Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
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A DATED CRUCIFORMARTIFACT?
JOSEPHB. MOUNTJOY
UNIVERSITYOF NORTHCAROLINA,GREENSBORO
ABSTRACT
of San Blas, on the
Excavationsat a site on the outskirts
coastof Nayarit,
south-central
Mexico(1967-8)yieldedan obsidian
cruciform
in stratigraphic
artifact
context,associatedwithartifacts
of the locallydefinedSan Blas complex.Radiocarbonanalysisof
marineshellsamplescollectedabove,below,and twometers
to the
northof the obsidiancruciform,
has producedrawdeterminations
of 2675a80, 2640a85,and2605a80radiocarbon
yearsrespectively.
This is one of the rareinstancesin whicha cruciform
has been
foundin fairlyreliabledated context,addingto presentunderdate as well as distribution,
standingsof cruciform
potentially
Southwest
importantfor problemsof West Mexico-American
contacts.
prehispanic
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PROFILE
OF
NORTHEAST
WALL
>
NO.
2
#1uare
'7 -7> v
>>i-A- NNO<
.N14>
7.1 1
i0C
A
v
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> v <L <v
LC
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147-,I
>
r -1
>S
I
NO.
C70-80
Lv
11
11
11il.1
4
L
< _L11
#1
>
1, V
cm.
square
5
NO
2
UNXCAVAEDUNEXCAVATED-13EDROCK
ROCK
ED
PRFL
OOTWETWL
STRATA
NO.I D1RKBROWNTO BLACKSOIL HEAVY
WITHSHERDS ANDSHELL,HARD
PACKED.
NO.2 LIGHT BROWNLOOSE SOIL WITH
A LOT OF SHELL.
NO.3 VERYLOOSE BROWNSOIL IN AN
ALMOSTSOLID SHELL DEPOSIT
WITHMANYROCKS,SOME BURNED
AND BROKENOR BATTERED.
NO.4 MEDIUMTO DARK BROWNFIRM
DEPOSIT WITHFEWERSHELLS.
NO.5 MEDIUMTO DARK BROWNFIRM
SOIL WITHLARGEROCKS AND
BOULDERS.
i.iO
CENTIMETERS
10 2D300 4050
3. squareC, 70 to 80
Figure1. Obsidian cruciformartifactfromSB-17, trench
centimeter
detail.
level,andstratigraphic
44
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thereforeconveniently
bracketthe location of the obsidiancruciform
The
first
of
(Figure2).
sample(U.C.L.A. 1451a) yieldeda determination
2675a80 radiocarbonyears(725 B.C.), and the secondsample(U.C.L.A.
of 2649a85 radiocarbon
1451b) a determination
years(690 B. C.). A third
in squareA (Figure2), gavea
sample,froma depthof 80 to 100 centimeters
determinations,
readingof 2605a80 (655 B. C.). Theseare theuncorrected
whichdo not takeintoaccountanyerrorforupwelling.
It is theopinionof
R. E. Taylorthatthe correctionforupwellingwould,accordingto present
reducethedeterminations
knowledge,
by no morethan240 years(485 B. C.,
450 B. C., and 415 B. C.), and it is probablethatthetruedate liescloserto
theolderdatesthanto theyounger
ones(personalcommunication,
1970).
thecruciform
was notsubjectedto obsidianhydration
Although
analysis,
a numberof hydrationmeasurements
were obtainedfromotherobsidian
objects (flakes) found in the deposit. On the whole, the hydration
measurements
are somewhaterraticfortheentiretrench3 obsidiansample
tested.However,those flakesanalyzedwhich were found most closely
associatedwiththe obsidiancruciform
tendto indicatean earlydate.The
from
obsidian
flakes
in
found
hydration
squareC froma depthof 50 to 150
are3.3, 7.5, and6.8 microns.
centimeters
Theonlytwoobsidianflakestested
fromthe70 to 80 centimeter
levelcamefromtheadjacenttwo-meter
square
of 7.6 and 7.7 microns.If
(squareB). Theywerefoundto havehydrations
the3.3 micronmeasurement
is discounted
as erroneous,
ratherthanintrusive,
the othersamplesaverage7.4 micronsof hydration,
which,at theMorett,
Colimarateof 260 yearspermicron- therateproposedbyMeighan,
Foote,
and Aiello(1968) - wouldindicatea dateof approximately
26 B. C. It seems
reasonableto expect that the actual date for the obsidiancruciform
lies
somewherebetweenthe radiocarbonand hydrationdeterminations,
and,
withoutdetaileddiscussionof culturalcontextand the problems
inherent
in
the obsidianhydration
methoditself,it is my opinionthatthe data from
ceramictypology
andstoneassemblage
bestsupporttheearlierdates.
Thereis always,of course,thepossibility
thattheobsidiancruciform
was
intrusivefrom above, but, given all available information,
this seems
improbable.
It is not yetpossibleto unequivocably
statethatcruciform
artifacts
are
earlierin eithertheSouthwestor Mexico.It doesseem,however,
thatrecent
information
fromSan Blas indicatesa probableoccurrence
of suchartifacts
on thesouth-central
coastof Nayaritas earlyas thefirstfewcenturies
before
Christ- possiblyas earlyas 600 B. C. The presenceof thecruciform
obsidian
artifactin associationwith the San Blas complexmay have some further
The San Blas complexappearsrelatedto a Formative-based
significance.
culturalexpansionwhichextendedfromsouthern
coastalMexicofarup to
the west coast of Mexico, dependentof the intensiveexploitationof
resourcesfromthe sea, estuary,and associatedland-basedmicroenvironments.This development
appearsto have broughtthe use of potteryinto
some areas of coastalWestMexico,and it is preciselyin thisearlycoastal
45
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forevidenceof contact
expansionwhichwe shouldbe intently
searching
which mighthave influencedthe earlydevelopment
of Hohokamin the
Southwest.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research
which
this
by theNationalScience
upon
paperis basedwassponsored
Foundation(GS-1387) and the Mesoamerican
Co-operativeResearchProgramof
withpermission
e
Southern
IllinoisUniversity,
oftheInstituto
Nacionalde Antropologi'a
de Monumentos
in Mexico.Professor
Clement
Historia,Departamento
Prehispainicos
and
R. E. Taylormadetheobsidianhydration
Meighan,LeonardFoote, and Professor
radiocarbon
determinations
available.
REFERENCES
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1966 Cruciform
fromtheVicinity
Artifacts
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Albuquerque.
E. T.
Hemmings,
1967 Cruciform
and RelatedArtifacts
of Mexicoand the Southwestern
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Howard,A. M.
1954 Cruciform
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of theSierraOccidental.
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Hughes,J.T.
1956 StoneCrosseswitha CuicuilcoBurial.AmericanAntiquity,
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Los Angeles.
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1966 SuggestedRevisionfor WestMexicanArchaeological
Sequences.Science,
Vol. 154,pp. 1456-9.Washington.
C. W.,L. Foote,andP. Aiello
Meighan,
1968 ObsidianDatingin WestMexicanArchaeology.
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pp. 1069-75.Washington.
J.B.
Mountjoy,
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1970a Prehispanic
Mexico.Ph.D. dissertation.
Southern
IllinoisUniversity.
Carbondale.
Nayarit,
1970b San BlasComplexEcology.Paperpresented
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of the
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Archaeology,
Mimeographed,
46
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