Looking for adaptation: A comparative and engineering analysis of prehistoric agricultural technologies and techniques in the Southwest

Adaptation refers to traits or behaviors the provide a benefit to an organism and have been shaped by natural selection. Though the concept has been rigorously examined in biology, where it originated, it has received less explicit treatment in archaeology. Archaeologists have long noted diversity in Southwest farming technologies and techniques, but there have been few attempts to explain explicitly the variation in evolutionary terms that draw upon a well-defined concept of adaptation.; Using comparative and engineering analyses, prehistoric farming technologies and techniques were studied to determine which of their functional aspects played a role in evolutionary change. The farming practices were compared in their environmental contexts and important differences were found. An engineering analysis then isolated those functions which had evolutionary significance. Other functions were identified as ancillary benefits which did not play a role in the appearance of the technologies or techniques.