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Effects of small‐scale prehistoric runoff agriculture on soil fertility: The developing picture from upland terraces in the American Southwest
Author(s) -
Sullivan Alan P.
Publication year - 2000
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(200004)15:4<291::aid-gea1>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - soil fertility , mollisol , surface runoff , prehistory , agriculture , agroforestry , productivity , geography , environmental science , agroecosystem , physical geography , soil science , ecology , archaeology , soil water , biology , macroeconomics , economics
Prehistoric stone alignments and their associated terraces are common in upland ecozones of the American Southwest. These features are generally considered the archaeological consequences of “runoff agriculture” dedicated to domesticated‐plant production. Furthermore, researchers have theorized that such production decreased soil fertility and ultimately promoted abandonment of the alignments, terraces, and surrounding landscapes. Recent investigations show that cultivated Mollisols indeed have less organic matter and less available P, and elevated pH, as well as several textural changes. In contrast, cultivated Aridisols have elevated CaCO 3 , available Ca, and cation‐exchange capacity, as well as no textural changes. The developing picture, however, is that small‐scale runoff agriculture has had largely benign effects on soil fertility and that anthropogenic terraces likely were abandoned for reasons unrelated to their productivity. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.