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A Late Archaic Burial from the Thursday Site, Utah

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A Late Archaic Burial from the Thursday Site, Utah UC Merced Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Title A Late Archaic Burial from the Thursday Site, Utah Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/86w6n2rt Journal Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 18(1) ISSN 0191-3557 Authors Shearin, Nancy Loveland, Carol Parr, Ryan et al. Publication Date 1996-07-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California REPORT A Late Archaic Burial from the with the temporal span of die cultural periods Thursday Site, Utah represented by the surface artifacts (Archaic- Formative), provides an opportunity to study NANCY SHEARIN cultural use of this environment during the Late Bureau of Land Management, Fillmore, UT 84631. Holocene. CAROL LOVELAND' Toward this end, a site evaluation involving Dept. of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology, survey, mapping, and limited testing of cultural Utah State Univ., Logan, UT 84323. features, geomorphology, and stratigraphy was RYAN PARR begun in 1992 (Shearin 1994a). Preliminary re­ Dept, of Anthropology, Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. sults of macro- and microbotanical analyses of soil samples, correlated with radiocarbon analy­ DOROTHY SACK Dept. of Geography, Ohio University, Athens, OH sis from cultural features and marsh strati­ 45701. graphy, indicate vegetation changes from marsh to salt desert shrub over the past 2,(K)0 years, as well as cultural exploitation of a variety of lacus­ In 1992, the salvage excavation of a burial located in central Utah was per­ trine plant and animal resources (Shearin 1995; formed by archaeologists from the Bureau Shearin et al. 1996). of Land Management. Radiocarbon AMS The burial from the Thursday Site reported analysis of bone from the burial returned an age of between 70 B.C. and A.D. 220 (two herein is in an area mapped as Holocene dunes sigma calibrated), placing the burial within on Oviatt's (1989) surficial geologic map of part the Late Archaic cultural period in the of the Sevier Desert. Oviatt's map shows fine­ eastern Great Basin (Wilde arui Tasa 1991). grained lacustrine deposits to the east of the The paucity of reported human material from this period makes this individual an dune area where the burial is located, Sevier important contribution to the osteometric River alluvium to the north, and a large region data set. The purpose of this paper is to re­ of Holocene Sevier River delta sediments ex­ port information obtained from this burial. tending from the northwest to the southeast mar­ gin of the site. Exposed portions of this delta range in elevation from about 1,379 to 1,381 m. THE Thursday Site (42Mdl053) is a large, (4,524 to 4,532 ft.) above sea level. This appa­ multicomponent prehistoric site that encompasses rent composite delta was probably deposited in part of the north shore of Sevier Dry Lake near association with two Late Holocene highstands the mouth of Uie Sevier River (Fig. 1). Artifact of Sevier Lake, which are represented by concentrations and cultural features are scattered beaches having crestal elevations of about 1,380 over a three-mile arc with clusters occurring and 1,382 m. (4,527 and 4,535 ft.) (Oviatt near river paleochaimels and in association with 1988, 1989). Oviatt (1989) concluded that the deltaic deposits. The majority of the cultural higher beach was probably formed between features are circular, organic stains similar in about 3,000 and 2,000 years B.P. and that die size and appearance to those reported at Still­ lower beach was built sometime in the last 500 water Marsh by Raven and Elston (1988) and in years. The elevation (1,381 m. [4,532 ft.]) and the Great Salt Lake Wetlands (Fawcett and age (1,870 years RCYBP, see below), of the Simms 1993). The large size of this site, along burial site support Oviatt's (1989) interpretation. 156 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY the origin of the burial pit. However, as a pre­ cautionary measure, excavation proceeded in 10- cm. increments until compact soil at the top of the pit was located. Excavated fill was screened using 1/8-in. mesh. Also, since the intention was to collect suitable skeletal elements for mi­ tochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, precautions were used by the excavators to prevent modern DNA contamination. This was accomplished by keeping the pit covered, wearing gloves during the excavation, and wearing sterile gloves in particular when collecting bone for ratDNA study. Bone samples for mtDNA and radiocarbon analysis were placed in aluminum wrap and packed separately for transport. Soil samples for microbotanical, moUusk, and grain size Fig. 1. General location map of the Thursday Site analysis were collected from the modern sur­ (42Mdl053). face, several places within the burial pit, and from two locations below the pit: Strata C and During the winter of 1992, new gullies were D, 100 cm. and 150 cm., respecfively, from formed in dunes located at the north end of Sev­ modern ground surface (Fig. 2). All excavated ier Dry Lake. One of these chaimels cut into a material was reinterred at the same location. prehistoric burial pit and exposed the pelvic area Samples for pollen analysis were processed and upper femora. The skeletal elements were using methods adapted for alkaline soils (New­ visible on the southeast side of the erosional man 1994). Mollusk classification was per­ channel and were within 40 cm. of the modern formed using the format ouflined in Simms and ground surface. After consultation with Native Isgreen (1984) and the environmental habitat for American tribal representatives and appropriate each genus was noted (Simms and Isgreen 1984; state and federal agencies, the decision was Shearin et al. 1996). Additionally, the associa­ made to remove the burial in order to prevent ted soil was classified according to a geomor- complete exposure and subsequent contextual phological standard based on grain size and per­ damage from either natural causes or vandalism. cent of sand, silt, and clay (Sack 1995). The Agreement was reached during the consultation bone sample collected for radiocarbon analysis process for limited study of the remains and for was sent to Beta Analytic, Inc., for accelerator subsequent reburial (Shearin 1992). mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon analysis. In choosing methods for the osteomefric METHODS analysis, consideration was given to the fact that A one-meter square was used as the excava­ all skeletal material would be reinterred and tion unit, and horizontal provenience was estab­ would not be available for future study. Thus, lished from the permanent site datum (Shearin standard measurement data sets suitable for 1994b). Since skeletal elements were exposed in comparison with Amerindians and prehistoric the gully profile on the west end of the burial, it Great Basin populations were selected as the was possible to estimate depdi from surface for most appropriate methodology. Pelvic and skull REPORT 157 1 meter N O - modem ground surface 0.5 m. — 1.0 m — Site No. 42Mdl053 1,5 m, — Thursday Site Feature 3 North-South Profile I 7 m. Fig. 2. Profile map of burial pit (B) and associated strata. Stratum A is the surface stratum; Strata C and D are laminated deltaic sediments. attributes (Bass 1987), femoral midshaft circum­ In order to obtain the maximum amount of ference (Black 1978), and femoral and humeral information from this prehistoric individual, head measurements (Krogman 1962) were used mtDNA was extracted and characterized from to obtain sex determination. Age assessment two rib samples. Although mtDNA analysis is was based on analysis of the developmental stage not currenfly a routine procedure for ancient of the pubic portion of the innominates (Katz skeletal material, it adds a uniquely informative and Suchey 1986), dental attrition (Ubelaker method to archaeological inquiry (Wallace and 1989) and the degree of suture ossification Torroni 1992). When well-preserved human (Krogman 1962). Trotter and Gleser's (1958) skeletal remains are uncovered at a site, it is stature estimates for Mongoloid males were possible to extract genetic material, or DNA, used. The methodology provided in Bass (1987) from ancient bone with the phenol-chloroform was followed for cranial, postcranial, and non- method. Specific, informative DNA sequences metric traits in order to provide comparative are then amplified for further study by the poly­ information for physical attributes. Dentition merase chain reaction (PCR). This technique is was examined for evidence of wear, enamel hy­ used to replicate, to quantitative amounts, seg­ poplasia and/or caries, as well as for periodontal ments of DNA containing specific sequences re­ disease. ferred to as "genetic markers." In particular 158 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY combinations, these markers are group specific. were observed. No cultural material was recov­ For example, Amerindians (both contemporary ered from the fill excavated from the burial pit. and ancient) can be classified into four specific The deepest point of the burial pit occurred be­ genetic groups or lineages (A, B, C and D [for neath the lower thoracic/lumbar region, where complete characterization and technical details dark, organic soil was encountered, suggesting concerning the markers defining these lineages, deposiUon from decay (Figs. 4 and 5). The po­ see Stone and Stoneking 1993]) based on partic­ sition of the body would have allowed a decay ular markers found in the sequence of mtDNA pool to develop, and because vertebra T-5 (Schurr et al. 1990; Torroni et al. 1993a, through L-5 were either highly fragmentary or 1993b). Mitochondrial DNA is especially useful absent, it was assumed that the decay process in this sense because it is inherited only through (and/or bioturbation) destroyed these elements. maternal cytoplasm. For this reason, mtDNA The bones of both feet were affected by erosion­ lineages, defined by specific genetic markers, al processes and were either lost or located out allow limited determinations of ancestral/descen- of context.
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