Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of Little Springs Lava Flow: Impact of Lava Flows to Human Adaptation in Mt. Trumbull, Arizona

Summary

Recently, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of sediment has been used increasingly in the study of human occupation history in archaeology. This paper employs OSL to date the Little Springs Lava Flow, a lava flow near Mt. Trumbull, northern Arizona thought to have erupted about 1000 years ago. The accepted dates are based on cosmogenic helium dating. This lava flow covers some of the most productive agricultural land in the Mt. Trumbull area. Previous archaeological surveys revealed multiple structures built on the top of this lava flow and potentially suggested that their construction was for defensive purposes. In this paper, we re-evaluate the timing of the eruption of the Little Springs Lava flow using OSL dating of sediments from just beneath the lava. One goal of this study is to compare OSL dating of the sediment vs cosmogenic helium dating for determining the age of lava flows. Second, understanding the timing of the eruption or eruptions will contribute to better understanding of their impact on the Ancestral Puebloan people who inhabited this marginal agricultural environment.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage