NEW MEXICO ARCHEOLOGICAL COUNCIL 2010 FALL CONFERENCE
Indigenous Mobile Groups of the Protohistoric and Historic Periods
Highly mobile indigenous groups were present in (and raided and traded into) New
Mexico in protohistoric and early historic times. While the traces of these groups were
long overlooked or incorrectly categorized, they are now routinely recognized. The
conference will help archaeologists learn the archaeological signatures of these highly
mobile groups.
Hibben Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Co-sponsored by the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, UNM
►►►Subject to change before or during the conference.◄◄◄
Saturday, November 13: All Day
9:00–4:00
Standing exhibits and posters (Hibben Atrium)
Saturday, November 13: Morning Session (Southern & Eastern Groups)
8:00–9:00
On-site registration; continental breakfast (Hibben Atrium)
8:00–9:00
NMAC Business Meeting (Hibben 105)
9:00–9:15
INTRODUCTION Rethinking Mobility: Method and Theory for the 21st Century
(Deni J. Seymour)
9:15–9:30
Excavations in the Carrizalillo Hills Region of Southwestern New Mexico Reveal
Protohistoric Mobile Group Camps (Alex Kurota and Leslie Cohen, Office of
Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico)
9:30-9:45
Large Rocks, Small Rocks, Rocks in a Ring: Three Types of Protohistoric Thermal
Features in Southwestern New Mexico (Joanne Gilby, Office of Contract
Archeology, University of New Mexico)
9:45-10:00
Protohistoric Sites in the Cedar Mountains, New Mexico (Meade F. Kemrer)
10:00-10:15
The Canutillo Complex: Identifying the Historically Referenced Jano, Jocome,
Manso, and Suma (Deni J. Seymour)
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10:15-10:30
Discussion
10:30–10:50 Break; continuation of continental breakfast.
10:50–11:00 Session Statement
11:00–11:15 Plains Apache Diaspora: Implications for Archaeo-ethnicity (Jeffery R. Hanson,
Statistical Research)
11:15-11:30
Identification of Apache Iconography at Southern New Mexico and West Texas
Rock Art Sites (LeRoy Unglaub)
11:30–11:45 When Data Speak Back: Resolving Source Conflict to Track Changes in Apache
Residential and Fire-Making Behavior (Deni J. Seymour)
Or
The Hormiguero Site: A Large Peloncillo Mountain Site as a Guide for
Identifying Apachean Material Culture.
11:45-12:00
Athapaskan Migration and Jicarilla Ethnogenesis in Eastern Colorado during the
15th and 16th Centuries (Kevin Gilmore and Sean Larmore, ERO Resources
Corporation)
12:00-12:15
Discussion
12:15–1:30
Break for lunch. A Pueblo oven bread demonstration and sale of Indian tacos,
posole, fry bread, oven bread, etc. will take place in the Maxwell Museum
courtyard to coincide with the conference.
Saturday, November 13: Afternoon Session (Northern Groups and the Ute-Navajo
Controversy)
1:30-1:35
Session Statement
1:35-1:50 Shrines and the Sacred Landscape (Dave Lugare, BLM)
1:50-2:05 Needzii': Diné Game Traps on the Colorado Plateau (Jim Copeland, Bureau of
Land Management)
2:05-2:20 Squeezing Blood from Stone Flaking Debris: Using Debitage as a Cultural and
Chronological Marker (Matthew Bandy, SWCA Environmental Consultants)
2:20-2:30 Questions and Introductory Comment-The Ute and Navajo Controversy (Deni)
2:30-2:45 The Colorado Wickiup Project (Curtis Martin, Dominquez Archaeological
Research Group)
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2:45-3:00 The Old Wood Calibration Project and Colorado's Missing Record of Ute
Prehistory (Steven G. Baker, Centuries Research; Jeffrey S. Dean and Ronald H.
Towner, Laboratory of Tree Ring Research)
3:00-3:15 Site 42UN5406: A Numic and Ancestral Pueblo Ceramic Assemblage in the
Uintah Basin, Uintah County, Utah (James A. Truesdale, David V. Hill, and
Christopher James ("CJ") Truesdale)
3:20-3:45 Break; with snack
4:45-4:00 The Archaeological Difference between Ute and Navajo (David Brugge)
4:00-4:15 Ute versus Navajo for the Dinetah (Curtis Schafsmaa)?
4:15-4:30 Discussion, Additional questions and comments
NOTE: certificates of attendance for the Saturday symposium will be handed out at the end of
the day, not before. Partial attendance does not count.
ABSTRACTS
In alphabetical order, by presenter or senior presenter
Steven G. Baker (Centuries Research); Jeffrey S. Dean and Ronald H. Towner (Laboratory of
Tree Ring Research, University of Arizona)
The Old Wood Calibration Project and Colorado’s Missing Record of Ute Prehistory
“The Old Wood Calibration Project” (OWCP) has been a collaborative effort between Centuries
Research, Inc. and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona. The
project was initiated in 2004 and has been investigating a suspected “old wood effect” in the
radiocarbon and tree ring dating of hearth fuel woods from archaeological sites in western
Colorado. The OWCP has demonstrated that 1000+ year-old pieces of dead wood suitable for
burning are present on the current landscape and that elements more than 600 years old are
relatively abundant. It has also empirically demonstrated that the probability is high (virtually
100 percent) that radiocarbon or tree ring dates from pinion or juniper charcoal from hearths or
other thermal features will be significantly older than the human acts of building and maintaining
a fire with such pieces of dead wood. These ages will commonly be significantly earlier than the
ranges indicated by even the two sigma confidence levels in radiocarbon dating. Such confidence
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levels alone should thus no longer be relied upon for approximating the dates of occupations. In
the project’s three study areas of Colorado’s western slope three different minimal mean-age
correction factors were determined. These range from 482 years on the Douglas Creek Arch to
219 years further south in the Montrose area.
Regional radiocarbon dates based on hearth fuel woods can accordingly no longer be accepted at
standard confidence levels but must be adjusted by adding correction factors. The OWCP
suggests that the dating chronologies currently in use relative to the occupations by Colorado’s
Ute Peoples significantly overstate their age. Even when minimal correction factors are applied
to the radiocarbon dates for bona fide Ute sites, the archaeological record for the Ute presence in
western Colorado moves forward in time to the very late prehistoric or early historic contexts at
least. Ute sites from this time frame are both obvious and not uncommon in western Colorado.
This interpretation relating to the late time frame for the Ute occupation is supported by both
linguistic and rock art data as well as negative data stemming from a currently perceived near
total absence of Ute sites at demonstrable prehistoric time depth. These findings appear to
explain why, despite our gains in learning to identify the Ute archaeological culture, evidence of
such an older Ute occupation has to date proven to be so elusive. Beyond Colorado the OWCP
has major implications for the prehistoric chronometric record of the Desert West. Work is now
underway to further test these findings and to carry the research into additional areas.
Matthew Bandy (SWCA Environmental Consultants)
Squeezing Blood from Stone Flaking Debris: Using Debitage as a Cultural and Chronological
Marker
The flake scatter is one of the most common types of archaeological site routinely encountered in
archaeological inventories. However, the information potential of these sites is severely limited
by our inability to place them within a chronological context. Without an idea of when they
might date to, it is difficult to assess changes in human behavior on a landscape scale. The
problem is particularly acute for mobile populations that typically deposit few chronologically
diagnostic artifacts. This paper presents an approach for using lithic debitage as a chronological
indicator. The approach is illustrated with an example from northwestern Colorado.
Jim Copeland (Bureau of Land Management)
Needzii': Diné Game Traps on the Colorado Plateau
Game traps recorded by Navajo Lands Claim archaeologists across the Colorado Plateau and
more recently by the BLM in the San Juan Basin offers some insight to the level of cooperation
and effort required to conduct drive hunts. Understanding the location and placement of these
features may help in the interpretation of other sites on the landscape. The results of some field
surveys associated with game traps are also presented.
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Joanne Gilby (Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico)
Large Rocks, Small Rocks, Rocks in a Ring: Three Types of Protohistoric Thermal Features in
Southwestern New Mexico
During OCA’s Border Fence Project excavations, groups of thermal features in the Carrizalillo
Hills region provided twelve surprising radio-carbon assays, all dating to the Protohistoric/Early
Historic era. These sites are therefore interpreted as being of Apache or other protohistoric group
affinity. Analysis of the morphology and the macrobotanical/faunal remains from numerous
thermal features aided in deciphering their discrete physical attributes, assessing their function,
and ultimately placing them into emerging typological categories. Three distinctive thermal
feature types are presented here to offer a beginning typology of protohistoric thermal features
for southwestern New Mexico. This typology leads to the conclusion that each type is a
specialized construction, differently using rocks and other attributes for temperature and
heat duration control.
Kevin Gilmore and Sean Larmore, ERO Resources Corporation
Athapaskan Migration and Jicarilla Ethnogenesis in Eastern Colorado during the 15th and 16th
Centuries
Like all migrations, the movement of Athapaskans from their northern homeland into the area
they occupied at the time of contact was the end result of a combination of social and
environmental factors. Human migrations are rarely the product of unilinear movement of
population; they are instead the product of a complex sequence of stages usually involving back
and forth movement of both people and information. Sites attributed to the Proto-Apache in
Colorado dated to the 15th and 16th centuries provide evidence for both chain and reverse
migration strategies used by Athapaskans to move through both plains and mountain landscapes.
Although the evidence is thus far sparse, material culture from these sites, including the remains
of a habitation structure from the Eureka Ridge site in the mountains of central Colorado, suggest
that by the 15th and 16th centuries (if not earlier) the Athapaskans living in Colorado were
already in possession of the adaptations and material culture similar to that identified with both
the Dismal River culture and the Jicarilla of the historic period. This material culture includes
micaceous ceramic wares, tri-notched projectile points, snub-nosed endscrapers, double-bitted
drills with lateral lugs, and use of lithic raw material from the Jemez Mountains.
Jeffery R. Hanson (Statistical Research, Inc.)
Plains Apache Diaspora: Implications for Archaeo-ethnicity
Four of the more significant challenges of assigning tribal identification to archaeological sites
and complexes are migration, mobility, ethnogenesis, and cultural change. Each of these factors
has implications for the nature and content of archaeological assemblages. These challenges are
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illustrated by the Plains Apache diaspora, in which several groups of Apaches from a common
ancestral area experienced significant territorial shifts and cultural changes which in some cases
severed their connection to their archaeological past.
Meade F. Kemrer
Protohistoric Sites in the Cedar Mountains, New Mexico
Surveys in the Cedar Mountains identified protohistoric and historic Native American sites. This
paper describes the radiocarbon dates, settlement characteristics, and artifacts. These sites
conform to with the nomadic occupations Seymour described and found in the southern
American Southwest.
Alex Kurota and Leslie Cohen (Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico)
Excavations in the Carrizalillo Hills Region of Southwestern New Mexico Reveal
Protohistoric Mobile Group Camps
The Office of Contract Archeology recently excavated four Protohistoric period sites in the
Carrizalillo Hills region of southwestern New Mexico. The research conducted under the Border
Fence Project revealed new information on these mobile group camps from the southern
Southwest. Twelve radiocarbon and two thermoluminescence dates place the four sites and all
excavated features consistently into the mid-15th to the late 19th century. This research uncovers
new evidence for these mobile groups’ subsistence practices, lithic procurement, lithic tool
manufacture and recycling, seasonality of use, and their movement throughout the landscape.
Curtis Martin (Dominquez Archaeological Research Group)
The Colorado Wickiup Project
The ongoing Colorado Wickiup Project has documented 366 aboriginal wooden features
(wickiups, tree platforms, etc.) on 58 sites in western Colorado. The findings have provided new
understanding regarding the Protohistoric and Early Historic Northern Ute and their continued
occupation of traditional, off-reservation, homelands after their removal to reservations.
Dendrochronological dates from metal ax-cut feature elements range from A.D. 1815 to
1915/1916, with over half of the dates indicating occupation during post-“removal” times (after
1881). Two of the sites were occupied after 1900. Two resources have revealed relatively unique
site types in the archaeological record of western Colorado. At one, the Ute Hunters’ Camp
(5RB563), canvas wall tents provided shelter for the occupants occupied with meat and hide
processing, bullet reloading, and, possibly, leather working. Another, the Black Canyon Ramada
(5DT222), includes the partially collapsed remains of a Protohistoric flat-roofed sunshade. Based
on our findings, this author proposes that Phase V of Baker’s Model of Ute Culture History be
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divided into two sub-phases. The proposed Phase V-A, or “Ungacochoop Phase,” would embody
post-1900 Early Historic Era sites.
Deni J. Seymour
The Southwest Center
INTRODUCTION Rethinking Mobility: Method and Theory for the 21st Century
Existing conceptions that distinguish limited-activity sites and residential sites are detrimental
for understanding material and spatial evidence related to mobile groups. Similarly, the Binforddevised models of site structure which are based on ethnoarchaeologically derived information
are inappropriate for Southwestern open sites occupied for the short term. Despite the
prevalence of these models, archeological evidence indicates that sites are much more dispersed,
without a
residential-core focus and that activities are not focused on hearths. Worldwide evidence of this
pattern provides a cross-cultural basis for assessing its significance for site interpretation and
boundary definition.
Deni J. Seymour
The Canutillo Complex: Identifying the Historically Referenced Jano, Jocome, Manso, and Suma
It has been ten years since the signature of the Canutillo complex was defined by the speaker as
a distinctive archaeological manifestation. Since then similar sites have been found in
surrounding areas occupied by these groups and other archaeologists have replicated the
findings. This work has extended the geographic distribution of known sites and provided an
even stronger suite of dates and feature types to define this non-Apache protohistoric
archaeological complex. Why is it that archaeologists now feel confident in assigning this
affiliation? What evidence is used to distinguish this group archaeologically from
contemporaneous ones? In the absence of European artifacts how can historic Native American
sites be isolated? What are the age of known feature types and how do they differ from other
protohistoric groups? How has the documentary record been misleading us and how can a
change in conception and methodologies help archaeologists in identification?
Deni J. Seymour
When Data Speak Back: Resolving Source Conflict To Track Changes In Apache Residential
And Fire-Making Behavior
Apache residential and roasting sites are now recognized with ever-increasing frequency,
despite the long-standing maxim that Apache sites are difficult to identify and therefore are
rarely found. One reason there is confusion about the signature is because contradictions exist
between primary sources regarding Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache encampment location.
Elders state that residential sites were situated in low settings at the base of elevated landforms,
whereas other textual sources and archaeology suggest otherwise for much of the historic
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period. This contradiction is resolved when it is realized that Chiricahua cultural-specialist
knowledge relating to key aspects of landscape use pertains to the last 25 years before
Geronimo's final surrender and removal to the east. This is a time of substantial and increased
pressure from the American military following the Civil War using more effective tactics. These
tactics included cooperation with Mexico, use of Apache scouts, deeper penetration of the
mountains, and more persistent pursuit. Land claims interviews of Chiricahua informants
mention this shift from high to low and the reason for it. This case study illustrates the
importance of (a) seriating source material rather than assuming long-term continuity and (b)
subjecting all sources, including elder knowledge, to standard forms of criticism.
Or
The Hormiguero Site: A Large Peloncillo Mountain Site as a Guide for Identifying Apachean
Material Culture.
A sizable ancestral Apache site in the Peloncillo Mountains has distinctive structure outlines,
storage platforms, rock art, pottery, and other features and artifacts. The nature of this site
provides information on how to identify Apache sites, how to distinguish between Apache and
non-Apache mobile groups, and how to distinguish between various Apachean groups. It also
provides a way to connect ethnographic sources to the archaeological record to understand
landscape use, terrain selection, and the Apachean perception of their neighbors.
James A. Truesdale, David V. Hill, and Christopher James (“CJ”) Truesdale
Site 42UN5406: A Numic and Ancestral Pueblo Ceramic Assemblage in the Uintah Basin,
Uintah County, Utah
The dating of the arrival of Numic-speaking peoples into the Southwest is currently
controversial. Clear associations of material culture that can be associated with Numic
occupations dating prior to the eighteenth century are rare. The ceramic and lithic assemblage
from 43UN5406 indicates the presence of Numic-speakers in northeastern Utah and the Greater
Southwest by the early fourteenth century. Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating for
a finger-nail impressed sherd supports the fourteenth century occupation of the site.
LeRoy Unglaub
Identification of Apache Iconography at Southern New Mexico and West Texas Rock Art Sites
Southern New Mexico and West Texas has a number of rock art styles to include multiple
archaic styles, the Jornada-Mogollon style which is the principal rock art style in this region,
Apache style, and possibly others. Some Apache iconography is relatively easy to identify but
becomes more difficult especially at sites with multiple rock art styles. This paper will discuss
and illustrate the methods and criteria used to identify Apache iconography at a number of rock
art sites in Southern New Mexico and West Texas.