Cultural Evidence for the Altithermal in Texas and Mexico

Abstract

This paper summarizes cultural data which support the existence of the Altithermal in Texas and Mexico. Two patterns are described. In central Mexico there is evidence for an economic shift in emphasis from pre-Altithermal hunting, to gathering, and back to hunting at the end of the Altithermal. This pattern may extend north and west to coastal southern California. In central Texas and northeast Mexico, a pattern of Altithermal population decrease and resettlement is suggested, contemporaneous with a similar pattern hypothesized for the Great Plains (Wedel 1964).