Ornamental Objects

Designation in this project as "ornament" was utilized to classify items that held some sort of special value to the residents of the Dolores study area, including items such as beads and pendants made from turquoise, jet, bone, and shell. Such artifacts are considered significant because they were traded over very long distances and used in ritual as well as mortuary contexts. These objects can show the extent of trading relations, and allow for the recognition and documentation of possible elite burials. Ornamental objects possess three basic characteristics: they are valuable, often inherited, and have a long life in the cultural system.

The data presented here is a representation of the ornaments collected from 1978 to 1981 found through excavation and survey. The categories used to organize this data are described in the metadata for this dataset. The information provided above and more specific information on ornamental records throughout the DAP reports are available in Wilshusen et al. (1999); see especially the section entitled "Ornaments, Rare Rocks, and Miscellaneous" by Judy Newland in Chapter 3.