,,4 55 DOE/NV/I0845--55 DE92 002041 University of Nevada System ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA RECOVERYAT DRILL PAD U_19au,NYE C_O_UNTY,NEVADA by Gregory H. Henton -- and Lonnie C. Pippin .. _.'_ . "_ _ " _"'' i"" _ "" _ " ; " :' _i, , , .: _" _ with Contributions by :_......... - ' Martha L. Hemphill Cari L. Lockett OCT 5 1 19_ Cheryl N. Nowak Laurie A. Walsh Technical Report No. 55 ISSN 1043-335X ISBN 0-945920-55-5 Prepared for U.S. Department of Energy Las Vegas, Nevada FieldOffice, Nevada The work upon which this report is based was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract #DE-ACO8-9ONV 10845 _ _. _, _ .s OISTRIBUTIONOF]'HISBOCUMEttS;TUTIL',MITEII DOE/NV90NV10845-QSC55 UC 702 This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. Neither the United States nor the United States Department of Energy, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product or process disclosed, or repre- sents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial project, process, or service bytrade name, mark, manufactur- er, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recom- mendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. This report has been reproduced directly from the best available copy. Available to DOE and DOE contractors from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, PO Box 32, Oak Ridge, TN 37831; prices available from (615) 576-8401, FTS 626-8401. Available to the public from the National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. CONTENTS t.. PURPOSE AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................. 1 2. THE ENVIRONMENT ............................................ 3 Overview ............................................................... 3 Introduction - Lonnie C. Pippin ............................................ 3 The Natural Setting ....................................................... 3 Physiography and Geology ............................................ 3 Vegetation .......................................................... 7 Black Sagebrush Community ........................................ 8 Big Sagebrush Community .......................................... 8 Juniper and Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands ............................... 9 Paleoenvironments ................................................... 9 The U19au Site ...................................................... 12 The Cultural Environment .................................................. 12 The Present Setting ................................................... 12 Historic Setting ....................................................... 13 The Aboriginal Cultural Context ......................................... 13 The Numa ....................................................... 13 Aboriginal Patternsof Resource Procurement .......................... 14 The Prehistoric Cultural Context ......................................... 18 Project History ........................................................... 22 Archaeological Sites at U19au .......................................... 25 Temporary Camps ................................................. 25 Lithic Scatters .................................................... 51 Quarries ......................................................... 53 Localities ........................................................ 53 Caches ......................................................... 53 Isolated Artifacts .................................................. 53 Potential for Adverse Impacts .............................................. 54 3. RESEARCH DESIGNS AND METHODS ............................. 55 Overview ............................................................... 55 Purpose ................................................................ 55 Research Questions .................................................. 55 Methods ............................................................... 56 Mapping ............................................................ 57 Surface Collection .................................................... 57 Subsurface Scrapes .................................................. 59 Excavations ......................................................... 59 4. DATA RECOVERY AT U19au ...................................... 61 Overview ............................................................... 61 Introduction ......................................................... 62 Archaeological Investigation Along the Access Road ........................... 62 Discussion .......................................................... 68 Data Recovery at 26Ny4015 ............................................... 68 Surface Collection at 26Ny4015 ......................................... 68 Bifaces .......................................................... 76 Groundstone Artifacts .............................................. 76 Pottery .......................................................... 76 Projectile Points .................................................. 76 Cores ........................................................... 83 Modified Flakes .................................................. 83 Discussion ....................................................... 83 Subsurface Scrapes at 26Ny4015 ....................................... 92 Scrape Descriptions ............................................... 94 Chi-square Tests ..................................................... 96 Discussion .......................................................... 96 Data Recovery at Site 26Ny4021 ............................................. 104 Site Description ...................................................... 104 Discussion .......................................................... 111 Data Recovery at 26Ny4040 ............................................. 112 Site Description ...................................................... 112 Discussion .......................................................... 123 5. MATERIAL CULTURE ANALYSIS ................................... 126 Cataloging ............................................................. 126 Material Types ....................................................... 126 Theoretical Orientations ................................................... 126 Artifact Production Trajectories .......................................... 126 Functional Analyses .................................................. 128 Debitage ........................................................ 128 Cores ........................................................... 129 Unifaces and Modified/Utilized Flakes ................................ 131 Biracial Stage Form Trajectories ..................................... 133 Projectile Points .................................................. 137 Groundstone Artifacts .............................................. 147 Hammerstones ................................................... 147 Miscellaneous Artifacts ............................................ 147 Historic Artifacts .................................................. 147 Analys!s Of Pottery From U19au - Carl L. Lockett ............................. 152 Spatial Distribution ................................................... 152 Sherd and Vessel Descriptions per Concentration .......................... 154 Conclusions ......................................................... 160 Pottery and Feature Associations ........................................ 167 Analysis cf Pollen and Macrofossil Samples Martha L. Hernphill and Cheryl L. Nowak .................................... 168 Introductiop ......................................................... 168 Methods ............................................................ 169 Pollen Analysis ................................................... 169 Macrofossil Analysis ............................................... 171 Results and Discussion ................................................ 171 Pollen Analysis ................................................... 171 Macrofossil Analysis ............................................... 178 Conclusions ......................................................... 180 6. CONCLUSIONS ................................................ 181 Management Recommendations ............................................ 186 7. REFERENCES CITED ........................................... 187 APPENDIX A - Descriptions And References For Artifacts ................. A-i APPENDIX B - Uniface Analysis Attribute Codes ........................ B-i APPENDIX C- Macrofossil Lists ..................................... C-i TABLES Table 2-1. Percentage of Ground Covered bv Trees, Shrubs, Herbaceous Perennials, and Winter Annuals on Pahute and Rainier Mesas, Southern Nye County, Nevada ....................................... 8 Table 4-1. Excavation Units and Subsurface Scrapes Conducted during Archaeological Investigations at U19au, Nevada Test Site, Nevada ........ 61 Table 4-2. Debitage Counts for Concentrations .................................. 72 Table 4-3. Counts for Major Types of Debitage Standardized to 1,000 Items..........