Stone Geometrics: An Inclusive Typology Matrix for Californian and Chilean Cogged Stones

Summary

Drawing on recent studies of cogged stones by Scientific Resource Surveys, Inc., comparisons can be made between the artifacts found along coastal Southern California and morphologically similar artifacts unearthed in the Coquimbo region of Chile. This poster will describe a new method of calibrating typological shapes for describing both Californian and Chilean cogged stone artifacts. Several caches containing unconventionally shaped cogged stones were discovered by SRSinc during archaeological investigations on the Bolsa Chica mesa. Instead of describing them with an arbitrary label, a matrix was developed to provide a standard descriptive typology incorporating any odd-shaped cogged stone into a new typology of Stone Geometrics. Borrowing an identification system from Paleontology, this matrix registers two-dimensional shapes [or plan views] by three levels of radiates based on the length of extensions from the body of the artifact. SRS studied approximately 1000 specimens from both Southern California and Chile, documenting them photographically and collecting appropriate data including number of cogs (or sides), diameter, thickness, and geometric shape. The model also provides a diagrammatic aid for basic three-dimensional shape descriptions.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage