Reconsidering Paleoarchaic Mobility in the Central Great Basin

Jones, George T.; Fontes, Lisa M.; Horowitz, Rachel A.; Beck, Catherine C.; Bailey, David G.

doi:10.7183/0002-7316.77.2.351

Cited by 39 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Even with the reduced size of the Paleoarchaic settlement systems proposed by these researchers (Smith, 2010;Beck and Jones, 2011;Jones et al, 2012), they are still more than 10 times larger than the largest systems observed in the worldwide ethnographic record (Kelly, 2011). The reliance on wetland plants, birds, fish, and small mammals also indicates that high levels of mobility would make little sense, as these resources would be difficult to deplete from a local basin.…”

Section: Prehistoric Contextmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…All three cover extremely large territories, ranging between 46,000 and 107,000 km 2 , extending from the northern Nevada border down to the central and southcentral portions of the state. Smith's (2010) more recent analysis of data from northwestern Nevada found that the Jones et al (2003) reconstructions were much too large (see also Beck and Jones, 2011;Jones et al, 2012). He suggests a conveyance zone less than half the size of what Jones et al (2003) estimated.…”

Section: Prehistoric Contextmentioning

confidence: 98%

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At the vanishing point : environment and prehistoric land use in the Black Rock Desert

McGuire¹,

Hildebrandt²,

Young³

et al. 2018

Anthropol. Pap. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.

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This volume presents the results of data recovery excavations directed at prehistoric archaeological deposits located near Sulphur Springs, along the southeastern margin of the Black Rock Desert, in Humboldt and Pershing counties, Nevada. Although 20 sites with prehistoric assemblages were identified during this project, intact spatio-temporal components were found at only seven of these sites, of which just five were the focus of intensive data recovery excavations: 26HU1830, 26HU1876, 26HU2871, 26HU3118, and 26HU5621. A total of 372 m 3 of excavation by hand was directed at dateable components within these five sites. The results of this effort yielded a substantial artifact assemblage, including a variety of flaked and ground stone tools, shell and bone beads, as well as large quantities of faunal bone and debitage. Also documented were an assortment of features, including a number of small processing facilities and the remnants of several house floors. Key to this investigation was the isolation of a series of discrete temporal components. Eleven such components were identified representing six temporal intervals: Early Archaic (5700-3800 cal b.p.), Middle Archaic (ca. 3000 cal b.p.), mixed Middle/Late Archaic (3800-600 cal b.p.), Late Archaic A (1340-1165 cal b.p.), Late Archaic B (985-855 cal b.p.), as well as Late Archaic (1300-600 cal b.p.) deposits that could not be further separated into smaller units of time. It is particularly noteworthy that many of these components have very narrow time frames, in many cases smaller than the traditional Great Basin periods. The profile of projectwide time-sensitive projectile points and radiocarbon dates, coupled with a robust artifact and feature assemblage dated to narrow time frames, allows for an assessment of changes in habitation and land-use pattern with an unusual level of resolution. Prior to about years ago, occupations appear to have been sporadic, with people making brief visits to the area during periods of increased effective moisture and spring discharge associated with the Early Holocene, and largely avoiding it for more promising areas during times of drought during the Middle Holocene. Archaeological visibility increases significantly after 4500 cal b.p., including periods when substantial houses were constructed, and people supplemented the local resource base with foods and materials obtained from distant locations possessing richer concentrations of large game and obsidian toolstone. These more intensive habitations were not constant, however, and were abandoned during a major Late Holocene drought cycle that occurred between 2800 and 1500 cal b.p. Robust habitation returns during the initial Late Archaic period but is bimodal with a sudden break at about 1000 b.p., a spike at roughly 985 to 855 cal b.p., followed by another break. The settlement profile may have been in response to the drought-wet-drought cycle of the Medieval Climatic Anomaly. Along with the role of environmental change in trans-Holocene settlement structure, the large feature...

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Section: Prehistoric Contextmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Prehistoric Contextmentioning

confidence: 98%

At the vanishing point : environment and prehistoric land use in the Black Rock Desert

McGuire¹,

Hildebrandt²,

Young³

et al. 2018

Anthropol. Pap. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.

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show abstract

“…We are interested particularly in determining if they are locally derived and generally lesser-quality materials, or if they are higher-quality exotics derived from afar. Lesser-quality, local materials are often the result of ad hoc, opportunistic replacement of tools preferentially made from higher-quality, more desirable sources (Jones et al 2012:354; Tankersley 1990:274). Alternatively, the consistent presence of exotic, high-quality resources within a supply zone is more likely to represent the convenient discard of more widely ranging treks, personal in-migration, or long-distance exchange (Amick 2017:131, 133).…”

Section: Mobility and Lithic Supplymentioning

confidence: 99%

Hunter-Gatherer Mobility and Versatility: A Consideration of Long-Term Lithic Supply in the Midwest

Seeman

Colucci

Fulk³

2019

Am. Antiq.

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Hunter-gatherer societies held sway in midwestern North America for at least 11,000 years. Those at the end of this period were more complex and less mobile, and they supported larger populations than those at the beginning, but there are relatively few general conceptions as to when and how this took place. Here we examine the fit of gradual, one-way social change as it relates to the size and shape of lithic supply zones for Upper Mercer and Flint Ridge flint as well as the inflow of exotic materials. Our results show no singular cline either in the size of successive lithic supply zones or in the inflow of exotic materials. Hunter-gatherer societies can make remarkable behavioral changes through time and not necessarily in any consistent (unilineal) direction. Such differences impose more contingency—and less directionality—into particular historical sequences.

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“…The archaeological record of the northern Great Basin largely mirrors that of the broader Great Basin. WST lithic toolkits across the Great Basin provide evidence for highly mobile land-use strategies (Graf 2001;Jones et al 2003Jones et al , 2012Smith 2011). Blood protein residue analysis of a WST projectile from western Utah and two handstones from Paisley Caves provide evidence for hunting of Proboscidean and Equus prey (Duke 2015;Jenkins et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Younger Dryas and early Holocene subsistence in the northern Great Basin: multiproxy analysis of coprolites from the Paisley Caves, Oregon, USA

Blong

Adams²,

Sanchez

et al. 2020

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Younger Dryas and early Holocene Western Stemmed Tradition occupants of the northern Great Basin appear to have practiced a broad-based subsistence strategy including the consumption of a wide variety of small animal and plant resources. However, much of our evidence for human diet and land use during this period comes from dry cave and rockshelter sites where it can be challenging to distinguish plant and small animal remains deposited as a result of human versus nonhuman activity. This study presents new direct evidence for Younger Dryas and early Holocene human diet in the northern Great Basin through multiproxy analysis of nine human coprolites from the Paisley Caves, Oregon, USA. The evidence indicates that Western Stemmed Tradition occupants consumed plants, small mammals, fish, and insects, including direct evidence for consumption of whole rodents and several types of beetle. Occupation of the caves occurred during the summer and fall by individuals foraging on wetland, sagebrush grassland, and riparian ecological landscapes suggesting geographical and seasonal variability in land-use patterns during the Younger Dryas and early Holocene periods. This research suggests that Western Stemmed Tradition settlement patterns were seasonally centered on productive valley bottom lakes and wetlands but also included forays to a variety of ecological landscapes. The results highlight the importance of plant and small animal resources in the human diet during the terminal Pleistocene settlement of North America and contribute to debates about the process of the peopling of the Americas.

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Reconsidering Paleoarchaic Mobility in the Central Great Basin

Cited by 39 publications

References 12 publications

At the vanishing point : environment and prehistoric land use in the Black Rock Desert

At the vanishing point : environment and prehistoric land use in the Black Rock Desert

Hunter-Gatherer Mobility and Versatility: A Consideration of Long-Term Lithic Supply in the Midwest

Younger Dryas and early Holocene subsistence in the northern Great Basin: multiproxy analysis of coprolites from the Paisley Caves, Oregon, USA

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