118 posts · 61,135 views
A blog discussing a variety of subjects related to Chaco Canyon, the prehistoric American Southwest, and their complex connections to the world today.
teofilo
118 posts
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- June 4, 2010
- 12:31 AM
- 482 views
Atlatls to Bows: Enter the Bow
by teofilo in Gambler's House
I’ve said quite a lot about atlatls, so perhaps it’s time to move on to the second part of this series. The bow and arrow is a sufficiently popular weapon system even today that it doesn’t need much introduction. It’s important to note, however, that most archaeologists have concluded that the bow and arrow is [...]... Read more »
Evans, O. (1957) Probable Use of Stone Projectile Points. American Antiquity, 23(1), 83. DOI: 10.2307/277288
Farmer, M. (1994) The Origins of Weapon Systems. Current Anthropology, 35(5), 679. DOI: 10.1086/204331
- July 15, 2010
- 04:34 PM
- 479 views
Why No Wheels?
by teofilo in Gambler's House
I’m back at Chaco and giving tours again, so I’m once again being exposed to visitors’ common questions and preconceptions in a way I haven’t been in a long time. One thing that seems to surprise a lot of visitors is the fact that the Chacoans apparently had no knowledge of the wheel, or if [...]... Read more »
Ekholm, G. (1946) Wheeled Toys in Mexico. American Antiquity, 11(4), 222. DOI: 10.2307/275722
Lister, R. (1947) Additional Evidence of Wheeled Toys in Mexico. American Antiquity, 12(3), 184. DOI: 10.2307/275708
- June 10, 2011
- 11:31 AM
- 479 views
Syphilis at Chaco
by teofilo in Gambler's House
There’s a persistent archaeological meme about there being a “lack of burials” at Chaco Canyon. The idea is that not nearly enough burials have been found there to account for the size and magnificence of the architecture, so something odd is going on. This has been interpreted in various ways and used as support for [...]... Read more »
Marden, K., & Ortner, D. (2011) A case of treponematosis from pre-Columbian Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 21(1), 19-31. DOI: 10.1002/oa.1103
- December 25, 2010
- 02:40 AM
- 476 views
The C Word
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Near the very end of his report on the excavations at Pueblo Bonito by the Hyde Expedition in the 1890s, George Pepper wrote the following: The finding of cracked and calcined bones in some of the rooms brings up the question of the eating of human flesh by the people of this pueblo. There was [...]... Read more »
Billman, B., Lambert, P., & Leonard, B. (2000) Cannibalism, Warfare, and Drought in the Mesa Verde Region during the Twelfth Century A.D. American Antiquity, 65(1), 145. DOI: 10.2307/2694812
Dongoske, K., Martin, D., & Ferguson, T. (2000) Critique of the Claim of Cannibalism at Cowboy Wash. American Antiquity, 65(1), 179. DOI: 10.2307/2694813
Lambert, P., Leonard, B., Billman, B., Marlar, R., Newman, M., & Reinhard, K. (2000) Response to Critique of the Claim of Cannibalism at Cowboy Wash. American Antiquity, 65(2), 397. DOI: 10.2307/2694066
- January 25, 2010
- 01:45 AM
- 475 views
More on Food Imports to Chaco
by teofilo in Gambler's House
The paper I discussed earlier about evidence that corn was imported to Chaco was interesting, but while it provided important information about the poorly understood “Mesa Verdean” period after the fall of the Chaco system it didn’t address the question of food imports during the operation of that system. This has been a topic of [...]... Read more »
BENSON, L., STEIN, J., & TAYLOR, H. (2009) Possible sources of archaeological maize found in Chaco Canyon and Aztec Ruin, New Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(2), 387-407. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2008.09.023
- August 17, 2010
- 04:24 PM
- 475 views
So What Did the Turkeys Eat?
by teofilo in Gambler's House
As if on cue, given that I’ve been talking about turkey husbandry and stable isotope testing of human remains, a paper in the latest issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science combines the two, using similar stable isotope techniques on turkey remains from sites in southwestern Colorado to determine what the turkeys were eating. The [...]... Read more »
Rawlings, T., & Driver, J. (2010) Paleodiet of domestic turkey, Shields Pueblo (5MT3807), Colorado: isotopic analysis and its implications for care of a household domesticate. Journal of Archaeological Science, 37(10), 2433-2441. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2010.05.004
- October 24, 2010
- 10:16 PM
- 471 views
Mesa Verde Water Control
by teofilo in Gambler's House
I’ve previously discussed water control technologies at Chaco, where they were particularly important given the extreme aridity of that area even by Southwestern standards. There is abundant evidence, however, that water control was a widespread activity throughout the ancient Southwest, even in areas with more reliable water sources. The best-studied water control systems have been [...]... Read more »
Rohn, A. (1963) Prehistoric Soil and Water Conservation on Chapin Mesa, Southwestern Colorado. American Antiquity, 28(4), 441. DOI: 10.2307/278554
Wilshusen, R., Churchill, M., & Potter, J. (1997) Prehistoric Reservoirs and Water Basins in the Mesa Verde Region: Intensification of Water Collection Strategies during the Great Pueblo Period. American Antiquity, 62(4), 664. DOI: 10.2307/281885
- August 10, 2010
- 11:30 PM
- 470 views
The Turkey Connection
by teofilo in Gambler's House
In a comment to the previous post, Alan Reed Bishop brings up an issue closely related to the recent evidence for early maize cultivation in Chaco Canyon: the introduction of domesticated turkeys to the Southwest. A recent study of archaeological turkey remains found that the majority of the turkeys found in Southwestern archaeological sites are [...]... Read more »
Matson, R., & Chisholm, B. (1991) Basketmaker II Subsistence: Carbon Isotopes and Other Dietary Indicators from Cedar Mesa, Utah. American Antiquity, 56(3), 444. DOI: 10.2307/280894
Speller, C., Kemp, B., Wyatt, S., Monroe, C., Lipe, W., Arndt, U., & Yang, D. (2010) Ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals complexity of indigenous North American turkey domestication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(7), 2807-2812. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0909724107
- December 19, 2011
- 04:09 AM
- 468 views
The Puzzling Dena’ina
by teofilo in Gambler's House
As I mentioned in the last post, it’s generally thought that the Athapaskan migrations which eventually led to the entrance of the Navajos and Apaches into the Southwest began in Alaska. The northern Athapaskan languages are actually spoken over a very large area of northwestern Canada as well, but the linguistic evidence clearly points to [...]... Read more »
Osgood, C. (1933) Tanaina Culture. American Anthropologist, 35(4), 695-717. DOI: 10.1525/aa.1933.35.4.02a00070
- January 30, 2012
- 03:16 AM
- 468 views
Where Did the Cahokians Come From?
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Regardless of exactly how many people lived at Cahokia, it’s clear from recent research that the population of the site and its immediately surrounding area grew immensely in a short period of time in the eleventh century AD. As Timothy Pauketat points out in the 2003 article that I was discussing earlier, the scale of [...]... Read more »
Lynott, M., Neff, H., Price, J., Cogswell, J., & Glascock, M. (2000) Inferences about Prehistoric Ceramics and People in Southeast Missouri: Results of Ceramic Compositional Analysis. American Antiquity, 65(1), 103. DOI: 10.2307/2694810
Pauketat, T. (2003) Resettled Farmers and the Making of a Mississippian Polity. American Antiquity, 68(1), 39. DOI: 10.2307/3557032
- July 8, 2010
- 03:35 PM
- 466 views
Atlatls to Bows: A Suspiciously Large Arrow
by teofilo in Gambler's House
In comments to the previous post, pato’ links to a recent press release on the discovery of an atlatl dart in a melting ice patch near Yellowstone. This type of discovery is becoming more common as global warming causes ice patches and glaciers to melt at an unprecedented rate, releasing artifacts that have been frozen [...]... Read more »
Keddie, G., & Nelson, E. (2005) An Arrow from the Tsitsutl Glacier, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Archaeology, 113-123. info:/
- July 16, 2010
- 02:32 AM
- 464 views
Woof!
by teofilo in Gambler's House
In comments to the previous post ben asked about the use of dogs as draft animals. I replied that they were so used in conjunction with the travois, especially on the Plains, but that the dogs in the Southwest and in Mesoamerica were smaller than Plains dogs and not able to pull any substantial loads. [...]... Read more »
Colton, H. (1970) The Aboriginal Southwestern Indian Dog. American Antiquity, 35(2), 153. DOI: 10.2307/278144
- January 7, 2012
- 02:46 AM
- 459 views
Gendered Language among the Pueblos
by teofilo in Gambler's House
This video has attracted some attention in certain corners of the internet. It features a (very talented) male actor doing a pitch-perfect impersonation of a young woman saying various expressions that are strongly stereotyped as “female” in contemporary American English. One thing that struck me about watching the video was how it shows how [...]... Read more »
Kroskrity, P. (1983) On Male and Female Speech in the Pueblo Southwest. International Journal of American Linguistics, 49(1), 88. DOI: 10.1086/465769
Sims, C., & Valiquette, H. (1990) More on Male and Female Speech in (Acoma and Laguna) Keresan. International Journal of American Linguistics, 56(1), 162. DOI: 10.1086/466144
- August 5, 2010
- 03:51 PM
- 457 views
The Context for Early Maize at Chaco
by teofilo in Gambler's House
In my earlier post about Stephen Hall‘s recent paper reporting on maize pollen at Chaco Canyon dating as early as 2500 BC, I said briefly that this really shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who’s been following this kind of research closely, and also that I would discuss the context for it later. Basically, the context [...]... Read more »
Merrill, W., Hard, R., Mabry, J., Fritz, G., Adams, K., Roney, J., & MacWilliams, A. (2009) The diffusion of maize to the southwestern United States and its impact. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(50), 21019-21026. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0906075106
Simmons, A. (1986) New Evidence for the Early Use of Cultigens in the American Southwest. American Antiquity, 51(1), 73. DOI: 10.2307/280395
- May 18, 2010
- 03:10 AM
- 452 views
Atlatls to Bows: A Very Strange Atlatl from California
by teofilo in Gambler's House
In November of 1793 a British naval expedition commanded by Captain George Vancouver arrived at the small Spanish settlement of Santa Barbara on the coast of California. Vancouver’s primary mission was to explore and map the poorly understood northwest coast of North America, building on the more preliminary information provided earlier by Captain James Cook. [...]... Read more »
Heizer, R. (1938) An Inquiry into the Status of the Santa Barbara Spear-Thrower. American Antiquity, 4(2), 137. DOI: 10.2307/275985
Read, C. (1892) An Account of a Collection of Ethnographical Specimens Formed During Vancouver's Voyage in the Pacific Ocean, 1790-1795. The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 99. DOI: 10.2307/2842277
- May 11, 2010
- 12:21 AM
- 450 views
Atlatls to Bows: Loopy
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Intact atlatls are rarely found, but when they are it’s usually in the Southwest or the Great Basin, arid regions with good preservation conditions for perishable materials like wood and leather. Some, but not all, of the examples that have been found in these areas have pieces of leather attached as apparent finger loops to [...]... Read more »
Ekholm, G. (1962) U-Shaped "Ornaments" Identified as Finger-Loops from Atlatls. American Antiquity, 28(2), 181. DOI: 10.2307/278375
Johnson, A. (1971) Finger-Loops and Cruciform Objects. American Antiquity, 36(2), 188. DOI: 10.2307/278671
- September 5, 2010
- 01:34 PM
- 449 views
About Those Effigy Vessels
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Okay, I said I would say more about George Pepper’s description of the effigy vessels from Chaco, so here goes. One interesting thing that he notes is that these are the northernmost examples of human effigy vessels found in the Southwest. I believe this is still the case over a hundred years later; in general, [...]... Read more »
VanPool, C. (2003) The Shaman-Priests of the Casas Grandes Region, Chihuahua, Mexico. American Antiquity, 68(4), 696-717. DOI: 10.2307/3557068
VanPool, C., & VanPool, T. (2006) Gender in Middle Range Societies: A Case Study in Casas Grandes Iconography. American Antiquity, 71(1), 53-75. DOI: 10.2307/40035321
- October 28, 2011
- 11:50 PM
- 449 views
The Alaska Highway and Its Past
by teofilo in Gambler's House
On this date in 1942, US Army engineering crews working east from Delta Junction, Alaska and west from Whitehorse, Yukon met up near Beaver Creek, Yukon, completing the Alaska Highway. For the first time, Alaska was accessible from the Lower 48 by road. This was a remarkable achievement, especially since it was done in only [...]... Read more »
Johnson, F. (1946) An Archaeological Survey along the Alaska Highway, 1944. American Antiquity, 11(3), 183. DOI: 10.2307/275560
- September 5, 2010
- 11:10 PM
- 445 views
Do the Chaco Effigy Vessels Portray Kachinas?
by teofilo in Gambler's House
One noteworthy thing about George Pepper’s interpretations of the effigy vessels found at Pueblo Bonito is his attempt to link them to specific Hopi kachinas. He does find a general similarity in facial and body decoration between one of the partial vessels, found in Room 38, and one kachina and notes at the end of [...]... Read more »
Lekson, S., & Cameron, C. (1995) The abandonment of Chaco Canyon, the Mesa Verde migrations, and the reorganization of the Pueblo world. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 184-202. DOI: 10.1006/jaar.1995.1010
- August 16, 2010
- 08:05 PM
- 441 views
Basketmaker Subsistence
by teofilo in Gambler's House
One of the important questions in understanding the spread of agriculture into the Southwest from Mexico is when Southwestern peoples became dependent on it for their subsistence. It is generally accepted that this dependence was in place by the Pueblo I period, which is defined as starting around AD 750 in most areas, but there [...]... Read more »
Coltrain, J., Janetski, J., & Carlyle, S. (2007) The Stable- and Radio-Isotope Chemistry of Western Basketmaker Burials: Implications for Early Puebloan Diets and Origins. American Antiquity, 72(2), 301. DOI: 10.2307/40035815
Matson, R., & Chisholm, B. (1991) Basketmaker II Subsistence: Carbon Isotopes and Other Dietary Indicators from Cedar Mesa, Utah. American Antiquity, 56(3), 444. DOI: 10.2307/280894
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