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Correspondence in Tree-Ring and Thermoluminescence Dating: A Protohistoric Navajo Pilot Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Douglas D. Dykeman ,
Ronald H. Towner  and
James K. Feathers
Douglas D. Dykeman
Affiliation:
Navajo Nation Archaeology Department, 609 S. Behrend Ave., Farmington, NM 87401
Ronald H. Towner
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
James K. Feathers
Affiliation:
Thermoluminescence Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
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Abstract

Dating of early Navajo residence and special use sites, ca. A.D. 1500-1775, has been hampered by a lack of datable materials and poor precision in radiocarbon results. Methods described in this paper use materials ubiquitous at early Navajo sites in northwestern New Mexico and employ a dual strategy involving tree-ring dating of nonarchitectural wood and thermoluminescence assay of ceramics and burned rock. Comparison of samples obtained from a number of sites near the Morris Site 1 pueblito indicates remarkable correspondence between tree-ring and thermoluminescence results. These techniques are argued to have considerable reliability for relatively recent cultural manifestations such as these early Navajo sites. Thermoluminescence in particular may be useful in protohistoric contexts where tree-ring dating is unavailable. The thermoluminescence technique has the added benefit of directly dating pottery sherds, which can be useful for developing ceramic cross-dating sequences.

Résumé

Résumé

Los fechados arqueológicos de los lugares de residencia y sitios de uso especial de los primeros Navajo, entre los años 1500 y 1775 en el noroeste de Nuevo México, han estado incompletos por lafalta de objetos fechados y la pobre precisión de los resultados de la técnica de radiocarbón. Los métodos descritos en este documento utilizan materiales encontrados por cualquier parte de los lugares de los primeros Navajo, en una doble estrategia que incluye la datación por los anillos de los árboles reflejados en la madera de los mismos y el ensayo de termoluminiscenia de cerámica y roca quemada. La comparación de muestras obtenidas en lugares cercanos al pueblito Morris Site 1, indican correspondencias notables entre los resultados de ambas técnicas: la de los anillos de los árboles y la de termoluminiscenia. Por consiguiente, estas técnicas son argumentadas para tener considerable veracidad de las manifestaciones culturales relativamente recientes, como los primeros lugares de los Navajo. La termoluminiscenia en particular puede ser útil en contextos prehistóricos donde la datación de los anillos de los árboles no es posible. La técnica de termoluminiscenia tiene el beneficio añadido defechar directamente los fragmentos de cerdmica, lo que puede ser útil para el desarrollo de la secuencia de datos a través de la cerámica.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 67 , Issue 1 , January 2002 , pp. 145 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2002

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