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The Curious Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga Menziesii) Trees in Schulman Grove, Mesa Verde National Park, Southwestern Colorado, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2021

Stephen E. Nash ,
Ronald H. Towner  and
Jeffrey S. Dean
Stephen E. Nash*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO80205, USA
Ronald H. Towner
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Bryant Bannister Tree-Ring Building, University of Arizona, 1215 E. Lowell, Tucson, 85721, AZ, USA
Jeffrey S. Dean
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Bryant Bannister Tree-Ring Building, University of Arizona, 1215 E. Lowell, Tucson, 85721, AZ, USA
*
(Stephen.nash@dmns.org, corresponding author)
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Abstract

In 1954, archaeologists James Allen Lancaster and Don Watson and dendrochronologist Edmund Schulman asserted that a small grove of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirbel] Franco var. glauca [Beissener] Franco) trees in Navajo Canyon on the west side of Chapin Mesa in Mesa Verde National Park contained evidence of stone-axe-cut tree limbs. In 1965, archaeologists Robert Nichols and David Smith published an article entitled “Evidence of Prehistoric Cultivation of Douglas-Fir Trees at Mesa Verde,” in which they supported the Lancaster/Watson/Schulman assertion with tree-ring dates from suspected stone-axe-cut limbs. If correct, Nichols and Smith (1965) document the only trees in the entire U.S. Southwest that contain ancient stone-axe-cut stubs and evidence of precolumbian forest management. Rather than accept their interpretations at face value, we attempt to replicate their dates through the (re)analysis of archived and recently collected tree-ring samples, and through a controlled analysis and comparison of archived and published records. We could not confirm their results, and we have no option but to reject their claim that Schulman Grove contains evidence of precolumbian tree manipulation by Ancestral Puebloan inhabitants of Mesa Verde.

En 1954, los arqueólogos James Allen Lancaster y Don Watson, y el dendrocronólogo Edmund Schulman afirmaron que una pequeña arboleda de árboles de abeto Douglas (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco var. glauca [Beissen.] Franco), en el Cañón Navajo en el lado oeste de Chapin Mesa, en el Parque Nacional de Mesa Verde, al suroeste de Colorado, EE. UU., contenía evidencia de ramas de árboles cortadas con una hacha de piedra. En 1965, los arqueólogos Robert Nichols y David Smith publicaron un artículo titulado “Evidencia del cultivo prehistórico de árboles de abeto Douglas en Mesa Verde,” en el que apoyan la afirmación de Lancaster/Watson/Schulman sobre la evidencia de ramas de árboles cortadas con una hacha de piedra. Ellos utilizaron las fechas en los anillos de árboles de las presuntas ramas de árboles cortadas con una hacha de piedra. Nichols y Smith, documentaron los únicos tres árboles Douglas en el Parque Nacional de Mesa Verde que contienen tallos cortados con una hacha de piedra, presentando evidencia de un manejo forestal precolombino. Nosotros intentamos replicar el trabajo de Nichols y Smith. Revisamos los documentos archivados, incluida toda la correspondencia, analizamos las muestras de anillos de árboles que estaban archivadas y muestras colectadas recientemente. Hicimos un análisis controlado y comparamos los registros archivados y publicados. Nosotros no pudimos confirmar sus resultados, por lo cual rechazamos la afirmación de que en la arboleda de Schulman ocurrió una manipulación precolombina de árboles por parte de los habitantes ancestrales de Mesa Verde.

Keywords

tree-ring datingMesa Verde National ParkLaboratory of Tree-Ring ResearchEdmund SchulmanWetherill Mesa Archaeological Projectstone-axe-cut limbsdatación de anillos de árbolesParque Nacional Mesa VerdeLaboratorio de Investigación de Anillos de ÁrbolesEdmund SchulmanProyecto Arqueológico Mesa Wetherillextremidades cortadas con hacha de piedra
Type
Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 86 , Issue 3 , July 2021 , pp. 549 - 568
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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