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Geoarchaeology of the Boca Negra Wash Area, Albuquerque Basin, New Mexico, USA
Author(s) -
Holliday Vance T.,
Huckell Bruce B.,
Mayer James H.,
Forman Steven L.,
McFadden Leslie D.
Publication year - 2006
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/gea.20139
Subject(s) - geology , structural basin , geochronology , holocene , geoarchaeology , plateau (mathematics) , archaeology , basalt , aeolian processes , wetland , vegetation (pathology) , stratigraphy , geochemistry , geomorphology , paleontology , geography , tectonics , medicine , mathematical analysis , ecology , mathematics , pathology , biology
Dozens of Paleoindian sites, including the Boca Negra Wash (BNW) Folsom site (LA 124474), are scattered across a basalt plateau (the West Mesa) on the western side of the Albuquerque Basin, and adjacent uplands. The BNW site, like many others in the area, is located near a small (˜60 × 90 m) playa basin that formed in a depression on the basalt surface and was subsequently covered by an eolian sand sheet (Unit 1) dated by OSL to ˜23,000 yr B.P. Most of the basin fill is ˜2 m of playa mud (Units 2 and 3) dating ˜13,970 14 C yr B.P. (17,160–16,140 cal yr B.P.) at the sand–mud interface to ˜2810 14 C yr B.P. (˜2960–2860 cal yr B.P.) at the top. C/N ratios suggest that the BNW playa basin probably held water more often during the Folsom occupation; stable carbon isotope values indicate C3 vegetation was more common as well, but C4 grasses became dominant in the Holocene. Cores extracted from four playa basins nearby revealed a similar stratigraphy and geochronology, documenting presence of wetlands on playa floors during the Paleoindian occupation of the area. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.