PREFACE

LITHIC ARTIFACT ANALYSISThe goals of the lithic analysis are to identify cultural/temporal markers, subsistence-related function, andactivity diversity. Listed below are minimum guidelines designed to achieve these objectives.Scaled photographs/drawings of all tools and projectile points with measurements (length, width,thickness; minimum stem width for projectile points). Plan, longitudinal and, when appropriate,transverse cross sectional views must be shown.Material TypesSee the attached codes developed by Wiseman based on his extensive work in southeast New Mexico.Projectile PointsProjectile points will be assigned temporal classifications using comparative literature from the generalregion, such as Turner and Hester (1993) for Texas, MacNeish and Beckett (1987) for the ArchaicChihuahua Tradition, and Irwin-Williams (1973) for the Oshara Tradition. For those points that cannot beassigned to a named type, Katz and Katz's (1985) metric neck-width criteria may help in assigning themto cultural periods:1. Arrow points (late prehistoric period), 9.0 mm or less2. Early arrow points (transitional dart to arrow), 9.0 to 8.0 mm3. Dart points (terminal Archaic), 9.0 to 14.0 mm4. Dart points (late Archaic period), 13.0 to 16.0 mm.While the groupings do overlap, in part, their basic validity and utility appear to be reliable (Wiseman2004).Overall, there needs to be a critical refinement of projectile point typologies, stylistically and, moreimportantly, chronometrically (Alldritt and Oakes 2000). Because we cannot be certain that theseintrusive artifacts have the same temporal span as in their areas of origin, the entire sequence must beverified by a local suite of chronometric dates. The problem is particularly acute for the Archaic period,since none of the relevant projectile point typologies are well dated in the regions where they wereoriginally formulated.6-28