Pollen Analysis of Agricultural Terraces on La Plata Mesa, Agua Fria National Monument, Yavapai County, Arizona (2007)

Agricultural terraces from two sites on Perry Mesa (La Plata and Bull Tank) and one site at the north edge of Black Mesa (Richinbar Ruin) were investigated using pollen analysis. The samples are listed in Table 1 by site and context. The sites are located on mesas bounding canyons containing the headwaters of the Agua Fria River. Native populations of Agave parryi grown on the mesas and around sites grow hybrid agaves (Agave chrysantha x A. parryi) that are living artifacts of pre-Columbian agave farming (Wendy Hodgson, personal communication May 2005). Previous archaeobotanical investigations in the region have documented agave and maize remains in addition to other native resources (Cummings and Puseman 1995; Fish 1980).本研究对佩里台地（Perry Mesa）两处遗址（拉普拉塔遗址与布尔坦克遗址）以及布莱克台地（Black Mesa）北缘的里奇恩巴鲁因遗址（Richinbar Ruin）的农业梯田开展了孢粉分析（pollen analysis）。样品按遗址与出土背景信息列于表1中。上述遗址均坐落于环绕阿瓜弗里亚河（Agua Fria River）上游峡谷的台地上。台地之上及遗址周边原生分布的帕里龙舌兰（Agave parryi）与黄花龙舌兰（Agave chrysantha）天然杂交形成的杂交龙舌兰（Agave chrysantha × A. parryi），是哥伦布到达美洲前龙舌兰种植的活态遗存（温迪·霍奇森，2005年5月私人通信）。此前该区域的考古植物学（archaeobotany）研究已记录了龙舌兰、玉米遗存及其他本土原生资源（卡明斯与普斯曼，1995；菲什，1980）。