The Ventana Complex: New Dates and New Ideas on Its Place in Early Holocene Western Prehistory

Abstract

Radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples and a re-examination of the artifacts from the Volcanic Debris layer in Ventana Cave were conducted in 1992-1994. The goal of this research was to better understand the chronological position and cultural affinities of the Ventana Complex, the name applied to the assemblage recovered from the Volcanic Debris. Ten new Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14C ages suggest that the Volcanic Debris accumulated between approximately 8800 B.P. and 10,500 B.P., and the lack of stratigraphic ordering of the dates indicates that the Volcanic Debris was subjected to considerable turbation as it accumulated. This turbation may have led to the incorporation of bones of extinct fauna from an underlying conglomerate deposit rich in horse remains, creating the impression of their association with artifacts. The artifacts are probably the product of episodic, special-purpose occupations spanning centuries or millennia. Technological and morphological studies of the stone tools indicate few similarities with classic Paleoindian industries, and greater similarities to early Holocene Archaic occupations in the Great Basin and Southwest. Correlations of the Ventana Cave stratigraphy with that of southeastern Arizona and with the late Pleistocene and Holocene record of Northern Hemisphere climate are explored.

Antiquity of early Holocene small-seed consumption and processing at Danger Cave

“…This exception is usually explained as a strategy of early subsistence diversification in response to local environmental deterioration (Beck & Jones 1997;Grayson 1993;O'Connell et al 1982). The early Holocene milling stone abundance at Danger Cave is often cited to support arguments for the presence of early Holocene grinding stone technology (and, by extension, small-seed processing) elsewhere in the Great Basin and western North America as part of a broad Desert Archaic cultural complex (Basgall 1993: 394;Huckell & Haynes 2003;Waters 1986;Willig & Aikens 1988). Because Danger Cave is both so influential and so exceptional, a detailed reconsideration of the age of small-seed consumption and processing at the site is needed.…”

The Paleoarchaic to Early Archaic Transition on the Colorado Plateau: The Archaeology of North Creek Shelter

“…The transition to an Archaic pattern is not well documented, although both Huckell (1996) and Cordell (1997) describe a northern Oshara Tradition and a southern Cochise Tradition with the latter dated somewhat earlier than the former, about 9500 B.P. Ventana Cave (Haury 1950;Huckell and Haynes 2003) remains the best source of diagnostic material for the period in question. The Archaic pattern with ground stone is in place in the Southwest by 8000 to 8500 B.P., including the use of grinding technology, but with either Jay or Bajada points (Huckell 1996:332;Matson 1991:129).…”