Folsom on the Edge of the Plains: Occupation of the Estancia Basin, Central New Mexico

Abstract

At the end of the Pleistocene, during Folsom occupation, the Estancia Basin contained the eastern-most pluvial lake in the American Southwest. The basin has a long history of archaeological research, and its story of changing lake levels has played an important part in understanding the Paleoindian occupation of the New World. Within the basin, geoarchaeological assessment at the Martin site can be used as a baseline for understanding environmental change during the late Pleistocene. The large well documented Martin and Lucy Folsom artifact assemblages provide a window into lithic technological organization. Combining these data within a broader basin-wide analysis provides a glimpse at Folsom occupation and land use between the well-studied southern High Plains and the middle Rio Grande. By combining the stories of environmental change, fluctuating lake levels, lithic variability, and human mobility, a better picture of life at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition emerges.

Keywords:

• Folsom
• Paleoindian
• geoarchaeology
• lithic technology
• New Mexico

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Brooke Morgan for inviting me to participate in the SAA session and in this special issue of PaleoAmerica. I would also like to thank Fred Sellet for initial comments on the project, as well as Katrina Erickson, Chris Roos, Andrew Kowler, Christina Sinkovec, Vance Holliday, Bruce Huckell, and Patrick Pfeifer for help in the field and lab.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

William T. Reitze

Author biography

William T. Reitze is a PhD student at the University of Arizona. He is currently studying the geoarchaeology of the Paleoindian occupation of New Mexico.