The Archeology, History, and Geomorphology of the Ray Long Site (39FA65), Angostura Reservoir, Fall River County, South Dakota
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The Archeology, History, and Geomorphology of the Ray Long Site (39FA65), Angostura Reservoir, Fall River County, South Dakota Manuscript III Cultural Resources Report & Appendices Austin A. Buhta, Bruce A. Bradley, Marvin Kay, L. Adrien Hannus, & R. Peter Winham With Contributions By jessica Bush, & Heidi Sieverding Archeological Contract Prepared by: Prepared for: Archeology Laboratory U.S. Department of the Interior, Augustana College Bureau of Reclamation 2032 South Grange Avenue Rapid City Field Office, 515 9ili Street, Room 101 Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57105 Rapid City, South Dakota 57701 Prepared under Cooperative Agreement Nos. R09AC60006 and 09FC602369 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation The Archeology, History, and Geomorphology of the Ray Long Site (39FA65), Angostura Reservoir, Fall River County, South Dakota Manuscript III Cultural Resources Report & Appendices Austin A. Buhta, Bruce A. Bradley, Marvin Kay, L. Adrien Hannus, & R. Peter Winham With Contributions By Renee M. Boen,]essica Bush, & Heidi Sieverding L. Adrien Hannus, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator) November 2013 Archeological Contract Series 254 Prepared by: Prepared for: Archeology Laboratory U.S. Department of the Interior, Augustana College Bureau of Reclamation 2032 South Grange Avenue Rapid City Field Office, 515 9" Street, Room 101 Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57105 Rapid City, South Dakota 57701 Prepared under Cooperative Agreement Nos. R09AC60006 and 09FC602369 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation Cover Image: Composite photograph of Angostura projectile point Specimen Nos. 4 (proximal base) and 280 (distal tip) recovered by Richard Wheeler from Area A of the Ray Long site (39FA65). FOREWORD This volume includes a discussion by Bruce Bradley that further defines the Angostura point and a piece written by Marvin Kay that presents the results of a micro wear study of the Ray Long site artifacts. Bradley's expertise is lithic technology while Kay's is microwear studies, tool reuse and maintainability. At my request, Kay and Bradley examined the available material from Richard P. Wheeler's original work at the Ray Long site as well as data recovered during fieldwork at the site by Augustana College in the 1980s and 1990s. The intention was to achieve greater specificity regarding Wheeler's definition of materials from the Ray Long site with the hope of correcting the confusion that has surrounded the identification of the Angostura point type. Bradley and Kay first examined the collections separately, and later together, during a collaborative session in 1998 at Augustana College; they were joined at Augustana by R. Peter Winham and me. Drafts of Bradley's and Kay's earlier reports (ca. 1998) have been revised and updated for inclusion in this manuscript. Prior to losing funding for the write-up in the early 2000s, the outline of a joint manuscript was begun. While their work is presented here as separate efforts, much of the analysis and resulting ideas were a collaborative effort, resulting in some overlap where material is cogent to both discussions. L. Adrien Hannus, Director Archeology Laboratory, Augustana College 11 ABSTRACT This manuscript represents the third of three reports detailing the results of historical, archeological, and geomorphological research conducted at the Ray Long site (39F A65), Angostura Reservoir, Fall River County, South Dakota. Due to an alluring combination of antiquity, preservation, and the presence of a poorly understood cultural technocomplex, the Ray Long site has been the subject of archeological scrutiny and intermittent investigations for over six decades. Ray Long is best known as the type-site for the Angostura complex, an enigmatic Paleoindian group that occupied the Plains around 9,000 years ago. However, archeological and radiocarbon evidence indicate that the site was inhabited by other groups who both predate and postdate the Angostura occupation. This manuscript, Manuscript III, includes a detailed reevaluation of the Angostura cultural technocomplex and a discussion of Angostura and the Ray Long site in the broader context ofNorthem Plains prehistory. 1U TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume I Cultural Resources Report Page Foreword ................................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. ix The Angostura Point Type Defined ........................................................................................ ! Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Typology and Technology of Ray Long Bifacial Artifacts ...................................................... .3 Angostura Point Specimen Descriptions ................................................................................... 7 Specimen 3 ..................................................................................................................... 7 Specimen 55 ................................................................................................................... 7 Specimen 61 ................................................................................................................... 7 Specimen 80 ................................................................................................................... 8 Specimen 141 ................................................................................................................. 9 Specimen 158 ................................................................................................................. 9 Specimen 275 ............................................................................................................... 10 Specimen 280 ............................................................................................................... 10 Specimen 4 ................................................................................................................... 11 Specimen 85-1 ............................................................................................................. 11 Specimen 85-2 ............................................................................................................. 11 Context of Angostura Projectile Points .................................................................................... 12 Angostura Point Typology ....................................................................................................... 15 Summary and Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 16 When the Ends Are the Means: Retooling Angostura ......................................................... 18 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 18 Microwear Studies ................................................................................................................... 19 Micro wear Methodology ......................................................................................................... 24 Micro wear Results ................................................................................................................... 25 Bifacial Artifacts: Preforms ......................................................................................... 26 Bifacial Artifacts: Points .............................................................................................. 29 Implications .............................................................................................................................. 32 Comparative Point Specimens ................................................................................................. 33 A Synthesis: Angostura and Ray Long in the Context of North American Late Paleoindian Archeology ......................................................................................................... 37 Ray Long Site Research: A Summary and Synthesis .............................................................. 37 Area A Findings ........................................................................................................... 37 Area B Findings ........................................................................................................... 40 Area C Findings ........................................................................................................... 47 Geoarcheological and Site Formation Processes ........................................................ .48 Paleoenvironmental Considerations ............................................................................. 49 lV TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume I Cultural Resources Report Page A Synthesis: Angostura and Ray Long in the Context of Northern Plains Late Paleoindian Archeology (continued) ...................................................................................