This investigation aggregates intact or reconstructed Gahagan bifaces from the southern Caddo area and central Texas to test the hypothesis that Gahagan biface morphology differs between the regions. The Gahagan bifaces (n = 102) were scanned, then analysed using a novel landmarking protocol and the tools of geometric morphometrics. Results provide a preview of the significant differences in Gahagan biface morphology expressed between the southern Caddo area and central Texas regions. The size discrepancy represents an inversion of current theoretical constructs that posit a decrease in tool size thought to articulate with an increase in distance from the raw material source. It is posited that the contrasting morphologies represent two discrete communities of practise; one (emergent Caddo horticulturalists) where Gahagan bifaces were enlisted primarily for burial and ritualistic activities, and the other (central Texas hunter-gatherers) where Gahagan bifaces were utilised over a longer time span in more practical and utilitarian contexts.

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.The consumer aspect of stone-tool manufacture is an important factor for lithic studies concerned with craft specialization and exchange systems. The dynamic nature of stone-tool production/exchange/use systems can be understood through a technological analysis of producer site assemblages and a functional and technological examination of consumer sites. Chipped-stone assemblages from the producer site of Colha, Belize, and the consumer site of Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, indicate opposing but interdependent roles within the same exchange system. Preclassic formal tools such as the oval biface and stemmed macroblade were manufactured at workshops in Colha and exhibit a high degree of specialization and standardization in manufacture. These formal tools were then exchanged beyond the chert-bearing zone of northern Belize to consumer sites such as Santa Rita. Once these formal tools entered the consumption sphere they were used, broken, discarded, or recycled into a variety of second-order expedient tools.Un factor importante en los estudios liticos que se enfocan en la especializacion artesanal y sistemas de intercambio es el aspecto consumidor. El caracter dinamico de los sistemas de produccion, intercambio y uso de herramientas liticas se aborda a traves de un analisis tecnologico de los materiales recuperados en los centros productores y un analisis funcional y tecnologico en los sitios consumidores. Los analisis de la litica tallada de pedernal que procede del centro productor de Colha, Belice, y del pueblo consumidor de Santa Rita Corozal, Belice, indican que estos sitios ocupaban posiciones opuestas, pero interdependientes, dentro del mismo sistema de intercambio. Las herramientasformales del Preclasico, como el bifacial ovaladoy la macro-navaja pedunculada, fueron manufacturadas en talleres en Colha; dichas herramientas exhiben un alto nivel de especializacion y estandarizacion en cuanto a su elaboracion. Estos implementos liticos formales fueron exportados fuera de la zona de yacimientos de pedernal en el norte de Belice, hacia varios sitios del consumo, tales como Santa Rita. Una vez dentro de la esfera de consumo, en tanto que herramientas formales, fueron usadas, rotas, descartadas, y por ultimo, recicladas para crear una serie de implementos informales del segundo nivel.Three areas should be of concern to studies of lithic craft specialization: production, exchange, and consumption. The area of the Maya Lowlands of northern Belize offers the researcher a unique opportunity to analyze the interaction of these three facets of lithic craft specialization. In addition to developing ideas concerning the interaction of the ancient Maya producer and consumer sites as entities o...

This analysis of Gahagan biface morphology enlists the three largest samples of Gahagan bifaces, to include that of the type site (Gahagan Mound) as well as the Mounds Plantation and George C. Davis sites. Results indicate a significant difference in Gahagan biface morphology at the Mounds Plantation site when compared with Gahagan bifaces from the Gahagan Mound and George C. Davis sites. Tests for allometry and asymmetry were not significant. The test of morphological disparity indicates that Gahagan bifaces produced at the Mounds Plantation site occupy a more restricted range of morphospace than those produced at Gahagan Mound, providing indirect evidence for standardisation and diversity in Caddo biface production. While the sample includes a wide range of morphological variability, the test of morphological integration indicates that Gahagan bifaces are significantly integrated, meaning that those traits used to characterise their shape (blade and base) vary in a coordinated manner. These results articulate with a shift in Caddo bottle morphology over the same geography, potentially indicating two previously unrecognised and morphologically-distinct lithic and ceramic production areas.

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