Strontium isotopes reveal distant sources of architectural timber in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
The use of trees from both the Chuska and San Mateo mountains, but not from the San Pedro Mountains, as early as A.D. 974 suggests that selection of timber sources was driven more by regional socioeconomic ties than by a simple model of resource depletion with distance and time.Abstract:
Between A.D. 900 and 1150, more than 200,000 conifer trees were used to build the prehistoric great houses of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, in what is now a treeless landscape. More than one-fifth of these timbers were spruce (Picea) or fir (Abies) that were hand-carried from isolated mountaintops 75–100 km away. Because strontium from local dust, water, and underlying bedrock is incorporated by trees, specific logging sites can be identified by comparing 87Sr/86Sr ratios in construction beams from different ruins and building periods to ratios in living trees from the surrounding mountains. 87Sr/86Sr ratios show that the beams came from both the Chuska and San Mateo (Mount Taylor) mountains, but not from the San Pedro Mountains, which are equally close. Incorporation of logs from two sources in the same room, great house, and year suggest stockpiling and intercommunity collaboration at Chaco Canyon. The use of trees from both the Chuska and San Mateo mountains, but not from the San Pedro Mountains, as early as A.D. 974 suggests that selection of timber sources was driven more by regional socioeconomic ties than by a simple model of resource depletion with distance and time.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Possible sources of archaeological maize found in Chaco Canyon and Aztec Ruin, New Mexico
TL;DR: The most probable source areas for cobs that predate the middle-12th-century drought include several Upper Rio Chaco sites (not including Chaco Canyon) and Aztec Ruin, New Mexico.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Stable Isotope Ratios of Marijuana. II. Strontium Isotopes Relate to Geographic Origin
TL;DR: It is suggested that strontium isotopes in marijuana record the geographic origins of marijuana, and that refinement of the base strontum map (or strontarium isoscape) and improved understanding of otherstrontium sources would be productive.
Journal ArticleDOI
Strontium isotopes and nutrient sourcing in a semi-arid woodland
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measured 87Sr/86Sr ratios in local bedrock and soils, and compared them to leaf/wood cellulose of four different conifers, a deciduous tree, three shrubs, an annual C4 grass, and a lichen.
Journal ArticleDOI
Why a Standardization of Strontium Isotope Baseline Environmental Data Is Needed and Recommendations for Methodology
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a case study from a semiarid region in northwestern New Mexico, USA, highlighting the need for a bottom-up approach to baseline data collection (from bedrock to animal) and describes the methods of pre-field planning and collecting, including rationales for what samples to collect for Sr isotope baseline data.
Journal ArticleDOI
DNA-based control of oak wood geographic origin in the context of the cooperage industry
TL;DR: The role of the origin geographique des bois de chene utilises en tonnelleries is discussed in this article, where a technique fiable permettant de controler l'origine of the bois of chene is presented.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Applied historical ecology: using the past to manage for the future
TL;DR: A montane grassland restoration project in northern New Mexico is described that was justified and guided by an historical sequence of aerial photographs showing progressive tree invasion during the 20th century, and a south- western network of fire histories illustrates the power of aggregating historical time series across spatial scales.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mesoscale Disturbance and Ecological Response to Decadal Climatic Variability in the American Southwest
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors predict a wide array of biogeographic phenomena, including soil carbon pools, vegetation physiognomy, species range, and plant and animal diversity, by modulating the frequency, magnitude, and spatial scales of natural disturbances.
Book
Strontium Isotope Geology
Gunter Faure,James L. Powell +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the Rubidium-Strontium Isochron method was used to measure the geologic time of a given sample, which was then used to calculate the initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of the sample.
Related Papers (5)
The Chaco Wood Project: The Chronometric Reappraisal of Pueblo Bonito
Thomas C. Windes,Dabney Ford +1 more