The Curious Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga Menziesii) Trees in Schulman Grove, Mesa Verde National Park, Southwestern Colorado, USA

A reanalysis of tree-ring samples from the Schulman Grove in Mesa Verde National Park challenges previous claims that Ancestral Puebloan inhabitants practiced precolumbian forest management on Douglas-fir trees. While earlier studies (1954, 1965) suggested evidence of stone-axe-cut limbs, this study could not confirm such findings through controlled analysis and comparison of archived and newly collected samples. The research highlights the importance of rigorous replication in archaeological dendrochronology to validate historical interpretations.

Nash, S. E., Towner, R. H., & Dean, J. S. (2021). The Curious Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga Menziesii) Trees in Schulman Grove, Mesa Verde National Park, Southwestern Colorado, USA. American Antiquity, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2021.4