This illustrated report brings to the attention of cultural resource specialists some of the marker artifacts of historic periods in the American Southwest. The process of cultural change, which allows the seriation of Pueblo ceramics and other prehistoric artifacts, has given historical archeologists a vast assortment of time-related variability useful for assigning occupation dates to sites. This paper brings together from published sources the salient traits of five common artifacts: firearms, nails, bottles, cans, and buttons, and includes brief histories and illustrations of each category. A future report will consider ceramics, pipes, footwear, military devices, and other easily dated objects that might be found during cultural resource surveys.

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