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Early Cultigens from Fresnal Shelter, Southeastern New Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Martyn D. Tagg
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Abstract

Fresnal Shelter is one of few known preceramic sites in southern New Mexico with evidence of early agriculture. Recent tandem accelerating mass spectrometer (TAMS) radiocarbon determinations on corn and bean samples indicate that cultigens were used at this site as early as 2945 ± 55 B.P. In addition to providing more evidence of Late Archaic agriculture in the desert regions of the American Southwest, these new data and other previously unpublished radiocarbon dates from the site also illustrate the problem of relying on wood charcoal dates in association with cultigens to determine the age of early agriculture.

Resumen

Resumen

La Guarida de Fresnal es uno de los pocos sitios precerámicos en el sur del estado de Nuevo México con evidencia de agricultura primitiva. La determinación de antigüedad con radiocarbono en muestras de maiz y frijoles indica que el uso do los cultigenes fue común en este sitio desde los primeros tiempos 2945 ± 55 a.C. Además de proveyendo mas evidencia de la agricultura arcaico en las regiones desiertos de proveyendo mas evidencia de la agricultura arcaico en las regiones desiertos de los Estados Unidos sudoestes, esta data nuevay otras fechas quefueron determinados con radiocarbono y nofueron publicados de antemano, tambien ilustran la problema de tener conflanza en las fechas de carbón de leña en asociación con cultigenes a determinar la edad de la agricultura primitiva.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 61 , Issue 2 , April 1996 , pp. 311 - 324
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1996

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References

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