Pushing Boundaries in Southwestern Archaeology: Chronometry, Collections, and Contexts

by Stephen E. Nash (Editor), Erin L. Baxter (Editor)

Overview

Pushing Boundaries in Southwestern Archaeology draws together the proceedings from the sixteenth biennial Southwest Symposium. In exploring the conference theme, contributors consider topics ranging from the resuscitation of archaeomagnetic dating to the issue of Athapaskan origins, from collections-based studies of social identity, foodways, and obsidian trade to the origins of a rock art tradition and the challenges of a deeply buried archaeological record.
 
The first of the volume’s four sections examines the status, history, and prospects of Bears Ears National Monument, the broader regulatory and political boundaries that complicate the nature and integrity of the archaeological record, and the cultural contexts and legal stakes of archaeological inquiry. The second section focuses on chronological “big data” in the context of pre-Columbian history and the potential and limits of what can be empirically derived from chronometric analysis of the past. The chapters in the third section advocate for advancing collections-based research, focusing on the vast and often untapped research potential of archives, previously excavated museum collections, and legacy data. The final section examines the permeable boundaries involved in Plains-Pueblo interactions, obvious in the archaeological record but long in need of analysis, interpretation, and explanation.
 
Contributors: James R. Allison, Erin Baxter, Benjamin A. Bellorado, Katelyn J. Bishop, Eric Blinman, J. Royce Cox, J. Andrew Darling, Kaitlyn E. Davis, William H. Doelle, B. Sunday Eiselt, Leigh Anne Ellison, Josh Ewing, Samantha G. Fladd, Gary M. Feinman, Jeffrey R. Ferguson, Severin Fowles, Willie Grayeyes, Matthew Guebard, Saul L. Hedquist, Greg Hodgins, Lucas Hoedl, John W. Ives, Nicholas Kessler, Terry Knight, Michael W. Lindeman, Hannah V. Mattson, Myles R. Miller, Lindsay Montgomery, Stephen E. Nash, Sarah Oas, Jill Onken, Scott G. Ortman, Danielle J. Riebe, John Ruple, Will G. Russell, Octavius Seowtewa, Deni J. Seymour, James M. Vint, Adam S. Watson
 
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646423620
Publisher:	University Press of Colorado
Publication date:	04/07/2023
Series:	Proceedings of SW Symposium
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	439
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Stephen E. Nash is senior curator of archaeology and director of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. He has published seven books and two dozen peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on archaeological dating, museum collections, and the history of museums, as well as more than fifty Curiosities columns at SAPIENS.ORG.

Erin L. Baxter is acting curator of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and a Southwest archaeologist by training. She is interested in archival data, museum collections, Pueblo architecture, witchcraft, and the anthropology of death.

Table of Contents

Contents List of Figures List of Tables Introduction: Pushing Boundaries: Papers of the 16th Biennial Southwest Symposium | Stephen E. Nash and Erin L. Baxter Part I: Bears Ears National Monument 1. Bears Ears National Monument: Advocating to Protect Heritage on a Landscape Scale | William H. Doelle, John Ruple, Willie Grayeyes, Octavius Seowtewa, Terry Knight, and Josh Ewing Part II: Chronological “Big Data” and Pre-Columbian History in the US Southwest 2. Out of Sight but Not Out of Mind: Insights from a Deeply Buried Archaeological Record in West-Central New Mexico | Jill Onken 3. The Promise and Peril of Seductively Large Tree-Ring Date Distributions | Stephen E. Nash 4. Chronometric Data Synthesis and the Late Holocene Archaeological Record of Southern New Mexico and Western Trans-Pecos Texas | Myles R. Miller 5. Modeling Time from 2100 BC to AD 1450 in Central and Southern Arizona | James M. Vint and Michael W. Lindeman 6. An Introduction to Wiggle-Match Dating and an Examination of Its Potential Impact on Chronological Studies in the Southwest | Gregory Hodgins, Nicholas Kessler, Matthew Guebard, and Lucas Hoedl 7. Theory, Technique, and Performance: Time for Renewal in Southwestern Archaeomagnetic Dating | Eric Blinman and J. Royce Cox Part III: A Return to Context: Advancing Collections-Based Research in the US Southwest 8. Pushing the Boundaries of Clothing Research: A Preliminary Look at Twined Sandals in Relation to Social Identities in the Chaco and Post-Chaco Eras | Benjamin A. Bellorado 9. Shelves to Knowledge: Museum Collections and Southwest Archaeology in the Twenty-First Century | Saul L. Hedquist, Leigh Anne Ellison, and Will G. Russell 10. Obsidian Use and Circulation in the Greater Reserve Area in the American Southwest: New Analysis of the Martin Collection at the Field Museum | Danielle J. Riebe, Gary M. Feinman, Stephen E. Nash, and Jeffrey R. Ferguson 11. Dating Early Pueblo I Villages in Southeastern Utah: Insights from Collections, Archives, and Fieldwork | James R. Allison 12. Using Old Collections to Gain New Insights on Totah Social Identity: Ornaments, Age, and Status at Aztec Ruin | Hannah V. Mattson 13. Secret Ingredients: Using Collections to Address Foodways and Their Social Dynamics | Sarah Oas 14. Reassessing a Century of Excavation Data and Faunal Remains from Chaco Canyon | Katelyn J. Bishop, Samantha G. Fladd, and Adam S. Watson Part IV: Expanding Perspectives on Plains-Pueblo Interactions 15. Reach: Athapaskan Origins and Interactions in the American Southwest | B. Sunday Eiselt, John W. Ives, and J. Andrew Darling 16. Of Cotton Blankets and Bison Hides: Cuyamungue and Plains-Pueblo Exchange | Scott G. Ortman 17. The Rio Grande Origins of the Plains Biographic Tradition | Severin Fowles and Lindsay M. Montgomery 18. Social Mechanisms of Plains-Pueblo Economics: Analysis of Smoking Pipes at Pecos Pueblo | Kaitlyn E. Davis 19. The Xoum-Ma-No Pueblos: “Where They Come Often to Trade” | Deni J. Seymour Index About the Authors

Editorial Reviews

“An important volume that expertly explores the way pushing boundaries results in improved research and adeptly demonstrates that the research community of the American Southwest/Mexican Northwest is challenging itself to grow beyond its traditional confines.”
—Emily Lena Jones, University of New Mexico

From the Publisher