DOCSLIB.ORG

Archaeological Discontinuities in the Northwestern Great Basin

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Archaeological Discontinuities in the Northwestern Great Basin UC Merced Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Title Invaders from the South? Archaeological Discontinuities in the Northwestern Great Basin Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4gj347dt Journal Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 7(2) ISSN 0191-3557 Author Layton, Thomas N Publication Date 1985-07-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 183 -201 (1985) Invaders from the South? Archaeological Discontinuities in the Northwestern Great Basin THOMAS N. LAYTON N 1972 this author published a series of gist (Cowles 1960), lacks precise provenience Ihydration measurements on obsidian pro­ documentation. jectile points recovered during an archaeologi­ More recently, major excavations were cal excavation at Hanging Rock Shelter conducted under the direction of the author (NV-WA-1502) in northwestern Nevada (Lay- at Last Supper Cave (NV-HU-102), located 32 ton 1972a). These data were used to tempor­ km. northeast of Hanging Rock Shelter. As a ally order a number of recognized Great Basin consequence of these investigations, a point types in the collection. In addition, the 9,000-year obsidian hydration sequence is hydration results indicated possibly two epi­ now available for the site. Among the objec­ sodes of occupational hiatus at the shelter. tives of this paper is a comparative evaluation The earlier break was believed to have coin­ of the hydration records from Hanging Rock cided with the onset of Altithermal climatic Shelter and Last Supper Cave. Given advances conditions (cL Antevs 1953), while the later since 1972 in the measurement of obsidian hiatus was thought to have occurred relatively hydration bands, additional hydration meas­ late during the ensuing Medithermal climatic urements have been obtained for certain of period. At the time of the hydration analysis, the specimens from Hanging Rock Shelter. however, obsidian studies were largely in their Hydration data from both sites collectively infancy and the importance of geochemical support the recognition of terminal and environmental variables had yet to be Anathermal/early Altithermal and late Medi­ fully appreciated by most archaeologists. thermal episodes of occupational hiatus and Moreover, the Hanging Rock Shelter se­ projectile point stylistic discontinuity in quence, spanning some 9,000 years, stood northwestern Nevada. alone as the longest and most well- documented, site-specific obsidian hydration THE SITES record in the general region. The only extant Hanging Rock Shelter and Last Supper record of comparable length consisted of Cave are situated in the heart of the High hydration measurements on obsidian artifacts Rock Country of northwestern Nevada (Fig. from Cougar Mountain Cave (Layton 1972b), 1). A tableland of vast, layered lava beds but this uncataloged assemblage, excavated averaging 1,850 m. above sea level in elev­ and reported upon by an amateur archaeolo- ation, the region is the most southerly exten­ sion of the Columbia Lava Plateau. Lava beds are warped, faulted, eroded, and often ex­ Thomas N. Layton, Dept. of Anthropology, San Jose State posed as rimrock in canyon walls. Vegetation Univ., San Jose, CA 95192. throughout the region can be generally de- [183: 184 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY few perishable artifacts were found — primar­ • Cougar Mountain Cave ily near the surface of the deposit. Human occupation of the shelter spans the last 9,000 OREGON IDAHO years, terminating with an historic component (Layton 1973a). Three hundred seventy-eight typable projectile points, almost all of obsid­ • Last Supper Cave « Hanging Rock Shelter ian, were recovered from Hanging Rock Shel­ • Silent Snake Springs Danger Cavei ter. Last Supper Cave was discovered, map­ Soulh Fork Shelter ped, and tested during the summer of 1968 and completely excavated during the summers Honey Lake of 1973 and 1974. Initially exposed by the umboldt Lake Bed 5. downcutting of Hell Creek through a faulted Wagon Jack Shelter* Reese River Valley rhyoHtic lava flow, the cave apparently owes • Alta Toquima Village its origin to the collapse and stream-removal of soft sediments underlying the flow. Situ­ ated at an elevation of 1,650 m., the cave is o approximately 10 m. wide at the mouth and Crooked Fork Site ca. 22 m. deep, with its walls converging CALIFORNIA Owens Valley towards the rear. The cave opens to the east, but its interior is nearly always shaded. Fig. 1. Locations of Hanging Rock Shelter and Last Spring-fed Hell Creek, which flows only mar­ Supper Cave, and other sites mentioned in ginally in late summer, lies 20 m. below the text. floor of the cave. The stratified cultural scribed as Artemisia-domina.tQd Upper Sonor- deposits reach a maximum depth of 1.3 m., an Life Zone. with the lowermost deposits seasonally wet Hanging Rock Shelter was discovered in from groundwater. Numerous perishable arti­ 1967 and excavated during the summer of facts were found in the upper deposits and in 1968 (Layton 1970, 1972a). Lying 53 km. nearby pack-rat nests. A series of radiocarbon south of the Nevada-Oregon border and 45 dates indicate human occupation of the cave km. east of the Nevada-California border, the over the last 9,000 years with, as at Hanging site is located in a canyon formed by the Rock Shelter, a terminal historic component downcutting of Hanging Rock Creek through (Layton 1977a). Approximately 600 typable a massive rhyolitic lava flow. Stream under­ projectile points, again nearly all obsidian, cutting led to the formation of the shelter were recovered from Last Supper Cave. itself. The ground surface of the shelter is approximately 1,700 m. above sea level, and OBSIDIAN AND THE 4.5 m. above Hanging Rock Creek (at present, HIGH ROCK COUNTRY a perennial spring-fed stream). Given its Research in the past three decades has southern exposure, the floor of the shelter shown that the hydration of obsidian is receives some direct sunshine. The cultural controlled by at least three major variables: deposits have a maximum depth of one meter time, temperature, and chemical composition and are seasonally wet from groundwater. (cf. Friedman and Smith 1960; Friedman and Consequently, during the excavation only a Long 1976; Taylor 1976; Michels and Tsong INVADERS FROM THE SOUTH? 185 1980). In most cases, the specific temperature ature history than do obsidian artifacts found history of an obsidian tool over thousands of at open sites where hydration may proceed at years is extremely difficult to ascertain. Vag­ accelerated rates because of higher effective aries of preservation, including duration of temperatures (Layton 1973b). ground-surface exposure, depth of burial, and climatic changes, all contribute to a highly THE DATA variable temperature history. Likewise, the The present study is based on hydration chemical composition of a particular obsidian measurements for 126 obsidian projectile tool and the chemistry of the soil in which it points from Hanging Rock Shelter and 121 lies directly influence the rate of hydration in obsidian points from Last Supper Cave. Both ways not yet fully understood. The absence samples include most of the major point types of adequate controls over both the tempera­ known for the northern Great Basin. With the ture history and chemical composition of exception of Great Basin Stemmed series archaeological obsidian in many published points (Layton 1979: 47; Tuohy and Layton hydration studies has often led to anomalous 1977), the type designations used here follow results which, in turn, have forced extremely the morphological key proposed by Thomas cautious applications of this dating method. (1981a) for the central and western Great Fortuitously, the High Rock Country of Basin. northwestern Nevada is a region ideally suited Hydration values for the specimens from for obsidian hydration dating since, for a Hanging Rock Shelter were obtained by Paul number of reasons, some degree of control Aiello at the University of California, Los can be achieved over the temperature histories Angeles, Obsidian Hydration Laboratory in and chemical compositions of obsidian arti­ 1970. Hydration on the Last Supper Cave facts. First, obsidian occurs in abundance specimens was measured in 1979 by Marvis throughout the High Rock Country. Thus, Kelly, under the supervision of R. E. Taylor, local obsidian has been the primary tool at the University of Cahfornia, Riverside, material throughout prehistoric human occu­ Obsidian Hydration Dating Laboratory. Origi­ pancy of the region (over 95% of all exca­ nally, in an attempt to at least minimally vated chipped-stone tools are made of obsid­ control for geochemical variability, artifacts ian). Second, obsidian trace-element charac­ from both sites were candled and only those terization studies in northwestern Nevada are displaying a similar color and degree of fairly advanced due to the efforts of Jack translucency were selected for measurement. (1976), Erickson, Hagan, and Chesterman Subsequently, however, at the suggestion of (1976), and Hughes (1983a, 1983b, 1985). Taylor (personal communication 1979), two Finally, numerous exogene rockshelters occur apparent problems in the extant hydration throughout the High Rock Country exposed data were addressed with additional, focused at the basal edges of dissected lava flows. laboratory analysis. First, Taylor observed Many of these shelters contain multicom- that in both sample
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Stalking Elephants in Nevada Thomas N. Layton Western Folklore, Vol. 35
    Stalking Elephants in Nevada Thomas N. Layton Western Folklore, Vol. 35, No. 4. (Oct., 1976), pp. 250-257. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0043-373X%28197610%2935%3A4%3C250%3ASEIN%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8 Western Folklore is currently published by Western States Folklore Society. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/wsfs.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org Wed Jan 23 23:37:03 2008 Stalking Elephants in Nevada THOMAS N.
    [Show full text]
  • The Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Record in the Northwestern Great Basin: What We Know, What We Don't Know, and How We M
    PALEOAMERICA, 2017 Center for the Study of the First Americans http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20555563.2016.1272395 Texas A&M University REVIEW ARTICLE The Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Record in the Northwestern Great Basin: What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and How We May Be Wrong Geoffrey M. Smitha and Pat Barkerb aGreat Basin Paleoindian Research Unit, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA; bNevada State Museum, Carson City, NV, USA ABSTRACT KEYWORDS The Great Basin has traditionally not featured prominently in discussions of how and when the New Great Basin; Paleoindian World was colonized; however, in recent years work at Oregon’s Paisley Five Mile Point Caves and archaeology; peopling of the other sites has highlighted the region’s importance to ongoing debates about the peopling of the Americas Americas. In this paper, we outline our current understanding of Paleoindian lifeways in the northwestern Great Basin, focusing primarily on developments in the past 20 years. We highlight several potential biases that have shaped traditional interpretations of Paleoindian lifeways and suggest that the foundations of ethnographically-documented behavior were present in the earliest period of human history in the region. 1. Introduction comprehensive review of Paleoindian archaeology was published two decades ago. We also highlight several The Great Basin has traditionally not been a focus of biases that have shaped traditional interpretations of Paleoindian research due to its paucity of stratified and early lifeways in the region. well-dated open-air sites, proboscidean kill sites, and demonstrable Clovis-aged occupations. Until recently, the region’s terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene (TP/ 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Program of the 79Th Annual Meeting
    Program of the 79th Annual Meeting April 23–27, 2014 Austin, Texas THE ANNUAL MEETING of the Society for American Archaeology provides a fo- rum for the dissemination of knowledge and discussion. The views expressed at the sessions are solely those of the speakers and the Society does not endorse, approve, or censor them. Descriptions of events and titles are those of the orga- nizers, not the Society. Program of the 79th Annual Meeting Published by the Society for American Archaeology 1111 14th Street NW, Suite 800 Washington DC 20005 5622 USA Tel: +1 202/789 8200 Fax: +1 202/789 0284 Email: [email protected] WWW: http://www.saa.org Copyright © 2014 Society for American Archaeology. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher. Contents 4 Awards Presentation & Annual Business Meeting Agenda 5 2014 Award Recipients 12 Maps 17 Meeting Organizers, SAA Board of Directors, & SAA Staff 19 General Information 21 Featured Sessions 23 Summary Schedule 27 A Word about the Sessions 28 Student Day 2014 29 Sessions At A Glance 37 Program 214 SAA Awards, Scholarships, & Fellowships 222 Presidents of SAA 222 Annual Meeting Sites 224 Exhibit Map 225 Exhibitor Directory 236 SAA Committees and Task Forces 241 Index of Participants 4 Program of the 79th Annual Meeting Awards Presentation & Annual Business Meeting April 25, 2014 5 PM Call to Order Call for Approval of Minutes of the 2013 Annual Business Meeting Remarks President Jeffrey H. Altschul Reports Treasurer Alex W. Barker Secretary Christina B.
    [Show full text]
  • Late Quaternary Environmental Change in the Bonneville Basin, Western USA
    Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 167 (2001) 243±271 www.elsevier.nl/locate/palaeo Late Quaternary environmental change in the Bonneville basin, western USA D.B. Madsena,*, D. Rhodeb, D.K. Graysonc, J.M. Broughtond, S.D. Livingstonb, J. Hunta, J. Quadee, D.N. Schmitta, M.W. Shaver IIIa aUtah Geological Survey, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, USA bDesert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USA cUniversity of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA dUniversity of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84102, USA eUniversity of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA Received 9 December 1999; received in revised form 24 July 2000; accepted for publication 7 September 2000 Abstract Excavation and analyses of small animal remains from strati®ed raptor deposits spanning the last 11.5 ka, together with collection and analysis of over 60 dated fossil woodrat midden samples spanning the last 50 ka, provide a detailed record of changing climate in the eastern Great Basin during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Sagebrush steppe dominated the northern Bonneville basin during the Full Glacial, suggesting that conditions were cold and relatively dry, in contrast to the southern basin, which was also cold but moister. Limber pine woodlands dominated ,13±11.5 ka, indicating increased dryness and summer temperatures ,6±78C cooler than present. This drying trend accelerated after ,11.5 ka causing Lake Bonneville to drop rapidly, eliminating 11 species of ®sh from the lake. From ,11.5±8.2 ka xerophytic sagebrush and shadscale scrub replaced more mesophilic shrubs in a step-wise fashion. A variety of small mammals and plants indicate the early Holocene was ,38C cooler and moister than at present, not warmer as suggested by a number of climatic models.
    [Show full text]
  • Harney Area Cultural Resources Class I Inventory
    Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1980 Harney area cultural resources class I inventory Ruth McGilvra Bright Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis Commons, and the Geography Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation McGilvra Bright, Ruth, "Harney area cultural resources class I inventory" (1980). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3264. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.3255 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Ruth McGilvra Bright for the Master of Arts in Anthropology presented August 7, 1980. Title: Harney Area Cultural Resources Class I Inventory. APPROVED BY MEMBERS OF THE THESIS COMMITTEE: Daniel Scheans Gordon ;OoB ~i ,_,,I This document presents the Cultural Resources Overview for the Harney Area in southeastern Oregon. The Harney Area combines three of the four planning units in the Burns Bureau of Land Management District. Most of the land in the Harney Area is located in Harney County, although a few parcels are just outside the county line in Lake and Malheur Counties. Almost all of Harney County is included. There are approximately 3,320,000 acres of Bureau administered public land within the Harney Area, as well as other public and private lands.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Nevada, Reno Paleoindian Settlement Strategies
    University of Nevada, Reno Paleoindian Settlement Strategies Across Time and Space in the Northwestern Great Basin: Lithic Technological Organization at Last Supper Cave, Nevada A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology by Danielle C. Felling Dr. Geoffrey M. Smith/Thesis Advisor May, 2015 © by Danielle C. Felling 2015 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by DANIELLE C. FELLING Entitled Paleoindian Settlement Strategies Across Time And Space In The Northwestern Great Basin: Lithic Technological Organization At Last Supper Cave, Nevada be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Geoffrey M. Smith, Ph.D., Advisor David E. Rhode, Ph.D., Committee Member Douglas P. Boyle, Ph.D., Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School May, 2015 i ABSTRACT Last Supper Cave (LSC) is a stratified cave site in northwestern Nevada. It was fully excavated in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Thomas Layton and Jonathan Davis. Excavations revealed an extensive record of human occupation including a Paleoindian component recently re-dated to as old as 10,280±40 14C B.P. Despite the potential for the site to reveal information about Paleoindian lifeways in the Great Basin during the Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene (TP/EH), analysis of its lithic assemblage was never completed. LSC is located ~20 km away and 350 m higher than the nearest pluvial basin that sustained a wetland during the TP/EH. As a result, LSC represents a rare stratified upland Paleoindian site in the Great Basin and research on the collection has the potential to reveal how groups operated away from wetland environments.
    [Show full text]
  • Past, Present and Future Issues in Great Basin Archaeology: Papers in Honor of Don D
    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management NEVADA Past, Present and Future Issues in Great Basin Archaeology: Papers in Honor of Don D. Fowler Edited by Bryan Hockett Cultural Resource Series No. 20 2009 1 Past, Present, and Future Issues in Great Basin Archaeology: Papers in Honor of Don D. Fowler Edited by: Bryan Hockett US Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management 3900 East Idaho Street Elko, Nevada 89801 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction by Bryan Hockett ……………………………………………………………...……………3 CHAPTER 1……………………………………………………………………………...………………5 Historical Perspectives on a Great Basin Career by Donald Hardesty CHAPTER 2……………………………………………………………………………...……..………10 CRM – The Next Generation by Alice Baldrica & Renée Corona Kolvet CHAPTER 3………………………………………………..……………………………...……………32 Walking and Running in the Sierra Tarahumara: A Reflection on Pedestrian Mobility and the “Known World” in Desert West Culture History by C. Melvin Aikens CHAPTER 4…………………………………………………………………………….....……………49 The Avoided Past: Great Basin Rock Art in Archaeological Thought and Its Potential in the Study of Past Identity by Alanah Woody & Angus R. Quinlan CHAPTER 5……………………………………………………………………………...…….….……67 Holocene Elk (Cervus elaphus) in the Great Basin by Donald Grayson & Jacob Fisher CHAPTER 6…………………………………………………………………………….....……………84 Netting, Net Hunting, and Human Adaptation in the Eastern Great Basin by J. M. Adovasio, R. L. Andrews & J. S. Illingworth CHAPTER 7……………………………………………………………………………...……………103 Recent Advances in Great Basin Textile Research by
    [Show full text]
  • The Zooarchaeology of Bonneville Estates Rockshelter: 13,000 Years of Great Basin Hunting Strategies
    Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2 (2015) 291–301 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: http://ees.elsevier.com/jasrep The zooarchaeology of Bonneville Estates Rockshelter: 13,000 years of Great Basin hunting strategies Bryan Hockett ⁎ Bureau of Land Management, Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502, USA article info abstract Article history: Bonneville Estates Rockshelter (eastern Nevada) preserves a record of changing hunting patterns from the Received 31 December 2014 Paleoindian to the ethnohistoric periods. Diachronic changes in hunting patterns at Bonneville Estates, as well Received in revised form 16 February 2015 as a host of other cave and open-air sites from the Great Basin are compared with eight broad climatic phases Accepted 25 February 2015 recognized in the Great Basin. Recent studies of large-scale artiodactyl trapping structures and projectile point Available online 10 March 2015 frequencies present a more complete picture of long-term shifts in hunting strategies in the Great Basin. Overall, Keywords: there is much variability in the hunting of large and small game through time at individual sites, suggesting that fl Great Basin local environmental and social conditions exerted considerable in uence in micro and macro scale hunting Hunting patterns across the Great Basin. Creating an “average” Great Basin hunter by combining all the data analyzed Climate change here suggests limited artiodactyl hunting during the Paleoindian period followed by an upward trend in large game hunting through time. There is no significant drop in artiodactyl hunting intensity at any time over the last 5000 to 6000 years, despite major changes in climate and technology.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Nevada, Reno Catlow Twine Basketry Through Time And
    University of Nevada, Reno Catlow Twine Basketry through Time and Space: Exploring Shifting Cultural Boundaries through Prehistoric and Ethnographic Basketry Technology in the Northwestern Great Basin A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Anna Jeanne Camp Dr. Geoffrey M. Smith/Dissertation Advisor December 2017 © by Anna Jeanne Camp All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the dissertation prepared under our supervision by ANNA JEANNE CAMP Entitled Catlow Twine Basketry Through Time And Space: Exploring Shifting Cultural Boundaries Through Prehistoric And Ethnographic Basketry Technology In The Northwestern Great Basin be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Geoffrey M. Smith, Advisor Pat Barker , Committee Member Eugene M. Hattori, Committee Member Gary Haynes, Committee Member Donica H. Mensing, Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph. D., Dean, Graduate School December, 2017 i Abstract In this dissertation, I focus on Catlow Twine basketry and address several questions about connections between prehistoric and ethnographic groups in the Great Basin and how and when prehistoric populations moved across the landscape. My results suggest that: (1) diagnostic basketry types in the northwestern Great Basin can be used to track different ethnolinguistic groups through time and space; (2) continuity in technological attributes of Catlow Twine basketry suggests an early and widespread occupation of Penutian speaking groups in the northwestern Great Basin; and (3) the technological relationship between Catlow Twine and ethnographic Klamath-Modoc basketry reflects continuity in basket making traditions that was severely disrupted by contact with Euro-American settlers and the sale of Native American basketry during the Arts and Crafts Period (1880-1920).
    [Show full text]
  • University of Nevada, Reno an Examination of Western Stemmed Tradition Settlement-Subsistence, Territoriality, and Lithic Techno
    University of Nevada, Reno An Examination of Western Stemmed Tradition Settlement-Subsistence, Territoriality, and Lithic Technological Organization in the Northwestern Great Basin A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Derek J. Reaux Dr. Geoffrey M. Smith/Dissertation Advisor December 2020 © by Derek J. Reaux 2020 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the dissertation prepared under our supervision by DEREK J. REAUX Entitled An Examination of Western Stemmed Tradition Settlement-Subsistence, Territoriality, and Lithic Technological Organization in the Northwestern Great Basin be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Geoffrey M. Smith, Ph.D. Advisor Christopher Morgan, Ph.D. Committee Member Christopher S. Jazwa, Ph.D. Committee Member D. Craig Young, Ph.D. Committee Member Kenneth D. Adams, Ph.D. Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph.D., Dean Graduate School December 2020 i Abstract A paucity of stratified, open-air Western Stemmed Tradition (WST) sites has long been an issue for Great Basin researchers. Most Paleoindian sites are near-surface lithic scatters that lack subsistence residues, perishable technology, and materials that can be radiocarbon dated. While surface sites pose a number of interpretive challenges, they remain essential to our understanding of WST lifeways in the Great Basin. In this dissertation, I evaluate current models of WST settlement-subsistence and lithic technological organization in the northwestern Great Basin through analyses of recently discovered and previously reported lithic assemblages. I also explore novel methods of analyzing lithic and source provenance data to strengthen interpretations of surface assemblages and source profiles.
    [Show full text]
  • A Special Issue Honoring R. Lee Lyman
    J Archaeol Method Theory (2013) 20:365–380 DOI 10.1007/s10816-013-9171-x Introduction to Zooarchaeological Method and Theory: a Special Issue Honoring R. Lee Lyman Christyann M. Darwent & Virginia L. Butler & Michael J. O’Brien Published online: 7 March 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract The Society for American Archaeology presented R. Lee Lyman with the Fryxell award for Interdisciplinary Excellence in Zooarchaeology in 2011. Lyman has produced over 120 journal articles or book chapters, and four single-authored books on the topic, and this issue honors his contributions to zooarchaeological method and theory with six original pieces by his peers. Arguably, his greatest impact has been in the field of vertebrate taphonomy and the development of a means to measure density-mediated bone attrition, but of equal importance was emphasis in the disci- pline that unit selection, or what one measures, should be linked to a particular research question. Lyman's work has also stressed the importance of making zooarchaeology relevant to modern issues of conservation biology. Keywords R. Lee Lyman . Zooarchaeology . Vertebrate taphonomy . Conservation biology. Quantitative methods Introduction This special issue honors the contributions R. Lee Lyman has made to the field of zooarchaeology. For over 35 years, Lyman has been making seminal contributions to a range of topics including taphonomy, quantitative methods, biogeography and paleoecology, predator/prey interactions, and conservation biology. When we learned in spring 2010 that he had been honored with the Fryxell Award for Interdisciplinary Excellence in Zooarchaeology, we developed plans for a symposium at the 2011 Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) in Sacramento, California, soliciting abstracts from scholars whose work has been enriched by Lyman's theoretical and C.
    [Show full text]
  • Stasis and Change in Holocene Small Mammal Diversity During a Period Of
    HOL0010.1177/0959683616632894The HoloceneStegner 632894research-article2016 Research paper The Holocene 1 –15 Stasis and change in Holocene small © The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav mammal diversity during a period of DOI: 10.1177/0959683616632894 aridification in southeastern Utah hol.sagepub.com Mary Allison Stegner Abstract Biological conservation depends on understanding and disentangling the effects of decadal- to centennial-scale dynamics from the millennial-scale dynamics documented in the fossil record. The American Southwest is expected to become increasingly arid over the next few decades and will continue to experience large-scale human land use in various forms. A primary question is whether the ecological fluctuations recorded over the past few decades fall outside the range of variation expected in the absence of recent land use and management. I excavated and quantified mammal diversity change in two fossil-bearing alcoves, East Canyon Rims 2 and Rone Bailey Alcove, located in San Juan County, Utah. AMS radiocarbon dates on 33 bone samples from these sites span ~4.4–0.5 kyr and shed light on pre-industrial faunal dynamics in the region over the course of environmental change. Localities with comparable small mammal diversity have not been reported from this region previously, so these deposits provide novel insight into Holocene mammal diversity in southeastern Utah. Taxa recorded in these sites include leporids, sciurids, perognathines, arvicolines, Onychomys, Cynomys, Dipodomys, Peromyscus, Neotoma, and Thomomys. Using temporal cross-correlation, I tested for a relationship between regional temperature and species richness, evenness, relative abundance, and rank abundance. I also tested for changes in the overall taxon abundance distribution and visualized faunal relationships among time bins using non-metric multidimensional scaling of relative abundance data.
    [Show full text]