PREFACE

described by some authors in the lower Pecos. Turner and Hester note that the type does not appearcommon in any specific area, however, possibly because the type is poorly defined. This could alsoaccount for its broad temporal span, which is defined only as middle to late Archaic. Nevertheless,Mallouf (1985) considers Palmillas and to a lesser extent Darl to be characteristic of the early half of thelate Archaic (ca. 2500–1850 BP) in the Trans-Pecos area, and points resembling Palmillas appearrelatively common in the Guadalupe Mountain area (P. Katz 1978; Roney 1995). Carlsbad appears to bea local point style. It has a triangular blade and wide corner notches forming pronounced shoulders and along widely expanding stem with a convex base that is typically about half of the overall length of thepoint (Katz and Katz 1985:67; Lord and Reynolds 1985:153). In the WIPP area, a Carlsbad point wasfound in indirect association with Feature 36 at ENMU 10418, which was radiocarbon dated (Tx-5023) to2830±140 BP (Lord and Reynolds 1985:95,156).The last sub-period, Archaic 4, is 2000–1500 BP. The projectile points listed as characteristic of thisperiod are San Pedro; Leslie’s 6 C, 6D, and 8A; and three varieties of Pecos points (Katz and Katz2001:36). Based on the illustration (Katz and Katz 1985:65), the identification of the San Pedro pointseems questionable. San Pedro points are typically long slender points with deep lateral notches and astraight to slightly convex base that is the widest part of the point. The illustrated point has relativelyshallow notches and the shoulders are wider than the base. Pecos is a provisional type defined by Katzand Katz (1985:68–69). It is described as a triangular point with small but prominent barbs and a slightlycontracting stem. The stem is long, perhaps one-third of the total length and the base may be convex,rectangular, or indented. A date range of AD 1–750 is suggested for Pecos points but the evidencesupporting that age estimate is not discussed.As a local phase sequence, the Brantley Reservoir chronology contributes significantly to ourunderstanding of the Archaic period in southeastern New Mexico, but its specificity makes it less usefulas a regional chronology than the more general projectile point sequence developed by Shelley (1994) forthe Llano Estacado. Shelley’s chronology relies heavily on the stratigraphic evidence from LubbockLake (Johnson and Holliday 1986). Johnson and Holliday divide the Archaic into Early (8500–6400 BP),Middle (6400–4500 BP), and Late (4500–2000 BP) periods. The Early Archaic period corresponds to thetransition from the earliest Holocene warming trend to the onset of Middle Holocene xeric conditions.The Middle Archaic spans the Altithermal, which the stratigraphic evidence from Lubbock Lake indicatesconsisted of two long droughts at 6400–5500 BP and 5000–4500 BP separated by a more mesic intervalbetween 5500 and 5000 BP. The Late Archaic period corresponds to a period of cooler, moisterconditions that persisted until about 1000 BP. The 2000 BP end date for the Late Archaic is based onradiocarbon dates of 1740±40 BP (AD 210) and 1830±60 BP (AD 120) from Deadman’s Shelter, which arethe earliest dates associated with pottery and arrowpoints on the Texas Panhandle (Johnson and Holliday1986:42).Although they are concerned primarily with shifts in Archaic subsistence strategies in response to theseclimatic changes, Johnson and Holliday briefly discuss the limited evidence for changes in projectilepoint styles. Trinity, Ellis, and Bulverde projectile points were recovered from Stratum 4B at LubbockLake, which was deposited between about 5000 and 4500 BP, the later drought of the Middle Archaicperiod. In addition, Williams, Travis, Pedernales, Pandale, and Darl points were recovered from the“jointed sands” at Blackwater Locality No. 1, which Holliday interprets as an eolian deposit also dating toabout 5000–4500 BP. For the late Archaic, they note that points similar to Marcos and Ensor wererecovered from the “lower midden zone” at Chalk Hollow, which dates to about 2500 BP, that Ellis andPalmillas point were recovered from Little Sunday, and that points similar to Marcos were recovered fromPete Creek – all sites located at the northeast margins of the Llano Estacado (Johnson and Holliday1986:42). No projectile points are identified as being associated with the Early Archaic.4-8