In Ground in Stone: Landscape, Social Identity, and Ritual Space on the High Plains, Elizabeth Lynch examines the insights and challenges of bedrock ground stone research in archaeological inquiry. Ground in Stone includes analyses of case studies to illustrate field data collection techniques as well as the rich social lives of ground in stone on the Chaquaqua Plateau. Lynch argues that the bedrock features in southeastern Colorado offer valuable insight into the archaeology of the High Plains because they are spaces where people gathered to craft important products-food, tools, and art. In doing so, these places anchored human movement to the landscape and became integral to story-telling and cultural lifeways.
Elizabeth Lynch is post-doctoral researcher with the Hell Gap National Historic Landmark Digital Archives Project at the University of Wyoming.
Part I: Introduction Introduction to the Research Problem Chapter : Early Archaeology of Bedrock Ground Stone Features in Southeastern Colorado Chapter 2: Comparative Analysis BGS and Terminology Chapter 3: Spatial Distribution of BGS in Southeastern Colorado Part II: Methodology Chapter 4: Capturing the Fundamentals: JE Canyon Case Chapter 5: Photogrammetry Models & Analysis: Metate Cave Case Chapter 6: 3D Visualization of BGS features: Trinchera Cave Case Part III: Constructing Landscape Use and Social Space Chapter 7: Inclusive landscapes through time in southeastern Colorado Chapter 8: Transformative Spaces: Creating Social Identity and Reproducing Culture through Grinding Processes Part IV: Future Research Chapter 9: Lesson Learned and Future Avenues to Explore in High Plains BGS features
In Ground in Stone: Landscape, Social Identity, and Ritual Space on the High Plains, Elizabeth Lynch masterfully explains the process of recording bedrock grinding features and demonstrates how bedrock features are integrated into a 'socialized landscape.' This book is a must-read for anyone interested in bedrock research. -- Lawrence Loendorf, Sacred Sites Research, Inc. This book is, as Lynch notes, a study in the dynamics of human cultural behavior, environment, and technology. Bedrock ground stone features can no longer be regarded as mere features on rocks but as identifiable spaces that exist in people's minds as well as on the landscape where cultural processes were reproduced and ritualized. -- Chris Zier, Formerly of Centennial Archaeology, Inc.
