Nine new radiocarbon dates expand the occupational sequence at Boca de Potrerillos, a large open camp site on the fringes of the Sierra Madre Oriental in Nuevo León, Mexico, to the range between 270 and 7700 years ago. Incised stones attributable to the Archaic component provide an estimate of the age of some of the 3000 petroglyphs at this site. Cut-and-fill cycles, pollen counts, and gastropod analyses contribute to the definition of two climatic episodes. Between 980 and 1280 years ago, low energy sedimentation suggests a benign climatic interlude prevailed locally. Massive erosion at Boca de Potrerillos and other excavated sites within a 150 km range identifies a period of regional environmental stress around 4800 years ago.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndrewsJean1981Texas Shells: A Field Guide, University of Texas Press, Austin.
2.
ArroyoAveleyraDe AndaLuisMaldonado-KoerdellManuel, and Del RióPablo Martinez1956Cueva de la Candelaria, Memorias del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.
3.
BryantVaughn M.Jr. and RiskindDavid H.1980The Paleoenvironmental Record for Northeastern Mexico: A Review of the Pollen Evidence, in Papers on the Prehistory of Northeastern México and Adjacent Texas, EpsteinJ. F.HesterT. R., and GravesCarol (eds.), Center for Archaeological Research Special Report 9, pp. 7–31, The University of Texas at San Antonio.
4.
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY1994Results of Chemical and Grain Size Analyses of Coconos Soil Samples, On file at Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin, Soil Testing Laboratory, Fort Collins, Colorado.
5.
CORPUS CHRISTI GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY1970Hidalgo Canyon—La Popa Valley, Guide Book, Corpus Christi, Texas.
6.
DeWittMarí Guadalupe1984Petroglifos de la Sierra Del Antrisco, N.L., México, unpublished manuscript, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia Centro Regional del Nuevo León, Monterrey.
7.
DibbleDavid S.1967Excavations at Arenosa Shelter, 1965–66, Texas Archeological Salvage Project, The University of Texas at Austin.
8.
EpsteinJeremiah F.1969The San Isidro Site: An Early Man Campsite in Nuevo León, Mexico. Department of Anthropology Series 7, The University of Texas at Austin.
9.
EpsteinJeremiah F.1972Some Implications of Recent Excavations and Surveys in Nuevo León and Coahuila, Texas Journal of Science, 24:1, pp. 45–46.
10.
EpsteinJeremiah F.1980aSome Reflections on the Nature of the Northeast Mexico Lithic Tradition and the Problem of Its Origin, in Papers on the Prehistory of Northeastern Mexico and Adjacent Texas, EpsteinJ. F.HesterThomas R., and GravesCarol (eds.), Center for Archaeological Research Special Report 9, pp. 81–92, The University of Texas at San Antonio.
11.
EpsteinJeremiah F.1980bSummary: Where Do We Go From Here? in Papers on the Prehistory of Northeastern Mexico and Adjacent Texas, EpsteinJ. F.HesterThomas R., and GravesCarol (eds.), Center for Archaeological Research Special Report 9, pp. 147–153, The University of Texas at San Antonio.
12.
EpsteinJeremiah F.HesterThomas R., and GravesCarol1980Papers on the Prehistory of Northeastern Mexico and Adjacent Texas, Center for Archaeological Research Special Report 9, The University of Texas at San Antonio.
13.
HeartfieldLorraine1975Archeological Investigations of Four Sites in Southwestern Coahuila, Mexico, Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society, 46, pp. 127–177.
14.
HeartfieldLorraine1980Comparison of Artifact Assemblages from Southwestern Coahuila, Mexico, in Papers on the Prehistory of Northeastern Mexico and Adjacent Texas, EpsteinJ. F.HesterT. R., and GravesC. (eds.), Center for Archaeological Research Special Report 9, pp. 71–80, The University of Texas at San Antonio.
15.
HesterThomas R.1980A Chronological Overview of Prehistoric Southern and South-Central Texas, in Papers on the Prehistory of Northeastern Mexico and Adjacent Texas, EpsteinJ. F.HesterT. R., and GravesC. (eds.), Center for Archaeological Research Special Report 9, pp. 119–138, The University of Texas at San Antonio.
16.
KirklandForrest and NewcombWilliam W.Jr.1967The Rock Art of Texas Indians, University of Texas Press, Austin.
17.
MacNeishRichard S.1958Preliminary Archaeological Investigations in the Sierra de Tamaulipas, Mexico. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 48:6, Philadelphia.
18.
McClurkanBurney B.1966The Archeology of Cueva de la Zona de Derrumbes, a Rockshelter in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin.
19.
McClurkanBurney B.1980The Archeology of Cueva de la Zona de Derrumbes: A Brief Summation and Suggestions for Future Research, in Papers on the Prehistory of Northeastern Mexico and Adjacent Texas, EpsteinJ. F.HesterT. R., and GravesC. (eds.), Center for Archaeological Research Special Report 9, pp. 59–70, The University of Texas at San Antonio.
20.
MurrayW. Breen1982Rock Art and Site Environment at Boca de Potrerillos, Nuevo León, Mexico, American Indian Rock Art, 7–8, pp. 57–68.
21.
MurrayW. Breen1991Environmental Impacts of Hyper-Utilization in a Semi-Arid Region: Monterrey's Search for Water, El Norte, July 7, 1991, Monterrey, Mexico.
22.
NanceC. Roger1971The Archaeology of La Calsada: A Stratified Rock Shelter Site, Sierra Madre Oriental, Nuevo León, Mexico, Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin.
23.
NanceC. Roger1972Cultural Evidence for the Altithermal in Texas and Mexico, Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 28, pp. 169–192.
24.
NanceC. Roger1980La Calsada and the Prehistoric Sequence in Northern Mexico, in Papers on the Prehistory of Northeastern Mexico and Adjacent Texas, EpsteinJ. F.HesterT. R., and GravesC. (eds.), Center for Archaeological Research Special Report 9, pp. 41–58, The University of Texas at San Antonio.
25.
NanceC. Roger1992The Archaeology of La Calsada, University of Texas Press, Austin.
26.
OlsonJon1981Petroglyphs of Boca de Potrerillos, unpublished manuscript, Department of Anthropology, California State University, Los Angeles.
27.
ParsonsMark1986Painted Pebbles, Style and Chronology, in Ancient Texans, by ShaferH. J., pp. 180–185, Texas Monthly Press, Austin.
28.
SCOTT CUMMINGS, LINDA n.d. Pollen Analysis of Buried Strata and a Hearth at Boca de Potrerillos, Nuevo León, Mexico, PaleoResearch Laboratories Technical Report 93-87, Denver, Colorado.
29.
StuiverM. and ReimerP. J.1993Radiocarbon Calibration Program, Rev. 3.0.3, University of Washington Quaternary Isotope Lab, Seattle.
30.
TaylorWalter W.1966Archaic Cultures Adjacent to the Northeastern Frontiers of Mesoamerica, in Archaeological Frontiers and External Connections, Handbook of Middle American Indians, EkholmG. F. and WilleyG. R. (eds.), 4, pp. 59–94, University of Texas Press, Austin.
31.
TurnerEllen S. and HesterThomas R.1985A Field Guide to Stone Artifacts of Texas Indians, Texas Monthly Press, Austin.
32.
TurpinSolveig A1989Toward a Definition of a Pictograph Style: The Lower Pecos Bold Line Geometries, Plains Anthropologist, 31:112, pp. 153–161.
33.
TurpinSolveig A1991Time Out of Mind: The Radiocarbon Chronology of the Lower Pecos River Region, in Papers on Lower Pecos Prehistory, Texas Archeological Research Laboratory Studies in Archeology, 8, pp. 1–50, The University of Texas at Austin.
34.
TurpinSolveig A.ElingHerbert H.Jr. and MorenoMoisés Valadez1993From Marshland to Desert: The Late Prehistoric Environment of Boca de Potrerillos, Nuevo León, Mexico, North American Archaeologist, 14:4, pp. 305–323.
35.
Valadez MorenoMoisés n.d. La Caña de Azucar y el Cambio Climático Cultural en el Area de Mina, Nuevo León, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro Regional del Nuevo León, Monterrey.
36.
VarnerDudley M.1967An Archeological Investigation of Hearths in Northeastern Mexico, Masters thesis, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin.
37.
VarnerDudley M.1968The Nature of the Non-buried Archeological Data: Problems in Northeastern Mexico, Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society, 38, pp. 51–65.
