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Obsidian: Geology and Archaeology in the North American Southwest

by M. Steven Shackley

University of Arizona Press, 2005
eISBN: 978-0-8165-5003-6 | Cloth: 978-0-8165-2396-2
Library of Congress Classification E78.S7S43 2005
Dewey Decimal Classification 979.01

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Obsidian was long valued by ancient peoples as a raw material for producing stone tools, and archaeologists have increasingly come to view obsidian studies as a crucial aid in understanding the past. Steven Shackley now shows how the geochemical and contextual analyses of archaeological obsidian can be applied to the interpretation of social and economic organization in the ancient Southwest. This book, the capstone of decades of investigation, integrates a wealth of obsidian research in one volume. It covers advances in analytical chemistry and field petrology that have enhanced our understanding of obsidian source heterogeneity, presents the most recent data on and interpretations of archaeological obsidian sources in the Southwest, and explores the ethnohistorical and contemporary background for obsidian use in indigenous societies. Shackley provides a thorough examination of the geological origin of obsidian in the region and the methods used to collect raw material and determine its chemical composition, and descriptions of obsidian sources throughout the Southwest. He then describes the occurrence of obsidian artifacts and shows how their geochemical fingerprints allow archaeologists to make conclusions regarding the procurement of obsidian. The book presents three groundbreaking applications of obsidian source studies. It first discusses an application to early Preceramic groups, showing how obsidian sources can reflect the range they inhabited over time as well as their social relationships during the Archaic period. It then offers an examination of the Late Classic Salado in Arizona’s Tonto Basin, where obsidian data, along with ceramic and architectural evidence, suggest that Mogollon migrants lived in economic and social harmony with the Hohokam, all the while maintaining relationships with their homeland. Finally, it provides an intensive look at social identity and gender differences in the Preclassic Hohokam of central Arizona, where obsidian source provenance and projectile point styles suggest that male Hohokam sought to create a stylistically defined identity in at least three areas of the Hohokam core area. These male “sodalities” were organized quite differently from female ceramic production groups. Today, obsidian research in the American Southwest enjoys an equal standing with ceramic, faunal, and floral studies as a method of revealing social process and change in prehistory. Shackley’s book discusses the ways in which archaeologists should approach obsidian research, no matter what the region, offering a thorough survey of archaeological obsidian studies that will have methodological and theoretical applications worldwide. The volume includes an extensive glossary created specifically for archaeologists.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

M. Steven Shackley is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Berkeley Archaeological XRF Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[FMT]Contents[\]
List of Illustrations	000
List of Tables	000
Preface	000
Part I	Geology, Methods, and the Sources of Archaeological Obsidian	000
1	"Little Black Rocks in the Desert": An Introduction	000
2	Obsidian Petrology and Geologic History	000
3	Obsidian Sources: Geology, Geography, and Archaeology	000
4	Beyond a "Fishing Expedition": Laboratory and Field Strategies for the 
Discovery and Analysis of Archaeological Obsidian in the Southwest
	000
Part II	Archaeology, History, and Application	000
5	Obsidian in Ethnohistory and the Public Imagination	000
6	Range and Procurement in the Preceramic Southwest	000
7	Migration, Ethnicity, and External Relationships in the Classic Period 
Tonto Basin	000
8	Gender and Social Identity During the Hohokam Sacaton Phase	000
9	Obsidian Studies in a Twenty-first-Century Southwestern Archaeology	000
Glossary	000
Appendix: Elemental Concentrations for Unpublished Sources of Archaeological 
Obsidian in the Southwest and Instrument Conditions for Analysis	000
Notes	000
References Cited	000
Index	000m^
[FMT]List of Illustrations[\]
[FM1]Figures[\]
1.1. General location of sources of archaeological obsidian in the greater 
American Southwest	000
2.1. The 885-year-old Glass Mountain obsidian flow on the east rim of the 
Medicine Lake caldera in northeastern California	000
2.2 Obsidian flow breccia at Glass Mountain, Medicine Lake Highlands Volcanic 
Field, northeastern California	000
2.3 Stylized cross section of a recent rhyolite extrusion producing aphyric 
obsidian	000
2.4 The evolution of Mid-Tertiary and Quaternary volcanism in Arizona	000
2.5. A schematic section through the continental and oceanic crust showing 
crust and mantle lithosphere	000
2.6. Obsidian zone with remnant marekanites at the Antelope Creek locality, 
New Mexico	000
2.7. Spherical and spheroidal marekanites in remnant perlitic lava at Locality 
2, Sand Tanks, western Arizona	000
2.8. Large (] 10 cm) nodules on the southeast side of Quaternary RS Hill, San 
Francisco Volcanic Field	000
2.9. Tertiary coalesced rhyolite domes at Los Vidrios, Sonora, on the eastern 
edge of the Sierra Piñacate Volcanic Field	000
2.10. Schematic diagram of the evolution of the collapse of the Valles Caldera
	000
3.1. Obsidian-producing domes in the San Francisco Volcanic Field	000
3.2. Government Mountain dome complex from the west	000
3.3. The Sand Tanks obsidian source area and distinctive features	000
3.4. Angular marekanites in ashy perlitic matrix at Locality 1C, Sand Tanks
	000
3.5. The eastern Arizona/western New Mexico region and sources of 
archaeological obsidian	000
3.6. Rb, Zr, Ba three-dimensional plot of three in situ located Mule Creek 
chemical groups	000
3.7. Selected topographical and geological map of the Mount Taylor study area
	000
3.8. Y versus Nb biplot of Horace Mesa and Grants Ridge source standards
	000
3.9. Topographical rendering of a portion of the Jemez Mountains, Valles 
Caldera, and relevant features	000
3.10. Generalized stratigraphic relations of the major volcanic and alluvial 
units in the Jemez Mountains	000
3.11. Rb, Y, Zr three-dimensional plot of Valle Grande, El Rechuelos, and 
Cerro Toledo Rhyolite obsidian source standards	000
3.12. Valle Grande Rhyolite obsidian nodules photographed by Boyer and 
Robinson collected along San Antonio Creek in the caldera	000
3.13. Fralick et al. map of source assignments in central-southern Chihuahua
	000
3.14. Rb, Sr, Zr plot of Agua Fria and Sierra la Breña "source" standards
	000
3.15. Landsat shaded relief map of a portion of the basin and range region of 
northwestern Chihuahua	000
5.1. Pima arrowpoints from Russell (1908:110)	000
5.2. The territory of the Watarma band of Northeastern Yavapai	000
6.1. Obsidian source provenance and lithic technology studies in Preceramic 
sites	000
6.2. Proportion of archaeological obsidian source material in Middle Archaic 
sites	000
6.3. Proportion of archaeological obsidian source material in Late Archaic 
sites	000
6.4. Selection of obsidian projectile points and one preform from AZ CC:3:76 
(ASM)	000
6.5. Distribution of obsidian source provenance for the assemblage as a whole 
from the US 191 sites	000
7.1. Tonto Basin, central Arizona, and various project sites	000
7.2. Proportion of obsidian sources in Classic Tonto Basin sites overall
	000
7.3. Distribution of obsidian source provenance at Cline Terrace Mound	000
7.4. Distribution of obsidian source provenance at Rock Island	000
7.5. Distribution of obsidian source provenance at Schoolhouse	000
7.6. Distribution of obsidian source provenance at Livingston	000
8.1. Hoffman's three major tool traditions, the sites analyzed in his study 
with the addition of Palo Verde Ruin and AZ U:11:252	000
8.2. Hoffman's (1997) decorative point styles	000
8.3. Hoffman's (1997) utilitarian point styles	000
8.4. A sample of obsidian Snaketown Serrated points from Snaketown	000
8.5. Upper row: Sample of obsidian Sauceda Side-notched points from Snaketown. 
Lower row: Mix of various utilitarian and other forms	000
8.6. Frequency distribution of obsidian source provenance for all artifacts 
from Snaketown	000
8.7. Obsidian source provenance by Snaketown Serrated and Sauceda Side-notched 
at Snaketown	000
8.8. Detail of the late Sedentary hamlet at AZ U:11:252 (ASM)	000
8.9. Raw Superior source marekanites and bipolar cores and fragments from AZ 
U:11:252	000
8.10. Superior source bipolar flakes and fragments, and early to late stage 
projectile point preforms from AZ U:11:252	000
8.11. Snaketown Serrated projectile points from AZ U:11:252	000
8.12. Distribution of obsidian source provenance at the Gatlin Site near Gila 
Bend	000
8.13. A sample of obsidian projectile points from the Gatlin Site	000
8.14. Mainly obsidian projectile points from the Moreland Locus cemetery at La 
Ciudad	000
8.15. Distribution of obsidian source provenance at Palo Verde Ruin	000
8.16. Obsidian projectile point forms from Palo Verde Ruin	000
8.17. Obsidian projectile points from the Cohonina Pittsburgh Village Site 
near Williams, Arizona	000
8.18. Major Sacaton Phase Hohokam tool traditions and the obsidian source 
provenance mix for the traditions	000
[FM1]Tables[\]
2.1. Major and trace element chemistry of different types of obsidian 
worldwide	000
3.1. Occurrences of Sand Tank obsidian artifacts outside the local 
distribution area	000
3.2. Selected WXRF oxide values for two Mount Taylor field source standards
	000
4.1. Quantitative analysis of source standard sample splits from Obsidian 
Butte, California	000
4.2. Comparison of visual categories versus XRF source assignments for 
obsidian artifacts from Zuni Pueblo	000
6.1. Eastern Kumeyaay resource use schedule	000
6.2. Nutritional value of major Southwestern piñon seeds	000
6.3 Obsidian source provenance for Paleoindian through Late Archaic/Early 
Agricultural sites in Arizona	000
7.1. Cross-tabulation of site group by obsidian source provenance in the Tonto 
Basin	000
8.1.	Frequency distribution of obsidian source provenance at Snaketown and 
linear distance to source	000
8.2.	Frequency distribution of obsidian source provenance at La Ciudad and 
the Bailey Site	000
A.1	EDXRF concentrations for selected trace elements for three international 
rock standards	000
A.2	Bull Creek, Yavapai County (formerly AZ Unknown B)	000
A.3	Analysis of major compounds for north central New Mexico obsidian 
sources	000
A.4	Valles rhyolite	000
A.5	Cerro Toledo rhyolite	000
A.6	El Rechuelo rhyolite	000
A.7	Bear Springs Peak	000
A.8	Mount San Antonio Field, Taos Plateau, No Agua North	000
A.9	Mount San Antonio Field, Taos Plateau, No Agua West	000
A.10	AZ Unknown A	000
A.11	El (Lago) Barreal, east central Chihuahua	000
A.12	Sierra La Breña, Chihuahua	000
A.13	Agua Fria, Sonora	000
A.14	Sierra San Luis, Sonora	000
A.15	Sierra Fresnal, northern Chihuahua	000
A.16	Los Jaguëyes, northern Chihuahua	000
A.17	SON Unknown A	000
A.18	CHIH Unknown A	000

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