The Archaeology of Regional Interaction: Religion, Warfare, and Exchange across the American Southwest and Beyond

6: Regional Approaches with Unbounded Systems

119 6 Perhaps more than any other topic in archaeology, Paleoindian studies have been limited by the tendency for myopic focus on individual sites. Although important exceptions are found in James Judge’s (1973) research in the Albuquerque Basin and James Hester’s (1975) work on the Llano Estacado, regional studies of Paleoindian occupation in the Southwest are rare. This failure is debilitating because economic organization and ecological adaptation are defined at the regional scale among hunter-gatherers (Binford 1964, 1980; Gamble 1986; Jochim 1976, 1981; Kelly 1995). Two factors seem responsible for the lack of regional approaches in Paleoindian archaeology. First, Paleoindian artifacts and sites are very scarce. For example, David Meltzer (1986) has demonstrated that the Clovis occupation of Texas is predominantly a scattered record of isolated artifacts; furthermore, these artifacts are dispersed throughout many institutional and private collections, making regional synthesis difficult. Second, the historical context of Paleoindian studies has promoted a descriptive rather than a problem-oriented approach to the study of Paleoindian archaeology. Initial Paleoindian investigations during the late 1920s and the 1930s served largely to demonstrate human antiquity in the New World by establishing human contemporaneity with Ice Age animals (Meltzer 1983). The general goals of U.S. archaeology at the time were focused REGIONAL APPROACHES WITH UNBOUNDED SYSTEMS THE RECORD OF FOLSOM LAND USE IN NEW MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS Daniel S. Amick 120 Archaeology of Regional Interaction on chronology and description (Willey and Sabloff 1993). Associations of human hunters with extinct megafauna produced a monolithic view of Paleoindians as big-game hunters. This picture was exaggerated by discovery and preservation biases favoring large animals and intentional efforts to find associations of humans with these extinct beasts. Normative reconstructions of prehistoric human cultures characterized much of the archaeological work of the 1940s and 1950s (Willey and Sabloff 1993). Consequently, the definition of Paleoindians as biggame hunters became entrenched in much of the archaeological literature . Historical inertia continues to perpetuate these views. Even today, many Paleoindian studies fail to move beyond descriptive and chronological concerns, as our literature is replete with publications concerning “A Paleoindian Point from Smith County.” A tautological linkage is often made of Paleoindian artifacts and sites with big-game-hunting lifeways regardless of any direct evidence. Construction of regional frameworks provides a way to move Paleoindian studies away from assumed stereotypes and toward testable explanatory models. In fairness, the publication of descriptive work is helpful in developing broad regional perspectives. In this chapter I compare regional variation in Folsom land use and technology in the Basin and Range of New Mexico versus the Southern Plains (Map 6.1). The Southern Plains includes the open grassland savannah of eastern New Mexico and western Texas and Oklahoma. Subregions studied within this area include the Llano Estacado, or High Plains; the Rolling Plains along the headwaters of the Brazos and Red Rivers; and the flint-rich country of the Edwards Plateau just south of the Colorado River. The western boundary of the Southern Plains is roughly defined by the Pecos River Valley. The Basin and Range includes the forested mountains and the scrub-grassland valleys of southcentral and southwestern New Mexico. Major subregions studied within this area are found along the central Rio Grande Valley and include the Albuquerque Basin, Jornada del Muerto, and Tularosa Basin. Several peripheral but physiographically related subregions were also studied in the Basin and Range country. This group includes the North Plains and El Malpais, Cebollita Mesa, San Agustin Plains, and Estancia Basin. Compared with the basins of the central Rio Grande Valley, these peripheral subregions tend to be smaller, higher in elevation, and isolated from major river systems. There are several reasons to expect different economic strategies in the Southern Plains versus the Basin and Range. Patterns of animal behavior and resource structure favor residential land use in the Basin 121 Folsom Land Use in New Mexico and West Texas and Range during cold seasons. Animal populations congregate in these grassland basins during the winter (Findley 1987; Osborn 1994), and a greater diversity of plant and animal resources is available year-round. Much of this resource diversity is fostered by vertical zonation with elevation ranges from about 1,220 to 3,660 meters above mean sea level (AMSL). In contrast, resource structure and diversity are more limited on the Southern Plains short-grass prairie, which is expected to encourage logistical land use during warm seasons...