The Geoarchaeological Context of Early Holocene Human Occupation at the Cerro Pedregoso Site, Cedros Island, Mexico

Geoarchaeological excavations at the Cerro Pedregoso site on Cedros Island, Baja California, Mexico, uncovered a stratified alluvial fan deposit containing well-preserved evidence of repeated human occupation during the Early Holocene, between ~12,000 and 9600 cal BP. We used radiocarbon dating of wood charcoal and marine shell from multiple excavation units to establish a secure chronology for these early coastal forager occupations. These cultural materials lie within the landscape-scale Deposit 3, a unit formed by a combination of alluvial and aeolian processes. Beneath this deposit, a previously unknown paleosol (S1), exposed in excavation Unit 9, suggests the presence of even older sediments that may predate 12,000 cal BP. Although the archaeological content of this paleosol is sparse and affected by floralturbation, it offers a promising target for future investigations into the earliest coastal occupations of the Americas. The Cerro Pedregoso site thus provides a valuable stratified record of Early Holocene human activity and highlights the potential for even earlier evidence to be found in buried landforms on Cedros Island.