Droughts have so far been considered to be the trigger for the various breaks in the cultural history of the Pueblo Indians. But it was only when the climatic challenges met growing tensions in society that the social upheavals occurred, according to a study. The Pueblo cultures thus often survived climatic capers, in unstable times, on the other hand, even modest droughts led to the end of an era. The researchers see this as a kind of warning in the context of the societal challenges of today’s climate change.
Why did cultures perish in human history or suddenly change a lot? The transformations often seemed to have been linked to climate extremes – but these challenges were seldom the only cause, historians say: It is often obvious that certain cultural developments had also weakened societies’ resilience to collapse. As the scientists working with Tim Kohler from Washington State University in Pullman explain, the cultural history of the Pueblo Indians is particularly suitable for systematically investigating this connection. Because in its long social development several characteristic breaks emerge.
Long story with breaks
The pre-Columbian Pueblo Indians lived from about 500 to 1300 AD in the area in which the US states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico border one another today. The rural cultures are best known for their impressive settlements that nestled against the rock walls. Archaeological investigations have already shown: the communities often remained stable for many decades, but several cultural cuts are also emerging, which were characterized, among other things, by significant changes in the settlement areas, architecture and ceramic production. In the late 1200s there was the last break, as a result of which the Pueblo Indians left the area entirely. Previous research has already suggested that droughts coincided with the various cultural breaks – they were therefore considered to be the main cause.
In the current study, however, Kohler and his colleagues were able to make it clear that the social systems of the Pueblo Indians showed characteristic signs of instability at their tipping points. In their analyzes, they combined archaeological and climatic historical information with the results of tree ring analyzes of wooden beams that were used by the Pueblo Indians in the construction of their buildings. They document the tree-felling activity and thus the productivity of the communities over the centuries, the researchers explain. “This productivity, in turn, is like a kind of social thermometer,” says Kohler. “Because tree felling and construction work were important components of these societies. Every deviation from the normal extent therefore reflects that something was going on. “
Traces of instability
As they explain, a pattern emerged in the analyzes of productivity that is typical of increasing instability in a society: after disturbances – such as climatic fluctuations – the initial state was increasingly delayed. “A slowdown in the recovery from small disturbances signals a loss of resilience,” says first author Marten Scheffer from Wageningen University. “This warning signal can be seen in many systems,” says the expert in the field of complexity research. Specifically, the researchers found that a weakened ability to recover – and thus instability – appeared in the run-up to three major cultural breaks in Pueblo societies. The dwindling social stability is also accompanied by archaeological evidence of increasing violence and, in some cases, an increased wealth gap, the researchers report.
As they emphasize, the end of the pre-Columbian Pueblo culture was an exception to this pattern: In the late 1200s, a combination of drought and external conflicts probably caused all Pueblo peoples to permanently close the region without a preceding phase of instability leave. For the earlier ruptures with the subsequent restart, however, the following was true: Unfavorable social developments had decisively weakened the communities’ resilience to disturbances. The researchers sum up that they broke due to climatic challenges that they were able to master in other times.
Look at the present
“Societies that stick together can evidently often find ways to overcome climatic challenges,” says Kohler. “But societies that are torn apart by internal social dynamics of any kind – that can be differences in prosperity, discrimination or other divisions – are fragile because of these factors. Then climatic challenges can easily become very serious, “says the scientist, thus directing his gaze to the present:” If we cannot face the challenges of climate change as a cohesive society, things will look bleak, “said Kohler.
Source: Washington State University, Article: PNAS, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.2024397118