Bruce B. Huckell

The archaic prehistory of the North American Southwest

Evidence today suggests that by at least 8000 to 8500 B.P., Archaic hunter-gatherer economies were established throughout the North American Southwest. The Early Archaic seems to be a period of considerable variability across the subregions; this may be a product of currently slim knowledge of the period, or it may indicate that the region witnessed considerable flux. With the Middle Archaic period from 5500 to 3500 B.P. there seems to be greater similarity in material culture across the region and a definite increase in the number of known sites. Finally, the Late Archaic/Early Agricultural period from 3500 to 2000 or 1500 B.P. sees the establishment of a mixed farming-foraging economy in much of the Southwest with apparently major changes in subsistence-settlement systems. Preagricultural Archaic land use patterns are known in broad outline but not in detail; high mobility by small social groups in an annual round would have permitted exploitation of diverse biotic communities. In most parts of the region, significant socioeconomic change accompanies the incorporation of agriculture into the late preceramic period, as witnessed by the appearance of longer-term residential sites with pitstructures and storage features.

Denver Elephant Project: a Report on Experimentation with Thrusting Spears

One aspect of the Denver Elephant Project, the experimental use of thrusting spears, is presented. A recently deceased elephant was made available for archaeological experimentation, and as a part of this work the author manufactured and, with the aid of others, employed a series of thrusting spears tipped with Clovis fluted point replicas. It was found that the use of composite thrusting spears permitted penetra tion of the elephant carcass, but also revealed problems in spear design. The types of projectile point breakage which occurred were found to compare favorably with archaeological specimens. Other implications of the work for the understanding of Clovis elephant procurement strategy and weaponry are presented, and suggestions are made for future experiments.

A Morphometric Assessment of the Intended Function of Cached Clovis Points

A number of functions have been proposed for cached Clovis points. The least complicated hypothesis is that they were intended to arm hunting weapons. It has also been argued that they were produced for use in rituals or in connection with costly signaling displays. Lastly, it has been suggested that some cached Clovis points may have been used as saws. Here we report a study in which we morphometrically compared Clovis points from caches with Clovis points recovered from kill and camp sites to test two predictions of the hypothesis that cached Clovis points were intended to arm hunting weapons: 1) cached points should be the same shape as, but generally larger than, points from kill/camp sites, and 2) cached points and points from kill/camp sites should follow the same allometric trajectory. The results of the analyses are consistent with both predictions and therefore support the hypothesis. A follow-up review of the fit between the results of the analyses and the predictions of the other hypotheses indicates that the analyses support only the hunting equipment hypothesis. We conclude from this that cached Clovis points were likely produced with the intention of using them to arm hunting weapons.

Clovis paleoecology and lithic technology in the central rio grande rift region, New Mexico

Abstract Clovis sites occur throughout the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, but are poorly documented in the central Rio Grande rift region. Here, we present data from two relatively unknown Clovis projectile point assemblages from this region: the first is from the Mockingbird Gap Clovis site and the second is from a survey of the surrounding region. Our goals are to reconstruct general features of the paleoecological adaptation of Clovis populations in the region using raw material sourcing and then to compare the point technology in the region to other Clovis assemblages in the Southwest and across the continent. Our results show that both assemblages were manufactured from similar suites of raw materials that come almost exclusively from the central Rio Grande rift region and the adjacent mountains of New Mexico. Additionally, we show that Clovis projectile points in the study region are significantly smaller than the continental average. Our results suggest that Clovis populations in this region operated within a large, well-known, and relatively high-elevation territory encompassing much of northern and western New Mexico.

Cortaro Points and the Archaic of Southern Arizona

ABSTRACTA new Archaic projectile point style, the Cortaro point, is introduced and described. Its morphology, manufacturing technology and distribution are documented, and it is shown to be a morphologically and technologically consistent point style. Available data indicate that it is limited to southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Temporal data for the Cortaro point are presented and suggest that it may be of late Middle or Late Archaic age. Cortaro points may, therefore, prove to be useful temporal markers and may constitute yet another projectile point style in use in the southern Southwest during the Archaic period. The cultural implications of Cortaro points are explored, and four hypotheses are presented for consideration by researchers.

A protohistoric Piman burial and a consideration of Piman burial practices.

ABSTRACTThe discovery of a single interment during construction of facilities at the Ina Road Wastewater Treatment Plant, Tucson, Arizona, in 1975 is reported. The associated lithic artifacts are described, and they are interpreted as typical of the protohistoric Sobaipuri. The archaeological rarity of Upper Piman burials led the authors to consult seventeenth through twentieth century documentary sources for comparative data, and the results of this research are presented as a description of Upper Piman burial practices. Discussion of variation in mortuary customs is offered, along with considerations of Piman cemetary locations and the identification of Piman interments.

The Paleo-Indian and Archaic Occupation of the Tucson Basin: An Overview

AbstractEvidence for the occupation of the Tucson Basin during the Paleo-Indian and Archaic periods is presented and assessed. There is at present no conclusive evidence for Paleo-Indian utilizatio...

The Ventana complex: New dates and new ideas on its place in early Holocene Western Prehistory

Radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples and a re-examination of the artifacts from the Volcanic Debris layer in Ventana Cave were conducted in 1992-1994. The goal of this research was to better understand the chronological position and cultural affinities of the Ventana Complex, the name applied to the assemblage recovered from the Volcanic Debris. Ten new Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14C ages suggest that the Volcanic Debris accumulated between approximately 8800 B.P. and 10,500 B.P., and the lack of stratigraphic ordering of the dates indicates that the Volcanic Debris was subjected to considerable turbation as it accumulated. This turbation may have led to the incorporation of bones of extinct fauna from an underlying conglomerate deposit rich in horse remains, creating the impression of their association with artifacts. The artifacts are probably the product of episodic, special-purpose occupations spanning centuries or millennia. Technological and morphological studies of the stone tools indicate few similarities with classic Paleoindian industries, and greater similarities to early Holocene Archaic occupations in the Great Basin and Southwest. Correlations of the Ventana Cave stratigraphy with that of southeastern Arizona and with the late Pleistocene and Holocene record of Northern Hemisphere climate are explored.

An Assessment of the Impact of Hafting on Paleoindian Point Variability

It has long been argued that the form of North American Paleoindian points was affected by hafting. According to this hypothesis, hafting constrained point bases such that they are less variable than point blades. The results of several studies have been claimed to be consistent with this hypothesis. However, there are reasons to be skeptical of these results. None of the studies employed statistical tests, and all of them focused on points recovered from kill and camp sites, which makes it difficult to be certain that the differences in variability are the result of hafting rather than a consequence of resharpening. Here, we report a study in which we tested the predictions of the hafting hypothesis by statistically comparing the variability of different parts of Clovis points. We controlled for the potentially confounding effects of resharpening by analyzing largely unused points from caches as well as points from kill and camp sites. The results of our analyses were not consistent with the predictions of the hypothesis. We found that several blade characters and point thickness were no more variable than the base characters. Our results indicate that the hafting hypothesis does not hold for Clovis points and indicate that there is a need to test its applicability in relation to post-Clovis Paleoindian points.

Folsom Technology and Toolstone Use at the Martin Site, North Central New Mexico

Abstract The Martin site is a Folsom camp in the Estancia Basin, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, investigated in 1955 and only briefly described in a 1967 dissertation. Reanalysis of the implement collection was conducted during 2002, and the debitage was described in detail in 2005. The principal goal of the research was to integrate this important assemblage into current models of Folsom lithic technological organization through study of artifact assemblage composition and identification of the raw materials used in the production of stone tools. The assemblage is dominated by large numbers of preforms and channel flakes that are predominantly (95 percent) Edwards chert from west central Texas sources. Despite the location of the Martin site far from known Edwards chert sources, only Folsom points were manufactured, thereby raising questions concerning the relationship between Folsom and Midland and the hypothesis that Midland point manufacture is a raw material conservation strategy employed by Folsom groups at sites distant from sources. We describe the assemblage and discuss the pattern of Folsom raw material consumption and technological organization.