Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T20:34:01.183Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Interpretation of Archaeological Floor Assemblages: A Case Study from the American Southwest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael W. Diehl
Michael W. Diehl*
Affiliation:
Center for Desert Archaeology, 3975 N. Tucson Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85716
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Analyses of the assemblages from the floors of Upland Mogollon pithouses show that variation in artifact frequencies may be attributed to differences in the intensity of abandonment and post-abandonment formation processes, such as caching, scavenging and trash dumping. The proportion of pithouses that contain caches or de facto assemblages is provocatively constant across sites—roughly 18 percent. This observation may be useful for refining estimates of the populations of sites or regions, for recognizing the size of social groups, or for identifying the abandonment sequences of pithouse villages. Prior studies that attribute variation in the frequencies of different classes of artifacts to functional differences in the uses of pithouses are rejected on the grounds of methodological inadequacy.

Résumé

Résumé

El análisis estadístico se emplea para examinar conjuntos de suelos de aldeas en la montañas Mogollón. Se atribuye variación en las frecuencias de tipos diferentes de instrumentos a los efectos diferenciales en procesos de formación tales como el tirado de basura, almacienamiento, y reciclado. La proporción de casas que contienen conjuntos de facto (Schiffer 1987:89–97) es casi constante—18%. Esta observación es útil porque permite 1) estimar la población, 2) estimar los tamaños de grupos sociales, o 3) identificar el proceso de abandono de casas. Estudios previos (Hunter-Anderson 1986; Stafford and Rice 1981; que atribuyeron variación de frecuencia de tipos a diferencias funcionales) fallaron en considerar estos otros procesos. Esos estudios son rechazados porque usaron métodos inválidos.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 63 , Issue 4 , October 1998 , pp. 617 - 634
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Adams, J. L. 1993 Technological Development of Manos and Metates on the Hopi Mesas. Kiva 58: 331–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldenderfer, M. S., and Blashfield, R. K. 1984 Cluster Analysis. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anyon, R., Gilman, P. A., and LeBlanc, S. A. 1981 A Reevaluation of the Mogollon-Mimbres Archaeological Sequence. Kiva 46: 209–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anyon, R., and LeBlanc, S. A. 1984 The Galaz Ruin: A Prehistoric Mimbres Village in Southwestern New Mexico. The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and the University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1979 Organization and Formation Processes: Looking at Curated Technologies. Journal of Anthropological Research 35: 255–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1980 Willow Smoke and Dogs’ Tails: Hunter-Gatherer . Settlement Systems and Archaeological Site Formation. American Antiquity 45: 4–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1981 Behavioral Archaeology and the Pompeii Premise. Journal of Anthropological Research 37: 195–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1986 Changing Settlement and Population in the Mimbres Valley, SW New Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 13: 439–164.Google Scholar
Bradfield, W. 1931 Cameron Creek Village: A Site in the Mimbres Area, Grant County, New Mexico. School for American Research Monographs No. 1. The School for American Research, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Bussey, S. D. 1973 Late Mogollon Manifestations in the Mimbres Branch, Southwestern New Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Oregon. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Diehl, M. W. 1994 Subsistence Economies and Emergent Social Differences: A Case Study from the Prehistoric North American Southwest. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Buffalo. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Diehl, M. W. 1996 The Intensity of Maize Processing and Production in Upland Mogollon Pithouse Villages A.D. 200-1000. American Antiquity 61: 102–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diehl, M. W. 1997 Changes in Architecture and Land Use Strategies in the American Southwest: Upland Mogollon Pithouse Dwellers, A.C. 200-1000. Journal of Field Archaeology 24: 179–194.Google Scholar
Fitting, J. E. 1973 An Early Mogollon Community: A Preliminary Report on the Winn Canyon Site. The Artifact 11: 1–94.Google Scholar
Gossett, C. W. 1985 Lithic Artifact Assemblages and their Implications of Geographical Space Use and Organizational Systems. In Class II Cultural Resource Survey Upper Gila Supply Study Central Arizona Project, Vol. 1, by Chapman, R. C., Gossett, C. W., and Gossett, W. J., pp. 213–346. Report to the United States Bureau of Reclamation, contract 3-CS- 30-00150. Deuel and Associates, Inc., Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Hammack, L. C. 1966 The Cliff Highway Salvage Project. Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Haury, E. W. 1936 The Mogollon Culture of Southwestern New Mexico. Medallion Papers No. XX. Gila Pueblo, Globe.Google Scholar
Haury, E. W. 1985 Mogollon Culture in the Forestdale Valley. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Hill, J. N. 1970 Broken K Pueblo. Anthropological Papers of the University of Arizona No. 18. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Hunter-Anderson, R. L. 1986 Prehistoric Adaptation in the American Southwest. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kayser, D. W. 1975 Castle Rock Project: Archaeological Salvage Along State Highway 32 in Agua Fria and Largo Creek Canyons, Catron County, New Mexico. Note No. 71, Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
LeBlanc, S. A. 1971 An Addition to Naroll's Suggested Floor Area and Settlement Pattern Relationship. American Antiquity 36: 210–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lekson, S. H. 1992 The Surface Archaeology of Southwestern New Mexico. The Artifact 30: 1–36.Google Scholar
Lightfoot, K. G. 1984 The Duncan Project: A Study of the Occupation Duration and Settlement Pattern of an Early Mogollon Pithouse Village. Anthropological Field Studies No. 6. Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Lightfoot, K. G., and Feinman, G. M. 1982 Social Differentiation and Leadership Development in Early Pithouse Villages in the Mogollon Region of the American Southwest. American Antiquity 47: 64–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Longacre, W. A. 1976 Population Dynamics at the Grasshopper Pueblo. In Demographic Anthropology, edited by Zubrow, E. B. W., pp. 169—184. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Martin, P. S. 1940 The SU Site: Excavations at a Mogollon Village, Western New Mexico, 1939. Anthropological Series, Volume 32, Number 1. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, P. S. 1943 The SU Site: Excavations at a Mogollon Village, Western New Mexico, Second Season, 1941. Anthropological Series, Volume 32, Number 2. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, P. S. 1947 The SU Site: Excavations at a Mogollon Village, Western New Mexico, Third Season, 1946. Anthropological Series, Volume 32, Number 3. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, P. S. 1950 Turkey Foot Ridge: A Mogollon Viallge, Pine Lawn Valley, Western New Mexico. Fieldiana: Anthropology, 38(2). Chicago Natural History Museum, Chicago.Google Scholar
Martin, P. S. 1949 Cochise and Mogollon Sites, Pine Lawn Valley, Western New Mexico. Fieldiana: Anthropology, 38(1). Chicago Natural History Museum, Chicago.Google Scholar
Nelson, M. C. 1991 The Study of Technological Organization. In Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 3, edited by Schiffer, M. B., pp. 57–100. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Plog, F. 1975 Demographic Studies in Southwestern Prehistory. American Antiquity 40: 94–103.Google Scholar
Rice, G. E. 1980a An Analytical Overview of the Mogollon Tradition. In Studies in the Prehistory of the Forestdale Region, edited by Stafford, C. R. and Rice, G.E. pp. 9–40. Arizona. Anthropological Field Studies No. 1. Arizona State University Office of Cultural Resource Management, Tempe.Google Scholar
Rice, G. E. 1980b What Happened in the Prehistory of Corduroy Creek? In Studies in the Prehistory of the Forestdale Region, edited by Stafford, C. R. and Rice, G.E. pp. 462–175. Arizona. Anthropological Field Studies No. 1. Arizona State University Office of Cultural Resource Management, Tempe.Google Scholar
Schlanger, S. H. 1991 On Manos, Metates, and the History of Site Occupations. American Antiquity 56: 460–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1987 Formation Processes of the Archaeological Record. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1980 Studies in the Prehistory of the Forestdale Region, Arizona. Anthropological Field Studies No. 1. Arizona State University Office of Cultural Resource Management, Tempe.Google Scholar
Statsoft, Inc. 1994 STATISTICA for Windows (Volume III): Statistics 2. Statsoft Inc, Tulsa.Google Scholar
Stone, T. 1994 The Impact of Raw Material Scarcity on Ground Stone Manufacture and Use: An Example from the Phoenix Basin Hohokam. American Antiquity 59: 680–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuart, D. E. and Gauthier, R. P. 1988 Prehistoric New Mexico: Background for Survey, 2nd edition. New Mexico Historic Preservation Bureau, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Wendorf, F. 1953 Archaeological Studies in the Petrified Forest National Monument. Museum of Northern Arizona, Bulletin No. 27. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Wendorf, F. 1950 A Report on the Excavation of a Small Ruin Near Point of Pines, East Central Arizona. University of Arizona Bulletin 21(3), Social Science Bulletin 19. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Wheat, J. B. 1954 Crooked Ridge Village (AZ W: 10: 15). The University of Arizona Social Science Bulletin No. 24. University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar