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Examining Lithic Technological Organization as a Dynamic Cultural Subsystem: The Advantages of an Explicitly Spatial Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert A. Ricklis  and
Kim A. Cox
Robert A. Ricklis
Affiliation:
Coastal Archaeological Research, Inc., 302 Chenoweth, Corpus Christi, TX 78404
Kim A. Cox
Affiliation:
Coastal Archaeological Research, Inc., 302 Chenoweth, Corpus Christi, TX 78404
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Abstract

The organization of hunter—gatherer lithic technology is examined as a dynamic process, with reference to a case study from the Late Prehistoric period of the Texas central Gulf Coast. Several lithic data sets from sites of the Rockport phase (ca. A.D. 1200—1700) indicate that three modes of behavior operated to maintain technological efficiency, and that each was adopted in response to inefficiency thresholds associated with increasing, distance-related costs in the procurement and transport of lithic material. In combination with information on the settlement and subsistence patterns, it is apparent that the organization of lithic technology was adjusted to the more basic needs for biotic-resource procurement. As a result, lithic efficiency was not a constant, but fluctuated within a dynamic cultural subsystem that articulated with the scheduling demands of overall adaptive behavior.

Resumen

Resumen

Se examina la organización de la tecnología lítica en adaptaciones de caza y recolección como proceso dinámico, con referencia a un caso del período Prehistórico Tardío de la costa central de Texas. Varias colecciones de sitios de la fuse Rockport (ca. 1200—1700 D.C.) indican que existieron tres modos para mantener la eficiencia tecnológica, y que cada modo fue adoptado en repuesta a puntos críticos umbrales de ineficiencia asociados con costas de procuramiento y transporte de material lítico. En combinación con información sobre normas de ocupación y subsistencia, es aparente que la organización de la tecnología lítica se ajustó a las necesidades más fundamentales de obtener recursos bióticos. Como resultado, la eficiencia lítica no era constante, pero fluctuó dentro una subsistema cultural dinámico que se articuló con las demandas de operaciones adaptativas generales.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , July 1993 , pp. 444 - 461
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1993

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