The Western Puerco region of east-central Arizona figured prominently in foundational studies of the Early Pueblo period (AD 650–950) yet remains on the periphery of recent research. This article presents new survey and chronometric data from three communities located in a densely occupied portion of the Western Puerco, the Petrified Forest. These data suggest that the Petrified Forest hosted the earliest known aggregated settlement in the region, ca. AD 700–800, before residents transitioned to a dispersed settlement pattern that remained in place through the Chaco era. Neighboring portions of the Western Puerco, however, only hosted settlements of a similar size from AD 840 forward. Chaco great houses were founded in these communities during the tenth and eleventh centuries. Unlike better known examples of aggregation in the northern San Juan region that unfolded within only a few generations, similar developments in the Petrified Forest were likely the culmination of hundreds of years of local population growth, increasing sedentism, and use of prominent natural features on the landscape. The lack of fit between the causal factors proposed for village formation in the northern San Juan and eighth-century aggregation in the Petrified Forest suggests alternative models are needed to explain the formation of early population aggregates in the Western Puerco and across much of the western portion of the northern Southwest more broadly.

中文翻译：

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亚利桑那州中部东部石化森林地区的早期普韦布洛时期人口聚集和扩散

亚利桑那州中东部的Puerco西部地区在普韦布洛早期（AD 650-950）的基础研究中占有重要地位，但仍处于最新研究的边缘。本文介绍了位于西部Puerco石化森林密集地区的三个社区的新调查和计时数据。这些数据表明，石化森林是该地区最早的已知聚集定居点。公元700-800年，在居民过渡到分散的定居模式之前，该定居模式一直保留到Chaco时代。但是，西普埃尔科（Puerco）的邻近地区仅容纳了公元840年以后类似规模的定居点。查科（Chaco）的豪宅是在十世纪和十一世纪在这些社区中建立的。与北部圣胡安地区仅几代人就知道的聚集现象不同，在石化森林中类似的发展可能是数百年当地人口增长，久坐不动以及在该地区使用突出的自然特征的结果。景观。建议在圣胡安北部形成村庄的因果因子与石化森林中的八世纪聚集体之间缺乏因果关系，这表明需要其他模型来解释普埃尔科西部和西部大部分地区早期人口聚集体的形成。西南北部的范围更广。久坐不动，以及在景观上使用突出的自然特征。建议在圣胡安北部形成村庄的因果因子与石化森林中的八世纪聚集体之间缺乏因果关系，这表明需要其他模型来解释普埃尔科西部和西部大部分地区早期人口聚集体的形成。西南北部的范围更广。久坐不动，以及在景观上使用突出的自然特征。建议在圣胡安北部形成村庄的因果因子与石化森林中的八世纪聚集体之间缺乏因果关系，这表明需要其他模型来解释普埃尔科西部和西部大部分地区早期人口聚集体的形成。西南北部更广泛。