Obsidian Source Provenance Studies in the Hohokam Core

New Perspectives from the Middle Gila River, South-Central Arizona

Chris Loendorf1, J. Andrew Darling1, and M. Steven Shackley2

Introduction Archaeological Obsidian Studies Hohokam Obsidian Use

(West) Obsidian Source (East)
Obsidian source provenance studies are a staple of archaeometric Approximate Rescaled Cluster Combination Distance
Study
Study ofof the
the intersocietal
intersocietal movement
movement of of goods
goods is is one
one of of the
the primary
primary methods

Mule/Antelope Creek
100
research and have been a major contributor to anthropological methods Site 1 5 10 15 20 25

Snaketown in Km.
RS Hill/Sitgreaves
100

Government Mtn
archaeologists
archaeologists employemploy to to identify
identify prehistoric
prehistoric interaction
interaction systems
systems atat different
different scales
scales

Tank Mountains

Partridge Creek

Unknown/Other
Marana
statements regarding source utilization and raw material distribution.

Distance From
Gatlin Marana

Sauceda Mts

Cow Canyon

Sauceda Proportion in Site Collection

Burro Creek
from
from the
the local
local toto the
the regional.
regional. Exchange
Exchange patterns
patterns reflect
reflect community
community and and regional

Sand Tanks
Brady Wash
regional
Gatlin Marana

Los Vidrios
Brady Wash
Recent x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses of obsidian artifacts from sites 80

Sauceda Proportion in Site Collection

Superior
Brady Wash
EXLP
economic,
economic, ideological,
ideological, and and political
political interrelationships.
interrelationships. These These socioeconomic

Vulture
80
in the Gila River Indian Community and elsewhere have amassed trace- socioeconomic K-Means Sample
GR-522 A
element a database that includes over 1600 obsidian artifacts. relationships
relationships involve
involve many
many factors
factors including
including value,
value, thethe number
number andand type
type ofof transactions
transactions Collection
Snaketown
Period
Pre-Classic 5 2 2 22 1 60 2 1 0
Cluster
3
Size
299
ELXP
ELXP
GR-522 A
Casa Grande
60 GR-522 A

Provenance expectations based on regional studies are evaluated between

between the the source
source and and the
the consumer,
consumer, regional
regional distribution,
distribution, competition,
competition, and and “the
“the GR-522 Locus D Pre-Classic 3 13 15 51 18 14 3 39 60
GR-522 Locus A Classic 2 4 61 20 2 12 14 1 51
against findings from excavated sites in the west end (Estrella Mountain social
social and
and cultural
cultural meaning
meaning of of the
the goods”
goods” (Kooyman
(Kooyman 2000:140).
2000:140). Archaeologists
Archaeologists have have ELXP Classic? 1 7 5 3 4 63 5 8 1 15 1 76
Cas a Grande
Cas a Grande
Tonto Arm
Salt Arm
foothills, ELXP) and east-central (Santan, GR-522) areas of the developed
developed ways ways to to examine
examine exchange
exchange by by analyzing
analyzing goodsgoods such
such asas obsidian,
obsidian, which
which has
has Rowley
Pueblo Grande
Classic
Classic 1 4 4
47
27 22
30
30
23
10 3
29
31
5
5
43
220
40
40 Pueblo Grande Rowley Pueblo Grande
reservation. Results demonstrate the advantages of large datasets and properties
properties that
that are
are ideally
ideally suited
suited for
for the
the study
study of of socioeconomic
socioeconomic interaction
interaction patterns
patterns in
in Los Colinas Pre-Classic 4 2 4 26 38 10 10 2 4 36 2 50 Pueblo Grande Rowley Rowley
Casa Grande Classic 1 29 46 7 14 2 42 4 137 Snaketown

the comparative potential of regional and excavation-based research central

central Arizona
Arizona from from AD AD 500-1450.
500-1450. First,
First, obsidian
obsidian is is aa desirable,
desirable, but
but not
not ubiquitous,
ubiquitous, Grewe Pre-Classic 1 1 95 1 2 45 3 137 20 Snaketown
GR-522 D

methodologies raw
raw material
material for for retouched
retouched tool tool manufacture.
manufacture. Second,
Second, obsidian
obsidian sources
sources areare generally
generally Palo Verde
Gatlin
Pre-Classic
Pre-Classic 3
2
1
55
4
31 11
85
1
7
64
73
2
1
122
75
20 Los Colinas GR-522 D
Salt Arm
T onto Arm
Salt Arm
Los Colinas T onto Arm
localized
localized deposits
deposits thatthat in
in most
most instances
instances are are also
also abundant.
abundant. Third,Third, obsidian
obsidian doesdoes not
not Brady Wash Classic 3 7 4 79 3 1 1 86 1 67 Palo Verde Grewe

occur
Tonto Arm Early Classic 5 90 2 3 93 3 11 0 Grewe Cluster analysis (Squared-Euclidian measure and Ward’s method)
occur within
within the
the core
core area
area ofof Hohokam
Hohokam habitation
habitation in in the
the Phoenix
Phoenix and
and Tonto
Tonto Basins,
Basins, but
Palo Verde

Obsidian but Tonto Arm Late Classic 38 20 6 4 32 93 4 80 0

Obsidianprojectile
projectilepoints
pointsfrom
fromthe
theTonto
Tonto sources
sources areare present
present to to the
the north,
north, south,
south, east,
east, and
and west.
west. Fourth,
Fourth, obsidian
obsidian hashas Salt Arm Early Classic 13 13 13 64 97 3 54 dendrogram for Classic period obsidian. At the two cluster level, Salt River
Basin, Salt Arm Late Classic 3 33 11 15 9 26 3 97 4 45 -20 basin sites are in one cluster, whereas sites in the Gila River basin are in
Basin, collected
collected during
during thethe Roosevelt
Roosevelt geochemical
geochemical and and physical
physical properties
properties that that allow
allow source
source areas
areas toto be
be objectively
objectively defined
defined Marana Classic
P-MIP Survey Data
6 85 4 1 3 1 124 1 152 -20
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
the second. Although Gila sites such as GR-522 are less than 35 KM from
Platform Mound Study with
with aa high
high degree
degree of of precision
precision (Clark
(Clark 1989).
1989). Consequently,
Consequently, diachronic
diachronic andand synchronic
synchronic Pre-Classic GRIC Pre-Classic 11 55 33 N/A N/A 9
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Platform Mound Study patterning Pueblo Grande, obsidian proportions differ. At the same time, the Tonto
patterning in in obsidian
obsidian acquisition
acquisition can can be be employed
employed to to address
address economic,
economic, political,
political, and
and Classic GRIC Classic 8 67 8 8 8 N/A N/A 12 Distanse from Sauceda Source in KM
ideological
Historic GRIC Historic 5 9 76 9 N/A N/A 21 Distanse from Sauceda Source in KM Basin is more than 80 KM away from Pueblo Grande, yet it has more similar
ideological aspects
aspects of of Hohokam
Hohokam society.
society. All Data
Pre-Classic Avg. Pre-Classic 1 1 1 13 14 3 27 34 4 N/A N/A 731 obsidian proportions.
Classic Average Classic 1 9 13 1 42 22 1 7 3 N/A N/A 948
Total Average Both 1 11 13 2 34 28 1 4 4 N/A N/A 1679 Sauceda Obsidian was the most common type used by the
Hohokam, and its proportion in assemblages is very weakly
correlated (Person Correlation = -0.03) with distance from the source. Conclusions
Sauceda use differs at adjacent Pre-Classic and Classic Period
Hohokam Obsidian Source Proportions for Collections with More than 40
Habitation Areas (e.g., GR-522 A and GR-522 D), with greater use of
Sourced Artifacts (source data from, Loendorf et al. 2004; Marshall 2002, For the Hohokam of Central Arizona, direction of the source has a
Sauceda obsidian occurring during the Classic Period.
Peterson et al. 1997; Shackley & Bayman 2006; Rice et al. 1998). Sites greater effect than absolute distance on raw material utilization. Further,
are Organized based on the Distance from Snaketown. Cluster obsidian commonly arrived at sites in unreduced form. It appears that
Assignments for a K-Means Non-Hierarchical Cluster Analysis are also prehistoric people in the Salt Basin, Middle Gila, and the two arms of the
Reported. Tonto Basin maintained different trade contacts. Obsidian acquisition
patterns suggest that the strongest socioeconomic ties among
communities were between those located on the same waterways.
Variation in obsidian use among these areas supports the argument that
the Classic period Hohokam were not a politically centralized or
economically integrated entity. Data suggest that by the Late Classic,
little obsidian was transferred between adjacent subregions. Instead
Projectile points from the Gila Obsidian
Projectile points from the Gila Obsidian Source
Source and
and Archaeological
Archaeological communities of sites received most of their obsidian from distant areas
River Indian Community Site in different directions. Use of the closest source, Superior, decreased
River Indian Community SiteLocations
Locations over time from the pre-Classic to the Classic period. While Sauceda
Obsidian
ObsidianProjectile
ProjectilePoints
PointsFrom
FromThe
TheGila
GilaRiver
RiverIndian
IndianCommunity,
Community, obsidian, which is located to the southwest of the core area, became the
Collected During the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project main obsidian supply by the Late Classic and this trend continued into
Collected During the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project
the Historic period. This continuity of trends between the Classic and
Historic periods is an example of the link between the Hohokam and the
Akimel O’odham (Pima), who live in the area today.

Obsidian Trace Element Analysis

Obsidian proportions for some types do exhibit falloff relationships
Trace element analyses were performed in the Archaeological XRF Laboratory, 220
Source 120
Source within regions. For example in the Gila River Community, Vulture
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, 220
Blue/SF River
Source
Government
Blue/SF Mtn
River
120
Blue/SF River
Source
Government
Blue/SF Mtn
River
frequencies falloff west to east and Vulture is located to the west. In
using a Spectrace/ThermoNoranTM QuanX energy dispersive x-ray 200
Government Mtn*
Government Mtn
Los Vidrios*
Government Mtn* 100
Los Vidrios
Government Mtn
MuleLos
Cr-AC/MM
Vidrios
contrast, Superior frequencies east to west and Superior is located to References Cited
fluorescence spectrometer. The spectrometer is equipped with an air cooled Cu 200 Mule Cr-AC/MM
Los Vidrios*
Sauceda
MuleMts
Cr-AC/MM
100
Sauceda Mts
Mule Cr-AC/MM
Superior
Sauceda Mts
the east. Clark, J. E.
1989 Obsidian: The Primary Mesoamerican Sources. In La Obsidiana en Mesoamerica, Pp. 299-319. Edited by M. Gaziola and J. E. Clark. Colección Cientifica, Serie: Arqueología,
Superior Vulture
x-ray target with a 125 micron Be window, an x-ray generator that operates 180

180
Sauceda Mts
Vulture
Superior 80
Superior
Vulture
176, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.
Govindaraju, K.
from 4-50 kV/0.02-2.0 mA at 0.02 increments, using an IBM PC based Vulture
80
1994 Compilation of Working Values and Sample Description for 383 Geostandards. Geostandards Newsletter 18 (special issue).
Hughes, R. E., and Smith, R.L.
160
microprocessor and WinTraceTM reduction software. X -ray intensity Kα-line 160
1993 Archaeology, Geology, and Geochemistry in Obsidian Provenance Studies. In Stein, J.K. and Linse, A.R. eds., Scale on Archaeological and Geoscientific Perspectives, edited by,
Rb

pp. 79-91. Geological Society of America Special Paper 283, Boulder

Sr

60
data were generated for elements including Ti, Mn, FeT, Th, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, and
Rb

Kooyman, B.P
Sr

60
140 2000 Understanding Stone Tools and Archaeological Sites. University of Calgary Press, Alberta, Canada.
Nb. Trace element intensities were converted to concentration estimates by 140 Loendorf, Chris, J. Andrew Darling, and M. Steven Shackley
40 2004 Hohokam Obsidian Procurement and Distribution in the Middle Gila River Valley: A Regional Approach. A paper presented at the Inaugural Symposium of the Archaeological
employing a least-squares calibration based on the analysis of international 120 40
Sciences of the Americas, Tucson, Arizona.
Marshall, J. T.
rock standards certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology 120
2002 Obsidian and the Northern Periphery: Tool Manufacture, Source Distribution, and Patterns of Interaction. In Phoenix Basin to Perry Mesa: Rethinking the “NorthernPeriphery”.
Arizona Archaeologist Number 34, Edited by Mark R. Hackbarth, Kelly Hays-Gilpin, and Lynn Neal. Arizona Archaeological Society, Phoenix.
20
(NIST), the US. Geological Survey (USGS), Canadian Centre for Mineral and 100
20
Peterson, J., D. R. Mitchell, and M. S. Shackley
This research was conducted by the GRIC CRMP, in collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation-Pima-Maricopa 1997 The Social and Economic Contexts of Lithic Procurement: Obsidian fomr Classic-Period Hohokam Site. American Antiquity, 62(2), pp. 231-259.
Energy Technology, and the Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et
100
Rice, G. E., A. Simon, and C. Loendorf
Irrigation Project (BOR P-MIP) under the Tribal Self Governance Act of 1994 [P.L. 103-413]. We also wish to
Géochimiques in France (Govindaraju 1994, see also Shackley 1995, 2005; 80 0 1998 Production and Exchange of Economic Goods. In A Synthesis of Tonto Basin Prehistory: The Roosevelt Archaeology Studies, 1989 to 1998, edited by G. E. Rice, pp. 105-130.
Roosevelt Monograph Series 12 and Anthropological Field Studies 41, Arizona State University.
80 0 thank William Self Associates, Inc. Obsidian sourcing was conducted as part of the Santan Data Recovery Project
Hughes and Smith 1993). In addition, the values for Ni, Cu, Zn, Th, and Ga 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
(P-MIP) and the SFPP East Line Expansion Project.
Shackley, M. S.
1995 Sources of Archaeological Obsidian in the Greater American Southwest: An Update and Quantitative Analysis. American Antiquity 60(3):531-551.
Zr Zr 2005 Obsidian: Geology and Archaeology in the North American Southwest. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
were measured, but these are rarely useful in discriminating glass sources and
60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Zr Zr Shackley, M. Steven and James M. Bayman

are not generally reported. Rb versus Zr biplot of GR-522 data. Sr versus Zr biplot of GR-522 data collapsing 2
2006 “Obsidian Source Provenance, Projectile Point Morphology and Sacaton Phase
University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Hohokam Cultural Identity.” In A Snaketown Retrospective, edited by P. Fish and S. Fish.

Rb versus Zr biplot of GR-522 data. Sr versus Zr biplot of GR-522 data collapsing 1GilaRiver Indian Community,
Asterisked data are those outside the questionable source assignments into
Asterisked data are those outside the questionable source assignments into Cultural Resource Management Program
range of source standards confident assignments from above figure.
range of source standards confident assignments from above figure.