Hafted Items

The Reductive Technologies Group (RTG) was headed by Roger A. Moore between 1978 and 1979 and by Carl J. Phagan from 1979 to 1985, with the assistance of T. Homer Hruby between 1980 and 1984; supporting work was provided by crew chiefs Gail G. Snyder and Phillip D. Neusius. This DAP analysis group was responsible for supporting the broad research goals of the DAP through the implementation of mid-level research design governing the collection and analysis of data from “artifacts which were manufactured by reductive, or subtractive techniques” (Phagan 1986a:79). Such items in the DAP assemblage are largely constructed of lithic materials, but may also be made of bone or shell. The RTG also recognized an assemblage of “large hafted tools that reflected a significant amount of technological input and heavy curation” (Phagan 1986a:141). These items were primarily identified among non-flaked lithic tool assemblages, but also include flaked modes of production; their attributes have been collected in a single dataset within the non-flaked lithic tool class (HAFT10).

In many cases, the RTG made use of existing models to identify attributes relevant to a particular research question. However, in some instances, theoretical models were inadequate, or simply did not exist. Being unable to identify a secure classification system for hafted tools in Southwestern archaeological literature, the RTG modeled their analysis of axes, mauls, and other large hafted items on the flaked and non-flaked lithic tools systems (Phagan 1986). These other DAP systems were especially applicable since many of the items in the hafted tool assemblage share some aspects of their production with flaked, pecked, polished, or ground items.

Through two integrated analytic systems, the RTG provided the “maximum latitude” (Phagan 1986a:81) needed to meet the scope of DAP research spanning the General Research Design (Phagan 1986b), Modeling Effort (Lipe 1981), and the 1978 Lithics Research Design (Knudson 1980). Both systems were designed to account for a high degree of anticipated variability in each artifact category and at several levels of analytic intensity. The DAP reductive technologies database is therefore organized by attribute rather than complete item. Additional variables, recorded during a series of RTG substantive studies (Phagan 1984a, 1984b; Vierra and Phagan 1984; Orth and Phagan 1984) and the DAP modeling project (Lipe 1984), comprise a third system of synthetic analysis.

Variables in the hafted tools dataset have been described by Wilshusen et al. (1999); see especially the section entitled "Nonflaked Lithic Tools" by Cara C. Gulley in Chapter 3. In most cases, her descriptions are suitable for use as metadata and have been repeated almost verbatim here. Selected resources from the collection of published and unpublished DAP reports may have been used for clarification in some cases and will be appropriately referenced.