SCIENCE / MEDICINE : Fantasies About Life, Nature

Modern fantasies about early native Americans living in harmony with nature are just that--fantasies, according to anthropologist Timothy Kohler of Washington State University. He has found that the prehistoric Anasazi of northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado significantly altered the plant and animal mixes near their settlements.

The effect on the environment occurred through wood harvesting for fuel and construction, field clearing and burning. This slash-and-burn strategy was initially successful, Kohler said, leading to population growth, but eventually populations became too dense to support this land-intensive agriculture.

Kohler suggested that human impact on the environment in the Dolores Archeological Project area in southwestern Colorado eventually caused the residents to leave the area after a 300-year occupation. Residents had to move elsewhere to get enough to eat, he said.