The Camel of Time: Radiocarbon Dating the Lower Pecos Canyonlands
Date
2019-12
Authors
McCuistion, Emily Ruth
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Abstract
Archaeological radiocarbon assays Lower Pecos were compiled (n=473), spanning the Paleoindian through Proto-historic periods, including one hundred newly reported Ancient Southwest Texas Project assays. The data set was then critically vetted to identify potentially unreliable or irrelevant dates. Using Bayesian methods, the radiocarbon data are used to investigate timing of plant baking and the manufacture of fiber goods from evergreen rosettes. Relative human population fluctuations are investigated using a summed probability distribution of radiocarbon dates. The results of these analyses are compared with environmental proxy data and radiocarbon assays dating the intermittent presence of bison in the region. Correlations in these data are preliminary yet promising and warrant further investigation with more sophisticated analyses and a larger sample size of well-reported radiocarbon data.
Description
Keywords
Radiocarbon dating, 14C, Lower Pecos Canyonlands, Earth oven, Bison, Archaeology, Archeology
Citation
McCuistion, E. R. (2019). <i>The camel of time: Radiocarbon dating the Lower Pecos Canyonlands</i> (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.