Prehistoric Rnerine Adaptations in the Western Great Basin: a Distributional Survey of the Owens River, Inyo County, California
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PREHISTORIC RNERINE ADAPTATIONS IN THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN: A DISTRIBUTIONAL SURVEY OF THE OWENS RIVER, INYO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. William Eric Larson B.A., University ofCalifornia, Davis, 1997 THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in ANTHROPOLOGY at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO SPRING 2009 PREHISTORIC RNERINE ADAPTATIONS IN THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN: A DISTRIBUTIONAL SURVEY OF THE OWENS RIVER, INYO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. A Thesis by William Eric Larson Approved by: __' Committee Chair :, Second Reader ---" Third Reader avid W. Zeanah, Ph.D ? /2>/:J1 Date 11 Student: William Eric Larson I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for this thesis. Date 111 Abstract of PREHISTORIC RIVERINE ADAPTATIONS IN THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN: A DISTRIBUTIONAL SURVEY OF THE OWENS RIVER, INYO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. by William Eric Larson Despite several decades ofarchaeological work in Owens Valley, lands along the river have been neglected. This thesis investigates prehistoric use ofthe Owens River and its surrounding environment. The research seeks to identify how use ofriverine and wetland environments have changed over time. A distributional or Hnon-site" approach to archaeology was used to survey transects along the river. Spatial associations ofartifacts were recorded and samples collected for analysis. In addition to techno-morphological analysis, some obsidian artifacts were subjected to visual sourcing and obsidian hydration analysis. Results ofthe analysis identified distinct temporal patterns in riverine use that change in terms ofboth subsistence focus and the duration ofoccupational stays. Causes for these changes may be due in part to technological, environmental, and social factors. Committee Chair Mark E. Basgall, .D. S-013-09 Date lV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support ofmany individuals and agencies. I would like to acknowledge the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) for finally granting access to the land. I would also like to thank Kirk Halford ofthe BLM and Tom Mills from CALTRNS for helping with access. Also, thanks goes to Lee Chavez and Allen Spoonhunter from the Bishop Paiute, Jason Warren from the Big Pine Band ofOwens Valley Paiute, Carl Dalberg, from the Fort Independence Paiute, and Loren Joseph and Sandy Y onge from the Lone Pine Paiute Shoshone. They were all kind enough to meet with me and express their concerns and offer advice. Many thanks to my outstanding field crew, which consisted ofRyan Brady, Jesse Martinez, Michelle Noble, Leandra Lea, Theresa Lechner, Steve Moore, and Amy Fransen. These individuals endured the heat, bugs, and hangovers and always maintained a high level ofprofessionalism. A very special thanks to Lynn Johnson and Dave Wagner for being more then generous and providing us with top-notch accommodations. All my friends and co-workers at the ARC helped in many ways, in particular I want to thank Dave Glover for his help with the GPS and GIS information, Bill Norton for reading the hydration, Bridget Wall for expert graphics help, and Carl Hansen for his help assembling and formatting this document. I would like to thank my thesis committee Mark Basgall, Michael Delacorte, and v David Zeanah. Mark served as chair of the committee, helped generously with field supplies and equipment, and went to bat for me to gain access to the river. Michael helped immensely with edits, lent his expertise to the visual sourcing, and shared his knowledge ofthe region. David was generous with his knowledge and support throughout the whole process. Without the support ofall three of these individuals this project could never have been completed. I would also like to acknowledge some people who were not directly involved, but helped by putting up with me for the past several years and pushed me to finish, these include my parents Ira and Carol Larson, my parents in-law Jon and Sheila Noble, Juan Cervantes, and Joel Beardsley. Thanks for your help and support. Finally and most importantly I want to thank my wife Michelle Noble for her support and guidance throughout this process. She has been an instrumental part of finishing this project, from the field to the lab and help with writing. Thanks Michelle! VI T ABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements ..................................................... v List ofFigures ........................................................ xii List ofTables .. .. xiii List ofPlates ......................................................... xv Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................... 1 Elaboration . 2 2. NATURAL AND CULTURAL SETTING ................................ 7 Physiography ....................................................... 7 The River ......................................................... 15 Modem Climate . .. 16 Paleoenvironment .................................................. 17 Biological Context . 20 Prehistoric Background .............................................. 23 Archaeological Context .............................................. 28 Early Research . 28 Bettinger . 29 Alabama Gates . 29 CA-INY-30 .................................................... 30 Vll Olancha ....................................................... 31 Cottonwood Creek ............................................... 32 Ash Creek ...................................................... 33 Discussion ..................................................... 33 Ethnography . 34 Settlement ..................................................... 35 Subsistence . .. 36 Irrigation ....................................................... 37 History ofthe Owens River ........................................... 38 3. CONCEPTUAL ASSUMPTIONS ...................................... 42 Evolutionary Ecology. 42 Technological Organization ........................................... 45 Wetland Adaptation . 46 Distributional Archaeology ........................................... 48 4. FIELD METHODS AND ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK .................. 52 Field Strategies ..................................................... 52 Flaked Stone Analysis ............................................... 60 Projectile Points ............................................... " 60 Bifaces ........................................................ 60 Formed Flake Tools . 61 Simple Flake Tools .............................................. 62 Vlll Cores ......................................................... 62 Debitage . 62 Ground and Battered Stone Analysis . 63 Millingstones ................................................... 64 Handstones ..................................................... 65 Battered Cobbles ................................................ 65 Time-Sensitive Artifacts ............................................. 65 Projectile Points . .. 65 Desert Series ................................................ 66 Rose Spring Series . 66 Elko Series . 67 Humboldt Series .............................................. 67 GateclifI Series . 68 Pinto Series ................................................. 68 Great Basin Stemmed Series .................................... 69 Pottery ........................................................ 69 Mussel Shell . 70 Obsidian Sourcing .................................................. 71 Obsidian Hydration ................................................. 72 5. RESULTS ......................................................... 74 Flaked Stone . .. 74 ix Projectile Points ................................................. 74 Bifaces ........................................................ 78 Formed Flake Tools .............................................. 80 Simple Flake Tools .............................................. 82 Cores ......................................................... 83 Debitage . .. 84 Discussion ..................................................... 84 Ground and Battered Stone ........................................... 87 Millingslabs .................................................... 87 Handstones . .. 90 Cobble Tools ................................................... 92 Discussion ..................................................... 92 Spatial Distribution ................................................. 94 West-to-East Distributions ......................................... 97 North-to-South Distributions . .. 102 Select Tool Class Distributions .................................... 105 Pottery ....................................................... 111 Mussel Shell ................................................. " 113 Soil Distribution. .. 114 Visual Sourcing ................................................... 121 Debitage . .. 122 x Projectile Points ................................................ 124 Obsidian Hydration ................................................ 125 Fish Springs . .. 125 Truman-Queen . .. 130 Casa Diablo ................................................... 132 Coso ......................................................... 133 Debitage Summary .............................................. 133 Projectile Points . .. 134 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION . .. 138 Pre-Newberry Era .................................................. 139 Newberry Period .................................................. 142 Haiwee Period 144