The Fires of Grasshopper: Enlightening Transformations in Subsistence Practices through Fire-Feature Analysis

This article is a case study of the changing fire features of the Grasshopper region of Arizona. Specifically, it focuses on the relationship between fire features and maize agriculture. The article shows that as the fourteenth century began, fire-feature patterns changed in this region and several entirely new fire-feature types appeared. While archaeologists have clearly demonstrated the intensification of maize agriculture during this same period, the possible links between maize and changing fire features have not been investigated. This article demonstrates that such links do in fact exist and that fire features respond dramatically to changes in human subsistence.