The Grand Canyon Figurine Complex

Schroedl, A.

doi:10.2307/278988

Cited by 14 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A complete review of the literature on split-twig figurines is not provided here. Previous reviews have thoroughly discussed all relevant papers related to these artifacts, including methods of construction and presumed function (e.g., Schroedl 1977;Emslie et al 1995;Coulam and Schroedl 2004). Coulam and Schroedl (2004) found two distinct styles of manufacture for these artifacts (Green River and Grand Canyon styles) as well as two types of sites where they are found, domestic and ritual.…”

Section: Background Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Holocene Climate Change and the Origin of the “Figurine Complex” In Grand Canyon, Arizona

Emslie¹,

Coats²

2013

Journal of Ethnobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hundreds of split-twig figurines have been recovered from caves in Grand Canyon and are associated with a hunting ritual that dates from 4200–3100 14C yrs before present (BP). The caves chosen for this ritual all have Pleistocene remains of big game animals visible in packrat middens or surface deposits at the entrances. Presumably, Archaic hunter-gatherers identified these sites as entrances to the Underworld where the fossil remains represented ancestral animals. We examine the known chronology for these sites in Grand Canyon and postulate that the origin of this ritual is correlated with a period of rapid climate change that occurred on both global and regional scales beginning at ∼4000 BP. Increasingly variable conditions and the onset of modern El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) patterns in the eastern Pacific at that time probably negatively affected productivity of big game species in years with decreased winter precipitation. Thus, the caves became foci for a hunting ritual with figurines serving as a kind of offering. Most dates on the figurines or associated artifacts occur between 4100–3530 BP and many cluster to specific periods that suggest this ritual was not continuous, but may correspond with episodic droughts. Additional radiocarbon dates on figurines can test this hypothesis.

show abstract

Section: Background Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Holocene Climate Change and the Origin of the “Figurine Complex” In Grand Canyon, Arizona

Emslie¹,

Coats²

2013

Journal of Ethnobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Other forms included leaf-shaped, and various stemmed points, including Silver Lake, Lake (Fowler, Madsen, and Hattori 1973:42-43), and with dates on split-twig figurines in Arizona and Utah (Schroedl 1977).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeological Investigations at Nelson Wash, Fort Irwin, California. Fort Irwin Archaeological Project Research Report Number 23. Volume 2. Revision

Warren¹

1991

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The data recovery of seven early Holocene archeological sites in Nelson Wash, National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California was conducted during the summer of 1983. This report contains the description of artifacts recovered from these sites followed by an analysis of use wear, assemblage composition, chronology, subsistence, and settlement patterns directed toward understanding early Holocene cultural adaptation in the Mojave Desert. A typological key for identifying Lake Mojave and Pinto points is proposed and evidence presented of a Lake MojavePinto cultural continuum. (Figure 1-1). The project area includes former Range 14/Nelson Wash in the Nelson Lake drainage basin, 11-13 km north of the NTC cantonment area. PROJECT HISTORYArcheological inventory of Nelson Wash was undertaken in January, February and March, 1982 prior to the 1982 Gallant Eagle training exercises. As a result of the initial survey, eleven prehistoric archeological sites were discovered and recorded in Area 6G including seven sites in the Range 14/Nelson Wash area (Robarchek et al. 1984, 99-115 in unavoidable impacts to the six sites within the range project boundaries; therefore, further evaluation of the sites to obtain sufficient information to guide data recovery was planned.With the exception of 4-SBr-4966, however, testing and documentation of the Nelson Wash sites was deferred, as there was a possibility that buried live ordnance was present in the project area.Evaluation of 4-SBr--4966 was restricted at this time to the collection of tools and debitage from the surface and the excavation of four lxl m test units to assess the extent, integrity and maximum depth of the site deposits (Skinner etal. 1984, 203-224).Due to the urgency of the NTC range construction program, data recovery of the six NelsonWash sites was undertaken from July to October, 1983 immediately following the completion of the 4-SBr-4966 evaluation, the completion of a research design and the clearance of unexploded ordnance from the Nelson Wash area by NTC personnel. Results of the field phase of the data recovery project were reported by Vaughan (1984). As the first phase of data recovery, heavy equipment was used to explore known or anticipated subsurface deposits at 4-SBr-4966, 4-SBr-4963 and 4SBr-4965. Subsequent data recovery efforts at these sites were based upon the results of the first phase. Data recovery at sites 4-SBr-4967, 4-SBr-4968 and 4-SBr-4969 was restricted to surface samples. In the course of the Nelson Wash data recovery fieldwork phase, a new site, 4-SBr-5267, was discovered north of 4-SBr-4966 (Vaughan 1984:61-64). As the site was not included in either the original budget and schedule or research design, work at the site was limited to surface collection of a small sample of tools and debitage from ten clusters, or loci, of tool concentrations (Vaughan 1984:62).In addition to the discovery of 4-SBr-5267, the 1983 fieldwork determined that cultural materials extended far beyond the mapped boundaries of 4-SBr-4969 (Robarchek e...

show abstract

The Virgin Anasazi, far western Puebloans

Lyneis

1995

J World Prehist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Grand Canyon Figurine Complex

Cited by 14 publications

References 7 publications

Late Holocene Climate Change and the Origin of the “Figurine Complex” In Grand Canyon, Arizona

Late Holocene Climate Change and the Origin of the “Figurine Complex” In Grand Canyon, Arizona

Archaeological Investigations at Nelson Wash, Fort Irwin, California. Fort Irwin Archaeological Project Research Report Number 23. Volume 2. Revision

The Virgin Anasazi, far western Puebloans

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About