Date of Award:

12-2025

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Geosciences

Committee Chair(s)

Tammy Rittenour

Committee

Tammy Rittenour

Committee

Chris Roos

Committee

Judson Finley

Abstract

The size and frequency of wildfires have increased recently, impacting ecosystems, communities, and human health. This research uses the heat-sensitive luminescence signals of quartz sand temper within archaeological pottery to record past wildfire conditions. Pottery sherds, which are fragments of archaeological pottery, from the forest floor in sites in New Mexico and Arizona were collected from different fire contexts (no fire exposure, historical fires, prescribed burns, and modern wildfires). These forests are primarily Ponderosa Pine with a grassy understory. The interior sand grains of each sherd sample were analyzed using optically stimulated luminescence, which dates when the mineral grains were last exposed to light or heat. Apparent ages are used to test the hypothesis that recent fire intensity (heat and duration) is greater than historical wildfires.

In this study, sherd samples exposed to historical fires, and prescribed burns sherd samples had retained their expected archaeological age. However, of twelve sherds exposed to the recent 2022 CE Pipeline Fire, six sherds had modern apparent ages, implying the intensity of the fire overwrote the luminescence signal. These results suggest that burning conditions associated with modern fires are more intense, likely due to a combination of climate change and fire suppression which have led to the accumulation of greater volumes of drier and more flammable forest fuels and longer burn seasons.

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation, Geological Society of America, Four Corners Geological Society, and scholarships from the Department of Geosciences at Utah State University. This research provides insight into historical fire intensity, and results from this study may benefit fire management practices in the Southwestern US.

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