How Chaco Got the Point: Exploring the Technological Transition from Atlatl to Bow and Arrow at Chaco Canyon

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Recent scholarship has recognized that the foundational elements of the Ancestral Puebloan culture observed during the height of the Chacoan Phenomenon first began to appear during the Basketmaker III time period (AD 450-750), with the construction of kivas, the emergence of vast trade networks, and population aggregation. However, one interesting aspect of the Basketmaker III time period at Chaco, which had previously been overlooked, was the introduction of bow and arrow technology and how that played a role in the developing social configuration that lead to the distinctive Chacoan culture. This study examined projectile points from previously excavated Basketmaker III sites in Chaco Canyon, now Chaco Culture National Historical Park, using the dart-arrow-index to identify evidence of atlatl or bow technology. A study in levels of point variability was used to determine how bow technology may have been introduced through the theoretical perspective of cultural transmission. Additionally, comparative studies of projectile points from Basketmaker III sites from the Four Corners area were also used to understand the broader technological trends and how that may have affected the technology seen at Chaco.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23095