Sedimentological approaches to geoarchaeological and paleoenvironmental studies: stratigraphic sequences in volcanic environments in the cauca medio region, Colombia

Abstract

When reviewing soil and sediment aspects in some publications and archaeological reports -as well as when consulting archives and materials stored in Archaeology laboratories- it is common to find incomplete or non-basic related information. This article points to the need to strengthen training and practice related to the complexity of stratigraphic aspects, both in their descriptions and analysis in the field, and in the laboratory. In this direction, for nearly a decade LEHPC has been strengthening geoarcheological studies and particularly the recovery, recording, and sedimentological analysis in relation to the paleoenvironmental and archaeological interests. We present the results of applying a simple and economical process to obtain sequential information that provides variability to be interpreted temporally and culturally. Up to 54 sites stratigraphic studies show the presence of pre-Hispanic evidence from pre-Ceramic times in the Middle Cauca (central western Colombia), and depositional dynamics of the volcanic environment of the Cerro Bravo-Cerro Machín complex are related, on the western slope of the Cordillera Central. The method is based on obtaining quantitative data from the separation on coarse-and-fine components from soils and/or sediments into intra-site sequences. Approaches from sedimentology appear as a proxy, providing complementary data for the geoarcheological studies; it incorporates quantitative data into the paleoenvironmental interpretation in interdisciplinary perspective. This analytical technique supports the scopes of the single visual descriptions or the limitations of costs of physical-chemical characterization analysis when applied to many stratigraphic levels. The collection obtained provides material data to establish aspects of soil formation and dynamics at the regional level, as well as to determine the relationships between soils and sediments of sites linked to different human occupations, showing in particular the characteristics of volcanic deposits. The «sed-imentoteca» under construction becomes a reference of consultation and physical storage space, for future research into stratigraphic sequences.