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AN ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON GROUND STONE PRODUCTION AT THE SANTIAGO QUARRY IN THE CASAS GRANDES REGION OF CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2017

Michael T. Searcy  and
Todd Pitezel
Michael T. Searcy
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA (msearcy@byu.edu)
Todd Pitezel
Affiliation:
Arizona State Museum, the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
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Abstract

Researchers have noted and studied the finely formed manos and metates of the Casas Grandes region of northern Mexico, but little is known about how and where they were produced. During a survey project in 2013, we located a quarry, the first discovered in this region, where grinding stones were manufactured using a suite of stone tools. We report the morphology of the site, the tool kit of the metateros (metate makers), and ethnoarchaeological implications resulting from the study of modern metateros that can aid in the interpretation of prehistoric ground stone quarries.

Las manos y metates finamente trabajados de la región de Casas Grandes en el norte de México han sido observados y estudiados, pero poco se sabe sobre su manera y lugar de producción. Durante un proyecto de reconocimiento en 2013 localizamos una cantera, la primera descubierta en esta región, donde las piedras de moler de basalto vesicular fueron fabricadas usando un conjunto de herramientas de piedra. Reportamos la morfología del lugar, las herramientas de los metateros y las implicaciones etnoarqueológicas resultantes del estudio de metateros modernos que pueden auxiliar la interpretación de las canteras prehispánicas para piedras de moler.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 169 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by the Society for American Archaeology 

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