People in a Sea of Grass: Archaeology’s Changing Perspective on Indigenous Plains Communities

Abstract

contrary to technological analysis—have the advantage of including the entirety of flake assemblages. Analyses were also performed to understand the mixed character of the archaeological record. An impressive array of statistical analyses demonstrates significant differences in lithic assemblages from the Modena and Tempiute quarries. Consistency in results from attribute and mass analysis lends support to the arguments made here and to the complementary utilization of these techniques in lithic analysis. Chapters 6 and 7 are dedicated to the analysis of bifaces, which are abundant, especially in Modena’s case. Part of Chapter 6 discusses the continuum-versus-staged nature of the biface-reduction process, a historically relevant theme. Errett Callahan’s reduction stages within a continuum play an important role in this analysis, reflecting the influence of this approach in lithic analyses in North American archaeology. Shott’s results demonstrate some inconsistencies between some variables’ values—size, edge, and faceting—within Callahan’s stages. There are, however, consistent results between biface and flake analysis. Spatially, in the case of Modena, variation between different areas was recognized, as well as between bifaces recovered in the quarries and in spaces located farther away. Results obtained from the application of the “field processing model” supports its utilization; however, as Shott mentions, additional work is required to resolve problems of equifinality. I tend to think that in this case, an important one is modeling the effect of transport costs versus risk manufacture failure. Chapter 8 deals with different methods of estimating scales of quarrying and tool production. Results indicate that, in spite of the impressive spatial scale of the obsidian deposits, there are relatively modest rates of toolstone consumption. Quarry depletion over time could have transformed the analyzed quarries from logistically targeted places to opportunistically visited places. Chapter 9 deals with obsidian-hydration dating and allows Shott to temporally situate Modena’s peak usage. The calibrated results obtained suggest a steady rise from 11,000 BP to a peak at 4000–3000 BP, followed by a decline. These outcomes differ from the ones obtained in sites in its terrane, which suggest an older use time interval. Different reasons for this variation are suggested. Chapter 10 shows the overall archaeological distribution of both sources, which can be the product of very small populations. An important point made by Shott is that the utilization of particular terranes does not depend on source abundance, quality, and accessibility in isolation but instead becomes significant “in comparison with other sources” (p. 235). Chapter 11 summarizes questions posed and tentative answers obtained, along with questions for future research. The information included in each chapter as well as the analysis performed make this book a valuable contribution for specialists in lithic technology all over the world.