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Lines in the Sand: Competition and Stone Selection on the Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael R. Walsh
Michael R. Walsh*
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095–1510
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Abstract

Recent investigations on the Pajarito Plateau, north-central New Mexico, have established a sequential picture of changing levels of competition over resource territories. Acuity of competition is inferred through measurement of relative sizes of territories routinely exploited for wild food resources. Village-level territories are determined through an accounting of the raw materials used to make flaked stone tools, which materials are argued to have been gathered during routine food collecting activities. Three distinct raw material options were available on the Plateau, in the form of tool-grade obsidian, chert, and basalt. Because these raw material types come from mutually exclusive locations over the Plateau, it is possible to inferentially measure resource collection areas for individual sites through assessment of raw material diversity. Chronological differences among sites allow for reconstruction of differing levels in the acuity of prehistoric competition. It is found that Classic Period (A. D. 1325-historic period) aggregation on the Plateau was preceded by several generations of escalating territorial competition. This finding represents a subtle but important departure form the current characterization of the Pajarito Classic Period as a “competition stage”, and suggests instead that aggregation fundamentally alleviated resource competition from the perspective of the individual or individual household.

Résumé

Résumé

Investigaciones recientes han establecido una sucesi'n de niveles de competicion fluctuantes por territorios de recursos en la Meseta de Pajarito, situada en la regi'n central del norte de Nuevo México. La medida de los tamaños relativos de territorios utilizados rutinariamente para la recolecion de alimentos permite inferir la intensidad de competición. Durante la recoleción de alimentos rutinaria, se mantiene que también se recolectaba la materia prima usada para fabricar herramientas líticas. A base del análisis de esta materia prima, se puede determinar territorios al nivel del pueblo. La obsidiana, el pedernal, y el basalto, todos de alta calidad, representan los tres tipos distintos de materia prima lítica disponible en la meseta. Debido a que estos tipos de materia prima se derivan de lugares mutuamente exclusivos, el análisis de la diversidad de la materia prima hace posible medirpor inferencia las zonas de recoleción de recursos de sitios individuates. Las diferencias cronológicas entre sitiospermiten la reconstrución de niveles distintos en la intensidad de competición prehistórica. Se establece que varias generaciones de competición territorial creciente precedieron la agregación del período Clásico (1325 d.C. al periodo histórico) en la meseta. Esta conclusión se distingue de una manera sutil pero importante de la caracterizacion corriente del período Clásico de la Meseta'de Pajarito como “etapa de competición” y sugiere más bien que la agregación alivió fundalmentamente la competición por los recursos desde la perspectiva del individuo o de la unidad doméstica.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 63 , Issue 4 , October 1998 , pp. 573 - 593
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1998

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