126 Geoarchaeology of Sites to Landscapes: Current Research on Long-Term Water and Soil Management and Maladaptation, Part II

This session brings together geoarchaeological projects from around the world that study ancient water and soil or agricultural management. This session will compare techniques, timing, and evidence for adaptation to past and present environmental changes.

Monday, 20 October 2025
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, 214D

Multiproxy geoarchaeological and environmental investigations at a Mesilla Phase archaeological site in southern New Mexico

Paper number: 126-5
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 2:45 PM – 3:00 PM

Authors

Abstract

To understand long-term water management in the Tularosa Basin in southern New Mexico, we must first reconstruct prehistoric anthropogenic processes on the landscape throughout the Holocene as well as understand natural cycles of hydroclimate. In this basin, the Rio Tularosa flows by many Mesilla phase (A.D. 200–1000) archaeological sites and a series of associated irrigation ditches, agricultural terraces, and a now in-filled ancient reservoir. This reservoir, as well as the associated canals and terraces, demonstrate the sophisticated management that Indigenous populations practiced on the watershed. Our recent research in the area suggests an outsized human effort to manipulate water resources in the area for agricultural purposes. This paper focuses on our ongoing excavations and analysis of prehistoric water management features at the site, which have changed the structure and geomorphology of the Rio Tularosa and its floodplain over time. This geoarchaeological reconstruction will provide a deeper understanding of This is important for local water resource management and can serve as a framework by which we understand the response of small river systems to human modification. Today, the Rio Tularosa watershed is the primary source of water for rural communities in this portion of the Tularosa Basin, and hosts multiple biodiversity hotspots along the riparian zone. Now more than ever, this important water source needs to be conserved, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions such as this can provide insight into long term and ongoing water management and planning today.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-414481

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