Altithermal Archaeology and Paleoecology at Mustang Springs, on the Southern High Plains of Texas

1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Meltzer
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Adaptive Strategies ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Southern High Plains ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Water Wells ◽  
Age Estimates

Excavations at Mustang Springs on the southern High Plains of Texas have yielded a relatively fine-grained record of late Pleistocene to middle Holocene environments and climate. The site contains over 60 Altithermal age water wells, direct evidence of the human adaptive response to this locally severe drought and of a drop in the water table of nearly 3 m. New radiocarbon dates from the wellfield are substantially earlier than previously published age estimates, putting the age of well digging in a brief period at the onset of the Altithermal. Human adaptive strategies during this period are yet undetermined, but the evidence points to generalized and highly mobile strategies and to the conclusion that this wellfield is surely not unique. The geology of Mustang Springs helps explain the scarcity of other Altithermal age sites on the southern High Plains.

New Light on the Midland Discovery

1959 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Wendorf ◽  
Alex D. Krieger
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Radiocarbon Date ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
Southern High Plains ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Cultural Events ◽  
Animal Bones

AbstractAdditional excavation in 1955 confirmed the previously reported stratigraphic sequence at Midland, Texas. Within the gray sand, which had yielded a fragmentary human calvarium, there were found additional flint flakes, burned rocks, and animal bones. Besides several small mammals, a four-horned antelope (probably Capromeryx) was present in the gray sand; horse bones occurred in the gray sand and overlying red sand. These finds make the two radiocarbon dates published in the 1955 Midland report, giving an age of about 7000 years to the gray sand, even less acceptable than previously thought. Experimental dating by the uranium daughter products technique suggests an age of about 20,000 years for the gray sand, somewhat excessive in terms of cultural correlations although supported by a single radiocarbon date and not unreasonable for the faunal assemblage. Ten radiocarbon dates from the Midland, Blackwater Draw, Lubbock Lake, and Plainview sites are discussed in terms of three possible correlations of the geological, climatic, faunal, and cultural events in the Southern High Plains.

New Data on the Stratigraphy and Pedology of the Clovis and Plainview Sites, Southern High Plains

1985 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vance T. Holliday
Keyword(s):  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Calcareous Soils ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Soil Morphology ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Dune System ◽  
Southern High Plains

The well known Clovis and Plainview archaeological sites of New Mexico and Texas have yielded new data on regional late Quaternary geologic, paleoclimatic, and pedologic histories. Eolian sedimentation at the Clovis site from about 10,000 to less than 8500 yr B.P. was followed by the formation of a cumulic soil between 8500 and 5000 yr B.P. Episodic eolian and slope wash deposition then culminated in massive eolian sedimentation about 5000 yr B.P. after which a Haplustalf formed then was subsequently buried by part of a dune system within the last 1000 yr. At the Plainview site, a basal stream gravel contains Plainview cultural material (ca. 10,000 yr B.P.), which is followed by a localized early Holocene lacustrine deposit, two eolian deposits (the younger dating to about 5000 yr B.P.), and a marsh deposit which slowly accreted as an Argiustoll formed in the younger eolian unit. The data indicate that on the Southern High Plains (1) between 12,000 and 8500 yr B.P. sedimentation varied from site to site, (2) there was a regional climate change toward warming and drying in the early Holocene, (3) two episodes of severe drought apparently occurred in the middle Holocene (6500 to 4500 yr B.P.), (4) between 4500 yr B.P. and the present an essentially modern climate existed, but with several shifts toward aridity within the last 1000 yr, (5) argillic horizons have developed in late Holocene soils, (6) clay illuviation can occur in calcareous soils, and (7) long-distance correlation of Holocene stratigraphy in the region is possible, particularly with the aid of soil morphology.

scholarly journals Topographic Thresholds and Soil Preservation along the Southern High Plains Eastern Escarpment, Northwest Texas, USA

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 476
Author(s):  
Travis Conley ◽  
Stance Hurst ◽  
Eileen Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Buried Soils ◽  
Lateral Migration ◽  
South Fork ◽  
The South ◽  
Southern High Plains ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Semi Arid

The eastern escarpment of the Southern High Plains (USA) is today a semi-arid erosional landscape delineated by canyon breaks and topographic relief. A series of buried soils were identified, described, and sampled at 19 soil profile localities exposed along terraces of the South Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River (South Fork) and two associated tributaries (Spring Creek and Macy 285 drainage). Radiocarbon dating revealed late-Pleistocene to early Holocene (~12,580–9100 14C B.P.), middle-Holocene (~6025–4600 14C B.P.), and late-Holocene (~2000–800 14C B.P.) buried soils. The late-Pleistocene to middle-Holocene soils were preserved only at higher elevations within the upper section of the South Fork and Spring Creek. A topographic position analysis was conducted using GIS to identify and examine the impacts of a soil topographic threshold on the preservation and distribution of buried soils within this geomorphic system. Above the identified ~810 m threshold, lateral migration of channels was constrained. Extensive channel migration below the threshold removed older terraces that were replaced with late-Holocene terraces and associated buried soils. Landscape topography constraints on geomorphic processes and soil formation impacted the preservation of archaeological sites in this semi-arid region.

Human Responses to Middle Holocene (Altithermal) Climates on the North American Great Plains

1999 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Meltzer
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Diet Breadth ◽  
Underground Water ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Plant Resources ◽  
Southern High Plains ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
The North

The climate of the Great Plains during the middle Holocene varied considerably, but overall it was marked by a north–south gradient of increasingly warmer and drier conditions, with a reduction in effective moisture, surface water, and resource abundance, and an increase in resource patchiness, sediment weathering, erosion, and aeolian activity. Pronounced drought conditions were most evident on the Southern High Plains. Understanding the human responses to middle Holocene climates is complicated by a lack of archaeological data, which is partly a result of geomorphic processes that removed or deeply buried sites of this age, and by the varying adaptive responses of hunter-gatherers during this period. On the Southern High Plains, where drought was most severe, surface and groundwater sources dried and bison populations were diminished, prompting substantial adaptive changes, including local abandonment, well-digging to tap underground water, and a widening of the diet breadth to incorporate higher-cost, lower-return seed and plant resources. Sites of this age on the Central and Northern Plains also show a possible increase in diet breadth (with the incorporation of plant foods in the diet), and perhaps changes in settlement mobility (including possible shift into higher elevation areas, or mapping-on to extant rivers and springs). But linking those changes to middle Holocene drought is less straightforward.

Middle Holocene Drought on the Southern High Plains

1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vance T. Holliday
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Vegetative Cover ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Southern High Plains ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Prolonged Drought ◽  
Playa Lake ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

AbstractThe climate of the Southern High Plains during the middle Holocene is indicated by data from a variety of sources. Stratigraphic, geomorphic, and pedologic research at six localities in draws, several dune sites, and one playa-lake basin show that widespread eolian erosion and sedimentation began in some areas by 9000 yr B.P. and culminated 6000-4500 yr B.P., probably because of warmer, drier conditions that reduced the vegetative cover. Archaeological investigations at three sites provide evidence for the excavation of wells at this time, apparently because of a declining water table. Studies of a few vertebrate and invertebrate faunas also indicate warming and drying in the middle Holocene. Climate models and very limited isotopic data from Bison bone suggest that summers in the middle Holocene were warmer than present, with reduced effective precipitation. All lines of evidence indicate that the Southern High Plains was subjected to prolonged drought in the middle Holocene with a maximum between 6500 and 4500 yr B.P., conforming climatically and chronologically to the Altithermal.

Prehistoric Water Wells on the Southern High Plains: Clues to Altithermal Climate

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Meltzer ◽  
Michael B. Collins
Keyword(s):  
High Plains ◽  
Southern High Plains ◽  
Water Wells

scholarly journals Late Quaternary Stratigraphy and Geochronology of the Spring Creek Drainage along the Southern High Plains Eastern Escarpment, Northwest Texas

Quaternary ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Eileen Johnson ◽  
Stance Hurst ◽  
John A. Moretti
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Quaternary Deposits ◽  
Southern High Plains ◽  
Depositional Sequence ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Quaternary Stratigraphy ◽  
Local Topography ◽  
Large Sections

The eastern escarpment breaks of the Southern High Plains of Texas are both a geomorphic and ecotonal transition zone from the high plains surface to the Rolling Plains below. The geoarchaeological record on the Southern High Plains surface is well documented, but few studies have investigated the sediments, soils, and geochronology of the eastern escarpment. The current investigation has targeted the discontinuous remnants of Late Quaternary deposits within Spring Creek, a tributary within the upper Brazos River basin. A total of 19 profiles, core, and isolated exposure locations placed along a transect from Macy Fork through upper Spring Creek and 40 radiocarbon ages provide a composite sequence and geochronology that also documents the Late Pleistocene to Late Holocene paleoenvironments of this drainage. The resulting record illustrates a series of major changes in sediments and local habitats over the past ~11,550 radiocarbon years (13,469–13,390 calendar years), characterized primarily by reductions in available water and increasing aridity that peaked during the middle Holocene. This sequence provides significant context to an expanding record of Late Pleistocene to middle Holocene biota and cultures. Subsequent downcutting of the drainage post-6000 14C yr B.P. (6988–6744 calendar years) removed large sections of the depositional sequence. Local topography within Spring Creek drainage greatly impacted the preservation of these deposits. The remaining record provides some different insights than those available from the Southern High Plains record.

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