Fire-cracked Rock Use and Reuse in the Hueco Bolson, Fort Bliss, Texas

Abstract

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Experimental hearths and the thermal alteration of Caliche on the Southern High Plains

“…The analysis of specific components of hearthstone or cookstone technology (Thoms, 1986(Thoms, , 2003 allows for a broader understanding of prehistoric cooking strategies (e.g., Atkins, 1988;Jackson, 1998;Gose, 2000;Quigg et al, 2001;Brink and Dawe, 2003;Thoms, 2003). Although the use of caliche hearthstone technology has been examined in several ecological settings (e.g., Tennis et. al., 1997), the analysis from the Southern High Plains is limited (Lintz, 1989;Ladkin, 1993).…”

Use-Alteration Analysis of Fire-Cracked Rocks

“…When rocks are repeatedly reused in hearth features and boiling operations, they may become increasingly smaller and more angular (Thoms 1989), and their heat retention potential is reduced (Witkind 1977). Experiments demonstrate a correlation between increased frequency of FCR and decreased FCR size, supporting the use of size frequency as a measure of feature reuse (Mauldin et al 1998; Pagoulatos 1992; Tennis et al 1997:5). The degree of fracturing (i.e., as rocks are exposed to repeated episodes of heating and cooling, they fracture into ever smaller pieces) can address questions of reuse and recycling of stones (Tennis et al 1997:15).…”

“…As rocks are exposed to repeated episodes of heating and cooling, they fracture into ever smaller pieces. The degree of fracturing can be used to address questions of reuse of stones and features (Tennis et al 1997:15). The resulting size of broken FCR may have influenced their performance characteristics, their suitability for reuse, and the point at which they were discarded.…”

“…Heated rocks tend to become weaker as the number of firing episodes they are exposed to increases (Jackson 1998). The quantity of fractured rocks increases as a cooking/heating facility's use increases, with the resultant rock sizes becoming smaller as rocks continue to fracture and be reused; therefore, the repeated use of a feature should result in a greater amount of fractured versus nonfractured rocks (Jackson 1998:46; Tennis et al 1997:15). Combined with other variables (e.g., the original size of the rock, raw material type), the average size of FCR fragments at a site could be interpreted as a relative indicator of the intensity of its use (Graesch et al 2014; Pagoulatos 1992; Thoms 1989:405).…”

“…The frequency of specimens with cortex should decrease with the continued fracturing and reduction in size of stone due to repeated use. Thus, the frequency of FCR lacking cortex should correlate with a higher degree of fracturing (Tennis et al 1997:15). The low frequencies of FCR surfaces with cortex suggests that most FCR experienced multiple episodes of heating and cooling (Table 3), with Site 913 (9%) experiencing fewer episodes of reuse than Site 914 (13%) or Duck Lake (16%).…”