Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management| a Case Study from the Ashland Division, Custer National Forest, Montana
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1983 Archaeology and cultural resource management| A case study from the Ashland Division, Custer National Forest, Montana Gary A. McLean The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation McLean, Gary A., "Archaeology and cultural resource management| A case study from the Ashland Division, Custer National Forest, Montana" (1983). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 1592. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/1592 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976 THIS IS AN UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT IN WHICH COPYRIGHT SUB SISTS, ANY FURTHER REPRINTING OF ITS CONTENTS MUST BE APPROVED BY THE AUTHOR. MANSFIELD LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA DATE : 198 3 ARCHAEOLOGY AND CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY FROM THE ASHLAND DIVISION, CUSTER NATIONAL FOREST, MONTANA By Gary A. McLean B.A., University of Montana, 1974 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 1983 Approved by: , /• X" Chairman, Board' of Examiners Date UMI Number EP36394 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI EP36394 Published by ProQuest LLC (2012). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest* ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements of all the individuals who have contributed to this research would fill pages. Discussions with fellow archaeologists have added to my collective knowledge of the archaeology of the study area and general archaeological theory. Amateurs have willingly shared their personal artifact collections. Local ranchers have provided interesting views on the local environment and their inter actions with it. Professors have tutored and counseled me on anthropological research and theory. My thanks to all of them for their time and consideration. I would like to thank the U.S.D.A. Forest Service for allowing me to use artifacts, publications, an illustrations in their possession for my research. I extend a special appreciation to Dr. Dee Taylor and Dr. Thomas Foor for their direction, assistance, patience, and friendship throughout. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my parents for their support, my wife for her help and patience, and my typist Marion Byers for her typing skills. i ABSTRACT McLean, Gary A., M.A., September 1983 Anthropology Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management: A Case Study from the Ashland Division, Custer National Forest, Montana Director: Dee C. Taylor Archaeologists have suggested different settlement and sub sistence patterns of the prehistoric human occupants in Southeastern Montana. Prehistoric human behavior is, at least partially, reflected in the archaeological record. The purpose of this research is to analyze some of the data collected from the area to evaluate the different settlement and subsistence patterns that have been suggested. Using the chipped-stone artifact assemblage collected in a .. 1974 archaeological inventory, five hypotheses relating to prehistoric settlement/subsistence patterns are examined. In analyzing the functional attributes of the artifact assemblage observed, certain activity areas are identified that relate to prehistoric human settlement and subsistence patterns. This research identifies prehistoric human activities based on the artifact assemblage, not on the more subjective notion of site type. It also illustrates the need for an approach to cultural resource management that is compatible with anthropological theory. In the final analysis, a localized transhumance settlement and subsistence pattern is not in dicated. Likewise, a shift in settlement patterns over time is rejected. Table of Contents Page Acknowledgements i Abstract ii Table of Contents iii List of Figures iv List of Tables vi Chapter I - Introduction 1 Chapter II - Federal Legislative Background 6 Chapter III - Environmental Setting: Ashland 9 Division, Custer National Forest Chapter IV - Chronological Framework 21 Chapter V - Previous Research in the Study Area 26 Chapter VI - Analysis 31 Chapter VII - Summary 59 iii List of Figures Pa^e FIGURE 1 - Map of the Ashland Division, 11 Custer National Forest. FIGURE 2 - Typical disposition of ecozones 16 on moist slopes in the Ashland Division, Custer National Forest (After USDA 1978:11A). FIGURE 3 - Typical disposition of ecozones 16 on dry slopes in the Ashland Division, Custer National Forest (After USDA 1978:12A). FIGURE 4 - Idealized profile of the landforms 20 located in the Ashland Division, Custer National Forest (After USDA 1978:25A). FIGURE 5 - Observed and expected distribution 46 of archaeological sites on the Ashland District, Custer National Forest (McLean 1975). FIGURE 6 - Observed and expected distribution 49 of domestic chipped-stone artifacts (spent cores, end-scrapers, and burins) on the Ashland District, Custer National Forest (McLean 1975). FIGURE 7 - Distribution of domestic and 51 hunting/butchering chipped-stone artifacts from the Late Middle Prehistoric Period archaeological sites (McLean 1975). FIGURE 8 - Distribution of Late Middle 53 Prehistoric Period projectile points from Beckes1 (1974) and McLean's (1975) archaeological inventories. iv Page FIGURE 9 - Distribution of Late Prehistoric 53 Period projectile points from Beckes' (1974) and McLean's (1975) archaeological inventories. FIGURE 10 - Distribution of lithic workshop 55 sites observed on the Ashland District, Custer- National Forest (McLean 1975). v List of Tables Page Table 1 - Proportional distribution of 45 ecozones in the Ashland District, Custer National Forest. Table 2 - Chi-squared test results for 45 Hypothesis No. 1. Table 3 - Chi-squared test results for 49 Hypothesis No. 2. Table 4 - Chi-squared test results for 51 Hypothesis No. 3. Table 5 - Chi-squared test results for 55 Hypothesis No. 4. Table 6 - Chi-squared test results for 57 Hypothesis No. 5. vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Federal agencies are currently generating a great deal of archaeological research. In response to direction set forth in Federal regulations, they have conducted or spon sored archaeological investigations of varying scope and intensity. Prior to the 1970's, archaeological investigations in Montana were primarily the result of private or academically sponsored research projects. Artifact assemblages in the possession of enthusiastic amateur collectors helped bolster the archaeological record. Subsequent to enactment of Federal legislation in the 1960's and 1970's, which was aimed at preservation of the nations•s prehistoric and historic resources, a new impetus for archaeological re search appeared. Preservation laws mandate that Federal land-managing agencies address "cultural" resources in their decisions regarding management practices. Under the rubric of "Cultural Resource Management" (CRM), these agencies began programs for the inventory, evaluation and, in some cases impact mitigation of cultural resources in response to the stewardship entrusted in them. Federal agencies possessed 1 2 neither the personnel nor the facilities to conduct CRM investigations so they often turned to local universities or consulting firms for assistance. Contract archaeology became the vanguard of this new impetus. Agencies with experience in managing other resources set out to "manage" cultural resources under their jurisdic tion. These early-day efforts focused on managerial concerns: rarely did they make contributions to theoretical research. As Schiffer (1977:9) points out: It is hardly necessary to document in any detail the dismal research record of contract archaeology. A glance at the bibliography of any compendium of method and theory ... will attest to the negligible impact of contract 'research' on modern archaeological thought. This situation developed for a number of obvious reasons: Congress passed historic preservation laws, but failed to allocate funds to implement them; land-managing agencies lacked expertise in this area; in the interest of conservation archaeology^ Federal regulations (e.g. 36 Code of Federal Regulations) encouraged avoidance of cultural properties by making "no effect" alternatives the easiest to deal with; the arbitrary boundaries of Federal lands hampered holistic ap proaches; investigators were under contract to provide manage ment information at a minimal cost, not necessarily information applicable to problem-oriented research; and there was little display of CRM results in widely read archaeological works. 3 My purpose here is not a critique of CRM practices. Using an