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 Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology
University of Michigan
Number 60

PREHISTORY AND HUMAN ECOLOGY OF THE VALLEY OF OAXACA

Kent V. Flannery and Joyce Marcus, General Editors
Volume 17

Cueva Blanca

Social Change in the Archaic

of the Valley of Oaxaca

Kent V. Flannery and Frank Hole

with contributions by
Robert G. Reynolds, Charles S. Spencer, and Jane C. Wheeler

Ann Arbor, Michigan

2019
©2019 by the Regents of the University of Michigan
The Museum of Anthropology
All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-0-915703-91-3 (print)
ISBN 978-0-915703-94-4 (ebook)

Cover design by John Klausmeyer

The Museum currently publishes two monograph series: Anthropological Papers and Memoirs. For permissions, questions, or manuscript
queries, contact Museum publications in Ann Arbor, Michigan by email at [email protected] or visit our websites at lsa.umich.edu/
ummaa (the Museum) and sites.lsa.umich.edu/archaeology-books (our books).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Flannery, Kent V., author. | Hole, Frank, author.

Title: Cueva Blanca : Social Change in the Archaic of the Valley of Oaxaca /
Kent V. Flannery and Frank Hole ; with contributions by Robert G.
Reynolds, Charles S. Spencer, and Jane C. Wheeler.
Description: Ann Arbor, Michigan : Museum of Anthropology, University of
Michigan, 2019. | Series: Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology,
University of Michigan ; Number 60 | Includes bibliographical references.
| Identifiers: LCCN 2019008170 (print) | LCCN 2019010744 (ebook) | ISBN
9780915703944 () | ISBN 9780915703913 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Indians of Mexico--Mexico--Oaxaca Valley--Antiquities. |
Excavations (Archaeology)--Mexico--Oaxaca Valley | Oaxaca Valley
(Mexico)--Antiquities. | Oaxaca Valley (Mexico)--Social life and customs.
| Indians of Mexico--Mexico--San José Mogote--Antiquities. | Excavations
(Archaeology)--Mexico--San José Mogote. | San José Mogote
(Mexico)--Antiquities. | Mixtec Indians--Antiquities. | Zapotec
Indians--Antiquities.
Classification: LCC F1219.1.O11 (ebook) | LCC F1219.1.O11 F55 2019 (print) |
DDC 972/.74--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019008170

The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the ANSI Standard Z39.48-1984 (Permanence of Paper).
 Dedicated to the memory of Richard J. Orlandini

archaeologist, civil rights activist, anti-war protester,

and discoverer of Archaic and Paleoindian sites
 Table of Contents
List of Illustrations xi
List of Tables xv
Acknowledgments xvi

Part I. Discovery and Excavation

Chapter 1. The Research Questions 3

Kent V. Flannery

Chapter 2. The Discovery of Cueva Blanca 14

Kent V. Flannery

Chapter 3. The Excavation of Cueva Blanca 26

Kent V. Flannery and Frank Hole

Chapter 4. The Radiocarbon Dates from Cueva Blanca 52

Kent V. Flannery

Part II. The Artifacts

Chapter 5. The Chipped Stone Tools 59

Frank Hole

Chapter 6. The Archaic Projectile Points 101

Kent V. Flannery and Frank Hole

Chapter 7. The Ground Stone Tools 126

Kent V. Flannery

Chapter 8. Artifacts of Bone and Shell 129

Kent V. Flannery

Part III. Environment and Subsistence

Chapter 9. Animal Bones from the Archaic Living Floors 133

Kent V. Flannery and Jane C. Wheeler
Chapter 10. The Microfauna from Cueva Blanca 143
Kent V. Flannery and Jane C. Wheeler

Chapter 11. The Late Archaic Plant Evidence 146

Kent V. Flannery

Part IV. Analysis of the Living Floors

Chapter 12. Distributional Variability in Zones E–C of Cueva Blanca: 149

A Local Analysis of Grid-Density Data
Charles S. Spencer and Kent V. Flannery

Chapter 13. The Search for Tool Kits at Cueva Blanca: Two Statistical Approaches 168
Robert G. Reynolds

Chapter 14. The Search for “Drop Zones” at Cueva Blanca: An Approach Drawn 185
from Artificial Intelligence
Robert G. Reynolds

Part V. Summary and Conclusions

Chapter 15. The Place of Cueva Blanca in Oaxaca’s Archaic Sequence 197
Kent V. Flannery and Frank Hole

Appendix A. Resumen en Español 202

Soren Frykholm

References 204
 xi

List of Illustrations
Frontispiece: Typical projectile points of Oaxaca’s Late Archaic.

Figure 1.1. Caves, rockshelters, and open-air sites in the eastern Valley of Oaxaca, 4
Figure 1.2. The eastern Valley of Oaxaca, showing the cave study area, 7
Figure 1.3. Lands of the ex-hacienda El Fuerte, showing Archaic sites, watercourses, and elevations in meters, 8
Figure 1.4. Environmental zones on the ex-hacienda El Fuerte and location of Archaic sites, 9
Figure 1.5. Primitive maize cobs found in ash lenses above Zone B1 at Guilá Naquitz, 11
Figure 1.6. Valleys of Tehuacán, Cuicatlán, Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, and Miahuatlán, showing excavated
Archaic sites and surface finds, 13

Figure 2.1. A view of Cueva Blanca from the northwest, showing its location relative to the Mitla Fortress, the town of Mitla,
the Tlacolula subvalley, and Cerro Nueve Puntas, 15
Figure 2.2. A broken atlatl point from the talus slope below Cueva Blanca, 16
Figure 2.3. A cross-section of the El Fuerte caves region, from Guilá Naquitz Cave to Cueva Blanca, 17
Figure 2.4. The Cueva Blanca group (OC-29, OC-30, and OC-31) in its thorn forest setting, 18
Figure 2.5. West-to-east cross-section through Cueva Blanca and the agricultural terraces on the talus below it, 19
Figure 2.6. Plan view of Cueva Blanca, showing the 1 x 1 m squares that were excavated, 20
Figure 2.7. Fragments of Texas gopher tortoise from Zone F of Cueva Blanca, 21
Figure 2.8. Fluted points from sites within walking distance of Cueva Blanca, 21
Figure 2.9. Eligio Martínez is exposing the thick layer of firecracked rocks that comprised Zone B, 22
Figure 2.10. The talus slope below Cueva Blanca, 23
Figure 2.11. Plan view of Feature 8, a two-chambered pottery kiln found in Squares F2–F5 and G2–G5 of Zone A, 24
Figure 2.12. A blob of pottery clay from Zone A of Cueva Blanca, showing signs of squeezing and kneading, 24

Figure 3.1. The east profile of Square D9, showing Zones A–F, 28
Figure 3.2. The north profile of Squares H9–B9, 29
Figure 3.3. Félix trowels his way through the Archaic levels in Square E5, 31
Figure 3.4. The east profile of Squares E3–E13, 32
Figure 3.5. Eligio supervises excavation of Squares E3 and E4, 33
Figure 3.6. Work beginning on Zone A of Square E12, 34
Figure 3.7. Plan view of Cueva Blanca, showing (1) squares excavated and (2) the location of the four longest stratigraphic
profiles, 35
Figure 3.8. An ornament made from olive shell (Agaronia testacea) from Zone C, 35
Figure 3.9. The excavation of Squares D5 and D7, 36
Figure 3.10. The east profile of Squares D3–D12, 37
Figure 3.11. The excavation of alternate Squares D4, D6, and D8, 38
Figure 3.12. Looking north down the “D” and “E” rows of squares, 39
Figure 3.13. Coxcatlán point found in situ in Zone C of Square D8, 40
Figure 3.14. Sweeping the completed “E” row of squares and shaving the east profile of the “D” row, 41
Figure 3.15. Work begins on a stratigraphic test in Terrace 3 of the agricultural terrace system below Cueva Blanca, 42
Figure 3.16. The stratigraphic test in Terrace 3 carried to sterile soil, 43
Figure 3.17. Plan view of Feature 18, a hearth originating in Zone D, 44
Figure 3.18. Left metatarsal of Odocoileus recovered from Zone F, 45
Figure 3.19. The south profile of Squares F13–J13, 46
Figure 3.20. Plan view of Feature 15, a large but shallow hearth apparently originating in Zone E, 47
Figure 3.21. Squares F2–F4 and G2–G4, showing Feature 8, a Monte Albán V pottery kiln, 48
Figure 3.22. Frank Hole supervises don Juan and Félix while they excavate Square C11, 50
xii

Figure 4.1. Left distal humerus of a white-tailed deer from Zone F of Cueva Blanca (Square G11), 53

Figure 5.1. A hammerstone from Zone D (Square H9), 60

Figure 5.2. A typical Archaic hammerstone, 60
Figure 5.3. A typical Archaic flake core from Zone C (Square D11), 61
Figure 5.4. A typical Archaic flake core, redeposited in Zone B, 61
Figure 5.5. A discoidal core from Zone D (Square D6), 61
Figure 5.6. Fragments of Archaic cores, redeposited in Zone B, 62
Figure 5.7. A large utilized flake, 63
Figure 5.8. Small to medium-sized utilized flakes, 64
Figure 5.9. A large notched flake, discovered in situ in Zone D (Square D5), 64
Figure 5.10. A large notched flake, redeposited in Zone B, 65
Figure 5.11. Small to medium-sized notched flakes, 65
Figure 5.12. Notched flakes, 66
Figure 5.13. Crude blades, plain, discovered in situ in Zones E, D, and C, 66
Figure 5.14. Crude blades from Archaic strata, 66
Figure 5.15. Crude blades, retouched, 67
Figure 5.16. Flakes with sheen, discovered in situ in Zones E, D, and F, 67
Figure 5.17. Typical Archaic flakes with sheen, redeposited in Zone B, 68
Figure 5.18. A flake with sheen, found in situ in Zone C (Square C7), 69
Figure 5.19. Choppers/knives, found in situ in Archaic strata, 70
Figure 5.20. Bifacial Archaic scraper/knife, redeposited in Zone B, 71
Figure 5.21. Bifacial Archaic chopper/knife, redeposited in Zone B, 71
Figure 5.22. Large bifacial Archaic chopper/knife, redeposited in Zone B, 72
Figure 5.23. Large bifacial Archaic chopper/knife, redeposited in Zone B, 73
Figure 5.24. Large Archaic chopper/knife, redeposited in Zone B, showing evidence of battering on its edges, 74
Figure 5.25. End scrapers, found in situ in Archaic strata, 75
Figure 5.26. An end scraper, found in situ in Zone D (Square D7), 76
Figure 5.27. Sidescrapers/knives, found in situ in Archaic strata, 76
Figure 5.28. Typical Archaic sidescrapers/knives, redeposited in Zone B, 77
Figure 5.29. A sidescraper/knife found in Zone E (Square E4), 77
Figure 5.30. Ovoid scrapers, found in situ in Archaic strata, 78
Figure 5.31. Typical Archaic ovoid scrapers, redeposited in Zone B, 79
Figure 5.32. Typical Archaic ovoid scraper, redeposited in Zone B, 79
Figure 5.33. A steep denticulate scraper, found in situ in Zone D (Square E8), 80
Figure 5.34. Steep denticulate scrapers, found in situ in Archaic strata, 81
Figure 5.35. A steep denticulate scraper found in Zone D (Square D7), 82
Figure 5.36. Typical Archaic steep denticulate scraper, redeposited in Zone B, 82
Figure 5.37. Two typical Archaic steep denticulate scrapers, redeposited in Zone B, 83
Figure 5.38. Two steep denticulate scrapers found in situ in Zone D, showing the range of variation in size, 84
Figure 5.39. Two typical Archaic steep denticulate scrapers, redeposited in Zone B, 85
Figure 5.40. A burin, discovered in situ in Zone D (Square D11), 85
Figure 5.41. Typical Archaic burins, redeposited in Zone B, 86
Figure 5.42. A burin found in Zone D (Square D11), 86
Figure 5.43. Archaic drills, 87
Figure 5.44. Archaic drills, 87
Figure 5.45. Variety A biface found in situ in Zone D (Square C6), 88
Figure 5.46. A Variety A (“Martínez”) biface from Zone D (Square C6), 88
Figure 5.47. A broken Variety A biface, redeposited in Zone B, 89
Figure 5.48. A Variety B biface, discovered in situ in Zone D (Square D7), 89
Figure 5.49. A broken Variety B biface, redeposited in Zone B, 90
Figure 5.50. A Variety C biface, redeposited in Zone B, 90
Figure 5.51. Typical Archaic bifaces, redeposited in Zone B, 91
 xiii

Figure 5.52. Biface fragments, redeposited in Zone B, 92

Figure 5.53. This flake with a chipped base was a unique tool at Cueva Blanca discovered in situ in Zone C, 92
Figure 5.54. Two chipped stone artifacts in Zone A were unique at Cueva Blanca, 93

Figure 6.1. The effect of rejuvenation on damaged Elko points, 104

Figure 6.2. Two Palmillas points recovered from Zone D of Cueva Blanca, 105
Figure 6.3. La Mina points from Cueva Blanca, 106
Figure 6.4. When La Mina points were damaged and rejuvenated, the stem often remained the same while the body became shorter, 107
Figure 6.5. Trinidad points from Cueva Blanca, 107
Figure 6.6. Tilapa points recovered in Zone D, 108
Figure 6.7. San Nicolás points, 109
Figure 6.8. Coxcatlán points from Cueva Blanca, 110
Figure 6.9. Many points assigned to the type “Hidalgo” appear to have been rejuvenated, 111
Figure 6.10. Stemless Archaic points redeposited in later levels at Cueva Blanca, 112
Figure 6.11. A Gary point redeposited in Zone B, 112
Figure 6.12. This point, discovered in situ in Zone D, does not readily conform to any Tehuacán Valley types, 113
Figure 6.13. An unusually large point recovered from Zone C (Square F8), 114
Figure 6.14. Unclassified point fragments redeposited in Zone A features, 115
Figure 6.15. Two atlatl points from Zone E, 115
Figure 6.16. The distribution of projectile points in Zone E, 116
Figure 6.17. Atlatl points from Zone D, 117
Figure 6.18. The distribution of projectile points in Zone D, 118
Figure 6.19. Projectile points from Zone C, 120
Figure 6.20. Distribution of projectile points in Zone C, 121
Figure 6.21. Representative Archaic points redeposited in Zone B, 122
Figure 6.22. Representative Archaic points redeposited in Zone A, 123
Figure 6.23. Hypothetical series of modifications of a Type A biface, 125

Figure 7.1. Examples of Archaic ground stone tools from Cueva Blanca, 127

Figure 8.1. Archaic artifacts carved from deer bone, 130

Figure 9.1. The skeleton of a white-tailed deer, with the skeletal elements present in Zone E, 135
Figure 9.2. The skeleton of a white-tailed deer, with the skeletal elements present in Zone D, 138
Figure 9.3. The skeleton of a white-tailed deer, with the skeletal elements present in Zone C, 141

Figure 12.1. Cartesian grid of 126 squares used for density contour study, with excavated squares indicated, 151
Figure 12.2. Feature 15, a hearth that might have influenced the distribution of items in Zone E, 153
Figure 12.3. Density contours for total tools, Zone E, 153
Figure 12.4. Density contours for notched flakes, Zone E, 154
Figure 12.5. Density contours for identified deer bone, Zone E, 154
Figure 12.6. Density contours for identified cottontail rabbit bones, Zone E, 155
Figure 12.7. Density contours for bird bones, Zone E, 155
Figure 12.8. Feature 18, a hearth that might have influenced the distribution of items in Zone D, 156
Figure 12.9. Density contours for debitage, Zone D, 156
Figure 12.10. Density contours for total tools, Zone D, 157
Figure 12.11. Density contours for steep denticulate scrapers, Zone D, 158
Figure 12.12. Density contours for utilized flakes, Zone D, 158
Figure 12.13. Density contours for notched flakes, Zone D, 159
xiv

Figure 12.14. Density contours for identified deer bone, Zone D, 159
Figure 12.15. Density contours for identified cottontail rabbit bones, Zone D, 160
Figure 12.16. Density contours for unidentified fragments of small mammal bone, Zone D, 161
Figure 12.17. Density contours for bird bones, Zone D, 161
Figure 12.18. Results of multidimensional scaling of eight categories of items found in Zone D, 162
Figure 12.19. Density contours for debitage, Zone C, 163
Figure 12.20. Density contours for total tools, Zone C, 163
Figure 12.21. Density contours for utilized flakes, Zone C, 164
Figure 12.22. Density contours for notched flakes, Zone C, 164
Figure 12.23. Density contours for identified deer bone, Zone C, 165
Figure 12.24. Density contours for identified cottontail rabbit bones, Zone C, 165
Figure 12.25. Density contours for unidentified fragments of small mammal bone, 166
Figure 12.26. Density contours for identified mud turtle bones and scutes, Zone C, 166
Figure 12.27. Results of multidimensional scaling of seven categories of items found in Zone C, 167

Figure 14.1. Zone E of Cueva Blanca, showing cells in States 5, 6, and 7, 190
Figure 14.2. Zone D of Cueva Blanca, showing cells in States 5, 6, and 7, 191
Figure 14.3. Zone C of Cueva Blanca, showing cells in States 5, 6, and 7, 192

Figure 15.1. A typical Pedernales point, 200

 xv

List of Tables
Table 5.1. Distribution of tool categories by 1 x 1 m square, Stratigraphic Zone E, 94
Table 5.2. Distribution of tool categories by 1 x 1 m square, Stratigraphic Zone D, 96
Table 5.3. Distribution of tool categories by 1 x 1 m square, Stratigraphic Zone C, 98
Table 5.4. Tool category totals for Zones E, D, and C, 100

Table 9.1. Distribution of animal bones by square in Zone E, Cueva Blanca, 134
Table 9.2. Distribution of animal bones by square in Zone D, Cueva Blanca, 137
Table 9.3. Distribution of animal bones by square in Zone C, Cueva Blanca, 140

Table 10.1. Rodents and shrews from owl pellets on the surface of Cueva Blanca, 1966, 144

Table 13.1. The maximum number and average number of chipped stone tools per square in Zones E, D, and C of Cueva Blanca, 170
Table 13.2. Rank-order table showing the strength of association of all chipped stone tools with projectile points over all squares,
Zones E through C, 171
Table 13.3. Rank-order table showing the strength of association of all chipped stone tools with flakes with sheen over all squares,
Zones E through C, 172
Table 13.4. Rank-order table showing the strength of association of all chipped stone tools with projectile points over all squares,
Zone E, 173
Table 13.5. Rank-order table showing the strength of association of all chipped stone tools with flakes with sheen over all squares,
Zone E, 174
Table 13.6. Rank-order table showing the strength of association of all chipped stone tools with projectile points over all squares,
Zone D, 175
Table 13.7. Rank-order table showing the strength of association of all chipped stone tools with flakes with sheen over all squares,
Zone D, 176
Table 13.8. Rank-order table showing the strength of association of all chipped stone tools with projectile points over all squares,
Zone C, 177
Table 13.9. Rank-order table showing the strength of association of all chipped stone tools with flakes with sheen over all squares,
Zone C, 178
Table 13.10. Dendrogram resulting from a cluster analysis of chipped stone tools from Zones E, D, and C of Cueva Blanca, 180
Table 13.11. Dendrogram resulting from a cluster analysis of chipped stone tools from Zone E, Cueva Blanca, 181
Table 13.12. Dendrogram resulting from a cluster analysis of chipped stone tools from Zone D, Cueva Blanca, 182
Table 13.13. Dendrogram resulting from a cluster analysis of chipped stone tools from Zone C, Cueva Blanca, 184
xvi

Acknowledgments

The excavation of Cueva Blanca was supported by Smithsonian Institution Grant 019. The costs of analysis were covered partly
by National Science Foundation Grant GS-1616 and partly by the University of Michigan and Rice University.
The excavators were provided with lodging and laboratory space by the Frissell Museum of Zapotec Art in Mitla, Oaxaca, a
facility operated by the Universidad de las Américas (then called Mexico City College). We are grateful to the late Dr. John Paddock
of Mexico City College and the late Sr. Darío Quero, manager of the Museum, for their hospitality. We also have fond memories
of our team of Zapotec workmen, whose names and photographs can be found in Chapter 3.
The final volume owes a great deal to the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology’s editor, Elizabeth Noll, and its staff artist,
John Klausmeyer, who did most of the art, including the cover and frontispiece. In Mitla, project artist Nancy Hansen drew the
chipped stone tools as fast as Hole analyzed them, and project photographer Chris L. Moser developed all our negatives in a small
bathroom converted to a darkroom. Geologist Michael Kirkby identified the raw material used for every atlatl point.
We extend our thanks to Bruce D. Smith, who provided funding for many of our radiocarbon dates; to Darden Hood of Beta
Analytic, who calibrated all our dates; to Matthew P. Linke of the Ruthven Natural History Museum, who determined the seasons
during which certain areas of the cave chamber would be illuminated by the sun; to Nelly Robles García, who convinced UNESCO
to declare the region of Mitla’s Archaic sites a World Heritage Protected Zone; and to Leonardo López Luján, whose valuable
advice improved the book.
Finally, it is fair to say that this book would not exist without the relentless encouragement, pre-production editing, quality
control, and bibliographic detective work of our colleague Joyce Marcus. Her efforts were herculean, and we would have been
unable to face her had we not seen the book through to completion.
 Part I

Discovery and Excavation

 1
The Research Questions

Kent V. Flannery

We still have a great deal to learn about the Archaic period of the the mountain range known in Zapotec as Dan Roˀ. Recently—
Mexican highlands. That period began with the transition from thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Mexican archaeologist
Pleistocene to Holocene environmental conditions (ca. 11,000 Nelly Robles García—UNESCO has declared this area a World
years ago) and ended with Mexico’s first pottery-making villages Heritage Protected Zone. As a result, the Archaic sites of the Mitla
(ca. 3,500 years ago). Archaic subsistence combined the hunting region will be protected from future looting or highway building.
of wild animals, the harvesting of wild plants, the planting of Most of the promising Archaic sites lie on the former lands
early cultivars, and the raising of domestic dogs. The rhythm of the ex-Hacienda El Fuerte, which took its name from a site
of life was seminomadic at first, but became more sedentary as called the Fortress of Mitla. This fortified mesa features veins of
cultivated plants increased in importance. silicified ignimbrite (volcanic tuff), which provided raw material
One region with the potential to increase our knowledge of for thousands of chipped stone tools (Williams and Heizer 1965).
the Archaic is the eastern Valley of Oaxaca (Flannery 2009a).
Archaeological surveys in this region between 1964 and 1966
brought to light more than 60 caves and rockshelters (Figure
1.1; Finsten et al. 1989). My colleagues and I selected ten of
The Paleoenvironment
these sites for testing and, based on the test results, chose three of the Mitla Region
of them for more extensive excavation. We soon realized that
digging caves alone would likely provide us with a biased view The Archaic of the Mitla region is inextricably linked to the
of the Archaic, which meant that we needed to make an effort transition from Pleistocene to Holocene environmental conditions.
to find open-air sites. A new survey, begun in 1967, revealed In many parts of the world—Europe, for example—there have
several Archaic open-air sites that could be used to complement been revolutionary advances in our knowledge of that transition
our caves and rockshelters. (Kohler et al. 2018). Unfortunately, the Valley of Oaxaca has
The most productive area of survey for Archaic sites was not been one of the areas on which paleoclimatologists have
bounded on the east by the village of Xaagá, on the west by the concentrated their efforts. As a result, we must extrapolate from
agencia of Unión Zapata (“Loma Larga”), and on the north by studies done in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (Metcalfe 2006,

3
4 Chapter 1

Figure 1.1. Caves, rockshelters, and open-air sites in the eastern Valley of Oaxaca and nearby canyons. (Site descriptions
in Finsten et al. 1989).

Bradbury 1997), the Tehuacán Valley of Puebla (Flannery 1966, This conclusion reinforces an earlier model by Spaulding
1967), and the neighboring state of Guerrero (Bernal et al. 2011, (1989), in which the Late Pleistocene saw colder winters and
Lachniet et al. 2013). a suppression of the summer rainy season that is typical of
The Basin of Mexico lies in the eastern half of the Trans- today’s central and southern Mexican highlands. Areas of spruce
Mexican Volcanic Belt. According to Metcalfe (2006), the glacial and pinyon-juniper woodlands extended farther south into
maximum for the Late Pleistocene occurred about 18,000 years central Mexico than they do today; stated differently, the lower
ago. The Basin of Mexico was significantly cooler and drier during temperatures of the Late Pleistocene caused some species typical
the Late Pleistocene. Today’s monsoonal summer rains had not yet of Chihuahua today to extend their ranges much farther to the
been established, and the region “saw more winter precipitation south (Shafer 1986:40–41). This observation helps to explain
derived from midlatitude frontal systems” (Metcalfe 2006:258). why there were pinyon nuts in the earliest levels at Guilá Naquitz
 The Research Questions 5

Cave (Flannery 2009a) and grains of spruce pollen in the Late climate than today’s. The sample from Zone F is dominated by
Pleistocene stratum at Cueva Blanca (see below). pine pollen—very likely that of the pinyon pine, whose nuts were
After the Younger Dryas cooling event (roughly 11,000– well represented in the oldest levels at nearby Guilá Naquitz
10,000 years ago), glacial meltwater was re-routed into the Cave (C. E. Smith 2009). There were also occasional examples
Gulf of Mexico and the modern summer rainfall regime was of spruce, fir, oak, and alder pollen.
established. Spruce trees disappeared and the pinyon-juniper To be sure, the Late Pleistocene vegetation near Cueva
woodlands retreated to the north. Blanca and Coxcatlán Cave would not have been identical; the
Today’s rainfall regime depends on a system called the two caves, after all, differ in elevation by at least 1000 meters.
Intertropical Convergence Zone, which moves north during the During the subsequent Holocene, the Cueva Blanca area featured
summer to cause Oaxaca’s monsoonal rains. During the winter an early version of the thorn forest/mesquite grassland vegetation
it moves south, creating dry conditions in central and southern described by Kirkby et al. (2009), while the warmer Coxcatlán
Mexico. area became tropical deciduous thorn-cactus-scrub (Flannery
Once we proceed from the Basin of Mexico to the Tehuacán 1966).
Valley of Puebla, we are forced to glean our environmental data
from the faunal remains in Coxcatlán Cave (Flannery 1967).
The four oldest stratigraphic levels in that cave, which date to The Transition from Pleistocene to
the Late Pleistocene, provide further evidence that the climate Holocene Climate
of that era was cooler and drier than today’s. They produced the
remains of Pleistocene horse, pronghorn antelope, and the Texas The transition from Pleistocene to Holocene conditions had
gopher tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri), all species that can no a profound effect on the hunters and gatherers of the Puebla-
longer be found in Tehuacán. There were also more than 700 Oaxaca highlands. The cool-temperate Pleistocene steppe was
bones of rabbits on those four living floors, along with evidence gone, and their strategy of traveling long distances to take
that jackrabbits were being hunted by means of large communal advantage of periodic abundances of jackrabbits, pronghorn, or
drives (Flannery 1966). The Pleistocene horse is now extinct mammoths would no longer be effective (Marcus and Flannery
everywhere, but pronghorns and jackrabbits are still common 1996:49–50). Now foragers had to adapt to thorn forests with a
in cooler and drier northern Mexico. Once the Pleistocene had complex assemblage of seasonally available plant foods. Their
ended, many creatures disappeared from the Tehuacán region new adaptation featured a process called “ecological niche
and the Coxcatlán Cave area became semitropical thorn forest. construction” (Rowley-Conwy and Layton 2011, B. D. Smith
Let us turn next to Guerrero, the state that borders Oaxaca 2015), which ultimately led to the domestication of gourds,
on the west. Here our paleoclimatic reconstructions are based squash, beans, maize, chile peppers, and husk tomatoes (Byers
on oxygen isotope variations in the growth of speleothems 1967).
(cave stalagmites), fixed in time by thorium-uranium dates. The The transition from Pleistocene to Holocene conditions was
speleothems involved are Stalagmite JX-2 from Juxtlahuaca accompanied by a transition from Paleoindian to Archaic tool
Cave, which is 100 km from Chilpancingo (Lachniet et al. 2013), assemblages. The relevant questions asked by archaeologists
and Stalagmite CBD-2 from Cueva del Diablo, which is 150 km include these two: (1) How long did the transition from a Late
from Acapulco (Bernal et al. 2011). Pleistocene environment to a Holocene environment take, and
The stalagmite from Juxtlahuaca Cave provided a (2) How long did it take foragers to develop their new Archaic
22,000-year-long series of oxygen isotope changes. Lachniet et tool kits?
al. (2013) report that Guerrero’s climate was drier from the period Paleoclimatologists have been working on the first question,
of the glacial maximum to Heinrich Stadial 1 (about 17,000 years and some of their answers may come as a surprise. Perhaps most
ago), and again during the Younger Dryas. The Cueva del Diablo surprising is the rapidity with which climate change is now
stalagmite was growing some 11,000 years ago, and recorded thought to have taken place.
an abrupt change to wetter conditions between 7,300 and 7,100
years ago (Bernal et al. 2011).
All these data from neighboring regions lead us to suspect Until recently, ice ages were thought to come and
that the Valley of Oaxaca was probably cooler and drier during the go gradually, over thousands or tens of thousands
Late Pleistocene. We are presented with a glimpse of that period by of years, and rapid climate changes were believed
Cueva Blanca, the site that is the subject of this volume. Zone F, the to require external causes such as changes in the
oldest stratigraphic level at Cueva Blanca, produced specimens of summertime earth-sun distance. Interpretation of
the Texas gopher tortoise, a species present in Texas and Chihuahua climate indicators from ocean-sediment cores, ice
but unknown in Oaxaca today. This is the same tortoise that was cores, and other archives has now shown that these
present in Late Pleistocene levels at Coxcatlán Cave. beliefs have been wrong for some times and places.
Pollen grains from Zone F of Cueva Blanca, analyzed by The Earth’s climate contains “switches” as well
Schoenwetter and Smith (2009: Table 15.27), reflect a cooler as “dials.” Hemispheric to global climate changes
6 Chapter 1

larger than any experienced by agricultural or consider the possibility that this process also took place with
industrial humans have occurred repeatedly, in as relatively switch-like speed. Our youngest Paleoindian projectile
little as decades to years, apparently without globally point—an unfinished Lerma—was found in Zone E of Guilá
significant causes. (Richard B. Alley, 1998) Naquitz (Hole 2009: Figures 6.26–6.27), a level dated to 8995–
8495 BC (Flannery 2009b: Table 1). Our oldest corner-notched
According to data from the Greenland ice core drilling Archaic point—an unfinished Palmillas—was found in Zone E
program, the Pleistocene-Holocene change may have involved of Cueva Blanca, a level dated somewhere between 10,718 BC
a “switch.” “The earth’s climate warmed abruptly, in less than and 8304 BC (see Chapter 4). Given these calibrated dates, we
a decade and perhaps as little as three years, during and at the are currently unable to argue that the period of transition from
end of the last ice age some 11,000 years ago” (Severinghaus Paleoindian tools to Archaic tools was long and slow.
1998; see also Alley et al. 1993, Alley et al. 1999). Needless to
say, such an abrupt change would be difficult for archaeologists
to document, given their dating methods. The Place of Cueva Blanca Among
This ice core evidence for rapid Pleistocene-Holocene Neighboring Archaic Sites
warming raises additional questions: (1) How long did it actually
take for the vegetation to change, and (2) How long did it take The lands of the ex-hacienda El Fuerte lie in a region of volcanic
hunter-gatherers to adapt to their new environment? Even if the tuff cliffs and ephemeral freshwater streams, some 4–5 km
temperature itself rose in a mere three years, we find it unlikely northwest of Mitla and 2–3 km west of the Mitla Fortress (Figure
that the native vegetation could have changed at such a rapid 1.2). A seasonal stream called Gheo-Loh divides the most
rate. It is well documented that there may be a time lag between promising caves into two groups (Figure 1.3). The larger group,
climate change and subsequent species disappearance (O’Dea including Guilá Naquitz (Site OC-43), the Martínez Rockshelter
et al. 2007). (OC-48), Silvia’s Cave (OC-47), and Cueva de los Afligidos (OC-
A partial answer to the first of these questions can be 45), is situated along a continuous cliff at an elevation of roughly
derived from the gradual disappearance of pinyon pines from 1900 m. The smaller group, including Cueva Blanca (OC-30)
the El Fuerte region. These trees—seemingly well represented in and Cueva Redonda (OC-27), lies 1.5 km to the northeast along
Mitla’s Late Pleistocene pollen record—can no longer be found another continuous cliff at an elevation of roughly 1800 m. The
in the Valley of Oaxaca. Their gradual disappearance is probably Archaic open-air site of Gheo-Shih (OS-70) lies 2.8 km to the
reflected in the decreasing pinyon nut counts from Early Archaic south of Cueva Blanca, near the right bank of the Río Mitla.
levels at Guilá Naquitz (C. E. Smith 2009: Table 19.1). Kirkby et al. (2009) have defined four vegetation zones for
The largest quantity of pinyon nuts, 155, was recovered the El Fuerte region, each zone comprised of two facies (Figure
from Zone E of Guilá Naquitz. These nuts decreased in number 1.4). Each facies was described in detail in the Guilá Naquitz
in Zone D (94) and Zone C (80). Only four pinyon nuts were report, and those descriptions need not be repeated here. Suffice it
recovered from Zone B3, and there were none at all in Zone B2+3. to say that Guilá Naquitz and the Martínez Rockshelter lie in the
We found small numbers of nuts in Zones B2 and B1, but their Cassia facies of the Thorn Forest A Zone, while Cueva Blanca
period of abundance was clearly over by then. lies near the border between two facies—the Quercus facies of
To determine what this meant in real time we must turn to Thorn Forest A and the Bursera facies of Thorn Forest B.
the calibrated dates from Guilá Naquitz, presented in Table 1 The nearest water source for Cueva Blanca is a stream 60
of Flannery (2009b). Perhaps our most consistent dates are the m away, which—although it carries running water only during
six from Zone D, which range from 9005 BC to 7695 BC. Five the May-September rainy season—usually leaves behind a series
calibrated dates from Zone C range from 9150 BC to 6535 BC. of standing-water pools that can be visited even after the rains
Zone B2+3—the oldest level to produce no pinyon nuts—has a have ceased.
single calibrated date of 8235–7565 BC. Zone B1 yielded five Resources near Cueva Blanca would have included acorns
dates with a calibrated range of 6610 BC to 6220 BC. (Quercus sp.), guajes and tepeguajes (Leucaena sp., Conzatia
These dates allow us to suggest the following. Even if sp.), huizache (Acacia sp.), prickly pear (Opuntia spp.), organ
Late Pleistocene temperatures warmed to Holocene levels with cactus (Myrtillocactus sp., Lemaireocereus sp.), agaves, wild
“switch-like” rapidity some 11,000 years ago, pinyon trees black zapote (Diospyros sp.), hawthorn (Crataegus sp.), West
evidently continued to grow within walking distance of Guilá Indian cherry (Malpighia sp.), and yak susí (Jatropha neodioica).
Naquitz Cave until at least 7000 BC. While we cannot determine Present in the region today are at least three species of wild beans
with any accuracy when the last pinyon tree vanished, our (Phaseolus anisotrichos, P. heterophyllus, and P. atropurpureus),
suspicion is that it was gone by 6000 BC. By then, of course, the coyote melon (Apodanthera aspera), and numerous wild
many plants typical of today’s El Fuerte region were present in onions (Allium sp.) that grow near springs and freshwater seeps.
the deposits at Guilá Naquitz (C. E. Smith 2009). At lower elevations, only a half-hour’s walk from Cueva Blanca,
How long did it take for the Paleoindian tool assemblage to were areas where mesquite pods (Prosopis juliflora) and desert
give way to an Archaic tool assemblage? Apparently, we must hackberry fruits (Celtis pallida) could be collected.
 The Research Questions

Figure 1.2. The eastern Valley of Oaxaca, showing the cave study area on lands of the ex-hacienda El Fuerte.
7
8 Chapter 1

Figure 1.3. The lands of the ex-hacienda El Fuerte, showing Archaic sites, watercourses, and elevations in meters.
 The Research Questions 9

Figure 1.4. Environmental zones and their vegetational facies on the lands of the ex-hacienda El Fuerte. Also shown are
the known Archaic sites.
10 Chapter 1

The two largest game animals in the Cueva Blanca area two of the Type 1 beans from Zone B1 directly dated, and the
were the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and the calibrated dates came out with two-sigma ranges of 6460–6260
collared peccary (Pecari tajacu). The most abundant small game BC and 6400–6220 BC (Kaplan and Lynch 1999).
consisted of three species of rabbits: the small Eastern cottontail Unfortunately, there is no conclusive evidence that Guilá
(Sylvilagus floridanus connectens), the larger Mexican cottontail Naquitz Type 1 beans were ever domesticated; their phenotype
(S. mexicanus), and the still larger jackrabbit (Lepus mexicanus). is that of a wild bean, with characteristically corkscrew twisted
There were, of course, many other small game species, but they pods (Kaplan 2009: Figure 21.2). Kaplan was also unaware of
were less frequently captured. Included were the coyote (Canis any cultivar that had clearly descended from Type 1 beans.
latrans), the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), the raccoon Type 1 cannot be the wild ancestor of common beans
(Procyon lotor), the opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), the (Phaseolus vulgaris), because it was hypogeal (that is, its
cacomixtle (Bassariscus astutus), the coatimundi (Nasua narica), cotyledons remained below the soil surface). Domestic runner
three genera of skunks (Mephitis, Conepatus, and Spilogale), beans (P. coccineus) are also hypogeal, but Kaplan (2009:283)
and a large pocket gopher (Orthogeomys grandis) that has since found “insufficient evidence to evaluate [Type 1] as a possible
disappeared from the region. The occupants of Cueva Blanca also ancestor of cultivars of this species.” We therefore have the
ate the local mud turtle (Kinosternon integrum), which inhabits following two possibilities: either (1) the occupants of Guilá
standing pools of water along the Río Mitla and its tributaries. Naquitz were harvesting wild runner beans, or (2) they were
The most frequently eaten birds of the El Fuerte region were growing a species of runner bean that never went on to produce
doves, pigeons, and quail. Included were the band-tailed pigeon a phenotypically domestic race.
(Columba fasciata), the mourning dove (Zenaida macroura), Three species of wild beans (Phaseolus anisotrichos, P.
the white-winged dove (Zenaida asiatica), the white-fronted heterophyllus, and P. atropurpureus) have been discovered
dove (Leptotila verreauxi), the ground dove (Columbigallina growing in the Guilá Naquitz area today (Messer 1978, Kaplan
passerina), the bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus), and the 2009:283). None of these beans closely match Guilá Naquitz
Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae). Two birds of prey Type 1. This raises two possibilities: either (1) Type 1 beans
also turned up in Cueva Blanca. These were the barn owl (Tyto were not native to the region—which would suggest that they
alba), which sometimes lived in the cave, and the red-tailed had been introduced from elsewhere, and were being deliberately
hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), which was almost certainly pursued grown—or else (2) Type 1 was a wild species that, like the pinyon
for its feathers. pines discussed earlier, grew in the Mitla area during the Early
Archaic but has since disappeared.
As previously mentioned, Type 1 beans show no phenotypic
The Origins of Agriculture in Oaxaca signs of domestication. One hint that they might have been
deliberately grown is their abundance at Guilá Naquitz, given
No plants were preserved in the Archaic strata at Cueva Blanca. the relatively low density of wild beans in the Mitla environment
All our information on early agriculture in the Mitla region today. As I stated earlier,
therefore comes from nearby Guilá Naquitz Cave (Flannery
2009a). Fortunately, we now have 40 calibrated radiocarbon …on some living floors [at Guilá Naquitz], these
dates from the Archaic levels at Guilá Naquitz (Flannery 2009b: black beans were so numerous as to imply a harvest
Table 1), making the plants from that cave one of the best-dated area of 1–2 hectares—the same as for squash…
collections available. I therefore suggested that the occupants of Guilá
Runner beans of the genus Phaseolus were well represented Naquitz may have encouraged or even planted
at Guilá Naquitz. Some 161 pod valves of runner beans were these phenotypically wild beans, but gave up on
found in Stratigraphic Zone E, the oldest level. Ninety-nine them once superior varieties of beans had reached
of these valves were assigned by Lawrence Kaplan (2009) to Oaxaca. (Flannery, 2009b:xx)
a variety he called “Guilá Naquitz Type 1.” Kaplan could not
identify Type 1 beans to species because many of the diagnostic
parts, including the flowers, were lacking. Pod valves of this bean While the nature of our Archaic beans remains inconclusive,
type continued to show up in Zones D, C, and B1–B3. Only in the domestic status of our gourds and squash is certain. Since
higher stratigraphic levels such as Zone B2 + 3, however, did no wild bottle gourds are native to Oaxaca, the very presence
we recover the actual seeds of Type 1 beans, which were small of gourds implies cultivation. Our earliest squash (Cucurbita
and black. Fifteen seeds were found in Zone B1 alone (Kaplan pepo) already had seeds in the domestic size range, and the
2009: Table 21.1 and Figure 21.3). rinds of this squash displayed the orange color of a cultivar (B.
What is clear is that the occupants of Guilá Naquitz were D. Smith 1997).
eating runner beans throughout the Archaic. Calibrated dates from Two rinds of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) from Zones
Zone E of the cave go back as far as 8995–8495 BC, and there is C and B2 of Guilá Naquitz have been directly AMS dated,
one calibrated date of 9005–8565 BC from Zone D. Kaplan had providing calibrated two-sigma ranges of 8030–7915 BC and
 The Research Questions 11

7020–6595 BC, respectively. Our oldest seed of pepo squash discovered five primitive two-rowed cobs or cob fragments in
came from Zone C and had a calibrated two-sigma range of small lenses of ash (Figure 1.5). These lenses lay stratigraphically
8035–7920 BC (B. D. Smith 1997, Flannery 2009b: Table 1). above Zone B1 (the youngest Archaic level) and below the
Despite this evidence that domestic plants were present in scatters of Formative sherds that preceded the deposition of Zone
Oaxaca by 8000 BC, it is worth noting that the two oldest Archaic A (Monte Albán IIIb–IV). Two of these maize specimens have
strata of Guilá Naquitz—Zones E and D—produced no cucurbit been directly dated, producing calibrated two-sigma ranges of
specimens. It would appear, therefore, that there was a period at 4340–4220 BC and 4355–4065 BC (Piperno and Flannery 2001).
the very start of the Archaic (perhaps 11,000–8000 BC) when These are, for the moment, our oldest dates on actual maize cobs
the occupants of Guilá Naquitz possessed no phenotypically (Benz 2001). It should be noted, however, that Schoenwetter and
domestic plants. We presume that the Early Archaic occupants Smith (2009: Table 15.26) found pollen of maize or teosinte in
of Cueva Blanca were in a similar situation. Zone B2 (calibrated 7900–6500 BC).
Finally, we come to maize (Zea mays), only a few specimens The currently available DNA evidence suggests that the
of which showed up in Archaic contexts at Guilá Naquitz.1 We ancestor of maize was Zea mays ssp. parviglumis, a subspecies
1 The only Archaic maize cobs we recovered during our excavations of annual teosinte native to the Balsas River drainage of
at Guilá Naquitz were the five shown in Figure 1.5. All these cobs were turned Michoacán and Guerrero (Matsuoka et al. 2002). Piperno et al.
over to the Departamento de Prehistoria, Instituto Nacional de Antropología (2009) have recently identified what they believe to be maize
e Historia, Mexico City. I mention this because it has recently come to my phytoliths and starch grains from a rockshelter near Iguala,
attention that the collections of the Riverside Metropolitan Museum (Riverside,
California) contain two cobs purporting to come from the “Coxcatlán phase” at Guerrero, in what is today the heart of parviglumis territory.
“Guilá Naquitz Cave.” I can state categorically that (1) the Riverside cobs do Wood charcoal from the same level as the phytoliths and starch
not come from my excavations at Guilá Naquitz, and (2) I do not consider the grains has produced a radiocarbon date with a calibrated two-
term “Coxcatlán phase” appropriate for the Valley of Oaxaca sequence.

Figure 1.5. Five primitive maize cobs (or fragments thereof ) found in ash lenses above Zone B1 at Guilá Naquitz. a and
b are from Square C9; c is from Square D10; d and e are from Square D7. The scale at the right edge of the photograph
is in millimeters. These cobs, shown here larger than life size, have been AMS dated to between 4355 and 4065 BC
(calibrated).
12 Chapter 1

sigma range of 7040–6660 BC. To be sure, it would be nice to toward the collecting side of the continuum. Zone C, the second
have actual maize specimens to complement the microfossils. of two Late Archaic living floors at Cueva Blanca, may have
Since maize was clearly present in the Mitla area before been created by an all-male task group who came from, and later
4000 BC (calibrated), we presume that it was being grown by the returned to, a larger and more permanent camp elsewhere. Given
Late Archaic occupants of Cueva Blanca. Unfortunately, plant the relatively late date of that living floor, we suspect that one of
preservation in the Late Archaic levels at Cueva Blanca was not the factors involved in the shift from foraging to collecting was
good enough to confirm this. the increasing success of agriculture.

Archaic Settlement Patterns The Potential Contribution

in the Mitla Region of Cueva Blanca

In the course of his work in the Tehuacán Valley, MacNeish Cueva Blanca had abundant stone tools and animal bones, but
(1964, 1972) distinguished two types of Archaic settlements. At no Archaic plant remains. In order to interpret its three Archaic
times when resources were abundant at a specific locale, 15–25 living floors, we must therefore consider Cueva Blanca in the
individuals might come together to form a macroband camp. This context of other sites, such as Guilá Naquitz and Gheo-Shih.
relatively large group would remain together at that locale until All the Archaic living floors at Guilá Naquitz and Cueva
so much food had been harvested that the point of diminishing Blanca appear to have resulted from microbands. Gheo-Shih, on
returns had been reached. the other hand, was a macroband camp, featuring a whole range
During leaner seasons, macrobands might break up into a of activities not seen at microband camps. Among the latter were
series of small family groups who then dispersed throughout ornament manufacture and the construction of space for public
the region and foraged on their own. MacNeish referred to the ritual (Marcus and Flannery 1996:57–59).
smaller encampments made by these groups of 2–5 individuals It is significant that the calibrated radiocarbon dates for
as microband camps. Such smaller camps could be occupied for Gheo-Shih (7720–7560 BC) and for Zone B2 of Guilá Naquitz
anywhere from a day or two to most of a season. It should be (7995–7325 BC) overlap. These dates suggest that during
acknowledged that MacNeish’s microband-macroband model the eighth millennium BC, there were both macroband and
drew heavily on Julian Steward’s ethnographic and ethnohistoric microband camps within walking distance of each other.
work with the Paiute and Shoshone of the Great Basin (Steward Spatial analyses of the living floors at Guilá Naquitz
1938, 1955). (Spencer and Flannery 2009, Whallon 2009, Reynolds 2009)
If we apply the MacNeish-Steward scheme to the excavated indicate that those floors were divided into men’s work areas,
sites of Tehuacán and Oaxaca, two sites stand out clearly as women’s work areas, hearths, pathways, and areas of discarded
macroband camps. These are Gheo-Shih (OS-70), an open-air site refuse. As later chapters of this volume will show, the same is
near the Río Mitla, and Coxcatlán Cave (with its large terrace) true of Zones E and D at Cueva Blanca. Zone C of Cueva Blanca,
in the southern Tehuacán Valley. Two examples of microband on the other hand, however, lacks both a hearth and a plausible
camps would be Guilá Naquitz Cave in the Mitla region and El woman’s work area. Zone C, therefore, may be an example of an
Riego Cave in the northern Tehuacán Valley (Figure 1.6). all-male camp made by one of Binford’s task groups, who came
One of the goals of our research at Cueva Blanca was to to Cueva Blanca from a more permanent macroband settlement
determine how the Archaic levels of that cave fit into MacNeish’s to which they later returned.
scheme. As later chapters of this volume will show, we believe Reconstructing the social organization of Archaic societies is
that the region’s inhabitants changed the way they used Cueva difficult. There is no magic wand that we can wave, and today’s
Blanca during the Archaic. To put such changes in context, let us modeling techniques will inevitably be superseded. All we can
consider Binford’s (1980) proposal that most hunting-gathering hope for is that future investigators will devote themselves to
societies occupy a position along a continuum from “foraging” the same research questions and that a useful synthesis will arise
to “collecting.” from all our efforts. Whenever a variety of individuals—using a
Foragers, in Binford’s scheme, travel to where the food is, variety of approaches—come to roughly the same conclusions,
and their settlement pattern becomes dispersed (microbands) or we have reason to be hopeful.
aggregated (macrobands) according to the density and seasonality
of resources. Collectors, on the other hand, tend to remain in one
favored locality, sending logistically organized task groups out
to bring back resources.
Our analysis suggests that the Early Archaic occupants of
Cueva Blanca, like their counterparts at Guilá Naquitz, occupied
the foraging end of the continuum and used the cave as a
microband camp. As time went on, however, they began shifting
 The Research Questions 13

Figure 1.6. The valleys of Tehuacán, Cuicatlán, Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, and Miahuatlán, showing excavated Archaic sites
and important Archaic surface finds.
 2
The Discovery of Cueva Blanca

Kent V. Flannery

Cueva Blanca was a Christmas present. I found it December plants—below Postclassic debris. Neither cave was judged to be
24, 1964, while searching for caves in the mountains some as promising as OC-30.
4 km northwest of Mitla (Figure 2.1). Cueva Blanca was the An interesting feature of the Cueva Blanca group was a series
thirtieth—and by all appearances, the most promising—of all of five or six drylaid stone masonry terraces on the talus slope
the caves and rockshelters I located that year. below the caves (Figure 2.5). These appeared to be agricultural
Under a crust of modern cattle dung I found a stratum of terraces, but we had no idea whether they were precolumbian
Late Postclassic debris with ash, potsherds, desiccated maize or recent. Eventually, after putting a stratigraphic test into the
cobs, agave quids, and squash peduncles. While there was no third terrace below the cave, we were able to conclude that the
way to predict how ancient the deeper deposits would be, I did system was constructed during the period called Monte Albán
find Archaic atlatl points, crude blades, steep denticulate scrapers, V (calibrated date, AD 1383–1452).
and chert cores lying on the surface of the cave chamber, as well We estimate the area of Cueva Blanca covered by the
as on the talus slope outside (Figure 2.2). overhanging cliff to be 11 by 15 m, or roughly 165 m 2.
Cueva Blanca (site OC-30) is located at latitude 16°57’ Unfortunately, since the roof of the cave rises to a point 5 m high
north and longitude 96°22’ west. Its altitude is 1813 m (5947 in front, the prevailing westerly winds tend to blow rain into the
feet), which today places it in the Quercus facies of Thorn Forest chamber. This meant that preservation of plants was not as great
A, one of Mitla’s Holocene environmental zones (Figure 2.3). as in Guilá Naquitz Cave, which faces east (Flannery 2009a).
The mouth of the cave is a prominent opening in a north-south As a result, only the Monte Albán V levels at Cueva Blanca had
trending volcanic tuff cliff; the arroyo 14 m below it carries water preserved plants.
toward the Río Mitla during the rainy season. I began the excavation of Cueva Blanca in February 1966
Cueva Blanca is actually the central cave of a group of three and, after having established its stratigraphy, suspended work
(Figure 2.4). Below and to the south was a smaller cave, OC-29; there while excavating nearby Guilá Naquitz. In July, Frank
above and to the north was OC-31, which could be reached only Hole, who had come to Oaxaca to analyze our chipped stone
by climbing the cliff. My crew’s test excavations in OC-29 and tools, took over the excavation of Cueva Blanca. Both my
OC-31 revealed Archaic deposits—apparently without preserved work and Hole’s utilized the same magnetic north-south grid

14
 The Discovery of Cueva Blanca 15

Figure 2.1. A view of Cueva Blanca from the northwest, showing its location relative to the Mitla Fortress, the town of
Mitla, the Tlacolula subvalley, and Cerro Nueve Puntas, a prominent mountain range that delimits the valley.
16 Chapter 2

Figure 2.2. A broken atlatl point from the talus slope below Cueva Blanca.

of 1 x 1 m squares, laid out over the whole of the cave floor. In Stratigraphy
the end, however, Hole and I concentrated on 75 squares in the
rear portion of the chamber, where the preservation was best and
Before proceeding to our narrative of the excavation, let me
the stratigraphy clearest (Figure 2.6). Just as at Guilá Naquitz,
discuss the six stratigraphic zones defined at Cueva Blanca. I
once the stratigraphy had been revealed by the first test squares,
will present these in order from oldest to youngest.
the cave was excavated by its “natural” or “cultural” strata.
Zone F, the basal deposit, had the consistency of indurated
The soft upper strata at Cueva Blanca were excavated mainly
sand. Its matrix consisted largely of volcanic tuff (ignimbrite)
with trowels, screwdrivers, ice picks, and paint brushes, while
particles weathered from the walls and ceiling of the cave.
the indurated Pleistocene deposits at the bottom were so hard
that they had to be excavated with barretas (miners’ digging Although tiny flecks of charcoal were found in this matrix, it
bars). All deposits were passed through 6 mm screen, and those produced no identifiable artifacts.
with perishable remains were also passed through 2 mm screen. In Zone F, however, we did find lenses of animal bone
All retouched tools recognized in the field were plotted three- whose closest similarities were with the Late Pleistocene
dimensionally, while the debitage was counted by 1 x 1 m square. fauna from Coxcatlán Cave in the Tehuacán Valley (Flannery
Back-plotting of the three-dimensionally recorded items 1967). For example, Zone F produced remains of the Texas
revealed that the actual Archaic living floors were slightly gopher tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri), a species that can
basin-shaped, even though the “natural” strata encapsulating no longer be found in southern Mexico (Figure 2.7). The
them appeared to be horizontal. This had happened because the fact that this tortoise was available in Tehuacán and Oaxaca
bulk of the cave matrix consisted of fine particles of volcanic under Late Pleistocene conditions implies that today’s thorn
tuff, weathered from the walls and roof; these particles tended forest was not present. The gopher tortoise today is at home
to accumulate in greater depth near the cave wall, causing the in a Chihuahuan environment, one featuring colder winters
outer margins of each living floor to slope upward over sterile tuff and lacking a monsoonal rainy season (Marcus and Flannery
deposits. Near the front of the cave—where rain had penetrated 1996:41–42).
repeatedly—the stratigraphy was unreadable, and the deposits Another similarity between the fauna of Zone F and the
had a uniform gray color from top to bottom. Pleistocene fauna of the Tehuacán Valley was the presence of
 The Discovery of Cueva Blanca

Figure 2.3. A cross section of the El Fuerte caves region, from Guilá Naquitz Cave in the northwest to Cueva Blanca in the southeast. Most streams in
this area carry water only in the rainy season, but pools of water can remain for months afterward.
17
18 Chapter 2

Figure 2.4. The Cueva Blanca group (OC-29, OC-30, and OC-31) in its thorn forest setting.

an unidentified carnivore that calls to mind the red fox of North dwindled in numbers over time and have long since disappeared
America. Neither Tehuacán nor Oaxaca is home to a red fox today. from the Mitla environment.
Some faunal lenses in Zone F produced numbers of small The bones in Zone F did not look like the remains of animals
rodents, almost certainly the product of disintegrating owl pellets. dragged back to the lair of a predator, such as a mountain lion
Like the Pleistocene rodent collections of the Tehuacán Valley or a pack of coyotes. None of the bones were chewed. Many
(Flannery 1967), our Zone F rodent samples had relatively high appeared fractured by human activity and a few had clearly been
numbers of wood rats (Neotoma spp.). This provides a contrast burned, which would account for the tiny flecks of charcoal found
to our Holocene rodent samples, in which cotton rats (Sigmodon throughout Zone F.
sp.) and spiny mice (Liomys sp.) were dominant. In light of the circumstantial evidence for human activity,
Palynologists Schoenwetter and Smith (2009: Table 15.27) the lack of artifacts in this stratum is disappointing. We should
found that their pollen samples from Zone F of Cueva Blanca remember, however, that the four Pleistocene strata in Coxcatlán
also reflected a Late Pleistocene climate cooler than today’s. Pine Cave (Zones 25–28) contained only eleven artifacts—a strong
pollen was notable in Zone F, accompanied by occasional pollen contrast to the 1,200 identifiable animal bones in those same
of spruce, fir, oak, and alder. levels (MacNeish, Nelken-Terner, and Johnson 1967: Table
Given what we learned by excavating Guilá Naquitz Cave, 32). We thus have a precedent for low numbers of artifacts in
my guess is that much of the Zone F pine pollen was from Paleoindian living floors of the Puebla-Oaxaca region. To be sure,
pinyon pine. Pinyon nuts were still readily available to foragers it is also possible that the main occupation of Zone F lay farther
at Guilá Naquitz during the Early Archaic (C. E. Smith 2009), but out near the mouth of the cave—or even on the talus—where we
 The Discovery of Cueva Blanca

Figure 2.5. West-to-east cross section through Cueva Blanca and the agricultural terraces on the talus slope below it. The insert at lower right shows
the north profile of the test pit into Terrace 3.
19
20 Chapter 2

Figure 2.6. Plan view of Cueva Blanca, showing the 1 x 1 m squares that were excavated.

did not excavate, because preservation was poor and there was the total area we excavated. This living floor probably represented
considerable Postclassic disturbance. a short-term occupation made by a small group of Early Archaic
It is worth mentioning that there are two Paleoindian sites hunter-gatherers. Charcoal from Zone E produced conventional
within 15 km of Cueva Blanca. The nearest is the Orlandini Site 14
C dates between 8100 and 7430 BC; a hearth (Feature 15)
(OS-81), which lies less than a kilometer southwest of the cave. extending below the living floor produced even earlier dates
OS-81 produced the fluted point shown in Figure 2.8a. A second (9050–8780 BC). The number of chipped stone tools from Zone
site, near San Juan Guelavía in the Tlacolula subvalley, produced E was not large (Chapter 5); the animal bones, which included
the fluted point shown in Figure 2.8b. Visits to Cueva Blanca cottontail rabbits and deer, all appeared to be from species that
could easily have been made from either of these two sites. live in Oaxaca today (Chapter 9).
We will deal with Zone F of Cueva Blanca in the future, Zone D was a stratum characterized by tan-gray to salmon-
when all the fauna from that level has been identified. For the colored ash; this living floor had originally filled the entire area
purposes of this volume, all I can say is that it appears to be we excavated, and reached a thickness of 25–40 cm. We felt that
Late Pleistocene and that, despite the lack of artifacts, there is this was the debris from a substantial camp made by at least 5–8
circumstantial evidence of human activity (setting fires, breaking persons. White-tailed deer had been butchered in the northeast
and burning of bone). quadrant of the cave, and nine atlatl points and hundreds of chert
Zone E was a layer characterized by gray ash with charcoal flakes were found in this area. Among the atlatl points were the
flecks; it averaged 15–20 cm thick and occupied only a portion of Palmillas, Tilapa, La Mina, and Trinidad types (Chapter 6).
 The Discovery of Cueva Blanca 21

Figure 2.7. Fragments of Texas gopher tortoise from Zone Figure 2.8. Fluted points from sites within walking
F of Cueva Blanca. Above, plan view and cross section of a distance of Cueva Blanca. a, a broken point from the
plastron fragment. Below, plan view and cross section of a Orlandini Site (OS-81). b, a broken point from San Juan
carapace fragment. Guelavía (Finsten et al. 1989).

Zone D produced a hearth (Feature 18) with a conventional Zone B was an archaeologist’s nightmare—essentially
radiocarbon date of 3295 BC; charcoal from elsewhere on the a layer of loosely consolidated firecracked rocks in whose
living floor dated between 3060 and 2340 BC, placing Zone D interstices we found potsherds of several time periods. My
in the Late Archaic. reconstruction of this layer’s formation is as follows.
Zone C contained a mixture of white ash and weathered Cueva Blanca lay abandoned for more than a millennium
volcanic tuff particles, varying from 20 cm to 40 cm in thickness after the abandonment of Zone C. Then, during the Early
and covering most of the area we excavated. Zone C is presumed Formative San José phase (1150–850 BC), brief visits were made
to date to the Late Archaic; this occupation, however, seemed to the cave. These visits continued into the Middle Formative,
to have produced many fewer artifacts than that of Zone D. and some of the charcoal left behind gave us conventional dates
Especially around the edges of the living floor, the weathered of 795 BC and 440 BC. Reinforcing the younger of these two
ignimbrite particles vastly outweighed the ash. dates were potsherds in Monte Albán I style.
The animal bones from Zone C included deer, cottontail, and No actual living floors were created in the cave during the
mud turtle. The artifacts recovered included one-hand manos, Formative period, but some of the visitors produced a bell-shaped
chert scrapers, bifacial preforms, and atlatl points of the San cooking pit (Feature 4) in the rear of the cave and left behind
Nicolás, La Mina, and Coxcatlán types. Feature 16, which we have interpreted as an ash dump.
It appears that after the deposition of Zone C, Cueva Blanca Cueva Blanca was not visited again on a serious basis until
was not reoccupied by hunters and gatherers. the Late Postclassic period (Monte Albán V). At that time, the
22 Chapter 2

Figure 2.9. Our crew has finished the excavation of Zone A in Square D7, and Eligio Martínez is exposing the thick layer
of firecracked rocks that comprised Zone B.

cave seems to have been used as an agave-roasting station. The firecracked and discolored) were thrown out on the surface
Postclassic visitors created Feature 6 (an agave-roasting pit) in of the cave chamber, and new stones were collected so that
the earlier cave deposits and lined it with stones. the pit could be reused.
Typically, agave hearts are roasted or baked over heated What resulted was a layer of rocky rubble 20–40 cm thick,
stones in such pits. The creators of Feature 6 seem to have the product of multiple roasting-pit firings (Figure 2.9). This
used not only unmodified stones from the talus slope of the layer reached its greatest thickness near Feature 6 and was an
cave, but also dozens of Archaic tools such as one-hand manos, archaeologically frustrating mixture of firecracked natural rocks,
steep denticulate scrapers, chert cores, and even atlatl points firecracked Archaic tools, and singed potsherds from both the
that had presumably been present on the surface of the cave Formative and Postclassic periods.
when they arrived. After the roasting pit had cooled and the Obviously, Zone B of Cueva Blanca was a deposit too
cooked agave had been removed, all these stones (by now mixed to be analyzed the way we treated Zones E through C.
 The Discovery of Cueva Blanca 23

Figure 2.10. The talus slope below Cueva Blanca, with native vegetation partially removed to show the agricultural
terraces added during Monte Albán V.

A number of the redeposited Archaic tools in Zone B, however, There were tens of thousands of potsherds in Zone A, and their
were sufficiently undamaged to be studied typologically and similarity to the sherds found in Terrace 3 on the talus below the
added to our sample. cave left no doubt that they were contemporaneous. At that time,
Zone A—which represented the final prehispanic occupation Cueva Blanca and its talus slope (Figure 2.10) would appear to
of the cave—took the form of a layer of brown ash, with gray have been part of a widespread series of Postclassic farmsteads and
and black lenses here and there. This stratum was 20 cm thick on terraced hillsides, covering virtually the entire area between Cueva
average, covering the entire area protected by the roof of the cave. Blanca and the Mitla Fortress. Marcus and I have interpreted this
It included a complex living floor, likely produced by an extended area of terrace-farmed hillsides as part of the rural sustaining area
family that had lived in the cave for a year or more. It was clear for urban Mitla (Flannery and Marcus 2003:295–300).
from the debris in ZoneA that Cueva Blanca had shifted from being Inside the cave, the occupants of Zone A had excavated a
an agave-roasting station to being a Monte Albán V farmstead. series of 12 medium-to-large storage pits (Features 1, 2, 3, 5, 7,
24 Chapter 2

Figure 2.11. Plan view of Feature 8, a two-chambered pottery kiln found in Squares F2–F5 and G2–G5 of Zone A. Some of
the stones used in construction were reused grinding stones. The kiln was used to make small Type G3M jars (see insert
at lower right).

Figure 2.12. A blob of pottery clay from Zone A of Cueva Blanca, showing signs of squeezing and kneading. Some of the
fingerprints in these clay blobs were clear enough to be used as evidence in a trial.
 The Discovery of Cueva Blanca 25

9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 17); some of these still contained plant This kiln displays two features appropriate for the making
remains. Among those plants were maize, squash, agave, prickly of dark gray, highly uniform G3M ware. First, its subterranean
pear, acorns, black zapotes (Diospyros sp.), hackberries (Celtis placement would have ensured the reduced-firing atmosphere
sp.), susí nuts (Jatropha sp.), and tejocote fruits (Crataegus cf. needed for making gray ware. Second, the fact that one of the
mexicana). The maize and squash were probably grown on the kiln’s chambers would have held the fuel and the other the vessels,
terraces below the cave; the acorns, black zapotes, tejocotes, with heated air moving through the flue between them, would have
and susí nuts were presumably collected in the wild; and as for provided the even, indirect heat necessary to produce G3M pottery.
the agave and prickly pear remains, it was impossible to tell An unpublished study by Chris L. Moser (n.d.) suggests that
whether they were from wild or domestic stock. A conventional Zone A may have contained 65,000 sherds of G3M jars—so many
radiocarbon date places all this farming and plant-collecting that it seems likely that the farmstead’s production far exceeded
activity at roughly AD 1430. the needs of its occupants. In other words, the family living in
In addition to their agricultural tasks, the occupants of Zone Cueva Blanca may have produced some of its G3M pottery for
A were engaged in pottery making. Judging by the abundant urban Mitla, which lay only 4 km away. The source of pottery
sherds and occasional kiln wasters, the most common vessel clay was probably close at hand, since we found many squeezed
they made was a pattern-burnished jar of Type G3M, a gray and kneaded lumps of it in Zone A (Figure 2.12).
ware of Monte Albán V times. Hole succeeded in finding the Zone A of Cueva Blanca will be discussed in detail in a
subterranean kiln in which this pottery was fired. Designated future publication, devoted to rural Postclassic Mitla. For the
Feature 8, the kiln consisted of two stone masonry chambers— purposes of this volume, we will concentrate exclusively on the
each a meter in diameter—connected by a stone-lined flue 70 three Archaic living floors.
cm long (Figure 2.11).
 3
The Excavation of Cueva Blanca

Kent V. Flannery and Frank Hole

The excavation of Cueva Blanca took seven months and can Félix Sosa, Alfredo Sosa, Pablo García, Carlos Pérez, and Genaro
be divided into 10 stages. The first stage began with Flannery’s Luis. These six workmen were divided into two excavation
initial stratigraphic test in February of 1966. The final stage took teams, each consisting of one excavator, one screen operator, and
place in August of that year, when Hole completed his excavation a bucketman who carried the dirt from the square to the screen.
of the last 1 x 1 m squares with readable stratigraphy. The high ratio of supervisors to workmen was designed to ensure
maximum control, and in fact, the supervisors routinely assisted
in both excavation and screening.
Stage 1: The Initial Test, The screens were of two sizes, 6-mm mesh and 2-mm
February 9–14, 1966 mesh, and were set up on the cave talus where the sunlight was
brightest. Dirt passing through the coarser screen went directly
On February 9, 1966, Flannery established a permanent datum to the finer screen, and the bucketman assisted the screen
in Cueva Blanca by driving a metal spike into the rear wall of operator in picking out artifacts, bones, and plant remains.
the cave at a point that became the northeast corner of Square Essentially, the methods of excavation used were identical to
B9 (see Figure 2.6). Beginning with that spike, he then laid out those described on pages 67–70 of the Guilá Naquitz site report
a series of five 1 x 1 m squares running east-to-west across the (Flannery 2009a).
center of the cave’s main chamber. Pending the results of the The first two squares excavated were E9 and G9, begun on
initial test, these squares were simply numbered 2–6. Once February 9. In both units, the first 10 cm consisted of modern
Flannery had determined that more extensive excavation was cattle dung, left by a herd from the nearby agencia of Unión
warranted, a full grid of squares was laid out over the cave, Zapata. Immediately below this dung layer the crew encountered
and test squares 2–6 became Squares C9, D9, E9, F9, and G9 a complex series of interdigitated gray, brown, and white ash
of that grid. beds with abundant sherds of the Monte Albán V period. This
Work at Cueva Blanca began with three supervisors layer became Zone A.
(Flannery, Chris L. Moser, and Eligio Martínez) and a group of Below this layer, Squares E9 and G9 were somewhat
six Zapotec-speaking workmen from Mitla—don Juan Martínez, different. Félix, working in Square E9, found the Monte Albán V

26
 The Excavation of Cueva Blanca 27

deposits to consist of an upper gray ash member and a lower, very excavations would greatly modify our view of this layer, which
thick, brown ash member continuing down to 45 cm below the was eventually labeled Zone F.
surface. At this point, he reached a layer of very loose stones that Don Juan, in the meantime, had been excavating Square G9.
the crew thought at first might be rockfall from the roof. Closer In the course of removing Zone A he discovered our first feature,
examination, however, revealed that most of the stones were a Monte Albán V pit filled with gray ash and sherds, which cut
not even of the same composition as the cave roof; some were through the brown ash of the zone and was intrusive through
stream cobbles, many were firecracked rocks, and others were all the Archaic layers. Labeled Feature 1, it would eventually
stone tools. This layer of loose rock, which varied in thickness prove to affect parts of Squares G7, G8, G9, H8, and H9. In the
from square to square, came to be called Zone B and was one of undisturbed parts of G9, don Juan reached Zone B, the same
the most distinctive strata within Cueva Blanca. It was to remain stratum of loose firecracked rock that Félix had found in E9.
enigmatic until July, when Hole finally discovered the feature Here, however, that stratum was thinner than it had been in E9.
from which the firecracked rocks had come. At 60 cm depth in the undisturbed parts of G9, don Juan
Because the rocks in this layer were so loosely packed, they reached an ashy layer 10 cm thick, containing chipped stone
did not always seal off the layer below, except in those squares debitage and animal bones but lacking pottery. While somewhat
where the stones were thickest and densest. In E9, there were little thicker, this layer appeared to correspond to Zone C, the thin
pockets of sherds in the interstices among the stones, some of layer of white ash at 55 cm depth in Square E9; that eventually
them Formative-looking and others clearly Postclassic. The crew proved to be the case. Below it, at a depth of 70–80 cm, was a
also found chipped stone tools that were typologically Archaic, layer of soft gray ash with tan lenses, clearly related to Zone D,
but had evidently been redeposited at the time the layer of rocks the ashy level Félix had found at a depth of 55–75 cm in E9.
was created. Since this level was such a “mixed bag,” Flannery So similar were the two squares at this stage that Flannery now
felt somewhat relieved when he saw that Félix had removed the felt confident that Archaic living floors would span much of the
last of it at roughly 55 cm depth. The lowermost stones rested cave’s main chamber.
on a thin layer of white ash without sherds—possibly, Flannery Flannery’s confidence increased when, at a depth of 80 cm,
hoped, an undisturbed Archaic layer. That white ash eventually don Juan found a layer of light gray ash with abundant charcoal
came to be called Zone C. flecks, identical to Zone E in Square E9. Now it seemed likely
Removing Zone C, Félix uncovered a layer with soft tan- that removal of F9, the intervening square, would link up at least
gray ash, lots of chipped stone debitage, no sherds, and bones three Archaic levels over a stretch of three meters. Don Juan
of cottontail rabbit. This relatively thick layer, running from removed Zone E carefully and discovered below it Zone F, the
55 to 75 cm below the surface, resembled some of the Archaic same stratum of indurated white sand the crew had seen earlier
levels in MacNeish’s Tehuacán caves, except for the fact that it in E9. Using a barreta, he picked through this zone to bedrock,
had no apparent preservation of plant remains. Now Flannery finding only the bones of small rodents.
had growing confidence that he had reached Archaic levels. This Now that letters had been assigned to all the stratigraphic
stratum was eventually named Zone D. levels, Flannery decided to excavate two more squares: F9 (which
At 75 cm depth, the deposits changed again. Félix had would link up E9 and G9) and D9 (which would extend his test
reached a layer somewhat harder in texture, composed partly of to the east). F9, excavated by don Juan, proved to be relatively
light gray ash with abundant charcoal flecks and partly of whitish uncomplicated once the crew got below Zone A. The rocky
sand, the latter recognizable as the weathering product of the layer called Zone B, running from 35–50 cm below the surface,
volcanic tuff cliff. In this stratum, Félix recovered two Archaic essentially sealed off the Archaic levels below, and Zones C, D,
sidescrapers/knives. Now Flannery was more confident than ever and F appeared undisturbed.
that this light gray ash layer, running from 75 to 95 cm below the Meanwhile, Félix was extending work to the east by
surface, was Archaic. This layer became Zone E. excavating Square D9. Zone A in this square had a heavy
So far, all of Félix’s excavation had been by trowel. At deposit of brown ash, overlain by thin streaks of gray ash
roughly 95 cm depth, however, the deposits became so hard that but not disturbed by pits of any kind. Monte Albán V sherds
the point of his trowel would barely penetrate them. This was and prismatic obsidian blades were typical of the refuse. At a
a layer of indurated white sand, clearly the weathering product depth of 40 to 55 cm below the surface, Félix encountered the
of the cave itself, and hardened either by great antiquity or the same layer of firecracked rock (Zone B) that all squares had
weight of the overburden. At this point, excavation could only contained so far.
proceed by means of an iron barreta, or miner’s digging bar, a All three Archaic living floors were intact in Square D9,
tool with which our Mitla workmen were all familiar. Félix cut and can be clearly seen in the photograph of the east wall of the
his way down through the indurated sand, eventually reaching a square (Figure 3.1). Zone C was a layer of grayish-white ash,
sterile layer of decomposing volcanic tuff at 115 cm depth. The roughly 55–65 cm below the surface in the center of the square;
layer of white sand produced nothing but a few small rodent Zone D was an even thicker layer of tan-gray ash, 65–80 cm
bones, suggesting that it might have antedated human occupation below the surface. At a depth of 76 cm, 36 cm in from the south
of the cave. As will be clear later in this chapter, however, Hole’s wall of the square and 84 cm in from the east wall, Félix found a
28 Chapter 3

Figure 3.1. The east profile of Square D9, showing Zones A–F. This was one of the first squares excavated, and helped to
establish the stratigraphy of the cave’s central chamber.

complete Tilapa atlatl point in situ in Zone D. As in the adjacent Stripping off the cattle dung, Moser and Martínez carefully
squares, Zone E consisted of white sand and light gray ash with removed the intercalated brown and gray ash beds of Zone A.
charcoal flecks, and Zone F was once again a layer of indurated They discovered that in Square C9, the loose rocks of Zone B
sand above sterile, weathered volcanic tuff. covered only a small area, near the juncture with Square D9.
The crew had now excavated four squares, allowing Flannery These stones, with their mixture of Formative and Postclassic
and Moser to begin three profile drawings that could be extended sherds, were removed and the level swept before excavation
by further excavation: the east profile of D9, the east profile of E9, began on Zone C.
and the north profile of D9–E9–F9–G9. Flannery then decided to Both excavators commented on how hard Zone C was,
remove one more square—C9—whose stratigraphy could already compared to the softer ash of Zone A. Right at the top of the
be seen in the east profile of D9, and whose excavation would zone, 60 cm from the east wall of the square and 22 cm from
allow him to extend the north profile of D9–G9 one meter farther the south, a complete atlatl point of San Nicolás type appeared
east toward the back wall of the cave (Figure 3.2). in situ. Zone C also yielded two discoidal one-hand manos, one
Chris Moser and Eligio Martínez dug Square C9 themselves, complete and one fragmentary. Now each of the three Archaic
while the Mitla workmen carefully screened all the deposits. The strata—C, D, and E—had produced artifacts that tied them to
crew was disappointed that no plant remains had so far appeared that period.
in the Archaic levels, and it was decided to double the screen crew Zone D (tan-gray ash) and Zone E (white ash with charcoal
temporarily, just to see if fine plant fragments were being missed. flecks) yielded stone tools and debitage like those found in
Eventually it became clear that while plants were preserved in adjacent squares; once again, Zone F was an indurated sand layer
Zone A, no plants had been preserved in the Archaic levels. with animal bones but no artifacts.
 The Excavation of Cueva Blanca

Figure 3.2. The north profile of Squares H9–B9.

29
30 Chapter 3

During the second week of February Flannery briefly ended the kinds of remains the crew was by now used to seeing. Square
his excavation at Cueva Blanca, satisfied that the cave was worth E10, excavated by don Juan, proved to be more complicated,
excavating because of its stratified Archaic deposits and good since its southeastern quadrant had been disturbed by Feature 2,
faunal preservation. Several days were then spent testing other an intrusive pit that came down from Zone A and removed parts
caves and rockshelters in the vicinity, none of which turned out of the strata below it.
to be as promising as Cueva Blanca. Zone A in Square E10 began as the usual deposit of dark
brown ash with Monte Albán V sherds and obsidian. At the base
of this deposit began Feature 2, about one-fourth of which lay
Stage 2: Excavation of E5–E11, in Square E10. This feature gradually expanded as it proceeded
February 15–20, 1966 downward, disturbing a little bit more of each zone than the one
above it. Don Juan carefully worked around it, isolating it from
On February 15, Flannery returned to Cueva Blanca with the the intact parts of each Archaic living floor.
same crew of supervisors and workmen and laid out Squares E5– Zone B was very thick in Square E10, and where Feature 2
E11. Work began in E8 (taking advantage of the already exposed passed through it, the Postclassic creators of the pit had plastered
north profile of E9) and E6 (following R. S. MacNeish’s strategy its sides with mud to prevent the loose rocks of Zone B from
of digging alternate squares, so that the intervening square would sliding into it. (Additional features, discovered later in the
have its stratigraphy exposed on two sides). excavation of Cueva Blanca, made it clear that mud and moss
Don Juan Martínez, working in E8, peeled off the cattle were regularly used by the Monte Albán V occupants to reinforce
dung and began to remove the dark brown ash of Zone A. Once their constructions.) Among the rocks of Zone B the crew found
Flannery saw that this square had no intrusive features, he took a sherd from a tecomate or neckless jar with a specular hematite
a pollen sample from the brown ash. At 25–30 cm below the slip. Today this sherd would be considered a diagnostic element
surface, the loose rocks of Zone B appeared, along with the usual of the San José phase, but that Early Formative period had not
mixture of Formative and Postclassic sherds. In this square it yet been defined as of February 1966.
was clear that Zone B included not only rubble and firecracked Outside the area disturbed by Feature 2, Zones D, E, and F
rock but also steep denticulate scrapers and cores of Archaic looked very much as they had in Square E9 of Flannery’s initial
types, either collected from the surface and talus of the cave test. As in the case of Square E8, there was virtually no Zone C
by later occupants or dug up from Archaic levels when they in Square E10.
created features. Finally, the crew extended the row of “E” squares by
There was virtually no Zone C in Square E8, but Zone excavating E5 and E11, taking advantage of the fact that both
D was intact and up to 30 cm thick in places; as a result, we squares already had their stratigraphy exposed. Square E5,
could distinguish an “upper D” and “lower D.” A fragment of a excavated by Félix, proved to be the least complicated, since it
basin-shaped metate appeared in this level, and Flannery took had no intrusive features (Figure 3.3). Beneath the thick rubble
a pollen sample from Zone D in an area nicely sealed below and firecracked rock of Zone B, all the Archaic living floors were
Zone C. Zones E and F, below, looked very much as they had intact. Zone C was particularly clear in this square, with an upper
in Square E9. lens of whiter ash resting on a lower lens of yellower ash. In
Meanwhile, Félix was excavating Square E6. Zone A the whiter ash, 43 cm from the east wall of the square and 6 cm
yielded a large charcoal sample in contact with Monte Albán from the south, Félix found a complete San Nicolás atlatl point
V sherds. Zone B—thicker in the south half of the square than at a depth of 70 cm below the surface. Other discoveries in this
in the north—produced a few sherds that could be identified as layer included a discoidal one-hand mano and a series of animal
Early and Middle Formative types. Unfortunately, there were bones. Flannery took a pollen sample from Zone F of this square.
Postclassic sherds present as well, so the level remained mixed. In Square E11, don Juan’s task was more difficult because
An atlatl point resembling MacNeish’s Pelona type was found he had to work around Feature 2, approximately one-fourth of
among the rocks, presumably redeposited from an Archaic level which affected in this square. Zone C in Square E11 produced
or collected from the talus when stones were needed for agave a complete La Mina atlatl point, some 30 cm from the south
roasting pits. Fortunately, Zones C, D, E, and F were all intact wall of the square and 32 cm in from the west. The undisturbed
and stratigraphically very clear in Square E6. portion of Zone E yielded a nice ovoid scraper, and Zone F was
Once Squares E6 and E8 had been completed, Flannery once again a layer of indurated sand.
decided to excavate E7 and E10. In the case of E10, his work At this point, Flannery and Moser drew the east profile
would be guided by the stratigraphy exposed in the south profile of Squares E5–E11 (Figure 3.4) and closed down Stage 2 of
of E9; in the case of Square E7, its stratigraphy had been exposed the Cueva Blanca excavation. Approximately one week was
on both sides by the removal of E6 and E8. then devoted to washing, labeling, and examining the Archaic
The excavation of Square E7, undertaken by Félix, went artifacts from this stage of field work so that the crew would be
very much as expected: each of the established stratigraphic better informed during the third stage of excavation. Among
zones could easily be traced from north to south, and all yielded other things, we needed to know how typical Cueva Blanca
 The Excavation of Cueva Blanca 31

was among the Archaic sites of the Hacienda El Fuerte region.

Consequently, during February 21–25, while one crew washed
and labeled artifacts in the project’s laboratory in Mitla, another
crew tested Guilá Naquitz Cave (Flannery 2009a:65).
By the middle of March, 1966, we had a better sense of
where Cueva Blanca fit within our overall sample of Archaic
sites. We had reason to believe that it would have a larger sample
of chipped stone tools and animal bones than Guilá Naquitz, but
a smaller sample of plant remains. We also suspected, based on
the limited sample of atlatl point types recovered so far, that the
two caves were probably not occupied during the same periods.
Obviously, we would learn a lot from excavating both.

Stage 3: March 18–30, 1966

On March 18, Flannery, Moser, and Martínez returned to Cueva

Blanca with the same crew of workmen and laid out six more
squares. Their goal was to extend the east-west column of “9”
squares by digging B9 and H9, and the north-south row of “E”
squares by digging E3, E4, E12, and E13 (Figures 3.5, 3.6). This
would produce, in effect, two trenches that crossed each other
at right angles, dividing the main chamber of the cave into four
quadrants. Each of those quadrants would have its stratigraphy
exposed on two adjacent sides, making it possible to excavate
the rest of the chamber by working from a vertical face whose
main strata were known in advance (Figure 3.7). Figure 3.3. Félix trowels his way through the Archaic levels
Flannery’s crew began by digging Squares E4 and E12, in Square E5 (view from the south).
extending the north-south trench. Félix, working in E4, found
Zone A to have good preservation of maize, acorns, oak bark,
and other plants. Zone B, the loose rock stratum, extended only
extended down from Zone A to a depth of 85 cm, and disturbed
into the southern half of the square; in the northern half, Zone A
directly overlay Zone C. This fact made us skeptical about the parts of the lower zones. Beyond the limits of this intrusive pit,
tiny fragments of maize, prickly pear, and agave that turned up in however, the Archaic strata were very clear and could easily be
the upper part of Zone C. Since no other part of Zone C displayed traced through from Square E11. Perhaps the most interesting
plant preservation, we suspected that these few specimens were discoveries in Square E12 were made in Zone D. They included a
intrusive, probably trampled down into Zone C by the occupants fragment of slab metate and a bone pendant. The bone pendant—
of Zone A. at that moment, our first hint of personal ornamentation in the
An interesting aspect of Square E4 was that Zone C began Archaic—was found 5 cm from the north edge of the square and
at a depth of 30 cm in the north and 40 cm in the south. This 30 cm from the east. One year later, of course, we discovered
was our first clue that some of the Archaic living floors might be even earlier Archaic ornaments when Hole excavated Gheo-Shih.
basin-shaped—a phenomenon that became clear when we started The crew worked next on Squares B9 and H9, which
to compare the absolute depths of piece-plotted artifacts (see completed the east-west arm of their cruciform trench system
below). Piece-plotted tools in Zone C of Square E4 included a and allowed them to reach the back wall of the cave. Square
nice example of a chopper/knife at a depth of 43 cm, 20 cm from B9, excavated by Pablo, had no Zone B or Zone E; evidently,
the north side of the square and 25 cm from the east. neither of those deposits had extended to the east wall of the cave.
The tan-gray ash of Zone D was very clear in this square, Perhaps the most interesting stratum in this square was Zone C,
as was the gray ash layer with charcoal flecks that had been where Pablo was able to piece-plot a steep denticulate scraper.
designated Zone E. In the latter zone, Félix was able to plot a Square H9, excavated by don Juan, became the western
possible unfinished Palmillas atlatl point and a nice sidescraper/ terminus of the crew’s east-west trench. In addition to the
knife made on red silicified tuff. Below this, Félix found the usual disturbance of the Archaic strata in this square by Feature 1—an
indurated white sand of Zone F. intrusive Postclassic pit that the crew had encountered earlier in
Meanwhile, don Juan was excavating Square E12 and Square G9—Flannery could see that the crew would have further
dealing with yet another Monte Albán V pit—Feature 3—that problems if they continued westward. For one thing, bedrock was
 32
Chapter 3

Figure 3.4. The east profile of Squares E3–E13.

 The Excavation of Cueva Blanca 33

Figure 3.5. The northern limits of the cave chamber. Eligio supervises Alfredo and Carlos as they begin Squares E3 and E4.

rising higher and higher as the crew moved toward the mouth of petered out in Square E4. The three Archaic strata were all intact
the cave, and one could see places to the west where it actually below Zone A, but as they neared the cave wall, each gradually
outcropped on the surface. For another thing, the closer the rose in elevation and faded in color. It was clear that by the time
crew got to the limits of the cave overhang, the more it appeared they reached the wall, each of the Archaic zones would consist
that rain had entered over the centuries and obscured the color mainly of the white, sand-like product of weathering from the
differences among strata. Zones B and E were missing at this walls and ceiling of the cave, with little color left from ash or
point, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to detect the decomposed organic debris. The strata were clearer in the west
differences between Zones C and D. Upon completing Square half of the square than along the east profile, where they could
H9, therefore, Flannery and Moser finished their drawing of the only be traced with difficulty.
northern wall of Squares B9–H9 (see Figure 3.2). This 7-m-long Despite their faded color, the Archaic zones in Square E3
profile then came to serve as the principal east-west section yielded interesting results. Fragments of charcoal from Zone
through the center of the cave chamber. C were later identified as oak, acacia, pine, and baldcypress,
Now satisfied with their east-west transect of the cave, indicating that the occupants had collected firewood from a wide
Flannery, Moser, and Martínez began work on Squares E3 variety of trees.
and E13 to complete the north-south transect. Square E3, the One of the most unexpected objects found in Zone C was
northernmost, was excavated by Félix. Zone A in this area a marine shell, Agaronia testacea, that had been drilled in two
became shallower and less complex as it neared the cave wall, places for suspension as an ornament (Figure 3.8). This olive shell
and there was no Zone B at all, the layer of loose rock having is native to Pacific Coast sandy beaches and must therefore have
34 Chapter 3

Figure 3.6. Work beginning on Zone A of Square E12, near the south wall of the cave chamber. This photo shows the
intersection of the “E” row of squares (framed by two mason’s chalk lines) and the “9” column of squares.

come from at least 140 km away. Its presence in Zone C suggests On completion of Squares E3 and E13, Flannery and Moser
that already in Late Archaic times, small amounts of marine shell finished their drawing of the eastern wall of the entire row of
from the Pacific Coast were reaching the Valley of Oaxaca—a “E” squares, giving them an 11-m profile that became their main
harbinger of the more extensive long-distance exchanges of shell north-south transect through the middle of the cave chamber (see
that would one day characterize the Formative cultures in the Figure 3.4). Cueva Blanca was now divided into quadrants whose
area (Pires-Ferreira 1975). stratigraphy was visible on at least two sides.
Meanwhile, don Juan was excavating Square E13, at the Looking at the east profile of Squares E3–E13, one could
southern limit of the north-south trench. Here, near the south practically hear Squares D3–D12 begging to be excavated.
wall of the cave, the Postclassic deposits of Zone A were Nowhere was Zone D thicker and more distinctively colored;
well represented, and even seemed to include two mounds of nowhere was Zone E richer in debitage or more distinctly flecked
Postclassic “backdirt” that may have resulted from the digging with charcoal. To be sure, Zone C had shrunk to a thin wisp of
of Features 2 and 3. Zone B in this part of the cave was a layer white ash in Squares E8–10, but we knew from our work in
of brown ash with Formative sherds, lacking the usual deposit Squares E9–B9 that that zone would grow thicker as one moved
of loose firecracked rock. All three of the Archaic strata showed to the north. The crew also knew that they would have to work
signs of petering out as they neared the wall of the cave. around intrusive Postclassic pits like Features 2 and 3, but those
 The Excavation of Cueva Blanca 35

Figure 3.7. A plan view of Cueva Blanca, showing (1) the squares excavated during the ten stages of work and (2) the
location of the four longest stratigraphic profiles included in this chapter.

pits were so clear that the workmen anticipated no problem in

doing so.
Flannery decided to dig the “D” row by alternate squares,
beginning with D5 and D7 (Figure 3.9). Félix began Square
D5 by peeling off the brown ash of Zone A, recovering such
characteristic Monte Albán V vessels as dark gray bowls with
serpent-effigy legs. Zone B, the layer of loose rock, yielded some
clear Formative sherds with “double-line-break” incising, as well
as white-rimmed black ware. In Zone D, Félix piece-plotted a
broken Trinidad atlatl point, 30 cm from the north edge of the
square and 28 cm from the east.
In Square D7, meanwhile, Pablo had found an Hidalgo point Figure 3.8. An ornament made from olive shell (Agaronia
redeposited among the loose rocks of Zone B. Below those rocks, testacea), discovered in Zone C of Square E3. This artifact
Zone C was intact and extremely clear. Continuing downward provides our oldest evidence for the importation of
into Zone D, Pablo encountered another Trinidad atlatl point as marine shell into the Valley of Oaxaca.
36 Chapter 3

Figure 3.9. The excavation of Squares D5 and D7 (view from the west). At this stage the “E” row of squares had been
largely completed, providing a long north-south profile to guide our excavation of the “D” row by alternate squares.

well as an ovoid biface. Zone D was, in fact, particularly rich another long north-south profile through the heart of the cave
in chipped stone debris in this square. Proceeding downward, chamber (Figures 3.11, 3.12). The task of digging Square D6 fell
Pablo encountered Zones E and F intact and undisturbed. Because to Félix. This proved to be a very productive square, especially
of the lack of intrusive features in Square D7, Flannery took a in the case of Zone D, where Félix was able to piece-plot two
series of pollen samples from the Archaic strata in this square. atlatl points. He found a Palmillas point 35 cm from the north
Don Juan, who dug Square D10, was not so lucky. In addition edge of the square and 15 cm from the east, and a Tilapa point 68
to having to work around the rest of Feature 2—a Monte Albán cm from the east edge and 85 cm from the north. By now it was
V pit—he encountered Feature 4, a bell-shaped pit that extended clear that a number of our atlatl points belonged to types well
down from Zone B to a depth of 85 cm, disturbing portions of the known from the Tehuacán Valley (MacNeish, Nelken-Terner,
lower strata (Figure 3.10). Fortunately Feature 4 was a relatively and Johnson 1967).
small pit, so substantial portions of the Archaic deposits in this Nowhere was that clearer than in Square D8, excavated by
square were left intact. Pablo. First, a Trinidad point turned up in the brown ash of Zone
Once don Juan had completed Square D10, the crew saw A—presumably an artifact from an Archaic level, redeposited
that by excavating Squares D4, D6, and D8 they could provide when the Postclassic occupants dug one of their storage pits.
 The Excavation of Cueva Blanca

Figure 3.10. The east profile of Squares D3–D12.

37
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ARCHEOLOGIA E STORIA
DELL'ARTE
ITALICA, ETRUSCA E ROMANA
 MANUALI HOEPLI

I. GENTILE — S. RICCI

ARCHEOLOGIA E STORIA
DELL'ARTE
ITALICA, ETRUSCA E ROMANA

TESTO
Con 96 Tavole Illustrative

ULRICO HOEPLI
EDITORE LIBRAIO DELLA REAL CASA
MILANO
 MANUALI HOEPLI

TRATTATO GENERALE
DI

Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte

ITALICA, ETRUSCA E ROMANA

3ª edizione interamente rifatta

SULLA 2ª DEL PROFESSORE

IGINIO GENTILE
con introduzioni bibliografiche ed appendici sulle ultime
scoperte e questioni archeologiche illustrata da novantasei
tavole aggiunte ed inserite nel testo
PER CURA DEL PROF. DOTT.

SERAFINO RICCI
Conservatore Aggiunto al R. Gabinetto Numismatico di Brera in Milano,
Libero docente di Antichità ed Epigrafie classiche presso la R. Accademia
Scientifico-Letteraria di Milano, e di Archeologia presso la R. Università di
Pavia.

ULRICO HOEPLI
EDITORE-LIBRAIO DELLA REAL CASA
MILANO
 —
1901
 PROPRIETÀ LETTERARIA

TIP. A. LOMBARDI di V. BELLINZAGHI

MILANO — 7. FIORI OSCURI 7. — MILANO
 A VOI
giovani alunni dei licei
delle accademie, delle altre scuole superiori
e secondarie di milano
che volonterosi e diligenti seguiste
il primo corso pubblico

di

ARCHEOLOGIA E STORIA DELL'ARTE

concesso dall'ex-ministro BACCELLI per Voi
confermato dal ministro GALLO
per tutti i licei d'italia
auspice ENRICO PANZACCHI

interprete del pensiero, del desiderio

di

IGINIO GENTILE
questa terza edizione del suo manuale
bene augurando degli studi classici
dell'arte italiana
offre il vostro professore ed amico
 PREFAZIONE

Questo volume, secondo i criterî dell'illustre e compianto prof.

Gentile, non dovrebbe avere introduzione, perchè questa sta dinanzi
al II volume per l'archeologia e per l'arte greca. Ma ragioni di
opportunità indussero l'editore comm. Hoepli a far precedere nella
stampa questo volume, quantunque anche l'altro sia già consegnato
manoscritto e pronto per la stampa, anzi possa dirsi ormai in lavoro.
Occorre quindi che, se non una introduzione, qualche parola di
prefazione si premetta per presentare questo secondo volume al
lettore prima del primo, e sotto una veste, come ognun vede,
alquanto diversa da quella della precedente edizione.
Il fine dell'editore fu di supplire alla lacuna di una terza edizione del
testo esaurito, lasciando l'Atlante relativo com'era al tempo della
seconda edizione. Quindi non si doveva mutare il criterio generale di
disposizione del lavoro del Gentile, ma d'altra parte bisognava
completare le lacune e del testo e dell'Atlante. Ricevendo io pertanto
il delicato incarico dalla fiducia dell'editore, ebbi costante scrupolo di
mantenere del Gentile quanto potevasi mantenere, e, pur
adattandone il testo alla nuova edizione, alterarlo solo per quel tanto
ch'era necessario per metterlo in luce maggiore.
Certe divisioni in periodi, certi paragrafi sottolineati ed ampliati con
le dovute note bibliografiche, non tutte riunite, come usava il
Gentile, alla fine di un intero periodo, ma a fine pagina, secondo che
suggerisce il testo o la necessità di ricerche più profonde, erano
modificazioni divenute ormai necessarie per far meglio conoscere il
lavoro coscienzioso e sotto ogni rapporto lodevole di quella mente
colta e veramente gentile, che scriveva bene italiano e sentiva quel
che scriveva, senza lasciarsi sopraffare dalla troppa erudizione,
troppo spesso straniera.
Per questa parte del lavoro non voglio paternità, ma la riconosco dal
Gentile, essendo quasi totalmente formali le mie modificazioni. Ciò
che posso dire mio sta nelle aggiunte, non col fine di migliorare il
testo, perchè non sento di arrogarmi questa abilità, ma con quello di
aggiungervi quei particolari che il Gentile non poteva conoscere,
perchè furono il risultato di scavi e di ricerche posteriori alla sua
seconda edizione. Non sono dunque queste aggiunte un biasimo o
uno sfregio alla memoria del Gentile, ma un complemento doveroso,
che il Gentile stesso avrebbe aggiunto, in modo più completo e
perfetto di me, se non fosse stato tolto troppo presto alla stima e
all'affetto dei colleghi e dei discepoli.
Sono quindi mie molte delle note a pie' pagina, le appendici, e tutte
le tavole scelte, compilate e fatte riprodurre non solo a schiarimento
del testo, ma a complemento indispensabile di un atlante che, così
com'è oggi, non risponderebbe neanche debolmente allo scopo. Per
agevolare la consultazione dell'Atlante e i confronti con le tavole
aggiunte ho unito un indice di queste ultime e, per quelle
dell'Atlante, un elenco comparativo tra le citazioni del Manuale della
seconda edizione e quelle del testo riveduto e corretto di questa
terza, che ora presento ai lettori. Così aggiunsi nella nuova edizione i
riferimenti alle tavole vecchie e nuove; testo e atlante formano
nell'ultima edizione un tutto più organico ed omogeneo, che non può
non giovare maggiormente alla coltura e alla pronta consultazione di
chi legge.
La parte da me rifatta ed ampliata, sulla quale desidero di richiamare
soprattutto l'attenzione degli studiosi, è quella paletnologica, o più
propriamente preromana, che, anche dopo la pubblicazione del
Bullettino di paletnologia italiana e dell'opera magistrale del
Montelius, era rimasta monca e insufficiente, nè poteva ricevere luce
dal lavoro speciale del Regazzoni sulla Paleoetnologia (Milano,
Hoepli, 1885), poichè quest'opera è quasi totalmente priva di quelle
illustrazioni che sono indispensabili a ben distinguere e a ritenere le
differenze fra età ed età, fra tecnica e tecnica; per questa parte presi
appunto a modello le belle tavole del Montelius.
Un altro contributo non meno utile e forse più interessante è dato
dai ritrovamenti sul Foro Romano e a Pompei. Tanto per la parte
preistorica, quanto per quest'ultima dell'Impero Romano mi aiutò
efficacemente l'intelligente ed opportuna liberalità del comm. Hoepli,
che sa conciliare sempre bene l'interesse del pubblico e proprio con
le esigenze più moderne della scienza e dell'arte, non
indietreggiando mai, qui, nella sua patria d'adozione, dinanzi a lavori
che, nel dare lustro alla sua Casa, siano opera italiana e meglio
riuscita. A lui noi italiani dobbiamo, più che a molti altri, il rispetto
che gli stranieri hanno ancora per buona parte della nostra
produttività scientifica e letteraria.
Ben novantasei tavole furono aggiunte, quali inserite nel testo, quali
doppie fuori testo, a questo volume dell'archeologia e della storia
dell'arte italica, etrusca e romana, e sono appena sufficienti —
ognuno dei competenti lo può riconoscere — a rendere una idea
approssimativa della grande epoca e della grande arte che vi si
tratta.

***
Ed ora una parola non al pubblico degli studiosi e dei dilettanti, che
apprezzano la divulgazione scientifica ed artistica in qualsiasi modo
sia fatta, purchè sia divulgazione utile al maggior numero di persone,
ma una parola a quelli fra gli specialisti che, pel solo fatto che
trattasi di un Manuale Hoepli, non fanno buon viso anche a lavori
fatti con ottimi intendimenti e con novità e serietà di trattazione.
Gran bella cosa senza dubbio è la scienza pura, ma non meno bella e
forse più utile è la scienza applicata alle cognizioni pratiche, e che
diventa pel gran pubblico mezzo potente di istruzione e di
educazione intellettuale e morale. Un Manuale utile deve saper
conciliare i progressi della scienza e dell'arte con la loro funzione
sociale. Ora, nella difficoltà di raggiungere insieme i due fini, io
cercai di presentare un Manuale il più possibile facile, esatto,
completo per il maggior numero dei lettori, che possono leggerlo
d'un fiato, come si suol dire, prescindendo da tutte, o quasi le
osservazioni e le critiche; ma collocai nelle note, nelle appendici,
nella bibliografia tutto quel repertorio scientifico, che è
indispensabile per attingere da fonti maggiori e dirette una
preparazione più estesa e più profonda intorno ad ogni singolo
argomento. Per questo appunto ho diviso gli indici bibliografici in
generali e particolari, sicchè lo studioso già iniziato nelle discipline
archeologiche trovi nell'uno o nell'altro ciò che più gli conviene per le
sue ricerche.
E per questo ho bisogno — il lettore se lo imagina da sè — di tutta la
benevolenza del pubblico dotto, se in citazioni così minuziose e
talora di difficile controllo per la mancanza della pronta consultazione
siano sfuggite inesattezze e anche errori di lingua e di stampa; a
tutto sarà rimediato nella revisione più calma e più agevole di
un'altra edizione. Per conto mio, per quanto io abbia cercato di usare
quella scrupolosa esattezza che in lavori di tal genere non è mai
troppa, preferisco, per mio carattere personale, di aggiungere
qualche nota, o qualche nome d'autore di più, il quale schiuda alle
menti giovanili nuovo campo di ricerche, che non poche notizie
troppo speciali, o vagliate allo staccio di una ipercritica talora più
dannosa che utile.
Che se alcuno trovasse eccessiva la bibliografia premessa alla parte
romana, pensi alla vastità e quantità dei temi proposti, e alla
imprescindibile necessità, col progresso odierno degli studî, di tener
calcolo di tutti i lavori dei dotti, specialmente stranieri, prima di
accingersi alla trattazione di un argomento qualsiasi. La bibliografia,
in questo caso, è come la face indispensabile al metodo storico,
perchè questo irradii nuova luce di verità e di bellezza sulle questioni
archeologiche e artistiche dei nostri tempi.
Di questo Manuale vorrei soprattutto facessero tesoro i giovani
studenti dei licei d'Italia, come già ne fecero in parte tesoro, con la
guida delle mie lezioni di storia dell'arte, quelli de' licei di Milano, ai
quali dedico il lavoro, augurandomi che il loro buon senso e buon
gusto, il loro amor patrio per i tesori d'arte italiani facciano
riconoscere meglio delle circolari ministeriali e degli insegnamenti
complementari la necessità dello studio dell'archeologia e dell'arte
come complemento agli studî classici, che solo alla luce dei
ritrovamenti archeologici e dei capilavori d'arte potranno far rifluire
nuova vena feconda di produzioni letterarie ed artistiche in questo
antico sangue latino, occupato nelle cure più urgenti della patria e
della società, e troppo dimentico, in quest'ultimo periodo, delle nobili
tradizioni classiche italiane e dell'intatto patrimonio di tesori artistici
che gli avi ci consegnarono.
A voi, giovani, tocca non solo il conservare questo patrimonio, ma il
farlo rifiorire. Possano gli sforzi dell'autore e l'infaticabile attività
dell'editore riuscire in questo intento, che certo desidera pure dal
suo meritato soggiorno di riposo l'anima candida e virtuosa di Iginio
Gentile!
Milano, Febbraio 1901.
Serafino Ricci.
 Indice del Testo

Pag.
Prefazione VII
Indice del testo XIII
Indice delle tavole inserite nel testo XXI
Indice generale delle tavole contenute nell'Atlante
del Gentile per l'Archeologia e la Storia dell'Arte
italiana, etrusca e romana, con le citazioni delle
pagine di testo corrispondenti alle tavole della II
edizione, confrontate con quelle della III
edizione XXVII
Indice dei periodici principali di archeologia XXXI

I. ARTE ITALICA 1-102

Bibliografia 1-9
Opere di carattere generale 1-4
Antichità preistoriche dell'Italia Settentrionale.
Civiltà transpadana 4-5
Terremare e abitazioni lacustri 5-6
La civiltà di Felsina e di Villanova, e, in genere, del
Bolognese e dell'Etruria 6-7
Il Lazio e le sue necropoli — Corneto-Tarquinia 7
Este e le necropoli euganeo-atestine 7-8
Civiltà paleo-etrusca — Antichità di Marzabotto, di
periodo etrusco 8
Antichità preistoriche dell'Italia Meridionale e delle
isole 8
Osservazioni generali intorno lo stile italico 9

I. Introduzione 10-14
Appendice I. Le varie età preistoriche e i loro
periodi 14-17
II. L'arte italica nelle terremare 17-27
III. La civiltà e l'arte a Felsina 28-41
Appendice II. Dell'importanza delle fibule come
dato archeologico nelle età preistoriche, e loro
cronologia 41-45
Appendice III. Confronto tra la situla della Certosa
e lo scudo d'Achille 45-47
IV. La civiltà e l'arte a Villanova 49-52
V. La civiltà e l'arte nelle necropoli del Lazio 52-56
VI. La civiltà e l'arte nelle necropoli euganee-
atestine 56-66
Appendice IV. Diffusione delle situle italiche di
bronzo e di terracotta in Italia 66-67
Appendice V. Elenco delle ciste a cordoni e delle
situle istoriate, e loro distribuzione geografica. 67-70
1. Ciste a cordoni 67-69
2. Situle istoriate 69-70
Appendice VI. La distribuzione dei periodi di civiltà
nelle necropoli atestine 70-71
VII. La civiltà e l'arte nell'Agro Chiusino e a
Corneto-Tarquinia 71-76
VIII. Conclusione sulla civiltà e sull'arte umbro-
felsinea, e prisca latina 77-78
IX. Civiltà ed arte etrusca alla Certosa e a
Marzabotto 78-88
1. Antichità della Certosa 78-82
2. Antichità di Marzabotto 82-88
X. Osservazioni generali intorno allo stile italico 89-99
Appendice VII. Della decorazione geometrica, degli
altri motivi e delle varie tecniche artistiche
importate in Italia nel periodo protoitalico 99-101
Appendice VIII: Osservazioni intorno ai Pelasgi e ai
loro monumenti 101-102

II. ARTE ETRUSCA 103-168

Bibliografia 105-108
Opere generali e speciali sulla topografia, sui
monumenti e sull'origine degli Etruschi 105-107
Architettura e scultura etrusca 107
Pittura etrusca 108
Ceramica, specchi e arti minori presso gli Etruschi 108

I. Origine e carattere dell'arte etrusca. — Suoi

rapporti con l'arte italica 109-113
Appendice I. Sulla provenienza degli Etruschi 114-119
Le tre grandi divisioni dell'arte etrusca 120-168

A. Architettura degli Etruschi 120-131

I. Architettura civile e militare 120
II. Architettura privata 122
III. Architettura religiosa 123
IV. Costruzioni di forma singolare 130-131

B. Plastica degli Etruschi 131-143

I. Arte figurativa 132
Appendice II. Osservazioni intorno all'arte plastica
degli Etruschi 143-146
II. Toreutica etrusca 146
1. Osservazioni generali 146
 2. Candelabri 147
3. Specchi 148
4. Le ciste a cordoni 149-154

C. Pittura etrusca 154-166

I. Osservazioni generali 154-157
II. Le due scuole pittoriche principali 157-160
III. Ceramica etrusca 160-166
1. Osservazioni generali 160-161
2. Vasi toscanici 161
3. Vasi d'imitazione greca 161
4. Vasi detti buccheri 162-164
5. Vasi aretini 164-166
Appendice III. Le ultime ricerche sugli Etruschi e la
fondazione del Museo topografico dell'Etruria a
Firenze 166-168

III. ARTE ROMANA 169-331

Bibliografia.
I. Opere di carattere generale.
Architettura e Archeologia generale 171-172
Plastica 174-178
Pittura 178-179
II. Opere di carattere speciale.
Architettura, Archeologia e Topografia 179-182
Plastica 182-186
Pittura e Mosaico 186-187
I. Osservazioni generali 188-196
II. Storia dell'arte romana e greco-romana, e
divisione nei suoi periodi 196-197

Primo Periodo dell'arte romana

I. Architettura
A. Parte I del Primo Periodo 198-213
1. I monumenti di Roma monarchica 198-202
2. Il tempio di Giove Capitolino 202-206
3. Il tempio e i tre ordini architettonici
secondo l'uso romano 206-209
4. Monumenti funerarî e di pubblica utilità in
Roma 209-210
5. L'introduzione dell'arco e della vôlta
nell'architettura romana 210-211
6. La derivazione delle acque: acquedotti,
terme, fontane 211-213
7. La sistemazione delle strade e della
viabilità 213
B. Parte II del Primo Periodo.
I. L'arte in Roma sotto l'influenza greca 213
1. Osservazioni generali 213-216
2. Colonne ed archi onorarî in Roma 216-217
3. Le basiliche 217
4. I teatri e i circhi 218
5. I monumenti sepolcrali 218-219
II. Plastica.
1. Osservazioni generali 219-221
2. La plastica romana applicata alle ciste
istoriate 221-224
III. Pittura 224-226

Secondo Periodo dell'arte romana

Osservazioni generali 227

Le opere greche importate in Roma 227-230
A. Architettura 230-310
I. Le principali classi di monumenti 231-232
1. I teatri e gli anfiteatri in Roma 230-234
2. I circhi e gli anfiteatri. I ludi gladiatorî 234-235
II. I monumenti degli imperatori della “Gens Iulia„ 235-238
1. Il Foro d'Augusto 238-242
2. Il Pantheon 242-248
3. Il Mausoleo D'Augusto 248-249
4. L'obelisco di Monte Citorio e altri
monumenti di stile egizio 249-252
5. I monumenti sepolcrali: i “Columbaria„ 252-253
6. Gli archi trionfali 253-254
III. I monumenti degli imperatori della “Gens
Claudia„ 254
1. L'“Aqua Claudia„ e l'“Anio Vetus„ a Roma 254-255
2. La “domus aurea„ di Nerone 255-256
IV. I monumenti degli imperatori della “Gens
Flavia„ 256-267
1. L'Anfiteatro Flavio, o “Colosseo„. — La
sua struttura 256-259
2. Le terme di Tito 259-264
3. L'arco di Tito 264-265
4. Opere dell'imperatore Domiziano. I “Fora„
minori 266-267
V. I monumenti degli imperatori Trajano ed Adriano 267-280
1. Il “Foro Trajano„ e i suoi monumenti 267-271
2. La “Colonna Trajana„ 271-272
3. Opere dell'imperatore Trajano 272-274
4. Il gran tempio di Venere e Roma sotto
Adriano, detto templum Urbis 274-275
5. La Villa d'Adriano a Tivoli 275-277
6. La “Mole Adriana„, o Mausoleo
dell'imperatore Adriano 277-278
7. Opere minori dell'imperatore Adriano 278-280
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