El Gigante Rock Shelter: Archaic Mesoamerica and Transitions to Settled Life

Features

In 2000 only one major feature was recognized during excavation. This was the large (over two meter diameter) charcoal pit which extended into both units from the west wall (see Figure 3, F1). The soils were so finely textured that distinction of features less than 25 square centimeters (as viewed in a level floor, for example) was very difficult, even with a profile wall exposed. In 2001 this problem was minimized with better excavation techniques.

Some of these features represent storage pits, perhaps grass-lined as the type found at Guila Naquitz (Flannery, 1986), if so, it is a strong indication that the inhabitants were staying at the cave for an extended time. It is noteworthy that the majority cluster in stratum II, occupations we hypothesize are heavily influenced by the transition to agriculture. However, two of the reported radiocarbon dates came from features and relate them to Archaic times.

This kind of evidence combined with the data available that indicates a heavy reliance on arboreal resources in the Archaic lend circumstantial evidence to the idea that El Gigante was used as a central place for seasonal collecting forays. It is possible that Archaic people used the shelter as an extended base camp during regularly scheduled collection of wild foods in the area, fitting at the Collector end of Binford’s Forager-Collector continuum model for hunter-gatherer settlement systems (1980). If an abundance of wild foods available only at certain times of year could be stored, surpluses could be relied on for lengthier periods. Storage, as a risk buffering strategy or not, is central to many (e.g. Smith, 1995; Flannery, 1986; and Testart, 1982) hypothesis regarding subsistence adaptation and social complexity. Storage economies are prerequisite to the efficient adoption of agriculture. "Collectors" (Binford, 1980) would be predisposed (preadapted) to the adoption of agricultural practices, while foragers would not.

Previous Page  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Page

Return to top of page