Population Dynamics in the Pimería Alta, AD 1650–1750

The demographic landscape of the Pimería Alta—the Spanish term for the Northern Pimas, or O’odham, and their collective territory during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries—has been widely debated by historians and archaeologists alike. Published histories have primarily focused on the processes and consequences of Spanish colonialism, drawing few conclusions about the relationships among distinct groups outside of the colonial sphere of influence (e.g., Bannon 1955; Bolton 1908, 1919, 1921, 1930, 1936, 1990; Dobyns 1959; Kessell 1970, 1974, 1976; Manje 1954; McCarty 1976, 1997; Nentvig 1951; Pfefferkorn 1949; Polzer 1971, 1976; Smith et al. 1966). Archaeological interpretations have