The Red Butte Lithic Sites Near Grand Canyon, Arizona

Abstract

Surface collections from three sites at Red Butte, near Grand Canyon in northern Arizona, produced small, concave-based Pinto points, as well as fragmentary Ventana-Amargosa forms. In addition, a wide range of lithic tools was found. Lateral and basal grinding on several points suggest that at least one preceramic component is represented. No points characteristic of the ceramic period were obtained, but a few potsherds dating A.D. 1000-1200 were found on two of the sites. The pottery, unexpectedly, is attributable to Kayenta Anasazi rather than Cohonina. Presumably, but not demonstrably, this pottery is not associated with the points mentioned above. Neither the projectile forms nor the pottery complex from these sites has been reported previously from this immediate region.

John Wesley Powell and the anthropology of the Canyon Country

“…This was foilowed by more intensive reconnaissance by Schwartz (1960Schwartz ( , 1963Schwartz ( , 1965) and the present author (Euler, 1966a(Euler, , 1967Euler and Taylor, 1966;McNutt and Euler, 1966).…”

“…These, presumably, were acts of imitative magic to give ritual assurance of success in the hunt. The Pinto Basin affinities of these people remain hypothetical and are based on the discovery of diagnostic Pinto projectile points, probably made about the same time, on Red Butte near the South Rim of Grand Canyon (Euler and Olsen, 1965;McNutt and Euler, 1966 fig. 7).…”

The Grand Canyon Figurine Complex

“…On the basis of the wide distribution of stemmed points noted by Lister (1953) throughout the Southwest, Euler and Olson (1965) postulated that the split-twig figurines were associated with the Pinto complex, but it was not until the mid 1960s that the first Archaic sites were found in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon (McNutt and Euler 1966). Because of the proximity of these sites to the Grand Canyon, Euler (1966,1967,1974) believed that the stick figurines were associated with the Pinto complex.…”

“…Previously, the Grand Canyon figurine complex was thought to be part of a late Archaic assemblage associated with the loosely defined Pinto complex (Euler and Olson 1965;Euler 1966). This hypothesized association was based on the occurrence of Pinto points throughout the Southwest (Lister 1953) and on the discovery of the Red Butte lithic sites near the Grand Canyon, which are ascribed to a Pinto-Chiricahua-Amargosa II lithic industry (McNutt and Euler 1966).…”

Strontium isotopic evidence for prehistoric transport of gray‐ware ceramic materials in the eastern Grand Canyon region, USA

“…The distribution of sites, combined with the extensive network of prehistoric trails in the Grand Canyon (Wilson, 1999), suggests that prehistoric inhabitants of the canyon had access to most of the canyon's dramatic geological variability and the potential sources of ceramic raw materials contained therein. Outside the canyon, Cohonina sites on Red Butte (McNutt & Euler, 1966) and Kayenta Anasazi sites near the Little Colorado River document habitation on bedrock of the Triassic Moenkopi Formation. In addition, Cohonina and Kayenta Anasazi sites within Wupatki National Monument (Sullivan, 1994) as well as Cohonina settlements near Sitgreaves Mountain (Samples, 1992) and Mount Floyd (McGregor, 1967) indicate that both groups lived near Quaternary and Tertiary volcanic rocks.…”