Paleoethnobotany Studies from Archaeological Investigations in the Salado Draw Watershed, Lea County, New Mexico

Summary

This paleoethnobotanical study is a component of an undertaking titled Salado Draw Archaeological Survey, Small-Scale Excavation, and Geomorphological Characterization, GSA Contract No. GS-10F-0396P. The work was commissioned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Carlsbad Field Office (CFO) as part of research to be carried out under the Permian Basin Programmatic Agreement, Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) No. 11, Contract No. L14PA00010. It addresses Task 10 (a paleoethnobotany research study of pollen, phytolith, starch, and macrofloral samples) and Task 14 (a report describing the paleoethnobotany study) in Request for Quotation (RFQ) No. 40441902 and the Statement of Work (SOW) contained therein. This report also incorporates findings from another project component, Task 15, consisting of a pilot study on starch extraction and identification. The laboratory report for the starch analysis is provided in a separate document (Perry 2022) per the SOW. Separate laboratory reports for macrobotanical analysis (Puseman 2022) and pollen-phytolith identification (Jones 2022) are included in this report as Appendixes A and B, respectively. Other components of the larger Salado Draw investigation are published separately and consist of the following: Task 11 (report of Salado Draw survey, testing, and project synthesis; Cason, Heilen, Leckman, and McCoy 2023), Task 12 (report of the study of mortar holes in Salado Draw; Cason, Heilen, and Babicz 2023), Task 13 (Salado Draw geomorphological study; Onken 2023), Task 16 (Salado Draw use-wear analyses; Branyan and Adams 2022; Cason 2022; Harro 2022), and Task 17 (a public education report; Cason 2023). The project area is a 6,702-acre (2,712.2-ha) contiguous survey block centered on Salado Draw, a small drainage basin proximal to the Pecos River. It is situated in Lea County in southeastern New Mexico, approximately 20 miles east of the Pecos River and 2 miles north of the Texas state line (Figure 1). It lies within the Mescalero Plain physiographic unit and is encompassed by the BLM-CFO management district in the Permian Basin (see Cason, Heilen, Leckman, and McCoy 2023 for more details regarding setting and environment). Most of the project area is on BLM surface, but small portions are private or are owned by the New Mexico State Land Office. Transect Recording Unit (TRU) survey of the project area produced records of 100 archaeological sites (Figure 2) composed mostly of Indigenous artifacts and features, as well as fewer historical-period resources (see Cason, Heilen, Leckman, and McCoy 2023 for more details regarding survey and testing results). Small-scale excavations were carried out on 77 Indigenous features, many of which produced special- studies data including accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS) radiocarbon dates and micro- and macrobotanical remains. A geomorphological study (Onken 2023) produced a characterization of depositional units and paleoenvironment in the project area augmented by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates, bulk sediment AMS, and other geomorphological analyses. Indigenous archaeological materials include abundant flaked and ground stone artifacts and a modest number of ceramics. Features (n = 1207) include numerous thermal appliances1, small residential structures(and some structures of unknown function), midden deposits, activity areas, and lithic concentrations. There are also a few petroglyphs and one cairn. Bedrock mortars are the most abundant feature in the project area (n = 793); they are present in a variety of natural and archaeological contexts and, in some instances, in clusters of several hundred. Many of the sites appear to be logistical, but there are also examples of single and multiple-household residential occupations. Salado Draw is noteworthy for several reasons. One is that a relatively high number (n = 29) of Paleoindian period projectile points have been recovered from six sites and two isolates—the highest density of known Paleoindian period artifacts in the CFO region. Clovis complex, Folsom complex, and Late Paleoindian period projectiles indicate a presence in the area spanning ca. 11,500–6000 B.C. A few Early and Middle Archaic period diagnostic projectiles attest to minimal occupation during the period ca. 6000–1800 B.C. However, AMS dates and diagnostic artifacts indicate growing and persistent Indigenous occupations in Salado Draw from the Late Archaic period into the Early Formative period, ca. 1800 B.C.–A.D. 1100. Additional AMS dates and artifacts indicate a dwindling but notable presence in the Late Formative and post Formative periods, from A.D. 1100 into the nineteenth century.

This report features laboratory reports: Appendix A. Macrofloral Analysis of Samples from Sites in Salado Draw, Lea County, New Mexico, by Kathryn Puseman, Paleoscapes Archaeobotanical Services Team, LLC. Appendix B. Analysis of Pollen and Phytoliths from Salado Draw, New Mexico, by John G. Jones,

Ph.D., Commonwealth Heritage Group, Inc.

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General Note: Redacted for Public

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