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A Pilot Study for Examining Population Movement During the Peri-Medieval Climatic Anomaly in the Nebraska Sand Hills Nora C

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A Pilot Study for Examining Population Movement During the Peri-Medieval Climatic Anomaly in the Nebraska Sand Hills Nora C University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Anthropology Department Theses and Anthropology, Department of Dissertations 5-2016 A Pilot Study for Examining Population Movement During the Peri-Medieval Climatic Anomaly in the Nebraska Sand Hills Nora C. Greiman University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthrotheses Part of the Anthropology Commons, and the Climate Commons Greiman, Nora C., "A Pilot Study for Examining Population Movement During the Peri-Medieval Climatic Anomaly in the Nebraska Sand Hills" (2016). Anthropology Department Theses and Dissertations. 40. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthrotheses/40 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Department Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. A PILOT STUDY FOR EXAMINING POPULATION MOVEMENT DURING THE PERI-MEDIEVAL CLIMATIC ANOMALY IN THE NEBRASKA SAND HILLS by Nora Carlson Greiman A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment Of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Major: Anthropology Under the Supervision of Professors LuAnn Wandsnider and Matt Douglass Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2016 A PILOT STUDY FOR EXAMINING POPULATION MOVEMENT DURING THE PERI-MEDIEVAL CLIMATIC ANOMALY IN THE NEBRASKA SAND HILLS Nora Carlson Greiman, M.A. University of Nebraska, 2016 Advisor: LuAnn Wandsnider and Matt Douglass The Sand Hills of Nebraska comprise a dynamic environment of sand dunes that has changed much over the millennia since their formation. Periods of dune reactivation have occurred throughout history, including one such period at approximately A.D. 900-1300 associated with the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA). Much is known about the geologic activity during this period but little is known about how human populations responded to changing environments. I examine the chronology of three sites occupied during the peri-MCA and the change or stasis in population movements via chemical characterization of ceramic artifacts. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating was performed on sediment samples and ceramic sherds from each site in addition to instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) on sherds from each site. Optical ages of sediment and ceramic samples aid in refining site chronologies, offer new hypotheses about site occupations, and add to the larger chronological dataset for the Sand Hills. INAA results indicate that ceramic raw material exploitation, and therefore population movement patterns, may not have changed significantly early on during the MCA. However, data from the proto-historic Humphrey site indicate a change in terms of the composition of sherds towards the end of or after the reactivation and stabilization related to the MCA, which may represent populations expanding out of the southwestern U.S. and into the Sand Hills, though whether this migration or diffusion of people and ideas and material culture is directly attributable to climate change or whether it is a byproduct of other processes is unclear at this time. iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank several people and organizations for their assistance and support. I am grateful to my advisors LuAnn Wandsnider, Ron Goble, and Matt Douglass for their guidance and expertise during this project. Thank you to the Zutavern family, particularly Conrad and Marcena, and Roland Paddock of Lakeland Land Co., Inc. for allowing us to work and stay on their properties. The students of the 2013 UNL Archeological Field School were instrumental in soil sample collection and site documentation, and I thank them for their hard work, especially in harsh conditions. Michael Glascock and Jeffrey Ferguson of the Archaeometry Laboratory at the Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) performed the neutron activation analysis and answered my many questions about the process. Paul Hanson provided indispensable guidance and assistance in the laboratory. Thanks to Trisha Nelson and the Nebraska State Historical Society for her assistance with site documents and the loan of ceramic specimens. I cannot thank Holly Staggs and Christine Nycz enough for their wisdom, support, and encouragement. Having been down this road, they helped me find my way. Thank you to James Lange for his endless encouragement and patience. Lastly, to all my family, friends, fellow students, and co-workers who provided so much sage advice and support, thank you. iv Grant and Funding Information I am indebted to the following organizations and institutions for their financial support: UNL Department of Anthropology, Champe-Weakly Funds and Bereuter Fellowship UNL Luminescence Geochronology Laboratory UNL Center for Great Plains Studies, Graduate Fellows Program Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) Archaeometry Laboratory, NSF Grant #1110793 Nebraska Archaeological Society, Dana Deger Memorial Scholarship v Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………...………ii Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………..iii Grant and Funding Information………………………………………………………..iv List of Figures………………………………………………………………………....vi List of Tables…………………………….…………………………………………….vi Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………………………………1 Chapter 2: Environmental and Cultural Background………………………………......5 Medieval Climatic Anomaly……………………………………………….......5 Environmental Setting…………………………………………………….……6 Culture and Research History………………………………………….…..….16 Chapter 3: Site Descriptions and Sampling Strategies…………………………....…..27 Site Descriptions………………………………………………………..….….27 Field Collection Methods for Soil Samples…………………………..…….…34 Ceramic Samples……………………………………………………..……..…35 Chapter 4: Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating of Sediments and Sherds: Methods and Results ……………………..……………………….…………………...39 Background………………………………………………………..…………...39 Sample Preparation Methods……………………………………..……………41 Analytical Methods……………………………………………..……………...43 Results…………………………………………………………..……………...44 Interpretation…………………………………………………..…………….....51 Conclusions…………………………………………………..……………..….57 Chapter 5: Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis of Ceramic Sherds: Methods and Results……………..………………………………………...…….…….58 Background……………………………………………….…………………....58 Methods………………...………………………………..…………………..…60 Results…………………………………………………..…………………..….62 Interpretation…………………………………………..…………………….....67 Conclusions…………………………………………..……………………..….69 Chapter 6: Synthesis and Future Research Directions………………………..………..70 Chronology…………………………………………………………...……..….71 Ceramic characterization and movement in the Sand Hills………..……..……76 Future Research…………………………………………………..………….....77 Conclusions……………………………………………………..………..…….79 References………………………………..…………………………………..……..….81 vi Appendix A: Complete OSL Dataset………………...……………………..………..92 Appendix B: Select Ceramic Data for OSL Samples………………………………..96 Appendix C: OSL Protocols………..………………………………………..………98 Appendix D: Select Ceramic Data for INAA Samples……………………………..100 List of Figures 2.1. Map of Great Plains region and Sand Hills ecoregion…………..……….7 2.2. Various dune types……………………………………………..………..11 2.3. Spatial distribution of OSL sample ages……………………..………….13 2.4. Intervals and intensities of dune reactivation in the Sand Hills…..……..15 2.5. Sand Hills region with study sites indicated……………………...……..18 2.6. McIntosh and Central Plains Tradition phase ranges…………..………..21 3.1. Soil profile at Kelso site………………………………………...……….28 3.2. Soil profile at McIntosh site…………………………………...………...30 3.3. Soil profile at McIntosh from original NSHS excavations…...…………31 3.4. Soil profile at Humphrey site………………………………..…………..34 3.5. Ceramic sherds from Kelso site……………………………...………….36 3.6. Ceramic sherds from McIntosh site………………………...…………...37 3.7. Ceramic sherds from Humphrey site……………………...…………….38 4.1. OSL dates by site………………………………………...……………...50 5.1. INAA plot of Rb/Cr……………………………………...……………...64 5.2. INAA plot of La/Cr……………………………………...…….………..64 6.1. Comparison of all OSL dates from study……………………………….75 List of Tables 3.1. Previously published radiocarbon dates from McIntosh………………...32 3.2. Number of sediment and ceramic samples per site……………………...35 4.1. OSL results (abridged, see Appendix B for complete results)…………..46 4.2. Proveniences for sherds used in OSL dating…………………………….47 4.3. Comparison of new and previous OSL dates from Kelso and McIntosh..52 5.1. Elements measured during INAA………………………………………..62 5.2. INAA group results………………………………………………………63 5.3. Ceramic sherd proveniences, organized by INAA group results………...65 1 Chapter 1 – Introduction The problem of climate change is nothing new. Living species have endured changing environments for millions of years, either adapting their behaviors to fit new surroundings, moving to new environments, or being supplanted by better-equipped species. These rules for adaptation to new environments apply to humans as well, both in evolutionary, prehistoric, and more modern contexts. For humans, these adaptations can be either biological, as with skin color or nasal shape; or cultural, as with clothing, shelter, and tools. These cultural adaptations are often traceable in the archeological record and can illustrate how groups responded to their changing environments. One such episode of climate change, the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA),
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