A Hypothesis for the Use of Cryptocrystalline Raw Materials Among Paleoindian Groups of North America
Albert C. Goodyear
Abstract
The widespread existence of distinctive Paleoindian chipped stone technologies has been recognized in North American archaeology for decades. Great attention has been paid to the striking homogeneity of tool forms within these technologies over time and space and the high standards of craftsmanship involved in the production of the characteristic bifacial and unifacial tools. The idea of widespread geographic movement among Paleoindian populations in the New World has been a commonly accepted idea for some time in American archaeology. The combined work of Crabtree and many of the people he has trained or influenced has indicated repeatedly that the significant variation in flaking properties exists within rocks that fracture conchoidally. Those materials easiest to shape especially for flat surfaces, even edges, and acute angles are those such as quartz crystal, chalcedony, jasper, agate, chert, homstone, and some of the fine-grained igneous rocks. These rocks all share in common the properties of brittleness and isotropism, both necessary ingredients for controlled reduction.