Aggression, Aggregation, and Abandonment in Southwestern Prehistory

During the 12th and 13th centuries AD, and especially during the latter part of this time period, the various populations of Pueblo Indians of the Colorado Plateau began a process of abandonment. Gradually, they withdrew from areas which had been inhabited by puebloan groups of their ancestors for hundreds of years. At the same time, signs of violence appear in the architecture left by these groups during the Pueblo III period. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between aggression and the phenomena of aggregation and abandonment in southwestern prehistory