As anthropogenic climate warming and associated climate extremes increase, insights from a century of effort in the US Southwest to understand climate-related migration should be shared to assist with modern drought planning efforts. Toward this end, we make two parallel contributions. First, we contribute a surprising finding from our work in the Mimbres area of the AD 1100s and the central Arizona area during the AD 1200–1450 period. We find people with access to the most water in this arid landscape were also the most likely to migrate when confronted with dry conditions. Second, we use these results to demonstrate how the past can be helpful to modern drought planners and others preparing for a warming climate. Millions of smallholder farmers today practice agricultural strategies similar to those in the past. We aim to stimulate archaeological efforts to address the challenges of a warming world.

随着人为气候变暖和相关极端气候事件的增加，应该分享美国西南部一个世纪以来努力了解与气候相关的移民的见解，以协助现代干旱规划工作。为此，我们做出了两个平行的贡献。首先，我们从公元 1100 年代的 Mimbres 地区和公元 1200-1450 年期间亚利桑那州中部地区的工作中得出了一个令人惊讶的发现。我们发现，在这片干旱地区，能获得最多水的人在遇到干旱条件时也最有可能迁移。其次，我们使用这些结果来证明过去如何对现代干旱计划者和其他为变暖的气候做准备的人有所帮助。今天，数以百万计的小农采用与过去类似的农业战略。