Lab News

2008 Fall Lab: Projectile Points and Pendants from the Thirteenth Century

by Fumi Arakawa and Jonathan Till, Laboratory Analysis Specialists
August 8, 2008

Although the excavations at Goodman Point Pueblo have ended, the Crow Canyon laboratory staff is now engaged in the detailed analyses of artifacts from this large village, which was built, occupied, and depopulated in the latter half of the thirteenth century A.D. In particular, we are focusing on how the village residents made and used stone tools and ornaments.

Participants in our Fall Lab programs will work with Crow Canyon’s research lab staff to analyze the stone tools and ornaments from Goodman Point Pueblo. Fall Lab participants will also work with artifacts from smaller sites in the vicinity of Goodman Point Pueblo that Crow Canyon is currently test-excavating as part of Phase II of the Goodman Point Archaeological Project.

Two back-to-back, week-long sessions will be offered:  September 28–October 4 and October 5–October 11. For most of each session, our analyses will focus on stone tools (such as projectile points, bifaces, drills, axes, and mauls) and ornaments (such as pendants and beads). These analyses will help Crow Canyon archaeologists address important research themes for the Goodman Point community, including subsistence change, violence, social organization, and the ritual life of Pueblo people prior to the depopulation of the Mesa Verde region in the late thirteenth century. In addition to assisting in artifact analyses, Fall Lab participants will attend a flintknapping demonstration, tour an ancient rock quarry, and visit our current excavation sites in the Goodman Point Unit of Hovenweep National Monument. On the last day of each program, we will use what we learned from our analyses of ancient pendants to make our own pendants—with staff joining Fall Lab participants in what should be an interesting "experiment" in ancient technologies. Please join us of a week of analysis and fun!