Far Western Puebloans occupied that portion of the American Southwest stretching westward from Kanab, Utah, across northern Arizona and southern Utah to the Muddy River drainage of southern Nevada

the American Southwest stretching westward from Kanab, Utah, across northern Arizona and southern Utah to the Muddy River drainage of southern Nevada (Watson 2008). Others (Altschul and Fairley 1989:101) extend this range as far east as the Colorado River (see Lyneis 1995 for a more restricted definition). The most thoroughly studied region is the lower Virgin River and its tributaries (Aikens 1966; Allison 1990; Dally and McFadden 1985, 1988; Lyneis 1995; Shutler 1961; Walling et al. 1986; Westfall et al. 1987). Research has shown that farming-based populations flourished here from the first century A.D. until about A.D. 1200 when, like Puebloan societies in the Four Corners and elsewhere, there was a dramatic contraction of populations, presumably to the aggregated pueblos of Arizona and New Mexico. These far west Puebloans, traditionally referred to as the Virgin Anasazi, are often ignored or treated briefly in the more general Ancestral Puebloan literature (e.g., Driver 2002; James 2006; Kohler et al. 2008) largely due to the limited amount of research on this area compared to the massive number of studies on the Four Corners area. Previous research in the area demonstrates that our understanding of Far Western Puebloan subsistence practices is still in flux. The intention of this paper is to continue refining insights into Virgin Anasazi strategy variability with new data from the Uinkaret Plateau in northwestern Arizona, specifically from Antelope Cave, a dry, sheltered site with rich artifactual, faunal, and botanical material. We propose that Ancestral Puebloans in this region practiced a complex pattern of seasonal movement that included sites such as Antelope Cave that functioned logistically as a field station remote from village sites to the northeast as well as a locale for communal rabbit drives to procure fur and food. There has been very little research on subsistence strategies in the region, and scholars have presented conflicting positions on this issue. Scenarios range from fully sedentary farmers relying heavily on domesticates to farmer/foragers favoring a mixed strategy. Aikens (1966), Dalley and McFadden (1985, 1988), and others, for example, have been proponents of the former view and describe the Virgin Anasazi of the upper Virgin River as wholly horticultural populations who relied little on hunting. In contrast, Allison (1990:112) has maintained that "Dalley and McFadden are wrong about the lack of hunting by the St. George Basin Anasazi"; he presented data from his work along the Santa Clara River to support that statement. In addition, Westfall et al. (1987:144) stated that the Virgin Anasazi "pursued a broad-based foraging strategy" ABSTRACT