Barren. Desolate. Arid. Unforgiving.
The very words we use to describe deserts make these biomes seem like a wasteland. If we have never seen a desert, we may picture it as lifeless, craggy rocks under a blazing sun. We may also imagine the same location at night, a vacant expanse of sand now frigid under a silver moon. Although these images do find root in reality, there is another view of the desert. For thousands of years, deserts from the Mohave to the Sahara have been home to all kinds of life -- plant, animal, and human. You have probably already learned that the desert is not all that it seems in movies or in our imaginations. But you might not have considered how life, especially human life, exists in desert regions without the benefits of modern technology. By examing how humans have managed to live in the harsh climates of deserts, we can understand some of the ways ecology and geography impact history.

Humans have been living in the deserts of the American Southwest since as early as 9000 B.C. The first Native Americans to settle in the Southwest came at a time when the area was slightly cooler and more fertile. In fact, the prehistoric Southwest was really a grassland. Today when we think of desert animals, we generally envision birds and very small, burrowing animals. However, the Southwest's earliest arrivals, called Paleo-Indians, lived by scavenging and hunting large animals which roamed the region, including now-extinct mammoths and bison.

Nearly four thousand years ago, the inhabitants of the Southwest began slowly switching from a hunting to a farming lifestyle. One main factor causing Native Americans in the area to search for new food sources was a change in climate, which caused many of the herds to move eastward. Throughout history, climate changes have had long-ranging impacts on how and where various peoples live. In the Southwest, climate change caused Native American tribes to begin forming settlements, rather than following herds. Most tribes would settle near one of the rivers (above) which weave their way through the American Southwest. By 200 B.C., a large number of tribes had formed settlments.

montez.jpg (93478 bytes)Native Americans such as the Sinagua used the materials Nature provided them with to build homes.  The cave-dwelling to the left is called Montezuma Castle.  It is set in a cliff a hundred feet above the ground.  It is five stories high and has about twenty rooms.  The Sinagua built Montezuma Castle in the 1100s -- an amazing feat, considering they had no modern building tools.  The tribe left mysteriously in the 1400s.  The Sinagua were very careful in selecting where they would build their permanent homes.  They were farmers and relied on the fertile ground and creeks located near Montezuma Castle and at other dwellings.  In fact, "Sinagua" is a name given to the tribe by the Spanish.  It means "without water" -- ecology can affect even the very way in which cultures are identified and viewed.

 

tuzig.jpg (84963 bytes) Another Sinaguan pueblo, or village, may seem quite different from Montezuma Castle.  The Tuzigoot pueblo is not in a cliff and is much larger. However, looking at the photo of Tuzigoot (left), you may notice one important similarity between the two dwellings.  In both, the Sinagua used the same sorts of building materials.   The rocks, which you can see clearly in the picture of Tuzigoot, come from the area surrounding the pueblo.  Thinking about the lives of the Sinagua and other Southwestern Native Americans provides just one way of seeing history in terms of ecology.

Here are some ecological factors that have impacted (and will continue to impact) history.  Consider them when you study history and social studies in school, or when you are visiting a historical site like Montezuma Castle: