Obsidian Artifacts at 48PA551: Using Obsidian to Address Land Tenure Strategies among Hunter-Gatherers of the Rocky Mountains

Summary

This is an abstract from the "A Tribute to the Contributions of Lawrence C. Todd to World Prehistory" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This research uses obsidian data from a single site in the GYE to test existing land tenure and territoriality models based on the sourcing and subsequent movement of obsidian. While on a spectrum, existing studies have generally polarized between two major schools of thought. These perspectives diverge over whether a single group or multiple groups were operating in the GYE and if they were practicing specific forms of territoriality and land tenure. This study does not seek to debate or reevaluate the models but instead tests them with a single dataset. The models are based on regional datasets that seek to understand broader patterns of prehistoric activity. The best way to test the validity of each hypothesis is to use new data from a site within the region and apply it to each model. With a large enough dataset, this approach, while relatively novel on its own, can significantly add to our understanding of prehistoric lifeways of the GYE. Dr. Larry Todd provided crucial obsidian sourcing data that made this study possible.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• A Tribute to the Contributions of Lawrence C. Todd to World Prehistory   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35669.0