LA TIERRA JOURNAL OF THE SOUTHERN TEXAS VOLUME 24, No. 4 ARCHAEOLOGICAL OCTOBER. 1997 ASSOCIATIONPIGMENT CAKES FROM THE LOWER PECOS RIVER REGION, TEXAS Solveig A. Turpin ABSTRACT Two large cakes of processed pigment were exhumed from a dry rockshelter, 41VV68, the Lome Pecos region, probly In dhe 1950s, ard hep by ther collector for almost 40 years. One isa flat- ened round of redauh-orange hue, weighing around ‘no pounds. The slighty larger football-shaped specimen is plum red in color and rougher in sure fae texture. The labor expended in procuring, pro ‘cessing, and curating these large pigment cakes tunderscore the inportance of pain and panting in 4 region known for its elaborate rack ar, painted ‘pebbles, and general proclivity for ornamentation INTRODUCTION ‘Many years ago, probably in the 1950s, a Com stock clletor recovered to large lumps of pro- ‘xsd pment from 41 VOX, a dry rocksheltr near the Pecos River, afew miles north of its confluence with the Rio Grande (Figure 1), Before his death a fw yeas ago, he gave the lumps toa fiend who, in 1997, dated them othe Rock Art Foundation, In. ‘which in tum loaned them o this author. When this sito was roorded by Graham and Davis (1958), on tc advice of W. E. (Ea) McCarson, they commented ‘on the dep rich dy deposits and recommended exca- vation, When I visited the site in 1990, the deposits appeared thoroughly tumbled although the possibilty that some intact strata remain at depth could not be ruled out, Unlike many of the rockshlters in the vicinity, 41VV68 bore no traces of the elaboraic polychrome pictcgraphs that would have required the production of diferent color pigments, However, Several painted pebbles were noted and the site is noteworthy for an exceptional number of bedrock ‘mortar holes, the latter perhaps used to prepare the ‘iments stored in the frm of thee large cakes, DESCRIPTION OF THE PIGMENT CAKES. [Now dehydrated and aged, both cakes are rock ‘hard but granules of pure pigment detach with great ease, The smaller of the two cakes is round with an sverage diameter of 13 cm and a maximum thickness of Sm (Figure 2A), It weighs approximately 2 Ibs, “Thecoloris now a reddish orange, valued at ORS/6 (ock-Color Chart 1984), but some oxidation of the outer surface may have taken place overtime. A dozen oso small holes on one ofthe Aatened sur- faces were either punched by a small sarp imple- rent, the size of toothpick, or were formed by air bubbles eeaping when te eake was in a more plastic fora, ‘The larger lump is shaped lke a fatenctfoo- bal, with maximum dimensions of 15.5 em long, 11 cm wid, and 78 em thick (Figure 25). Is surface is ‘mote iregular and itis slightly beaver, weighing 2.3 Ibs. Its doop rich plum coloring is midway botween the catgorss Moderate Red (5R4/6) and Dusky Red (GR3/4) onthe Geological Society of America Rook- Color Chart (1984). ‘Although thar provenience is vague, both limps are marked with the ste number VV68 and catalog ‘numbers 469 and 465. In 1988, Epstcin copied a catalog of artfets removed ffom the site and re- tind by the members of the Val Verde County Archeological Assocation that lists artifacts 465 and 4692s manos (?) of uncertain horizontal provenience but between I and 2 feet dep (TARL site fils). ‘Those artifacts ate most assurely the two pigment cakes. IMPLICATIONS OF PROCESSED PIGMENT ‘Hyman ot a. (1996) recently analyzed the chemi cal composition oft similar pigment cakes, a red one from 41VV216, Zopilote Cave (Nunley etal. 1965.89), anda yellow one from 41VV74, Fate Bel ‘Sheler Pearce and Jackson 1933: Plate XI; Jackson 1938:456-487; Kirkland and Neweomb 1967-42), both in Sominole Canyon only’ a few miles south of ILVV68, In bot, the colors are derived from the strong presence of ion with admixtures of eaeite and (quart Similar testing of locally available limonite (Gellow) pebbles demonstrated that substantial physi- ‘al enrichment would have been needed to produceI N | oxonae ower Pecos: Gutter eee, i} \ Nueva Rosia Savings Figure 1. Map ofthe Lower Pewus cultural area and the gencral location of 41VV68.A Figure 2. Two pigment cakes from 41VV68, Lower Pecos. A, orange red, 13 cm in diameters B, plum red, 15.5 cm long. the level ofion-baring minerals fund in the pig- ‘ment lamps. French resarchers have demonstrat that tho technology node to enhance pizent pro- diction from clay sediments was avaiable 10 Palelhie atts st can be avo ht ilar methods could have been employed by the Lower Pecos people (Hyman eta. 1996), Historic Native Americans, for example, heated iron-rich pebbles to. entract red pigment, the favorite ear in the Pecos River region 28 well Smith 1949) Considerable effort must have been devoted to thering, procesing, and storing pigment for future tse, lusting the conespt of delayed rather than immediate rer, Such am expire consisont ‘sh tho singular importanee of paint and patng in ‘the Lower Pecos region, demonstrated by the archaeo- logical evidence for body painting or tattooing, elabo~ rat pictograph panel, and painted pebbles, 25 well asa numberof other dovorative media (Turpin 1996). Such activites defy the economic, adaptional, or functionalist modes that measure energy expenditure by materialist standard, such as caloric rewards or reproductive sneress. Rather, they rey the impor- tance of the aesthetic, religious, o ritual spheres of Lower Pecos lifevays by demonstrating the planning ‘and anticipation that weat into the production of pigment that was used for non-utltarian purposes, including both ritual activities and ornamentation, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ‘The anonymous donor and Jim Zintgraff of the Rock Art Foundation, Inc. deserve credit for drawing ry attention to these artifacts and obtaining them for study. Carole Medlar drew the original base map used hereREFERENCES CITED Graham, John A. and Wiliam B, Davis 1958 Site survey forms, Diablo Reservoir. ‘Texas Archeologial Research Labora tory ‘Hyman, Marian, Solveig A. Turpin, and Michael E. Zoleasky 1996 Pigment Analyses from Panther Cave Texas, Rock Art Research 13(2}, 93. 103. Australian Rock Art Research Asso- ciation, Jackson, AT, 1938 Preewre Writing of Texas Indions. Anthropological Papers, Vol H and Bu- ‘eau of Research inthe Socal Sciences ‘Stuy No. 27, Univesity of Texas Public cation No, 3809. Austin Kirkland, F. and W. W. Newcomb, J: 1967 The Rock Art Of Texas Indians. Univer= sity of Texas Press, Austin. Nunley, J.P. LE. Duffil, and E, B Jes 1965 Breavaions at Amistad Reservoir, 1962 ‘Season, Texas Archeological Salvage Project Miscellancous Papers 3, The Univesity of Texas, Austin Pearce, J.B. and A. Jackson 1983 A Prehistoric Rook Shelter tn Vat Verde County, Texas. Anthropological Papers 1G), Bureau of Research in the Socal Sciences Study 6, The University of ‘Texas Bulletin 3327, Austin Rock-Color Chart Committoe 1984 Rock-Color Chart Geological Society of ‘Amenea, Boulder, Co, Smith, De Cost 1949 Red incon Experences. 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