Formation and Chronostratigraphy from Unit UE1, Tocuila Archaeo-Paleontological Site, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Current Zooarchaeology: New and Ongoing Approaches" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Based on the findings of extinct animal remains in Tocuila, Municipality of Texcoco, State of Mexico, in 1996, a study of a large Late Pleistocene deposit was initiated, excavating an initial unit (UE1), 30 m2 and 3.35 m depth, located on a deltoic paleochannel in the old lacustrine riverbank, which eventually was filled up by a series of mudflows. Inside this unit, 1,300 bone remains were recovered, mostly pertaining to the Columbian mammoth (*Mammuthus columbi), some with helicoidal fractures and evidence of cultural modifications. In addition, remains of other animals in much lesser abundance were found, like camelids (*Camelops hesternus), Pleistocene horses (*Equus sp.), bison (*Bison sp.), rabbit (*Sylvilagus cunicularius), vole (*Microtus mexicanus), and even some vertebrae from a large feline. Description of the processual characteristics for UE1 deposit formation are outlined and illustrated, with its Pleistocene chronostratigraphic sequence (14,500–10,000 BP). Furthermore, deposit context within the whole 60 ha Tocuila deposit is shown with more than 20 findings in the last 50 years, with UE1 being just a small sample of the enormous richness.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Current Zooarchaeology: New and Ongoing Approaches

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32379