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The Ventana Complex: New Dates and New Ideas on Its Place in Early Holocene Western Prehistory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Bruce B. Huckell  and
C. Vance Haynes Jr.
Bruce B. Huckell
Affiliation:
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131
C. Vance Haynes Jr.
Affiliation:
Departments of Anthropology and Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
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Abstract

Radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples and a re-examination of the artifacts from the Volcanic Debris layer in Ventana Cave were conducted in 1992-1994. The goal of this research was to better understand the chronological position and cultural affinities of the Ventana Complex, the name applied to the assemblage recovered from the Volcanic Debris. Ten new Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14C ages suggest that the Volcanic Debris accumulated between approximately 8800 B.P. and 10,500 B.P., and the lack of stratigraphic ordering of the dates indicates that the Volcanic Debris was subjected to considerable turbation as it accumulated. This turbation may have led to the incorporation of bones of extinct fauna from an underlying conglomerate deposit rich in horse remains, creating the impression of their association with artifacts. The artifacts are probably the product of episodic, special-purpose occupations spanning centuries or millennia. Technological and morphological studies of the stone tools indicate few similarities with classic Paleoindian industries, and greater similarities to early Holocene Archaic occupations in the Great Basin and Southwest. Correlations of the Ventana Cave stratigraphy with that of southeastern Arizona and with the late Pleistocene and Holocene record of Northern Hemisphere climate are explored.

Résumé

Résumé

Durante los años 1992-1994 se fecharon muestras radio carbónicas y se reevaluaron los artefactos que pertenecen a la capa Escombros Volcánicos (Volcanic Debris) de la Cueva de la Ventana. El objetivo de este estudio era comprender mejor la posición cronológica y las relaciones culturales del Complejo Ventana, nombre que se aplica a la colección de artefactos recuperados en esta capa. Diez nuevas fechas radio carbónicas (AMS) indican que la capa Escombros Volcánicos se acumuló entre aproximadamente 8,800 y 10,500 A.P, y la falta de orden estratigráfico en las fechas nos indica que la capa Escombros Volcánicos estuvo sujeto a perturbaciones considerables mientras se fue acumulando. Estas perturbaciones habrían incorporado restos de fauna extinguida, que pudieran haber sido acarreados de depósitos subyacentes que contienen abundantes restos equinos. Estos hechos han creado la impresión de que los restos óseos están asociados con los artefactos culturales. Estos son probablemente el resultado de ocupaciones episódicas y de ocupaciones confines muy específicos que continuaban por siglos o milenios. Los estudios tecnológicos y morfológicos de herramientas líticas muestran muy pocas características en común con aquellas de las industrias clásicas de los Paleoindios. En cambio tienen más en común con las ocupaciones Arcaicas tempranas de la época Holoceno en la Great Basin y el Suroeste. En esta investigación, se desarrollan las correlaciones estratigráficas de la Cueva de la Ventana con el sureste de Arizona, tanto como con el registro del clima del hemisferio norte durantes las épocas de Pleistoceno tardío y Holoceno.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 68 , Issue 2 , April 2003 , pp. 353 - 371
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2003

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