Lithic Assemblage Variability at the Regional Level: Raw Material Conditions, Time, and Site Function

Summary

Several recent excavation projects by SWCA in far southeastern New Mexico have produced an immense dataset on lithic artifacts from 20 sites. This includes attribute data from thousands of individually analyzed lithic artifacts, mostly debitage. The excavated sites collectively cover a large swath across the region, and as such encompass appreciable variation in terms of local raw material conditions, as well as temporal affiliation and site function. Statistical analysis of the dataset was carried out to assess the relative effects of these variables in shaping assemblage patterning between these sites and local site clusters. The findings reveal that raw material conditions have a major influence on assemblage characteristics and variability. But temporal factors, including the changeover from the atlatl to the bow-and-arrow around A.D. 500, is also arguably an important factor behind the observed patterns. So too with site function, the influence of which is underscored by significant differences between selected certain sites. This includes a residential site where a variety of tasks were carried out, versus an adjacent site where activities were narrowly focused on lithic procurement, initial reduction, and perhaps practice knapping by beginners and novices.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20228