Reconsidering archaeological garden hunting: A view from the northern U.S. Southwest

Archaeologists frequently use garden hunting, or the hunting of animals from cultivated areas, to explain patterns in the zooarchaeological record of people who relied on agriculture. Rarely, however, have archaeologists systematically tested whether garden hunting actually occurred. For example, in the Northern U.S. Southwest, researchers often suggest that garden hunting explains the prevalence of lagomorphs, particularly cottontails (Sylvilagus spp.) but sometimes also jackrabbits (Lepus spp.), in zooarchaeological assemblages. We use stable isotope analysis of lagomorphs from three Ancestral Pueblo sites-Sand Canyon Pueblo, Hummingbird Pueblo, and Tijeras Pueblo-to test this suggestion. We find that garden hunting does not seem to explain either cottontail or jackrabbit abundance in these assemblages. We propose alternate approaches to understanding this subsistence practice in the U.S. Southwest and elsewhere.