Population and Settlement in the Mimbres Region of New Mexico

Human environmental interaction has been a major focus of research in Mimbres region of New Mexico. A number of recent studies have found evidence of major environmental changes in the Mimbres Valley relating to prehistoric occupation, including depletion of plant and animal species, stream down-cutting, and soil nutrient depletion. Population estimates for the Mimbres Valley proper, along with these changes, have previously been used to argue that the regional population may have been at or near carrying capacity. Despite the continuing importance of demographic variables in explanations of social and environmental change throughout the Mimbres region, there has not yet been a published attempt to estimate population across the entire Mimbres region over time. The goal of this study is to develop population estimates of the most densely occupied portions of the Mimbres region (Mimbres Valley, Upper Gila, and the Rio Grande) across the major period of prehistoric agricultural settlement (ca. A.D. 550-1400).

This project is part of the NSF Biocomplexity project headed by Margaret Nelson.
Long-term Coupled Socioecological Change in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico

Peeples, Matthew A.
in prep. The Demographic Context of Social and Ecological Change: An Example from the Mimbres Region of New Mexico. To be submitted to American Antiquity.

The Role of the Antebellum Black Press in the Political Mobilization and Empowerment of African Americans, 1830-1860

By the beginning of the Civil War, the African American newspaper had already proved to be an indispensable ally in the struggle for the rights of African Americans throughout the United States. In the antebellum period, as many as 100 African American newspapers were printed and distributed throughout the nation and beyond. The goal of this study is to delineate how and why the antebellum African American newspapers of the mid-nineteenth century became important as platforms of political agency, intended for those who were largely denied conventional means of participation within the United States government. In particular, I focus on four main avenues through which the African American newspapers were utilized to afford political agency to African Americans: (1) the material and rhetorical support of black suffrage, (2) the promotion and facilitation of public protest, (3) the promotion of material and moral elevation, (4) and the creation of a black national and historical identity.

Peeples, Matthew A.
2008. Creating Political Authority: The Role of the Antebellum Black Press in the Political Mobilization and Empowerment of African Americans. Journalism History 34(2):76-86. [PDF]