Appraisal of Tree-Ring Dated Pottery in the Southwest Item Type Book; text Authors Breternitz, David A. Publisher University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ) Rights Copyright © Arizona Board of Regents Download date 06/10/2021 03:16:06 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/595188 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA NUMBER 10 AN APPRAISAL OF DAVID A. BRETERNITZ TREE-RING DATED POTTERY IN THE SOUTHWEST THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZON A PRESS TUCSON, ARIZONA Copyright@ 1966 The Arizona Board of Regents Printed in the U.S.A. LC Card Catalog Number 66-64118 PREFACE This monograph is a slightly revised and shortened version of a doctoral dissertation (Breternitz 1963) prepared under the supervision of a dissertation committee con­ sisting of Emil W. Haury, Raymond H. Thompson, and Edward P. Dozier, all of the Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson. The dissertation resulted primarily from data recovered and problems recognized during a project conceived by Bryant Bannister to correlate the dendrochronological records and specimens currently housed at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona. The tree-ring materials include the collections of the Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe; the Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff; Gila Pueblo, Globe; and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Tucson. Many references in the original document indicating my indebtedness to numerous individuals and institutions have been deleted in the present volume because of format changes; thus, I wish to again acknowledge the assistance of everyone involved in the various facets of research, writing, and necessary revision. The initial processing of materials was done while serving as a graduate research assistant in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, under the supervision of Bryant Bannister. William G. McGinnies, then Laboratory Director, assisted at all stages of the work, provided me with study and working space, and offered timely encouragement, all of which are sincerely appreciated. The final phase of my graduate work at the University of Arizona was greatly accelerated through the award of a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow­ ship. The Society of the Sigma Xi supported the necessary research at the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Southwest Archeological Center, and the Museum of New Mexico through a Scientific Research Society of America (RESA) Grant-in­ aid award. Gordon R. Vivian was particularly helpful during my stay at the Southwest Archeological Center. Alexander J. Lindsay, Jr. and Alan P. Olson, as representatives of the Museum of Northern Arizona, gave generously of their time, talents, and materials. The resources of the Museum of New Mexico were made available to me mainly through the courtesy and efforts of Alfred E. Dittert, Jr., Bertha P. Dutton, Frank W. Eddy, Marjorie F. Lambert, and Stewart L. Peckham. The University of Colorado Museum, through Roy L. Carlson, made the unpublished materials of the late Earl H. Morris available for study. In addition, I am indebted for specific guidance, information, and assistance to Rex E. Gerald, Thomas P. Harlan, Jane Holden Kelley, John B. Rinaldo, Arthur H. Rohn, Jr., Albert H. Schroeder, Watson Smith, and William W. Wasley. Raymond H. Thompson and Emil W. Haury not only encouraged me to undertake revision of the original dissertation, but provided me with invaluable [iii] [iv] Preface counsel during the ensuing involved processes which eventually resulted in the present document. Finally, and most important, I sincerely appreciate the continued help, under­ standing, and encouragement of my wife and children and my parents. This extended project has been a real sacrifice for all of them and their patience has been the outstanding contribution toward final completion. David A. Breternitz University of Colorado CONTENTS page ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES .......... vi ABSTRACT ............................................ vii 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................... 1 Methods of Analysis and Presentation ......................... 2 2. SOUTHWESTERN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES WITH TREE-RING DATES................................ 4 Presentation of Data ....................................... 4 The Master Tree-Ring Date Chart ............................ 51 3. THE USE OF ASSOCIATED TREE-RING SPECIMENS FOR DATING POTTERY TYPES AND CERAMIC STyLES.... 62 Dating Pottery Types .......... 62 Dating Ceramic Styles ...................................... 64 Discussion ............................................... 66 4. DATES FOR SOUTHWESTERN POTTERY TyPES.......... 67 Presentation of Data ....................................... 67 Alphabetical List of Southwestern Pottery Types ................ 67 5. CONCLUSIONS .......................................... 106 Discussion ............................................... 107 Summary ................................................ 108 APPENDIX 1: SITE AND SITE-AREA INDEX.............. 109 APPENDIX 2: NUMERICAL LISTING OF SITES AND SITE-AREAS.......................... 114 REFERENCES 119 [v] ILLUSTRATIONS page Map of the Southwestern United States Showing Location of Archaeological Sites and Site-Areas with Dated Tree-Ring Specimens . viii TABLES 1. Institutional Abbreviations .................................. 3 2. Symbols Used in Conjunction with Tree-Ring Dates .............. 3 3. The Master Tree-Ring Date Chart ............................ 51-61 4. Symbols Used to Indicate the Type of Validity-Association of Specific Pottery Types Shown in Table 6 and Chapter 4 . 62 5. Symbols Used to Indicate the Validity-Provenience of Tree-Ring Dates and the Validity-Provenience of Pottery 63 6. The Dating of St. Johns Polychrome .......................... 65 [vi] ABSTRACT The interpretation of approximately 5715 dated tree-ring specimens from about 342 archaeological sites in the American Southwest is the basis for "dating" the associated pottery types. The time involved spans the period from the introduction of fired ceramics to the Spanish Entrada, approximately A.D. 1550. Provenience and site information for both the dated tree-ring specimens and the associated pottery is summarized from the more complete data available in Breternitz (1963) for each site and site-area which have tree-ring dates. Criteria for establishing the validity of the association and provenience of the tree-ring specimens and the pottery are presented. The interpretation and evalua­ tion of the validity of these dates and associations is the basis for "dating" the various pottery types. The occurrence of pottery in "indigenous" and "trade" situations is presented separately; the pottery types in these categories are dated separately, insofar as possible, and then evaluated in terms of total distribution and context. Approximately 325 pottery types, varieties, and ceramic categories are dated on the basis of archaeological associations with tree-ring specimens. The data presented do not change the gross time placement of previous workers, but they do (1) refine some pottery dates, (2) reject others, and (3) give differing validity to additional ceramic dates. The concept of "pottery type" is used as the analytical unit for dating South­ western ceramics. Tree-ring material is not as useful for dating "ceramic style" because time periods are not as well defined and the "style" concept represents synthesis at a level of abstraction above that of "pottery type." A progressive increase in the amount and range of traded pottery is rioted through time. The increase in the distribution of various pottery types after about A.D. 1250 is also accompanied by an increase in attempts to make local copies of certain traded pottery types. Southwestern pottery was distributed in prehistoric times on the basis of hand-to-hand or person-to-person contact. Although the amount of trade and the spatial dispersal increased in time, particularly after 1250, this trade never reached the same degree of institutionalization seen in Mesoamerica. An associated feature was an emphasis on the trading of small decorated vessels, as opposed to large utility or undecorated ceramic containers. [vii] L OR ADO 28 24 22 23 21 NEW E X 20 ,------ PASO 50 100 M , Miles Map of the Southwestern United States showing location of archaeological sites and site-areas with dated tree-ring specimens. 1. INTRODUCTION DENDROCHRONOLOGY, the science of tree-ring responsible for the actual hand-to-hand transfer dating, provides Southwestern archaeology with a of the objects themselves. The ceramic remains chronological technique that is both unique and do not tell us about the socio-cultural factors absolute. It is small wonder that archaeological involved in this commercial or personal exchange. applications and interpretations of tree-ring dates These factors can be inferred only through ethno­ have been developed and most intensively used logical comparisons and from analysis of the total for the "dating" of various aspects of prehistory archaeological picture of a prehistoric culture, in the southwestern United States. The absolute­ which may be known from the excavation of ness of a tree-ring date applies only to the tree­ one or more sites. ring specimen itself. Through the interpretation of Given the availability of archaeological tree­ the archaeological context and association, we are ring dates in Southwestern prehistory, the problem able to use tree-ring specimens to "date" certain remaining is the correlation of these tree-ring prehistoric events and to state, with