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Prehistoric Agave Cultivation in Southern Arizona
... Archaeological cultural resource research from 1980 to the present has revealed evidence for intensive pre-contact agave agriculture in Arizona. The first extensive description of agave cultivation identified ridged, gridded, rock piled constructs and roasting pits containing carbonized macro-botanical agave remains on Santa Cruz River pediments and bajadas near Marana, north of Tucson (Fish et al., 1985(Fish et al., , 1992. Contour terraces, rock alignments and check dams (rock alignments that cross drainages) often occurred with rock piles in fields ranging from a few rock-pile clusters to many hectares (Fish et al., 1992) and were associated with Hohokam towns and villages located along the riverbanks. ...
... The association of agaves and rock piles started before the early Classic Period as archaeologists dated a few small complexes of rock piles, linear stone features, and roasting pits prior to 1000 CE (Fish et al., 1985). Rock pile technology grew significantly post-1000 CE when greatly expanded fields distant from villages coincided with dense, aggregated populations (Fish et al., 1992). ...
... Rock pile technology grew significantly post-1000 CE when greatly expanded fields distant from villages coincided with dense, aggregated populations (Fish et al., 1992). Rock piles and alignments ( Fig. 1) capture and retain moisture and nutrients, increase rain infiltration, slow evaporation and surface water flows, aerate soil, increase soil organic matter, provide insulation to roots, and deter gopher predation (Fish et al., 1985;Homburg et al., 2011;Hodgson, 2013;Hodgson et al., 2018;Ortiz-Cano et al., 2020). ...
Background and Scope
Agaves played a central role as multi-use plants providing food, fibre and beverage to pre-contact and historical Mesoamerican cultures. However, their importance to Indigenous Peoples in the Southwest USA and northern Mexico, where they occur because of adaptations such as CAM photosynthesis, is less well known. Archaeological research indicates the Hohokam and other pre-contact Southwestern agrarian people increased agricultural potential in this region by engineering riverine terraces and bajadas for agave dry farming. Agricultural features such as terraces and rock piles were especially characteristic of post-1000 CE with the increase of dense, aggregated populations. We present an overview of six pre-contact agave domesticates (PCADs) the Hohokam and other cultures cultivated, and their ecological and cultural attributes. These PCADs are Agave murpheyi, A. delamateri, A. phillipsiana, A. sanpedroensis, A. verdensis and A. yavapaiensis.
Conclusion
Pre-contact agriculturists cultivated at least six once cryptic domesticated agave species in the modern Arizona landscape associated with pre-contact agricultural features, such as rock structures. Because of the longevity and primarily asexual reproduction of these agaves, relict clones have persisted to the present day, providing an opportunity to study pre-contact nutrition, trade, migration and agricultural practices. Taxonomic data imply that pre-contact farmers selected desirable attributes, initiating domestication processes that resulted in discrete lineages. These agaves are morphologically and genetically distinct from Southwest US and northern Mexico wild agaves and Mesoamerican wild and domesticated species. Additionally, the remnant clones present a rare opportunity to examine domesticates virtually unchanged since they were last cultivated prehistorically. These discoveries underline the need to view landscapes and some plant species from a cultural, rather than ‘natural’, perspective and discern potential cryptic species veiled by traditional taxonomic treatments. Protecting and understanding the distribution, and ecological and cultural roles of these plants require interdisciplinary collaboration between botanists, archaeologists, federal agencies and Indigenous Peoples.
... Dryland farming systems enabled Pre-Columbian farmers to cultivate Agave in the driest regions of North America (Nabhan et al., 2020;Fish et al., 1985;Fish and Fish, 2014;Garcia-Moya et al., 2011;Mikulska, 2001;Trombold, 2017). Water catchment techniques on slopes, rock mulching, rock alignments, terraces, nurse plants and intercropping are among the strategies used to cultivate Agave (Fish and Fish, 2014;Homburg and Sandor, 2011;Ortiz-Cano et al., 2020). ...
... This strategy provides resilient crop production in times of extreme drought, while also fostering a carbon mitigation strategy (Lehner and Rosenberg, 2017). Rock mulching can also be used to retain soil moisture, as described in the previous section, and is another traditional practice that was recently described in sites in the borderland region of the southwestern US (Fish et al., 1985;Ortiz-Cano et al., 2020). Rock mulch reduces the evaporative losses from soil, making more water available for plant growth (e.g. ...
Background and scope:
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is an intriguing physiological adaptation in plants that are widespread throughout many ecosystems. Despite the relatively recent mechanistic understanding of CAM in plant physiology, evidence from historical records suggest that ancient cultures in the Americas also recognized the value of CAM plants. Agave species in particular have a rich cultural legacy that provides a foundation for commercially valued products. Here, we review that legacy and potential relationships between ancient values and the needs of modern-day climate adaptation strategies.
Conclusions:
There are many products that can be produced from Agave spp., including food, sugar, fiber, and medicines. Traditional knowledge about agricultural management and preparation of plant products can be combined with new ecophysiological knowledge and agronomic techniques to develop these resources in the borderland region of the southwest US and Mexico. Historical records of pre-Columbian practices in the Sonoran desert and remnants of centuries-old agriculture in Baja California and Sonora demonstrate the climate resilience of Agave agriculture. Commercial growth of both tequila and bacanora indicates the potential for large-scale production today, but also underscores the importance of adopting regenerative agricultural practice in order to accomplish environmentally sustainable production. Recent international recognition of the Appellation of Origin for several Agave spp. produced for spirits in Mexico may provide opportunities for agricultural diversification. In contrast, fiber is currently produced from several Agave species on many continents. Projections of growth with future climate change suggest that Agave spp. will be viable alternatives for commodity crops that suffer declines during drought and increased temperatures. Historic cultivation of Agave affirms that these CAM plants can supply sugar, soft and hard fibers, medicines, and food supplements.
... There has been one experimental field trial of A. americana in the US [1]. Otherwise, there is no recent history of Agave crop production in the US other than in ornamental landscaping, but some recent archeological studies reveal that pre-Colombian populations in the southwestern US cultivated large plantations of Agave [17][18][19]. ...
... Archeological evidence indicates that an Agave species was cultivated in the southwestern US with both channeled irrigation and rock mulching [17]. Rock mulching is a practice that maintains greater amounts of plant available water by placing a layer of rocks on the soil surface to reduce radiation at the soil surface, thereby decreasing evaporative losses. ...
Rising crop risk for farmers and greater subsidy costs for governments are both associated with changing climatic conditions, including increased water scarcity. The resilience of Agave spp. in both hot and dry conditions, combined with their wide range of uses, position these plants as novel high-yielding crops suitable for both (i) a warming climate and (ii) agricultural regions with finite water resources. A simple model of the physiological response of Agave americana to variations in solar radiation, temperature, and precipitation was used to predict A. americana yields globally at a 4 km spatial resolution for both contemporary climate and high-end warming scenarios. The potential growing region for A. americana expanded by 3–5% (up to 3 million ha) and potential biomass production increased by 4–5% (up to 4 Gt of additional biomass) with climate warming scenarios. There were some declines in biomass with the climate warming projected in smaller dispersed locations of tropical South America, Africa, and Australia. The amount of water required for optimal A. americana yield is less than half of the current water required for other crops grown in semi-arid agricultural regions of the southwestern US, and a similar low water demand can be expected in other semi-arid regions of the world. Rock mulching can further reduce the need for irrigation and increase suitable cropland area for A. americana by 26–30%. We show that >10 Mg ha−1 y−1 of A. americana biomass could be produced on 27 million ha of cropland without requiring irrigation. Our results suggest that cultivation of A. americana can support resilient agriculture in a future with rising temperatures and water scarcity.
... The vestiges of Mesoamerican people in the region include unstudied archaeological terraces at Rancho Viejo, Chinampas, which are currently covered by 2 species of nopal (MER-L and EM, personal observation). These terraces might have been agricultural (sensu Fish et al., 1985;Nelson, 1992), rather than a pyramid as believed by local peasants. At La Quemada, some 120 km northwest of Rancho Viejo, plants cultivated on terraces probably included maguey (Nelson, 1992) in addition to maize and squash and, perhaps, nopal (Trombold and Israde-Alcantara, 2005). ...
Before the 16th century, tunales, majestic forests of arborescent nopales (Opuntia spp.), were a signature of the southern part of the Mexican Plateau. They were crucial for nonagricultural humans and wildlife and created the cultural identity of the region. Notwithstanding this, they have been drastically reduced and disparaged into modern times. We aimed at reconstructing the history of the disappearance of these tunales and elaborate on the ecological and cultural impacts of such disappearance. The historicizing of such processes is critical to establish restoration objectives concordant with ecological timeframes, rather than by human memory. To fulfill our objective, we reviewed published formal and gray literature (i.e., publications with limited circulation, theses), and unpublished archival documents, complementing this information and interpreting it with our own >25-year research experience each in the region. Despite some differing opinions, most 15th-century tunales were natural. Agricultural development in the 17th–19th centuries affected mostly tunales in humid bottomlands. Those on hills and slopes apparently escaped this initial transformation. After the Mexican Revolution (1910–1921), the plowing of hills and slopes destroyed many remaining tunales. Some persisted into the 21th century, but their felling has continued. Our study exemplifies how natural iconic communities once widely distributed can vanish almost inadvertently. With the loss of the tunales, the region has lost a unique, iconic plant community which harbored several plant species endemic to Mexico. Arborescent nopales are hardy, but to avoid the complete disappearance of the tunales, their ecological and biocultural importance and significance must be revaluated, and strong lobbying efforts and management actions developed.
... Since the distance between rock-pile clusters at archaeological sites vary [2,68], we used the 'thin' function of the spThin R statistical package to subsample rock piles from all the sites sampled [69]. The subsampling method, also called spatial thinning, via 'thin' function, uses an algorithm that analyzes the distance between sample occurrences and identifies those that reduce predictability of ecological niche models. ...
For centuries, humans occupying arid regions of North America have maintained an intricate relationship with Agave (Agavoideae, Asparagaceae). Today Agave cultivation, primarily for beverage production, provides an economic engine for rural communities throughout Mexico. Among known dryland-farming methods, the use of rock piles and cattle-grazed areas stand out as promising approaches for Agave cultivation. Identifying new cultivation areas to apply these approaches in Arizona, USA and Sonora, Mexico warrants a geographic assessment of areas outside the known ranges of rock piles and grasslands. The objective of this study was to predict areas for dryland-farming of Agave and develop models to identify potential areas for Agave cultivation. We used maximum entropy (MaxEnt) ecological-niche-modeling algorithms to predict suitable areas for Agave dryland farming. The model was parameterized using occurrence records of Hohokam rock piles in Arizona and grassland fields cultivated with Agave in Sonora. Ten environmental-predictor variables were used in the model, downloaded from the WorldClim 2 climate database. The model identified potential locations for using rock piles as dryland-farming methods from south-central Arizona to northwestern Sonora. The Agave-grassland model indicated that regions from central to southern Sonora have the highest potential for cultivation of Agave, particularly for the species Agave angustifolia. Results suggest that there are many suitable areas where rock piles can be used to cultivate Agave in the Sonoran Desert, particularly in the border of southeastern Arizona and northwest Sonora. Likewise, cattle-grazing grasslands provide a viable environment for cultivating Agave in southern Sonora, where the expanding bacanora-beverage industry continues to grow and where different Agave products (e.g., syrups, fructans, saponins, and medicinal compounds) can potentially strengthen local economies.
... Several agaves were independently brought into cultivation on well over 200,000 hectares in northwestern Arid America food systems on the edges of the Sonoran Desert. They included Agave delameteri, A. murpheyi, A. phillipsiana, A. sanpedroensis, A. verdensis and A. yavapaiensis (Fish et al., 1985;Hodgson, 2012;Hodgson and Salywon, 2013;Hodgson et al., 2018), while cultivation of a seventh species remains debated . ...
Climate change is aggravating agricultural crop failures, and the paucity of wild food harvests for Indigenous desert dwellers in Mexico and the U.S. This food production crisis challenges ongoing efforts by Indigenous communities in obtaining greater food security, prompting them to reconsider the value of traditional Indigenous food systems in both Mesoamerica and Arid America, two adjacent centers of crop diversity. While food production strategies in these two centers share many features, the food plant diversity in the Western Mesoamerican region appears to be greater. However, a higher percentage of plants in Arid America have adapted to water scarcity, heat, and damaging radiation. The phytochemical and physiological adaptations of the food plants to abiotic stresses in arid environments offer a modicum of resilience in the face of aggravated climate uncertainties. By comparing food plant genera comprising Western Mesoamerican and Arid American diets, we detected a higher ratio of CAM succulents in the wild and domesticated food plant species in the Arid American food system. We conclude that food plant diversity in the ancestral diets of both centers can provide much of the resilience needed to advance Indigenous food sovereignty and assure food security as climate change advances.
... in the Sonoran Desert (Fish et al. 1985). In contrast, the legacy effect of years of above-average rainfall may promote water-intensive agricultural practices that draw on more water than is regularly available over the long term, e.g., contemporary California arboriculture. ...
While agricultural origins have been recently revised in light of new genetic and archaeological evidence, parallel synthesis of subsequent developments in agricultural economies has lagged. This review summarizes recent advances in archaeological theory and method that contribute to an enhanced understanding of agricultural economies. Such advances address topics of persistent interest, including agricultural innovation, the introduction of new domesticates, risk and resilience, agricultural scaling, and the economic and environmental consequences of agricultural practices. Although points of complementarity and tension exist among varied contemporary discourses on agriculture, frameworks of resilience and entanglement offer particularly promising avenues for regional synthesis and worldwide comparison of agricultural economies.
The art and science of ritual human sacrifice was a fundamental axiom of Mesoamerican social violence and remains a subject fraught with ambiguity and competing frameworks of analysis. Interpretive constructs for human heart excision or evisceration and ritualized dismemberment remain keyed to synchronic ethnohistorical and iconographic frames of reference or practice. Though ritual dismemberment, decapitation, and cannibalism have been traced to remote antiquity in highland Mesoamerica, the cosmological underpinnings of human heart excision, and its corollary technologies of terror, have yet to be fully interrogated in terms of naturalistic metaphors and agricultural mimesis. This paper reviews those cosmological constructs and agricultural metaphors deemed instrumental to the formation and validation of Mesoamerican ritual human sacrifice. This study explores those agricultural metaphors identified with (a) the planting of tzompantli skull banners, (b) human heart excision, and (c) other forms of blood tribute or autosacrifice. I contend that Mesoamerican agricultural practices constitute the instrumental inspiration or motivating force for those mimetic practices that underpin the harvesting of the excised human heart, ritual decapitation, the installation of skull banners, and the latter’s identification with the cleft-earth ball courts of creation. This interpretive schema is operationalized via botanical metaphors identified with maguey castration and the extraction of the agave heart and its “blood” as a corollary dimension of mimesis that fueled the ideology of human heart excision at the dawn of the Mesoamerican Classic era.
A “Ridge-Drainage Index” (RDI) is introduced that characterizes landform represented by digital elevation models on a continuum that ranges between ridge crests and summits at one end of its scale to pits, depressions, and drainages on the other. Intermediate outcomes signify ridge flanks, hillsides, or plains-like settings. The RDI quantifies terrain “openness,” but unlike indices similar to the “Sky View Factor” (SVF) which measure vertical angles open to the sky, it does so in the horizontal plane by calculating angles encompassing all lower elevations within a local neighborhood in a raster data structure. Consequently, the RDI describes a dimension of terrain form unlike those yielded by other common filters applied to digital elevation data. The RDI is scale sensitive, with results determined by raster cell size. At a regional scale with low spatial resolutions (e.g., 10-100 m) the RDI is well suited for geomorphological insights about landform through its ability to delineate drainage courses, depressions, ridgelines, and prominences. At the scale of human settlements, with moderately high spatial resolutions (e.g., 0.5-2 m), it can delineate anthropogenic variations in landform where low angles point to such negative features as small pits, trails, ditches, or depressions associated with sunken constructions, to such positive protuberances as small mounds, raised berms, standing stones, or architecture. Yet, high resolution terrain data can exhibit much noise when viewed in the RDI continuum because small height variations caused by hummocky ground, rodent activity, minor erosion, clumps of grass, or other small-scale processes, can be highlighted by the algorithm and introduce noise that detracts from the outcome. Although several procedures may be employed to mitigate such noise, low-pass smoothing filters that generalize terrain appear most effective. Case studies at two prehistoric Middle Missouri River settlements in North Dakota and at Pueblo Bonito, a standing architectural ruin in New Mexico, illustrate its benefits for the visualization of anthropogenic elements using elevation data acquired from a variety of sources, including airborne laser scanning, structure from motion photogrammetry applied to unmanned aerial vehicle imagery, and robotic total stations. A final case study at a prehistoric agricultural field complex in Arizona examines the RDI as a quantitative landform index in a spatial analysis of archaeological location.
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