When in the World? A Comparative Debitage Analysis of Single-component Sites through Time at Petrified Forest National Park

Summary

Both Paleoindian and Archaic sites hold valuable information concerning some of the first people in North America, yet these sites remain to be some of the most difficult to identify. Without diagnostics like architecture and ceramics to turn to, projectile points are what are most commonly depended on when trying to date these locales. However, debitage makes up the bulk of the artifacts found on these sites and sites of later dates, and it is highly plausible that debitage characteristics will follow a pattern based on the technological changes that occur over time. Taking debitage and the associated patterns into greater consideration allows for more accurate dating and data. In-field debitage analyses on single-component sites paired with analyses done in the past at sites spanning from the Paleoindian to Pueblo IV in the Petrified Forest is presented here. I will be looking at a variety of variables, including size, platform types and sizes, proportions of raw materials, debitage types, and other morphological characteristics. By doing so, I hope to find lithic assemblage signatures that correspond with specific time periods which would allow for Paleoindian and Archaic sites, as well as later sites, to become more distinguishable in the archaeological record.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Archaeological Research in Petrified Forest National Park   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage