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Archeologists of this forum, what type of relationships did the Ancestral Puebloans had with the Athabaskans (i.e. ancestors of the Apache and Navajo) and Numics (i.e. ancestors of the Comanches and Utes)?


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From what is given from archaeological records, what type(s) of relationships did the settled Ancestral Puebloans have with the Athabaskan (i.e. ancestors of the Apache and Navajo) and Numic (i.e. ancestors of the Comanches and Utes) nomads? What was their typical patterns of interactions? More specifically, is there any evidence of armed conflict between them?

I recall reading somewhere that there apparently was bit of bad blood between the Ancestral Puebloans and the nomads. To the point that scholars previously speculated that nomadic Athabaskans and Numics were responsible for displacing the Ancestral Puebloans. Nowadays, from my limited understanding, it is now believed that there were more complicated factors at play for the Ancestral Puebloans "disappearing."

In other words, a series of climate shifts and natural disasters were far more of a contributing factor for the Pueblo settlements being abandoned. However wars still played a part, but the more devastating ones were mostly fought between rival Puebloans from what I read.

What I'm looking for in my question, is more specific details on the alleged conflicts, and what are the current academic consensus on what they entailed.

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One can find some scholarly articles on this by using a search engine, such as:

http://www.swanet.org/2008_pecos_conference/pecos_downloads/old_articles/2005_Warburton.pdf

The above article says that up to 25% of Navajo clans are descended from Anasazi groups that were assimilated into the Navajo.

I am sure that when you are talking about groups which have been interacting with each other for around six centuries that their relationships have been very complex and can't be reduced to only "conflict".  

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1 hour ago, Ormond said:

I am sure that when you are talking about groups which have been interacting with each other for around six centuries that their relationships have been very complex and can't be reduced to only "conflict".  

Yes, very true indeed. The same can be said for a plethora of other cultural interactions thorough out history and the globe. However, as someone who has a particular interest in war and armed conflict, I was just curious if there was any evidence of violence between those "two" groups.

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whatever.

Used to be an old native guy hereabouts - Peter Kalifornsky, one of the last local speakers of the local (Athabaskan) dialect.  Story goes he go to chatting with the Navaho (?) in the states, and realized the languages were closely related.

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There are many books on this subject.  For a start go through the citations of this, which is available on line:

http://www.swanet.org/2008_pecos_conference/pecos_downloads/old_articles/2005_Warburton.pdf

By the way, the kind of information you are looking for would be identified by the professionals in the field more as anthropology, not archaeology, as your question involves relationships and interaction among people, in ways that aren't revealed primarily, or only, by looking at material relics. Yet, of course, if a instrument of stored value has been indentified, which wouldn't in North America of that era be a coin, that might tell one a great deal. I know several professionals for which this is their field, but it's not mine, so I have no idea what that might be, or if such a thing existed then.

Of course, the two fields do inform each other, as they both inform contemporary historiography.

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