What important information do we acquire from sediments?
origin
transport
nature of the locale where it was deposited
3 types of sediments
clastic
chemical
organic
clastic sediments
composed of fragments of rock, other sediment, or soil material that reflect a history of erosion, transport, and deposition.
Early Archaic Period
6500 BC - 2000 BC
warmer temperatures
small game hunters, gatherers
lightly built structures
used storage pits (not common)
Paleo-Indian Period
15,000 B.P. (?) - 6500 BCE
earliest Indians in North America
includes Clovis climate was cold
big game hunters
Middle Archaic Period
2000 BC - 1 AD
hunter gatherers
seasonal use of caves
petroglyphs
no pottery
Late Archaic Period
1 CE - 1600 CE
agriculture becomes important
used pottery
community becomes important
Five main Late Archaic period prehistoric Pueblo Cultures of the southwest
Anasazi
Mogollon
Hohokam
Sinagua
Salado
fluvial
of or pertaining to a river
facies
the appearance and characteristics of a sedimentary deposit, especially as they reflect the conditions and environment of deposition and serve to distinguish the deposit from contiguous deposits.
lithology
the physical characteristics of a rock or stratigraphic unit