The Role of Fire-Processed Limestone at the Shivwits Plateau, Arizona

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeology of the Virgin Branch Puebloan Region" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This study explores the role of limestone as a potential element in hide working among the Virgin Puebloan Branch people who inhabited the Shivwits Plateau, Arizona, in precontact times (~ 300 BC–AD 1200). Hide working is generally a female related activity that is lacking research in archaeology. This study demonstrates the importance of researching women-related activities to understand better the myriad of ways in which materials such as limestone could have been used in precontact times. To accomplish this goal, (1) this study reports on archaeological evidence of fire processed limestone at the Shivwits Plateau, (2) provides an overview of some of the ancient and modern uses of limestone associated with hide processing, and (3) presents an experimental study to test the effects of fire-process limestone on hide working. The results show that using limestone expedites the depilation of hides and provides antimicrobial properties. Furthermore, this study makes the case that fire-processed limestone could have been used by the Virgin Puebloan Branch people for hide working.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeology of the Virgin Branch Puebloan Region   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38721.0