Geoarchaeological Insights from a Late Pleistocene–Terminal Holocene Site on Isla Cedros, Baja California

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Far West Paleoindian Archaeology: Papers from the Next Generation" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Current geoarchaeological investigations of the Cerro Pedrogoso (Rocky Hill) site on Isla Cedros, Baja California, seek to provide a context for a Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene human occupation along the Pacific coast. Here, a rich assemblage of artifacts signals the presence of maritime coastal adaptations from at least 12.6 cal ka. A series of stratigraphic exposures and seven archaeological excavation units reveal the local geomorphic history and repeated cultural occupations. Intact deposits were characterized, dated, and correlated for lithostratigraphic and pedologic continuities. Topography and lithofacies were mapped with a laser transit to display excavation units and stratigraphy in three dimensions. A regional interplay of tectonic and hydrologic factors controls the discharge of nearby freshwater springs that likely had a singular influence on the locus of cultural activities here. I hypothesize a model of combined aeolian and alluvial fan deposition during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs with subsequent landform incision and stability. Soil and climate geomorphic factors were also considered to further assess this site’s formation and taphonomy. Identifying paleoclimatic influences on Cerro Pedrogoso’s situation in the larger landscape may be generally instructive toward understanding cyclical landform evolution on the Baja peninsula at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Far West Paleoindian Archaeology: Papers from the Next Generation

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33452