Ancient shapes, modern measures: A quantitative method to describe bedrock ground stone shape

Abstract

Bedrock ground stone features, found throughout the world, are particularly concentrated in the canyons of the Southern Plains of North America. Morphological analysis offers powerful tools for developing descriptions of bedrock ground stone (BGS) which can be used to discuss how prehistoric landscapes were inhabited. Metric representations of morphological variation can be used to test hypotheses about the nature of BGS features, which are often difficult to investigate and analyze. This paper presents a morphological approach to describe and analyze BGS surfaces in a side canyon of southeastern Colorado which can be applied by researchers to datasets in other regions. Results indicate that while variation exists, the BGS design (as determined by shape and size) are similar across the side canyon supporting the hypothesis that the canyon was occupied by a group of closely related people through time; although not all sites were used in the same manner.