Lady Santana Quispe, C. French, D. Beresford-Jones, Carlos Enrique Rengifo Chunga
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Today the Lower Ica Valley (Peru) exhibits evidence of environmental degradation, strong activity of deposition and erosion processes through modifying agents such as water and wind. All of this is the product of a long process of environmental transformation both during and since pre-Columbian times. Archaeological remains present in this valley evidence a long and important pre-Columbian cultural trajectory. We provide a case study of the geoarchaeology of the Samaca H-8 archaeological site that was founded sometime towards the end of the Middle Horizon (c. AD 900-1000) and consolidated its development during the Late Intermediate period (AD 1000-1400). This work contemplates the analysis of soils and sediments using micromorphology, geochemical-geophysical analyzes and radiocarbon dating. The results reveal that the construction and first occupation of Samaca H-8 (or at least the eastern part of the site), during the transition from the Middle Horizon period to the Late Intermediate Period, was marked by environmental dynamics and drastic landscape change toward more arid conditions. Recurrent deposition of windblown materials took place, perhaps due to a lack of protection offered by riparian dry forest cover. The Samaca H-8 site was established under these environmental conditions around AD 900.
期刊介绍:
The Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana is a completely free-access electronic journal published semi-annually that publishes papers and technical notes with its main objective to contribute to an understanding of the geology of Mexico, of its neighbor areas, and of geologically similar areas anywhere on Earth’s crust. Geology has no boundaries so we may publish papers on any area of knowledge that is interesting to our readers.
We also favor the publication of papers on relatively unfamiliar subjects and objectives in mainstream journals, e.g., papers devoted to new methodologies or their improvement, and areas of knowledge that in the past had relatively little attention paid them in Mexican journals, such as urban geology, water management, environmental geology, and ore deposits, among others. Mexico is a land of volcanos, earthquakes, vast resources in minerals and petroleum, and a shortage of water. Consequently, these topics should certainly be of major interest to our readers, our Society, and society in general. Furthermore, the Boletín has been published since 1904; that makes it one of the oldest scientific journals currently active in Mexico and, most notably, its entire contents, from the first issue on, are available online.