Lithic Mulch Agricultur,
Agriculture using Rock snd Gravel to capture water from air also protect the soil from erosion and protec plants from extreme temperature diffrents. Often prehistoric, agricultural technique using stones, gravel, or volcanic cinder to cover soil, primarily to conserve moisture, increase temperature, and reduce erosion in arid, dryland environments
Lithic mulch
Agriculture using Rock snd Gravel to capture water from air also protect the soil from erosion and protec plants from extreme temperature diffrents. Often prehistoric, agricultural technique using stones, gravel, or volcanic cinder to cover soil, primarily to conserve moisture, increase temperature, and reduce erosion in arid, dryland environments
QuoteLithic mulch was another technique of agriculture in the Southwest. Rocks or cobbles were used as a mulch around growing plants and in fields.
The rocks acted as a mulch to preserve moisture, decrease soil erosion, control weeds, and increase nighttime temperatures through radiation and retention of heat by the rocks.[30] In the 1980s, archaeologists discovered that large areas of agave, especially Agave murpheyi, had been cultivated in rock mounds by the Hohokam in the Tucson Basin, near the city of Marana.[31] Seventy-eight square kilometers (almost 20,000 acres) of former agave fields have since been discovered, mostly between Phoenix and Tucson.
Undoubtedly many other fields have been destroyed or are undetected by archaeologists.[32] Northern New Mexico also has the remnants of many fields mulched with rocks. Maize and cotton pollen have been found in soil associated with the rock mounds and mulch.[33]
Lithic mulch
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