Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-lvtdw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-15T03:38:24.279Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David J. Meltzer
David J. Meltzer*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275-0336
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

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.

Résumé

Résumé

Las excavaciones de “Mustang Springs” en el Sur de las Planicies Altas de Texas, han producido un registro arqueológico relativamente preciso sobre los medio-ambientes y climas del Pleistoceno tardío y Holoceno medio. El sitio contiene más de 60 pozos acuíferos de edad Altitermal que representan evidencia directa de las respuestas de adaptación humana a una sequía severa, y al descenso de casi tres metros en el nivel freático. Las nuevas fechas de radiocarbono del campo de pozos acuíferos son substancialmente más tempranas que las estimadas en publicaciones anteriores, poniendo la edad de construcción de los pozos durante un corto período en el principio del Altitermal. Las estrategias humanas de adaptación en este período continúan siendo indeterminadas, pero la evidencia señala una estrategia generalizada y móvil, y la conclusión de que este campo de pozos acuíferos seguramente no es el único. La geología de Mustang Springs ayuda a explicar la escasez de otros sitios de edad Altitermal en el Sur de las Planicies Altas.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , April 1991 , pp. 236 - 267
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Alexander, H. 1932 Pothole Erosion. Journal of Geology 40 : 305–337.Google Scholar
Allen, J. R. 1971 Transverse Erosional Marks of Mud and Rock : Their Physical Basis and Geological Significance. Sedimentary Geology 5 : 167–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Antevs, E. 1948 The Great Basin, with Emphasis on Glacial and Postglacial times. University of Utah Bulletin 38 : 168–191. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Barnosky, C. 1989 Postglacial Vegetation and Climate in the Northwestern Great Plains of Montana. Quaternary Research 31 : 57–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnosky, C, Anderson, P., and Bartlein, P. 1987 The Northwestern U. S. during Deglaciation : Vegetation History and Paleoclimatic Implications. In North America and Adjacent Oceans During the Last Deglaciation, edited by Ruddiman, W. and Wright, H., pp. 289–321. Geological Society of America, Boulder.Google Scholar
Barnosky, C, Grimm, E., and Wright, H. 1987 Towards a Postglacial History of the Northern Great Plains : A Review of Paleoecological Problems. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 56 : 259–273.Google Scholar
Belovsky, G. 1987 Hunter-Gatherer Foraging : A Linear Programming Approach. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 6 : 29–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belovsky, G. 1988 An Optimal-Foraging Based Model of Hunter-Gatherer Population Dynamics. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 6 : 29–76.Google Scholar
Bender, S. J., and Wright, G. 1988 High-Altitude Occupations, Cultural Process, and High Plains Prehistory : Retrospect and Prospect. American Anthropologist 90 : 619–639.Google Scholar
Benedict, J. 1979 Getting Away from it All : A Study of Man, Mountains and the Two-Drought Altithermal. Southwestern Lore 45 : 1–12.Google Scholar
Bretz, J. H., and Horberg, L. 1949 Caliche in Southeastern New Mexico. Journal of Geology 57 : 491–511.Google Scholar
Bryant, V., and Holloway, R. 1983 The Role ofPalynology in Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory , vol. 6, edited by Schif Fer, M. B., pp. 191–224. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bryant, V. and Schoenwetter, J. 1987 Pollen Records from Lubbock Lake. In Lubbock Lake : Late Quaternary Studies on the Southern High Plains, edited by Johnson, E., pp. 36–40. Texas A&M Press, College Station.Google Scholar
Buchner, A. 1980 Cultural Responses to Altithermal (Atlantic) Climate along the Eastern Margins of the North American Grasslands, 5500 to 3000 B. C. Mercury Series Paper No. 97. National Museum of Man, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Butzer, K. 1976 Geomorphology from the Earth. Harper and Row, New York.Google Scholar
Cheatum, E. P., and Fullington, R. 1973 The Aquatic and Land Mollusca of Texas. The Recent and Pleistocene Members of the Pupillidae and Urocoptidae (Gastropoda) in Texas. Dallas Museum of Natural History, Bulletin 1. Part Two.Google Scholar
Clague, J., and Mathewes, R. 1989 Early Holocene Thermal Maximum in Western North America : New Evidence from Castle Peak, British Columbia. Geology 17 : 277–280.Google Scholar
Members, COHMAP Project 1988 Climatic Changes of the Last 18, 000 years : Observations and Model Simulations. Science 241 : 1043–1052.Google Scholar
Collins, M. B. 1971 A Review of Llano Estacado Archaeology and Ethnohistory. Plains Anthropologist 16 : 85–104.Google Scholar
Crown, P. L. 1987 Water Storage in the Prehistoric Southwest. The Kiva 52 : 209–228.Google Scholar
Davis, L. C. 1987 Late Pleistocene/Holocene Environmental Changes in the Central Plains of the United States : The Mammalian Record. In Late Quaternary Mammalian Biogeography and Environments of the Great Plains and Prairies, edited by Graham, R., Semken, H, and Graham, M., pp. 88–143. Scientific Papers Vol. 22. Illinois State Museum, Springfield.Google Scholar
Davis, O. K. 1984 Multiple Thermal Maxima During the Holocene. Science 225 : 617–619.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, O. K., Sheppard, J., and Robertson, S. 1986 Contrasting Climatic Histories for the Snake River Plain, Idaho, Resulting from Multiple Thermal Maxima. Quaternary Research 26 : 321–339.Google Scholar
Dillehay, T. 1974 Late Quaternary Bison Population Changes on the Southern Plains. Plains Anthropologist 19 : 180–196.Google Scholar
Evans, G. 1951 Prehistoric Wells in Eastern New Mexico. American Antiquity 17 : 1–9.Google Scholar
Evans, G., and Meade, G. 1945 Quaternary of the Texas High Plains. Publication No. 4401. University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Frison, G. 1975 Man's Interaction with Holocene Environments on the Plains. Quaternary Research 5 : 289–300.Google Scholar
Frison, G. 1983 Comments on Native Subsistence Adaptations in the Great Plains. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences 9 : 111–113. Lincoln.Google Scholar
Gould, R. 1977 Puntujarpa Rockshelter and the Australian Desert Culture. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History No. 54, Pt. 1. American Museum of Natural History, New York.Google Scholar
Gould, R. 1980 Living Archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Gould, R. 1989 The Archaeology of Arid Land foraging : A Critical Review of Theories and Assumptions. Paper presented at the Southern North American Archaic Symposium, Lajitas, Texas.Google Scholar
Graham, R. 1987 Late Quaternary Mammalian Faunas and Paleoenvironments of the Southwestern Plains of the United States. In Late Quaternary Mammalian Biogeography and Environments of the Great Plains and Prairies, edited by Graham, R., Semken, H, and Graham, M., pp. 24–86. Scientific Papers Vol. 22, Illinois State Museum, Springfield.Google Scholar
Green, F. E. 1962 Additional Notes on Prehistoric Wells at the Clovis site. American Antiquity 28 : 230–234.Google Scholar
Gustavson, T., and Finley, R. 1985 Late Cenozoic Geomorphic Evolution of the Texas Panhandle and Northeastern New Mexico. Reports of Investigation No. 148. Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Hall, S. 1985 Quaternary Pollen Analysis and Vegetation History of the Southwest. In Pollen Records of Late Quaternary North American Sediments, edited by Bryant, V. and Holloway, R., pp. 95–123. American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists, Dallas.Google Scholar
Hammond, G., and Rey, A. 1940 Narratives of the Coronado Expedition, 1540-1542. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Haynes, C. V. 1975 Pleistocene and Recent Stratigraphy. In Late Pleistocene Environments of the Southern High Plains, edited by Wendorf, F. and Hester, J., pp. 57–96. Fort Burgwin Research Center, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.Google Scholar
Hester, J. 1972 Blackwater Locality No. 1, a Stratified Early Man Site in Eastern New Mexico. Fort Burgwin Research Center, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.Google Scholar
Hill, C, and Meltzer, D. J. 1987 Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene Depositional Environments at Mustang Springs, Southern Llano Estacado. Current Research in the Pleistocene 4 : 127–130.Google Scholar
Holliday, V. T. 1985 Archaeological Geology of the Lubbock Lake Site, Southern High Plains of Texas. Geological Society of America Bulletin 96 : 1483–1492.Google Scholar
Holliday, V. T. 1989a Middle Holocene Drought on the Southern High Plains. Quaternary Research 31 : 74–82.Google Scholar
Holliday, V. T. 1989b The Blackwater Draw Formation (Quaternary) : A 1.4 Plus m.y. Record of Eolian Sedimentation and Soil Formation on the Southern High Plains. Geological Society of America, Bulletin 101 : 1598–1607.Google Scholar
Holliday, V. T. 1990 Late Pleistocene Valley Fills on the Southern High Plains. Current Research in the Pleistocene 7 : 135–138.Google Scholar
Honea, K. 1980 Marks Beach, Stratified Paleoindian Site, Lamb County, Texas : Preliminary Report. Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society 51 : 243–269.Google Scholar
Husted, W. 1974 Prehistoric Occupation of the Alpine Zone in the Rocky Mountains. In Arctic and Alpine Environments, edited by Ives, J. and Barry, R., pp. 857–874. Methuen, London.Google Scholar
Johnson, E. 1987 Paleoen vironmental Overview. In Lubbock Lake : Late Quaternary Studies on the Southern High Plains, edited by Johnson, E., pp. 90–99. Texas A&M Press, College Station.Google Scholar
Johnson, E., and Holliday, V. T. 1986 The Archaic Record at Lubbock Lake. Plains Anthropologist 31 : 7–54.Google Scholar
Kelly, R. L. 1989 The Southern North American Archaic : Elements of a Model Drawn from Hunter-Gatherer Ecology. Paper presented at the Southern North American Archaic Symposium, Lajitas, Texas.Google Scholar
Knowles, T., Nordstrom, P., and Kent, W. 1984 Evaluating the Ground Water Resources on the High Plains of Texas, vol. 1. Texas Department of Water Resources, Austin, Texas.Google Scholar
Kutzbach, J., and Guetter, P. 1986 The Influence of Changing Orbital Parameters and Surface Boundary Conditions on Climate Simulations for the Past 18, 000 Years. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 43 : 1726–1759.Google Scholar
Larson, P. 1977 Deserts of the Southwest. Sierra Club, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Lee, R. B. 1976 !Kung Spatial Organization : An Ecological and Historical Perspective. In Kalahari Hunter-Gatherers, edited by Lee, R. and DeVore, I., pp. 74–97. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, R. B. 1979 The IKung San : Men, Women and Work in a Foraging Society. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Mac Donald, J. 1981 North American Bison : Their Classification and Evolution. The University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
McKinnon, N., and Stuart, G. S. L. (editors) 1987 Man and the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum. The University of Calgary Archaeology Association, Calgary, Alberta.Google Scholar
Marcy, R. 1850 Report of Captain R. B. Marcy's Route from Fort Smith to Santa Fe. Reports of the Secretary of War, 31st Congress, 1st Session, Executive Document 64 : 169–233. Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Marcy, R. 1859 The Prairie Traveller : A Handbook for Overland Expeditions. Harper and Brothers, New York.Google Scholar
Matthes, G. 1947 Macroturbulence in Natural Stream Flow. Transactions American Geophysical Union 28 : 255–265.Google Scholar
Meltzer, D. J. 1989 Review of “Man and the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum” edited by McKinnon, N. and S, G.. Stuart, L.. Geoarchaeology 4 : 191–194.Google Scholar
Meltzer, D. J., and Collins, M. B. 1987 Prehistoric Water Wells on the Southern High Plains : Clues to Altithermal Climates. Journal of Field Archaeology 14 : 9–28.Google Scholar
Mulloy, W. T. 1958 A Preliminary Outline for the Northwestern Plains. Publication No. 22. University of Wyoming, Laramie.Google Scholar
Nance, C. R. 1972 Cultural Evidence for the Altithermal in Texas and Mexico. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 28 : 169–192.Google Scholar
O. Connell, J., and Hawkes, K. 1981 Alyawara Plant Use and Optimal Foraging Theory. In Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies, edited by Winterhalder, B. and Smith, E., pp. 99–125. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Oldfield, F., and Schoenwetter, J. 1975 Discussion of the Pollen-Analytical Evidence. In Late Pleistocene Environments of the Southern High Plains, edited by Wendorf, F. and Hester, J., pp. 149–179. Fort Burgwin Research Center, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.Google Scholar
Pate, D. 1986 The Effects of Drought on Ngatajara Plant Use : An Evaluation of Optimal Foraging Theory. Human Ecology 14 : 95–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peden, D. 1976 Botanical Composition of Bison Diets on Shortgrass Plains. The American Midland Naturalist 96 : 225–229.Google Scholar
Reeves, B. O. 1973 The Concept of an Altithermal Hiatus in Northern Plains Prehistory. American Anthropologist 75 : 1221–1253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reeves, C. C. 1976 Quaternary Stratigraphy and Geological history of Southern High Plains, Texas and New Mexico. In Quaternary Stratigraphy of North America, edited by Mahaney, W., pp. 213–234. Dowden, Hutchison and Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Root, M., and Ahler, S. 1987 Middle Holocene Occupation and Technological Change in the Knife River Hint Primary Source area. In Man and the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum, edited by McKinnon, N. and S, G.. Stuart, L., pp. 85–109. The University of Calgary Archaeology Association, Calgary, Alberta. Google Scholar
Schlesinger, W., Reynolds, J., Cunnigham, G., Huenneke, L., Jarrell, W., Virginia, R., and Whitford, W. 1990 Biological Feedbacks in Global Desertification. Science 247 : 1043–1048.Google Scholar
Schmidt-Nielsen, K. 1964 Desert Animals : Physiological Problems of Heat and Water. Clarendon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Schweger, C. 1987 A Critical Appraisal of the Altithermal and its Role in Archaeology. In Man and the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum, edited by McKinnon, N. and S, G.. Stuart, L., pp. 371–377. The University of Calgary Archaeology Association, Calgary, Alberta.Google Scholar
Shelford, V. 1963 The Ecology of North America. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.Google Scholar
Silberbauer, G. 1981 Hunter and Habitat in the Central Kalahari Desert. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Smith, C, Runyon, J., and Agogino, G. 1966 A Progress Report on a Pre-Ceramic Site at Rattlesnake Draw, Eastern New Mexico. Plains Anthropologist 11 : 302–313.Google Scholar
Xomanek, G., and Hulett, G. K. 1970 Effects of Historical Droughts on Grassland Vegetation in the Central Great Plains. In Pleistocene and Recent Environments of the Central Great Plains, edited by Dort, W. and Jones, J., pp. 203–210. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Udden, J. A. 1925 Etched Potholes. Bulletin No. 2509. University of Xexas, Austin.Google Scholar
Van Devender, T., Xhompson, R., and Betancourt, J. 1987 Vegetation History of the Deserts of Southwestern North America : Xhe Nature and Ximing of the Late Wisconsin-Holocene Xransition. In North America and Adjacent Oceans During the Last Deglaciation, edited by Ruddiman, W. and Wright, H., pp. 323–352. Geological Society of America, Boulder.Google Scholar
Walker, E. 1987 Xhe Gowen Site : Cultural Adaptation on the Northern Plains During the Altithermal Period. In Man and the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum, edited by McKinnon, N. and S, G.. Stuart, L., pp. 111–122. The University of Calgary Archaeology Association, Calgary, Alberta.Google Scholar
Weaver, J., and Albertson, F. 1956 Grasslands of the Great Plains. Johnson Publishing Company, Lincoln.Google Scholar
Wedel, W. 1963 Xhe High Plains and Xheir Utilization by the Indian. American Antiquity 29 : 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wedel, W. 1983a Xhe Prehistoric Plains. In Ancient North Americans, edited by Jennings, J., pp. 202–241. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Wedel, W. 1983b Native Subsistence Adaptations in the Great Plains. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences 9 : 93–100. Lincoln.Google Scholar
Wedel, W. 1986 Central Plains Prehistory. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.Google Scholar
Wigner, K., and Peterson, R. 1987 Synoptic Climatology of Blowing Dust on the Xexas South Plains. Journal of Arid Environments 13 : 199–209.Google Scholar
Winsborough, B. 1988 Paleoecological Analysis of Holocene Algal Mat Diatomites Associated with Prehistoric Wells on the Xexas High Plains. Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the South-Central Section of the Geological Society of America. Lawrence, Kansas. Google Scholar