Debitage Stylistic Variability at Cox Ranch Pueblo

Abstract

This paper applies the method of stylistic flake analysis of to the analysis of debitage from two middens from Cox Ranch Pueblo, a late Pueblo II (ca. 1050–1130) period habitation site in west-central New Mexico. Previous research has suggested the multiethnic nature of site occupation based on the presence of two distinct methods for the manufacture of utilitarian ceramics and the site's location at the interface of two of the Southwest's traditional culture areas. This study samples debitage from two of the largest middens, each associated with a residential roomblock at the site, to determine if any of the stylistic trends found among the ceramic artifacts could be detected within the debitage from the site. Results show that there are in fact two different styles of flint knapping at the site, though both styles are present within each of the two midden assemblages. It is concluded that these two stylistic groups may relate to the two ethnic groups suggested to have co-resided at the site.

Keywords:

• style
• debitage
• Southwest
• Pueblo

Acknowledgments

Duff's research in the Cox Ranch Pueblo community has been supported by grants from the New Mexico Bureau of Land Management, the National Geographic Society (#7427-03 and 7822-05), and the National Science Foundation (BCS-0514595).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Justin P. Williams

Justin Williams is a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at Washington State University. He has a B.A. in Anthropology and History from the University of Kentucky and a M.A. in Anthropology from Washington State University. His research focuses on lithic technology and Clovis period Hunter-Gatherers.

Andrew I. Duff

Dr. Andrew Duff is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University. He has conducted research in the North American Southwest for two decades where several of his projects have attempted to explore questions of social identity using the material record, including the project discussed here.

William Andrefsky

William Andrefsky earned a Ph.D. degree from Binghamton University in 1984. His research interests primarily deal with stone tools and how they are used and integrated into larger systems of human organization and land-use strategies. He has held academic positions at University of Alaska, Southern Illinois University, and at Washington State University where he is currently Professor of Anthropology.