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Following A Glittering Trail: Geo-Chemical and Petrographic Characterization of Micaceous Sherds Recovered from Dismal River Sites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Sarah Trabert ,
Sunday Eiselt ,
David V. Hill ,
Jeffrey Ferguson  and
Margaret Beck
Sarah Trabert*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 455 West Lindsey, Dale Hall Tower 521, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019
Sunday Eiselt
Affiliation:
Anthropology Department, Heroy Hall 450, P.O. Box 750336, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275-0336 (seiselt@mail.smu.edu)
David V. Hill
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, P.O. Box 173362, Campus Box 28; Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, CO 80217-3362 (dhill51@msudenver.edu)
Jeffrey Ferguson
Affiliation:
Archaeometry Laboratory, University of Missouri Research Reactor, 1513 Research Park Drive, Columbia, MO 65211 (fergusonje@missouri.edu)
Margaret Beck
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 114 Macbride Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 (margaret-beck@uiowa.edu)
*
strabert@ou.edu
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Abstract

Protohistoric Ancestral Apache Dismal River groups (A.D. 1600–1750) participated in large exchange networks linking them to other peoples on the Plains and U.S. Southwest. Ceramic vessels made from micaceous materials appear at many Dismal River sites, and micaceous pottery recovered from the Central High Plains is typically seen as evidence for interaction with northern Rio Grande pueblos. However, few mineral or chemical characterization analyses have been conducted on these ceramics, and the term “micaceous” has been applied to a broad range of vessel types regardless of the form, size, or amount of mica in their pastes. Our recent analyses, including macroscopic evaluation combined with petrography and neutron activation analyses (NAA), indicate that only a small subset of Dismal River sherds are derived from New Mexico clays. The rest were likely manufactured using materials from Colorado and Wyoming. Seasonal mobility patterns may have given Dismal River potters the opportunity to collect mica raw materials as they traveled between the Central Plains and Front Range, and this has implications for the importance of internal Plains social networks during the Protohistoric and Historic periods.

Los grupos protohistóricos del Río Dismal (antiguos Apaches; 1600–1750) participaron de un extenso intercambio que los conectó con otras comunidades de las planicies y del sureste de los Estados Unidos. Las vasijas de cerámica hechas de materiales micáceos aparecen en muchos sitios del Río Dismal. Los primeros investigadores han considerado a las cerámicas de pasta micácea recuperadas en estos sitios de las altas planicies centrales como evidencia de la interacción con los pueblos del norte del Río Grande y asumieron que la mayoría de estas cerámicas encontradas en los sitios del Río Dismal no eran de la región. Sin embargo, se han realizado escasos análisis minerales o caracterizaciones químicas a estas cerámicas y el término micáceo (micaceous) ha sido aplicado a un amplio rango de cerámicas sin importar el tipo, tamaño o cantidad de mica en sus pastas. Nuestros análisis recientes, incluyendo la evaluación macroscópica combinada con petrografía y el análisis por activación neutrónica (NAA), indican que solamente un pequeño grupo de tiestos son derivados de la arcilla de Nuevo México. Las cerámicas restantes fueron probablemente hechas de materiales disponibles en Colorado y Wyoming. Los patrones de movilidad estacional pudieron haberle dado a estos grupos del Río Dismal la oportunidad de recoger mica y material bruto para sus vasijas de cerámica mientras viajaban entre las planicies centrales y la cordillera frontal. La distribución de estas vasijas destaca la importancia de las redes sociales internas en las planicies durante los períodos Protohistórico e Histórico.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 81 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 364 - 374
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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