Technical Analysis of Hohokam Stone Palettes from Pueblo Grande Museum

Summary

In a graduate seminar on flaked and ground stone analysis, Payson Sheets emphasized the importance of experimental replication of production techniques for lithic analysis. In this study, I build upon the work of another of Payson's students, Devin White, who analyzed Hohokam palettes in the collections at Arizona State Museum in Tucson, and apply his methods to the analysis of palettes at Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix. In addition, I attempt to replicate some of the techniques used in the production of palettes to determine the steps involved in creating the objects and some of their common design elements. I also examine the palettes under magnification to search for remnants of painted designs on the borders, a decorative technique that might have been more common than once thought, but was rarely preserved.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• After the Volcano Erupted: Papers in Honor of Payson Sheets (Part 2)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage