Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017
Davis has theorized that Paiute raids on the western peripheries of the Pueblo region caused withdrawals toward the central Anasazi areas, which in turn forced the Anasazi, who were also troubled by drought, to retreat eastward. Paiutes could have contributed to Puebloan migrations, but the evidence for movements toward the east is inconclusive. Contrary evidence, such as late Mesa Verde migrations to the south and west, the sequence of abandonments of Anasazi centers from east to west, and the probability that the Anasazi area was never populated to capacity argues against this theory.