Chemostratigraphic Analysis of Alluvial Sediments in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Summary

Complex societies are generally dependent on agrarian economies whose success is contingent on water and nutrient availability. For Chaco Canyon, an Ancestral Pueblo cultural center in northwestern New Mexico with monumental construction dating from the 9th to 12 centuries A.D., the role of local agriculture has been of particular interest. Here, data =are presented from three summers of fieldwork using x-ray fluorescence to identify the geochemical composition of sediments, with a focus on those elements relevant to agriculture (Potassium, Phosphorous, and Sulfur), indicators that can indicate evaporation as a proxy for hydrology (Calcium/Strontium ratio), and indicators of changing sedimentation sources (Titanium, Rubidium). Data was collected non-destructively along multiple exposed sections of the arroyo in 2-5 cm increments, allowing for a time series analysis to show changing patterns in all of the aforementioned elements during sediment deposition in the canyon.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Analytical Contributions to Chacoan Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15440