in the American Economic Review and which was uncritically highlighted in Science magazine. Their paper claims
there is a causal effect of genetic diversity on economic success, positing that too much or too little genetic diversity
constrains development. In particular, they argue that “the high degree of diversity among African populations and
the low degree of diversity among Native American populations have been a detrimental force in the development
of these regions.” We demonstrate that their argument is seriously flawed on both factual and methodological
grounds. As economists and other social scientists begin exploring newly available genetic data, it is crucial to
remember that nonexperts broadcasting bold claims on the basis of weak data and methods can have profoundly
detrimental social and political effects.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
We present a critique of a paper written by two economists, Quamrul Ashraf and Oded Galor, which ... more We present a critique of a paper written by two economists, Quamrul Ashraf and Oded Galor, which is forthcoming in the American Economic Review and which was uncritically highlighted in Science magazine. Their paper claims there is a causal effect of genetic diversity on economic success, positing that too much or too little genetic diversity constrains development. In particular, they argue that “the high degree of diversity among African populations and the low degree of diversity among Native American populations have been a detrimental force in the development of these regions.” We demonstrate that their argument is seriously flawed on both factual and methodological grounds. As economists and other social scientists begin exploring newly available genetic data, it is crucial to remember that nonexperts broadcasting bold claims on the basis of weak data and methods can have profoundly detrimental social and political effects.
Enduring Conquests: Rethinking the Archaeology of Resistance to Spanish Colonialism in the Americas, edited by M. Liebmann and M. S. Murphy. SAR Press, Santa Fe. 2011., 2011
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Papers by Matthew Liebmann
Este artículo se basa en dos tendencias convergentes en la arqueología del paisaje: (1) la investigación de los significados simbólicos; y (2) la colaboración con las comunidades de descendientes y partes interesadas. La reciente fusión de estas agendas de investigación en el suroeste de los Estados Unidos ofrece un enfoque innovador para abordar el estudio del significado en el pasado. Sin embargo, las interpretaciones que resultan pueden propagar involuntariamente unas nociones de los paisajes indígenas como estáticos e inmutables. Se pueden desarrollar estudios más dinámicos sobre significado y paisaje si se presta mayor atención a las propiedades indiciales del registro arqueológico. Para ilustrar este punto, se presenta un estudio de caso centrado en los significados ancestrales de Jemez (Pueblo) asociados con la cuenca de Valles Caldera en el norte de Nuevo México entre los años 1300 y 1700 d.C. Al combinar las interpretaciones contemporáneas de este paisaje de Jemez con las propiedades indiciales de la obsidiana reveladas a través del análisis de fluorescencia por rayos X portátil (pXRF), este estudio ilustra cómo los usos de este paisaje cambiaron a través del tiempo, particularmente como resultado de la colonización europea en el siglo XVII. Se concluye que una mayor atención a las propiedades indiciales del registro arqueológico es fundamental para los estudios arqueológicos centrados en el significado para reconstruir paisajes pasados más robustos y dinámicos.
instigated by the European colonization of the Americas. However,
the magnitude, tempo, and ecological effects of this depopulation
remain the source of enduring debates. Recently,
scholars have linked indigenous demographic decline, Neotropical
reforestation, and shifting fire regimes to global changes in
climate, atmosphere, and the Early Anthropocene hypothesis. In
light of these studies, we assess these processes in coniferdominated
forests of the Southwest United States. We compare
light detection and ranging data, archaeology, dendrochronology,
and historical records from the Jemez Province of New Mexico to
quantify population losses, establish dates of depopulation events,
and determine the extent and timing of forest regrowth and fire
regimes between 1492 and 1900. We present a new formula for the
estimation of Pueblo population based on architectural remains and
apply this formula to 18 archaeological sites in the Jemez Province.
A dendrochronological study of remnant wood establishes dates of
terminal occupation at these sites. By combining our results with
historical records, we report a model of pre- and post-Columbian
population dynamics in the Jemez Province. Our results indicate that
the indigenous population of the Jemez Province declined by 87%
following European colonization but that this reduction occurred
nearly a century after initial contact. Depopulation also triggered
an increase in the frequency of extensive surface fires between 1640
and 1900. Ultimately, this study illustrates the quality of integrated
archaeological and paleoecological data needed to assess the links
between Native American population decline and ecological change
after European contact.
in the American Economic Review and which was uncritically highlighted in Science magazine. Their paper claims
there is a causal effect of genetic diversity on economic success, positing that too much or too little genetic diversity
constrains development. In particular, they argue that “the high degree of diversity among African populations and
the low degree of diversity among Native American populations have been a detrimental force in the development
of these regions.” We demonstrate that their argument is seriously flawed on both factual and methodological
grounds. As economists and other social scientists begin exploring newly available genetic data, it is crucial to
remember that nonexperts broadcasting bold claims on the basis of weak data and methods can have profoundly
detrimental social and political effects.
Este artículo se basa en dos tendencias convergentes en la arqueología del paisaje: (1) la investigación de los significados simbólicos; y (2) la colaboración con las comunidades de descendientes y partes interesadas. La reciente fusión de estas agendas de investigación en el suroeste de los Estados Unidos ofrece un enfoque innovador para abordar el estudio del significado en el pasado. Sin embargo, las interpretaciones que resultan pueden propagar involuntariamente unas nociones de los paisajes indígenas como estáticos e inmutables. Se pueden desarrollar estudios más dinámicos sobre significado y paisaje si se presta mayor atención a las propiedades indiciales del registro arqueológico. Para ilustrar este punto, se presenta un estudio de caso centrado en los significados ancestrales de Jemez (Pueblo) asociados con la cuenca de Valles Caldera en el norte de Nuevo México entre los años 1300 y 1700 d.C. Al combinar las interpretaciones contemporáneas de este paisaje de Jemez con las propiedades indiciales de la obsidiana reveladas a través del análisis de fluorescencia por rayos X portátil (pXRF), este estudio ilustra cómo los usos de este paisaje cambiaron a través del tiempo, particularmente como resultado de la colonización europea en el siglo XVII. Se concluye que una mayor atención a las propiedades indiciales del registro arqueológico es fundamental para los estudios arqueológicos centrados en el significado para reconstruir paisajes pasados más robustos y dinámicos.
instigated by the European colonization of the Americas. However,
the magnitude, tempo, and ecological effects of this depopulation
remain the source of enduring debates. Recently,
scholars have linked indigenous demographic decline, Neotropical
reforestation, and shifting fire regimes to global changes in
climate, atmosphere, and the Early Anthropocene hypothesis. In
light of these studies, we assess these processes in coniferdominated
forests of the Southwest United States. We compare
light detection and ranging data, archaeology, dendrochronology,
and historical records from the Jemez Province of New Mexico to
quantify population losses, establish dates of depopulation events,
and determine the extent and timing of forest regrowth and fire
regimes between 1492 and 1900. We present a new formula for the
estimation of Pueblo population based on architectural remains and
apply this formula to 18 archaeological sites in the Jemez Province.
A dendrochronological study of remnant wood establishes dates of
terminal occupation at these sites. By combining our results with
historical records, we report a model of pre- and post-Columbian
population dynamics in the Jemez Province. Our results indicate that
the indigenous population of the Jemez Province declined by 87%
following European colonization but that this reduction occurred
nearly a century after initial contact. Depopulation also triggered
an increase in the frequency of extensive surface fires between 1640
and 1900. Ultimately, this study illustrates the quality of integrated
archaeological and paleoecological data needed to assess the links
between Native American population decline and ecological change
after European contact.
in the American Economic Review and which was uncritically highlighted in Science magazine. Their paper claims
there is a causal effect of genetic diversity on economic success, positing that too much or too little genetic diversity
constrains development. In particular, they argue that “the high degree of diversity among African populations and
the low degree of diversity among Native American populations have been a detrimental force in the development
of these regions.” We demonstrate that their argument is seriously flawed on both factual and methodological
grounds. As economists and other social scientists begin exploring newly available genetic data, it is crucial to
remember that nonexperts broadcasting bold claims on the basis of weak data and methods can have profoundly
detrimental social and political effects.