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Subsistence
by Kristin A. Kuckelman
1
The subsistence of the villagers at Castle Rock Pueblo can be
reconstructed using information from the plant remains,
animal bones, and pollen samples collected at the site. Studying subsistence is important to understanding how people
survived in a specific time and place. The evidence from Castle Rock
Pueblo indicates that the villagers obtained and used a variety of
resources typically used by Puebloan peoples during the latter half of the
A.D. 1200s in the Mesa Verde region. These resources supplied necessities
such as food, shelter, fuel, and tools. Information and interpretations
regarding the plant remains, animal bones, pollen samples, and artifacts
collected at Castle Rock during the first two years of excavation
are included in The Sand Canyon Archaeological
Project: Site Testing (Varien 1999*2). Information and interpretations regarding the plant
remains, animal bones, and artifacts collected during all five years
of excavation are included in the present report, in the sections titled
"Plant Evidence," "Faunal
Remains," and "Artifacts." In this discussion of subsistence, I synthesize the
information
from those other contributions into a brief account of the subsistence practices of the villagers of Castle Rock Pueblo.
Water Resources
2
Even though there was little direct evidence of water use at Castle Rock, it is safe to assume that water, the most essential
of all subsistence resources, was procured and used for drinking, cooking, washing, pottery making, and construction
(mortar, adobe, and plaster mixing). Evidence of two earth-and-rubble dams (Database Map 513) was found in an intermittent
(seasonal) drainage along the northeast edge of the site. These dams would have stopped or slowed the flow of runoff from
a large expanse of exposed bedrock north, northwest, and northeast of the head of that drainage. During and just after a
rain, or during snowmelt runoff, water would have backed up behind these dams. In this way, the villagers maximized the
opportunity to use rain and snowmelt for domestic purposes. However, water would have been available from this source
only infrequently in this semiarid climate.
3
Additional water must have been available somewhere nearby for the estimated 75 to 150 villagers at Castle Rock to have
survived there for 20 years. McElmo Creek lies approximately 600 m (2,000 ft) south of the site. It is not known whether
this creek was a permanent water source at the time Castle Rock was inhabited; irrigation water has supplemented its flow
since the late 1800s. An early explorer reported that the creek bed was
dry in July 1874 (Jackson 1959*1:319, 1875*1:July 30 entry). It is safe to assume,
therefore, that a more dependable water source, such as a spring, was
available at not too great a distance and that the villagers hauled most of
their water from that source
in ollas during all but the wettest
seasons.
Plant Resources
4
Castle Rock residents used many plants that grew in the general vicinity of their village. The plant remains identified from
collections made during excavations include remnants of food, fuel for fires, and building materials. Most plant remains
recovered were charred, because uncharred plant material does not often survive for hundreds of years except in dry cave
environments. The evidence indicates that the Castle Rock villagers, like other ancestral Puebloans in the Mesa Verde
region, ate maize (Zea mays), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris),
and squash (Cucurbita pepo). These cultivated crops probably made
up a large part of the villagers' diet, especially maize, which was found
in many different places and contexts at the site—in hearths, in middens, on a kiva bench, and in collapsed roofs.
Wild plants also provided important foods. Fruits of the prickly-pear
cactus (Opuntia) and broadleaf yucca (Yucca baccata) were
eaten, as were seeds of goosefoot (Chenopodium), pigweed
(Amaranthus), Indian rice grass (Stipa hymenoides), purslane
(Portulaca), woolly wheat (Plantago), and stickleaf
(Mentzelia). Most of these wild
plants still grow in the area today.
5
Most of the evidence of maize at the site was in the form of kernels. But other parts of the maize plant, such as cobs and
stalks, were found as well, and their presence indicates that the fields where the maize was grown were located nearby. The
floodplain of McElmo Creek was within 200 m (600 ft) of the village and, as today, would have offered the best soil for
farming in the immediate vicinity. This floodplain sediment is much deeper, more fertile, and less rocky than other
sediments in the vicinity, and the floodplain would have been near water for crop irrigation. During the A.D. 1200s, the
McElmo floodplain adjacent to Castle Rock was aggrading, and agricultural
potential was high (Force and Howell
1997*1:32).
6
Plants were also used as fuel and as construction materials. The fuels found most commonly at Castle Rock were juniper
and pinyon wood. Also used for fuel were maize (Zea mays) cobs,
sagebrush (Artemisia), rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus), ash
(Fraxinus), cottonwood (Populus), and greasewood
(Sarcobatus). Evidence indicates that roofing timbers were almost
exclusively juniper, but a few pinyon timbers were also used. Juniper
trees were probably preferred for construction because they generally have
straight trunks and the wood is more rot-resistant than the wood of the
pinyon tree. Research on methods of kiva roof construction (Hovezak
1992*1:68) revealed that an estimated 96 to 192 logs were needed to roof
one ordinary-sized, six-pilaster kiva similar to most of the kivas at
Castle Rock Pueblo. Because one oversized and at least 15 ordinary-sized
kivas were constructed at Castle Rock, the construction of kiva roofs alone
would have required between 1,536 and 3,072 logs. The tree-ring
dating samples from some of these logs indicate that a large proportion
of the logs used to roof kivas died many years before Castle Rock was
inhabited and thus were probably salvaged from abandoned buildings
elsewhere. Other tree-ring samples, however, indicate that at least some
of the logs were from trees freshly felled for the
construction of kiva roofs at Castle Rock Pueblo.
7
Pollen samples that were collected during the first two years of testing at Castle Rock were analyzed and discussed in a
previous report (Gish 1999*1). These samples were taken from the floors of Structures 204, 302, and 401. The results of
the pollen analysis confirm the widespread use of maize by the villagers. The smaller amounts of pinyon and juniper pollen
were probably the result of pollen "rain" that occurred naturally during the use of these structures; the pollen indicates that
pinyon and juniper trees were common on the landscape surrounding the village. Also present was greasewood pollen, from
a shrub that would have grown nearby along McElmo Creek; pollen from this plant might have been carried into the
structures with maize grown in fields along the creek.
8
Many plants were also undoubtedly gathered for medicine, pottery paint
dyes, hairbrushes, soap, food flavoring, and other uses, although no direct
evidence of these activities was discovered at Castle Rock. A comprehensive
summary of the ethnographic uses of various plants identified in the Mesa
Verde region will be available on Crow Canyon's Web site. Some ethnographic
uses of the plants that were available in the area of Castle Rock can
be found in Ethnographic
Uses of Plants.
Animal Resources
9
The animals identified from the bones collected during all five years of excavation at Castle Rock are listed in Table 1 of
"Faunal Remains."
Many of these animals were probably used for food, and the number and
variety of species represented by the bones suggest that the villagers ate
the meat of many different animals. Although most animals undoubtedly were
procured primarily for food, the inedible parts were probably used for
other purposes. Items such as awls, scrapers, and prayer sticks made from
the bones of turkeys, deer, and rabbits were found during excavations at
the site. Evidence from dry cave sites dating from this period in the Mesa
Verde region indicates that inedible parts such as hide, fur, sinew,
antlers, and feathers would have been used for clothing, blankets, tools,
and weapons, although no direct evidence of these perishable items was
collected at Castle Rock. Not all bones collected on the site were related
to subsistence; some animals, such as domestic dogs, would have been pets,
and others, such as snakes, lizards, and some
rodents, could have died naturally at the village either during or after occupation.
10
The greatest percentage of animal bone collected during excavations at Castle Rock came from jackrabbits, cottontail
rabbits, and large birds such as turkeys. The large number of rabbit bones indicates that rabbits were a primary source of
meat and probably a more important source of protein than deer. Turkey bones were also numerous, and many eggshell
fragments—probably from turkey eggs—were collected from the floor of
Structure 122 in Roomblock 103 (Database Map 515). Turkeys were probably
raised for their eggs and feathers. Turkey feathers could have been used
for feather blankets, for arrow fletching, and for religious items such as
prayer sticks. The presence of a complete hawk skeleton in the hearth in
Structure 107 may indicate that these birds were raised, kept as pets, or used in ceremonies.
Conclusions
11
The plant, animal, and pollen remains collected during excavations at Castle Rock Pueblo indicate that the villagers used
many wild plants and animals and some domesticated plants and animals for their subsistence. They dammed a drainage
adjacent to their village to supplement their water supply, grew much of their own food in nearby fields, and apparently
raised turkeys for eggs, meat, and feathers. The natural environment provided water as well as many wild plant and animal
resources that were exploited for building materials, fuel, and additional food. The extensive use of wild plants suggests
that the villagers had a thorough knowledge of edible and other useful plants in their environment. Recycling of
construction timbers was practiced by reusing wood from abandoned buildings, probably located somewhere nearby. Many
animals were exploited for food and for inedible materials such as bones for tools, probably hide and fur for clothing and
blankets, and feathers for blankets and prayer sticks. Analysis of the human remains encountered during excavation
revealed that the villagers were healthy and suffered no major nutritional deficiencies (analysis records on file at the Crow
Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, Colorado, and Debra L. Martin, personal communication 1998). The remains of the
Castle Rock villagers' subsistence system are rich and varied, showing what resources these ancient Puebloans exploited,
and the human remains indicate that the villagers flourished in this semiarid landscape.
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