At first glance, readers may think that Prehistoric Quarries and Terranes: The Modena and Tempiute Obsidian Sources of the American Great Basin deals only with findings and human behavior at quarry sites, but this is clearly not the case. Michael J. Shott’s thoughtful historical reviews about lithic sources, quarry sampling, and biface and debitage analysis, as well as obsidian dating, scale of quarry production, and transport decisions, are of great value for lithic analysts and, specifically, for researchers beginning to work in these areas. These reviews and experiments by the team form the basis for selection of variables in the case studies. The quantity of statistical analysis performed in some cases may seem overwhelming, but they are necessary and illuminating, and results obtained by Shott will have great influence on future archaeological research on lithic technology.
Shott argues that analyzing quarries is key for understanding human behavior in the past but that it has not received enough attention in archaeology. Investigations in the Modena and Tempiute obsidian quarries, located in Lincoln County, Nevada, are the focus of this book. They were directed by Shott with support from the University of Akron, and they were specifically designed to address the issue. Modena, the largest of these sources, is situated in the White Rock Mountains, and its main source area lies within the hydrographic Great Basin. Its obsidian can be found in high frequency up to 50–100 km from the source, an area that can be considered its terrane—that is, the one where a rock or rock group is prevalent. Tempiute, which lies in Sand Spring Valley, is a significant but much smaller source, surrounded by dense and extensive workshop deposits.
The first three chapters of the book deal with the historical background of archaeological studies of lithic sourcing and quarries, and they summarize previous research in these quarries. Information about the extent, chemical and geological origin, geomorphological characteristics, amount, form and size, and quality of obsidian at Modena and Tempiute is provided. Results obtained emphasize the importance of taking into account changes in toolstone availability through time.
Chapter 4 describes methods of data collection. Results include the effect of taphonomic processes and the transformation of quarries through time, with a bias in the record against smaller artifacts.
Chapter 5 presents analyses of cores and assemblages of flakes. The selection of variables, in the case of cores, takes into account their small size and undetermined technological character. With reference to flakes, the book contains a valuable and extensive historical review of different kinds of analysis previously applied, including information about experimental results. With this background, Shott outlines his approach in utilizing both attribute and mass analyses, considering that these techniques—contrary to technological analysis—have the advantage of including the entirety of flake assemblages. Analyses were also performed to understand the mixed character of the archaeological record. An impressive array of statistical analyses demonstrates significant differences in lithic assemblages from the Modena and Tempiute quarries. Consistency in results from attribute and mass analysis lends support to the arguments made here and to the complementary utilization of these techniques in lithic analysis.
Chapters 6 and 7 are dedicated to the analysis of bifaces, which are abundant, especially in Modena's case. Part of Chapter 6 discusses the continuum-versus-staged nature of the biface-reduction process, a historically relevant theme. Errett Callahan’s reduction stages within a continuum play an important role in this analysis, reflecting the influence of this approach in lithic analyses in North American archaeology. Shott's results demonstrate some inconsistencies between some variables’ values—size, edge, and faceting—within Callahan’s stages. There are, however, consistent results between biface and flake analysis. Spatially, in the case of Modena, variation between different areas was recognized, as well as between bifaces recovered in the quarries and in spaces located farther away. Results obtained from the application of the “field processing model” supports its utilization; however, as Shott mentions, additional work is required to resolve problems of equifinality. I tend to think that in this case, an important one is modeling the effect of transport costs versus risk manufacture failure.
Chapter 8 deals with different methods of estimating scales of quarrying and tool production. Results indicate that, in spite of the impressive spatial scale of the obsidian deposits, there are relatively modest rates of toolstone consumption. Quarry depletion over time could have transformed the analyzed quarries from logistically targeted places to opportunistically visited places.
Chapter 9 deals with obsidian-hydration dating and allows Shott to temporally situate Modena’s peak usage. The calibrated results obtained suggest a steady rise from 11,000 BP to a peak at 4000–3000 BP, followed by a decline. These outcomes differ from the ones obtained in sites in its terrane, which suggest an older use time interval. Different reasons for this variation are suggested.
Chapter 10 shows the overall archaeological distribution of both sources, which can be the product of very small populations. An important point made by Shott is that the utilization of particular terranes does not depend on source abundance, quality, and accessibility in isolation but instead becomes significant “in comparison with other sources” (p. 235).
Chapter 11 summarizes questions posed and tentative answers obtained, along with questions for future research.
The information included in each chapter as well as the analysis performed make this book a valuable contribution for specialists in lithic technology all over the world.
