Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T00:49:36.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Flaked Stone and Social Interaction in the Casas Grandes Region, Chihuahua, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Todd L. VanPool ,
Christine S. VanPool ,
Rafael Cruz Antillón ,
Robert D. Leonard  and
Marcel J. Harmon
Todd L. VanPool
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
Christine S. VanPool
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
Rafael Cruz Antillón
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro Regional, Chihuahua, Mexico
Robert D. Leonard
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
Marcel J. Harmon
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This analysis uses flaked stone artifacts to gain insight into the social and economic structure of the Casas Grandes region, northern Chihuahua, Mexico. It begins by considering the intrasite variation in flaked stone reduction at Galeana, a large site near the modern town of Galeana. The analysis of debitage and cores from Galeana indicates that the assemblage is primarily the product of hard hammer, generalized reduction of locally available materials. Differences within the assemblage indicate the presence of spatially distinct reduction areas, with initial core reduction occurring in open areas, and then continuing in room blocks. We then compare the Galeana assemblage with the flaked stone assemblage from the site of Paquimé (Casas Grandes), Chihuahua. The analysis indicates that the reduction technique employed at both sites is similar, but that the Paquimé assemblage is characterized by a greater proportion of cryptocrystaline silicates and obsidian than the Galeana assemblage. Furthermore, much of the raw material from Paquimé does not appear to be locally available. We conclude that the prehistoric inhabitants of Paquimé had greater access to cryptocrystaline silicates and obsidian acquired through trade than did the inhabitants of Galeana. This evidence indicates that the economic pattern evident at Paquimé did not extend to Galeana and supports the idea that Paquimé's economic and political influence over other Casas Grandes sites was limited beyond a 30-km radius.

Resumen

Resumen

En este trabajo se presenta un estudio de los artefactos tallados por percusión, que sirve de base para avanzar en el conocimiento de la estructura económica y social de la región de Casas Grandes (norte de Chihuaha, México). Para ello, presentamos una serie de datos relacionados con la variación interna existente en las fases de reducción lítica del conjunto recuperado en Galeana, un gran sitio arqueológico cercano a la actual localidad homónima. En el caso de los desechos de talla hemos analizado las siguientes variables: tipo de desecho involucrado, peso, largo, ancho, materia prima, tipo de plataforma y porcentaje de cortex presente en la cara dorsal. En el caso específico de los núcleos, analizamos el tipo de materia prima, peso, largo, ancho y porcentaje de cortex. El análisis de estos datos nos permitió inferir que el conjunto presente en Galeana fue conformado por episodios de reducción generalizada con reducción bifacial limitada y uso de percutores duros. También hemos registrado algunas diferencias dentro de dicho conjunto que indican la presencia de áreas de reducción espacialmente diferenciadas. La reducción inicial de los núcleos tuvo lugar en zonas abiertas. Luego, el trabajo se continuó en los conjuntos habitacionales. Las materias primas empleadas son mayoritariamente locales. Se trata de rocas ígneas de grano grueso, disponibles en la cuenca de drenaje del Río de Santa María. Este conjunto fue comparado con él procedente de Paquimé (Casas Grandes), también en Chihuahua, pero situado a 44 km de Galeana. Paquimé es uno de los sitios mas grandes del norte de México y del Suroeste norteamericano. Se supone que funcionó como centro de un sistema regional a gran escala. La técnica de reducción lítica utilizada en ambos sitios es similar. Sin embargo, el conjunto de Paquimé presenta una mayor propoción de silicatos criptocristalinos y obsidianas. Es más, la mayor parte de las materias primas presentes en Paquimé no están disponibles en la localidad. Por ello, pensamos que los habitantes precolombinos de Paquimé, posiblemente gracias al comercio, tenían mayores posibilidades de acceso a dichas rocas que los habitantes de Galeana. Esta evidencia apoya la propuesta de Minnis y Whalen, quienes sostienen que la influencia económica y política de Paquimé sobre la region de Casas Grandes estaba limitada a un radio de 30 km y que el patrón económico presente en Paquimé no puede extenderse a Galeana.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , June 2000 , pp. 163 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2000

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

Ahler, S. A. 1989 Mass Analysis of Flaking Debris: Studying the Forest Rather than the Tree. In Alternative Approaches to Lithic Analysis, edited by D. O. Henry and G. H. Odell, pp. 85–118. Archaeological Paper No. 1. American Anthropological Association, Arlington, Virginia.Google Scholar
Antillón, R. C. 1997 Estudio del patron de asentamientos humanos del este de Chihuahua. Informe de temporada 1997, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro INAH, Chihuahua.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R., and Quimby, G. I. 1963 Indian Sites and Chipped Stone Materials in the Northern Lake Michigan Region. Fieldiana Anthropology 36:277–307.Google Scholar
Bradley, B. 1975 Lithic Reduction Sequences: A Glossary and Discussion. In Lithic Technology: Making and Using Stone Tools, edited by E. Swanson, pp. 5–13. Mouton, The Hague.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R. 1992 Marine Shell Exchange in Northwest Mexico and the Southwest. In The American Southwest and Mesoamerica: Systems of Prehistoric Exchange, edited by J. E. Ericson and T. G. Baugh, pp. 121–151. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Callahan, E. 1979 The Basics of Biface Knapping in the Eastern Fluted Point Tradition: A Manual for Flintknappers and Lithic Analysts. Archaeology of Eastern North America 7:1—180.Google Scholar
Cotterell, B., and Kamminga, J. 1987 The Formation of Flakes. American Antiquity 52:675–708.Google Scholar
Crabtree, D. 1972 An Introduction to Flintworking. Occasional Paper No. 28. Idaho State Museum, Pocatello.Google Scholar
Dean, J. S., and Ravesloot, J. C. 1993 The Chronology of Cultural Interaction in the Gran Chichimeca. In Culture and Contact: Charles C. Di Peso’s Gran Chichimeca, edited by A. I. Woosley and J. C. Ravesloot, pp. 83–104. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Di Peso, C. C. 1974 Casas Grandes: The Medio Period. Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, vol. 2. Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, Arizona, and Northland Press, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Di Peso, C. C., Rinaldo, J. B., and Fenner, G. J. 1974 Casas Grandes: Stone and Metal. Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, vol. 7. Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, Arizona, and Northland Press, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Douglas, J. E. 1992 Distant Sources, Local Contexts: Interpreting Nonlocal Ceramics at Paquimé (Casas Grandes) Chihuahua. Journal of Anthropological Research 48:1–24.Google Scholar
Fish, P. R., and Fish, S. K. 1999 Reflections on the Casas Grandes Regional System from the Northwestern Periphery. In The Casas Grandes World, edited by C. F. Schaafsma, and C. L. Riley, pp. 27–42. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Foster, M. S. 1986 The Mesoamerican Connection: A View from the South. In Ripples in the Chichimec Sea: New Considerations of Southwestern-Mesoamerican Interactions, edited by F. J. Mathien and R. H. McGuire, pp. 55–69. Center for Archaeological Investigations and Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Fralick, P. W., Steward, J. D., and MacWilliams, A. C. 1998 Geochemistry of West-central Chihuahua Obsidian Nodules and Implications for the Derivation of Obsidian Artefacts. Journal of Archaeological Science 25:1023–1038.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, W. D. 1992 Chronology of the El Zurdo Site, Chihuahua. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Archaeology, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Google Scholar
LeBlanc, S. A. 1986 Aspects of Southwestern Prehistory: A.D. 900–1400. In Ripples in the Chichimec Sea: New Considerations of Southwestern-Mesoamerican Interactions, edited by F. J. Mathien and R. H. McGuire, pp. 105–134. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
McGuire, R. H. 1986 Economies and Modes of Production in the Prehistoric Southwestern Periphery. In Ripples in the Chichimec Sea: New Considerations of Southwestern- Mesoamerican Interactions, edited by F. J. Mathien and R. H. McGuire, pp. 243–269. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
McGuire, R. H. 1993 Charles Di Peso and the Mesoamerican Connection. In Culture and Contact: Charles C. Di Peso’s Gran Chichimeca, edited by A. I. Woosley and J. C. Ravesloot, pp. 23–38. Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, Arizona, and the University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
McPherron, A. 1967 The Juntunen Site and the Late Woodland Prehistory of the Upper Great Lakes Area. Anthropological Paper No. 30. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Magne, M. P., and Pokotylo, D. 1981 A Pilot Study in Bifacial Lithic Reduction Sequences. Lithic Technology 10:34–47.Google Scholar
Mathien, F. J. 1986 External Contact and the Chaco Anasazi. In Ripples in the Chichimec Sea: New Considerations of Southwestern-Mesoamerican Interactions, edited by F. J. Mathien and R. H. McGuire, pp. 220–242. Center for Archaeological Investigations and Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Mauldin, R. P., and Amick, D. S. 1989 Investigating Patterning from Experimental Bifacial Core Reduction. In Experiments in Lithic Technology, edited by D. Amick and R. Mauldin, pp. 67–89. BAR International Series 528. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Minnis, P. 1988 Four Examples of Specialized Production at Casas Grandes, Northwestern Chihuahua. Kiva 53:181–193.Google Scholar
Minnis, P. E., and Whalen, M. E. 1995 Casas Grandes: Archaeology in Northern Mexico. Expedition 35:34–43.Google Scholar
Parry, W. J., and Kelley, R. L. 1987 Expedient Core Technology and Sedentism. In The Organization of Core Technology, edited by J. K. Johnson and C. A. Morrow, pp. 285–304. Westview Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Phillips, D. A. Jr. 1989 Prehistory of Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico. Journal of World Prehistory 3:373–402.Google Scholar
Reyman, J. E. 1978 Pochteca Burials at Anasazi Sites? In Across the Chichimec Sea: Papers in Honor of J. Charles Kelley, edited by C. L. Riley and B. C. Hedrick, pp. 242–262. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Shott, M. J. 1994 Size and Form in the Analysis of Flake Debris: Review and Recent Approaches. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 1:69–110.Google Scholar
Sullivan, A. P., and Rozen, K. C. 1985 Debitage Analysis and Archaeological Interpretation. American Antiquity 50:755–779.Google Scholar
Teltser, P. A. 1991 Generalized Core Technology and Tool Use: A Mississippian Example. Journal of Field Archaeology 18:363—375.Google Scholar
Vargas, V D. 1995 Copper Bell Trade Patterns in the Prehispanic U. S. Southwest and Northwest Mexico. Archaeological Series 187. Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Whalen, M. E., and Minnis, P. E. 1996 Ball Courts and Political Centralization in the Casas Grandes Region. American Antiquity 61:732–746.Google Scholar
Whitecotton, J. W., and Pailes, R. A. 1986 New World Precolumbian World Systems. In Ripples in the Chichimec Sea: New Considerations of Southwestern-Mesoamerican Interactions, edited by F. J. Mathien and R. H. McGuire, pp. 183–204. Center for Archaeological Investigations and Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Wooseley, A. I., and Olinger, B. 1993 The Casas Grandes Ceramic Tradition: Production and Interregional Exchange of Ramos Polychrome. In Culture and Contact: Charles C. Di Peso’s Gran Chichimeca, edited by A. I. Woosley and J. C. Ravesloot, pp. 105–132. Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, Arizona, and the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar