The Strong Case Approach in Behavioral Archaeology

213 Pages·2017·3.56 MB·English

by  Michael B. Schiffer

The Strong Case Approach
in Behavioral Archaeology

THE STRONG
CASE APPROACH
IN BEHAVIORAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
Edited by
Michael Brian Schiffer,
Charles R. Riggs,
and J. Jefferson Reid
The University of Utah Press
Salt Lake City
Foundations of Archaeological Inquiry
James M. Skibo, series editor
Copyright © 2017 by The University of Utah Press. All rights reserved.
The Defiance House Man colophon is a registered trademark
of The University of Utah Press. It is based on a four-f oot- tall
Ancient Puebloan pictograph (late PIII) near Glen Canyon, Utah.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Schiffer, Michael B., editor. | Riggs, Charles R., editor. | Reid,
J. Jefferson, editor.
Title: The strong case approach in behavioral archaeology/edited by Michael
Brian Schiffer, Charles R. Riggs, and J. Jefferson Reid.
Description: Salt Lake City : University of Utah Press, [2017] | Series:
Foundations of archaeological inquiry | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2017021797 (print) | lccn 2017024013 (ebook) |
isbn 9781607815778 () | isbn 9781607815761 (pbk.)
Subjects: lcsh: Archaeology—Methodology. | Arizona—Antiquities.
Classification: lcc cc75 (ebook) | lcc cc75 .s777 2017 (print) |
ddc 930.1—dc23
lc record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2017021797
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
In memory of
William Atlas Longacre II (1937–2015),
mentor, colleague, and friend;

and Mark Edward Harlan (1947–2017),
dear friend and clear thinker

Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
Preface xiii
1. The Strong Case Approach 1
Michael Brian Schiffer and J. Jefferson Reid
2. Strong Cases, Mortuary Ritual, and Sodalities: Examples from Grasshopper Pueblo,
Arizona 12
Stephanie M. Whittlesey
3. Agricultural Commitment in the Grasshopper Region 35
John R. Welch and Joseph A. Ezzo
4. Pots and the Stories They Tell: Whole Vessel Assemblages as Strong Analytic Cases 51
Scott Van Keuren
5. The Ritual Retirement of Chodistaas Pueblo: A Strong Analytic Case 61
Barbara K. Montgomery
6. Snaketown in Culture- Historical Perspective 74
J. Jefferson Reid
7. Hohokam Chronology and the Interpretation of Radiocarbon Dates 81
Michael Brian Schiffer
8. Hearths, “Kivas,” and Households at the Pigg Site: An Architectural Strong Analytical Case
from Southwest Colorado 87
Charles R. Riggs
9. Inferring Identity and Social Divisions in a Multiethnic Historical Cemetery:
The Alameda-Stone Cemetery in Tucson, Arizona 104
Michael Heilen
10. The Strong Case Approach in Ethnoarchaeology 127
James M. Skibo, Margaret E. Beck, and William A. Longacre
11. Perceiving the Protohistoric: When Weak Signatures Represent the Strongest Cases 139
Deni J. Seymour
12. Strong Cases and the Historical Record: The Case of Portable Radios with Subminiature
Tubes 158
Michael Brian Schiffer
13. Strong Methods in All Cases 165
Mark E. Harlan
List of Contributors 189
Index 191

Figures
3.1. The Mogollon Rim region and 8.4. Kiva bench masonry 95
the locations of Grasshopper and 8.5. Exterior vs. interior wall- face
related sites 38 masonry 96
4.1. Detail of line overlap on an 9.1. The missions, presidios, and native
unglazed Tarascan pitcher 53 rancherías of the Spanish Colonial
4.2. Examples of Grasshopper period in the vicinity of Tucson 106
Polychrome and Fourmile 9.2. Archaeological divisions of the
Polychrome design execution on Alameda- Stone cemetery 112
exterior panels 54 9.3. An overlay of an 1881 plat map
4.3. Pinedale and Fourmile style White of the military section of the
Mountain Red Ware bowls 56 Alameda- Stone cemetery showing
4.4. The location of exterior use- the distribution of graves uncovered
alteration and proposed upright during excavation 117
orientation of a Fourmile 11.1. An alignment of rocks representing
Polychrome bowl from Fourmile a Sobaipuri O’odham house wall 149
Ruin 57 11.2. Six Sobaipuri O’odham residential
5.1. The relative room abandonment loci, five of which were not
measure applied to Grasshopper recorded during recent mapping of
Pueblo 64 the area surrounding the mission 151
5.2. Abandonment groups at 11.3. Excavation units in Locus A of the
Grasshopper and Chodistaas Sobaipuri O’odham component
Pueblos 65 at Guevavi Mission showing how
5.3. Number of sherds versus weight of dense and long-t erm the indigenous
sherds 66 occupation was 152
5.4. Abandonment groups at 11.4. The densest concentration of
Grasshopper, Chodistaas, and houses yet known for the Sobaipuri
Grasshopper Spring Pueblos 68 O’odham 153
7.1. Hohokam chronologies, 1938–1980 82 12.1. Advertisement for the Belmont
8.1. The Pigg site (5MT4802) Boulevard pocket radio, 1945 160
in southwest Colorado 90 13.1. Comparison of G2, Brainerd-
8.2. Construction sequence for Room Robinson, and Pearson’s r similarity
Block 1 92 measures 172
8.3. Plan map of Room Block 1 showing
important features 93
ix