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Trade
by Kristin A. Kuckelman
1
This section addresses the evidence at Castle Rock Pueblo for movement of goods both within the Mesa Verde region and
from outside the region. Although the section is called "Trade," it is important to note that goods also move as a result of
migration, marriage, direct procurement, and raiding. Movement of goods can be traced by comparing where goods are
found with where they were produced or where their raw materials occur naturally. Evidence at Castle Rock for movement
of goods within the Mesa Verde region consists of pottery found far from its clay sources (Glowacki et al. 1998*1).
Movement of goods from outside the region is indicated by the presence of nonlocal objects at the site. Nonlocal objects
are those made of materials that do not occur naturally within the region or those known to have been produced outside the
region. Movement of goods is important because it mirrors the flow of people, information, and ideas across geographic
areas (see also "Artifacts").
2
Trade or movement of goods within the Mesa Verde region was indicated by neutron activation analysis of pottery sherds and clay sources. This
analysis matched the paste in sherds with raw clay deposits in the
environment. The results show that a sherd from a bowl thought to have
been produced at Mesa Verde was found at Castle Rock Pueblo, and sherds
from bowls thought to have been produced at Castle Rock Pueblo were found
at Long House on Mesa Verde (Glowacki et al.
1998*1:237). These results indicate interaction between inhabitants of
the two villages. The same study suggested that vessels might have been
exchanged between Castle Rock Pueblo and Sand Canyon Pueblo (Glowacki et al. 1998*1:234–237), although the same results
would have been obtained if the two villages were simply using the same
clay
sources.
3
Artifacts collected at Castle Rock that were identified as trade goods from outside the region include marine shell, nonlocal
pottery, and nonlocal stone. Information about the marine shell artifacts is contained in a report by Gross (1999*1); these
artifacts include an Olivella bead, an abalone (Haliotis)
pendant, and two unidentified marine shells (Gross
1999*1:Table 15.49). The Olivella shell came from the Gulf of
California, and the abalone came from the Pacific coast of California
(Gross 1999*1), indicating movement of these goods over a wide geographic area.
4
A few of the pottery sherds collected at Castle Rock Pueblo were identified
as being from vessels that were not produced in the Mesa Verde region.
Approximately a dozen out of a total of 42,000 sherds came from vessels
produced outside the region (San Juan Red Ware is considered here to have
been produced within the region, although it is treated as nonlocal in
Ortman's "Artifacts"). An additional
60 or so sherds were unidentifiable to ware or type, so some or all of
the vessels from which these sherds originated might have been produced
elsewhere. The nonlocal pottery sherds collected include one sherd each
of Tusayan Black-on-red and Tsegi Orange Ware and two sherds of White
Mountain Red Ware (see the on-line laboratory
manual and "Artifacts"). The presence
of these sherds indicates direct or indirect contact with groups to the
south and southwest. However, the proportion of nonlocal sherds is extremely
small, and these vessels could already have been in the possession of
villagers when they settled at Castle Rock Pueblo. Thus, the evidence
suggests that villagers at Castle Rock engaged in little or no pottery
trade with people outside the region.
5
Numerous artifacts were made of nonlocal stone, including two obsidian projectile points, one turquoise bead, one modified flake of Washington Pass
chert, a piece of hematite, and
three projectile points of nonlocal chert-siltstone (see "Artifacts"). An additional 114 stone artifacts were of materials
from unidentified sources. These additional artifacts were made of
chert-siltstones or quartzites, some of which appear to be nonspecific
local materials (such as river cobbles), others of which are from nonlocal
unknown sources. The sources of the turquoise, nonlocal chert-siltstone,
and obsidian are unknown. The nearest source of obsidian is Polvadera Peak
in north-central New Mexico. Turquoise was mined in ancient times in
Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Nevada, and Mexico (Weigand and Harbottle 1993*1:162–163), but the source of
the Castle Rock turquoise has not been determined. The Washington
Pass chert is from Washington Pass in the Chuska Mountains of west-central New Mexico.
6
Several artifacts made of petrified wood were found, including four of the 48 projectile points collected from the site.
Petrified wood was not necessarily traded to the villagers at Castle Rock; they could have obtained it themselves, since it
occurs naturally in nearby northwestern New Mexico. One of the projectile points is a Desert Side-Notched point, a type
usually associated with ancestral Utes in this area (Janetski
1991*1:48). Because this point was found just below modern ground
surface, high in the fill above Structure 302 (a kiva), near deer bone
fragments and burned rocks, I interpret its
presence as indicating short-term reuse of the site by Utes long after Puebloan peoples migrated from the region.
7
One of the 48 projectile points is of nonlocal chert-siltstone, and another 10 are of chert-siltstone from unknown sources.
One projectile point of nonlocal material (red jasper) was identified as a Bull Creek point (Pierce 1999*1). The presence of this point at Castle Rock
suggests contact with people to the west. The Bull Creek area is north of
the Colorado River in southeastern Utah (Madsen
1989*1:36–43). Bull Creek points are commonly found in the Colorado
River drainage of southeastern Utah and are almost unknown in the Mesa
Verde Anasazi area (Fetterman and Honeycutt 1990*1:58). These points are
usually found at Fremont and Kayenta Anasazi sites (Holmer 1986*1:107; Reed 1998*1:334). The
specific variety of the point found at Castle Rock most resembles points
that were made south of the Colorado River and west of Montezuma Canyon in
southeastern Utah (Geib 1996*1; Matheny
1962*1). This projectile point, found in the upper fill of Structure
204 (a kiva), is purportedly the first Bull Creek point to be documented in
southwestern Colorado (Pierce 1999*1). There are
several possible ways in which a projectile point of nonlocal material
might have ended up at Castle Rock: (1) it might have been traded to a
resident of the village; (2) it might have been found elsewhere and brought
to the village by a resident; (3) it might have arrived at the site as a
result of migration or marriage; or (4) it might have been left
at the site by attackers during a violent encounter.
8
In conclusion, evidence at Castle Rock Pueblo indicates some movement of goods both within the Mesa Verde region and
from outside the region. Nonlocal stone probably came from sources in New Mexico or Arizona, and marine shell
originated on the Pacific coast. It appears, however, that only a small amount of interaction, as measured by the exchange
of material goods, occurred between the residents of Castle Rock and groups outside the region. Pottery exchange between
regions in the northern Southwest was extensive just before the Pueblo III period but decreased during that period
(Blinman and Wilson 1993*1:86), as did exchange of other
types of goods (Lekson and Cameron 1995*1:193). The reasons
for the scant movement of goods are unknown, but they may be tied to the
difficulties that contributed to the
Puebloan migration out of the Mesa Verde region in the late A.D. 1200s.
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