New Absolute Chronological Constraints to La Playa (Sonoran Desert) Archaeology between the American Southwest and Mesoamerica—From Long Period Human Resilience to Apparent Abandonment

Avto Goguitchaichvili (), Elisa Villapando, Alejandra Abrego, Rubén Cejudo, Vadim Kravchinsky, Francisco Bautista, Karla Flores García, Juan Morales and Miguel Cervantes
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Avto Goguitchaichvili: National Archaeomagnetic Service, Institute of Geophysics Campus Morelia, UNAM, Michoacán 58190, Mexico
Elisa Villapando: National Institute of Anthropology and History, Centro INAH Sonora, Sonora 83080, Mexico
Alejandra Abrego: National Institute of Anthropology and History, Centro INAH Sonora, Sonora 83080, Mexico
Rubén Cejudo: National Archaeomagnetic Service, Institute of Geophysics Campus Morelia, UNAM, Michoacán 58190, Mexico
Vadim Kravchinsky: Geophysics, Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada
Francisco Bautista: Laboratorio Universitario de Geofísica Ambiental, Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental, UNAM, Michoacán 58190, Mexico
Karla Flores García: National Archaeomagnetic Service, Institute of Geophysics Campus Morelia, UNAM, Michoacán 58190, Mexico
Juan Morales: National Archaeomagnetic Service, Institute of Geophysics Campus Morelia, UNAM, Michoacán 58190, Mexico
Miguel Cervantes: National Archaeomagnetic Service, Institute of Geophysics Campus Morelia, UNAM, Michoacán 58190, Mexico

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Sonoran Desert archaeological settlement is one of the most representative sites in Northwestern Mexico/Southwestern United States of the Early Agriculture period because of various cultural processes involved, such as the introduction of the first cultigens and the construction of Pit Houses. These early desert village settlements used geomorphological features of the local landscape to facilitate their sophisticated form of agriculture. Most of the features and artifacts at the site are associated with the Early Agricultural period of 3150-1900 cal B.P., while most occupation dates are in the Cienega phase (2800-1900 cal B.P.). Later stages are poorly documented because of the apparent reduction in population, less marked archaeological features, and extreme erosion processes. Systematic archaeological excavation revealed evidence of completely burned Pit Houses. We analyzed 56 samples belonging to four Pit Houses and one different combustion feature (Kiln or Horno , as they are locally known) in different areas of the settlement. The experimental procedure included continuous susceptibility vs. temperature measurements and step-wise alternating field demagnetizations. Only 36 samples yielded technically acceptable determinations that allowed the determination of archaeomagnetic directions. Statistically indistinguishable results were obtained from all five studied features. This finding reinforces archaeological evidence of ritual-related paraphernalia and/or apparent abandonment or, at least, migration.

Keywords: Early Agricultural Settlements; American Southwest; North America; Pit Houses; Absolute Chronology; Archaeomagnetism; ritual closure; abandonment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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