Fingerprints in The Great Basin Great Fingerprints in The T he Nellis Air Force Base Regional Obsidian Sourcing Study Base Regional Obsidian Sourcing he Nellis Air Force FFingerprintsingerprints inin TheThe GreatGreat BasinBasin The Nellis Air Force Base Regional Obsidian Sourcing Study and Wagner Haarklau, Johnson, 2005 Fingerprints In The Great Basin: The Nellis Air Force Base Regional Obsidian Sourcing Study by Lynn Haarklau Lynn Johnson and David L. Wagner with contributions by Richard E. Hughes Craig E. Skinner Jennifer J. Thatcher and Keith Myhrer January 2005 Cover Illustration: Design: Sandra L. Hannum Background: Southwest face of Obsidian Butte, Nevada. Photo courtesy of Lynn Haarklau. Insert: Detail of Ishi manufacturing an Obsidian hunting point, from Hunting with a Bow and Arrow by S. T. Pope, page 34, Sylvan Toxophilite Classics, 2000. Research and publication of this book were funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, under contract DACA63-00-D-0006. Printed in the United States of America at Morgan Printing, Austin, Texas. January 2005 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................................xi GLOSSARY ...................................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1: PURPOSE AND RESEARCH DESIGN Keith Myhrer and Lynn Haarklau ....................................................................... 1 The Nellis Mission............................................................................................................... 1 Obsidian Sourcing and the Mission .................................................................................... 1 The Air Force and Cultural Resources ............................................................................... 2 Research Themes and Objectives ....................................................................................... 2 References Cited ................................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 2: GEOLOGIC OVERVIEW OF THE NEVADA TEST AND TRAINING RANGE AND ADJACENT AREAS David L. Wagner.................................................................................................... 7 The Caldera Cycle ...............................................................................................................8 Southwestern Nevada Volcanic Field ................................................................................. 8 Methodology and Approach ................................................................................................ 14 The Obsidian Butte Story ................................................................................................... 15 Conclusions.......................................................................................................................... 17 References Cited ................................................................................................................. 22 CHAPTER 3: OBSIDIAN SOURCE CHARACTERIZATION STUDY Lynn Johnson and David L. Wagner .................................................................... 25 Obsidian Sources Investigated ........................................................................................... 26 Oak Spring Butte and South Kawich Range......................................................... 27 Goldfield Hills......................................................................................................... 30 Shoshone Mountain................................................................................................ 32 Tempiute Mountain ................................................................................................ 33 South Pahroc Range ............................................................................................... 34 Crow Spring ............................................................................................................ 35 Kane Springs Wash Caldera .................................................................................. 40 Devil Peak ............................................................................................................... 44 Conclusions.......................................................................................................................... 44 References Cited ................................................................................................................. 45 iii CHAPTER 4: PREDICTING WESTERN SHOSHONE OBSIDIAN PROCUREMENT THROUGH SOCIOECONOMIC PATTERNS: STEWARD’S RESEARCH VALIDATED Lynn Haarklau ...................................................................................................... 51 Ethnohistoric Period Socioeconomics of the Study Area ................................................... 51 Lida and Vicinity District ...................................................................................... 53 Kawich Mountains District .................................................................................... 55 Beatty-Belted Mountains District ......................................................................... 57 Summary ................................................................................................................ 59 Source Projections for Ethnohistoric Period Obsidian Artifacts ....................................... 60 Lida and Vicinity District Predicted Obsidian Artifact Sources ........................... 61 Kawich Mountains District Predicted Obsidian Artifact Sources ........................ 62 Beatty-Belted Mountains District Predicted Obsidian Artifact Sources ............. 62 Summary ................................................................................................................ 63 Provenience of the Ethnohistoric Period Obsidian Artifact Samples ............................... 63 Artifact Source Analysis Results ........................................................................................ 64 Lida and Vicinity District Analysis Results .......................................................... 65 Kawich Mountains District Analysis Results........................................................ 65 Beatty-Belted Mountains District Analysis Results ............................................. 66 Obsidian Artifact Sources and Western Shoshone Socioeconomic Patterns ..................... 68 Validity of the Study Assumptions ........................................................................ 69 Conclusions.......................................................................................................................... 71 References Cited ................................................................................................................. 72 CHAPTER 5: WHAT’S THE POINT? PROJECTILE POINT COLLECTIONS AND TYPOLOGY Lynn Haarklau ...................................................................................................... 75 Provenance of the Obsidian Point Collections ................................................................... 75 The Study Area Sample, Central Nevada ............................................................. 75 North of the Study Area Sample ........................................................................... 77 West of the Study Area Sample ............................................................................. 79 South of the Study Area Sample ........................................................................... 81 East of the Study Area Sample .............................................................................. 82 Summary ................................................................................................................ 90 Thomas’s (1981) Monitor Valley Projectile Point Classification System ........................... 91 Words of Caution .................................................................................................... 94 The Monitor Valley Key and Great Basin Point Samples ................................................. 94 The Study Area Sample ......................................................................................... 95 North of the Study Area Sample ........................................................................... 97 West of the Study Area Sample ............................................................................. 98 South of the Study Area Sample ........................................................................... 99 East of the Study Area Sample .............................................................................. 100 Discussion ............................................................................................................... 102 Arrowheads in the Bowhunting Equipment Set ................................................................ 103 The Bow .................................................................................................................. 104 iv The Arrow ............................................................................................................... 104 The Arrowhead ....................................................................................................... 105 Bow Hunting .......................................................................................................... 106 Summary ...............................................................................................................