Research Analysis of Tool-Stone Procurement Patterns in the Gila Forks Region and Beyond

Summary

Lithic data from Twin Pines Pueblo in the Gila Forks region of New Mexico can shed new light on tool-stone procurement strategies in the American Southwest. The goal of this research is to track the economic strategies among the Mimbres people by investigating stone-tool raw material distributions and procurement strategies. I begin by defining local, semi-local, and non-local lithic materials in the Gila Forks region. Then, I investigate how groups in this region procured and used different raw materials using both mass and metric analyses. These analyses allow us to understand general and particular patterns of raw material distributions and lithic reduction processes. For local and semi-local materials, I address the following points: 1) what types of tools were manufactured using particular raw materials, 2) did residents at Twin Pines manufacture stone tools at the site or areas away from the habitation area? For non-local materials, I use x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis for obsidian tools and their debris. This analysis addresses issues of procurement from local obsidian quarries. My analysis ends with a discussion of local and regional interaction within the landscape, possible settlement patterns associated with procurement strategies, and tool-stone variables between local and regional raw material sources.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• A Flurry of Field Schools in the Upper Gila and Mimbres Drainages   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15323