Measuring the Flow of Time: The Works of James A. Ford, 1935-1941

9. A Chronological Method Applicable to the Southeast

9 CORRESPONDENCE A CHRONOLOGICAL METHOD ApPLICABLE TO THE SOUTHEAST Any archaeologist who considers that his science is pledged to the task of rediscovering unrecorded and lost history, rather than to the collection of "curios," is hardly in a position to deny the paramount importance of chronology . Lacking a scale which demonstrates the relative ages of the various activities of an ancient people, we are at best merely the collectors of disconnected fragments of history, and can never hope to fit these fragments together to form a complete and logiral st'lry of the past. Before the work of :'I;elson and Kidder in the Southwest, the archaeology of that area was in about the same condition as that which exists today in the Southeastern states. However, the work of these pioneer scientists and the well directed researches of those who have followed them have succeeded in giving a clear picture of the course of prehistoric Southwestern cultures that in some ways is better and more complete than would have been the story of the Indians themselves, had they left written records of their history. Although the Southeastern states seem to be as wealthy in evidences of prehistoric occupation as the Southwest, unfortunately the same conditions of thick refuse deposits are not usually present. and the same reliable methods of vertical stratigraphy cannot be applied as frequently as in the Southwest. It seems that in this area archaeologists will have to adopt existing standard methods or develop new ones to determine relative age. The largely accidental discovery of superposition in occasional village sites, and similar evidence given by later intrusions into old burial mounds, provide valuable evidence, but such cases have so far been too infrequent to give anything like a complete chronology for even one small area. It we must trust to similar accidental discoveries to complete the en tire picture, we must reconcile ourselves to a long wait. However, there is the possibility that direct and constructive work may be done on southern chronology along lines that have been somewhat neglected. It is commonly accepted, apparently with good reason, that the pottery found so abundantly at the old sites must bear the main burden of comparative dating. Considerable attention has been given this cultural feature by a number of investigators working in this region, but the major part of their material has been burial furniture found accompanying the dead in mounds or cemeteries . Usually they seem to have overlooked the apparent fact that the potsherds found in the village refuse may be expected to give a better example of the full range of the people's ceramic styles than the pieces that were chosen to accompany the dead; moreover, the refuse material is usually much more abundant. Logically it appears that the approach to chronological proble·ms lies in the study of the changes that have occurred with time in ceramic decorations as revealed by potsherds. This is not a new idea. Kidder's chronology at Pecos was based essentially upon the same thing. 260 i I 1 t II 1 I m 1 CORRESPONDENCE POTTERY COMPLEXES 1 1 1 VI LLAGE SITES 2 4 3 FIG. 18-Theoretical diagram of a chronological history illustrating possible actions of complexes (A, B, and C), pottery types (1, 2, 3, and 4), and village sites (1, 2, 3, and 4). Chronological Method 261 451 262 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [3, 1938 In order to fully apply the methods of analysis outlined in the following pages, it is necessary that a collecting survey be made and representative samples of refuse material be secured from as many sites as possible in some area of comprehensive siz~say one hundred miles square. The survey must be thorough enough for the investigator to be reasonably certain that he has secured at least a sample of every variety of material found in the area. The village sites of the Southeast are now very often cultivated fields, and the field-worker engaged in this type of survey will find little use for his spade. The next step is that of classifying the material. The classification should be detailed. Repeated occurrence of a certain decoration at separate sites will determine for the investigator whether or not the decoration represents a real and significant type or is merely a local variation. It will probably develop that not only one but several distinct decorations will be found associated at a...