Cienega Points and Late Archaic Period Chronology in the Southern Southwest

Summary

J. Whittaker: Late Archaic - San Pedro + Cienega points - refined typology.

SP = large, corner to side notched. C = smaller, triangular, corner notched, expanding stem, pressure flaked. Cienega subtypes: C Flared, C Long, C Short, C Stemmed. Rework could make C Long become C short or stemmed, but average C Short not fit model.

Temporal seriation: C Short, C Long, Stemmed, Flared - C14 from 2800-1600 bp.

Thomas/Shott discriminant analysis says all Short and Stemmed, some Flared and Long = arrow points.

San Pedro phase (early) - only large points, then starting early Cienega Phase, small points too. Larger SP points may have knife functions as they coexist with arrows. So folk were experimenting with bow and arrow by early Cienega Phase (800 BC).

[She thinks she sees fluctuations in popularity of bows and atlatls, but neither dates on sites nor point sample is adequate to say more than that large and small points coexisted after SP. Lack of small points in SP is also result of too small a sample of both points and sites. Suggests earlier bow and arrow than most would agree - possible but point size alone is not adequate evidence.]

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• EXARC Experimental Archaeology Collection

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): EXARC Experimental Archaeology Collection Manager

Record Identifiers

ExArc Id(s): 10210

Notes

Rights & Attribution: The information in this record was originally compiled by Dr. Roeland Paardekooper, EXARC Director.