Abstract
Prehistoric farmers in arid and semiarid ecosystems commonly used rock alignments to concentrate water and sediments on their fields. Previous research has emphasized the importance of runoff from organic matter-rich uplands as a mechanism for soil nutrient replenishment. However, eolian inputs to these dryland ecosystems might also contribute substantially to mineral-derived nutrient pools. We explored the relative importance of eolian deposition, prehistoric agriculture, and the presence of rock alignments on soil properties in a semiarid grassland in Arizona. Subsurface soils behind natural rock alignments are finer in texture than soils unbound by rock alignments, while subsurface soils behind agricultural rock alignments coarsen relative to unbound soils. Neither rock alignments nor estimated crop yields had detectable effects on mineral-derived nutrient pools. In contrast, eolian deposition is an important source of soil mass and nutrients to modern soils. While dust deposition likely reduced soil heterogeneity across this landscape, it could have also contributed to the sustainability of prehistoric agriculture.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 79-97 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Geoarchaeology |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2014 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Archaeology
- Archaeology
Cite this
Eolian Deposition and Soil Fertility in a Prehistoric Agricultural Complex in Central Arizona, USA. / Nakase, Dana K.; Hartshorn, Anthony S.; Spielmann, Katherine A.; Hall, Sharon.
In: Geoarchaeology, Vol. 29, No. 2, 03.2014, p. 79-97.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Eolian Deposition and Soil Fertility in a Prehistoric Agricultural Complex in Central Arizona, USA
AU - Nakase, Dana K.
AU - Hartshorn, Anthony S.
AU - Spielmann, Katherine A.
AU - Hall, Sharon
PY - 2014/3
Y1 - 2014/3
N2 - Prehistoric farmers in arid and semiarid ecosystems commonly used rock alignments to concentrate water and sediments on their fields. Previous research has emphasized the importance of runoff from organic matter-rich uplands as a mechanism for soil nutrient replenishment. However, eolian inputs to these dryland ecosystems might also contribute substantially to mineral-derived nutrient pools. We explored the relative importance of eolian deposition, prehistoric agriculture, and the presence of rock alignments on soil properties in a semiarid grassland in Arizona. Subsurface soils behind natural rock alignments are finer in texture than soils unbound by rock alignments, while subsurface soils behind agricultural rock alignments coarsen relative to unbound soils. Neither rock alignments nor estimated crop yields had detectable effects on mineral-derived nutrient pools. In contrast, eolian deposition is an important source of soil mass and nutrients to modern soils. While dust deposition likely reduced soil heterogeneity across this landscape, it could have also contributed to the sustainability of prehistoric agriculture.
AB - Prehistoric farmers in arid and semiarid ecosystems commonly used rock alignments to concentrate water and sediments on their fields. Previous research has emphasized the importance of runoff from organic matter-rich uplands as a mechanism for soil nutrient replenishment. However, eolian inputs to these dryland ecosystems might also contribute substantially to mineral-derived nutrient pools. We explored the relative importance of eolian deposition, prehistoric agriculture, and the presence of rock alignments on soil properties in a semiarid grassland in Arizona. Subsurface soils behind natural rock alignments are finer in texture than soils unbound by rock alignments, while subsurface soils behind agricultural rock alignments coarsen relative to unbound soils. Neither rock alignments nor estimated crop yields had detectable effects on mineral-derived nutrient pools. In contrast, eolian deposition is an important source of soil mass and nutrients to modern soils. While dust deposition likely reduced soil heterogeneity across this landscape, it could have also contributed to the sustainability of prehistoric agriculture.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84893551551&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84893551551&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/gea.21463
DO - 10.1002/gea.21463
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84893551551
VL - 29
SP - 79
EP - 97
JO - Geoarchaeology
JF - Geoarchaeology
SN - 0883-6353
IS - 2
ER -