Paleoenvironment and plant cultivation on terraces at La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico: the pollen, phytolith and diatom evidence [An article from: Journal of Archaeological Science]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Archaeological Science, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
This paper reports the results of pollen, phytolith and diatom analyses conducted on a series of soil samples collected from a large, possibly communal, system of terraces associated with La Quemada in the Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico. These analyses rendered data related to both paleoenvironmental and plant cultivation in the area. Preliminary pollen analyses of soil sediments suggest Agave sp. and Opuntia spp. cultivation played an important role on the terraces. The phytolith analyses recovered abundant, well preserved grass phytoliths, including Zea mays. The composition of the grass community suggests that paleoenvironmental conditions in this area were warm and dry, similar to those of today. The presence of three fresh water diatom taxa and sponge spicules in several archaeological soil samples suggests the possibility that water was carried to the terraces for irrigation from the nearby Rio Malpaso on a regular basis.