RESEARCH ARTICLE
Multiproxy evidence for rapid and enduring anthropogenic vegetation change during the Late Holocene from an abandoned channel of the Mississippi River, Wapanocca Bayou, Arkansas, USA
Michael Aiuvalasit,
Tim Riley,
Joseph Schuldenrein,
Corresponding Author
Michael Aiuvalasit
Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois
Correspondence Michael Aiuvalasit, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, 209 Nuclear Physics Lab, 23 E. Stadium Drive, Champaign, IL 61820.
Email: mja11@illinois.edu
Search for more papers by this authorTim Riley
Prehistoric Museum, Utah State University Eastern, Price, Utah
Search for more papers by this authorJoseph Schuldenrein
Geoarcheology Research Associates, Yonkers, New York
Search for more papers by this authorMichael Aiuvalasit,
Tim Riley,
Joseph Schuldenrein,
Corresponding Author
Michael Aiuvalasit
Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois
Correspondence Michael Aiuvalasit, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, 209 Nuclear Physics Lab, 23 E. Stadium Drive, Champaign, IL 61820.
Email: mja11@illinois.edu
Search for more papers by this authorTim Riley
Prehistoric Museum, Utah State University Eastern, Price, Utah
Search for more papers by this authorJoseph Schuldenrein
Geoarcheology Research Associates, Yonkers, New York
Search for more papers by this authorFirst published: 05 December 2019
Scientific editing by Tristram R. Kidder
Abstract
Geoarchaeological cores from an infilling channel within the meander belt of the Central Mississippi Valley recovered multiproxy evidence of vegetation changes during the Late Holocene. The sampling site, Wapanocca Bayou (Crittenden County, Arkansas), is flanked by levees that supported settlements of prehistoric Late Woodland and Mississippian farm sites, villages, and towns (AD 300–1650). These settlements include the Bradley site (3CT7), which was potentially the capital of a powerful Native American chiefdom visited by Hernando De Soto's North American expedition in 1541. Age-depth modeling of radiocarbon dates from a 10+ meter core indicates continuous infilling of the channel since at least 2,450 cal BP. Palynological records preserve diachronic and patterned shifts in vegetation reflecting significant disturbances in these dynamic meander-belt settings. Coeval trends in soil phosphorus, organic matter, charcoal concentrations, and magnetic susceptibility combined with archaeological evidence for increasingly intense landuse practices support our argument that vegetation changes along Wapanocca Bayou were caused by prehistoric anthropogenic disturbances, rather than natural processes associated with oxbow infilling and terrestrialization. With time the role of the natural vegetation succession receded in relative importance as local ecosystems were progressively modified by prehistoric Native Americans. This change was then sustained by intensified historical agricultural practices.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.
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