An 8000-year record of lacustrine activity in the Magdalena Lake Basin, Jalisco, Mexico and implications for cultural changes
Author(s): Kirk Anderson
Year: 2025
Summary
This is an abstract from the "From the Underworld to the Heavens: Expanding the Study of Central Jalisco’s Past" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
<html>
<b>Abstract</b>
The Magdalena Lake Basin of Jalisco, Mexico has a rich cultural history from the Early Archaic to Protohistoric Periods. A Late Formative/Early Classic cultural florescence witnessed the emergence of the Teuchitlán Culture which collapsed in the Epiclassic. We developed chronostratigraphic reconstructions based on 11 profiles and anchored by 27 AMS dates. Lake-forming periods coincide with variations in site numbers and size, derived from our regional archaeological survey. Populations increase during high lake levels and decrease during low lake levels. Lake-forming periods reflect regional and local paleoclimate sequences. Early and Middle Archaic lakes are separated by low lake levels. The highest lake level, 1367 masl, occurred during the Middle Formative Period, followed by Late Formative/Early Classic lakes between about 1361 and 1364 masl. Lake levels above about 1361 masl allow for efficient lake commerce and transportation of goods via watercraft. The Epiclassic Period (~600-1000 CE) experienced low lake levels, coincident with a pan-Mesoamerican drought. Dated tephra layers (500-600 CE) several centimeters thick significantly impacted lake ecology and human populations. Tephra age and geochemical properties do not match that the primary candidate of the nearby Ceboruco Volcano in 900-1000 CE, nor of any other known eruption during this time period.
</html>
Cite this Record
An 8000-year record of lacustrine activity in the Magdalena Lake Basin, Jalisco, Mexico and implications for cultural changes. Kirk Anderson. Presented at The 90th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. 2025 ( tDAR id: 509660)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
Record Identifiers
Abstract Id(s): 53389