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Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of human activity in Central Arizona using shell chemistry of Hohokam canal ostracodes
Author(s) -
PalaciosFest Manuel R.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6548(199705)12:3<211::aid-gea2>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - prehistory , archaeology , salinity , biota , geography , geology , carbonate , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , chemistry , oceanography , biology , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry
The prehistoric Hohokam are the only known culture to develop large‐scale irrigation systems before the arrival of Europeans to the United States. Hohokam social evolution was based, in part, on intensive agriculture. To date, most models of Hohokam irrigation agriculture (i.e., hydrologic and sedimentologic models) fail to address dynamics like flow regime, seasonality, canal use and abandonment (Henderson and Hackbarth, 1939). Biota recovered from Hohokam canals often include ostracodes, carbonate‐secreting microcrustaceans that are sensitive to hydrochemical changes. m (Mg/Ca) v and m (Sr/Ca) v ratios in the ostracode Limnocythere staplini can be converted into approximate temperature and salinity values at the time of calcification. Ostracode shell chemistry is becoming a powerful tool for understanding the history of canal water chemistry, intensity of land use, and human impact on soil. This study uses multiple regression models to generate the first paleoenvironmental estimates of temperature and salinity from ostracode shell chemistry. Temperature estimates suggest that most canals were used between late winter (February–March) and the premonsoonal season (May–June). Salinity estimates apparently vary over time. Both paleoenvironmental estimates are in good agreement with history records for the Phoenix area. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.