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Glass is Heavy, Too: Testing the Field-Processing Model at the Modena Obsidian Quarry, Lincoln County, Southeastern Nevada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael J. Shott
Michael J. Shott*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Classical Studies, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325(shott@uakron.edu)
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Abstract

The field-processing model (FPM) relates degree of resource processing at procurement site to round-trip travel distance. Typically applied to food getting, its extension to stone tools is part of a larger trend to broaden the scope and strengthen the theoretical foundation of inference from lithic data. This trend guided the FPM's application at the Modena obsidian quarry in the Great Basin, which follows earlier analyses by comparing the proportion by reduction stage of biface preforms between quarry and outlying sites and the technological characteristics of debris assemblages. It also uses two ratio-scale methods, slope of the regression of preform weight upon the first principal-component of linear dimensions, which declines with reduction, and slope of cumulative-count of flakes upon flake size, which increases with reduction. Results support the FPM and previous studies that document early-stage reduction at quarries vs. later-stage reduction across the landscape. The essential next step in FPM testing requires data on pattern and extent of biface reduction as a continuous function of distance from source. As useful as are existing measures and approaches, newly defined ratio-scale measures can particularly expedite testing of the FPM in its continuous terms.

Résumé

Résumé

El Modelo del Procesamiento del Campo (MPC) enlace en manera inversa el grado de procesamiento de recursos al punto de aprovechamiento con el largo del viaje de ida y vuelta. Aplicado originalmente a recursos alimentarios, su extensiόn al análisis de útiles liticas consta parte de una tendencia mas larga con fin de ampliar y esforzar el base teorico de inferencia a partir de los datos liticos. Tal tendencia guiό la aplicacion al MPC a la canter a de obsidiana Modena en la Gran Cuenca, que sigue estudios previόs por medio de comparacion de la proporcion por etapa de reducciόn de las preformas bifaciales entre cantera y otros sitios y de los rasgos tecnologicos de conjuntos de desechos . Tambien usa dos medidas nuevas de escala continua, el declive de la linea de regresion de cuenta cumulativa de lascas encima de tamaño de lascas, que sube a lo largo del proceso de reducciόn, y el declive de la linea de regresion depeso de preformas bifaciales encima del primero componente de ejes lineares, que baja a lo largo del proceso de reducciόn. Todos de los datos respalde el MPC y estudios previόs que documentaron etapas de reducciόn tempranas en cameras y etapas tardίas por afuera. El próximo paso imprescindible involucra analisis de patrόn y grado de reducciόn de bifaces como función continuo a distancia defuente. Tan valorosos que sean medidas tipicas, se deben sustituidas por otras de escala continua para facilitar la comprobación del MPC en sus terminos continuos.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 80 , Issue 3 , July 2015 , pp. 548 - 570
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2015

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