ANALYSIS OF AN ORGANIC SPECIMEN RESEMBLING LEATHER RECOVERED FROM A SMALL PITHOUSE IN NEW MEXICO

Summary

A flat specimen that resembled leather was recovered at a small pithouse site. A square piece of adobe, surrounded by many large pieces of El Paso Polychrome vessel fragments, animal bones, charcoal, and large pieces of corn cobs, was noted resting on the floor. The “leather” specimen was observed, as if placed, near the adobe. Ascertaining whether or not this piece of “leather” was leather or some other material was important to analysis of this assemblage, the pithouse, and questions of abandonment. Therefore, we conducted protein residue analysis and XRF analysis to describe this material.

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Contact(s): PaleoResearch Institute