Puebloan Plain-Weave Pointed/Rounded-Toe Sandals
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UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 2009 Puebloan plain-weave pointed/rounded-toe sandals David Toy Yoder University of Nevada Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Repository Citation Yoder, David Toy, "Puebloan plain-weave pointed/rounded-toe sandals" (2009). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 48. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/1363615 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. 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PUEBLOAN PLAIN-WEAVE POINTED/ROUNDED-TOE SANDALS by David Toy Yoder Bachelor of Science Weber State University 2003 Master of Arts Brigham Young University 2005 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Anthropology Department of Anthropology College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 2009 ABSTRACT Puebloan Plain-Weave Pointed/Rounded-Toe Sandals by David Toy Yoder Dr. Barbara Roth, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor of Anthropology University of Nevada, Las Vegas An assemblage of 226 Puebloan pointed/rounded-toe sandals from sites throughout the northern Southwest was examined to answer the following questions: how were these sandals constructed, when where they used, and where were they distributed. The answers to these questions were then used to investigate cultural boundaries, communities of practice, and interaction among the Anasazi. Methods of analysis included a technical analysis, soft X-ray radiography, microscopic fiber identification, spatial analysis, AMS radiocarbon dating, and experimental reconstruction. Based on these analyses it appears that pointed/rounded-toe sandals were used as early as A.D. 631 to as late as A.D. 1178. Spatially, this sandal type is primary distributed in geographic regions traditionally associated with the Virgin and Kayenta Anasazi, although a small number can also be found in southeastern Utah. The general similarities of plain weave pointed/rounded-toe sandals indicate that a broad overarching community of practice encompassed the making of this sandal type, iii and that this community likely had its origins in the Western Basketmaker culture. The introduction of the plain weave pointed/rounded-toe sandal may be associated with the intensification of ceramics at the cost of high investment basketry, including twined sandals. Subtle differences in the distribution and proportions of sandal attributes also suggest that two smaller sandal making communities of practice, within the larger overarching one, existed in the Western and Eastern areas. The Western community was characterized by a high degree of homogeneity in its plain weave pointed/rounded-toe sandals, while the Eastern community was slightly more heterogeneous and had a larger amount of variance in sandal attributes. These findings have implications for how Anasazi groups interacted with one another and with neighboring populations. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………...........................................................................iii LIST OF FIGURES……………………………................................................................ix LIST OF TABLES ……………………………...............................................................xii AKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………….......................................................xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION……………….................................................................1 Research Focus…………………………….........................................................…3 Construction.................................................................................................3 Temporal Distribution ..................................................................................5 Spatial Distribution......................................................................................6 Communities of Practice and Cultural Interaction.......................................6 Organization of Dissertation....................................................................................8 CHAPTER 2 THEORY.....................................................................................................10 Style in Archaeology..............................................................................................10 A Brief History of Style.............................................................................10 Active Style................................................................................................11 Passive Style..............................................................................................15 The Unified Middle-Range Theory of Artifact Design..............................19 Style As It Relates to Ethnicity and/or Enculturation............................................22 Ethnicity.....................................................................................................22 Enculturation..............................................................................................27 Archaeological Examination of Ethnicity and Enculturation................................32 Sandals/Basketry-A Promising Medium in Stylistic Research..............................36 Low or No Visibility Attributes.................................................................38 High Visibility Attributes...........................................................................40 Summary................................................................................................................42 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH GOALS.................................................................................44 Cultural-Historic Focus..........................................................................................44 Research Question 1..................................................................................45 Research Question 2..................................................................................46 Explanatory Focus.................................................................................................47 Research Question 3..................................................................................47 v CHAPTER 4 CULTURAL CONTEXT............................................................................51 The Anasazi............................................................................................................51 Anasazi Branches.......................................................................................57 Chaco.............................................................................................57 Kayenta..........................................................................................59 Mesa Verde.....................................................................................60 Rio Grande.....................................................................................61 Virgin.............................................................................................62 CHAPTER 5 PREVIOUS RESEARCH...........................................................................65 Basic Yarn and Sandal Terminology......................................................................65 Yarn Structure............................................................................................65 Sandal Structure.........................................................................................69 Puebloan Sandals...................................................................................................75 Twined Sandals..........................................................................................75 Braided Sandals.........................................................................................76 Plain Weave Sandals..................................................................................77 CHAPTER 6 METHODS.................................................................................................81 The Sample............................................................................................................81 Technical Analysis.................................................................................................86 Artifact Number.........................................................................................87 Site.............................................................................................................87 Collector/Donator.......................................................................................91 Direct Reference........................................................................................91 General Reference......................................................................................91 Curated.......................................................................................................91