Ventana Cave | |
 Ventana Cave | |
   | |
| Location | Pima County,Arizona,United States |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Santa Rosa, Arizona |
| Coordinates | 32°21′N112°14′W / 32.350°N 112.233°W /32.350; -112.233 |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000189 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[1] |
| Designated NHL | January 20, 1964[2] |
Ventana Cave (O'odham:Nakaijegel) is an archaeological site in southernArizona. It is located on theTohono O'odham Nation. The cave was excavated under the direction ofEmil Haury by teams led byJulian Hayden in 1942, and in 1941 by a team led by Wilfrid C Bailey, one of Emil Haury's graduate students.[3] The deepest artifacts from Ventana Cave were recovered from a layer of volcanic debris that also containedPleistocene horse,Burden'spronghorn,tapir,sloth, and other extinct and modern species. A projectile point from the volcanic debris layer was compared to theFolsom Tradition and later to theClovis culture, but the assemblage was peculiar enough to warrant a separate name – the Ventana Complex.Radiocarbon dates from the volcanic debris layer indicated an age of about 11,300 BP.[4]
Bruce Huckell andC. Vance Haynes restudied the Ventana Cave stratigraphy and artifact assemblage in 1992-1994. Newradiocarbon dates and reanalysis of the artifacts indicates that the volcanic debris layer was laid down between 10,500-8,800 BP. Huckel and Haynes hypothesized that vertical turbation (postdepositional disturbance) is responsible for Haury's original interpretation that these extinct fauna were killed with stone tools. "This turbation may have led to the incorporation of bones of extinct fauna from an underlying conglomerate deposit rich in horse remains, creating the impression of their association with artifacts". Huckel and Haynes believe the Ventana Complex is post-Clovis, and not closely related.[5]
Ventana Cave was declared aNational Historic Landmark in 1964.[2]
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