•Psytuaje Rockshelter – a new final Epipalaeolithic site in the Caucasus.•Zayukovo (Baksan) is the only obsidian source in the Northern Caucasus.•This obsidian source was significant to modern humans ...in the region.•Psytuaje rockshelter is likely dated to the Pleistocene- Holocene boundary.•Psytuaje rockshelter has the potential to produce data on cultural changes.
In this paper, the authors report the discovery of a new site called Psytuaje rockshelter, located close to the town of Zayukovo in Kabardino-Balkaria Republic (Elbrus region, north-central Caucasus, Russia). The area is famous in that it is the only obsidian source known in the Northern Caucasus, called Zayukovo or Baksan. A single radiocarbon date initially defines the youngest age estimate (the beginning of the Holocene) for the archaeological material obtained in a test excavation dug in the rockshelter in 2018. The radiocarbon dating and archaeological comparison with other sites in this region suggest that Psytuaje rockshelter represents a new Epipalaeolithic site, which is likely dated to the final of this period correlating to the beginning of the Holocene. At present, only two other Epipalaeolithic sites (Sosruko and Badynoko rockshelters) are known in the region. Both are located on a small area of the Baksan River valley (a large tributary of the Terek River). Located in a valley of a small river of Fanduko (a tributary of the Baksan River) and in vicinity of the Zayukovo (Baksan) obsidian source, Psytuaje rockshelter has the potential to produce data on subsistence and cultural changes in Epipalaeolithic population of this region at the boundary of the Pleistocene and Holocene.
Archaeological investigations have been conducted along the northern coast of Sonora, Mexico where over 60 prehistoric middens have been identified around Bahía Adair and the town of Puerto Peñasco. ...The middens include low densities of pottery, chipped and ground stone tools, and some shell tools and ornaments, as well as molluscs, fish bones, crab claws, sea turtle bones, terrestrial animal bones, and charred plant remains. Radiocarbon dates indicate nearly continuous use of the coast from as early as 4,000 BC through late historic times. Pottery types found are associated with the Patayan, Hohokam, Trincheras, and the Ancestral Comcaac cultures. These middens were created by peoples occupying the western Papaguería who interacted extensively with neighboring groups in California, Arizona, and Sonora, Mexico. The Areneños (Sand Papago or Hia ced O'odham) occupied the area in historical times and their subsistence, settlement, and interaction patterns can be used as a model for prehistoric groups.
X-ray fluorescence analysis of obsidian artifacts from sites located in Chaco Canyon and from three Chaco-era communities in New Mexico permits determination of their geological origin. These source ...data are used to describe patterning in obsidian procurement in sites located in Chaco Canyon dating from A.D. 500–1150, and in a three non-Canyon communities occupied during the period of Chaco Canyon's regional prominence (ca. A.D. 875–1150). These data demonstrate that the most proximate sources generally dominate the sourced obsidian assemblages from sites of all periods, but also suggest differences in procurement patterning both over time and across space. Within Chaco Canyon, there is a notable shift from Mount Taylor obsidian to use of Jemez Mountains sources over time. These data also suggest that earlier analyses of obsidian from sites in Chaco Canyon misidentified some obsidian artifact sources; these new data indicate the central areas of disagreement and provide a revision of procurement patterning. In the Chaco-era communities located outside Chaco Canyon, procurement patterning diverges. The Blue J community shows an increase in use of the nearby Mount Taylor source over time. Two communities located toward the southern extent of the Chaco great house distribution reveal a markedly distinct procurement pattern, obtaining nearly all of their obsidian from southern sources largely unrepresented at Chaco Canyon. Combined, these data provide new insights into raw material procurement and artifact production at sites in Chaco Canyon, and in communities occupied during the Chaco Phenomenon, the period of the Canyon's greatest regional influence.
► Analysis of 763 pieces of archaeological obsidian from sites in Chaco Canyon. ► Analysis of 327 pieces of archaeological obsidian from Chaco-era communities. ► 1089 pieces of archaeological obsidian were identified to geological source. ► Revises obsidian procurement patterning for Chaco Canyon, suggesting earlier source analyses misidentified several sources.
•Psytuaje rockshelter is the first stratified late Epipaleolithic (EPP) site that was intensively investigated in the northern slope of the Central Caucasus.•The multidisciplinary research in ...Psytuaje rockshelter provides new important data about subsistence strategies and culture of the EPP hunter-gatherer groups.•Our study reveals cultural and technological similarities between late EPP assemblages in the north-central and in the north-western Caucasus, including those from Mezmaiskaya cave.•The new data indicates that the late EPP culture developed continuously across the Pleistocene–Holocene transition and up to the early Holocene.
The Casas Grandes area in Chihuahua, Mexico and the site of Paquime was the center of one the largest regional systems in the U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest (SW/NW) during the Medio period (CE ...1200-1450). People participated in local and distant exchange networks with groups in the SW/NW, Mesoamerica, and West Mexico. Our knowledge of which obsidian sources people used in Casas Grandes is limited, despite how obsidian could have derived from many different places. We examine how the use of specific obsidian sources may relate to broader political and economic relationships within the Casas Grandes regional system and its association with the Mimbres and Animas regions of the SW/NW. We sourced 116 artifacts using EDXRF spectrometry from four sites that neighbor Paquime. Results demonstrate people used obsidian from Chihuahua, Sonora, and New Mexico. Furthermore, there were varying levels of social interaction and regional integration because there is diversity in source use at the site level, and Casas Grandes were more connected to the Animas region than Mimbres regarding obsidian resource procurement.
Obsidian studies in the greater American Southwest have come of age. No longer does the region lag behind other adjoining regions both in the understanding of source provenance and the integración of ...obsidian source studies into regional designs. Most of the archaeological obsidian sources discussed here were originally presented in semi-quantitative form in this journal in 1988 (Shackley 1988a). The purpose here is to present that same data in broadly useable quantitative form calibrated to international standards, update the source descriptions when appropriate, and, finally, present data on a few new sources recently located. This is a necessary step to continue the momentum of obsidian studies in the region and make the information available to all. Finally, some discussion is directed toward the archaeological utility of obsidian studies in the region.
For over a decade and a half the locality of "AZ Unknown A" obsidian source has remained unknown. In 2006, during an archaeological reconnaissance of the upper Rio Sonoyta in northern Sonora, members ...of the Ajo Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society discovered a new obsidian source on a dome complex on the southeast side of the river basin near the previously recorded Los Vidrios. This new source was determined to match the elemental composition of AZ Unknown A. The source was mapped, sampled, and recorded in November 2008 by Martynec and Shackley, and a sample of the source material analyzed at the Berkeley Geoarchaeological XRF Laboratory. The petrology and chemistry of this newly discovered source are discussed as well as its archaeological context in the region.
Durante más de una década y la mitad de la localidad de "Desconocido AZ A" la fuente de obsidiana ha permanecido desconocida. En 2006, durante un sondeo arqueológico de la parte superior del Río Sonoyta, en el norte de Sonora, los miembros del Ajo Chapter de la Sociedad Arqueológica de Arizona descubrieron una nueva fuente de obsidiana en un domo estructural en el lado este de la cuenca del río, cerca de la fuente llamada Los Vidrios registrada previamente. Se determino que esta nueva fuente coincida con la composición elemental de AZ Desconocido A. Se trazaron mapas de la fuente, se extrajeron muestras, y se registro en noviembre de 2008 por Martynec y Shackley. También una muestra de la fuente material fue analizada en el Laboratorio Geoarqueológico XRF de Berkeley. La petrología y la química de esta fuente recientemente descubierta es discutida, así como su contexto arqueológico en la región.
This article summarizes research conducted in the Sahuaripa and Bacanora valleys of Sonora, Mexico. Located in the Serrana culture area of the Sierra Madre Occidental, data from this region speaks to ...several prevalent debates regarding the precolonial era of Northwest Mexico. Radiocarbon dates support demographic reconstructions for sizeable populations post-1000 AD; a time when other regions of the Northwest/Southwest (NW/SW) experienced significant demographic changes. Material cultural patterns reflect substantial local and regional connections with neighboring Río Sonora groups and Huatabampo. Recovered polychrome ceramics demonstrate long-distance connections with Casas Grandes, and obsidian data reflect connections to the Sonora and other neighboring valleys. These data indicate the Sahuaripa Valley participated in a corridor of exchange, which potentially included interaction between Casas Grandes and West Mexico. These observations are relevant to macro-scale patterns of interaction in the late-precolonial NW/SW.
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