Artifact distribution and its relationship to microtopographic geomorphic features in an eolian environment, Chihuahuan Desert
✍ Scribed by Brenda J. Buck; Robert L. Steiner; Galen Burgett; H. Curtis Monger
- Book ID
- 101293247
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 440 KB
- Volume
- 14
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0883-6353
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Two models have been developed to explain the relative roles of cultural and geomorphic processes on the distribution of artifacts in the arid southwestern United States. This study tested the Geological Disturbance Model at a microtopographic scale in an area of approximately 14 km 2 in the northeastern Hueco Basin, West Texas. Coppice dunes, interdunal deflational areas, and sandsheets have formed throughout the Hueco Basin within the last 100-150 years. The number of coppice dunes in 1,397 ha was counted, and 48 ha were mapped to determine the surface area of the coppice dunes and interdunal deflational areas. Artifact distribution was statistically compared to the coppice dunes in each hectare. No significant linear correlation was found. Cultural practices or other factors appear to have a greater influence on the distribution of artifacts than geomorphic processes at this scale.