Archaeological implications of time as a factor of soil formation

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1985 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6274195

Holliday, V T

Soils in sediments at archaeological sites have long been used as stratigraphic markers and often as indicators of local environments. However, because soil formation requires time, soils are also significant as age indicators; being so-used quite successfully in many studies of Quaternary stratigraphy and recently as part of investigations of archaeological geology on the Southern High Plains. Moreover, a soil or soils in a sedimentary sequence marks the passage of some amount of time between depositional episodes under conditions of landscape stability, whereas the sediments themselves (the parent material for the soil) may have accumulated quite rapidly. For example, at the Lubbock Lake site (Texas plains) and Wilson-Leonard site (central Texas) several thousands years of cultural history is compressed into zones several centimeters thick (buried surface horizons), but the parent materials of those soil are up to several meters thick and accumulated well within 1000 years. This situation probably obtains at many other sites and can profoundly influence interpretations of cultural chronology.

• Research Organization: Texas A and M Univ., College Station (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6274195
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Journal Information: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States), Vol. 17; Conference: 98. annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Orlando, FL, USA, 28 Oct 1985
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
SOILS
AGE ESTIMATION
STRATIGRAPHY
ARCHAEOLOGY
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
QUATERNARY PERIOD
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEDIMENTS
CENOZOIC ERA
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGY
ROCKS
510100* - Environment
Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (-1989)
580100 - Geology & Hydrology- (-1989)