As the population of farmers spread out they encountered varied terrain and microclimates. Had farming completely failed in these new regions, we would expect that their language would not have taken a hold either. However, Simms (2008) points out that despite the extreme conditions in places like the hot, dry Mojave Desert or the high, cold Colorado Plateau, Numic languages are still spoken today. Farming was likely just a starting point. As Numic people adapted to new environments they likely adapted new lifeways as well. One place where this shift may be evident is at Alta Toquima Village (ATV) in south-central Nevada. This high elevation site was occupied on and off for over two thousand years. From about 5000 to 2500 radiocarbon …show more content…
There may be a link between the Uto-Aztecan people of the Southwest and Mexico and a population known as the Fremont in the eastern Great Basin. Simms (2008) describes the Fremont period as a “sea change” where new themes of rock art, basketry, architecture, and ceramic design were incorporated throughout most of present day Utah. Between 2,200 and 1,000 years ago, this group of farmers populated hundreds of sites in Utah that would later be reused by Mormon settlers. The Fremont people farmed maize and squash and brought with them their own distinctive grinding stone, the “Utah metate” (Simms 2008). We know quite a lot about Fremont culture but unfortunately we don’t know much about where the went after about 700 years ago. However, mitochondrial DNA research on more than forty Fremont burials that were unearthed due to floods of the Great Salt Lake show some peculiar characteristics. The Fremont burials were found to have a rough genetic link to prehistoric Anasazi populations of the Southwest. While more genetic evidence would be extremely helpful in this case, it is a distinct possibility that Fremont populations share a common ancestor with those who have Uto-Aztecan language history. This would match what archaeologists already know about the origins of maize and squash agriculture coming from Mexico and the Southwest before first entering Utah around 2,100 years ago (Grayson 2005 and Simms