Historical continuity in Sonoran Desert free-range ranching practices: Carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotope evidence from two 18th-century missions Deanna N. Grimstead 1 , Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman ⁎ Arizona State Museum and School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA abstract article info Article history: Received 22 October 2015 Received in revised form 8 March 2016 Accepted 10 March 2016 Available online xxxx Carbon (δ 13 C), oxygen (δ 18 O), and strontium ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) isotopes from cattle, caprine, and small mammal teeth from two historic-period Spanish missions, and modern cattle, were assayed with the goal of reconstructing his- toric ranching practices in the Sonoran Desert of southwestern North America. δ 13 C values from modern cattle indicates it is possible to distinguish cattle free-ranged within upper elevation desert habitats (-11.9 to -7.8‰) from lower elevations or possibly foddered animals (-2.5 to 0.8‰). It is not possible to distinguish maize-foddering versus low elevation free-ranging of livestock in the Sonoran Desert; however, the data indi- cates free-ranging occurred in both upland and lowland ecosystems, with some animals exhibiting evidence of a mixed upland/lowland strategy. δ 18 O values in mission livestock (-3.0 to 2.5‰) overlap with modern cattle (-3.1 to -0.1‰) watered from evaporated reservoirs, suggesting missions managed water for livestock, and livestock were likely kept away from riparian zones. 87 Sr/ 86 Sr results demonstrate that livestock were moved, likely through trade, some coming from a minimum distance of 40 km. Taken together these results are consistent with continuity in Sonoran Desert free-ranged herd management from the historic era to present. These results also point to continuity in water management strategies extending well prior to the colonial period. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Colonial archaeology Historical archaeology Zooarchaeology Isotope geochemistry Livestock Ranching Water storage 1. Introduction Eurasian domesticated animals were introduced to the borderlands region of the North American Southwest by Spanish missionaries in the 17th century. These livestock formed the economic foundation for European colonization in the Pimería Alta, encompassing present-day southern Arizona (U.S.) and northern Sonora (Mexico) and including the ancestral land of the O'odham people (Pavao-Zuckerman, 2011; Radding, 1997; Sheridan, 1988). The introduction of livestock was not without significant effects on human populations, land, and water—the latter a particularly scarce commodity in the desert. Native people quickly understood the threat that livestock posed to drinking water and riparian zones (Radding, 1997), and frequently voiced concerns that the animals fouled water needed for human consumption. Livestock, however, were an attractive resource in an ecosystem with low densities of large mammals. Archaeological and documentary evidence indicates that livestock herds were well established at most Pimería Alta missions by the mid- to late-18th century. Ranching became the dominant economic activity of missionized Native Americans (Pavao-Zuckerman, 2011; Pavao-Zuckerman and LaMotta, 2007). The broad arc of ranching history is known, but the details of ranching practices are not (Pavao-Zuckerman, 2008). Historical docu- ments rarely address how water, food, and land resources were man- aged to serve both livestock and human needs. This information, however, is accessible through the archaeological record. Isotopic analyses of zooarchaeological remains, in particular, allow a level of behavioral visibility that is not possible through the documentary record or traditional zooarchaeological methods. Carbon (δ 13 C) isotopes are useful for reconstructing the diet of livestock, particularly whether an- imals were free-ranged or foddered (e.g. Makarewicz and Tuross, 2006, 2012; Pearson et al., 2007; Pechenkina et al., 2005). Oxygen isotopes (δ 18 O) may illuminate how water resources were managed for livestock use (e.g. Bocherens et al., 2001). Strontium ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) isotopes have wide applicability in archaeological research (Bentley, 2006), and the lit- erature has seen a steady increase in zooarchaeological applications over the past decade. Analyses utilizing 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios can identify non-local individuals, illuminate husbandry practices, and the movement of live- stock (e.g. Balasse et al., 2002; Bendrey et al., 2009; Grimstead et al., 2014; Knudson et al., 2012; Shaw et al., 2009). For example, among the Inka of the Andean Late Horizon (ca. CE 1400–1532), 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio anal- yses indicate that both local and non-local camelids were consumed dur- ing feasting events, with the latter likely serving an integrative function Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7 (2016) 37–47 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, 1111 Woods Hall, College Park, MD 20742, USA. E-mail address: bpavao@umd.edu (B. Pavao-Zuckerman). 1 Permanent address: Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, 4034 Smith Laboratory, Columbus, OH 43210–1106, U.S.A. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.03.009 2352-409X/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep