Maize Dependence among the Sevier Puebloans

Abstract

Some archaeologists have argued that the Formative-era villagers of the Sevier River region in the eastern Great Basin were primarily foragers whose economy was dependent upon marsh resources, especially cattails. This paper compiles multiple lines of evidence from Backhoe Village and other Sevier villages to show that subsistence was based on maize agriculture, not foraging for wild resources.