ARROWHEADS AND ARTISANS: STONE TOOL MANUFACTURE AND INDIVIDUAL VARIATION AT GRASSHOPPER PUEBLO (SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES, LITHIC, PROJECTILE POINT).

Abstract

If the products of individual craftsmen can be identified, patterns of organization, specialization, and exchange may be traceable. Following a description of Grasshopper Pueblo's lithic technology, experimental and archaeological data on individual knappers are combined to examine projectile point manufacture. At Grasshopper, points in burials formed sets, consistent and distinctive in form and in flake scar patterning. The sets appeared to be the work of different knappers. Major distinguishing attributes of sets were identified using discriminant analysis. Both attributes of form, which are partly under conscious control, and unconsciously varied attributes of flake scar patterning distinguished sets. The individualistic nature of variation in these attributes was tested using sets of replicated points by five modern knappers. The similarity in the behavior of the attributes supported the hypothesis that the burial sets can be attributed to different knappers. In addition to the burial sets, another burial with 128 points, and two rooms with point manufacturing debris were examined. It appeared that more than ten knappers had contributed to the one burial, and the two rooms represented different workshop situations. In Room 28 almost all the lithic material came from point manufacture, and the points were similar and probably made by one knapper. Room 246 had a variety of points, plus many other lithic items, and is best interpreted as a communal room where a number of men pursued craft activities. Point sets, workshops, and other information indicate that at Grasshopper many knappers were producing lithic tools at only a low level of specialization. Grasshopper's lithic crafts were probably similar in their organization to crafts in the historic Pueblos, with no centralization of production or distribution. Until we have more detailed information on other crafts, reconstructions of the prehistoric Pueblos as highly organized and specialized centers for production and distribution should be received with caution. Studies of individual variation are difficult and time-consuming, but even less sensitive artifacts such as stone tools show individual differences. If individual craftsmen can be traced, it is sometimes possible to see how they cooperated, specialized, and participated in the economic and social life of their communities.