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Fig.2.LocationoftheMesaVerderegioninNorthAmericanSouthwest(afterNoble,ed.by
2006:Map.1modifiedbyA.Danecki)
II.2.NATURALENVIRONMENT
OnthebasisoftheconsistencyofPuebloculturalremainsandsettlementpatternsandof
theenvironmentacrossthearea,theentireMesaVerderegionisoftentreatedasacultur-
allyandgeographicallyhomogeneousunit.Thisapproachisusefulformanyconsider-
ationsofdifferentaspectsofprehistoricPueblocultureintheregion,butinsomeways
thisisanover-simplification,becausethereweredifferencesinhumanhabitation(like
settlementpatternsandpopulationdensity)oftheareaandevenmoreenvironmental
variation.
Thestudyandreconstructionoftheprehistoricnaturalenvironmentofthecentral
MesaVerderegioninvolvesinterdisciplinaryresearch.Dendrochronology(tree-ring
studies),forexample,providesalargeamountofcrucialinformationregardingthean-
cientenvironmentoftheNorthAmericanSouthwestandparticularlytheMesaVerde
region(e.g.,Dean1996;VanWestandDean2000;DeanandVanWest2002)aswellas
dataessentialforestablishingane-grainedchronologyoftheSouthwest.
Elevationaldifferencesacrosstheregionaresignificanttoday,andprobablywere
evenmoreimportantinthepast,whichsuggeststhatintheprocessofreconstructing
ancientPueblocultureonemustrememberthattheMesaVerderegionasawholeis
similarbutnotexactlyacoherentgeographicarea,anditishighlyprobablethatthisvari-