63-3 The Ancient Environments of New Mexico: Using geoarchaeological methods to understand Holocene human-environment interactions

Session: Geoarchaeology of Sites to Landscapes: Current Research on Long-Term Water and Soil Management and Maladaptation (Posters)

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This project presents three alluvial sections from the Holocene in the northern, central, and southern reaches of the Rio Grande Rift (RGR) of New Mexico, all of which are associated with a nearby archaeological site. While these sections represent variable topographies and time periods, site-level analyses of physical and chemical sediment characteristics will allow for an expanded understanding of hydroclimate over space and time. Here, we present preliminary and ongoing results from these three case studies: First, we focus on alluvial material from a tributary of the Rio Embudo, (which contributes to the Rio Grande) and is associated with nearby Archaic hearths. Next, we focus on an arroyo system in the Gallinas mountains (draining eastward into RGR), and an outcrop (GSS-1) near the Gallinas Pueblo (I/II) and associated spring which contains burn layers and soil formation from the early and middle Holocene, 9300-7320 years BP.  Finally, we provide an ongoing paleoenvironmental reconstruction from an alluvial section in southern New Mexico along the Rio Tularosa, which consists of four meters of interbedded paleosols, gravel deposits, silts, and black, organic-rich mats. The section spans the middle and late Holocene, from 6000 BP to the period of modern downcutting. The most dynamic stratigraphy occurs in two zones, one ~4000 BP and the other ~1500 BP, the latter occurring at the same time period as Mogollon activity at the adjacent Creekside Village site, which hosts a network of irrigation and agricultural features. These periods are interpreted as cooler and wetter conditions in the Tularosa Basin, supported by physical sedimentological features, grain size analysis, and geochemical weathering indices (via XRD). All sections discussed will undergo a multi-proxy analysis, including an analysis of soil phytoliths and carbon isotopes.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-10551

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