The diffusion of shell ornaments in the prehistoric Southwest Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors McFarland, Will-Lola Humphries, 1900- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 10/10/2021 05:59:07 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553574 THE DIFFUSION OF SHELL ORNAMENTS IN THE PREHISTORIC SOUTH-FEST by V/ill-Lola McFarland A Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts' in the Graduate College University of Arizona 1 9 4 1 Approved: I - 2- C--V/ Director of Thesis ~ Date 4 '-V- - *- l. ACKKO mLKIXjj IrJTT I wish to expro: s appreciation to my cat Liable advioar, Mrs. Clara Lee Tanner, for her inspiration and untiring effort in assisting mo with the preparation of this thesis. I also wish to thank Dr. iSwil ... Haury, head of the Anthropology Department, and Dr. 3d ward W. jplccr for giving nu the benefit of their exper­ ience in their very helpful guidance and suggestions. ;,.L HOF. 1 3 < t b b l TABLE OF CONTENTS CflAPT^£R : . • . ' PACE 32ITRODUCTIOH................... ........... i I. STATUS OF SOXJTHV/NSTCULTURE.. ^ • 1 Gopgraphleal Distribution and General Outline........ .................... 1 Ilohokaa............................. 3 Anasazl............................. 9 Mogollon.......... .................. 16 II. SHELL TYPES AI!D THE EORKINa OF SHELL. .... 22 Forms of Shell Work... ................ 36 Beads ....... v..... .... ............... 38 Bracelets.......;..-.....;,.......... 42 Rings .and -finklets.. .. ... ....... ... 44 Pendants............................ 44 Mosaic ’.York and Ihlays................. 50 Painted Shell. ..................... 51 Miscellaneous......................... 52 Methods of ’working Shell.;............ 53 Methods of'Attaching"Beads and Pendants 59 III. /dL'iLYSIS OF SHELL ORHAMENTS. ............ 61 - - . r ■■ ‘ ■ ■ . - ' Hohokom..•............................ 61 Standard Traits..................... 61 Pioneer Period..................... 62 Colonial Period................... 65 Sedentary Period.................. 74 Classic Period.................. .. 86 Cultural. & Chronological Values.... 107 /oiasasi; .............................. 112 Standard Traits•.................... 112 Basketraaker....................... 112 Modified Baskotnaker.............. 117 Developmental Pueblo.............. 121 Great Pueblo...;.................. 127 Regressive Pliablo................. 153 Cultural & Chronological Values..... 176 CHAPTER PAGE Mogollon.............................. 181 Standard Traits................... 181 Cultural & Chronological Values..... 199 IV. INTERPRETATION: TIB DIFFU3I0IT Aim DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF TLB STODY OF SH3LL 0RNA- 1ISNT3 IN TIB SOUTIUBST .CULTURES...........'. 200 Conclusion. •...... ...................... 221 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 228 - r - -■» * - -S.’ *- v YABL3 OF CHARTS CILXKT HO. p a g :: Charts Showing Diatribution, F o m a , and Toohniqu© in the Hohokaa Area I. Baads................................. 102 II. Bracelets............................. 103 III. Mosaics......... ............ 104 IV. Peiidants.............................. 105 V. Rings................................ 105 -Charts Showing Distribution, Jforas, and .. Techniques in tho Anasazl "/area" VI. Beads............. 171 VII. Bracelets............. 172 VIII. Mosaics............ 173 IX# P e n d a n t s . V . ...... 174 X. Rings................. 175 ■ ’ Charts Showing Distribution, Forms, and . Techniques in the llogollon Area XI. Beads......................... 194 XII. Bracelets............................. 195 mi. Mosaics,............................ 195 XIV. Pendants.............................. 197 XV. ; Rings........ 198 Diagnostic Charts Showing Distribution of , - Shell Ornaments" In the Prehistoric South- ' ■■ i west Culture . XVI. Shell Species......................... 202 XVII. Beads.......................... 203 XVIII. Bracelets............................. .204 XIX. Mosaics................ 205 XX. Pendants.•••••••••...•..••............ 206 XXI. Rings........ 207 i . ' - . IKTHODUCTIOII : : . - .STAT^SHT OF THE PROBLEM- ■ A plethora of recorded material exists on tho re­ search pertaining to tho prehistoric'Indians of the Southwest as reconstructed from the exhaustive studios of their pottery, their skeletal regains, their arohiteo- ture, and their various village typos. By a classifica­ tion within each field mentioned, researchers have defined tha phases characteristic of the development of the three groat cultures comprising the general"culture of the Southwest Indian, namely: tho Hohokam, the Anasasi, and tho Hogollbn. ‘llore or less extensive reports are available embracing the classifications of tools, baskets, textiles, sandals, types of ornaments, and the relations existing between the development of these articles and the development of the cultural phases in which they existed. But a dearth of material exists"as to the study of shells. The"adst notable work on shell to date has been a chronological treatise by’Baury in his report on the Snaketown "and Los Muertos ruins. Un­ doubtedly the study of "shells, their diffusion and use, is as important in determining the historical phases througli which the three cultures passed as are the . studios of pottery, skeletal remains, architecture, and ii house types. The writer will attempt to show in the following dissertation by an .analysis of the shell work and orna­ ments, and by an analysis of the distribution of shells through the various phases in the growth and extension of the throe great cultural patterns#that shells have a diagnostic value with reference to the cultural and chronological levels of these civilizations. The analysis will be built up by an examination and classification of the shell ornaments in the Arizona State Museum. Further, the above prime facia evidence will be supported by a study of the most available archaeological reports of recognized authorities in the field. Through these two sources an effort will be made (1) to establish the standard traits of shell beads, bracelets, pendants, rings, geometric forms, and inlay work; (2) to show how the rise of one particular type of ornament defines the phase of culture in which it existed; and (5) to show how the culture of the people paralleled in continuous development the use of shells as they progressed from, the elementary.state (i.e., small whole shells pierced for beads) to the more complex stage (i.e., the use of shells for painted Intaglios and inlay work). The writer also will attempt, in the analysis above mentioned, to determine the distribution of shell traits through the cultures, showing how the Hohokam ill playod the important role as distributing agent to those cultures on the north, the east, and the southeast. This premise will be confirmed by the use of detailed classifi­ cation, maps, and graphs. From these maps, graphs, and classification an effort will be made also to determine the chronological and cultural values of shells. KEY TO MAP liohokam Mogollon Anasasl 1 • S.jartz 20. Tuzigoot L, Mattocks 21. Kings Ruin 3. Harris 22. Blden Puoblo 4. Three Circle 23. Winona Village 5. Cameron Creek 24. Sikyatki 6. klogollon 25. Kayenta Area 7. Jnnketown 26 DuPont Cave 8. Casa Grande 27. Lovelock Cave 9* Grewe Site 28. Lost City of Kevada 10. Roosevelt 9:5 29. Gypsum Cave lie Los Guanacos 30. Chaco Area 1&# Los Muertos 31. Pueblo Bonito IB. Kiniohba 32. Chetro Ketl 14. Kiatuthlanna 33. Aztec 15. Four Miles Ruin 34. Mesa Verde Area lu. Chaves Pass 35. dfemez 17. Homololi 36. Pecos 18. Chevlon 37. Big Bend 19. llonanki 38. Casas Grandee, Chihuahua _l____ ___ L l---- Sco\e \*\ OQMUes CHAPTER I STATUS OF • SOUTH'.'/SST CULTUHIS The Southwest area encompasses the present day political domains of Few Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, eastern Nevada, the extreme western borders of Oklahoma and Texas, and the great inland basin of northern Mexico. Located within this area are prehistoric Indian village sites, caves, rock shelters, and ruins of groat urban cen­ ters which represent different stages in the development of 1 a sedentary, agricultural, pottery-making culture. For purposes of designation and facility in archae­ ological study, the vast stretches of the Southwest are somewhat exemplified in the natural divisions of Arizona: the desert, the mountain, and tho plateau. Those regions In turn are likewise divided into the three cultural pro­ vinces referred to as Kohokan, Anasazi, and 1'ogollon. The ilohokaia, or the ancient ones, occupied the desert region extending from the Colorado River on the west almost to the Few Mexico line on the east; from Flagstaff, Arizona in tho north to northern Sonora on the south, with the middle Gila Basin as the center. The northern boundary swings southeastward across Arizona following the "Verde 1. Roberts, F.H.K., Jr. 1937, p. 4. 2 Breaks” or the ’TZocollon Ein", thanoe oontinulnn alone the Gila •jOURtalna an far as Oafford, Arizona. The eastern boundary extends southeastward from Safford to the 3an Pedro Valley, and to the Santa Graz Valley south of Tucson. The Anasaal (or, as better known, the Boskotnakor and the Pueblo culture) are the people, as the I'.avajoa say, uho built and lived in the