A Comment on Microdebitage Analyses and Cultural Site-Formation Processes among Tipi Dwellers

A recent report by Hull (1987) on the microdebitage analysis of soil samples from a stone-circle site in the Northern Plains indicates the utility of such analyses for the study of use and disposal in lithic-tool-manufacture areas. Its value could have been heightened through greater awareness of recent research on the ethnoarchaeology of tipi use and of site-formation studies in general. Various factors were overlooked in Hull's analysis, including the intentional disposal of refuse away from the place of use, the widespread distribution of secondary refuse as a result of smearing and blending, the distinction between occupation and abandonment refuse, and the effects of rodent disturbance within tipis. The fact that these factors were not considered weakens the applicability of Hull's site-formation model. Research among the Slavey Dene of the western Canadian Subarctic suggests that tipis are better viewed as generalized activity centers, embracing a variety of human activities and events, none of which have strict spatial definition. This helps to explain the weak or nonexistent patterning noted by Hull.