Thesis
Alluvial stratigraphy and soil formation at Cox Ranch Pueblo, New Mexico
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2004
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/273
Abstract
Cox Ranch Pueblo is a 900-year old Anasazi site located in west-central New Mexico, near the southern edge of the Chacoan system. Both sociocultural and environmental factors may have contributed to the abandonment of the pueblo around A.D. 1130. Numerous arroyos provide access to subsurface deposits at and around Cox Ranch Pueblo and insight into past environmental changes. I radiocarbon dated and analyzed alluvial stratigraphy and buried soils in four of these arroyos to gain a better understanding of changes in geomorphic conditions at the site, their possible causes, and their archaeological implications. Arroyos in the Cox Ranch Pueblo area expose stratigraphic layers representative of episodic deposition on the piedmont over at least the last 8,000 years, as well as previous episodes of arroyo cutting. A buried arroyo predates the occupation of Cox Ranch Pueblo and does not appear to be linked to abandonment. Arroyo formation is likely linked to changes in stream dynamics related to climatic changes. Significantly moister periods than present are indicated by organic fine-textured paleosols. Fluctuations in soil moisture due to regional climatic variability may have significantly influenced both the development of agriculture in the Cox Ranch Pueblo area during the Early Agricultural period and the abandonment of the pueblo in the twelfth century. Future work should focus on improved temporal control on soil formation and arroyo cutting on the piedmont, thus facilitating correlation to the regional paleoenvironmental record.
Metrics
3 File views/ downloads
11 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Alluvial stratigraphy and soil formation at Cox Ranch Pueblo, New Mexico
- Creators
- Stephanie Vanbuskirk
- Contributors
- Gary Huckleberry (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525200001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis