The Carrizo Wash watershed contains abundant archaeological evidence of Ancestral Puebloans and their predecessors, including a site containing some of the earliest evidence of maize agriculture in the American Southwest. Much of the dateable organic matter in the alluvial record consists of charred plant remains from archaeological thermal features. One goal of this study was to consider the archaeological implications of alluvial cycles and the area’s depositional history, especially in terms of prehistoric maize agriculture and the spatial distribution and surface visibility of archaeological sites.
A more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the environmental conditions associated with southern Colorado Plateau prehistory is integral to refining archaeological interpretations and explanations of prehistoric human behavior on both local and regional scales. The initial adoption of maize agriculture ~2100 BC, the Chaco Phenomenon ~AD 1050–1130, and regional depopulation ~AD 1300–1350 are three of the most significant episodes in Ancestral Puebloan prehistory in the American Southwest. Current perspectives on the cultural processes and circumstances associated with these key prehistoric events have been limited by an incomplete understanding of the concomitant environmental conditions. Total annual precipitation and mean maximum temperature reconstructions have been inferred from …show more content…
Archaic subsistence activities focused on plants and small animals and foraging ranges were probably smaller. In the Carrizo Wash area, populations remained low until the Late Archaic (2000–500 BC) when use of the area increased substantially, coinciding with the initial adoption of maize agriculture, early experimentation with fired clay, and the establishment of the first semi-sedentary pithouse villages (Van West and Greenwald,