A Comparative Analysis of Small Scale Medio and Post-Paquime Lithic Assemblages in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico.

The archaeological record of northwestern Mexico directly prior to the arrival of the Spanish is poorly understood. Investigations at sites have historically been limited and infrequently published on. In particular, examinations of small scale settlements have not occurred. The time period between AD 1450-1550 in northwestern Chihuahua is often characterized by major and sudden settlement abandonment, although there have been few archaeological investigations to support this claim. As part of my research, I collected both quantitative and qualitative data from lithic assemblages recovered from multiple sites excavated in 2013-2014 located in northern Chihuahua, Mexico and dating between AD 1350-1650 to examine changes that occurred during this period. Through statistical comparisons between the different assemblages, I was able to discern trends in site use over time. The greatest difference is representative of a change in the frequency of agave processing and raw material use. The implications of this study are that it is one of the first investigations into this period of time in the region and provides evidence for site-level changes from the pre-Spanish into the Spanish Contact period. Additionally, this study provides an example for how archaeological investigations can be used to explore the broader anthropological topic of culture contact between European and indigenous peoples