Results of Petrographic and NAA of Ramos and Babicora Polychromes from Across the Casas Grandes Region

Summary

Whereas past studies have suggested that some Casas Grandes polychrome types are more common in some geographic areas than others (see Brand 1935; De Atley 1980; Findlow and DeAtley 1982; Kelley et al. 1999; Larkin et al. 2004 for more complete discussions), these studies have been challenged as they assume polychromes recovered are made locally, rather than imported from other sites (Douglas 1995; Minnis 1984, 1989). As a result, recent studies refocus on polychrome production (Carpenter 2002, Sphren 2003, Woosley and Olinger's 1993). In my presentation, I will discuss the results of petrographic and NAA of polychrome sherds from Sayle's 1936 surface collections, which is geographically extensive, extending from southern New Mexico, eastern Sonora, to central Chihuahua. Sayle's (1936) collection will be utilized to determine the extent, strength, and directionality of human relationships across the Casas Grandes region. Characterization studies, like petrographic analysis and NAA, aid in my understanding of variability of standardization of paste-temper across the region, helping to determine past communities of practice and networks of knowledge. As single method studies have been most common, in the past, coupling petrographic and NAA data may help clarify many of the intermittent, contradictory interpretations that currently exist in the literature.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage