HISTORIC PERIOD AKIMEL O'ODHAM PROJECTILE POINTS AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS.

This paper analyzes the distribution of flaked-stone projectile points from southern Arizona that have previously been suggested to date to the Historic period. The locations of these artifacts within the Gila River Indian Community and other lines of evidence including ceramic data are consistent with ethnohistorically and ethnographically documented Akimel O'odham settlement patterns along the middle Gila River. The results of this analysis demonstrate that the three point types considered here were indeed produced during the Protohistoric and Historic periods, and it appears that it is possible to characterize diagnostic projectile point types from this time. These data also provide corroborating evidence for historically documented population movements during the Historic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]