Ancestral Pueblo Agriculture on the Pajarito Plateau: A Geoscience Investigation of Field Terraces in the Northern Mountains of New Mexico

Summary

In honor of Robert Powers, Bandelier National Monument (BNM) presents research on his final project investigating agricultural potential in the arid highlands of the American Southwest. Powers’ research was conducted on behalf of the University of New Mexico’s anthropology doctoral program for archaeology. The Park is well-known for its ancestral Pueblo archaeological sites and the unique, natural ecotones throughout the Eastern Jemez Mountains. The region is topographically dynamic; the landscape is shaped by tuff and talus deposits formed from early Quaternary volcanic eruptions, carved by ancient watersheds into a mesa plateau now punctuated by an intricate canyon system. The Pajarito Plateau refers to the mesa tops, where the ancestral Pueblo agricultural terraces are situated and laced among the pinyon and juniper woodland. The peopling of the Pajarito Plateau has been well-studied; however, the emergence of agricultural practice and stability in this arid region is relatively unexplored. The terrace contexts Powers’ sampled likely date between the Classic and Coalition periods (Pueblo III and IV; AD 1150-1400). Conclusively, this project evaluates the information potential of legacy collections and interagency collaboration in the application of archaeological science for resource management.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22309