Atlatl Cave

Atlatl Cave is an important archaeological site that contains organic evidence of occupation by Archaic North Americans c. 900 BCE. It is located at the west end of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in San Juan County, New Mexico, at an elevation of 1910 meters.[1]

History

During the 1970s, archaeologists discovered corn, beans, squash, a yucca fiber sandal, a variety of different kinds of miniature beads made from juniper,[2] basketry, juniperus monoserma and juniperus scopulorum twigs, pseudotsuga menziesii wood fragments,[3] and fabric made from rabbit fur in the cave.[4] The breaths of the Archaic-age maize pollen grains are significantly larger than Puebloan and present maize pollen.[5] They also found part of an atlatl, or spear-thrower, from which the site got its name. Unlike most Archaic sites in the canyon, the shelter protected the organic materials inside, which allowed for accurate radiocarbon dating.[6]

References
  1. Lucas, Spencer G.; Sullivan, Robert M. Vertebrate Paleontology in New Mexico: Bulletin 68. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
  2. Baker, Pamela (2009). "ANOTHER LOOK AT 29SJ1156, ATLATL CAVE, IN CHACO CULTURE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, NEW MEXICO" (PDF). Utah Rock Art. XXVIII: 34 – via Google Scholar.
  3. Betancourt, Julio L.; Van Devender, Thomas R. (1981). "Holocene Vegetation in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico". Science. 214 (4521): 656–658. doi:10.1126/science.214.4521.656. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 1687209. PMID 17839658. S2CID 42753263.
  4. "Spelling of ARCHAEOLOGIST". www.merriam-webster.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  5. Hall, Stephen (23 Jun 2010). "Early maize pollen from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA". Palynology. 34, 2010 - Issue 1: 125–137. doi:10.1080/01916121003675746. S2CID 129836330.
  6. Vivian & Hilpert 2012, pp. 61–62.

Sources
  • Vivian, R. Gwinn; Hilpert, Bruce (2012), The Chaco Handbook: An Encyclopedic Guide (2 ed.), University of Utah Press, ISBN 978-1-60781-195-4
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