Agricultural History on the Colorado Plateau: Looking to the Past for a Path into the Future.

摘要

This study provides a detailed history and summation of Pueblo agricultural history on the Colorado Plateau. This history is used is used as a method for examining their agricultural practices, technologies, crops, energetics, and social structures, in order to find solutions to contemporary agricultural problems. This examination shows that traditional pre-contact Pueblo agriculture relied on an intimate knowledge of environmental systems (ecology), simple technologies, well-adapted crop varieties, lots of human energy, and various social structures that often resembled many anarchist ideals. The conclusion argues that much of these systems might be incorporated into contemporary agricultural systems to decrease overall energy usage and create a more sustainable agriculture and society.