Agricultural Beginnings in the American Southwest by Roth Barbara J.;

Author:Roth, Barbara J.; [Roth, Barbara J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Unlimited Model
Published: 2016-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Figure 5.1. Cochise Cultural Sequence as proposed by Sayles and Antevs (1941). Figure by Ben Van Alstyne

Sayles later defined an intervening phase between Sulphur Springs and the later Chiricahua phase that he called the Cazador phase (Sayles 1983). He separated it from Sulphur Springs based on the presence of projectile points in the artifact assemblage; however, further research has not supported the inference that this is a separate phase (Waters 1986), and both Sulphur Springs and Cazador are currently classified under the broader term Early Archaic (Huckell 1996a).

The Chiricahua phase (3500–1500 BC) represents the Middle Archaic period and is perhaps most pertinent to agricultural beginnings, as it is during this time frame that agriculture is first found in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts (see below). This phase has now been subsumed under the more general term “Middle Archaic period” (Huckell 1996a). Sayles and Antevs (1941; Sayles 1983) defined the Chiricahua-phase artifact assemblage as consisting of distinct projectile points with side and basal notching, bifaces, bone tools, and shallow basin metates. They identified several different site types, including base camps and specialized hunting and gathering camps. Further work at Middle Archaic sites has greatly expanded our understanding of this period.

The San Pedro Cochise period, now subsumed under the Late Archaic period, was first identified by Sayles and Antevs (1941), based on their work at both Whitewater Draw and in the Sulphur Springs Valley of southeastern Arizona. They dated this period to 1500 BC–AD 100, again based on geological data (Sayles 1983). San Pedro phase sites were identified primarily based on the presence of distinct San Pedro points, with side-to-corner notching, a triangular blade, and straight base. This point type essentially became the “type fossil” used to designate the Late Archaic period in the southern Southwest. The distribution of these points ranges from northern Mexico to north-central Arizona and from central New Mexico to central Arizona, but Sayles and Antevs (1941; Sayles 1983) confined their discussion of the San Pedro Cochise to sites in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Other artifacts associated with San Pedro sites included bifaces, scrapers, deep basin metates, manos, and the initial use of the mortar and pestle, which Sayles (1983) tied to changes in subsistence.

The first use of structures was also documented dating to the San Pedro phase (Sayles 1945). Excavations at Benson 5:10 near Fairbank, Arizona, yielded several shallow oval pits approximately two meters in diameter that Sayles considered to represent houses. Storage pits were also found at the site, which dated to 600–500 BC and were associated with what Sayles (1945) referred to as a “San Pedro Cochise” assemblage. A second site, Benson 8:3, yielded a similar shallow house floor with an internal pit. Because these sites were excavated before the advent of flotation analysis, no subsistence remains were found to allow for the interpretation that they were associated with early agriculture.

The notion of the San Pedro Cochise as representing a specific culture occupying the southern deserts has been pervasive in our

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