Use of sediments and soils (paleosols) in construction fills of the La Joya archaeological site, Veracruz, Mexico: micromorphological evidence

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Autore principale: Thania A. García-Zeferino
Natura: Artículo científico
Lingua:en
Pubblicazione: Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, A.C. 2022
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author Thania A. García-Zeferino
author_facet Thania A. García-Zeferino
contents Use of sediments and soils (paleosols) in construction fills of the La Joya archaeological site, Veracruz, Mexico: micromorphological evidence Thania A. García-Zeferino Annick Daneels Jaime Díaz-Ortega Elizabeth Solleiro-Rebolledo Ciencias de la Tierra gley material water reservoir paleodune sediments Gulf of Mexico coast earthen architecture In this paper, we study the materials used for the construction of earthen structure in the La Joya archaeological site, on the Gulf of Mexico coast, built on top of a paleodune, from the Late Preclassic (400 BC) to the Classic period (AD 100-1000). The first constructions arise around 100 BC, on a paleodune top rising slightly above the surrounding alluvial terraces of the Jamapa river; then it grows into a 15-ha monumental compound. The total construction volume reaches 250,000 m3, all made of earth, surrounded by large artificial water pounds (reservoirs). To understand the kind of components found in the structures and their provenance, we compare the micromorphological features of the materials from the earthen constructions with the sediments and paleosols located in the surrounding areas. Samples were taken from the fills of three first building stages, as well as from a natural soil profile and the natural paleosol horizons found beneath the structures. Micromorphological features found in fills permit to establish the correlation between them and their parent material. The fills from the first stage of construction have fragments of a Btb horizon, mixed with an A horizon, compacted and crushed, in which abundant artifacts are identified. However, these artifacts were not intentionally incorporated to the fills, but had been accumulated on the pre-occupation A horizon as residential and agriculture trash. Particular attention was paid to a gley material occurring in the third building stage, that was believed to come from the sediments accumulated in the original borrow pits transformed into water reservoirs, enclosing the main architectural compound. These reservoir fills share properties of the natural sediments and paleosols but transformed by the waterlogging conditions. In consequence, these materials are interpreted as a case of anthropogenic pedogenesis, where the gley micromorphology indicates waterlogging conditions, but in artificially made reservoirs, as they do not have dark organic sediments that would result of the vegetation typical of a natural pond in a humid tropical environment. 2022 artículo científico 1405-3322 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=94375433007 https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/ https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/html/ https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/94375433007.epub https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/movil https://doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2022v74n3a100422 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=943 Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana application/pdf Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, A.C. Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana (México) Num.3 Vol.74
format Artículo científico
id redalyc_94375433007
institution Redalyc
language en
publishDate 2022
publisher Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, A.C.
spellingShingle Use of sediments and soils (paleosols) in construction fills of the La Joya archaeological site, Veracruz, Mexico: micromorphological evidence
Thania A. García-Zeferino
Ciencias de la Tierra
gley material
water reservoir
paleodune sediments
Gulf of Mexico coast
earthen architecture
Use of sediments and soils (paleosols) in construction fills of the La Joya archaeological site, Veracruz, Mexico: micromorphological evidence Thania A. García-Zeferino Annick Daneels Jaime Díaz-Ortega Elizabeth Solleiro-Rebolledo Ciencias de la Tierra gley material water reservoir paleodune sediments Gulf of Mexico coast earthen architecture In this paper, we study the materials used for the construction of earthen structure in the La Joya archaeological site, on the Gulf of Mexico coast, built on top of a paleodune, from the Late Preclassic (400 BC) to the Classic period (AD 100-1000). The first constructions arise around 100 BC, on a paleodune top rising slightly above the surrounding alluvial terraces of the Jamapa river; then it grows into a 15-ha monumental compound. The total construction volume reaches 250,000 m3, all made of earth, surrounded by large artificial water pounds (reservoirs). To understand the kind of components found in the structures and their provenance, we compare the micromorphological features of the materials from the earthen constructions with the sediments and paleosols located in the surrounding areas. Samples were taken from the fills of three first building stages, as well as from a natural soil profile and the natural paleosol horizons found beneath the structures. Micromorphological features found in fills permit to establish the correlation between them and their parent material. The fills from the first stage of construction have fragments of a Btb horizon, mixed with an A horizon, compacted and crushed, in which abundant artifacts are identified. However, these artifacts were not intentionally incorporated to the fills, but had been accumulated on the pre-occupation A horizon as residential and agriculture trash. Particular attention was paid to a gley material occurring in the third building stage, that was believed to come from the sediments accumulated in the original borrow pits transformed into water reservoirs, enclosing the main architectural compound. These reservoir fills share properties of the natural sediments and paleosols but transformed by the waterlogging conditions. In consequence, these materials are interpreted as a case of anthropogenic pedogenesis, where the gley micromorphology indicates waterlogging conditions, but in artificially made reservoirs, as they do not have dark organic sediments that would result of the vegetation typical of a natural pond in a humid tropical environment. 2022 artículo científico 1405-3322 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=94375433007 https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/ https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/html/ https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/94375433007.epub https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/movil https://doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2022v74n3a100422 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=943 Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana application/pdf Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, A.C. Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana (México) Num.3 Vol.74
title Use of sediments and soils (paleosols) in construction fills of the La Joya archaeological site, Veracruz, Mexico: micromorphological evidence
topic Ciencias de la Tierra
gley material
water reservoir
paleodune sediments
Gulf of Mexico coast
earthen architecture
url https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=94375433007
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/html/
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/94375433007.epub
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/943/94375433007/movil
https://doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2022v74n3a100422