Summary and Conclusions
The origins of five Basketmaker III pottery motifs can be traced, at least in part, to 41 artifacts made by Basketmaker II people who lived in southern Utah and northern Arizona. Motif 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9 were woven and/or painted on a variety of medium: 20 baskets, 13 sandals, six bags, one band, and one unfired clay bowl.
These prehistoric artifacts were recovered during historic times from caves and alcoves in three areas: northeast Arizona (White Dog Cave and Cave 11), southeast Utah (Greater Cedar Mesa Area), and southwest Utah (Cave du Pont). They are now curated at five museums: American Museum of Natural History; National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution; The Field Museum; Museum of Peoples and Cultures, Brigham Young University; and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Five of these items have been dated either directly or indirectly by radiocarbon or dendrochronological analysis. The resulting dates range between approximately 200 BC - 500 AD, or mid- to late-Basketmaker II. Given the complexity of the designs which preceded Motifs 1 and 2, it is likely that these two motifs in particular were developed well before the dates shown for them below.
Cat. No. Artifact Location Date Motif Method Reference
2790 bag White Dog 190 BC +/- 85 years 1, 2 radiocarbon PMAE website
2788 basket White Dog 190 BC +/- 85 years 1, 2 radiocarbon PMAE website
164802.1,.2 sandals GCMA 2089 +/- 38 BP 8 radiocarbon Webster, p.c.
202-19 cal BC
(median 112 cal BC)
103927 clay sherd du Pont 217 AD 8 dendrochronology Stallings 1941
21704 sandal GCMA 1624 +/- 49 BP 7 radiocarbon Webster 2013
326-552 cal AD
(median 438 cal AD)
A variety of changes occurred in design-to-motif styles over time. Some, such as Motif 1, saw significant changes, while others, such as Motif 8, saw relatively few.
Motif 1 was simplified in one important respect: the use of connecting polygons and three or more tiers was discontinued. This resulted in a two-tiered figure which usually occurred as an isolated panel. The two tiers were individualized by the use of variously shaped heads, appendages, and body boxes, with or without fill, and outlining.
Motif 2 was freed from it primary position as accompaniment to Motif 1. While still occupying that position on many occasions, it was also expended into several shapes and used, always in groups, in its own right.
Motif 7 was reduced in size, both absolutely and in relation to its surroundings. It became an important attachment to various parallel-line constructions, and was often used in association with other motifs.
Motifs 8 and 9 remained relatively unchanged. [In my research I have added several shapes to these to categories which may or may not have made conceptual sense to the prehistoric creators of these two motifs.]
So what motifs remain unexplained as to their origins? Motifs 3, 4, 5 and 6. The origins of these four motifs are unknown, but they do not appear to be the Basketmaker II people of northern Arizona or southern Utah.
These prehistoric artifacts were recovered during historic times from caves and alcoves in three areas: northeast Arizona (White Dog Cave and Cave 11), southeast Utah (Greater Cedar Mesa Area), and southwest Utah (Cave du Pont). They are now curated at five museums: American Museum of Natural History; National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution; The Field Museum; Museum of Peoples and Cultures, Brigham Young University; and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Five of these items have been dated either directly or indirectly by radiocarbon or dendrochronological analysis. The resulting dates range between approximately 200 BC - 500 AD, or mid- to late-Basketmaker II. Given the complexity of the designs which preceded Motifs 1 and 2, it is likely that these two motifs in particular were developed well before the dates shown for them below.
Cat. No. Artifact Location Date Motif Method Reference
2790 bag White Dog 190 BC +/- 85 years 1, 2 radiocarbon PMAE website
2788 basket White Dog 190 BC +/- 85 years 1, 2 radiocarbon PMAE website
164802.1,.2 sandals GCMA 2089 +/- 38 BP 8 radiocarbon Webster, p.c.
202-19 cal BC
(median 112 cal BC)
103927 clay sherd du Pont 217 AD 8 dendrochronology Stallings 1941
21704 sandal GCMA 1624 +/- 49 BP 7 radiocarbon Webster 2013
326-552 cal AD
(median 438 cal AD)
A variety of changes occurred in design-to-motif styles over time. Some, such as Motif 1, saw significant changes, while others, such as Motif 8, saw relatively few.
Motif 1 was simplified in one important respect: the use of connecting polygons and three or more tiers was discontinued. This resulted in a two-tiered figure which usually occurred as an isolated panel. The two tiers were individualized by the use of variously shaped heads, appendages, and body boxes, with or without fill, and outlining.
Motif 2 was freed from it primary position as accompaniment to Motif 1. While still occupying that position on many occasions, it was also expended into several shapes and used, always in groups, in its own right.
Motif 7 was reduced in size, both absolutely and in relation to its surroundings. It became an important attachment to various parallel-line constructions, and was often used in association with other motifs.
Motifs 8 and 9 remained relatively unchanged. [In my research I have added several shapes to these to categories which may or may not have made conceptual sense to the prehistoric creators of these two motifs.]
So what motifs remain unexplained as to their origins? Motifs 3, 4, 5 and 6. The origins of these four motifs are unknown, but they do not appear to be the Basketmaker II people of northern Arizona or southern Utah.
References Cited
Guernsey, Samuel James and Alfred Vincent Kidder
1921 Basketmaker Caves of Northeastern Arizona: Report on the Explorations, 1916-17 by . Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Vol. VIII. No. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts
Honeycutt, Linda
2015 Motifs 1-9 at Two Early Basketmaker III Sites in New Mexico. Pottery Southwest Fall 2015 Volume 31 No. 3.
2017 Motif 1 During the Period A.D. 575-650. Talk presented at Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists, Glenwood Springs and Big MACC, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez
Jesse L. Nusbaum
1922 A Basket-maker Cave in Kane County, Utah. Indian Notes and Monographs, F.W. Hodge, editor. Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York
Stallings, W.S. Jr.
1941 A Basketmaker II Date from Cave du Pont, Utah. Tree-Ring Bulletin 8(1):3-6.
Reed, Lori Stephens, Joell Goff, and Kathy Niles Hensler
1998 Inventory of Whole and Reconstructible Vessels in Exploring Ceramic Production, Distribution, and Exchange in the Southern Chuska Valley: Analytical Results from the El Paso Natural Gas North System Expansion Project, by Lori Stephens Reed, Joell Goff, and Kathy Niles Hensler, Appendix G. Pipeline Archaeology 1990-1993: the El Paso Natural Gas North System Expansion Project, New Mexico and Arizona, vol. XI, Timothy M. Kearns, general editor. Report No. WCRM(F)074. Western Cultural Resource Management, Inc., Farmington, New Mexico.
Webster, Laurie D.
2013 FMNH 21704 in Five AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Perishable Artifacts from Battle Cave
(Atlatl Cave) and Grand Gulch, Southeastern Utah, at the Field Museum of Natural History. A Canyonlands Natural History Association Discovery Pool Project.
2018 Personal communication regarding AMS date for FMNH 164802
Guernsey, Samuel James and Alfred Vincent Kidder
1921 Basketmaker Caves of Northeastern Arizona: Report on the Explorations, 1916-17 by . Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Vol. VIII. No. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts
Honeycutt, Linda
2015 Motifs 1-9 at Two Early Basketmaker III Sites in New Mexico. Pottery Southwest Fall 2015 Volume 31 No. 3.
2017 Motif 1 During the Period A.D. 575-650. Talk presented at Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists, Glenwood Springs and Big MACC, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez
Jesse L. Nusbaum
1922 A Basket-maker Cave in Kane County, Utah. Indian Notes and Monographs, F.W. Hodge, editor. Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York
Stallings, W.S. Jr.
1941 A Basketmaker II Date from Cave du Pont, Utah. Tree-Ring Bulletin 8(1):3-6.
Reed, Lori Stephens, Joell Goff, and Kathy Niles Hensler
1998 Inventory of Whole and Reconstructible Vessels in Exploring Ceramic Production, Distribution, and Exchange in the Southern Chuska Valley: Analytical Results from the El Paso Natural Gas North System Expansion Project, by Lori Stephens Reed, Joell Goff, and Kathy Niles Hensler, Appendix G. Pipeline Archaeology 1990-1993: the El Paso Natural Gas North System Expansion Project, New Mexico and Arizona, vol. XI, Timothy M. Kearns, general editor. Report No. WCRM(F)074. Western Cultural Resource Management, Inc., Farmington, New Mexico.
Webster, Laurie D.
2013 FMNH 21704 in Five AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Perishable Artifacts from Battle Cave
(Atlatl Cave) and Grand Gulch, Southeastern Utah, at the Field Museum of Natural History. A Canyonlands Natural History Association Discovery Pool Project.
2018 Personal communication regarding AMS date for FMNH 164802
