ZUNI DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE, A.D. 1300-1680: A CASE STUDY ON SPANISH CONTACT AND NATIVE POPULATION DYNAMICS

Massive depopulation due to epidemic disease had important consequences for Native American groups in terms of cultural continuity. To understand the history and prehistory of a specific people, as well as to help refine our models and methods for studying demographic change throughout the New World, we must investigate the timing and scale of changes in population dynamics among different groups. This paper investigates changes in Zuni demographic structure, in the southwest United States, from A.D. 1300 to 1680. Paleodemographic statistics are generated from burial data recovered from the Zuni town of Hawikku. Results indicate that European diseases only affected populations in the Zuni area after missionization of the region.