Environmental Reconstruction and the Abandonment of the Largo-Gallina Area,New Mexico

Abstract

The hypothesis that significant climatic change occurred in NW New Mexico between 1200 and 1300 A.C., resulting in the abandonment of the Largo-Gallina area, was tested. Analyses of samples of microfaunal, corn, and pollen remains from a dated series of Largo-Gallina Phase sites and geological studies all support the conclusion that the study area experienced changing environmental conditions, probably the result of steadily increasing aridity, beginning about 1250 A.C. Study of the Largo-Gallina corn materials indicates that crop quality deteriorated substantially towards the end of the span of occupation.