Course Details

Greater Southwest Lithic Technology Workshop

CANCELLED

Valles Caldera National Preserve

Workshop Objectives

—Address the concept of lithic landscapes and how stone tool raw material procurement and reduction interacts with prehistoric settlement and subsistence

—Explore a variety of reduction techniques as expressed in the archeological record

—Evaluate different approaches to debitage analysis

—Critique analytical approaches commonly used to interpret human behavior from the archeological record

 

Workshop Activities

—Hands-on training in the fundamental principles of fracture mechanics and stoneworking

—Knapping demonstrations by instructors to introduce the major techniques and traditions of stone tool manufacture, followed by exercises and practice sessions by participants

—Identification of the diagnostic products and by-products of various technologies and traditions

—Lab exercises and evening lectures, readings and critiques of current analytical methods

—Field trips to Jemez Mountains obsidian quarries and non-quarry lithic sites in the VCNP.

 

Suggested Readings

Steffen, Anastasia, Elizabeth J. Skinner, and Peter W. Ainsworth
  1998    A View to the Core: Technological Units and Lithic Debitage Analysis.  In Unit Issues in Archaeology: Measuring Time, Space, and Material, edited by A. F. Ramenofsky and A. Steffen, pp. 131-146.  University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. 

—>Download pdf* or visit http://books.google.com/

(*The pdf does not have references; visit http://books.google.com/ to see references cited)

 

What to bring

All necessary knapping equipment will be provided.  However, we encourage participants to bring their own knapping kits, safety glasses or goggles, and leather gloves;

Elevation is above 8500’, the caldera climate is quite cool, and it will be the peak of the rainy season.  Bring warm clothes, long pants, rain gear, and a variety of types of shoes/boots.