Natural Resources, School of
Date of this Version
1996
Document Type
Article
Citation
Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 1996
Abstract
A cache of hermetically sealed ceramic jars found in the Lower Colorado Desert was examined using chronometric dating, pollen and macrofossil extraction, design analysis, and water retention experimentation. The cache apparently dates to the protohistoricfifteenth through seventeenth centuries. Findings from these studies contribute to knowledge in four problem areas: (1) ceramic jar function and use-history; (2) storage technology and caching behavior; (3) ceramic dating and chronology; and (4) symbolic iconography. Biotic remains from inside the jars document their use for transporting a variety of riverine and desert plants, before they were finally filled with flowers and seeds, and placed in a small cave in the Trigo Mountains. A stylized bird painted on one of the jars implies that iconography imbued the cache with ritual meaning.
Included in
Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Environmental Public Health Commons, Other Public Health Commons, Parasitology Commons
Comments
U.S. Government work