A Lithic Cache from the Crane Dune Site (41CR61), Crane County, Texas

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

AmaTerra Environmental, an ERG Company, initially recorded site 41CR61 during a survey of a proposed highway expansion for the Texas Department of Transportation in 2019. The site was situated on a stabilized sand dune, and the presence of a buried dark earth anthrosol bearing multiple cooking features prompted data recovery excavations. During those excavations, an intact lithic cache containing 65 Edwards chert flake blanks and one Marshall dart point was recovered. The artifacts were stacked in seven layers of decreasing diameter, indicating they were buried in a pit. Analyses included minimum analytical nodule (MAN) analysis, platform/bulb descriptions and measurements, cortex percentage, dorsal scar counts and orientations, overall measurements, number of modifications, low-power usewear, attempted refitting, and general descriptions. The results indicate that one MAN type dominated the assemblage with three others present, that flakes were removed from large cores with hammerstone percussion mostly in one preferred orientation, and a lack of refits indicates selective removal of blanks from the procurement location. Overall, the assemblage appears to have been an insurance cache of non-local, high-quality lithic material that was stored for future usage. The Crane cache provides a glimpse of procurement and/or trade patterns in an under-studied region of western Texas.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39429.0