The Cultural Importance of Obsidian in the Upper Gila Area

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Local Development and Cross-Cultural Interaction in Pre-Hispanic Southwestern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Obsidian is a common flaked stone raw material in archaeological sites in the Upper Gila area of southwest New Mexico. Recent excavations at the Cliff phase Salado (AD 1300-1450+) site of Gila River Farm recovered numerous examples of flaked stone tools, projectile points, and debitage, including many obsidian examples. Previous studies have examined reasons obsidian was favored for tool making, including its relatively easy workability and the proximity of an important obsidian source area (Mule Creek) to Upper Gila Cliff phase villages. This project goes beyond these important economic considerations to more deeply examine the cultural contexts influencing why people choose to use obsidian. Drawing on ethnographic materials, historical records, and unrestricted versions of the oral histories of modern pueblo groups and other indigenous people of the region (including Apachean people) reveals a clearer picture of why obsidian was and is used in the Southwest. This approach allows us to gain a more nuanced understanding of the importance of obsidian, including developing the idea of "sacred sites" or traditional cultural properties related to raw material gathering and former ancestral ranges.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Local Development and Cross-Cultural Interaction in Pre-Hispanic Southwestern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25830