Portland State University PDXScholar Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations Anthropology 2019 The Radiocarbon Record of the Western Stemmed Tradition on the Southern Columbia Plateau of Western North America Thomas Brown University of British Columbia Daniel McGowan Gilmour Portland State University Paul S. Solimano Willamette Cultural Resources Associates Ltd. Kenneth Ames Portland State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/anth_fac Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Citation Details Brown, T. J., Gilmour, D. M., Solimano, P. S., & Ames, K. M. (2019). The Radiocarbon Record of the Western Stemmed Tradition on the Southern Columbia Plateau of Western North America. American Antiquity, 84(3), 471-494. This Article is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. The Radiocarbon Record of the Western Stemmed Tradition on the Southern Columbia Plateau of Western North America Thomas J. Brown, Daniel M. Gilmour, Paul S. Solimano, and Kenneth M. Ames† The late Pleistocene–early Holocene archaeological record of the interior Pacific Northwest is dominated by what has been regionally referred to as the Western Stemmed Tradition (WST). While various efforts have attempted to clarify the chronology of this tradition, these have largely focused on data from the Great Basin and have been disproportionately preoccupied with establishing the beginning of the tradition due to its temporal overlap with Clovis materials. Specifically focusing on the Columbia Plateau, we apply a series of Bayesian chronological models to create concise estimates of the most likely beginning, end, and span of the WST. We then further explore its chronology by modeling its temporal span under various parameters and criteria so as to better identify places in the chronology that need further work and those that are robust regardless of data iteration. Our analysis revealed four major findings: (1) WST conservatively dates between 13,000 and 11,000 cal BP, likely extending to ∼13,500 cal BP; (2) the most problematic period for WST is its termination; (3) the WST is incredibly long-lived compared to roughly contemporary Paleoindian traditions; and (4) the WST was seemingly unaffected by the onset of the Younger Dryas. Keywords: Western Stemmed Tradition, Windust, Columbia Plateau, Southern Plateau, Radiocarbon, Bayesian, Chronology, Northwest, Early Holocene/Late Pleistocene El registro arqueológico del Pleistoceno Tardío/Holoceno Temprano del sector interior del Noroeste Pacífico (Pacific North- west) está dominado por lo que ha sido regionalmente denominado como la Tradición Pedunculada Occidental (Western Stemmed Tradition, WST). Se ha trabajado mucho buscando clarificar la cronología de esta tradición, pero enfocando el aná- lisis en la Gran Cuenca y ocupándose desigualmente de los comienzos de la misma, debido a su superposición temporal con materiales Clovis. Enfocándonos específicamente en la Meseta Columbia aplicamos una serie de modelos cronológicos Bayesianos para crear estimaciones concisas del más probable comienzo, final y vigencia de la WST. Posteriormente explor- amos su cronología modelando su tiempo de vigencia bajo varios parámetros y criterios, a fin de identificar mejor los sectores de la cronología que necesitan más trabajo y aquellos que son robustos independientemente de la iteración de datos. Nuestro análisis reveló cuatro hallazgos principales: (i) la WST se puede datar en forma conservadora dentro del lapso 13,00-11,000 cal AP, probablemente extendiéndose a ∼13,500 cal AP (ii) el período más problemático para la WST es su finalización (iii) la WST es increíblemente duradera en comparación con las tradiciones Paleoindias aproximadamente contemporáneas y (iv) la WST aparentemente no fue afectada por el inicio de del Younger Dryas. Palabras clave: Tradición Pedunculada Occidental, modelos cronológicos Bayesianos, interior del Noroeste Pacífico, Pleistoceno Tardío/Holoceno Temprano, Radiocarbono Thomas J. Brown ▪ Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, 6303 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, British Columbia V6 T 1Z1, Canada ([email protected], corresponding author) Daniel M. Gilmour ▪ Willamette Cultural Resources Associates Ltd., 2827 NE Martin Luther King Blvd., Portland, Oregon 97212, USA Paul S. Solimano ▪ Willamette Cultural Resources Associates Ltd., 2827 NE Martin Luther King Blvd., Portland, Oregon 97212, USA Kenneth M. Ames ▪ Department of Anthropology, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA †This author died before publication of the article. American Antiquity 84(3), 2019, pp. 471–494 Copyright © 2019 by the Society for American Archaeology doi:10.1017/aaq.2019.32 471 472 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 84, No. 3, 2019 he Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene and subsequent cultural manifestations on the archaeological record of the arid interior Plateau. Last, we hope to demonstrate what TColumbia Plateau of the Pacific North- insights these methods can provide about the west (Figure 1) is dominated by Paleoarchaic timing of Windust as well as what is unresolvable (Davis et al. 2012) Western Stemmed Tradition with the available data. (WST) materials, locally called Windust (Leon- fi hardy and Rice 1970). There are no strati ed Study Area fluted-point sites in the region, and fluted points are almost invariably found on the surface. Our study area is a tactical unit based on hydrol- Clovis materials are rare south of the Snake ogy and similarities in archaeological research. It River, and except for the famous Wenatchee is largely the Columbia Plateau in Oregon and cache (Gramly 1993), even rarer north of the Washington and the Snake River Plain in Idaho Snake River. In contrast, Windust sites are rela- (Figure 1). The Columbia Plateau encompasses tively common and occur in well-stratified the arid interior of the Pacific Northwest. It deposits. Throughout the region, scholars once stretches roughly from the Cascade Range crest derived Windust from Clovis (e.g., Aikens in the west to the Rocky Mountains in the east et al. 2011; Willig and Aikens 1988), since Clo- and from the Okanagan Mountains in the north, vis was thought to predate Windust, but estab- along the USA-Canadian border, south to the lishing a simple relationship between Clovis Great Basin in southern Oregon. Prime geo- and WST/Windust has become increasingly graphic features in the region are massive Mio- untenable (Davis et al. 2012). Recent radiocar- cene basalt flows deeply incised by the bon assays on WST materials from Paisley Columbia River; its largest tributary, the Snake Caves in Central Oregon suggest Clovis and River; and lesser tributaries. We also include WST were contemporary (Jenkins et al. 2012), the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho, which and some go further, hypothesizing the continent is geomorphologically and ecologically an east- was initially settled by stemmed-point-using ward extension of the plateau, although it is peoples migrating down the Pacific coast (e.g., often culturally considered part of the Great Dixon 2013; Erlandson and Braje 2011; Flad- Basin. mark 1979). These controversies focus on the fl earliest timing of uted and WST points in West- Western Stemmed Tradition and Windust ern North America generally (e.g., Beck and Jones 2010; Goebel and Keene 2014), with little The WST is recognized as the oldest nonfluted attention paid to the overall duration and ending lithic technology in the far West (Jenkins et al. of the WST on the Columbia Plateau. 2012). It takes its name from the contracting In this article, we contribute to the broader and straight stemmed points that are its diagnos- discussion of WST chronology by examining tic artifacts (Figure 2). Two to three primary the timing of Windust on the Columbia Plateau. WST point types are recognized on the Columbia We first construct a database of radiocarbon dates Plateau (Figure 2), but regional archaeologists from Windust sites. We apply Bayesian often refer to the stemmed or shouldered point modeling to the dataset to create a concise esti- tradition there simply as “Windust” after the mate of the most likely beginning, end, and type site in eastern Washington State (e.g., Leon- span (i.e., duration) of Windust. Next, we explore hardy and Rice 1970). Spatially, the WST is Windust chronology by modeling its temporal common throughout the Columbia Plateau and span using various parameters and criteria to bet- the western margins of the Rocky Mountains in ter identify places in its chronology that need fur- Idaho, as well as the neighboring Great Basin ther work and those that are robust regardless of (see Beck and Jones 2010, 2012; Smith and data iteration. We then use this local chronology Barker 2017). It also occurs as far north as inte- to discuss relationships between Windust and the rior southern British Columbia (e.g., Copp Younger Dryas stadial, contemporaneous 2008:251–253; McLaren 2017; Rousseau Paleoindian groups (e.g., Clovis and Folsom), 2008), on the Pacific coast in the Salish Sea Brown et al.] WESTERN STEMMED TRADITION ON THE SOUTHERN COLUMBIA PLATEAU 473 Figure 1. Map showing the study area and sites discussed in text. region (e.g., Kopperl et al. 2015; McLaren 2012; Connolly and Jenkins 1999; Davis 2017), and in California (Erlandson et al. 2001a). Reuse of localities over long periods 2011). For the sake of clarity, we use “WST” (e.g., Marmes Rockshelter and Cooper’s Ferry) in reference to the stemmed tradition as a is known, and sites are commonly found near whole and “Windust” when referencing its mani- extant and now-extinct wetlands, streams, or festation within our designated study area. lakes in relatively low-energy mesic environ- WST points are formally varied beyond their ments (Ames 1988, 2000). More recent work diagnostic stems and can also be identified by also shows that Windust people made use of their distinctive reduction sequences (Beck and montane habitats on the plateau, though these Jones 2012:31).