Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

The Preceramic Period 95Judge's (1972) indication that obsidian andbasalt were the only imported lithic materialsrecovered during the initial transect survey suggeststhat the people using the Chaco area may have had alarge territory or trade contacts with groups nearer tothese sources. Neller's (1976b) analysis of lithicsfrom Atlatl Cave and local lithic scatters did not. indicate what other materials might suggest trade orlarge regional mobility.DiscussionIrwin-Williams (1994) indicated the need formultiple working hypotheses about the Preceramicperiod that can be tested when good control over timeand space is available. Irwin-Williams believed thatthe plethora of models and research pursuits representa healthy approach to understanding the iifeways ofhunting and gathering populations; the role thatcultigens play in subsistence changes over time; andproblems in determining regional group differences,the size of regions, and the role that environmentalvariability plays in sustaining populations during allseasons. During the ensuing years, research on thePreceramic period has made several advances.One problem exists with terminology. Vierra(1994) pointed out that two contexts are included inthe term Archaic (a generalized subsistence adaptation,and a cultural/temporal unit). If we accept theArchaic as a hunting and gathering adaptation only,then difficulties arise when we try to evaluate changein the cultural continuum from Paleoindian to Archaicand from hunting and gathering to an agriculturaladaptation in a temporal system. Vierra also reviewedthe different models for social organization that havebeen proposed for Archaic settlement and subsistencesystems.Several contributions dealt specifically with theprehistory of the San Juan Basin. Within the Osharatradition, Vierra (1987a, 1987b, 1994:383) was ableto distinguish between the use of the west side of theSan Juan Basin during the San Jose phase and the eastside during the Armijo phas