Socialized Landscapes of the Southern Plains: Bedrock Ground Stone Surfaces on the Chaquaqua Plateau, Colorado

Summary

Prehistoric peoples of the Southern Plains created bedrock ground stone surfaces in rockshelters along upper canyon rims on exposed Dakota Sandstone. These bedrock milling features became centers for the reproduction of food and other resources but also developed into anchored places that facilitated the reproduction of socio-cultural values and norms. The socialization of the Southern Plains prehistoric landscape is most visible in the material culture remains of bedrock milling features that are ubiquitous in the canyon systems of the Purgatoire watershed in southeastern Colorado. Analysis of the milling surface morphology, differences in their organization on bedrock features, and their distribution across the landscape suggest that site activities vary from quotidian and seasonal group milling of local food resources (pinon, oak, juniper and other berries and grasses) to specialized grinding for ceremonial or ritual events. Bedrock milling surfaces were divided into sub-features based on surface proximity and abrasion between ground stone surfaces on each boulder feature. This paper uses 3D modeling called close range photogrammetry to test whether the recognition of group milling activities, through the sub-division of bedrock milling features into sub-features, is a viable method to understand how prehistoric peoples organized and socialized their milling material culture.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Bedrock features (mortars, slicks and grooves): Documentation, analysis and interpretation

Keywords

Spatial Coverage