Environmental change recorded in sediments from the Marmes rockshelter archaeological site, southeastern Washington state, USA

Abstract

The Marmes Rockshelter archaeological site in southeastern Washington state contains a > 11 kyr stratigraphic record that was excavated in the 1960s but only recently analyzed in detail. We present the results of physical, chemical, and isotopic analyses of archived Marmes sediments from rockshelter, hillslope, and floodplain locations. Multiple lines of evidence including éboulis production, soil chemistry, and δ13C and δ18O signatures in soil organic matter and calcium carbonate suggest that relatively cool, moist conditions 10,600 to 9700 14C yr BP were followed by relatively warm and dry conditions as early as 9000 14C yr BP. Warm and dry conditions extended to the late Holocene, followed by a return to cooler and moister climate. The limited range of δ13C and δ18O values in Marmes paleosols suggests that the magnitude of moisture and temperature shifts was locally buffered in the lower Snake River Canyon but adequate to generate significant changes in sedimentation and soil formation, possibly due to nonlinear geological and pedological processes. These buffered canyon environments were well suited for establishing residential bases associated with foraging and logistical collecting strategies and may have minimized the influence of climate changes in food resource abundance.

Dart and Arrow Points on the Columbia Plateau of Western North America

“…The Windust phase is generally dated between 10,800 and 8500 B.P. (Leonhardy and Rice 1970) by a large suite of radiocarbon dates (Ames 2000;Huckleberry and Fadem 2007;Sheppard et al 1987). Hatwai I is dated between ca.…”

Geoarchaeological context of clovis and western stemmed tradition sites in Dietz Basin, Lake County, Oregon

“…The sedimentary record from Marmes Rock Shelter in southcentral Washington (Huckleberry & Fadem, 2007), the ␦ 18 O speleothem record from Oregon Caves National Monument in the Klamath Mountains of Oregon (Vacco et al, 2005), and the pollen record from a pond in the Siskiyou Mountains (Briles et al, 2005) consistently indicate a warmer postglacial environment punctuated by a Younger Dryas period of cooler, wetter climates. Finally, the Pyramid Lake record from the Lahontan Basin in Nevada indicates a lake stand at 12,400 RCYBP, followed by lower lake levels in the latest Pleistocene; a return to a cool, wet climate approximately coincident with the Younger Dryas; and then a shift to drier climates (Benson et al, 1992;Briggs et al, 2005).…”

Terminal Pleistocene change in mammal communities in southeastern Washington State, USA

“…1), the pollen record suggests the local shift was nearly as abrupt (Johnson et al, 1994;Mehringer, 1996). Aridity and warmth continued to increase but more gradually after the abrupt shift to warming and drying (Mehringer, 1996;Chatters, 1998;Wigand and Hicks, 2004;Huckleyberry and Fadem, 2007). During the cool-moist phase vegetation in the Marmes site area was composed of cool sagebrush steppe with scattered patches of mesic adapted conifers (haploxylon pollen); grass was relatively abundant.…”