The Construction and Configuration of Anasazi Pebble-Mulch Gardens in the Northern Rio Grande

1995 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale R. Lightfoot ◽  
Frank W. Eddy
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
New Mexico ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
Galisteo Basin ◽  
Northern Rio Grande ◽  
Increase Soil Moisture

Rio Grande Anasazi in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries A.D. mulched hundreds of garden-sized plots with pebbles to increase soil moisture, reduce erosion, extend the growing season, and increase crop yields. This paper reports on the construction and configuration of pebble-mulch gardens in New Mexico, focusing particularly on those in the Galisteo Basin. Surfaces adjacent to these gardens were scraped and pits were excavated to collect gravel, which was placed over garden surfaces in layers 5 to 11 cm thick. Gardens averaged 15 x 23 m in size, although both size and shape were highly variable, and they collectively covered an area of 41,000 m2 Although this unique agricultural strategy has been shown to be effective, construction was limited to sites with natural gravel deposits, pebbled surfaces inhibited the recycling of crop wastes, and such gardens never became as widely used as more traditional field forms.

GEOMORPHIC AND INCISION HISTORY OF THE NORTHERN RIO GRANDE RIVER GORGE NEAR QUESTA, NEW MEXICO

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis W. Clow ◽  
◽  
Whitney M. Behr ◽  
Mark Helper ◽  
Peter Gold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rio Grande River ◽  
Northern Rio Grande

Earthquake Hazard Estimation in Areas of Low Historical Seismicity: A Focus on the Northern Rio Grande Rift, Colorado and New Mexico

1990 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles E. Glass
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Gaussian Model ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Earthquake Hazard ◽  
Weibull Model ◽  
Historical Seismicity ◽  
Rio Grande Rift ◽  
Earthquake Activity ◽  
Sangre De Cristo ◽  
Northern Rio Grande

Estimates of the probability of future earthquake activity are difficult to make in areas where historical seismicity may be low or absent, but where young fault scarps attest to recent or ongoing tectonism. Three non-Poisson models, a Weibull model, a Gaussian model and a lognormal model, are used to estimate the earthquake hazard for one such area, the northern Rio Grande Rift. This portion of the Rio Grande Rift displays numerous Holocene faults attesting to ongoing tectonism, but displays essentially no historical seismicity. The earthquake hazard for the Sangre de Cristo fault zone from Taos, New Mexico to Salida, Colorado calculated using these models is remarkably consistent (probability of at least one Mo = 7 earthquake in the next 50 years ∼ 2.5 × 10−3), with increased hazard for the Sangre de Cristo fault in north San Luis Valley (∼5.0×10−3) and near Taos (∼1.0×10−2) due to the long holding times along these segments.

FORAGERS AND FARMERS IN THE NORTHERN RIO GRANDE VALLEY, NEW MEXICO

KIVA ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRADLEY J. VIERRA ◽  
RICHARD I. FORD
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Rio Grande Valley ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Northern Rio Grande

PRELIMINARY 3D MODEL OF THE SAN LUIS BASIN, NORTHERN RIO GRANDE RIFT, COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Drenth ◽  
◽  
V.J.S. Grauch ◽  
Ren A. Thompson ◽  
Brian D. Rodriguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
3D Model ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Rio Grande Rift ◽  
San Luis ◽  
Northern Rio Grande

Vecino Economics: Gendered Economy and Micaceous Pottery Consumption in Nineteenth Century Northern New Mexico

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Sunday Eiselt ◽  
J. Andrew Darling
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
New Mexico ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Economic Reforms ◽  
Ceramic Production ◽  
Social Formation ◽  
Northern Rio Grande ◽  
Gendered Economy

AbstractEconomic reforms introduced by the Bourbon Monarchy after A.D. 1750 ushered in an Hispanic social formation in the northern Rio Grande identified as Vecino. Aspects of Vecino gendered economy are examined through a detailed analysis of five ceramic assemblages from the Chama and Taos Valleys of New Mexico. Geochemical (NAA) and stylistic clues identify the ethnic identities of producers and their relationships to Vecino consumers. Evidence for ceramic production by Vecino women during the nineteenth century is evaluated on the basis of detailed paste analysis of plain and micaceous ceramics as well as the occurrence of pottery-producing tools and clay-cleaning debris. Analytical results reveal that Jicarilla women dominated the production of micaceous cook ware to supply Vecino kitchens. Implications for understanding Vecino economics and the constitution of female-based systems of economic value are considered.

Specialized Production in the Southwest: A Case from Arroyo Hondo (LA-12)

1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-233
Author(s):  
Gordon Bronitsky
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Rio Grande Valley ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Ecological Studies ◽  
Variability Analysis ◽  
Chipped Stone ◽  
Specialized Production ◽  
Northern Rio Grande

The Pueblo IV period in the northern Rio Grande valley of New Mexico (AD 1200–1540) was one of increasing climatic and demographic variability. Analysis of certain chipped stone tools from Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico (LA-12) has provided an understanding of some of the means prehistoric populations in the region employed to cope with this variability, focusing on changes in productive strategy. A theoretical model of resource restriction is presented, derived from general ecological studies and recent research into the relationships between population growth and cultural change. Selected lithic data are used to test implications of the model. The results of these tests and their bearing on the general model are then discussed.

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