ASM Occasional Electronic Papers No. 1: Homol'ovi IV

Chapter Two:
Environment, cont.

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Climate, Fauna, and Flora

Winslow is located 9 km south of Homol'ovi IV and has a weather station. Average annual precipitation is just 20 cm (8 in) and is evenly divided between winter snow and summer rain (USDA, SCS, ERS, and USFS 1981). Homol'ovi IV is at 1478 m (4850 ft) elevation. Lowe (1964:36) classifies the area as Great Basin Desertscrub, a member of the Great Basin Desert within the Upper Sonoran Life Zone. Plant variety, except along the river, is severely restricted and low diversity in plants means that animal variety is similarly restricted (K. Adams 1996, 2001; Miksicek 1991; Pierce 2001; Strand 1998; Szuter 1991). At present the plant and animal resources around Homol'ovi IV are severely depleted due to grazing, but even prehistorically they were inadequate to sustain hunters and gatherers as determined by the almost total lack of archaeological sites predating the introduction of maize (Lange 1998). Even then, sustained occupation of the area was not achieved until the founding of Homol'ovi IV in the 1250s (Adams 2002; Young 1996). As Lange (1998:6) notes:

Although there are a number of wild plant species that can be used for a variety of purposes, there are relatively few in the Homol'ovi area that can provide substantial food resources. Numerous grasses have abundant, usable seeds, but their unpredictable annual production and the intensive harvesting effort required mean that grasses cannot be a staple "crop" to sustain anything but a seasonal population. Thus, any use of the region before the advent of domestic crops is expected to be only seasonal and temporary and may have continued to be seasonal even after the arrival of such crops.

As noted in Adams (2001:9-12), away from the influence of the river the vegetation can be divided into mesa, buttes, and terraces; side drainages; and sand dunes. The most ubiquitous plant in all three areas is snakeweed (Guiterrezia sarothrae), which is a disturbance plant and indicative of domestic livestock grazing that began in the area as early as the 1860s and 1870s with the Hashknife Outfit and local Mormon communities. Other dominant plants in the vicinity of Homol'ovi IV included shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia), four-wind saltbush (Atriplex canescens), rabbit brush (Chrysothamnus albidus), and rice grass (Oryzopsis hymenoides). Dune areas to the west of Homol'ovi IV were dominated by sandsage (Artemesia filifolia) with ring muhly, Mormon tea, and narrow-leaf yucca also present. Toward the river, the outer floodplain is dominated by greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) with occasional dense stands of desert olive (Forestiera newmexicana), shad-scale, various cheno-ams, pickleweed (Allen-rolfea occidentalis), the introduced camelthorn (Alhagi camelorum), and older stands of cottonwoods. The inner, active floodplain is now dominated by the introduced tamarisk (Tamarix pentandra), with scattered willow (Salix sp.), cottonwood, various cheno-ams, beeweed (Cleome serrulata), and sunflower (Helianthus annus).

Today and in the past the most common animals are cottontail (Silvilagus) and varieties of jackrabbit (Lepus spp.) followed by various rodents. Sitgreaves (1954:36) observed beaver and porcupine in the area, whereas Whipple (1856) noted the abundant waterfowl. Lesley (1929:201) mentioned elk, deer, and antelope as seasonal visitors to the river. Prairie dogs have now reinhabited the area, although not yet near Homol'ovi IV. Lizards are plentiful at Homol'ovi IV, especially the great basin and plains varieties, as are Great Basin rattlesnakes and gopher snakes. Red-tailed hawk, turkey buzzard, kestrel, western meadowlark, morning dove, mocking bird, raven, various owls, golden eagle, and zone-tailed hawks have been observed in the vicinity of Homol'ovi IV. Sandhill crane, blue heron, Canadian goose, teal, and various ducks are seasonal visitors in the winter, spring, and fall, with the heron spending the summer.

Paleoenvironment

As summarized in the Homol'ovi III report (Adams 2001:12-16), research since 1984 on various of the villages in the Homol'ovi cluster has resulted in a clear picture of what the environment looked like before, during, and after the occupation of Homol'ovi IV (K.Adams 1992, 1996, 1999, 2001; Kolbe 1991; Miksicek 1991; Pierce 2001; Strand 1998; Strand and McKim 1996; Szuter 1991; Van West 1996; Young 1996). Karen Adams (1997) and Jennifer Strand (1998) have summarized the plant and animal material respectively from Homol'ovi IV, which will be presented in chapters to follow.

Kolbe (1991) and Van West (1996), using correlations between the modern tree-ring record, river discharge, and depositional or erosional events, have reconstructed river discharge and alluvial events for the Little Colorado River during the Homol'ovi IV occupation. Kolbe (1991) defined three major periods between 1250 and 1400: (1) 1262-1299 when river discharge was 18 percent below average resulting in erosion of the floodplain; (2) 1300-1337 when river discharge was 20 percent above average resulting in deposition on the floodplain; and (3) 1338-1400 when river discharge fluctuated between below, above, and normal. Van West (1996) refined Kolbe's chronology with her model suggesting river discharge was low between 1250-1300 making the floodplain suitable for farming and settlement. The period 1300-1334 was wet and the floodplain would have been avoided for occupation. As with Kolbe, the period 1335-1400 was variable. Thus, both models suggest that Homol'ovi IV was settled at or near the beginning of a period of below average river discharge that made the floodplain suitable for settlement and farming. Roofing material collected from Homol'ovi IV is 59 percent cottonwood, 36 percent nonconifer, and 5 percent ponderosa pine (Adams 2002: Table 3.4). The pine is almost certainly a stray piece of driftwood, whereas the other 21 samples could have been collected locally. Cottonwood is still locally abundant in the upper and lower floodplains today and the data suggest it could have served the earliest pueblos in the area with most of their roofing needs (Adams 2002:Figure 3.4). Sampling from nearby Homol'ovi I, II, and III deposits point to few substantial differences between either plant of animal resources during the late 1200s and today. The only exceptions are known local extinctions, especially of fish, and drastic reductions in other riparian species, such as muskrat and beaver, or alterations resulting from livestock grazing. This has resulted in local grasses being replaced by small bushes or other forbes, especially snakeweed. In addition to the effects of livestock grazing, the introductions of tamarisk, as an erosional control agent from 1900-1940, and camelthorn, after World War II as an ornamental, have been devastating to riparian and floodplain habitats of the Little Colorado River and elsewhere (Colton 1937; Graf 1978; Harris 1968; Hereford 1984; Horton 1964; Robinson 1965).

There are at least two other areas available to inhabitants of Homol'ovi IV that could add to the floral assemblage: (1) the side canyons, especially Chevelon and Clear Creek, that provide the year-round flow of water to portions of the Little Colorado River just upstream from Homol'ovi IV. Even today, these canyons are filled with black walnut, Oregon grape, hackberry, Gambel's oak, and other species not present in the modern Little Colorado River floodplain. (2) Driftwood deposited on the floodplain by periodic floods brings an abundance of plant material from all higher elevation environmental zones, including spruce, white fire, douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, pinyon, juniper, Gambel's oak, box elder, black walnut, hackberry, and others (Adams 2002; Adams and Hedberg 2002). Sampling of a modern driftwood pile deposited by January 1993 floods mirrored species distribution recovered from roofing members at Homol'ovi I, II, III, and IV (Adams 2002; Adams and Hedberg 2002). This suggests the use of driftwood by the occupants of these villages, particularly the large villages of Homol'ovi I and II.

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