Geomorphic Context of the Prehistoric Huastec Floodplain Environments

Journal of Archaeological SCIENCE Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668 http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas

Geomorphic context of the prehistoric Huastec ﬂoodplain environments: lower Pa´nuco basin, Mexico

Paul F. Hudsona*

a Department of Geography, University of Texas at Austin, GRG 334, Austin, TX 78712-1098, USA

Received 18 March 2003; received in revised form 19 May 2003; accepted 2 June 2003

Abstract

The Huasteca of eastern Mexico is the northern extent of prehistoric Mesoamerican complex culture. In comparison to other major Mesoamerican culture regions, much less is known about the physical environment of the Huasteca. This paper examines the structure, scale, and dynamics of floodplain environments in the lower Pańuco basin, the major physical setting in which prehistoric Huastec resided. Data sources included total-station surveying, topographic and historic maps, particle size of floodplain deposits, and analysis of air photos and satellite imagery. Study results illustrate the geoarchaeological significance of spatial changes in floodplain environments. Valley profiles grade from concave to planar in the upper portions of the study area, where the Rio Moctezuma exits the mountains, and are characterized by low floodplain relief and active floodplain reworking. Thus, the narrow valley and dynamic fluvial environment would not have been suitable for sustained habitation. The lower Moctezuma and Pańuco valleys have a convex profile with low rates of floodplain reworking, relict meander belts, and floodplain environments that are more prone to flooding. The Pańuco valley would have represented a stable environment suitable for habitation along wide natural levees, which are perched above extensive flood prone backswamps with buried relict channels. The absence of multiple oxbow lakes coupled with the association of older Huastec material culture along the active channel suggests that low rates of floodplain reworking have persisted since the late-Holocene, and help to constrain the age of a meander belt for a major river system. Study results provide a framework for future geoarchaeological research within the Huasteca. 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Huasteca—Huaxteca, Rio Pa´nuco, Moctezuma, Mexico; Meander belts; Floodplains; Geoarchaeology

1. Introduction characteristics of floodplain environments that must be met for sustained habitation, but the risk of floodplain Prehistoric settlements were located along rivers for erosion is also important [6,39]. Excluding low Holocene resources, transportation, and fertile soils for agricul- terraces, natural levees are the optimum site for ture, and there is a close correlation between human habitation due to the lower risk of flooding, and also adaptive patterns and the morphology and dynamics of because they provide arable land for agriculture floodplain environments [7,9]. Alluvial geoarchaeology [7,10,21,22,39,45]. In many large river systems natural depends on an understanding of floodplain morphology levees grade to floodplain bottoms, which may include and channel dynamics [4,6]. Although floodplains are backswamps. Prehistoric agriculture had long utilized subtle landscapes, each type of floodplain deposit is the transition between levee backslopes and back- hydrologically discrete, and therefore has distinct en- swamps for intensifying agricultural production vironmental implications to humans. The risk of flood- [10,14,67]. Within a single river system natural levees ing and amount of arable land are two fundamental vary in their width and height above the floodplain bottoms, presenting considerable diversity in the land suitable for human habitation and manipulation. Natu- * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-512-232-1554; fax: +1-512-471-5049 ral levees are eroded at channel cutbanks, resulting in E-mail address: [email protected] (P.F. Hudson). significant variability in the size of natural levees. In

2. The lowland Huasteca 98.00W The prehistoric Huastec chronology was established 5 by Ekholm [15] from a single site along the Rio Pa´nuco (Table 1). The past six decades, however, have wit-

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i a nessed very little archeological research, in spite of the BASIN e l 3 2 r 98,227 km r a 1 P 2 Huasteca’s status as a major Mesoamerican culture l 7 M a

n 6 a d region [12,56,67]. When coupled with the dearth of r e 2 a ec Gulf O fundamental environmental information of eastern st r i 8 22.00N a e u of n M H ta Mexico, the body of knowledge concerning the Huasteca l 1. Rio Panuco C Mexico e 2. Rio Moctezuma n is particularly sparse, and stands in sharp contrast to our E t 3. Rio Tamuin ra l P 4. Rio Tamesi understanding of other major Mesoamerican culture X la t 5. Rio Guayalejo I ea regions. The Teenek are the major Indian group com- C O u 6. Rio Tempoal 7. Rio Topila prising the region, but the Huasteca is hardly homo- 8. Rio Amajac geneous. Over different periods the Nahua, Tepehuas, Fig. 1. The Pańuco drainage network and the Huasteca culture region. Chichimec, and Totonac resided within portions of the The study area includes the Lower Rio Moctezuma (#2) and the Rio Huasteca. An intriguing facet of Teenek culture is that Panuco (#1). The Huasteca is delimited based on maps by Ochoa [65] they speak a primitive Mayan language [12,15], but it is and Trejo [52]. unclear how and when this trait developed [2], particularly since their material culture is distinct. The prevail- ing theory is that the Teenek migrated north from the Yucatan along the coastal plain prior to the develop- addition to representing a more hazardous setting [53], ment of the distinctive lowland Maya culture, and were the erosion of levees also results in the loss of older subsequently separated by the emergence of other indian cultural materials, and can therefore bias the archaeo- groups in Central Veracruz and Tabasco [2,15]. logical record [24]. Some river valleys include extensive The first evidence for sedentary agriculture within the relict channel systems. The associated natural levees Huasteca is believed to date about 3400 BP, based potentially increase the amount of space suitable for primarily on correlation with the Mesoamerican period- human habitation, or in the case of buried channels ization (Table 1). The early Teenek lived in small potentially serve as a cultural archive. Within a large settlements along major rivers [15,56]. The large valleys watershed systematic changes in fluvial processes results included extensive savanna in the floodplain bottoms in spatial variability in the size of natural levees, and dense broadleaf tropical forests along the rivers [1]. floodplain hydrology, and in channel erosion [32,34]. Although lower surfaces were seasonally flooded, higher Prehistoric societies residing within alluvial settings floodplain surfaces, such as natural levees and low adjusted in response to floodplain hazards [53],orinthe terraces, probably remained dry during most years and case of more complex societies, imposed their own would have provided ideal sites for habitation and culturally specific styles of technology and innovation to agriculture. Humans have lived within the valleys since overcome specific floodplain conditions [6,9]. The at least the mid-Holocene [1,52], but there is no reason Huasteca culture region (Fig. 1) represents the northern to believe that nomadic hunter–gatherers that preceded extent of prehistoric Mesoamerican complex society the Teenek would have significantly modified the land- [12,15]. The lowland Huasteca is located along the scape. Within the river valleys agricultural intensifi- Mexican Gulf Coastal Plain of eastern San Luis Potosi, cation increased through the Late-Formative and is northern Veracruz, and southern Tamaulipas, and is associated with a more defined Huastec society (Table strongly associated with the floodplain environments of 1), based primarily on floodplain agriculture, which the lower Pańuco basin [15,56]. The large river valleys included numerous small urban centers [1,47,48]. comprising the lower Pańuco basin represent major Sanders [56] suggested that the land adjacent to rivers physiographic alignments within the Huastec culture was permanently cleared and intensively utilized for region. Moreover, they represent the landscape matrix agriculture, while swidden was limited to the hilly up- within which the lowland Huastec resided and inter- lands. Additionally, large lagoons in the lower valley acted, and thus were fundamental components of their provided ample marine resources, and shellfish were physical environment. This study provides an overview probably as important as agriculture until 1100 BP [56]. of the morphological framework and floodplain dynam- The Post-Classic Teenek were organized into small ics of the lowland Huastec environment. The study independent entities known after the Spanish Conquest examines the fluvial environment the Huastec con- as cabeceras, with smaller affiliated towns or sujetos. fronted, and may serve as a framework for more This period represents the apex of Teenek society and extensive Holocene geoarchaeological research. was associated with a large increase in population, social P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668 655

Table 1 Characteristics of Huasteca periods in relation to major Mesoamerican periods

Huasteca Characteristicsc General Mesoamerican periods (absolute dates–years BP) periodsa,b Larger population, but increased statelets Pańuco VI Influence of Aztec Triple Alliance Intense religious life Post classic (1100–500) Continued expansion and population recovery Las Flores V Distinctive Teenek culture Art and ball courts Development of distinctive architecture Zaquil IV Increase in population Classic (1700–1100) Declining population Pithaya III Influence of Teotihuacan and El Tajin Development of true Mesoamerican culture El Prisco II Development of larger urban areas Social stratification Late Formative (2500–1700) Development of small villages along rivers and lagoons Chila I Beginning of political organization Aguilar Ponce Development of first mounds along rivers and lagoons Early–Middle Formative (3400–2500) Increased reliance on agriculture Pavon First sedentary agriculture Human figurines Archaic (3400) Small settlements along major rivers Source: a,bfrom Ekholm [15] and Sanders [56], cbased on Merino and Garcıá-Cook [47,48] from Aguilar-Robledo [1]. and political stratification, an increasing influence of the Tamuin valley, although this has not been con- religious deities, and the development of a metallurgy firmed. The later maturation of Huastec society and lack that involved a sophisticated trade network with the of centralization may have significantly limited the de- Tarascans in Michoacan [27,28]. Thus, in comparison to velopment of extensive floodplain agriculture systems, other major Mesoamerican culture regions the Huasteca such as are located further south [68]. Scholars working developed much later. Moreover, this implies that the in Central Veracruz, south of the Huasteca, have re- zenith of the Huastec culture developed on a floodplain ported wetland agriculture associated with levee back- very similar to the modern floodplain surface. slopes [59–62,68]. The physical setting associated with Regression of the Huasteca prior to Conquest was these agricultural systems differs from the large valleys probably due to the western and southern portions of comprising the lower Pańuco basin. Additional infor- the region being conquered by the Aztec Triple Alliance mation on the floodplain hydrology and valley mor- in the mid 15th century, while Chichimec peoples were a phology of the Huasteca is required before informed constant threat along the northern frontier. The extent hypotheses can be generated, and extended across to which the Huastec manipulated their environment is cultural boundaries to a region with varying physical not known, but it was far from degraded. The popu- characteristics. lation density on the eve of Conquest is estimated at 70 persons per square kilometer [1]. At this time the Teenek were poorly organized and dispersed into small 3. Meandering river dynamics and floodplain landscapes: settlements. The introduction and subsequent intensive Archaeological implications breeding of cattle [13] and horses probably facilitated the conversion of the open savanna in the lower portions Floodplains have long been a topic of investigation of the valley to a woody thorn-savanna after Conquest by geomorphologists and sedimentologists, but imbal- [1]. The format of this land tenure system displaced ances in research themes have precluded an understand- remaining Teenek from river valleys to the upper coastal ing of how individual floodplain deposits are represented plain and eastern Sierra Madre Oriental [1]. Ochoa [52] within the larger environment. Research by Melton [46], suggested that channel irrigation could have occurred in Russell [55], and Fisk [17] greatly contributed to our 656 P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668 knowledge of meandering river floodplains, but unfor- on to floodplain bottoms, groundwater sapping at tunately the promise that these early works represented valley margins, and small tributaries draining bounding in terms of understanding meso-scale floodplain en- terraces (Fig. 2). Watershed-scale generated mechanisms vironments was not initially fulfilled in later decades. are associated with seasonal changes in atmospheric Sedimentologists working within the Gulf Coastal Plain circulation. This produces a predictable streamflow were primarily interested in petroleum exploration and pulse, which is transported from the river channel to focused on valley-fill chronologies and subsurface analy- floodplain via three distinct flow paths (Fig. 2). These sis. Because overbank deposits and not considered to be include groundwater induced flooding of backswamps as significant to floodplain construction (e.g., [70]), there associated with a rise in river stage, surface linkages such is an under appreciation for their contribution to flood- as old channels and crevasse channels, and overbank plain landscapes. Fluvial geomorphologists, on the other flooding. Of the three, only the overtopping of levees hand, used the theoretical foundation provided by the will produce valley-wide inundation of all floodplain various works of Leopold and Wolman in the 1950s surfaces. In large alluvial valleys having extensive back- and 1960s to link increasingly rigorous deterministic swamps, these multiple flood mechanisms significantly approaches to understand fluvial processes, and focused limit the availability of land suitable for habitat and at increasingly smaller scales. The result is a much agriculture, relegating most activity to natural levees greater understanding of channel reach hydraulics and [6,21]. Because natural levees are topographically flood sedimentation, but less of an understanding of perched above lower lying backswamp environments how varying deposits formed by distinct fluvial processes and constructed of coarser and more permeable sedi- are integrated at a landscape (valley) scale. The signifi- ments, natural levees remain dry for most (or all) of the cance of these directions in floodplain research is that year. Indeed, although backswamps flood on an annual natural linkages with allied sciences, such as archae- basis, natural levees are flooded much less frequently ology, have are only recently being constructed, and and quickly drain upon passage of the flood crest. Low remain incomplete. Work by Butzer [8,9] helps to estab- Holocene terraces may occasionally be flooded during lish how combinations of alluvial valley deposits are extreme events, but are generally located above the level morphologically significant to human settlement. This of inundation. work offers an important conceptual framework for Channel migration (floodplain erosion) represents an archaeologists, but has not been expanded upon in important control on floodplain landscapes. Over longer archaeological field research. When coupled with con- time-scales (102 yrs), the rate of meander bend migration sideration of watershed-scale changes in hydraulic and controls the length of time for overbank sediments to sedimentary controls (e.g., [16,20,44]), the framework accumulate, which influences the height and width of provided by Butzer represents a promising avenue for natural levees (Fig. 3). Additionally, the expression of characterizing systematic changes in floodplain styles meander scroll topography on the floodplain landscape (e.g., [51]) and their relevance to prehistoric humans. is influenced by lateral migration. High rates of lateral This approach is particularly appropriate where a single migration produce pronounced floodplain meander culture region overlaps with a single drainage system, scroll (ridge and swale) tapering toward the channel such as the Huasteca and Pańuco of eastern Mexico (e.g., [26,46]), and smaller and steeper natural levees (e.g., Fig. 1). (Fig. 3). River valleys with laterally active channels The potential for a floodplain surface to be occupied produce a floodplain landscape that consists of numer- and utilized is dependent on access to resources and ous abandoned meander neck cutoffs having multiple safety, with flooding and erosion being two primary oxbow lakes. These relict channels generally occur at the concerns [6,39]. In large lowland floodplain environ- same height as the active channel and represent suitable ments, subtle differences in topography results in signifi- sites for occupation (e.g., [21]). Conversely, lower rates cant differences in floodplain hydrology, with portions of meander bend migration result in wider and higher of the floodplain being inundated while other portions natural levees, and less pronounced meander scroll of the floodplain may remain dry (Fig. 2). Lower topography (Fig. 3). Thus, meandering river floodplains surfaces may be seasonally inundated for several with low rates of lateral migration are preferred sites for months, imposing a significant constraint to human human occupation because of their stable noneroding settlement, or requiring substantial investment in labor surfaces, a greater area for occupation (wider natural and technology [6]. In large drainage systems flooding levees), and a lower risk of flooding. Additionally, lower may occur due to watershed-scale or local-scale mech- rates of floodplain reworking increase the potential for anisms. Local-scale flood mechanisms occur due to cultural materials to be preserved within the floodplain precipitation falling within the lower reaches of the record. basin, which limits flooding to floodplain bottoms, such Archaeologists and geomorphologists can mutually as backswamp environments. Flow paths associated benefit from cross-correlation of cultural materials with with local-scale mechanisms include direct precipitation geomorphic surfaces, which enables both disciplines P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668 657

Fig. 2. Geoarchaeology and flooding of a large lowland coastal plain river valley characterized by low rates of lateral migration. The active meander belt is perched above lower lying floodplain bottoms, which contain poorly drained clayey backswamps. Valley profile shows flow paths associated with local (solid arrows) and watershed-scale (dashed arrows) flooding, flood stage and floodplain inundation, and suitable floodplain sites for human occupation. (A) Relict natural levees buried by fine-grained sediments (clay) derived from local and upper catchment sources. (B) Natural levees of a meander neck cutoff (oxbow lake) associated with the active meander belt. The surface is at approximately the same height as the active channel. Note that the levee surface is partially buried, but remains generally above local flood levels. (C) Natural levees associated with the active channel. Primitive settlements are located on older surfaces associated with buried relict channels, or higher Holocene terraces. Complex settlements are associated with higher and younger surfaces. Bounding Pleistocene terrace would also be occupied, but is beyond the scope of this study. Modified from Hudson and Colditz [36]. to extend their understanding of the environment of of a meander bend, resulting in much younger materials a specific place over a given period of time. The to be found by archaeologists. Heinrich [24] notes that association between archaeology and geomorphology, along the non-migrating Lower Mississippi River south however, is not always straight forward, particularly of Baton Rouge, LA, mounds associated with Coles when considering the correlation of cultural materials in Creek and Plaquemines settlements are located on a meandering river floodplain environment. Kidder [39], natural levees flanking nearly every active meander in a comprehensive review of the Lower Mississippi bend. Valley archaeology, discusses the concept of a ‘relict The floodplain topography of a large lowland alluvial rule’, which implies the majority of prehistoric flood- valley is inherently time-dependent, and thus has geo- plain inhabitants settled on the banks of recently aban- archaeological significance [21,22]. Fig. 2 can be seen as doned channels rather than active channels, which fairly representative of the range in valley morphology subsequently cutoff. Because relict channels are not and floodplain environments represented in large coastal subject to lateral migration they are safer. Indeed, few plain fluvial systems along passive continental margins. old cultural materials associated with large and complex Within the floodplain units, the model includes three settlements were found along natural levees of active distinct natural levee surfaces, which have implications channels, or were found to predate the meander bend to the chronology of human occupation within an cutoff. Alternatively, Heinrich [24] suggests that fluvial alluvial valley. The suitability of a floodplain for human processes rather than cultural processes control the age habitation is considered to be a function of flood of cultural materials associated found along natural hazards, rates of lateral migration, floodplain relief, levees. Older prehistoric materials are eroded and selec- size of features, and also includes natural levees associ- tively removed from the cutbank with lateral migration ated with abandoned channels that have not been 658 P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668

‘sequences’ of Paleolithic alluvial archaeology, such as in Floodplain Levee Channel / Older bottoms pointbar floodplain Europe or Africa.

A 4. Physical setting

The Pańuco basin (98,227 km2) drains three major physical regions, the arid to semi-arid Central Plateau, the north–south trending Sierra Madre Oriental, and the Gulf Coastal Plain. The Mexican Gulf Coastal Plain High rates of channel migration extends 90-km from the coast, and terminates abruptly with the Sierra Madre Oriental. Coastal plain deposits consist primarily of Tertiary shale with thin beds of B friable sandstone, and Upper Cretaceous limestone– shale [29,30,50]. The Pańuco forms at the confluence of the Rio Tamuin (33,260 km2) and Rio Moctezuma (42,726 km2), after they cross the Sierra Madre Oriental and enter the coastal plain. River valleys within the lower Pańuco basin exhibit systematic variability in Low rates of channel migration width, slope, and floodplain style [31]. The floodplain grades from a narrow and laterally accreting floodplain Fig. 3. Relationship between rates of meander bend migration and where the Moctezuma exits the mountains, to a flood- floodplain topography. A. Higher rates of lateral migration result in plain primarily constructed by overbank sedimentation pronounced meander scroll topography (ridge and swale) sloping to channel surface, and smaller natural levees. B. Lower rates of lateral in the lower portions of the study area. migration results in larger and more stable natural levee surfaces. Precipitation increases towards the east, with the highest annual precipitation of 2400-mm occurring along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental significantly buried. The model assumes that the ([25], in press). The climate within the Huasteca is levee framework represents the major depositional classified as Koppen Aw, which reflects the strong environment for occupation and human activity seasonal variation in precipitation between the dry win- [4,6,10,21,39,40,66]. Point bars may also be occupied [5], ter and wet summers. Precipitation is associated with the but are below the height of natural levees and more northern migration of the ITCS [38,49]. Precipitation susceptible to flooding. The oldest cultural materials alone the coastal plain sharply increases north and within the floodplain are associated with a relict south of the Pańuco valley [37], reflecting the Pańuco’s meander belt (e.g., Fig. 2-A). If not completely buried, location near the boundary between westerly midlati- these channels would occur as slightly raised surfaces, tude flow and easterly tradewinds and tropical cyclones. but flood deposits would bury the natural levees. Relict Although there is a dearth of climate change research channels often function as arcuate sloughs or as part of within the Huasteca region, paleoecological research in a yazoo-style stream (e.g., [57]). Because of the depth southern Veracruz provides evidence for a drier Classic (age) of burial, the channels would most likely be [19], which coincides with a longer period of reduced associated with primitive hunter–gatherers rather than a precipitation in central Mexico [11]. complex settlement. The location of the materials would primarily be located along the outside of the meander 5. Data and methods bend and be constrained to the natural levee. Meander neck cutoffs and natural levees associated with the active A variety of data sources and methods were utilized meander belt are not as deeply buried as the relict system to characterize the Holocene valley morphology. This (e.g., Fig. 2-B). Depending on the date of cutoff and rate was necessary due to the inadequacy of existing pub- of sedimentation, natural levees may contain cultural lished maps that have a 10 or 20 m contour resolution materials spanning the greatest period of time. Such within the river valleys, and the extensive size of the sites could have been occupied by complex cultures study area. The Holocene valley was delineated by before and after cutoff. The natural levees of the active analysis of 1993 Landsat 5 and 2000 Landsat 7 imagery channel would presumably contain more recent cultural (30 m spatial resolution), 2002 ASTER imagery (15 m materials (e.g., Fig. 2-C), although this is largely depen- spatial resolution), a digital elevation model (DEM) dent on rates of floodplain erosion and overbank sedi- created from kinematic GPS surveying and synthetic mentation [21,24]. In river systems with high migration aperture RADAR (SAR) data, black and white pan- rates, the entire prehistoric cultural record may have chromatic air photos (1:20,000 and 1:40,000) from been reworked, a possibility seldom considered in Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Geografıá e Informatica P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668 659

Fig. 4. Lower Moctezuma and Pańuco Holocene valley. The figure shows relict channels, meander belts, and the location of survey transects. Relict channels are most common in the Moctezuma valley downstream of the Rio Axtla. Laguna la Herradura is the only oxbow lake associated with the active Pańuco meander belt. 660

Height (m) 100 105 100 105 100 105 90 95 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 90 95 90 95 0 g. e. c a.

0 001500 1000 500 0

0 001500 1000 500 0 . 0 001500 1000 500 0 010150 100 50 0

n Pleistocene

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race l e Residual ter

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e e Holocene Floodplain bottoms Floodplain Relict meander belt

s t Residual terrace a n (with mounds)

c r Relict

o s Relict channel channel

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d f 0040 0080 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 0 001500 1000 500 0 b. 0 0010 0020 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 0 001500 1000 500 0 .

ns Pleistocene

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o v Relict channel F

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( l n e

l t

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b a

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s P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668 661

Table 2 Moctezuma–Pa´nuco valley characteristics

Valley segments Valley width Meander belt Accommodation index Migration rates Valley Holocene valley a b (km) width (km) (%): Wv/Wmb (m/yr) reworking (yrs) relief (m) Upper Moctezuma: Rio 3.9 3.2 83 10.0 390 5 Amajac–Rio Tempoal Lower Moctezuma: Rio 13.3 6.3 47 3.8 3500 9 Tempoal–Rio Tamuin Upper Pańuco: Rio 15.0 8.4 56 4.0 3750 9 Tamuin–C. Pańuco Lower Pańuco: C. 17.2 5.5 32 1.5 11,467 11 Pańuco–Rio Tamesı´ a From Hudson [31]. b Wv=valley width, Wmb=width of meander belt.

(INEGI), Total-stations surveying, and field obser- portions of the Moctezuma–Pańuco valley the Holocene vations from five trips. The Landsat 5 scene was surface is directly in contact with Tertiary units. In acquired several days after a major hurricane contrast to US Gulf Coastal Plain fluvial systems, the generated flood event and was particularly useful for Pleistocene accounts for a much smaller proportion delineation of the Holocene surface (e.g., [33]). The of the overall Quaternary geology. The Pleistocene is width of the meander belt was measured across the zone most abundant within the lower Moctezuma valley and of recent meander activity perpendicular to a valley axis, includes three distinct surfaces (field observations). The which was defined based on meander bend amplitude, low Pleistocene terrace is 3 m above the relict floodplain recent channel cutoffs, and the width of natural levees of the Moctezuma (Fig. 5a). The Holocene valley in- (i.e., as shown in Fig. 2). Channel migration rates, creases in width downstream of the confluence of the meters per year (m/yr), were estimated by measuring the Rio Moctezuma with the Rio Amajac, along the bound- distance between successive channel boundaries mapped ary of the upper coastal plain with the mountains. The from air photos and topographic maps in a GIS, average valley width of the upper segment is 3.9 km, and dividing the total offset channel distance by the while the average valley width of the lower Pańuco number of years. Floodplain sediments were sampled at segment is 17.2 km (Table 2). several locations to characterize the range of variability The size and complexity of a meander belt represents within different floodplain environments. Methods for a basic constraint to human habitation of a river valley particle size analysis followed standard procedures (e.g., [21,39]. In an alluvial valley characterized by lateral [18]), and included wet sieving and hydrometer analysis migration, valley slope and accommodation space rep- in the Applied Geomorphology and Geoarchaeology resents a major control on meander belt size [3,58]. Laboratory in the Department of Geography, Increases in meander belt width occur at tributaries due University of Texas. to the mutual increase in sediment load and discharge (e.g., [69]), with prominent increases occurring at con- 6. Holocene valley morphology fluences with the Rio Axtla, Rio Tempoal, and Rio 6.1. Valley characteristics Tamuin (Fig. 6). The width of the meander belt ranges The Holocene Moctezuma–Pańuco valley within the from <1.0 km in the upper portions of the study area, to Gulf Coastal Plain is shown in Fig. 4. Along most a high of 10 km in the Pańuco valley. Maximum

Fig. 5. Survey transects characterizing selected reaches of the Moctezuma–Panuco Holocene valley. Arrows indicate position of active channel bank. Survey transects are referenced to Fig. 4.

a. Survey transect from relict channel bank to Pleistocene terrace. The Pleistocene terrace represents the lowest of three Pleistocene terraces within the Moctezuma valley, and is 3 m above the relict floodplain surface. b. Survey transect across floodplain, from channel bank to Tertiary valley margins in upper portions of study area. c. Survey transect from Moctezuma cutbank, across a residual terrace to the relict meander belt. The bank of the relict channel is clearly discernible in the survey transect. d. Survey transect of backswamp basin, from Pleistocene valley margins to Ciudad Pańuco. The backswamp basin is 11 m below the residual terrace and contains two buried relict channels. The survey transect ends at the southern edge of Ciudad Pańuco, although the surface slopes toward the city plaza (bold line based on field observations, but not surveyed). Ekholm [15] suggests prehistoric Huastec raised the surface. e. Survey transect across a Moctezuma point bar to a residual terrace with numerous mounds. An inset levee is burying a pointbar. f. Survey transect across a pointbar on the Moctezuma to the floodplain bottoms. g. Small Rio Moctezuma natural levee, upstream of El Higo. h. Large Rio Pańuco natural levee, upstream of Ciudad Pańuco. 662 P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668

channels within the lower Moctezuma and Pańuco valleys are organized into relict meander belts. In the lower Moctezuma a conspicuous relict meander belt is located west of the active channel (Fig. 4). The Pańuco includes a meander belt south of the active channel, and a less well-defined meander belt in the upper C. Panuco Rio Axtla Rio Tempoal Rio Tamesi Rio Topila Rio Tamuin Tanquien de Escobedo Tanquien

) 15 100 Pa´nuco valley (probably part of the same relict meander

)

m WV / Wmb belt). (k

(

h Meander belt 75

b Within the river valleys, Huastec material culture is t

m d i 10 primarily associated with natural levee environments,

W w

t 50

l which were intensively used for agriculture [56]. While

e b

5 W natural levees have coarser sediments than lower lying r 25 .

e 2

y = -0.0005x + 0.0839x + 2.9861 g ﬂoodplain bottoms (e.g., Fig. 2), most of the sand and d

2 v n

R = 0.6232 A a coarse silt is immediately adjacent to the river channel

e 0 0 [32]. Within the context of large lowland river systems M 0 50 100 150 200 natural levee environments also include fine-grained flood deposits [32], which is an important consideration Valley distance from Gulf of Mexico (km) for the recognition of buried levee deposits and eventual Fig. 6. Meander belt width, and percentage of valley width occupied recovery of cultural materials. The median particle size by meander belt for major valley segments along the Moctezuma– (D ) of natural levee deposits (0.2 m depth at the Panuco valleys. A second-order polynomial trend line is fit to the 50 meander belt width data. cutbank) decreases from 0.14 mm downstream of the Rio Axtla, to 0.016 mm upstream of the Rio Tamesı´. Fig. 7 shows the percent sand (% <0.0625 mm) of a meander belt width occurs in the middle reaches of the 4.0 m section of a “typical” Rio Pańuco cutbank. Pańuco valley, at the only ox-bow lake (Laguna de Overall, the increase in % sand reflects a coarsening-up

Herradura) associated with the active Pańuco meander trend in grain size. D50 varies from 0.007 mm at 4.0 m, belt (Fig. 4). The absence of recent channel cutoffs presumably representing the former tail of the natural reflects low rates of lateral migration that must have levee exposed in the cutbank, to 0.044 mm near the characterized the system over at least the last millennia, surface. The larger coarsening-up trend can be explained and probably longer (discussed below). A departure to by the progradational nature of natural levee deposits, the increasing trend of meander belt width occurs in the associated with the sorting of flood sediments and lower reaches of the study area. In comparison to the simultaneous lateral migration. However, the % sand is upper Pańuco meander belt, the meander belt width uniform between 1.4 and 3.0 m. There are two possible decreases, from 8.5 to 5.5 km (Table 2). Although the explanations for this trend. Hudson and Heitmuller [32] relationship between drainage area and valley width note a disparity between the lateral trend in grain size displays a linear trend [31], the relationship between and the morphology of natural levees. Their data found valley distance and meander belt width exhibits a curvi- that the particle size of natural levee sediments rapidly linear trend. The reduction in migration rates and sedi- decreases from sand to clay from the channel bank to ment size in the lower reaches of the valley results in the the mid-slope of the levee. For example, for the levee data being best fit with a second-order polynomial surface shown in Fig. 5h, D50 decreases to 0.0085 mm function (R2=0.62). within 500 m from the channel. Thus, the sediment Because it elucidates relationships between human suggests a clayey backswamp environment, although settlements and riparian resources, mapping paleo- morphologically the natural levee continues for an channels (relict, abandoned) is a fundamental task of additional 952 m. This may be due to flocculation of any alluvial geoarchaeological study [3]. There is great overbank sediments [23], which would result in clays diversity to the mapped relict channels within the being deposited as larger aggregate particles on levee Moctezuma–Pańuco valley (Fig. 4) in terms of size, midslopes, and thus help to explain the lack of varia- geometry, depth of burial, and relation to floodplain bility between 1.4 and 3.0 m in Fig. 7. Alternatively, this hydrology. Most relict channels are associated with the may be the result of local-scale flood mechanisms, which Moctezuma valley downstream of the Rio Axtla. Far results in an increase in the frequency and duration of fewer relict channels were noted in the Pańuco valley, inundation for the lower levee surface (e.g., Fig. 2). particularly downstream of Ciudad Pańuco. Relict chan- Thus, in the case of complex cultures residing within nels within the Pańuco valley tend to be hydrologically floodplains it may be that the height (Fig. 2-B, C) connected to larger backswamp basins or function as of natural levees is a more important attribute of “yazoo” style streams [31]. Based on topographic data, these environments than the sedimentology (drainage). field observations, and remote sensing analysis, the relict Indeed, prehistoric agricultural systems associated with P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668 663

% finer than 0.0625 mm “levee” deposits are capping point bar deposits, and are graded to the height of the older ﬂoodplain deposits. This phenomenon was not noted on pointbars upstream 90 70 50 60 80 100 of El Higo or within Rio Tamuin pointbars. Pointbars 0 along the upper Pa´nuco have a couple of meters of

overbank deposition, while lower Pa´nuco point bars k

n do not have appreciable “levee” deposits (ﬁeld obser- a

b 1 vations). Moreover, along the Pa´nuco, meander bends

l e

n appear to have been stable during the 20th century, and n

a did not undergo signiﬁcant lateral adjustment. Based on

h c

t 2 a historic map from the 1920s [64], the position and a

) geometry of meander bends has not appreciably m

( changed (Fig. 8). When compared with recent data h

t (satellite imagery) this suggests that low rates of p

e 3 migration have occurred throughout historical times, D and possibly longer. Based on archaeological data the Rio Pańuco between the Rio Topila and Rio Tamesı´ has 4 migrated 200 m since the Post-Classic [56], which con- servatively averages only 0.4 m/yr. The stability of the Fig. 7. Grain size of 4.0 m section of “typical” Rio Pańuco cutbank upstream of Ciudad Pańuco (see Fig. 4 for reference), showing natural lower Pańuco is likely due to downstream changes in levee trend (coarsening up). Cultural materials occurred from the sedimentary and hydraulic controls, specifically low surface to w4.0 m. mean stream power and cohesive channel banks (e.g., [41,43]). Based on migration rates and valley width, the natural levee environments were typically located at the amount of time for reworking valley deposits requires lower portions of levees to take advantage of seasonal 390 years for the upper Moctezuma valley segment, 3500 backswamp flooding [60,62]. It should be noted that, as years in the lower Moctezuma, 3750 years for the upper with most Rio Pańuco cutbanks, there was abundant Pańuco, and increases to 11,467 years for the lower cultural material and several charcoal layers con- Pańuco (Table 2). Estimating rates of floodplain re- tained within the exposure. Cultural materials were working based on decadal migration rates assumes that w generally not noted below 4.0 m, which provides climate remains constant, which has not been the case evidence that settlement was constrained to natural levee since the mid-Holocene, or even during historical environments. periods due to decadal-scale changes in the general circulation (e.g., [42]). Nevertheless, substantial differ- 6.2. Space, time, and floodplain complexity ences in rates of floodplain reworking between the upper 6.2.1. Channel and floodplain interaction and lower Moctezuma, and the upper and lower Pańuco Spatial variability in rates of floodplain erosion [34] are evidence that there is an abrupt and significant has implications to the stability of a surface, but also the longitudinal change in the system downstream of preservation and management of prehistoric material El Higo. The major changes in rates of floodplain culture [21,24,39,53]. The data in Table 2 show that reworking corroborate with abrupt changes in mean migration rates in the upper study area are higher than stream power [31] calculated from independent data in the lower portions of the Moctezuma and Pańuco sources. Thus, the wider valleys of the lower Moctezuma valleys. Migration rates in the Moctezuma upstream of and Pańuco valleys are likely to record a much longer El Higo average 10.0 m/yr, but decrease to 3.8, 4.0, and history of occupation. 1.5 m/yr in the lower Moctezuma and Pańuco valleys. The low rates of migration in the lower Moctezuma are 6.2.2. Valley profile and floodplain relief surprising because of the increase in drainage area, Within a valley reach, the combination of floodplain which usually is associated with an increase in migration deposits result in a distinctive valley profile with signifi- rates [43]. The low rates of channel migration in the cant hydrologic implications to human occupants. lower Moctezuma influence the pattern of sedimentation Between the Rio Amajac and the Rio Tempoal, survey and floodplain topography, and may represent a regime data and field observations reveal that valley cross- change. Survey transects of a Moctezuma point bar sections of Holocene deposits grade from a concave to provide insight on the linkages between floodplain planar profile (Fig. 5b). In the uppermost sections of the topography and the low rates of migration. The surface valley, upstream of the Rio Axtla, the meander belt of a typical point bar along the lower Moctezuma slopes lacks a complex suite of deposits due to constraints on away from the river channel (Fig. 5e, f). Thus, inset lateral migration and flood sedimentation. Throughout 664 P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668

Trager 1926 INEGI 1984

0 km 20

C. Panuco

Fig. 8. Comparison of historic maps for the Panuco valley. Older map is from Trager [64], and more recent map is from the INEGI [36]. The position and morphology of the channel has not signiﬁcantly changed.

much of this section the meander belt is juxtaposed Coincident with a considerable reduction in valley against valley walls. On average the meander belt occu- gradient and increase in valley width (Table 2), flood- pies 81.4% of the valley (Fig. 6), and in some reaches it plain deposits become much more complex in the lower approaches w100%. Because of the narrower valley, the Moctezuma valley, downstream of El Higo. The width river is restricted from developing the sufficient sinuosity of the meander belt increases to 6.25 km, and the valley and meander bend amplitude required for meander neck has a convex cross-sectional profile. The change in cutoffs and associated ox-bow lake environments. Thus, meander belt morphology is largely a function of in this section of the valley the floodplain is primarily the higher suspended sediment load producing more constructed by lateral accretion deposits [31]. The valley expansive natural levees and the increase in discharge. widens as tributaries draining the eastern flanks of the Topographic surveys [32] show that natural levees in the Sierra Madre Oriental enter the channel, and in the Moctezuma average 747 m and result in 3.2 m of lower portions of this segment w75% of the valley is floodplain relief. In comparison to the upstream valley occupied, which provides enough space for meander segment, a larger proportion of the active meander belt bends to develop typical meander neck cutoffs and includes ox-bow lakes and partially infilled arcuate resulting ox-bow lakes (Fig. 4). Meander scroll is more sloughs, which create a more complex floodplain land- significant to the floodplain topography within this scape and represent considerable diversity in flood- portion of the valley, associated with higher rates of plain hydrology. Additionally, the greater number of lateral migration. Field observations and surveying did channel cutoffs in this valley segment suggests that river not note floodplain relief exceeding w3 m, which is migration rates may have been higher prior to the associated with channel scars. There are also remnants historical period. Relief within the active floodplain of an older Holocene floodplain surface w3 m above the increases to6m(Fig. 5e), defined as the difference from active floodplain. The topography and sedimentology of the pointbar surface to the scarp of the older floodplain this valley segment is not suitable for backswamps, and surface. Although the meander belt is much wider in this thus permits agriculture to extend from the active chan- portion of the valley, it accounts for only 47% of the nel to the Tertiary valley margins. Natural levees do not valley width (Table 2). This results in sufficient space for represent a significant amount of relief (Fig. 5g), which the preservation of relict channels (Fig. 4). The valley is likely due to the flood sediment regime and higher cross-sectional profile is disrupted by the presence of an rates of channel migration. The narrow valley and older meander belt, separated from the active channel by absence of significant raised floodplain surfaces does not a residual Holocene terrace (Fig. 5f, c). The greatest represent an ideal setting for human settlement, particu- amount of relief within this valley segment occurs where larly upstream of Tanquien de Escobedo. This setting the residual terrace is adjacent to the active channel would likely require constant site modification or aban- bank, which in places creates 9 m of floodplain relief donment due to a dynamically adjusting floodplain (Fig. 5c). The residual terrace located within the valley is environment (e.g., [53]). Moreover, the potential for site significant because it is elevated above the Moctezuma preservation, particularly for sites older than w2000 BP flood stage. Not surprisingly there are numerous is not promising due to the higher rates of floodplain mounds located on this surface, suggesting that it was reworking. also above flood stage during time of prehistoric P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668 665 occupation. The older Moctezuma meander belt consists the Pańuco valley. However, analysis of air photos, of several meander neck cutoffs and abandoned chan- Landsat, and ASTER data reveal infilled meander neck nels. The continuity and preservation of the channel cutoffs and buried channels (e.g., Fig. 4). A survey system suggests that it is not as old as the relict channels transect extending between C. Pańuco and the in the Pańuco valley (discussed below). Although the Pleistocene valley margins shows 11 m of valley relief abandonment of this channel system likely predates (Fig. 5d). The surface at the northern end of the Huastec culture, relict channel surfaces could have been transect, at C. Pańuco, rises an additional w2–3 m occupied because of providing a stable environment towards the town plaza (located along the river). while adjacent to riparian resources (e.g., [21]). Thus, the Ekholm [15] suggests prehistoric Huastecs raised the buried natural levees could contain cultural materials floodplain several meters, and indeed it is the only which, based on the size of the active channel would be surface in the lower Pańuco valley above historical flood constrained to w750 m of the channel cutbanks levels (field interviews, flood photos and satellite (e.g., [32]). To the east of the active channel the meander imagery). The survey transect shows the presence of two belt grades to floodplain bottoms. This lower surface buried channels. Unlike in the lower Moctezuma valley, contains several buried relict channels w3 m below the these channels are at a much lower surface than the height of the active channel belt (Figs. 4 and 5e). active channel. This implies that the channels are much The greatest amount of floodplain relief occurs within older than the relict Moctezuma channels, and that the the Panuco valley, which has a pronounced convex Pańuco has been more stable over the late-Holocene, profile. The Pańuco valley has extensive backswamps which has provided the active meander belt sufficient and floodplain construction is currently dominated time to aggrade. The backswamp basins within the by overbank processes [31]. At the confluence of the Panuco valley are seasonally inundated due to local Moctezuma and Tamuin valleys the width increases precipitation and a rise in the water table associated with to 13.6 km, only slightly greater than the average an in increase in river stage, and groundwater sapping Moctezuma valley width (Table 2). The average mean- from bounding terraces. The size of the backswamp der belt width, however, increases to 8.4 km due to the basins increase down valley of C. Panuco, where a contribution of streamflow and sediment from the Rio southerly plunging anticline may represent a structural Tamuin. In part this is due to the increase in natural control on valley gradient and result in warping and levee width along the active meander belt [32]. Addition- sagging of the valley floor (e.g., [58]). Near the conflu- ally, unlike the Moctezuma valley, crevasse channels are ence with the Rio Tamesı´, backswamp basins (lakes) located at the apex of most meander bends and contrib- become large lagoons and encounter diurnal tidal ute to backswamp flooding during streamflow events exchanges [31]. below bankfull stage (e.g., Fig. 2). Fig. 5h provides an In the Panuco valley prehistoric Huastec materials example of the height that the meander belt is perched are concentrated within the active meander belt. More- above backswamp environments. These data show 4.7 m over, the presence of a single oxbow lake implies that the of relief within a 1452 m transect. The median particle entire Huastec cultural sequence is essentially located size of the natural levee decreases from 0.029 mm at the along the active channel, rather than distributed across channel bank to 0.0028 mm at the tail of the levee, which multiple meander neck cutoffs (e.g., [21]). The low rate compares with the grain size for the cutbank profile of channel migration implies the preservation potential shown in Fig. 7. Natural levees are intensively used for for Huastec materials is favorable. Based on the distri- agriculture (primarily sugarcane), but would have also bution and age of reported prehistoric Huastec materials represented a formidable surface for prehistoric habi- [15,56], the active channel is at a minimum 2500 years tation. On average the larger meander belt occupies 56% old, and probably older. Relict channels had been of the valley, although in the lower reaches of the abandoned and become unsuitable for habitation prior valley it declines to 32%, coinciding with a reduction in to the development of Huastec culture, which probably meander belt width. The narrowing of the meander belt relegates these channels to the mid-Holocene. This also occurs due to a reduction in coarse sediment required for implies that the active meander belt had already gained point-bar and levee construction, and the lower rates of a topographic (i.e., flood) advantage over the relict lateral migration (e.g., [35]). The fine sediment (clay/silt) channels by aggradation (e.g., Fig. 2), which requires is transported further beyond the channel margins, significant amounts of time. These conclusions are contributing to construction of thick backswamp supported by cultural materials from the Laguna la deposits. Thus, the wider valley provides sufficient space Herradura site (Fig. 4). This site contains a variety of to preserve older floodplain deposits, while the thick mounds that represent most of the Huastec cultural backswamp deposits effectively reduce rates of lateral sequence [15,56]. The oldest mounds are on the natural migration. levee surface, which is clearly visible above the lower As previously noted, there are fewer paleochannels lying backswamps [31], and date to about 2000 BP [56]. and oxbow lakes visible on the floodplain surface in However, there are also mounds located on the point 666 P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668 bar surface, inside of the meander bend. These mounds with a single meander belt perched above buried are younger and date to the Classic (1700–1100 BP), relict channels and backswamps. Low rates of lateral which implies that this surface was probably not migration result in the meander belt having a single occupied until after the meander bend had cutoff. meander bend cutoff (oxbow lake). This valley segment In many large coastal plain fluvial systems a deltaic is characterized by considerable local-scale flooding, distributary network compensates for the reduction in which constrains agriculture and settlement to natural meander belt width in the lower portions of the basin. levees along the active channel. Buried relict channels Deltas contain multiple bifurcating channels, either probably predate the development of Huastec culture, co-functioning or in various stages of abandonment and but would likely contain evidence for the oldest and burial due to subsidence and sedimentation. These sys- most primitive floodplain inhabitants within the lower tems are remarkably stable (laterally) and are associated Pańuco basin. with broad natural levees [63,66] suitable for habitation The association of the prehistoric Huastec with the [9,45]. Unlike other large Gulf Coastal Plain fluvial active channel helps to constrain the age of a meander systems, such as in Tabasco [66], Veracruz [59] or north belt for a major river system. The stability of the Rio of the Huasteca in Texas [54], the Pańuco consists of Pańuco over the last several millennia is impressive and a single outlet confined between a ridge of resistant has implications with respect to the preservation and Tertiary outcrop. future study of Huastacan culture. In comparison to other major Mesoamerican culture regions, our knowl- 7. Conclusions edge of the Huasteca is in its infancy. Results from this study present an optimistic future for the study of the Lower Pańuco basin river valleys were an intricate interrelations between the Huasteca and lower Pańuco component of the prehistoric Huasteca, a major Meso- system, and ultimately its scientific inscription within a american culture region. This study provides an over- broader geoarchaeological matrix. view of the geoarchaeological framework of lower Pańuco basin floodplain environments. Changes in the structure, size, dynamics, and complexity of floodplains Acknowledgements are inherently spatial, and systematically change as ff drainage area increases towards the coast. The di er- I thank Karl W. Butzer and William E. Doolittle for ences in floodplain environments would have presented discussion and suggestions. Support was provided by varying opportunities and challenges for floodplain grants from the Mellon Foundation, funded through the inhabitants and should be examined within the context Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American of prehistoric Huastec settlement patterns. Studies, and an Interdisciplinary Research Initiative The Rio Moctezuma grades from a concave to from the University of Texas at Austin. The author is a planar profile between the Rio Amajac and Rio grateful for field assistance from Miguel Aguilar- Tempoal, and is characterized by lateral accretion pro- Robledo, Israel Razzo, and Humberto Reyes- cesses. In this valley segment natural levees are not a Hernandez from the Universidad Nacional Autońoma significant component of the floodplain environment, de Me´xico (UNAM)–San Luis Potosi, SLP, and Arturo although the absence of poorly drained backswamps Garrido-Lopez at UNAM—Mexico, D.F. Rene Colditz enables agriculture to extend across the entire valley. worked on the remote sensing end of the study. I am The minimal floodplain relief limits the suitability of this especially appreciative of the ranchers, farmers, and surface for prolonged settlement because of the concern many other hospitable residents of the Huasteca. with flooding. Combined with higher rates of floodplain reworking, it is unlikely that this valley segment would yield significant amounts of prehistoric Huastec material culture. The valley widens downstream of the Rio References Tempoal and develops a convex profile, which is in part due to larger natural levees. However, the wider valley [1] M. Aguilar-Robledo, Land use, land tenure, and environmental preserves an older meander belt that is separated from change in the jurisdiction of Santiago de los Valles de Oxitipa, eastern New Spain, sixteenth to eighteenth century, Ph.D. Thesis, the active channel system by a residual terrace. The relict University of Texas at Austin, 1999. channels are at about the same height as the active [2] J.B. Alcorn, Huastec Mayan Ethnobotany, University of Texas channels but are not extensively buried. The channels Press, Austin, 1984. associated with this relict meander belt would have likely [3] M.D. Blum, T.E. Tornqvist, Fluvial responses to climate and become inactive prior to formation of Huastec culture, sea-level change: a review and look forward, Sedimentology 47 (2000) 2–48. although the natural levees may have been suitable for [4] L.D. Britsch, L.M. Smith, Geomorphic investigation of the occupation after channel abandonment. The Pańuco Terrebonne Marsh, Louisiana; foundation for cultural resource valley is characterized by a pronounced convex profile surveys, Geoarchaeology 4 (1989) 229–250. P.F. Hudson / Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004) 653–668 667

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