Solveig A. Turpin

Red Li Near Style Pictographs of the Lower Pecos River Region, Texas

Red Linear rock art is one of three prehistoric styles defined in the Lower Pecos River Region of southwest Texas. This miniature, monochrome style, characterized by diminutive stick figures engage...

Toward a Definition of a Pictograph Style: the Lower Pecos Bold Line Geometric

Abstract linear designs found at 14 sites surrrounding the confluence of the Pecos River and Rio Grande form the basis for the definition of a new pictograph style, the Lower Pecos Bold Line Geomet...

The Mobiliary Art Of Boca De Potrerillos Nuevo LeÓN, Mexico

Two types of incised tabular sandstone rocks were recovered from two spatially and temporally distinct areas within the large petroglyph/open camp site of Boca de Potrerillos in the northeastern Me...

New Perspectives On the Red Li Near Style Pictographs of the Lower Pecos River Region, Texas

The Red Linear style is one of four prehistoric pictograph styles defined in the Lower Pecos River region of Texas. Since the characteristics of the style were summarized in 1984, three new examples have been recorded on the Devils River, bringing the total inventory to 11. Two of these sites contain scenes showing the stages in human reproduction, from copulation through birth. Their juxtaposition with scenes of conflict may be a reflection of the structure of adult life in this prehistoric society.

STUCK IN THE MUCK: THE BIG LAKE BISON KILL SITE (41RG13), WEST TEXAS

The remains of at least ten bison-three adult females, five juveniles, and two calves-were shallowly buried in lacustrine clays at the base of a large truncated dune encircling the northern perimeter of Big Lake, the largest saline lake in Texas. Radiocarbon assay of sediments and bone apatite, and the heavily ground base of a straight-sided Late Paleoindian dart point, date the kill to approximately 8000 radiocarbon years ago. The vertical stance of lower limb bones indicates that the animals were mired in the saturated clays of the lake bed and dispatched. A subsequent period of extreme aridity promoted the accumulation of an enormous lunate dune that buried the bonebed under meters of displaced lake sediments. Under the current climatic regime, the dune has been truncated and eroded by episodes of lake competency, again bringing the bone deposit to the surface.

From Marshland to Desert: The Late Prehistoric Environment of Boca de Potrerillos, Nuevo León, Mexico:

Despite the paucity of archaeological research in the Sierra Madre Oriental ecotone of northeastern Mexico, a patterned distribution of large open campsites replete with petroglyphs is suggested by a recent rock art survey sponsored by the Mexican government. Pilot research at Boca de Potrerillos, one of the largest and best preserved examples of this site type, demonstrates that the intermontane desert of today was once a combination of grassland and wetland. Hundreds of hearths are now exposed on the surface of a desiccated alluvial plain and thousands of petroglyphs have been incised into sandstone boulders fringing the occupational area. Radiocarbon assay of charcoal derived from buried hearths dates the intact subsurface living surfaces to the period between 1350 and 650 years ago. Pollen and phytolith samples from buried strata and ground stone implements describe a mesic environment and provide a list of potential economic plants processed at the site. The presence of both aquatic and terrestrial snails supports the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of wetlands, replete with emergent vegetation, flanked by rocky slopes. Archival research suggests that a drying trend is mirrored in the agricultural history of the valley but the extreme degradation effected in the last four decades is attributable to modern exploitation of the aquifer.

Location, Location, Location: The Lewis Canyon Petroglyphs

Abstract In the last 10 years, excavations at the Lewis Canyon site have exposed hundreds of petroglyphs buried beneath a mantle of modern sediment that has been redeposited from the surrounding hills. The new glyphs are radically different from the assemblage recorded in the 193Os, which were predominantly abstract geometric designs augmented by a few realistic animal tracks, projectile points, and human figures. The emergent style is dominated by nested serpentine lines, atlatls with greatly exaggerated weights, human and animal tracks, and a small number of human figures. Some of the latter bear a strong resemblance to warriors depicted in the Red Linear style, a miniature local art form with a very limited distribution. The motivation for the expenditure of so much effort in the production of petroglyphs at this location has long been questioned, but excavation has now also uncovered a large tinaja, capable of holding more than 800 gallons of water and once fed by an underground conduit. The supernatural power of water, and especially water that emerges from a subterranean source, provides the rationale for the production of the older, serpentine glyphs, if not the entire assemblage. The tinaja links Lewis Canyon to a series of smaller sites on the Eldorado Divide, over 100 miles to the northwest and, more subtly, to arid-lands rock art traditions in northern Mexico and the Greater Southwest.

More mobiliary art from northern Mexico: The Pelillal collection

Abstract In 1996, the first evidence of a mobiliary art tradition in northern Mexico was found at Boca de Potrerillos, Nuevo Leon, and reported in Plains Anthropologist. Now, the unsystematic collection of 103 incised stones from Pelillal, Coahuila confirms that at least two technically and iconographically distinct types of mobiliary art were produced by the prehistoric hunters and gatherers of north central Mexico. The simpler stones bear incised linear designs, some of which are comparable to the Lama San Pedro style at Boca de Potrerillos where they were dated to between 230 and 950 B.P At least 18 of the stones bear some portion of a butterfly-vulva form design, sometimes woven into a more elaborate and complex pattern, typical of the Coco nos style. The sexual connotations of the vulva form and the transformational implications of the butterfly theme suggest that these objects were used in puberty or fertility rites, probably during the Archaic period or Coahuila Complex, ca. 5 000 B.P

The archaic environment of Boca de Potrerillos, Nuevo León, Mexico

Nine new radiocarbon dates expand the occupational sequence at Boca de Potrerillos, a large open camp site on the fringes of the Sierra Madre Oriental in Nuevo León, Mexico, to the range between 270 and 7700 years ago. Incised stones attributable to the Archaic component provide an estimate of the age of some of the 3000 petroglyphs at this site. Cut-and-fill cycles, pollen counts, and gastropod analyses contribute to the definition of two climatic episodes. Between 980 and 1280 years ago, low energy sedimentation suggests a benign climatic interlude prevailed locally. Massive erosion at Boca de Potrerillos and other excavated sites within a 150 km range identifies a period of regional environmental stress around 4800 years ago.

Hunting Camps and Hunting Magic: Petroglyphs of the Eldorado Divide, West Texas

Seven open bedrock petroglyph sites on the western Edwards Plateau share similarities that suggest that these locations were temporary hunting camps, used during the rainy season by people whose ranges centered around the major rivers that flow north, south, east, and west of the Eldorado Divide. All are remote from permanent water, but all contain natural bedrock cavities capable of holding casual water for at least a month in the cooler seasons. Burned rock features testify to domestic activities or processing of procured resources. Three categories of petroglyphs—meandering lines, discrete geometrics, and representational motifs, including animal tracks—have been abraded into flat expanses of exposed limestone bedrock at these sites. The association between animal tracks and casual water sources suggests that hunting magic was one reason that ritual art was produced at these otherwise obscure locations.