VARIABILITY WITHIN THE BORAX LAKE PATTERN OF
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Nicolas Andrew Michael Angeloff
BA, Humboldt State University 1998
THESIS
Submitted in partial satisfaction of
the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
in
ANTHROPOLOGY
at
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
SUMMER
2011
VARIABILITY WITHIN THE BORAX LAKE PATTERN OF
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
A Thesis
by
Nicolas Andrew Michael Angeloff
Approved by:
__________________________, Committee Chair
Mark E. Basgall, PhD
__________________________, Second Reader
Michael Delacorte, PhD
_________________________
Date
ii
Student: Nicolas Andrew Michael Angeloff
I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University
format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to
be awarded for the thesis.
_____________________________, Graduate Coordinator _____________________
Michael Delacorte, PhD
Date
Department of Anthropology
iii
Abstract
of
VARIABILITY WITHIN THE BORAX LAKE PATTERN OF
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
by
Nicolas Andrew Michael Angeloff
The Borax Lake Pattern represents a unique pattern of technological organization
found throughout northern California during the early/middle Holocene.
The
technological organization of the stone tool assemblage is thought to reflect a
residentially mobile montane adaptation to specific environmental conditions, producing
more intensive use of high elevation areas relative to subsequent archaeological patterns.
This thesis defines this lithic industry through an assessment of the technological
structure and ecological setting of five assemblages in three localities representing the
Borax Lake Pattern in far northern California. The project reveals variability in both the
diversity and use parameters of assemblages that appear to correspond with certain
paleoclimatic
conditions.
Results
provide
a
fuller
understanding
of
the
settlement/subsistence systems of people inhabiting northern California during the
early/middle Holocene.
___________________________________, Committee Chair
Mark E. Basgall, PhD
________________________
Date
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research has taken an extended period of time, seven years. Acknowledging
the committee members for their patience and understanding during these years is the
least that can be offered. Dr. Basgall and Dr. Delacorte both exhibited phenomenal skill
and understanding both of the subject matter and life’s hurdles, thank you. For those
colleagues who helped facilitate this extended process, Bridget Wall, Bill Larsen,
Michelle Noble, Ryan Brady, Stephen Moore, Dave Makar, Dr. William Hildebrandt and
the many others: thank you. A special thanks goes to Mrs. Elaine Sundahl for her
patience in providing access to the CA-HUM-475 collection at Shasta Jr. College.
Without her extraordinary efforts both throughout her career generating and cataloging
the collection, and making the effort over a period of three years to open the doors to the
facility to allow the author access, this project would not have been possible. Sonoma
State also facilitated access to the Pilot Ridge collections- thank you.
Thank you to my father and step mother for allowing me to stay at their home
during course work. Thank you to my mother and step father for providing the down-toearth perspective necessary to muddle through and finish. To my wife, Jodi, who has
tolerated and facilitated this process, you are extraordinary. Finally, to my son, Decho,
who has not known a father that was not working on a thesis, there is now time to do all
those things that have been put aside in the name of research. I love you both, next year
we take a vacation!
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... v
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xii
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xiv
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1
Background .................................................................................................................................. 1
Context ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Purpose and Organization ............................................................................................................ 5
2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SETTING .............................................................................................. 8
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 8
Historic Perspectives .................................................................................................................... 8
Research Sites ............................................................................................................................ 15
3. ECOLOGICAL SETTING ....................................................................................................... 23
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 23
Contemporary Ecology .............................................................................................................. 23
Paleoecology .............................................................................................................................. 27
Global Paleoclimate ............................................................................................................... 27
Regional Paleoecology........................................................................................................... 28
Project Area Paleoecology ..................................................................................................... 33
Implications ............................................................................................................................... 37
Site Catchments ......................................................................................................................... 40
4. THEORETICAL ORIENTATION AND ELABORATION OF PROBLEM .......................... 49
vi
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 49
Theoretical Orientation .............................................................................................................. 49
Elaboration of Problem .............................................................................................................. 56
Model Predictions ...................................................................................................................... 58
Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 60
5. ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES AND ASSUMPTIONS ....................................................... 62
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 62
Sample Selection........................................................................................................................ 62
Sample by Site ........................................................................................................................... 63
CA-HUM-577 ........................................................................................................................ 64
CA-HUM-573 ........................................................................................................................ 65
CA-HUM-367 ........................................................................................................................ 65
SHA-475 ................................................................................................................................ 66
TRI-1008 ................................................................................................................................ 73
Analytical Assumptions ............................................................................................................. 74
Specific Analytical Procedures and Assumptions ..................................................................... 76
Flaked Stone .............................................................................................................................. 77
Projectile Points ..................................................................................................................... 77
Bifaces ................................................................................................................................... 77
Flake Tools............................................................................................................................. 79
Cobble Spalls ......................................................................................................................... 80
Debitage ................................................................................................................................. 80
Ground Stone Analysis .............................................................................................................. 81
Handstones ............................................................................................................................. 82
vii
Milling Slabs .......................................................................................................................... 83
6. RESULTS ................................................................................................................................. 85
Analysis Results by Site............................................................................................................. 85
CA-HUM-577 ............................................................................................................................ 85
Flaked Stone .............................................................................................................................. 86
Bifaces ................................................................................................................................... 86
Simple Flake Tools ................................................................................................................ 88
Debitage ................................................................................................................................. 88
Obsidian ................................................................................................................................. 89
Chert....................................................................................................................................... 90
Ground Stone ............................................................................................................................. 90
Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 91
CA-HUM-573 ............................................................................................................................ 91
Flaked Stone .............................................................................................................................. 91
Projectile Points ..................................................................................................................... 92
Biface ..................................................................................................................................... 92
Flake Tools............................................................................................................................. 95
Simple Flake Tools ................................................................................................................ 96
Cobble Spalls ......................................................................................................................... 96
Formed Flake Tools ............................................................................................................... 97
Debitage ................................................................................................................................. 98
Ground Stone ........................................................................................................................... 100
Milling Slabs ........................................................................................................................ 101
Handstones ........................................................................................................................... 104
viii
Other Tools .......................................................................................................................... 105
Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 106
CA-HUM-367 .......................................................................................................................... 107
Flaked Stone ............................................................................................................................ 107
Projectile Points ................................................................................................................... 107
Bifaces ................................................................................................................................. 108
Flake Tools........................................................................................................................... 109
Simple Flake Tools .............................................................................................................. 110
Cobble Spalls ....................................................................................................................... 110
Formed Flake Tools ............................................................................................................. 111
Debitage ............................................................................................................................... 111
Ground Stone ........................................................................................................................... 113
Millingslabs.......................................................................................................................... 114
Handstones ........................................................................................................................... 114
Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 115
Lowland Sites .......................................................................................................................... 116
SHA-475 .................................................................................................................................. 116
Flaked Stone ............................................................................................................................ 116
Projectile Points ................................................................................................................... 116
Bifaces ................................................................................................................................. 117
Flake Tools........................................................................................................................... 118
Simple Flake Tools .............................................................................................................. 119
Cobble Spalls ....................................................................................................................... 119
Formed Flake Tools ............................................................................................................. 119
ix
Debitage ............................................................................................................................... 120
Ground Stone ........................................................................................................................... 122
Milling Slabs ........................................................................................................................ 122
Handstones ........................................................................................................................... 122
Other Tools .......................................................................................................................... 123
Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 123
TRI-1008 .................................................................................................................................. 124
Flaked Stone ............................................................................................................................ 125
Projectile Points ................................................................................................................... 125
Bifaces ................................................................................................................................. 125
Flake Tools........................................................................................................................... 127
Simple Flake Tools .............................................................................................................. 127
Cobble Spalls ....................................................................................................................... 128
Formed Flake Tools ............................................................................................................. 128
Debitage ............................................................................................................................... 129
Ground Stone ........................................................................................................................... 131
Milling Slabs ........................................................................................................................ 132
Handstones ........................................................................................................................... 133
Other Tools .......................................................................................................................... 134
Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 135
Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 135
7. REGIONAL COMPARISONS ............................................................................................... 136
Flaked Stone Variability .......................................................................................................... 136
Projectile Points ................................................................................................................... 136
x
Bifaces ................................................................................................................................. 138
Simple Flake Tools .............................................................................................................. 140
Cobble Spalls ....................................................................................................................... 141
Formed Flake Tools ............................................................................................................. 145
Debitage ............................................................................................................................... 147
Ground Stone Variability ......................................................................................................... 151
Milling Slab Variability ....................................................................................................... 151
Handstone Variability .......................................................................................................... 152
Raw Material Variability ......................................................................................................... 155
Variability in Assemblage Diversity ........................................................................................ 156
Assemblage Variability, Diversity, and Ecological Context ................................................... 158
Summary and Implications ...................................................................................................... 163
References .................................................................................................................................... 165
xi
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Regional Palynological Data Adapted From Laird et al. 1996 ......................................... 30
Table 2 Compilation of Paleoclimate Data (adapted from Wanket 2002) ..................................... 35
Table 3 Seasonal Availability of Fish and Mammalian Resources................................................ 38
Table 4 Seasonal Availability of Fish, Mammalian and Plant Resources ..................................... 40
Table 5 Analyzed Soil Volumes by Site ........................................................................................ 63
Table 6 Inventory of Assemblage Constituents from Upland Sites ............................................... 64
Table 7 Mean Neck Widths of SHA-475 Projectile Points............................................................ 69
Table 8 Distribution of Projectile Points at SHA-475 ................................................................... 69
Table 9 Square and Bifurcate Vs. Expanding Stem Distribution, X2 = 8.64, df = 1...................... 70
Table 10 Final Soil Volume and Levels Analyzed at SHA-475 .................................................... 73
Table 11 Assemblage Inventory from the Lowland Localities ...................................................... 73
Table 12 Inventory of Assemblage Constituents at CA-HUM-577, HUM-573 and HUM-367 .... 85
Table 13 Bifaces by Stage CA-HUM-577 ..................................................................................... 87
Table 14 Typed Debitage at HUM-577 ......................................................................................... 89
Table 15 Bifaces by Stage at CA-HUM-573 ................................................................................. 93
Table 16 Flake Tool Attributes at HUM-573................................................................................. 95
Table 17 Typed Debitage at CA-HUM-573 .................................................................................. 99
Table 18 Ground Stone Use Wear at CA-HUM-573 ................................................................... 101
Table 19 Bifaces by Stage at CA-HUM-367 ............................................................................... 108
Table 20 Flake Tool Attributes at HUM-367............................................................................... 110
Table 21 Debitage Attributes at HUM-367.................................................................................. 112
Table 22 Ground Stone Use Wear at CA-HUM-367 ................................................................... 113
xii
Table 23 Inventory of Assemblage Constituents at SHA-475 and TRI-1008.............................. 116
Table 24 Mean Neck Widths of SHA-475 Projectile Points........................................................ 117
Table 25 Bifaces by Stage at SHA-475 ....................................................................................... 118
Table 26 Flake Tool Attributes at SHA-475 ................................................................................ 119
Table 27 Debitage Attributes at SHA-475 ................................................................................... 121
Table 28 Bifaces by Stage at TRI-1008 ....................................................................................... 126
Table 29 Flake Tool Attributes at TRI-1008 ............................................................................... 127
Table 30 Debitage Attributes at TRI-1008 .................................................................................. 130
Table 31 Ground Stone Use Wear at TRI-1008 ........................................................................... 132
Table 32 Biface Attributes by Stage and Site .............................................................................. 139
Table 33 Simple Flake Tool Attributes by Site............................................................................ 140
Table 34 Cobble Spall Attributes by Site..................................................................................... 142
Table 35 Domed Formed Flake Tool Attributes All Sites ........................................................... 146
Table 36 Typed Debitage Attributes by Site ................................................................................ 148
Table 37 Percent Typed Debitage Attributes by Site ................................................................... 149
Table 38 Percent Debitage by Size and Site ................................................................................ 150
Table 39 Milling Slab Use Wear by Site ..................................................................................... 152
Table 40 Handstone Attributes by Site ........................................................................................ 153
Table 41 Inventory of Assemblage Constituents by Sites ........................................................... 157
xiii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Ecological Zones As Defined By CalVeg 2009 .............................................................. 24
Figure 2 Three Kilometer Mid Holocene Xerophytic Species Expansion ..................................... 37
Figure 3 Altithermal Site Catchments............................................................................................ 41
Figure 4 SHA-475 Altithermal Site Catchment ............................................................................. 42
Figure 5 TRI-1008 Site Catchment ................................................................................................ 45
Figure 6 CA-HUM-573, HUM-577 and HUM-367 Site Catchments............................................ 47
Figure 7 Nelsons Model of Archaeological Deposition Adapted from Nelson 1991:59 ............... 54
Figure 8 CA-HUM-475 Contracting-Stem Projectile Points (adapted from Sundahl and Henn
1988) .............................................................................................................................................. 67
Figure 9 Expanding Stem Projectile Points (adapted from Clewett and Sundahl 1983) ............... 68
Figure 10 Whole (82-14214) and Nearly Complete (82-14367) Bifaces at CA-HUM-573 .......... 94
Figure 11 Cobble Spall Site CA-HUM-573 Cat# 82-14-318 ...................................................... 141
Figure 12 CA-HUM-573 Spall Showing Polish on Ventral Surface. Cat #82-14-430 ............... 142
Figure 13 Altithermal Vegetation Within the Site Catchment of SHA-475 ................................ 159
Figure 14 TRI-1008 Site Catchment ............................................................................................ 160
Figure 15 Altithermal Vegetation Within the Site Catchment of HUM-573, HUM-577 and HUM367 ............................................................................................................................................... 162
xiv
1
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
The Borax Lake Pattern represents a unique pattern of technological organization
found throughout northern California during the early/middle Holocene.
The
technological organization of the stone tool assemblage is thought to represent a
residentially mobile, montane adaptation to specific environmental conditions,
characterized by intensive use of high elevation areas relative to subsequent
archaeological patterns (Fredrickson 1973; Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983; West 1983;
White 2002). Current understanding of the Borax Lake Pattern associates handstones,
milling slabs, cobble spalls, and serrated bifaces with the Widestem projectile point type
(Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983; Sundahl 1993; White 2002).
This thesis further defines
this lithic assemblage through an assessment of the technological organization and
ecological setting of five assemblages in three localities representing the Borax Lake
Pattern in far northern California. These sites represent the northern extent of the Pattern
that was first identified in the southern North Coast Ranges.
Background
The type site for the Pattern, CA-LAK-36, is in the Clear Lake Basin of the
southern North Coast Ranges, where Mark Harrington (1948b) first documented the
Borax Lake Widestem point type. Advocationalist Chester Post alerted Harrington to the
presence of fluted points at this site in the 1930’s. Although Harrington’s interest lay in
2
the fluted point assemblage, he nonetheless deduced that Widestem projectile points
represented a later culture.
Seven years later, C.W. Meighan (1955) lumped the Paleoindian and Widestem
assemblages together as the Borax Lake Complex. C.W. Meighan and C.V. Haynes
(1970) reassessed their work in 1964 at CA-LAK-36. This refined the definition of the
Borax Lake Complex as an association of wide-stemmed projectile points, milling slabs
and handstones with a temporal divergent from the Paleoindian deposits.
In the process of defining central and northern California archaeological
taxonomy, Fredrickson (1973) defines the Borax Lake assemblage as a cohesive unit
representing a distinct archaeological Pattern. In doing so, he defines the assemblage as a
technology developed to cope with a specific environment in a discrete geographic region
(1973:131), identifying two distinct Aspects (1973:131), a northern and southern
expression of the Pattern.
Greg White and Dave Fredrickson (1992) built on
Fredrickson’s early ideas regarding northern and southern Aspects of the Borax Lake
Pattern in their research design for Anderson Flat in Lake County. White (2002) refers to
the Borax Lake Aspect, the southern variant, as a lacustrine adaptation, and the Buck
Rock Aspect to the north as an upland adaptation (White 2002:546).
In 1983, S. Edward Clewett and Elaine Sundahl reported on their archaeological
data derived from 12 years of fieldwork at SHA-475, on the banks of Squaw Creek in
northern California. They link this assemblage to Fredrickson’s (1973) Borax Lake
Pattern by creating a Squaw Creek Aspect, with technological similarities to the southern
North Coast Range Pattern. The Squaw Creek collection remains the best documented
3
example of the Borax Lake Pattern in northern California and, as such, is included in this
study.
Shortly thereafter, Sundahl (1988) reported on her excavations at a single-
component Borax Lake Pattern assemblage, TRI-1008, on the Trinity River:
She
concludes that the TRI-1008 assemblage showed few differences from the upland
expressions described by Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983). In 1993, Sundahl and Henn
published an overview of the Borax Lake Pattern in northern California, concurring with
Hildebrandt and Hayes’ (1983) definition of the tool stone assemblage and settlement
subsistence strategy of the Borax Lake people (1988:96).
Borax Lake Pattern assemblages along Pilot Ridge and South Fork Mountain
(PR/SFM) in northwest California were assessed by Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983)
during the early 1980s. Their report defines the Borax Lake Pattern within northwest
California as a residentially mobile forager-type settlement-subsistence strategy (sensu
Binford 1981). The three sites chosen for this study from the PR/SFM project, HUM573, 577 and TRI-367, provide the most complete and discrete representation of upland
settlement patterns of the early/middle Holocene in northern California. Hildebrandt’s
most recent (2004, 2008) summaries of the Borax Lake Pattern in northwest California
define the assemblage as reflecting a relatively homogenous technological adaptation
representing a foraging strategy with a mobile residential base that is manifest across all
of northwest California.
Hundreds of other sites and isolates related to the Borax Lake Pattern have been
identified in northern California; notable examples include the Chirpchatter site adjacent
to the Squaw Creek locality, projectile points recovered during Basgall and Hildebrandt’s
4
I-5 excavations, the Nursery site (HUM-513/H) in coastal northwest California and many
finds in the high elevations of the mountains of the Mendocino County ranges. The
Borax Lake Pattern is an established adaptive mode extending across several
environmental regions in northern California, characterized by a technological
organization designed to optimize production as per Fredrickson (1974). This technology
appears to occur in all environments and over the entire northern California landscape.
Context
The five sites chosen for this study are representative of both upland and lowland
assemblages, the Trinity and Squaw Creek Aspects, and contain the most discrete, well
dated Borax Lake components in northern California. Included are three assemblages
from high elevation sites on Pilot Ridge and South Fork Mountain in northwest
California, a single component assemblage at Cox Bar on the Trinity River, and the basal
levels of the Squaw Creek site in north central California. While syntheses of existing
data from these sites have been published by both Hildebrandt (1984) and Sundahl
(1988), none have endeavored to analyze and compare each collection in a single study.
This research selected and analyzed existing assemblages from relatively equivalent
volumes of soil excavated from predefined discrete Borax Lake Pattern assemblages.
The upland sites representing the Trinity Aspect include HUM-367, along South
Fork Mountain, and HUM-577 and HUM-573 on Pilot Ridge.
The Squaw Creek (SHA-
475) and Cox Bar sites (TRI-1008) contain deposits representing lowland assemblages
(Sundahl and Henn 1993). The Cox Bar site, on the Trinity River, is thought to be a
single component Borax Lake Pattern assemblage (Sundahl 1988) and is the type site for
5
the Trinity Aspect. The Squaw Creek site defines the name-sake Aspect identified on the
banks of Squaw Creek, a tributary of the Pit River in Shasta County, the basal stratum
reflecting the Borax Lake Pattern (Clewett and Sundahl 1983). Sundahl and Henn (1993)
and Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983) interpret these sites as lowland winter residences, but
see no substantial variability between these and upland tool assemblages.
The existing interpretations of these assemblages suggest a wide-ranging,
residentially mobile resource procurement pattern (Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983;
Hildebrandt 2007; Sundahl 1988; Sundahl and Henn 1993). Traditional understandings
of the Borax Lake Pattern have tended to categorize settlement-subsistence behavior as a
point along the forager-collector continuum based on the homogeneity of the pattern over
space. This assessment focuses on the variation within and between five assemblages,
modeling research to answer questions of variability and its meaning in order to better
understand the way people dealt with a defined set of ecological conditions. Nelson
(1991:85) clearly defines the issue addressed here: “…general associations of artifact
classes used to define standard site types, thought to exist as a generalized typology of
settlement behavior for all contexts, will not contribute to our understanding of human
behavior.”
Purpose and Organization
Treating variation as noise is a fundamental problem in archaeology (Truncer
2006:157). Thus, rather than accepting current notions that little variation exists between
upland and lowland assemblages, this research assesses what variability exists and it
behavioral implications.
6
The Borax Lake Pattern is put into context both within time and space, and the
specific assemblages described in detail through a prehistoric background in Chapter 2,
fleshing out the readers’ understanding of the Borax Lake Pattern. As environmental
context has implications for our understanding of land use patterns, a detailed analysis of
both the regional and local environmental conditions between 10,000 and 3,000 years ago
is provided in Chapter 3. Environmental studies throughout western North America have
increased exponentially over the past ten years and these data have not been synthesized
for northern California. Details of the project area ecology during the early/middle
Holocene have also been enhanced by contemporary environmental research and are
included in this chapter.
The theoretical basis of this research follows from models of settlement mobility
in relation to variability in the technological organization of lithic material. The body of
theory focused on technological organization recognizes the presence of variability
within the archaeological record as indicative of various aspects of human behavior
(Ascher 1968; Binford 1980; Bleed 1986; Nelson 1991; among others). Chapter 4
presents the theoretical orientation and elaborates the problem addressed in the thesis. To
empirically assess the variability of technological organization, quantitative measures of
each variable are required (Shott 1986:21). Chapter 5 outlines the analytical methods
used to measure the variability between assemblages and discusses the theoretical
premise related to the translation of these quantitative measures into human behavioral
patterns.
7
Chapter 6 provides the results of the analysis for each site. Chapter 7 presents an
inter-site comparison and summary of the technological and environmental data. Intersite comparisons are presented for each tool category at the sites. Use-wear presence or
absence and frequency are highlighted in an effort to identify variability between the
assemblages. The final section, Chapter 8, provides theoretical conclusions regarding
this research.
The five study sites reveal variability in technological behavior that speaks to
subsistence-settlement activities relevant to our understanding of the Borax Lake Pattern.
There is variability in technological behavior in response to divergent ecological
conditions between these Borax Lake Pattern assemblages. Data suggest that
technological organization incorporated specialized use areas and was designed to
optimize upland resource extraction, following a more collector-like strategy than has
previously been posited.
8
Chapter 2
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SETTING
Introduction
This research is focused on early/middle Holocene assemblages of northern
California. It is synchronic in nature and provides an opportunity to flesh out our
understanding of the earliest representation of human habitation in the region. This
chapter expands on the history of work that has been produced regarding the Borax Lake
Pattern, starting with the first models of technological organization (Fredrickson 1973)
and continuing in chronological sequence through contemporary theoretical perspectives
regarding the life-ways of the Borax Lake Pattern people. The chapter concludes with a
thorough examination of the three localities, Pilot Ridge, Trinity River and Squaw Creek,
providing specific details of the work conducted at each of the sites, including those
portions analyzed for this research.
Historic Perspectives
The archaeological assemblage associated with the early to early/middle
Holocene in northwest California was first identified by Harrington (1948) and further
defined by Meighan and Haynes (1970) as a complex or association of temporally and
geographically discrete artifacts. While this model of prehistory served as a taxonomic
designation for a discrete assemblage, it became as burdensome as the earlier concept of
Horizon for fitting localized archaeological phenomena into broad temporal packages
9
(Fredrickson 1973). To address these issues, Fredrickson (1973) provided an alternative
taxonomic system, redefining discrete archaeological assemblages as “Patterns”.
A
Pattern is defined by Fredrickson (1973) as a distinct archaeological assemblage found
over multiple environmental or ecological contexts but restricted to a defined geographic
region.
It includes potentially distinct cultural or linguistic groups that share
technological skills and devices, economic modes, and participate in interactive economic
and ceremonial systems.
Stylistic variation within a Pattern is further reflected by
“Aspects” within broader Patterns (Fredrickson 1973:116-124).
Fredrickson (1973:129-131) first defined the Borax Lake assemblage as a
cohesive unit representing a distinct archaeological Pattern in his dissertation, a definition
that still holds today. Fredrickson’s treatment of the Borax Lake Pattern in both his
dissertation (1973) and a subsequent article (1974), emphasize its discrete nature, both
technologically and spatially.
He applies models of land use as associated with
ecological change to the Borax Lake Pattern, positing (1974:46) that increased use of
upland areas during the last half of the Altithermal was a behavioral adaptation
accompanied by a technological shift favoring the handstone and milling slab for
processing seed crops. In doing so, he assumes the Borax Lake Pattern developed to
cope with specific environmental conditions within a discrete geographic region, having
two distinct Aspects, one in the north and one centered on the Clear Lake basin
(1973:131). These taxonomic definitions have been developed and tested throughout the
years and remain a fundamental component of culture history within northwestern
California.
10
Flynn and Roop (1975) provided the first solid evidence of the Borax Lake
Pattern in far northwestern California in their report on test excavations at HUM-245 and
HUM-246, high elevation sites east of Humboldt Bay on Pine Ridge. Tom Jackson
(1977) re-assessed Flynn and Roop’s data and performed data recovery at the same sites,
offering a more recent date for the assemblage. Jackson argued that the “Widestem”
point type does not represent a temporally discrete culture, insisting that point
morphologies persist through time with no one individual projectile point representing a
culture or subsistence strategy. His synchronic approach to the assemblage as simply a
different form of land use within a homogenous culture throughout time was discussed by
Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983). This view has been rejected by subsequent researchers.
Effectively, the preponderance of archaeological evidence associates discrete
technological packages with particular temporal periods.
It appears clear that the
handstone and milling slab are associated with the Widestem points in northwestern
California. The assemblages from HUM-245 and HUM-246 were assessed for use in this
research, but are in such a disorganized condition that it was impossible to reconstruct the
provenance of specific artifacts.
Some years later Clewett and Sundahl (1983) reported on 12 years of fieldwork at
SHA-475, a deep, stratified site on the banks of Squaw Creek in northeast California.
The report describes the basal level of the deposit as a Borax Lake Pattern component.
They assign a cultural affiliation to Hokan or proto-Hokan speaking groups and link their
assemblage to Fredrickson’s (1973) Borax Lake Pattern by creating a Squaw Creek
Aspect with technological similarities to the southern North Coast Range. Their cultural
11
distinctions are largely based on the near exclusive use of obsidian for flaked stone tools.
Several radiocarbon dates placed the age of occupation as early as 7,600 BP. Obsidian
studies at this site proved confused, with larger hydration readings coming from higher
strata within the site (Basgall and Hildebrandt 1989). As the collection remains the best
example of the Borax Lake Pattern in northeastern California, it is included in this study.
Sites on Pilot Ridge and South Fork Mountain (PR/SFM) in northwest California
were assessed by Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983) as part of the mitigation efforts for the
USDA Forest Service road improvement project. The project revealed a early/middle
Holocene, high-elevation ridgetop site complex and presents the first empirical evidence
for environmental change in northwest California during the Altithermal via West’s
(1984) palynological analyses. The study indicates that the Borax Lake Pattern within
northwest California is characterized by Widestem points, handstones, milling slabs,
small serrated bifaces and cobble spalls (Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983). Hildebrandt and
Hayes (1983) suggest the Borax Lake Pattern settlement/subsistence system was
consonant with residentially mobile foragers. The project provided temporal control for
the Borax Lake Pattern using obsidian hydration and a single soil sample from a house
floor at HUM-573 that produced a 7,100 BP radiocarbon date twenty years later
(Fitzgerald and Hildebrandt 2002).
The Pilot Ridge report and its theoretical premise of
high elevation settlement adaptation typified by frequent residential moves has served as
the seminal work pertaining to the Borax Lake Pattern in northwest California. The three
sites chosen for this study, HUM-573, HUM-577 and TRI-367 provide the most complete
12
characterization of upland settlement patterns during the early/middle Holocene in
northern California.
Hildebrandt and Swenson’s (1985) assessment of culture type identifiers and
environmental contexts against simple null hypotheses yielded results that are applicable
to the present study. These authors predict the distribution of temporal site types based
on vegetation, elevation, and topography. Their conclusions show a shift through time
from late period adaptations to low elevation habitat from early occupations in upland
habitats; there was a distinct association of Widestem projectile points with ground stone,
and that Borax Lake Pattern sites more frequently associated with middens when in
upland settings (Hildebrandt and Swenson 1985:131). The high incidence of midden
associated with such sites suggests a strong role for the residential base that is explored in
the present research.
Kowta (1988) provides a regional overview from the perspective of northeastern
California that includes the Borax Lake Pattern. He believed the pattern represented a
focus on large game hunting of Roosevelt elk and pronghorn antelope. His conclusions
are drawn, to a great degree, from the Borax Lake Widestem type resembling Pinto and
Elko points found in the Great Basin. In addition, Kowta infers a change in the range of
both elk and pronghorn antelope coinciding with both mid-Holocene climate change and
the Borax Lake Pattern.
Sundahl (1988) reported on excavations at TRI-1008 at Cox Bar on the Trinity
River. The site is characterized as a single component Borax Lake Pattern occupation.
Up to this point, the most complete Borax Lake assemblages in northwest California were
13
from South Fork Mountain and Pilot Ridge (Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983). Cox Bar
provided Sundahl (1993) an opportunity to address lowland land use patterns in contrast
to upland sites on PR/SFM.
She concludes that Cox Bar was associated with the
PR/SFM assemblages and coined the term “Trinity Aspect” of the Borax Lake Pattern as
indicative of Hokan speaking people inhabiting the Trinity River watershed (1993:15).
In the same year Sundahl and Henn (1993) published an overview of the Borax Lake
Pattern across northern California. They concur with Hildebrandt and Hayes’ (1983)
definition of the stone tool assemblage and settlement/subsistence patterns, noting that
the same tool types are found in both areas and reporting only minimal variation between
the proportions of specific tools. This justified the collapse of both upland and lowland
materials subsuming under a single Trinity Aspect.
Basgall and Hildebrandt (1989) produced an overview of the northern Sacramento
Valley, just west of the Squaw Creek site.
Their theoretical premise was that
heterogeneity in archaeological assemblages through time is present between different
contexts, a premise similar to that taken in this research. Basgall and Hildebrandt (1989)
focus on diachronic variability in technology between cultural components. They model
their research on the premise that residential mobility is influenced both by cultural and
environmental factors.
Hildebrandt and Hayes’ (1984) adoption of Bettinger and
Baumhoff’s (1982) traveller-processor model of economic optimization was blended with
Binford’s (1980) forager and collector model by Basgall and Hildebrandt (1989:12),
noting their similarities and pointing out the importance of viewing the model as a
continuum of logistical behavior. Basgall and Hildebrandt (1989) synthesized many of
14
the same Borax Lake Pattern data employed in this study, as their own fieldwork
produced little evidence of early/middle Holocene archaeology.
As with previous
researchers, they were concerned with identifying and defining archaeological packages
in terms of technological and cultural shifts. Variability within the Borax Lake Pattern
was not their central concern; however, they saw minimal variability and a relatively
homogenous technology in reference to later archaeological patterns.
White and Fredrickson (1992) revisited and summarized Fredrickson’s early ideas
regarding northern and southern Aspects of the Borax Lake Pattern in their research
design for Anderson Flat in Lake County. They define the southern expression as the
Borax Lake Aspect and the northern expression as the Buck Rock Aspect, with the
northern points having a bifurcated stem and the southern variant a square stem. They
suggested Borax Lake Aspect was associated with large game hunting to the exclusion of
milling technologies and the Buck Rock Aspect incorporated both large game and milling
technologies. The final report on this project (White 2002) infers an earlier beginning of
the Borax Lake Aspect, 10,500-8000 BP relative to the Buck Rock Aspect, which begins
ca. 7,000 BP (White 2002:546). They suggest the Borax Lake Aspect was a lacustrine
adaptation and the Buck Rock Aspect an upland adaptation, reinforcing the forager
subsistence settlement strategy proposed by Hildebrandt for the Buck Rock variant.
Hildebrandt’s (2004, 2007) most recent treatments of the Borax Lake Pattern in
northern California clearly summarize early period technological adaptations as a
“foraging solution to subsistence-settlement organization” (2004:57), restating the idea
that the “The composition and homogeneity of the Borax Lake artifact assemblages,
15
however, appear to represent a “forager” approach to subsistence-settlement
organization” (Hildebrandt 2007:89). He reinforces the idea that little variation exists
between upland and lowland assemblages, interpreting this as a convergence of the
“complete social groups” (2004:57); residential moves were relatively frequent as
opposed to task specific activities of collectors (2007:89). Hildebrandt further reinforces
his argument by noting the lack of acorn processing tools as another indicator of
residential mobility (2004:57).
Current understanding of the Borax Lake Pattern has associated handstones,
milling slabs, cobble spalls, and serrated bifaces with the Widestem projectile point type
(Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983; Sundahl 1993; White 2002).
The technological
organization of the toolkit is thought to represent a residentially mobile montane
adaptation to specific environmental conditions with intensive use of high elevation areas
relative to subsequent archaeological patterns (Fredrickson 1973; Hildebrandt and Hayes
1983; West 1983; White 2002). In sum, these past studies have broken the Borax Lake
Pattern into several Aspects: Borax Lake, Buck Rock, Trinity and Squaw Creek.
Research Sites
Key ideas developed over the years regarding the Borax Lake Pattern in far
northern California have come from the analysis of three localities by two main
researchers, Sundahl and Hildebrandt.
The three localities comprise the five sites
analyzed for this research; this work is described in detail below.
The PR/SFM project was conducted over a period of several years, testing ten
high elevation sites along Pilot Ridge, Whiting Ridge, Last Chance Ridge and South Fork
16
Mountain.
The project was conducted as a mitigation measure for the eventual
construction of Forest Highway 1 in Humboldt and Trinity counties within Six Rivers
National Forest.
This project represents the most complete set of data from high
elevation sites in northwestern California and the conclusions presented by Hildebrandt
and Hayes (1983) have served as the seminal model of settlement/subsistence patterns in
upland settings within northern California. The project research design addressed issues
of mobility and cultural change within this upland setting, and field methods devised to
address serious issues of limited visibility given the dense vegetation.
Each of the ten sites was subject to intensive subsurface transect units followed by
further test excavations in areas of particular interest. Sites HUM-573, HUM-577 and
TRI-367 were dominated by Borax Lake Pattern assemblages, seven others contained late
and middle period assemblages. Descriptions of the localities and work performed at the
three Borax Lake Pattern sites are detailed below.
Sites HUM-573 is located at T3N/R5E in the SW ¼ of the SW ¼ of section 20;
(446100mE/4497350mN/Zone 10) and has a southwestern exposure. It is situated along
the crest of the southern end of Pilot Ridge, at the 4500 foot contour and above. Pilot
Rock, a prominent geological feature in the area, is less than one kilometer to the
northwest. Several seeps are present at the site and identified by hydrophytic plant
species. The vegetation of the site area is dominated by grasses and oaks.
A total of 30.5 cubic meters of soil was excavated at the site: 8.6 cubic meters
within transect units and 21.9 cubic meters within control units. Four transect lines, A-D,
were laid across the site and surface transect units placed in alternating two meter blocks
17
and excavated. Placement of the controlled excavation units was determined on the basis
of artifact density from the surface transect exposures. Two units were excavated at the
south end of Transect B, 10 units adjacent to and two along Transect C, and 14 next to
Transect D.
Using the Widestem projectile point as an indicator of the spatiotemporal
distribution of the Borax Lake occupation within the site, Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983)
argue for a relatively discrete Borax Lake component within units along these transects.
Exposures along Transect B produced four Widestem variants and no other projectile
points, 79% of the points from units associated with Transect D were Widestems, and
71% of the points from Transect C were Widestems. Transect D also exposed a house
floor feature, units in the center of which produced 89% of Widestem point types. The
floor has since been dated to 7,100 BP (Fitzgerald and Hildebrandt 2002). The floorrelated assemblage contains a variety of tool types in nearly every condition and appears
representative of upland residential technological organization during the early/middle
Holocene. The portion of the assemblage analyzed as part of this project comes from this
feature and associated units.
A second site HUM-577, is located in T3N/R1E in the NE ¼ of the SW ¼ of
section 29 (UTM 440350mE/4495300mN/Zone 10), 1.5 miles south of HUM-573. The
site is 154,000 square meters in area, and supports an open grassland, and white and
black oak woodlands interspersed with Douglas and white fir; a seasonal spring is the
closest water source.
18
Initial fieldwork at HUM-577 included four transects, A-D, 104 surface transect
units removing in 20.8 cubic meters of sediment. A total of ten excavation units removed
an additional 9.6 cubic meters of deposit. The northern third of the site, along Transect
A, was the focus of the excavation units, given its greater artifact density and the
presence of three Borax Lake Widestem and no other projectile points. Only two other
projectile point types were found at the site, a late prehistoric Gunther (Tulowat) barbed
and a large corner-notched expanding stem specimen towards the center of the deposit.
The expanding stem projectile point is attributed to the Middle period and was associated
with a preponderance of formed flake tools (Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983:15.11).
Obsidian hydration analysis of six specimens provided mixed results, two Grasshopper
Flat/Lost Iron Wells specimens producing late readings and the remaining samples
(Medicine Lake [n=3] and Spodue Mountain [n=1]) yielding early readings. No obsidian
came from the northern portion of the site.
Although Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983) define the northern portion of the site as
a single component Borax Lake Pattern locus, the surface assemblage may contain Late
and/or Middle period artifacts (1983:15.11). The obsidian analyses indicated that the
central third of the site includes artifacts attributable to both the Late and Middle periods.
Concerns about whether the surface assemblage was temporally discrete prompted this
author to analyze only the Borax Lake subsurface assemblage from the northern part of
the site below 10 centimeters.
Site HUM-367 is located four miles northeast of HUM-577, on the ridge of South
Fork Mountain with southeastern exposure. It is situated in the SW ¼ of the SW ¼ of
19
Section 11, T3N/R5E. Vegetation consists of an open fir forest with some sugar pine and
incense cedar trees. The nearest water sources are 200 meters down slope to the east and
west.
Four transect lines were laid across HUM-367: Transect A oriented east to west,
and Transects B and C running perpendicular to A on the north and south axes, and,
Transect D perpendicular to A on the north. There were 47 surface transect units totaling
9.4 cubic meters of excavation. A high density of Borax Lake artifacts was found along
Transect B, with artifact density also high on the western edge of Transect A. Four
exposures were excavated along Transect B and one along the western side of Transect
A. Initial excavations of the Transect A exposure suggests that the subsurface tool stone
assemblage was similar to that of the house floor at HUM-573 and efforts were redoubled
at the locus (Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983:8.3). Results of the excavations revealed that
the Transect A exposure bisected a clean Borax Lake deposit, particularly below 40 cm
(Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983:8.13). Both the assemblage constituents and obsidian
hydration analysis corroborate this view and one another. Obsidian studies revealed a
cluster of early readings below 40 cm; 3.0-4.2 microns on Grasshopper Flat/Lost Iron
Wells glass (Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983:8.13).
The authors concluded the early
assemblage in this exposure was overlain by a later assemblage, and the deposit mixed to
40 cm. For the purposes of this research, only materials below 40 cm were analyzed.
Finally, TRI-1008 is located in T33N/R12W in the SE ¼ of the NW ¼ of Section
5. It sits 34 meters above the Trinity River at its confluence with Price Creek in Trinity
County and has a southeastern exposure.
On-site vegetation is comprised of open
20
grassland and oak woodland with interspersed grey pine. The nearest water sources are
Price Creek and the Trinity River.
Investigations at this site were conducted for the expansion of the elementary
school that now sits atop the deposit. Initial fieldwork began in 1986 and additional
excavations were conducted in 1987. Four 1x1m units were opened in 1986 removing
about 2.0 m3 of sediment. In 1987, three 0.5 x 0.5 m units excavated in January removed
approximately 1.5 m3 and in April of the same year eleven 1x1 m units were dug totaling
6.5 m3. Artifacts were also recovered from a backhoe trench within the area of direct
impact. All projectile points from the site are dart or spear points; surface deposits 20 to
30 cm were mixed with historic era debris but no late prehistoric materials.
Obsidian analysis at TRI-1008 produced no readings below 2.6 microns and as
large as 9.9 microns on Grasshopper Flat/Lost Iron Wells glass, with a strong grouping
between 4.0 and 7.0 microns (Sundahl 1988:47). Correlating these measurements to
calendric age estimates, Sundahl comfortably dates the site to 4,000-8,000 BP and
assigns it to the Borax Lake Pattern (Sundahl 1988:97). The differences in raw material
at SHA-475 and similarities between this assemblage and those at Pilot Ridge/South Fork
Mountain justify Sundahl’s proposal of the Trinity Aspect using TRI-1008 as the type
site.
Analysis of materials from TRI-1008 for this research included a sample from all
levels and excavated portions of the site. The lack of late period artifacts and consistently
large obsidian hydration readings justify the inclusion of the surface materials. Historic
era artifacts were not analyzed.
21
The Squaw Creek site, SHA-475, defines the Aspect of the same name. It is
located 25 miles northeast of Redding on the banks of Squaw Creek, a tributary of the Pit
River in Shasta County and has southeastern exposure. Fieldwork was conducted by
Shasta Junior College between 1971 and 1982, with the basal strata reflecting the Borax
Lake Pattern (Clewett and Sundahl 1983). Less clear however, are the exact contexts that
contained clean Borax Lake Pattern materials. Thus, a wide net was cast during the
initial analysis, including strata that contain large contracting-stem, bifurcate stemmed,
square stemmed, and expanding stemmed projectile points.
Clewett and Sundahl believe the Squaw Creek Contracting-stem type is distinct
from the Borax Lake Pattern although spatially associated with expanding, bifurcate, and
square stem points (1983:30-34). Their assessments of the morphological attributes of
the Squaw Creek points and the distribution of the type are supported by this analysis and
these points excluded from further study.
The expanding stem variety is more difficult to differentiate on morphological
grounds. Original analysis of this type resulted in an unclear understanding of the
separation between expanding and square stem point types.
Clewett and Sundahl
(1983:34) believed there was morphological continuum of this type within the Borax
Lake Pattern. There appear to be discrepancies between the initial analysis and this
research. Types referred to by Clewett and Sundahl as medium and large expanding stem
points (types 10 and 12) are differentiated into expanding and bifurcate stem forms for
this study.
22
Square and bifurcate stemmed points are comingled throughout the units
analyzed. Removal of levels associated with expanding stem points also excluded much
of the ground stone from the SHA-475 collection. The dramatic increase in ground stone
associated with expanding stem points may be associated with an increase in vegetal
resources at the close of the Altithermal.
Further research may reveal a stronger relationship between the expanding stem
projectile points at SHA-475 and climate change, but it seems clear that these points and
associated artifacts are not part of the Borax Lake Pattern. It is, however, worth noting
that Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983:15.11) describe an expanding stem projectile point
being associated with a dramatic increase in formed flake tools and indicative of a Middle
period occupation on Pilot Ridge/ South Fork Mountain assemblages. To keep the data
from SHA-475 limited to the Borax Lake Pattern technologies, the contracting-stem and
expanding stem points and associated artifacts are not included in the current analysis.
23
Chapter 3
ECOLOGICAL SETTING
Introduction
The purpose of this thesis is to understand land use patterns of early/middle
Holocene people in northern California. The resources available to these people most
certainly played an integral role in molding those patterns. That set of resources was, in
turn, determined by climatic conditions. With this in mind, regional climatic, vegetation,
and hydrologic data for the early through early/middle Holocene are compiled to assess
the paleoecology of the project area and its effects on human behavior. The first part of
this chapter provides a cursory overview of regional geology, topography, hydrology,
vegetation, and modern climate. The local ecology is then described to set the stage for
reconstructing the land-use patterns during the early/middle Holocene. A clear change in
ecological conditions over time provided very different resources today than during
earlier eras. Global and regional paleoecology has been well studied and serves as proxy
for local conditions.
Local paleoecological conditions are described and resources
identified at the close of the chapter.
Contemporary Ecology
The ecological diversity in California is considered among of the most complex in
the world (CALVEG 2009).
The vegetation and geology of northern California
incorporate the Pacific Northwest temperate rainforest and Cascadia Subduction Zone;
the redwood forest, the Sacramento Valley, and San Andreas Fault; the Cascade and
24
Klamath Mountain Ranges; and the Great Basin and northern end of the Sierra Nevada.
The project area falls within two distinct ecological regions as defined by the USDA
Forest Service: the Klamath Mountain (KM) and Northern California Coast Range
(NCCR) (CALVEG2009) (figure 1).
Figure 1 Ecological Zones As Defined By CalVeg 2009
The project area straddles several environmental regions.
Contemporary micro-
climates vary from mild coastal summers to the extreme heat of the northern Sacramento
Valley and from the heavy winter rains in the North Coast Range to the heavy snowfall of
the Trinity Alps and Mount Shasta.
25
The Northern California Coast Range (NCCR) ecological region consists of the
interior part of the northern California Coast Ranges, north of the Carquinez Straight
(CALVEG 2009). Marine air moderates winter and summer temperatures, but the NCCR
is far enough from the coast that oceanic effects are greatly diminished (CALVEG 2009).
Elevation ranges from 300 to 8100 feet, and rainfall averages from 25 to 120 inches per
year, with an average temperature range between 35 and 60o F (CALVEG 2009). The
geomorphology of the NCCR is characterized by parallel ranges, folded, faulted,
metamorphosed strata, and rounded crests of sub-equal height. The lithology is Late
Mesozoic eugeosynclinal rocks of the Franciscan Formation and Mesozoic Ultramafic
and Cenozoic volcanic rocks (USGS 2009).
The predominant NCCR native vegetation includes Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga
menziesii), tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus), blue oak (Quercus douglasii), white oak
(Quercus Garryana), chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), prairie grass, mixed conifers and
white fir (Abies concolor); the mammals of the NCCR include black tailed deer
(Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), black bear (Ursus americanus), mountain lion
(Puma concolor), coyote (Canis latrans), bobcat (Lynx rufus), ringtail (Bassariscus
astutus), hares/rabbit (Lepus Sylvilagus sp.), Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti),
martin (Martes americana) and fisher (Martes pennanti) with Tule elk (Cervus
canadensis nannodes) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) added in the southern
portions of the area. The rivers and lakes support various anadromous fish runs and
resident freshwater species; with important avian species including eagles (Accipitridae
sp.), hawks (Accipitridae sp.), owls (Strigiformes), herons (Ardeidae), osprey (Pandion
26
haliaetus), woodpeckers (Melanerpes sp.), grassland fowl (Phasianinae sp.), and
waterfowl (Anatidae sp.) (CALVEG 2009).
The Klamath Mountain (KM) ecological region reflects a unique ecological
section between the southern Cascade Mountains and Coast Range, its southern limit
coinciding with the northern end of the Great Valley (CALVEG 2009). The elevation of
the KM section varies between 200 and 9,000 feet, with an average precipitation between
18 and 120 inches per year, and a mean temperature between 30o and 57o F (CALVEG
2009).
The geomorphology is an uplifted and dissected peneplain on strong rocks;
mountains in this section have accordant or sub-equal summits and are generally, but not
consistently, aligned north to south (USGS 2009). Elevations of sequential summits
increase from west to east as far as the Eastern Klamath Belt where this trend continues
eastward only on the Trinity Ultramafic Sheet. The lithology of the KM section is
dominated by Paleozoic sedimentary, and volcanic rocks, and Mesozoic Ultramafic,
granitic, sedimentary and volcanic formations (USGS 2009).
Native vegetation in the KM section include Douglas-fir, tanoak, Jeffrey pine
(Pinus jeffreyi), mixed conifers, white fir, ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Canyon
live oak (Quercus chrysolepis), Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana), mixed chaparral
shrub lands, red fir (Abies magnifica) and mixed sub-alpine forests.
Specific
environmental conditions allow for native sedge (Cyperaceae sp.), bulrush (Scirpus sp.),
cattail (Typha sp.), bur-reeds (Sparganium sp.), creeping fescue (Festuca rubra),
duckweed (Lemnoideae), fescue (Festuca sp.), and open alpine meadows. Mammals
27
native to the KM section include Roosevelt Elk, black-tail deer, black bear, mountain
lion, coyote, bobcat, ringtail, martin, fisher, and river otter (Lontra canadensis). Avian
species include eagles, hawks, owls, peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), osprey and
ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). The rivers harbor anadromous fish runs and both lakes
and rivers contain various native freshwater species (CALVEG 2009).
Paleoecology
It is well understood that environmental conditions affect the subsistence
strategies of prehistoric hunter-gatherers and contemporary society alike. It is also clear
that climatic conditions have changed over time, producing varied ecological conditions
in discrete geographic regions during different periods. It is possible to assess climate
and ecological change on the millennial scale over broad regions, and at the multicentennial scale in specific locations.
Global Paleoclimate
Overall, the climate of the northern Hemisphere became warmer between 10,000 and
4,000 BP, albeit variable over time and space. These climatic changes are believed to be
the result of orbital forcing, with the tilt of the earth’s axis greater during the early to
middle Holocene resulting in a change in the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth
from10,000-5,000 BP (NOAA 2005; Whitlock 1992:16).
The orbital change and
increased solar radiation can be detected via astronomical calculations found within
Milankovitch theory and are supported by paleoclimatic data (NOAA 2005).
28
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) notes that during
this period summer temperatures rose at different times in different areas of the northern
hemisphere and that winter temperatures were, on average, colder than those of today
(NOAA 2005; Whitlock 1992). The early/middle Holocene climate of the Americas was
characterized by a two degree Celsius temperature increase (Diffenbaugh and Sloan
2004), greater seasonality (Delcourt and Delcourt 1993), and monsoonal change
(Harrison et al. 2003). South America exhibited a drier climate, Central America and the
American Southwest became wetter, and North America became generally drier
(Harrison et al. 2003; Thompson and Anderson 2000).
Regional Paleoecology
The early/middle Holocene paleoclimate of the Pacific Northwest was warmer
and drier during summer and colder and drier during winter months (Anderson 1990;
Benson et al. 2002, Sweeney et al. 2004; Thompson and Anderson 2000; Wanket 2002;
Whitlock 1992). Various researchers in the region employ data from a wide range of
sources. Whitlock (1992) synthesizes data from existing sources, drawing heavily on
vegetation data from British Columbia, Washington state, Idaho, and Oregon. Climate
change decreased effective moisture by 40-50% and increased temperature 1-30 C relative
to modern conditions in the Pacific Northwest (Whitlock 1992:16). Her assessment calls
for a three kilometer northward shift of xerophytic vegetation communities in this region
(Whitlock 1992:15-18) and, based on charcoal densities, an increase in fire frequency
between 9,500-6,000 BP (Whitlock 1992:16, 20).
The resulting ecosystem was a
29
coniferous forest with an increased number of early succession species and more forest
openings than the conifer forests of today (Whitlock 1992:16, 20).
Sweeney et al. (2004) investigated the Mazama tephra, dating to 7,600 BP, on the
Columbia River in northeast Oregon. He found the tephra imbedded in dune sands which
suggests increased wind velocities and/or a decrease in soil moisture (Sweeney et al.
2004:71).
Thompson and Anderson (2000) reconstruct biomes in North America through a
synthesis of pollen and pack rat midden data. Their assessment of the American
northwest indicates a warmer and drier climate at 6,000 BP (Thompson and Anderson
2000:576).
While substantially east of the project area, Laird et al. (1996) compilation of lake
level data from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North and South Dakota,
emphasizes the regional pattern of a warm and dry period from 8,000-5,000 BP. Notably,
the northern Plains region experienced a shift from woodland to an open prairie between
the late Pleistocene and early/middle Holocene as evidenced at Elk Lake and Moon Lake
(Laird et al. 1996: 897-899) (table 1).
30
Age (BP)
0
Moon
Lake
North
Dakota
Medicine
South Dakota
Devils
North
Dakota
Elk
Minnesota
High salinity
Higher
salinity
High
salinity
Warm
moist
High stand
High lake
stand
Manitoba
Manitoba
High
salinity
Transition
Decreasing
salinity
High lake
stand
Increasing
lake stand
Low salinity
4000
Waldsea
Saskatchewan
Low water/
high salinity
High lake
stand
3000
Chappice
Alberta
high lake
stand
Lower
salinity
1000
2000
Ceylon
Saskatchewan
Gradually
increasing
lake stand
Low
salinity
Increasing
lake levels
Increasing
lake level
5000
Very low lake
stand
6000
High salinity/
low stand
Generally
warm, dry
Very
high
salinity
Dry lake
High
salinity/ low
lake stand
High
salinity
7000
Very high
salinity
Low to
high
salinity
transition
Very
high
salinity
High salinity
with periods
of desiccation
Warm with
fluctuating
dry and wet/
fluctuating
high lake
stands
Forest to
prairie
transition
8000
Relatively
cool,
moist
Fresh to
saline
transition
9000
Fresh to
low
salinity
transition
Fresh to saline
transition
Fresh
Fresh
10000
Spruce to
pine
transition
Cool
Fresh
Cold, dry
(Spruce)
Fresh
11000
Indicators
Large
fluctuations
Diatoms,
pollen
Diatoms,
pollen,
geotechemical
Diatoms
Lithology,
minerology
Pollen
Paleobotany,
minerology
Pollen,
lithology,
mineralogy
Table 1 Regional Palynological Data Adapted From Laird et al. 1996
Mineralogy,
18
O,
pigments
31
The northwestern Great Basin harbored a warmer drier climate as well. The
western Great Basin was at its hottest and driest 4,000-7,000 BP (Elston 1982:191; Frison
et al. 1976:33; Grayson 2000:86,).
Frison et al. (1976:55) look at the relative
intensification of buffalo and attributes relatively low use of the buffalo during the
early/middle Holocene to ecological conditions. His excavations show that bison form
changes, their intermediate form of the early/middle Holocene suggesting a warmer and
drier, constricted environment (Frison et al. 1976:55). Frison et al. (1976:55) portray the
archaeological deposit at the Hawken site as an oasis that relatively small herds of bison
visited on a regular basis. He further suggests that the early/middle Holocene climate of
the northwest Plains and adjacent areas were not favorable for propagation of bison herds
(Frison et al. 1976:55).
Grayson (2000:86) looks at the mammalian fauna from
Homestead Cave site in the northern Great Basin. The Homestead Cave results clearly
indicate a warm and dry period 8,000-5,000 BP (Grayson 2000:85-86).
The Sierra Nevada Range was also warmer and drier during the early to
early/middle Holocene (Anderson 1990; Benson et al. 2002). Benson et al. (2002) draws
data from an assessment of O18 and CaCO3 precipitation rates and changes in magnetic
susceptibility values at Pyramid Lake, the Truckee River, and Owens Lake. His research
reveals low stands from 8,000-3,000 BP, indicating that these bodies of water became
shallow from 8,000-6,500 BP and between 6,500-3,800 BP Owens Lake fully desiccated,
Lake Tahoe stopped flowing into the Truckee River, and Pyramid Lake lowered (Benson,
2002:659-682). According to Benson et al. (2002:680) this evidence reflects a 3-50
Celsius temperature increase and a precipitation decrease of greater than 30 percent.
32
Anderson (1990) assesses pollen and plant macrofossil data from Tioga Pass
pond, Starkweather pond and Barrett Lake in high altitude settings of the southern Sierra
Nevada Mountains. These data suggest a warmer climate with less effective moisture
between 9,000-5,500 BP. The climate in the Sierra Nevada range during this period
produced lower lake levels and more open grasslands relative to contemporary conditions
(Anderson 1990:483-485). This relates the Sierra Nevada range to the climatic patterns
of the Pacific Northwest region (Anderson 1990:486). Anderson (1990:486) concludes
that these climatic and ecological conditions occurred and ended earlier in the southern
Sierra Nevada relative to the Pacific Northwest.
The southern North Coast Range and central California regions were warmer and
drier during the early/middle Holocene (Jones 1992:3-6; Mikkelsen et al. 2000:10; White
2002:26). The immediate coastal portion of northwest California is characterized by
maritime climatic conditions, wet winters and foggy summers.
Diffenbaugh et al.
(2003:7) note that the California Current (CC) during the early/middle Holocene,
specifically the northern California region, was characterized by decreased coastal
upwelling. Decreased coastal upwelling is linked to a decrease in coastal fog. Using
fossil Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) data from northern California and southern
Oregon, Diffenbaugh et al. (2003:6) note a shrinking of the geographic range of the
coastal redwood forests during the early/middle Holocene. The drier environments
between major water sources such as primary rivers would have become less conducive
to coastal redwoods as upwelling and effective moisture in the form of fog decreased
33
(Diffenbaugh et al. 2003:5). The retreat of the Redwood forest would, in turn, have
released more acreage to coastal prairies and oak woodlands.
Decreased effective moisture and an increased frequency of fire during the
early/middle Holocene would have had the effect of expanding prairies and early
succession species such as Tan Oak. This pattern is seen in the Puget Sound region
(Whitlock 1992:15-16), the northern California Redwood forests (Diffenbaugh et al.
2003), the Sierra Nevada (Anderson 1990; Benson et al. 2002), and the southern North
Coast Ranges (White 2002), setting precedent for the expansion of open prairie, oak
woodland and generally xerophytic species in this assessment.
Project Area Paleoecology
Available environmental data from the project area indicate a warmer, drier
period during the early/middle Holocene (Huberland 1988; Simons et al. 1985; Simons
and Meyer 2001; Wake and Simons 2000; Wanket 2002; West 1984, 1993, 2000). The
immediate study area is represented by four studies presented in three works by West
(1984, 1988 and 1993) and one by Wanket (2002). West (1984, 1988, and 1993)
provides pollen data collected and analyzed specifically addressing the archaeological
sites on Pilot Ridge and on the Trinity River. Wanket (2002) assesses pollen data
gathered in the Siskiyou Mountains.
West calls for a warmer/drier climate between 9,500-3,500 BP (1988:26-27),
citing an increase in oak and associated species, a westward migration of Douglas-fir
forests and a northwest and northerly expansion of oak woodlands. Inland scenarios
indicate a maximum spread of oak chaparral communities (Simons and Meyer 2001;
34
West 1984, 1993). Accompanying an expansion of various species of oak, was the
spread of associated grassland species and early successional species associated with an
increase in fire frequency (Whitlock 1992). West’s (1984:3.17-3.38) data from a small
marsh on Pilot Ridge span the last 5,000 years and indicates a warmer and drier
environment; contemporary Douglas-fir forests contract, oak woodland spreads, and there
is an increase in the frequency and possibly intensity of fires.
Wanket (2002) provides data from Twin Lake spanning the past 20,000 years. It
confirms a warm dry period during the early/middle Holocene, as well as an increase in
pine and oak and the number of forest canopy openings (Wanket 2002:151, 159-161). A
dramatic increase in charcoal during the early/middle Holocene is interpreted as a change
in forest composition and an increase in fire (Wanket 2002:149). This evidence is
consistent with the data from surrounding contexts (Anderson 1990; Benson et al. 2002;
Thomson and Anderson 2000; Whitlock 1992; among others) (table 2).
35
Age
(yr
BP)
South
Fork
Mountain
(West
1990)
Northwest
California
Douglasfir, pine
and oak
5000
Pine and
oak forest
Twin Lake
(Wanket
2002)
Northwest
California
Closed
Douglasfir, Port
Orford
cedar,
giant
chinquapin
and sugar
pine forest
Bolan
Lake
(Briles
and
Whitlock
2002)
Northwest
California
Campbell
Lake
(Miller et
al., 1976)
Crater
Lake
(Mohr et
al., 2000)
Northwest
California
Bluff
Lake
(Mohr et
al., 2000)
Northwest
California
Fir and
Douglasfir forest
Fir and
Spruce
forest
Fir and
oak
forest
Pine, oak
and fir
forest
Pine, oak
and fir
forest
Cedar
Lake
(West
1990)
Northern
California
Santa
Barbara
basin
(Heusser
1983)
Southwest
California
Pine, fir
and
Douglasfir forest
Oak
woodland
Open fir
forest
10000
Open pine,
Port
Orford
cedar and
Douglasfir forest
Open
pine, Port
Orford
cedar, oak
and red
alder
forest
Fir and
alder
forest
Fir and
oak
forest
Pine, oak
and
juniper
forest
Pine, oak
and
juniper
forest
Clear
Lake
(Adam
1967)
Northern
California
Oak, pine
and
incense
cedar
forest
Pine and
juniper or
Port
Orford
cedar
forest
Pine and
oak
woodland
Little
Lake
(Worona
and
Whitlock
1995)
Oregon
Coast
Douglasfir,
western
hemlock
and
western
red cedar
forest
Carp Lake
(Whitlock
and
Bartlein
1997)
Washington
State
Ponderosa
pine and
Douglas-fir
forest
Fir and
Spruce
forest
Open
pine,
Port
Orford
cedar,
oak and
red alder
forest
Ponderosa
pine and
oak
woodland
Table 2 Compilation of Paleoclimate Data (adapted from Wanket 2002)
In which case, one can assume an increase in forest canopy openings, fire and
grasslands as well as an increase in oak woodlands wherever those species exist today in
the project area. Changes in the ecology of the project area produced a different range of
subsistence resources and Frison et al’s. (1976) assessment of bison set the precedent for
the tethering of large game herds to reliable water sources during the early/middle
Holocene. This unique ecology influenced the subsistence behavior of people between
10,000 and 4,000 BP.
Using a contemporary ecological baseline, the paleoecology is reconstructed in
terms of its effects on subsistence resources. Given that the project area is surrounded by
a warmer and drier environment, and data from within the area of interest suggests the
36
same conditions, there is every reason to believe that the early/middle Holocene climate
in the project area was warmer and drier than contemporary conditions. The change in
temperature was likely on the order of one to three degrees Celsius (1.8o - 5.4o
Fahrenheit) and the change in effective moisture was on the order of a 40-50 percent
decrease. This increased frequency of fire, diversity of plant species, and xerophytic
plant communities. Coupled with the change in coastal upwelling and less fog (Whitlock
1992:12, 16, 20, Diffenbaugh et al. 2003, West 1988), those plants that require less
effective moisture flourished within the project area during the early/middle Holocene
(West 1984, 1988; Wanket 2002). Palynological data reveal that the oaks, grasses,
chamise, pine, chaparral and tan oak increased their range to the expense of the firs and
mixed conifers; Whitlock (1992) estimates a three kilometer spread of xerophytic species
within the Pacific Northwest. Overlaying a three kilometer buffer around these taxa and
correlated against existing vegetation types produces a map of the early/middle Holocene
xerophytic species expansion (figure 2).
37
Figure 2 Three Kilometer Mid Holocene Xerophytic Species Expansion
Implications
The net result of the aforementioned changes is an increase in fringe forest open
grasslands, oaks and early succession species.
The main resources available to
early/middle Holocene people would have been nuts, hard seeds, and other vegetal
products from the prairies and oak woodlands. An expanded prairie environment acted
not only as an attractive vegetal resource base for people, but was just as attractive to
other mammalian species.
38
Grouse, quail and pigeons would have been plentiful in the expanded grasslands;
rabbits, squirrels and deer would have also flourished within the expanded xerophytic
vegetation. Prairies also harbored vast herds of Roosevelt Elk during the historic period
(Winter and Heffner 1979). The early/middle Holocene climatic conditions would have
been optimal habitat for such animals. Their preferred habitat is prairie adjacent to forest
communities (Lemos 1971). The animals seldom venture more than 400 meters from
water and use the forest to escape the warmth of summer (Mandel 1979). Frison et al’s
(1976) assessment of bison and Mandel’s (1979) research both imply that elk herds were
probably tethered reliable water sources during the early/middle Holocene.
That
Roosevelt elk have a very limited range and may have never seen terrain outside this
range (McCoy 1986), makes them a reliable subsistence resource. The boundary between
forest and prairie provides prime deer and elk habitat.
The increase in prairie
environment during the early/middle Holocene means that these animals could have
existed in their highest population densities during the early/middle Holocene; the
carrying capacity was certainly at an optimum within the NCCR and KM ecological
region and their availability spanned most of the year (table 3).
Seasonal Availability of Fish and Mammal Resources
January February March
April
May
June
July
August September October November December
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Salmon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Grouse XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Quail
………………………………………………………xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Pigeons ………………………………………………………xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rabbits XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Squirrels …………………………………………….xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxx………………..
Deer
…………………………………………….xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxx………………..
Elk
…………………………………………….xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxx………………..
Table 3 Seasonal Availability of Fish and Mammalian Resources
39
Kowta (1988) provides a regional overview from the perspective of northeastern
California, noting a change in the range of elk and pronghorn antelope coinciding with
the Altithermal and Borax Lake Pattern. Elk had less available water in this region
which, coupled with a shortened season of grassland productivity, effectively reducing
their range in northeastern California.
The availability of high ranked antelope is an interesting topic; these animals have
substantially different requirements than elk.
They feed on forbs, shrubs, grasses,
juniper, Chemise and sometimes cacti (Schemnitz 1994). Pronghorns thrive in mixed
grasslands and sagebrush, preferring rolling, open, expansive terrain at elevations of 3000
to 6000 feet (Hygnstrom 1994). The highest population densities are in areas receiving
an average of 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 cm) of precipitation annually, but they require
reliable water sources and are never more than four miles from water (Schemnitz 1994;
Hygnstrom 1994).
Pronghorns sometimes migrate between their summer and winter
ranges (Royo 1999), living alone or in small bands during summer and forming large
herds in winter (Royo 1999; Hutchins 1999). In the spring, females give birth to one or
two young (Schemnitz 1994). The distribution of antelope in the Cascade Range would
have increased during the early/middle Holocene. Their herding behavior during the
winter and spring calving season would have made these the easiest times to hunt
pronghorn, while smaller late spring/summer groups difficult to hunt.
The combination of ample plant and animal resources in the same environment
was probably the focus of intensive use by early/middle Holocene people. The vegetal
resources of the NCCR and KM ecological regions of the early/middle Holocene would
40
have also been available most of the year, in one form or another.
The resource
composition of the prairie and oak woodland environment would have peak availability
during late spring and early fall. Bulbs would peak in late spring and their leaves were
favored during early spring, nuts and berries are at their zenith during the fall and mid-tolate summer would have seen peak hard seed production. Winter would have seen the
least productivity within the ecological region (table 4).
Greens and Shoots
Bulbs, Corms, Roots
Grass Seeds
Manzanita Berries
Other Fruits and Berries
Pine Nuts
Hazel Nuts
California Laurel Nuts
Chinquapin Nuts
Buckeye Nuts
Acorns
Madrone Berries
Salmon
Other Fish
Grouse
Quail
Pigeons
Rabbits
Squirrels
Deer
Elk
Pronghorn
Seasonal Availability of Fish, Mammal and Plant Resources
January February March April
May
June
July
August September October November December
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
………………….XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxx…………………………..
………………XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
xxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxx
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
xxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
………………………………………………………xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…………….
………………………………………………………xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
…………………………………………….xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxx………………..
…………………………………………….xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxx………………..
…………………………………………….xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxx………………..
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx……………………………………………XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Table 4 Seasonal Availability of Fish, Mammalian and Plant Resources
Site Catchments
Implications for the study area during the early/middle Holocene are outlined,
defining specific catchment radii around the five locations and by extension the principal
draws of the catchments and their associated technologies. In defining the resource
catchments of the three localities a simple 10 kilometer circle was drawn around each of
41
the five sites. This results in a series of intersecting circles around the three upland sites
and single circles for the two lowland sites (figure 3).
Figure 3 Altithermal Site Catchments
The early/middle Holocene catchment SHA-475 reveals an expansion of mixed
and montane chaparral, whiteleaf manzanita and annual grasslands (figure 4).
42
Figure 4 SHA-475 Altithermal Site Catchment
Relative to the other two localities, the catchment around SHA-475 is
homogenous. Subsistence species include pine, manzanita and grassland. The mamalian
species of the region would have thrived,
Antelope habitat exists within the site
catchment in the form of wide open valleys and, expanded grassland and scrub manzanita
ecologies. The period of peak productivity at this site would have been late fall into
43
spring. Manzanita is by far the dominant species within the immediate area of the site.
These berries become available in late spring through mid summer. Pine nut is another
main resource that would have been available within the catchment, but was also
available in areas adjacent to the catchment along with more varied but also productive
resources. Root and shoot crops would have been available during the early spring.
Antelope herds gather during the fall through the winter and would have migrated to the
lower elevation grasslands during winter and browsed on the spring crop of manzanita
berries. Grouse would have been available through the winter and salmon would have
offered a tantalizing resource as Squaw Creek is part of the Sacramento River drainage
and would have, at least during the winter months, run past the site.
Conflict with more
productive areas harboring acorns, pine nuts, other nut crops, various avian and
mammalian species would have occurred in mid to late spring and lasted into late fall. A
heavy reliance at this site for pronghorn antelope, salmon, manzanita berries, and early
spring shoot and root crops during the winter months and into spring is the most likely
scenario.
Evidence of such a subsistence focus would manifest archaeologically by a
generalized toolkit. Pine nut, manzanita berries, and root crops utilize ground stone
technologies to some degree, but all can be eaten with minimal processing. The lack of
hard seed and acorn crops during winter months would produce a ground stone
assemblage indicative of incipient use. There was no need for durable or curated items,
and few well used and fragmented pieces would be expected in the archaeological
44
deposit. Ground stone should appear in the assemblage as a relatively unimportant class
of tools.
The antelope, salmon, deer, and smaller game require flaked stone technologies
but with the lack of salmon intensification coupled with a focus on pronghorn, one would
expect a generalized toolkit to manage a diversity of mammalian and avian species with a
focus on large game. Such a generalized toolkit would have effectively worked for any
prey encountered on an opportunistic basis during a winter occupation. The herding
behavior of pronghorn during the fall and winter and the availability of relatively easily
hunted calves and mothers during the early spring would lead one to expect a technology
suited to these animals: large and durable projectiles, processing and hide preparation
tools.
Overall the archaeological assemblage at SHA-475 would be expected to be
heavy in generalized but durable flaked stone tools relative to ground stone implements.
The latter would be generally incipient objects with little sign of intensive use wear due
to a heavy reliance on large mammals, birds and salmon.
The site catchment of TRI-1008 along the Trinity River would be expected to
reflect a similar technology, representing another lowland site but a relatively richer set
of vegetal resources is available in the catchment (figure 5).
45
Figure 5 TRI-1008 Site Catchment
Pine and madrone still play a strong role, but montane chaparral and oak species are also present
with a presence of grassland seed crops as well. This diversity of species provides opportunity
for a wider diversity of faunal resources and a longer season of resource availability. In effect,
the resource base at this site offers the opportunity for year-round habitation. There is no
question that the upland resource base has a richer, more diverse base including more favorable
summer habitat for elk herds. With this in mind, resource conflict would begin during the late
spring through fall and implies a winter habitation at this site.
46
Given that the resource base is relatively diverse when compared to SHA-475,
particularly with regard to the late fall availability of acorns, the archaeological
assemblage would be expected to contain a higher frequency of relatively well used
ground stone. Acorn processing is relatively intensive when compared to manzanita and
pine nuts and results in equipment with more apparent use wear. This intensive use
would result in both more durable, larger and thicker, implements and a higher frequency
of fragmentary items resulting from breakage.
The flaked stone assemblage would likely be comparable to that found at SHA475 with a focus on elk herds congregating in lowland areas to avoid the upland snow but
requiring a generalized form to take advantage of the variety of faunal resources. The
location of the site adjacent to the Trinity River would have provided winter run salmon
as was true with SHA-475.
Given similar circumstance to those at Squaw Creek, the TRI-1008 assemblage is
expected to contain a generalized, but durable flaked stone assemblage. Unlike Squaw
Creek, the ground stone assemblage should be better developed and contain a higher
frequency of fragmentary and well used specimens.
Finally, the upland complex of sites has a resource catchment that is both more
diverse and available for a seasonally longer period of time (figure 6).
47
Figure 6 CA-HUM-573, HUM-577 and HUM-367 Site Catchments
In addition to pine and manzanita upland habitats of the early/middle Holocene
harbored a variety of oaks, grasslands and madrone resulting in a complex mosaic of
subsistence resources. This setting provided a wide variety of vegetal resources for
humans and fauna alike. From the late spring through the late fall both plant and animal
resources would have been abundant.
This extended period of resource availability and rich diversity of resources
created an area amenable to sedentary residential habitation and collector-like behavior.
Resource conflict among different vegetal resources and between vegetal and faunal
resources would force systematic hunting and gathering patterns. Specialized task groups
were required to efficiently exploit this diversity. This would lead to a generalized, but
48
durable toolkit with the capability to procure and process a broad array of resources. The
ground stone assemblage would be well used, abundant, and contain a large proportion of
fragmentary items at sites that represent either specialized processing area or residential
bases and lacking at specialized hunting or other settlements.
The flaked stone
assemblage should resemble the ground stone pattern, but lack substantial numbers of
projectile points at seed and nut processing sites and be over represented at specialized
hunting camps.
On some level the assemblage at all of the study locations should be similar, with
upland area showing the greatest variability in functionally specialized sites and lowland
areas representing winter camps, lacking significant ground stone. The climate during
the early/middle Holocene would have favored intensive use of upland areas
characterized by a more diverse and complex ecosystem.
49
Chapter 4
THEORETICAL ORIENTATION AND ELABORATION OF PROBLEM
Introduction
This chapter presents the theoretical orientation and an elaboration of the problem
addressed with this thesis: what is the variability in technological organization between
five archaeological assemblages in the context of discrete environmental conditions? The
theoretical basis of this research follows from models of settlement mobility in relation to
variability in the technological organization of lithic material associated with distinct
ecological settings. The body of theory focused on technological organization recognizes
the presence of variability within the archaeological record and assumes that this
technological organization is indicative of various aspects of human behavior (Ascher
1968; Binford 1980; Bleed 1986; Nelson 1991; among others).
This chapter includes a
discussion of the various factors that influence technological organization and how it
applies to the research at hand; it provides an overview of this body of theory, an
examination of the assemblages at the three localities, and outlines predictions for the
outcomes of this research.
Theoretical Orientation
Hunter-gatherer variability was brought to the forefront of archaeological thought
by Lewis Binford: he describes variability in ethnographic hunter-gatherer groups as
ranging between foragers with high residential mobility and collectors with low
residential mobility (Binford 1980:5-13).
Foraging societies are represented by
50
subsistence systems in which the residential base moves frequently with a low number of
logistical forays.
Foragers map on to subsistence resources, seeking them out and
procuring them as encountered (Nelson and David 2001:228-234); the more readily
available and diverse these resources, the more generalized the toolkit.
Collector
strategies are at the opposite end of the spectrum representing a subsistence system
dominated by low residential mobility and a high degree of logistical organization. In
this type of system the residential base is relatively sedentary and portions of the
population are dedicated to procuring specific resources that are usually restricted either
spatially or seasonally; these are shared with the entire population (Binford 1980:10).
Subsistence strategies on the collector end of the spectrum are often associated with
storage, wealth accumulation, and social hierarchies (Nelson and David 2001:234-237).
The more restricted the resource base, both spatially and temporally, the more specialized
the tools become in order to efficiently assure procurement of restricted resources
(Binford 1980:17-19; Shott 1986:19-21). Technological organization is influenced by the
type of subsistence system being practiced and the environmental context in which that
system operates.
Specialized technological organization tends to favor a collector (logistical)
strategy while generalized organization tends to favor a foraging strategy (Binford
1980:13-16). The archaeological assemblage produced within each type of ecological
setting then reflects resource availability through a continuum of generalized through
specialized technological organization. The subtleties of this basic theory have produced
many different models testing factors such as reliability and maintainability, durability,
51
and curation versus expediency. The research is largely built on ethnographic data and,
through Middle Range Theory, tests patterns of tool diversity and variability against the
archaeological record.
Peter Bleed (1986) creates a continuum between reliable and maintainable
toolkits, describing the form and function of each. Bleed explores the engineering of
stone tools, identifying patterns of systematic manufacturing and use associated with
contemporary ethnographic social structure. Reliable systems rely on redundancy of
parts within multi-component systems that require specialized training in the production
of the components; maintainable systems rely on multi-purpose tools overdesigned for
their intended uses and maintainable by the user with relative ease (Bleed 1986:739-740).
The design of the toolkit speaks to subsistence strategy in relation to resource
availability; maintainable equipment is designed to optimally harvest a diversity of
resources at a moment’s notice with a relatively low failure cost (Bleed 1986:741).
Maintainable toolkits work best within Binford’s (1980) generalized or foraging systems.
Reliable toolkits are optimized when embedded in Binford’s (1980) specialized or
collector system with a heavy reliance on restricted resources (either spatially or
temporally) and a high cost of failure (Bleed 1986:741).
Bamforth (1986) assesses curation of tools through maintenance and recycling as
they relate both to settlement subsistence patterns and the availability of raw material.
Curation is contrasted with expediency along a continuum, curated tools being designed
for multiple tasks, maintained throughout their use life, and recycled into other tasks
when no longer effective for their primary design function (Bamforth 1986:38). He
52
argues that tool curation is a complex behavior influenced by many factors (Bamforth
1986:48), the key factors being subsistence practices and raw material availability. Raw
material access can be restricted not only geographically but by a group’s subsistence
behavior. For example, a conflict between a subsistence resource and travel to obtain raw
tool stone may make that raw material inaccessible (Bamforth 1986:49).
Through
preparation, recycling and maintaining their toolkit, the opportunity to replenish tools
may be passed by with little effect, but this necessitates the concept of curation be
imbedded in the social structure. That same geographic region may supply different
opportunities under different social conditions. Critical subsistence resource time stress
issues create relatively high costs associated with raw material access in societies
utilizing expedient technologies.
Curation plays less of a role under these parameters
and expedient technologies rely on relatively unfettered raw material access, tending to
favor the collector end of the spectrum with the residential base being somewhat tethered
to the source of raw material (Bamforth 1986:46-47). In his archaeological example from
California, Bamforth notes high levels of curation in early period sites and substantially
less curation in assemblages deposited by late period cultures (Bamforth 1986:47). In his
archaeological example from Texas, Bamforth notes statistically significant patterns of
curation based on distance to one of three raw material sources; the more distant the
source, the more maintenance and recycling seen in the tool (Bamforth 1986:48).
Bamforth concludes that classifications such as expedient and curated are
oversimplifications of a complex set of human behaviors but that these concepts are good
descriptors of technological behavior that should be utilized by the archaeologist to gain
53
insight into past human behavior (Bamforth 1986:49).
As with Binford’s
forager/collector continuum and many other things in life; it is not the extremes of a
continuum that provide insight into human behavior, rather the range of diversity and
variability along that continuum.
Brooke Blades (2003) looks at the reduction of end scrapers during the early
Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian and Perigordian periods of France. Reduction and retouch
intensity are regarded as a measure of tool use intensity at both the artifact and
assemblage scale and, in the context of technological organization, are utilized to address
models of curation and residential mobility (Blades 2003:142-143). She concludes that,
indeed, end scraper reduction intensities do reflect tool use intensities but the reasons for
this intensive use relates to the context of paleoecological conditions including the
resource base and distance to raw material (Blades 2003:154).
Margaret Nelson (1991) provides a broad view in the form of a tripartite system in
terms of expedient, curated, or opportunistic tool assemblages. In identifying variability
in archaeological assemblages, she produces another continuum related to Binford’s high
and low residential mobility model by relating curated tools to the forager end of the
spectrum and expedient toolkits to collectors (Nelson 1991:61-65). Much like Bamforth
(1986), she expects that expedient technologies require certitude of resource presence at a
specific and restricted time of the year. Planning for these resources involves stockpiling
and caching the appropriate tools and the time, or residential stability, to prepare for the
take. Curation anticipates the need for tools at locations, while expediency anticipates
the presence of raw material and time (Nelson 1991:66). The third type of assemblage,
54
representing opportunistic behavior, is created through a chance encounter with a
subsistence resource.
The toolkit may or may not be appropriate for the situation.
Therefore, moments of opportunity may call for innovative behavior to accomplish the
task and, unfortunately, produces a tool stone assemblage similar to that of an expedient
technology (Nelson 1991: 68).
Margaret Nelson’s (1991) synthesis of previous models pertaining to theories of
technological organization is comprehensive and informative. She looks at the dynamic
nature of the relationship between technology and environment, addresses models of
technological organization and analyzes their efficacy (Nelson 1991:57), structuring her
work following figure 7.
Environmental Conditions
Social and Economic Strategies
Technological Strategies
Design
Artifact Form
Activity Distribution
Artifact Distribution
Figure 7 Nelsons Model of Archaeological Deposition Adapted from Nelson 1991:59
55
In her discussion of social and economic strategies, Nelson constructs a definition
of strategy as adaptive response to a set of conditions including environment and social
structure (Nelson 1991:58). Not all human technology is designed to optimize resource
extraction; at some level social factors, such as group identifiers, influence design as well
(Nelson 1991:61-62). The tool assemblage does not determine human adaptation but is a
product of human adaptation, a strategy to deal with social and environmental
requirements (Nelson 1991:59-62).
She poses two questions: “Are there constraints to human adaptation?” and “Do
people strive to optimize their time, energy and materials?” (Nelson 1991:61).
The
environment, technological knowledge and social interaction serve to constrain human
adaptation; while optimization is defined as people making appropriate decisions
regarding problems of adaptation resulting in solutions that depend on expectations of
future conditions (Nelson 1991:61). If optimization is important to the social group, then
models of optimization will work to define the archaeological assemblage; if it is not, if
optimization was relatively unimportant to the social group, then these optimality models
will not work (Nelson 1991:61).
Frequent residential movement between diverse resource areas requires
technologies general enough to harvest these diverse resources; a multitude of specialized
tools designed to harvest diverse resources is theoretically less efficient if embedded in a
residentially mobile settlement system due to their high transport costs. A lack of
variability between archaeological assemblages within discrete ecological settings would
further substantiate the idea that people using a residentially mobile settlement system
56
had deposited the artifacts. At some point, when resources become limited spatially
and/or conflict temporally, it becomes more efficient to bring the resources back to the
residential base as opposed to bringing the residential base to the resources (Binford
1980:15). These logistical collector systems result in deposits that are highly variable as
special use sites contain only those artifacts necessary to accomplish a specific task. The
variability between archaeological assemblages increases in response to the degree of
specialization required on logistical forays designed to take distinct resources with
limited availability either spatially or seasonally. To empirically assess the variability of
technological organization, quantitative measures of each variable are required (Shott
1986:21).
Elaboration of Problem
The purpose of this study is to understand the way people used the landscape of
northern California during the early/middle Holocene through the analysis of
archaeological assemblages. The variability or inter-assemblage artifact diversity found
in archaeological deposits speaks to the function of individual sites and, on a regional
scale, the use of the landscape as the technological organization of a settlement system
changes to accommodate efficient function of stone tools within a given set of ecological
conditions (Schott 1986:16). The technological organization of the Borax Lake Pattern
toolkit is thought represent a residentially mobile montane adaptation to specific
environmental conditions (Fredrickson 1973; Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983; West 1983;
White 2002). Sundahl and Henn (1993) and Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983) see no
substantial variability between either the tool assemblages of the Trinity and Squaw
57
Creek Aspects, Sundahl basing the division largely on raw toolstone availability, obsidian
as opposed to chert; or between the Pilot Ridge complex and Cox Bar site. The premise
presented here is that the Borax Lake Pattern within far northern California represents a
residentially mobile subsistence system on the forager end of the spectrum but, contrary
to contemporary regional settlement models (i.e., Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983, Sundahl
1988), there is variability in technological organization in response to varying ecological
conditions representing unique subsistence strategies.
The people of the early/middle Holocene had a distinct set of ecological
conditions when contrasted with the terminal Pleistocene and the late Holocene. While
environmental factors do not dictate man’s behavior, vegetative and faunal changes
certainly influence technologic responses (White 2002:112).
The diversity and
variability of technological organization within and between assemblages speaks to the
behavior of people adapting to their environment. A change should be detectable in the
tool stone assemblage as form adapts to function within a more efficient use of a unique
environment. The early/middle Holocene assemblages of northern California contain
artifacts specifically adapted to maximize resource procurement within a specific
environmental range centered on discrete ecological circumstances.
The above paleoecological assessment indicates four consistent patterns: an
increase is grasslands/oak woodlands, an increase in fire frequency, warmer conditions
during the summer months, and drier conditions throughout the year. The complexity of
the ecological contexts within the project area is relatively consistent over the bulk of the
Holocene with a reduction in complexity during the Pleistocene, early Holocene and, to a
58
lesser degree, during the past century. Resource diversity was at an apex during the
early/middle Holocene, particularly in the uplands. The effects of a complex ecological
system within the cultural context is to generalize the toolkit overall (Binford 1980; Shott
1986). With a residentially mobile subsistence system, one would expect a generalized
technological organization. If this is the case, the sites within the project area should
contain similar toolkits and there should not be evidence of specific use areas in the form
of specialized assemblages.
Model Predictions
Interpreting variability between archaeological assemblages through diversity
requires an understanding of certain key factors; tool form and function, and raw material
and subsistence resource availability (Blades 2003:154). Measures of these factors have
been well tested and include studies of curation versus expediency (Binford 1980; Shott
1986), reliability versus maintainability (Bleed 1986), and determining levels of curation
through measuring maintenance and recycling (Bamforth 1986).
Determining
assemblage diversity through lithic analyses allows for an understanding of the variability
between given archaeological assemblages; while assemblage analysis within the context
of the ecology of the study area allows for an understanding of the reasons for the
variability. Together these analyses provide insight into how people used the landscape
at any given point in time.
To empirically assess the variability of technological
organization, quantitative measures of each variable are required (Shott 1986:21).
The five sites considered in this study represent upland and lowland assemblages,
three assemblages from high elevation sites on Pilot Ridge and South Fork Mountain in
59
northwest California, an assemblage from Cox Bar on the Trinity River, and the
collection from the Squaw Creek site in northeastern California. While syntheses of data
from these sites have been published by both Hildebrandt and Sundahl, the collections
have not been analyzed in a single study until now.
This research randomly selected and analyzed portions of existing assemblages
from relatively equivalent volumes of deposit excavated from Borax Lake Pattern sites.
This model utilizes key metric analyses of flaked and ground stone materials to determine
what variation exists between five sites at three localities within two distinct ecological
zones, and describes how this variation speaks to subsistence and settlement patterns.
Key markers of the Borax Lake Pattern assemblage include handstones, milling slabs,
cobble spalls, small serrated bifaces and the Widestem projectile point type (Hildebrandt
and Hayes 1983; Sundahl 1993; White 2002). These artifact classes were selected for
analysis as well as debitage and flake tools. Within this subset of artifacts, measurements
of use wear, retouch, recycling and others indicative of curation were defined and tested.
This process led to the development of a simple measure of curation, the
Thickness Curation Index (TCI). This measurement attempted to incorporate several
measurements sensitive to curation behavior into a single index that would provide a
linear indicator of expedient to curatorial behavior: width multiplied by length then
divided by thickness. Multiple tests were run on available collections of late and early
period projectile points with a high degree of success. In hindsight, this was an obvious
success as dart points were being contrasted with arrow points, functionally the arrow
point must have less volume and would inevitably occupy one end of the spectrum; in
60
dividing the surface area by thickness the numbers became muted due to the arrow points
being consistently thinner and the dart points being thicker, the larger surface area of the
darts were divided by a larger thickness and vice versa.
Fortunately, all other measurements, detailed in chapter 5, were also designed to
measure curation and the detail of the measurements, including macroscopic use wear,
provided for a clear picture of the diversity within each assemblage and the variability
between the assemblages. Through comparative statistical analysis of the tools identified
as markers of the assemblage variability between assemblages can be identified.
The predominant theory that the Borax Lake Pattern within far northern
California represents a residentially mobile subsistence system on the forager end of the
spectrum should manifest itself in the form of:

relatively equivalent ratios of tool diversity at the three localities;

similar use wear patterns at the three localities; and a

lack of distinct tool types at discrete locations.
Discussion
Contrary to contemporary theory, this research reveals variability in each of these
three contexts in technological behavior as response to varying ecological conditions.
Foragers may utilize logistic strategies under certain circumstances; “therefore, general
associations of artifact classes used to define standard site types, thought to exist as a
generalized typology of settlement behavior for all contexts, will not contribute to our
understanding of human behavior” (Nelson 1991:85). Treating variation as noise is a
61
fundamental problem in archaeology (Truncer 2006:157). Rather than accept current
notions that little variation exists between upland and lowland assemblages, this research
assesses that variability systematically. Rather than focus on measures of curation to
determine the variability, this research took a turn towards looking at the variability
between technological organizations as a whole in order to speak to the differences in
human behavior within distinct ecological settings.
62
Chapter 5
ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES AND ASSUMPTIONS
Introduction
To empirically assess the variability of technological organization, quantitative
measures of each variable are required (Shott 1986:21). The following pages describe the
sample size and the sampling issues encountered, outlines the analytical assumptions
associated with this research, and describes the specific procedures used to analyze the
assemblages. The sample universe and the parameters established to define that universe
are described by site. Analytical procedures are divided into two categories, flaked and
ground stone; specific methods were employed to assess each tool type.
Sample Selection
In general, the sites were assessed in spatial contexts identified as clearly as
possible to the Borax Lake Pattern. Site SHA-475 was analyzed below 7.5 feet in certain
units and below 9 feet in others; the subsurface assemblage at sites TRI-1008 and HUM367 were analyzed in total as they are considered single component deposits; area T-C
below surface was analyzed at site HUM-577; and Feature 1, a house floor dated to 7100
BP (Fitzgerald and Hildebrandt 2002), and its immediate surrounding was analyzed at
HUM-573.
Each assemblage was initially assessed based on existing reports, analyzing those
contexts that the authors represented as clean Borax Lake Pattern components.
63
Subsequently, the artifact assemblages were reassessed and only the cleanest of the
spatial contexts are included in this study (table 5).
CUBIC METERS OF SOIL MATRIX ANALYZED BY UNIT
HUM-573
UNIT
m3
SHA-475
UNIT
m3
UNIT
3
0.60
N55/E141 C
0.53
TRI-1008
m3
B
0.80
UNIT
HUM-367
m3
HUM-577
UNIT
m3
2
1.00
A‐1
1.00
4
0.80
N55/E146 D
0.63
C
0.85
3
0.80
A‐2
1.00
15
0.80
N60/E191 B
0.74
N2/E7
0.60
A‐1
1.40
A‐3
1.00
16
0.60
N60/E191 C
0.63
S6/E4
0.50
A‐2
2.60
A‐4
0.80
17
0.40
N65/E191 B
0.63
S7/E3
0.20
A‐3
1.40
A‐6
0.60
18
0.40
N65/E191 C
1.26
S7/E4
0.60
--
--
3
1.00
19
0.40
--
--
S8/E7
0.70
4
0.80
20
0.20
S9/E7
0.70
5
0.80
21
0.40
S9/E8
0.70
--
--
22
0.40
--
23
24
0.40
0.40
5.8 m3
4.42 m3
5.65 m3
7.20 m3
7.00 m3
Table 5 Analyzed Soil Volumes by Site
The procedures used to arrive at these analytical units are presented on a by-site
basis.
Sample by Site
The assemblages are presented in grouping of upland and lowland. Combined
tables representing the assemblage constituents of each grouping are presented prior to
individual sample descriptions. The upland assemblage constituents are presented first
(table 6).
64
INVENTORY OF ASSEMBLAGE CONSTITUENTS AT CA-HUM-577, HUM-573, HUM-367
PPT
BIF
FFT
HUM-577
-
10
-
4
HUM-573
6
47
11
10
38
8
HUM-367
SFT
SPALL
COR
CTL
DEB
MLG
HND
BTC
ASSCOB
CBLTL
DRL
MGS
-
-
-
1741
-
-
-
-
-
-
13
3
7
4
6560
11
8
1
3
-
1
21
3
1
-
1
6070
1
10
-
-
-
2
-
2
Key: PPT- Widestem Projectile Point; BIF- Biface; FFT- Formed flake Tool; SFT- Simple Flake Tool; SPALL- Cobble Spall; COR- Core; CTL- Core
Tool; DEB- Debitage; MLG- Milling Slab; HND- Handstone; BTC- Battered Cobble; ASSCOB- Assayed Cobble; CBLTL- Cobble Tool; DRL- Drill;
MGS- Miscellaneous Ground Stone.
Table 6 Inventory of Assemblage Constituents from Upland Sites
CA-HUM-577
The assemblage analysis at HUM-577 was limited to subsurface deposits in the
northern portion of the site. While Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983) define the northern
portion of the site as a single component Borax Lake Pattern occupation, the surface
assemblage may contain some Late or Middle period artifacts. Hildebrandt and Hayes
(1983:15.11) indicate that the central section of the site contains Middle period artifacts
and the southern portion dates to the Late period. The author was concerned about
considering the surface assemblage as spatio-temporally discrete to three periods when
the definition of the Middle and Early period assemblages are not clearly understood.
Given that the landform was utilized during the Late period it seems unlikely that the
surface of the northern site area is completely devoid of recent artifacts. It was decided
to analyze only the sub-surface assemblage from the northern portion of the site. While
this assessment served to ensure a clean Borax Lake Pattern assemblage, it did have the
effect of culling all the projectile points (with the exception of a single perform) from this
65
analysis; In addition, there are no formed flake tools or identifiable ground stone within
the sub-surface assemblage
CA-HUM-573
The site HUM-573 is drastically different from HUM-577 in that the artifact
assemblage is indicative of a habitation area. The entire assemblage analyzed as part of
this project comes from within or is associated with a house floor. The assemblage here
contains quantities of every tool type in nearly every condition. The floor has been dated
to 7100 BP (Fitzgerald and Hildebrandt 2002) and is discrete to the Borax Lake Pattern.
This is a certain representative of upland residential technological organization of the
early/middle Holocene. The units analyzed as part of this research were chosen randomly
as to create as much objectivity in the analysis as was possible. Levels analyzed were
most clearly associated with the house floor, which was identified as between 30 and 70
centimeters below the surface.
CA-HUM-367
Analysis of the HUM-367 assemblage was conducted through a sampling of the
collection. The site is considered by Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983:8.7) to be a single
component Borax Lake Pattern with slight intrusions of Late period artifacts. The focus
of the excavations at this site was on area A, where a series of excavation units were
placed to create an exposure after assessing the results of test excavations. This is the
portion of the assemblage analyzed as part of this study but, as with site HUM-577, the
surface assemblage has been removed to exclude any intrusive artifacts.
66
SHA-475
The analysis of SHA-475 took over three years to complete. The collection could
not be removed from the facilities at Shasta Junior College at the request of Winfield
Henn, the accession and storage methods used to curate this collection were antiquated,
and the author was only able (both financially and logistically) to make irregular forays to
the facilities to perform analysis. During the analysis, curation materials were updated
with plastic bags, accession/catalog tags, and curation trays, at the expense of the author.
The first issue with the SHA-475 collection was to determine the portion of the
assemblage reflecting the Borax Lake Pattern. A wide net was cast during the initial
analysis including all units containing contracting-stem, bifurcate stemmed, square
stemmed, and expanding stemmed projectile points. This effectively limited the analysis
to those portions associated with atlatl use to the exclusion of bow and arrow technology.
During this portion of the analysis patterns of artifact morphology became apparent,
resulting in the exclusion of that portion of the assemblage associated with the
contracting-stem projectile points. The technology associated with production of these
points is flake based as opposed to the bifacial technology characteristic of all other point
types. This analysis consistently identified the contracting-stem points as being derived
from flakes through the presence of a bulb of percussion as can clearly be seen in figure 8
profile cross sections. Conceptual differences required in the manufacturing process
between flake-based and biface-based technologies are a clear indicator of change in
technological organization (figure 8).
67
Figure 8 CA-HUM-475 Contracting-Stem Projectile Points (adapted from Sundahl and Henn 1988)
Clewett and Sundahl (1983:30-34) also assess this type as distinct from the Borax
Lake Pattern, which is identified as associated with the expanding, bifurcate and square
stem varieties. Their assessments of the morphological attributes of this point style as
well as the vertical distribution of the type are proved out in this analysis. This point type
and deposits containing it were removed from the analysis early in the assessment.
The expanding stem type (figure 9) is more difficult to differentiate on a
morphological basis. The original analysis of this point type resulted in an unclear
understanding of the separation between expanding stem and square stem points. Clewett
68
and Sundahl (1983: 34) see a morphological continuum of this type into the Borax Lake
Pattern morphologies.
Figure 9 Expanding Stem Projectile Points (adapted from Clewett and Sundahl 1983)
This is where there are discrepancies with regard to the earlier analysis and this
study. Clewett and Sundahl (1983) do not differentiate the expanding and bifurcate stem
projectiles.
The types referred to by Clewett and Sundahl as medium and large
expanding stem points (types 10 and 12) are differentiated into expanding and bifurcate
stem points in this analysis both morphologically and stratigraphically.
The
morphological differences noted in the original analysis are associated with weight,
length and width measurements, while thickness and hafting width are ignored.
This
analysis revealed patterns within the three point types indicating that the neck width of
the expanding stem points differ from both the bifurcate and square stemmed variants
(table 7).
69
CA-HUM-475 PROJECTILE POINTS
EXP STM n=17
SQ STM n=12
BIF STM n=9
MEAN
18.41
15.69
23.35
SD
3.59
0.89
2.68
Table 7 Mean Neck Widths of SHA-475 Projectile Points
While the statistical differences are not significant, their means are deviant and
their distribution within the deposit indicates a discrete and later assemblage. Most
incidences of occurrence are also superimposed above bifurcate stems (table 8).
POINT DISTRIBUTION AT SHA-475
N55/E141
N55/E146
N60/E191
N65/E191
LEVEL
A
B
C
A
B
C
D
B
C
D
AB
C
D
6-6.5’
ES
-
-
BS
-
ES
BS
-
-
-
-
-
-
6.3-6.4’
-
-
ES
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6.5-7’
-
SS
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ES
-
-
7-7.5’
-
-
-
SS
SS
ES
-
-
ES
-
BS
-
ES,BS
7.5-8’
-
-
-
-
-
-
BS
-
-
ES
BS
ES
ES
8-8.5’
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ES
-
-
-
8.5-9’
-
-
-
-
-
SS
BS
ES,BS,SS
SS
-
SS
ES
-
9-9.5’
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ES
-
SS
-
ES
9.5-10’
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ES,BS,SS
SS
-
ES
SS
-
10.5-11’
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
SS
-
ES - EXPANDING STEM, BS – BIFURCATE STEM, SS - SQUARE STEM
Table 8 Distribution of Projectile Points at SHA-475
There is a statistically significant difference in the distribution of bifurcate-stem
and square-stem vs. expanding-stem points. Plotting the numbers, units N55/E141 and
N55/E146 can be split into Upper and Lower components (based on points) at 7.0 feet,
while units N60/E191 and N65/E191 break at 9.5 feet (table 9).
70
BS/SS
ES
Upper
8
17
Lower
12
3
Table 9 Square and Bifurcate Vs. Expanding Stem Distribution, X2 = 8.64, df = 1
Units N65/E191 AB, C, D follow this trend nearly perfectly with the exception of
a single bifurcate stem from superimposed above several expanding stem variants in unit
D and a single expanding stem stratigraphically lower than several bifurcate points in unit
AB. In the case of unit AB, another expanding stem occurs above two bifurcate stems; in
the case of unit D three expanding stems are concentrated between 7-9.5 feet and a single
bifurcate stem occurs at seven feet. Units B and C both show patterns of expanding
stems occurring in strata above bifurcate stemmed points. Exceptions to the pattern are
explainable through bioturbation. Within Unit N60/E191 quads B, C and D all the
bifurcate stem forms, n=3, occur at 9.5-10 feet; only one of seven expanding stem
variants occurs at 9.5-10 feet and six occur above this level (five are above 6’ and not
represented in table 12).
Units N55/E146 quads CD contain two expanding stems
morphologies between 6-7.5 feet, with three bifurcate stem forms at 7.5 feet and lower,
and only one example at 6-6.5 feet. Unit N55/E146 C contains a Feature 22 from 6.3-6.4
feet and is likely intrusive into the substrate, this may explain the single occurrence of a
bifurcate stem point via pre-historic human bioturbation. The square stem type follows
the same patterning.
Square stems and bifurcate stemmed points are comingled
throughout the units analyzed.
Through removal of the levels associated with the
expanding stem type, much of the ground stone objects are also removed from the
71
analysis of SHA-475. The new artifact pattern more closely aligns the technological
behavior found at SHA-475 with that of TRI-1008.
The ubiquitous nature of raw materials to fashion ground stone artifacts at both
these sites does not appear to be coupled with subsistence resources conducive to longterm sedentary settlement patterns. The dramatic increase in ground stone associated
with the expanding stem projectile points may be associated with an increase in vegetal
resources due to increased effective moisture at the end of the Altithermal. The feature
most closely associated with the expanding stem point type, Feature 22, has not
undergone chronometric analysis but the soils above and below Feature 22 has been
dated. Feature 22 is located at 6.3-6.4 feet in unit N55/E146. Sundahl (1992) reports
dates for this unit at 3.5-4.0 feet at 4000 BP and an assay at 7.5-8.0 of 7580 BP. Feature
22 is, then, necessarily between 4000 and 8350 years old. Further research may reveal a
stronger relationship between the expanding stem projectile points at SHA-475 and
technological adaptation to climate change, but the current study excludes these projectile
points and associated artifacts to preserve a clean Borax Lake Pattern assemblage.
The formed flake tool assemblage appears closely associated with the expanding
stem point forms of the deposit at SHA-475. Within unit N65/E191 the appearance of
large basalt formed flake tools occurs in Quadrant D at 7-7.5 feet, the same level
associated with expanding stem points in quadrants A, B and C; a single exception occurs
at 9-9.5 feet in Quadrant A. All other units and levels associated with either square stem
or bifurcate stem projectiles lack large basalt formed flake tools. The formed flake tool
72
assemblage directly associated with the Borax Lake Pattern at site SHA-475 is reduced to
two specimens.
Among the simple flake tools, cobble spalls are the most striking element in the
SHA-475 assemblage.
The raw count of spalls drops from 65 to two when those
associated with contracting-stem and expanding-stem point forms are removed. These
two are included only because they sit between soil packages and are not clearly
associated with any projectile point types. In an effort to be conservative in removing
problematic artifacts while attempting to clearly identify Borax Lake Pattern components
at all sites, it was determined that these two items should be included in the analysis.
The biface assemblage provides further evidence that the square stem and
bifurcate stem point distributions at HUM-475 assemblage is segregate from the
expanding stem and contracting stem forms. Of the 25 bifaces associated with the
expanding, square and bifurcate stem horizons, only eight are directly associated with the
Borax Lake Pattern; of these, half are proximal ends, one is an obsidian projectile point
perform, two are distal ends, and one is a midsection. The pattern is repeated over and
over: the assemblage associated with the Borax Lake Pattern at this site is not nearly as
rich in quantity as the later components. Site SHA-475 played a much more significant
role later in time when compared to the Borax Lake Pattern. The more closely
technological organization is analyzed, the more apparent it becomes that the expanding
stem projectile points are associated with an increase in the breadth and quantity of the
archaeological toolkit. In an effort to keep the sample at SHA-475 as discrete to the
73
Borax Lake Pattern occupation as possible, for this study, the contracting-stem and
expanding-stem points and associated artifacts originally analyzed by the author are not
included herein.
The final analysis included 4.42 cubic meters of deposit after nearly 20 cubic
meters of initial analysis (table 10).
Levels Analyzed at SHA-475
UNIT
N55/E141 C
N55/E146 D
N60/E191 B
N60/E191 C
N65/E191 B
N65/E191 C
m3
Levels Analyzed
Below 7’
Below 7’
Below 9.5’
Below 9.5’
Below 9.5’
Below 9.5’
0.53
0.63
0.74
0.63
0.63
1.26
4.42 Total Cubic Meters analyzed
Table 10 Final Soil Volume and Levels Analyzed at SHA-475
The final inventory of the assemblage analyzed at SHA-475 and TRI-1008, the lowland
localities, is presented in table 11.
INVENTORY OF ASSEMBLAGE CONSTITUENTS AT SHA-475 AND TRI-1008
PPT
BIF
FFT
SFT
SPALL
COR
CTL
DEB
MLG
HND
BTC
ASSCOB
CBLTL
DRL
MGS
SHA-475
9
8
2
2
2
-
-
400
2
2
-
-
1
-
2
TRI-1008
15
22
16
23
3
2
2
4717
2
8
-
1
-
2
5
Key: PPT- Widestem Projectile Point; BIF- Biface; FFT- Formed flake Tool; SFT- Simple Flake Tool; SPALL- Cobble Spall; COR- Core; CTLCore Tool; DEB- Debitage; MLG- Milling Slab; HND- Handstone; BTC- Battered Cobble; ASSCOB- Assayed Cobble; CBLTL- Cobble Tool; DRLDrill; MGS- Miscellaneous Ground Stone.
Table 11 Assemblage Inventory from the Lowland Localities
TRI-1008
Site TRI-1008 is defined by Sundahl and Clewett as a single component Borax
Lake Pattern site. There are, however, issues with the integrity of specific units within
74
the analysis of the site. Many of the projectile points came from backhoe trenches with
little provenance; these were excluded from this analysis. A series of units were drawn
from the existing collections including a sample of each area where control units were
placed. Two distinct blocks of units were excavated in the southern portion of the site,
designated Sx/Ex, these units were placed in the area of highest potential artifact recovery
within the area of direct impact for the construction of a proposed school building based
on work conducted in previous seasons (Sundahl 1988:35). Seven of the ten units
analyzed were selected from these areas. The remaining three units provided a sample
from other areas of the site, units B and C from the southwest sector and N2/E7 from the
northern portion.
As the site represents a single component Borax Lake Pattern
occupation (Sundahl 1988:97), with no evidence of later period intrusions, the entirety of
the collection was included in this analysis (table 15); although there were no artifacts
with provenience to the surface of these particular units.
Analytical Assumptions
Results of the analysis were highly disappointing as the projected measures of
curation did not have the effect of sorting out the assemblages. Initial tests of the
Thickness Curation Index (TCI) and Curation Index (CI) using dart and arrow points
from presumed curative and expedient technologies worked well, providing statistically
significant ratios that confirmed these presumptions.
Length, width and thickness were
used to produce a ratio reflecting level of curation: L x W (surface area): TH = TCI
75
(Thickness Curation Index). The Thickness Curation Index is then multiplied by Spine
Plane Angle to produce a Curation Index (CI): TCI x SPA = CI (Curation Index).
While simple tests of typed hafted biface assemblages showed promise for the
utility of this measurement, the index proved less effective within these biface
assemblages; length, width, thickness, arris per centimeter, stage and spine plane angle
proved more effective as individual measurements.
These measurements attempted to combine several metric attributes sensitive to
curation behavior into a single index to provide a linear indicator of expedient to
curatorial technological behavior: width multiplied by length then divided by thickness.
Multiple tests were run on available collections of late and early period projectile points
with a high degree of success. In hindsight, this was an obvious outcome when dart
points are contrasted to arrow points; functionally, the arrow point must have less volume
and therefore would inevitably occupy one end of the spectrum and the dart points, being
larger in general, were larger in volume. In dividing the surface area by thickness,
numbers became muted due to the arrow points being consistently thinner and the dart
points being thicker. The resulting ratios occupied each end of a morphological spectrum
but tell us little more than dart points are more massive that arrow points. Neither TCI
nor CI work within these assemblages, the point types are all the same and the process of
dividing the surface area by the thickness, as noted above, muted the differences in
volume. In turn, multiplying TCI by the Spine Plane Angle produced a muted number in
itself. Although it did exaggerate the index slightly, it did not have the expected result of
a linear index of curation in bifaces (hafted or not) or formed flake tools. Even with raw
76
material differences allowing for thinner points, the bulk of the projectile points at Squaw
Creek were obsidian and chert at all other sites, the indices had the effect of negating any
statistical significance rather than drawing it out.
Many hours of statistical manipulation did not solve the problem and an
assessment of the reasons led to a clearer understanding of the issue. Assemblages within
this analysis include a high percentage of fragmentary artifacts creating a wide range of
measurements within each artifact class. This range of measurements is too great to
establish significant statistical trends using either the TCI or CI and the low number of
whole artifacts did not allow for a comparison between sites using this method. The
same held true for the use of blade mid-point width, an index of curation used by
Andrefsky (1994) as a measure of curation; there simply were not enough blade elements
within the study to make the measurement statistically useful.
In the end the indices did not prove out within this analysis and were abandoned
for more useful measurements of curation and variability in technological organization
between sites.
Specific Analytical Procedures and Assumptions
The categories of tools analyzed include bifaces, projectile points, flake tools,
debitage, milling slabs and handstones. These tool types are drawn from the artifact sets
thought to represent the Borax Lake Pattern: wide stemmed projectile points, small
serrated bifaces, cobble spalls, handstones and milling slabs (Hildebrandt and Hayes
1983; Sundahl 1983); flake tools and debitage and have been added as such tools are
77
relatively sensitive to the effects of curation (Andrefsky 1994; Kelly 1988; Kuhn 1994;
Nelson 1991; Shott 1986).
Flaked Stone
Projectile Points
The projectile point assemblage at each of the sites was thoroughly analyzed for
metrical compatibility; the square stem and bifurcate stem points at each site are
statistically consistent.
This aspect of the projectile point assemblage will not be
assessed; rather other measures of use wear are the focus of this analysis. Simple
measurements of maximum length, use wear observations, and simple morphologic
patterns are presented as measures of variability between sites. A key measurement
turned out to be neck width with regard to sorting out the projectile point assemblage at
SHA-475. While the groupings did not show statistically significant differences, the
measurement did segregate between projectile points relative to hafting.
Bifaces
The patterns of biface curation manifest themselves as a function of re-sharpening
(Andrefsky 1994:22); as the tool is re-sharpened the thickness to length/width ratio
should increase, thickness remaining the same as length and width decrease (Nelson
1991). The number of arrises per centimeter among bifaces speaks to the re-sharpening
of bifaces. Bifaces used as cores are the subject of percussion flaking and larger flake
scars (Kelly 1988); bifaces used as long-life tools or those that are incidental to hafting
requirements incorporate re-sharpening of the edge using pressure flaking techniques
78
and leaving smaller, more frequent flake scars (Nelson 1991; Kelly 1988).
Such
measurements lead to an understanding of the level of curation, in turn allowing for
interpretations of site function relative to environment, subsequently allowing for
inferences pertaining to residential mobility. In this research bifaces are categorized into
one of five stages, stage 1 having a single arris per centimeter, stage 2 having two, stage 3
having 2-3 arrises per centimeter, stage 4 having 3-4 arrises, and stage 5, 4-5 arrises per
centimeter.
Projectile points are the subject of further analysis. In addition to the above
measurements, proximal shoulder angle, distal shoulder angle, notch opening angle, base
width, neck width, basal indentation and blade width at the midpoint were measured.
These measurements serve to further define the Borax Lake Widestem type(s), and reveal
any statistical differences between the sites in the function of these tools at specific
locations.
Biface technologies within these assemblages should show strong tendencies
toward curative behavior, following patterns of high residential mobility.
The Borax
Lake Widestem points, Kelly’s (1988) incidental bifaces, and Bleed’s (1986:741)
maintainable weapons, are usually found intensively re-worked, which suggests heavy
curation.
One would expect extensive re-working of a tool under conditions of
residential mobility and raw material scarcity (Andrefsky 1994; Kelly 1988:20; Kuhn
1994). High mobility further limits access to tool-stone sources, amplifying the intensity
of re-working in biface assemblages (Nelson 1991). The assemblages at all sites should
reflect a highly re-worked biface technology given residential mobility and curative
79
behavior. The biface assemblage at sites that have relatively higher access to tool-stone,
either through proximity or less time stress, should exhibit less re-working. The width of
a biface reflects another measure of reworking intensity. The surface area of late stage
bifaces should decrease at a much higher rate than thickness. The spine plane angle
should also increase as a product of re-working. Measurements of bifaces include length,
width, and thickness and the arris frequency per centimeter, spine plane angle, and the
stage of production.
Flake Tools
The flake tool assemblage should contain a higher percentage of formed artifacts
relative to simple flake tools under conditions of residential mobility (Andrefsky 1994;
Kuhn 1994:428).
The wear patterns should follow that of the bifaces within each
assemblage. They are used in conjunction with these tools and should mimic their
intensive re-working. It is reasonable to predict that such tools would reflect similar
patterns of intensive use and curation given their similar tool stone requirements and their
portability (Kuhn 1994:428). As in bifaces, the thickness to surface area ratio should
increase as re-sharpening intensifies, thickness remaining the same as length and width
decrease. The edges of these tools are sensitive to re-working and the edge angle should
increase as the length and width of the tool decrease (Nelson 1991:75; Basgall, personal
communication 2003). The number of utilized edges on these tools should increase as a
function of curation as well; the longer a tool is kept, the more edges are utilized (Nelson
1991; Shott 1986). A classic measurement of curation relates to the distinction between
simple and formed flake tools. Formed flake tools are characteristic of curation, simple
80
flake tools are indicative of expedient technologies. The measurements required to assess
levels of curation within this tool category include length, width, and thickness as well as
number of edges utilized, arrises per centimeter, and edge angle.
Individual
measurements weighed between site assemblages do reveal interesting information
pertaining to technological behavior, particularly with regard to thickness.
Cobble Spalls
Cobble spalls are as flake tools with regard to attributes. These tools provide an
excellent measure of curation in the context of this research as raw material is readily
available at the lowland sites in the form of river cobbles exceptionally rare at upland
settlements. They should follow the same patterns of curation as other flake tools,
increasing angles of the working edge and decreasing length and width while the
thickness remains constant with use and curation. Such implements should be heavily reworked and, in the upland areas, should manifest as well worn, unusable items at the end
of their use lives. By contrast, in lowland areas, spalls should reflect an expedient
technology resulting from an abundance of raw material. If spalls reflect a significant
tool in the toolkit of Borax Lake Pattern peoples, they should be found at all sites and
provide a significant measure of curatorial behavior.
Debitage
Debitage profiles provide substantive evidence for assemblage variability and
curation. This research attempts to define variability between cotemporaneous sites in
distinct ecological settings; different profiles reveal behavioral activities at individual
81
sites (Kelly 1988). In particular, the size and type of debitage at sites should reflect the
type of manufacture or maintenance occurring at each location. Interior percussion
debris seen in relation to debitage produced by pressure flaking provides an
understanding of the importance of bifaces as tools vs. cores. Smaller debitage reflects
patterns of tool maintenance as opposed to manufacture (Kelly 1988). The debitage
profiles at these sites should include a high ratio of small debitage to large debris and
contain a relatively high percentage of complex interior percussion, late bifacial thinning,
and pressure flakes in relation to other categories.
These remains represent tool
maintenance as opposed to manufacture and imply a higher level of curation. This
relationship exists on a continuum as a function of distance to raw material and,
correspondingly, the debitage should get larger and be of an earlier stage the closer and
more accessible one is to raw material sources. The prediction is that sites without
accessible raw material sources will be typified by small, late-stage debitage and the
debris will become larger and of earlier stage as raw material availability increases. The
debitage analysis defines the ratio of debitage type, size, and quantity. Select samples of
debitage are quantified, size sorted and categorized into one of fifteen types.
Ground Stone Analysis
The Borax Lake Pattern has been associated with handstones and milling slabs.
These items have characteristic traits associated with curation and implications towards
settlement mobility. The amount of shaping and wear are indicators of the level of
curation, and the size and weight of the items speak to their portability. The obvious
82
implications are that smaller, more portable items with high levels of use wear and a high
percentage of fragmentary items are indicative of curation and transport.
Measurements to assess these factors within both handstones and milling slabs
include weight, length, width, thickness, number of utilized edges and positive or
negative assessment of re-sharpening through pecking. Borax Lake Pattern should be
portable, well used, with evidence of multiple faces being utilized and maintained, and a
high ratio of fragmentary objects relative to whole specimens.
Handstones
Handstones should reflect curation through extreme wear and multi-side use wear
patterns. High levels of mobility require portable technologies that are both maintainable
and reliable. Considerable variability should be seen between the sites based on raw
material availability.
Lowland sites should reflect an expedient strategy, containing
many ephemeral handstones. The raw material for these items, river cobbles, is readily
available. While there may be many incipient handstones at these sites, there may also be
evidence of re-tooling in the deposition of exhausted tools. In contrast, upland sites
should exhibit curated technologies as raw materials are relatively scarce. The relative
abundance of floral subsistence resources, particularly hard seed products, would have
increased the importance of plant resources in upland areas (see West 1984), increasing
the costs of failure. In these areas one would expect to find handstones in good working
order but exhibiting intensive use wear left behind for predicted return. As per Nelson
and Lippmeier (1993:298-299), with the intensive milling involved there should also be
83
plenty evidence of breakage and ratios of whole to fragmentary milling equipment should
show relatively more fragmentary specimens in upland areas.
Milling Slabs
Milling slabs, on the other hand, may not be so variable. These items are less
portable and more likely to constitute site furniture. The punishment these artifacts must
endure during their use-life limits their portability through a minimum thickness
requirement. While thin, portable specimens may exist in some assemblages, they will be
a part of a redundant system with non-portable, relatively thick, site furniture. Within a
system of residential mobility as part of a seasonal round, sites found to contain nonportable milling slabs would reflect anticipated re-use. In a completely mobile system,
one would expect small, portable milling slabs. In the system at hand there should be
redundancy within the milling slab assemblage, larger pieces representative of site
furniture, left in anticipation of return, and to a lesser degree smaller, portable milling
slabs, likely in a state indicative of the end of their use life. The lowland assemblages
would likely reflect a more expedient technology, but the high quality raw material
requirements for these items would tend to buffer the effects of availability. So, while
there may be more material available it would still be difficult to re-tool with durable
stone that could be confidently used in areas of raw material paucity. Once a good
milling slab was obtained, portable or not, it would likely be curated; whether or not raw
material was available. In this light it is be expected that broken and fragmentary items
will be found in higher percentages in areas of more intensive use, assumed to be upland
areas, and conversely a higher percentage of incipient materials and whole, well used
84
milling slabs would be found in areas of raw material availability. These effects will be
muted, but there should be evidence of changes in technological behavior between upland
and lowland assemblages.
85
Chapter 6
RESULTS
Analysis Results by Site
This chapter presents the results of the artifact analyses by site. Tables are
presented by upland and lowland groupings. Materials analyzed but not statistically
significant to the analyses are also described to provide an understanding of technological
diversity at each site. The end of each section integrates the information in terms of the
technological behavior represented at each site.
The chapter concludes with a short
overview of the implications towards technological organization and land use patterns
that are explored further in Chapter 7. The inventory of assemblages is grouped into two
tables representing upland and lowland sites preceding each group of sites. The upland
sites sample is presented below (table 12).
INVENTORY OF ASSEMBLAGE CONSTITUENTS AT CA-HUM-577, HUM-573, AND HUM-367
PPT
BIF
FFT
SFT
SPALL
COR
CTL
DEB
MLG
HND
BTC
ASSCOB
CBLTL
DRL
MGS
HUM-577
-
10
-
4
-
-
-
1741
-
-
-
-
-
-
2
HUM-573
6
47
11
13
3
7
4
6560
11
8
1
3
-
1
21
HUM-367
10
38
8
3
1
-
1
6070
1
10
-
-
-
2
-
Key: PPT- Widestem Projectile Point; BIF- Biface; FFT- Formed flake Tool; SFT- Simple Flake Tool; SPALL- Cobble Spall; COR- Core; CTL- Core
Tool; DEB- Debitage; MLG- Milling Slab; HND- Handstone; BTC- Battered Cobble; ASSCOB- Assayed Cobble; CBLTL- Cobble Tool; DRL- Drill;
MGS- Miscellaneous Ground Stone.
Table 12 Inventory of Assemblage Constituents at CA-HUM-577, HUM-573 and HUM-367
CA-HUM-577
The subsurface assemblage from HUM-577 is comprised of ten bifaces, four
simple flake tools, two miscellaneous ground stone fragments, and 1741 pieces of
86
debitage.
Although few formed tools are represented, the assemblage does reveal
patterns that have significance with regard to settlement-subsistence patterns.
Flaked Stone
The flaked stone assemblage from HUM-577 is unique among the analyzed sites.
Flaked stone comprises nearly the whole assemblage at this site and is indicative of a
specialized functional profile dedicated to the procurement of faunal resources. The
biface and debitage assemblages complement one another to reinforce this assessment of
the site.
Bifaces
The bifaces assemblage, n=10, is the most significant aspect of this site. There
are no diagnostic projectile points in the subsurface assemblage; and only one of the
bifaces is near-complete. The only other non-margin fragment is a medial section of a
Stage 5 biface, probably a projectile point fragment (although not classified as such in
this study) (Table 13).
87
BIFACES BY STAGE CA-HUM-577
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
STAGE 5
TOTAL
n=
-
2
2
1
4
9
CCS
-
2
2
1
4
9
WHL/NC
-
1
-
-
-
1
MED
-
-
-
-
1
1
MRG
-
1
2
1
3
7
PRS
-
2
1
-
1
4
ABS
-
-
1
1
3
5
CONDITION
USE WEAR
Table 13 Bifaces by Stage CA-HUM-577
The high percentage of margins, 78% at CA-HUM-577 is unique among the
project sites. The presence of this portion of the biface indicates an association with
hunting behavior.
Jobson’s (1989:F4) assessment of the Sacramento River Canyon
suggests that margin breakage is indicative of impact fractures. Given that both early
(n=3) and late (n=4) stage biface margins are present; it can also be argued that the site is
situated near a raw material source within the seasonal round. The biface assemblage, as
a whole also indicates that this site was situated within the settlement pattern soon after
re-tooling had occurred; freshly crafted projectiles with little retouch were being used.
The nearly complete early stage biface strengthens this argument. The presence of a high
percentage of margins, four early and four late stage, with the balance of the assemblage
represented by a single Stage 5 midsection and a single early stage preform, this
assemblage represents freshly fashioned tools experiencing heavy use.
88
Simple Flake Tools
Simple flake tools are the only form present at the site. All artifacts are whole or
nearly complete with a single utilized edge. Edges vary in shape from convex to concave
and straight, but all have an even margin along the utilized edge and edge angles are all
less than 56o, indicating little reworking. Little more description can be offered, but this
does not preclude interpretation.
Such artifacts obviously played a small role in the organization of the toolkit at
this site, and what use they did see was ephemeral. The presence of this type of flake tool
to the exclusion of formed flake tools and cobble spalls is indicative of expedient use;
when needed a flake was created, utilized, and discarded. This also indicates there was
likely more of this behavior occurring at the site than is indicated by the counts alone as it
is extremely difficult to identify a flake utilized once and discarded as a tool.
Debitage
Of the 1741 pieces of debitage, 1603 were size sorted and typed. The debitage
profile follows patterns of conservative behavior with a high percentage of pressure
flakes relative to percussion debris (table 14).
89
TYPED DEBITAGE ATTRIBUTES AT HUM-577
OBS
CCS
OBS
CCS
SECONDARY DECORTICATION
-
2
-
0.1%
SIMPLE INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
38
-
2.4%
COMPLEX INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
137
-
8.5%
LINEAR PERCUSSION
-
1
-
0.1%
EARLY BIFACE THINNING
-
14
-
0.9%
LATE BIFACE THINNING
-
96
-
6.0%
ANGULAR PERCUSSION
-
66
-
4.1%
LINEAR PRESSURE
1
223
12.5%
13.9%
ROUNDED PRESSURE
7
884
87.5%
55.1%
INDETERMINATE PERCUSSION
-
39
-
2.4%
INDETERMINATE PRESSURE
-
103
-
6.4%
DECORTICATION
-
2
-
0.1%
INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
190
-
12.3%
BIFACE THINNING
-
110
-
7.1%
PRESSURE
8
1107
100.0%
71.4%
INDETERMINATE
-
142
-
9.2%
<1.0 cm
6
913
75.0%
57.0%
1.0-2.0 cm
2
614
25.0%
38.3%
2.0-3.0 cm
-
66
-
4.1%
3.0-5.0 cm
-
10
-
0.6%
TOTAL
8
1603
100%
100%
Table 14 Typed Debitage at HUM-577
Obsidian
The lack of substantial obsidian is expected in this region and the fact that all
eight specimens are pressure flakes is not surprising. The nearest source of obsidian is
over 200 miles distant at the Medicine Lake/Lost Iron Wells source area in northeastern
California. What this does tell us is that there was some form of exchange network
established to provide access to such material. While not significant in itself as trade
likely occurred between groups as soon as population densities in North America
allowed, it does imply that people living at the sites under analysis had some form of
90
regular contact with one another, exchanging both materials and ideas that influenced
their technological behavior.
Chert
The chert debitage sample is heavy in pressure flakes relative to other sites in this
analysis, suggesting that tool maintenance was the predominant stone working process
happening at HUM-577. The most striking aspect of the debitage profile is the near lack
of decortication flakes (0.1%); this profile is not consistent with a manufacturing or
reduction area. Instead, the pattern reflects biface maintenance in the high percentages of
pressure (71.4%), biface thinning (7.1%) and complex interior percussion (8.5%) flakes
(Nelson 1991; Kelly 1988). The size of the debitage is also telling, 57% is less than 1.0
cm in diameter, and fully 95% is less than 2.0 cm in diameter. There is little reduction
taking place at the site, it is the focus of tool maintenance in the form of re-sharpening
based on the debitage profiles.
Ground Stone
The two ground stone fragments reveal very little about the site beyond incidental
use of grinding tools in the last stages of their life cycle. The fact that there is no whole
ground stone objects or fragments identifiable as to function suggests that milling
equipment was not an important aspect of the site technology. Even if the two milling
slabs found on the surface of the site are to be considered part of the Borax Lake Pattern
occupation, relative to the other two upland sites their frequency is negligible.
91
Discussion
The site HUM-577 presents an interesting example of specialized upland
settlement behavior; the technological organization represented by this assemblage is
highly restricted relative to all other sites, including other upland assemblages. While
surface artifacts did contain both ground stone and formed flake tools, these artifacts
likely represent post Borax Lake land use patterns. There is a complete lack of ground
stone tools beyond two miscellaneous ground stone fragments in the subsurface deposit.
There is, however, a whole Stage 2 biface at the site, and the broader biface assemblage
is consonant with proximity to raw material. It appears that HUM-577 was a specialized
use area associated with hunting behavior.
CA-HUM-573
The entire assemblage analyzed for this project comes from or is associated with a
house floor. The assemblage contains quantities of every tool type, in nearly every
condition. The floor has been dated to 7100 BP (Fitzgerald and Hildebrandt 2002) and
represents a discrete Borax Lake Pattern domestic feature. This is a certain representative
of upland residential technological organization of the early/middle Holocene (table 21).
Flaked Stone
The flaked stone assemblage at CA-HUM-573 is quite different than that from
HUM-577, representing another aspect of the technological organization of the Borax
Lake Pattern. The assemblage as a whole is the most diverse of the sites analyzed during
this research, characterized by seven distinct flaked stone artifact classes.
92
Projectile Points
The six projectile points from HUM-573 are bifurcate stemmed forms, one is a
preform. One of the specimens was reclassified as part of this study from a biface to a
projectile point fragment. All of the specimens, including the preform, show evidence of
use wear. Five specimens show evidence of impact fracture, the preform being the sole
exception. Four of the six specimens show evidence of reworking or recycling into a
different form. These latter artifacts are all reworked into a convex rounded form that
would work well as a hafted end scraper. The two remaining specimens are the preform
and a large blade element assumed to be a distal end of a Widestem. Neck widths
average 22.3 mm with a standard deviation of 1.8 mm. Four specimens yielded intact
measurements.
The projectile points HUM-573 suggest a curated assemblage that is being
utilized over an extended life-cycle through consistent in-haft re-sharpening, followed by
recycling once its projectile point utility had been exhausted into a hafted tool, likely a
scraper, and ultimately being discarded at the residential base where replacement
materials were available and time stress was less crucial.
Biface
Two bifaces were added to this analysis relative to the original report
(Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983), a blade element of a projectile point and a stage 5
fragment being identified in the debitage. The vast majority of the biface assemblage at
this site represents Stage 5 fragments, 63.8%; Stage 4 and 5 bifaces combined constitute
93
78.7% of the assemblage, leaving 22.3% of the assemblage in earlier stages of reduction
(table 15).
BIFACES BY STAGE CA-HUM-573
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
STAGE 5
TOTAL
n=
-
3
7
7
30
47
CCS
-
3
7
7
30
47
WHL/NC
-
-
2
-
-
2
PRX
-
1
2
2
13
18
DST
-
-
1
-
1
2
MED
-
-
-
2
2
MRG
-
2
2
5
14
23
PRS
-
3
7
5
26
41
ABS
-
-
-
2
4
6
CONDITION
USE WEAR
Table 15 Bifaces by Stage at CA-HUM-573
The biface assemblage contains many Stage 5 fragments, most either proximal ends or
margins; nearly all exhibit some form of use wear. As with HUM-577, this biface sample
contains a high percentage of margins, 48.9%, indicative of impact fractures and heavy use;
but it also contains a nearly equivalent number of proximal ends, 38.3%. The presence of
the proximal end of the biface indicates re-tooling, removing the proximal end of the
biface from the haft and replacing it with a new biface. In addition to the proximal ends
are a substantial number of margins, 48.9%; again, the presence of this percentage of
margins indicates heavy use and impact fracturing. Coupled with the proximal ends, this
biface profile implies an intensively used assemblage. The certainty of this location as a
94
residential base suggests that bifaces were being replaced after return from remote
locations. This is consistent with the evidence of staging at the base camp with either
raw materials or blanks, reflected in the recovery of two whole bifaces within the
assemblage (figure 10).
Figure 10 Whole (82-14214) and Nearly Complete (82-14367) Bifaces at CA-HUM-573
When the biface assemblage is augmented by bifacial cores and core tools there
are eleven additional specimens characteristic of tool replacement. The combination of
the early stage biface and cores, produces strong evidence that the technological
organization at the site included caching of raw materials in anticipation of replacing
exhausted flaked stone tools, particularly bifaces.
This is to be expected at any
residential base, whether associated with mobility or sedentism. The presence of bifiacial
cores has been correlated with mobile residential systems, globular, multi-directional
cores with sedentism.
The assemblage at this site is heavy with bifacial cores, an
effective form for ease of transport with as little waste as possible during reduction into a
bifacial form.
95
The combination of raw material staged at the residential base and a
preponderance of proximal ends suggests that the site represents a retooling stop in the
technological organization of the subsistence-settlement subsistent system. The biface
assemblage in general reflects a relatively mobile system with the presence of bifacial
cores and a high percentage of margins. It appears the site was positioned to take
advantage of a diversity of resources within a daily foraging radius, including intensive
working with bifacial tools at the site.
Flake Tools
The flake tools at HUM-573 are represented by all three categories, simple,
formed and spalls.
Each of the sample categories have characteristics that are
characteristic of a residential base and reveal a pattern of curation (table 16).
FLAKE TOOL ATTRIBUTES AT HUM-573
CONDITION
EDGES
EDGE SHAPE
EDGE ANGLE
WHOLE/NEAR COMPLETE
END
MARGIN
ONE
TWO
THREE
CONVEX
CONCAVE
STRAIGHT
25-450
SFT
4
1
1
2
6
1
2
SPALL
4
3
2
4
-
FFT
1
1
6
5
3
8
6
4
1
46-550
2
-
3
56-650
1
-
3
66-750
TOTAL TOOLS
TOTAL EDGES
-
-
1
4
9
4
5
8
11
Table 16 Flake Tool Attributes at HUM-573
96
Simple Flake Tools
The simple flake tool assemblage at HUM-573 is surprisingly sparse (n=4) and
reflects conservative technological behavior. A residential base should exhibit more
expedient tool use, even within a mobile subsistence system.
The substantial number of utilized edges (n=9) reflects multiple tool use events
and suggests even these tools were being curated; three quarters of the tools had more
than one utilized edge and half had three utilized edges. In addition, one of the four has a
relatively steep edge, 56-650, that might further indicate the tool was used more than
once.
The fact that the simple flake tool assemblage was curated implies that the
technological organization was geared toward conservative behavior.
Cobble Spalls
The other class of simple flake tool, cobble spalls, also shows some signs of
conservative behavior. While the number of tools are equivalent (n=4), the number of
edges only total five; of these, half the tools show some form of edge modification,
suggesting that they were re-sharpened or modified to obtain a specific edge shape (table
24).
All of the specimens have convex edges, perhaps indicating that edge shape
played an important role in the function of the tool. They all share edge angles less than
450, indicating a thin but relatively blunt edge was required during use. While different
indicators provide the evidence, it appears that cobble spalls, as with the simple flake
97
tools, were being curated. The tool class was maintained through re-sharpening or other
edge modifications. This tool was utilized in a different fashion than conventional simple
flake tools and may have been hafted, which in turn may explain why most such
implements harbor a single utilized edge that was utilized multiple times. The tools
appear to have been maintained through a relatively long use life.
Formed Flake Tools
The formed flake tool assemblage at HUM-573 consists of ten items, nine
fragmentary and one whole. Eight of the ten items are classified as domed. Of the two
remaining artifacts one is too thin in section to be considered domed but is ovate in form
as are the domed type. The final formed flake tool was removed from the debitage and is
too fragmentary to identify in regards to original morphology. Within the domed type,
six are margins, one is complete, and one is an end fragment.
All of the fragmentary items retain evidence of impact fracture. The single whole
item is well used, reworked, and shows evidence of step fracturing. All but four of the
more fragmentary items retain some portion of simple notches associated with hafting,
implying they were used as hafted implements.
Use wear is limited to either step
fracturing or dulling, indicating use in both scraping and chopping. The presence of only
exhausted tools at the site is a direct result of re-tooling. The overall assemblage is
composed of well used, exhausted, and fragmentary items discarded during replacement
or a result of breakage during use. Formed flake tools appear to have been important
elements of the technological organization, being heavily used as both hafted scrapers
98
and chopping tools. Most items exhibit use as both in the proportion of margins present
as a result of impact and as each of the fragments exhibits dulling and step fracturing on
the working edges. In sum, the formed flake tools from HUM-573 represent generalized
hafted tools utilized for multiple functions.
Debitage
The debitage at HUM-573 represents a complete array of sizes and types, with
obsidian reflecting conservative behavior through a vast majority of pressure flaking
debris relative to percussion flakes; this is due to its relative distance from source areas
(table 17).
99
TYPED DEBITAGE ATTRIBUTES AT HUM-573
OBS
CCS
OBS
CCS
PRIMARY DECORTICATION
-
9
-
0.2%
SECONDARY DECORTICATION
-
15
-
0.4%
CORTICAL SHATTER
-
3
-
0.1%
SIMPLE INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
234
-
5.8%
COMPLEX INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
592
-
14.7%
LINEAR PERCUSSION
-
30
-
0.7%
EARLY BIFACE THINNING
-
48
-
1.2%
LATE BIFACE THINNING
-
317
-
7.9%
ANGULAR PERCUSSION
-
181
-
4.5%
PERCUSSION FRAGMENT
-
158
-
3.9%
LINEAR PRESSURE
10
417
20.4%
10.4%
ROUNDED PRESSURE
36
1814
73.5%
45.0%
INDETERMINATE PERCUSSION
3
82
6.1%
2.0%
INDETERMINATE PRESSURE
-
128
-
3.2%
49
4028
100%
100%
TOTAL
DECORTICATION
-
27
-
0.7%
INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
904
-
24.2%
-
365
-
9.8%
PRESSURE
46
2231
93.9%
59.7%
INDETERMINATE
3
210
6.1%
5.6%
TOTAL
49
3737
100%
100%
<1.0 cm
7
1804
13%
28.3%
1.0-2.0 cm
47
3675
87%
57.6%
2.0-3.0 cm
-
809
-
12..7%
BIFACE THINNING
3.0-5.0 cm
TOTAL
-
95
-
1.4%
54
6383
100%
100%
Table 17 Typed Debitage at CA-HUM-573
The cryptocrystalline debitage profile is distinct in the percentage of biface
thinning and interior percussion flakes, reporting 39.9% of the identifiable 3737 flakes
assigned to these types. Relative to pressure flaking debris (59.7%) this is a 1 to 3 ratio
of reduction to maintenance debris, and seems extraordinarily high. This profile indicates
that while tools are being cared for at the site, the main activity involved reduction of raw
materials in expectation of replacing tools. The organization this represents implies that
100
resource procurement is, for the most part, occurring elsewhere; the residential base is the
main location of tool replacement.
The presence of decortication debitage (n=27) indicates that very rough cores or
blanks are being reduced at the site on occasion. The low number indicates that this is
not a significant aspect of the technology, that the site is not located where it is due to a
primary concern with raw material source. It does, however, imply that there is a raw
material source relatively close to the site.
Ground Stone
The ground stone assemblage at HUM-573 is the largest of all sites. The use wear
on both the handstones and milling slabs are consistent throughout the collection with
little variation between the objects. It appears that this aspect of the technological profile
was very important and consistent, people were staging equipment at the site in
preparation for return and redundant use year after year. The specimens have substantial
data to offer, with multiple faced handstones exhibiting end battering and milling slabs
with variously shaped working surfaces (table 18).
101
GROUND STONE USE WEAR AT CA-HUM-573
HNDSTN
MLGSLB
FLAT
3
5
CONCAVE
1
7
CONVEX
10
1
SMOOTH
12
13
ROUGH
2
ONE SURFACE
3
5
TWO SURFACES
4
8
THREE SURFACES
1
STRIATIONS
7
11
NO STRIATIONS
1
2
PECKED
7
11
NOT PECKED
1
2
POLISHED
7
9
NOT POLISHED
1
5
SECONDARY MODIFICATIONS
5
2
NO SECONDARY MODIFICATIONS
3
11
OCHRE STAINED
1
8
NOT OCHRE STAINED
7
5
TOTAL:
8
13
Table 18 Ground Stone Use Wear at CA-HUM-573
Milling Slabs
The milling slab sample at HUM-573 is the most robust of all those studied. This
indicates that vegetal processing played a key role at this site. Use wear is highly
consistent in multiple categories and the tools show signs of both intensive use and resharpening.
The most notable consistency among the milling slab assemblage is that the
surfaces of all 13 objects are smooth. This does not mean that the surface is slick but that
the surface exposed to contact with the attendant part of this tool (handstone in this case)
102
is smooth as opposed to battered. This point is raised because it seems to contradict the
observations that surfaces are also pecked and have striations. The presence of only
smooth surfaces is a strong indicator that the milling slabs were being utilized with
handstones for grinding purposes as opposed to pounding.
It is also evident that 11 of 13 slabs (85%) have evidence of both striations and
pecking. The pecking is generally thought to reflect re-sharpening of the tool, creating
fresh edges on the utilized surface to more efficiently reduce the resource. This is
particularly important in the processing of hard seed products, but also helps in
processing of soft nut meat with a milling slab/handstone set up. Striations on the milling
slabs offer the best evidence of hard seed processing.
Striations are created when
particles of a hard object are caught between the milling slab and the handstone and
dragged across the surface of the slab; soft nut products will not cause this type of use
wear.
Over half (61.5%) of the milling slabs showed evidence of use wear on both sides,
indicating that they had been curated objects utilized to their fullest potential. Most are
flat or concave (12 of 13) on the working surface(s), also an indicator of heavy use as the
raw material is generally convex.
Further substantiating their heavy use is the
fragmentary nature of the collection (76.9%). This is to be expected given that the raw
material sources are located in lowland areas along the rivers. The implements were
transported and utilized until non-functional. Even in their fragmentary state, slabs
appear to be curated as these objects are found in the context of a house floor. The whole
103
specimens (n=4) are heavy (mean = 5 kilograms) and large (mean = 2,995,082 cm3),
transported to the site at great expense; these tools are a very important aspect of the
technological organization of the site.
On a final note, eight of 13 specimens (61.5%) are stained with ochre. The
understanding of the use of ochre in processing is poorly understood, though it has been
suggested as part of early technological efforts to reduce the acidity of vegetal resources,
particularly acorn.
The milling slab assemblage is significant at this site and the use wear shows little
variation between the objects. Characteristics of the milling slab sample are consistent
with curating and staging equipment at the site in preparation for return and expected use
for the same purpose year after year. The artifact type is redundant, multiple (n=4)
whole specimens found within one house floor; recycled fragments are curated and
maintained, most specimens exhibiting evidence of re-sharpening and indicative of
substantial transport costs.
The use wear analysis also indicates the focus of use was for hard seed products,
though the presence of ochre staining may imply that nut processing, in particular acorn,
was practiced as well. There is an expectation that there was, beyond a doubt, nut
resource processing occuring at the site as people would not ignore the diversity of
surrounding resources.
It is clear, however, that a significant amount of hard seed
processing was conducted with the milling slabs analyzed as part of this project.
104
Handstones
A total of eight handstones was analyzed from the site, all of which show high
consistency in form and wear. Seven of eight (87.5%) specimens have striations, are
pecked and polished; five show secondary modifications. Five of the eight specimens are
fragmentary, two are whole, and one is nearly complete.
Striations, pecking and polishing are consistent with the wear found on the
milling slabs, which is expected given their joint roles.
The implications are also
compatible, hard seed products require pecking to re-sharpen the tool and create
striations; polish is also a sign of heavy use. Secondary modification includes end and
perimeter battering and two specimens have a cupule or pit pecked in the midsection of
the tool, generally indicative of use as an anvil. Secondary modification indicates initial
stages of processing (cracking nutshells) and suggests use as a pounding implement as
well as grinding tools.
In contrast to the assessment of the milling slab assemblage, it appears that most
handstones are portable specimens. Two of the three whole handstones are palm-sized
objects and the third is a larger loaf-shaped form. The large specimen is the only artifact
with three utilized faces, edge and end battering; it may represent the repurposing of a
milling slab fragment given its thickness exceeds seven centimeters. Four of the five
fragmentary handstones can also be classified as small, rounded, portable specimens; the
fifth is too fragmentary to make a determination as to form. The fragmentary handstones
all show evidence of heavy use and one specimen is ochre stained.
105
Use wear analysis indicates that the focus of handstone use, as with milling slabs,
was on hard seed products, but the presence of end and edge battering also suggests that
nut processing was occurring. The tools were curated and recycled as were the milling
slabs, most specimens in the household context are fragmentary.
It appears that
handstones were portable objects but redundancy is indicated by the caching of objects
while still usable. That most of the handstones left at the site were fragmentary suggests
they served as insurance against being caught without when in need of the tool.
Other Tools
The diversity of tools at this site exceeds all other assemblages. Beyond the tools
assessed above are drills (n=1), cores (n=7), core tools (n=4), miscellaneous ground stone
fragments (n=21), battered cobbles (n=1), and assayed cobbles (n=3).
The variety of
tool types reconfirms the residential nature of the HUM-573 deposit, although that has
never really been in question.
The presence of assayed cobbles reflects the ubiquitous nature of raw materials in
the area. Two are low quality cobbles available locally from the Franciscan formation
and the third a piece of tabular chert with a single flake scar available at nearby outcrops
on Pilot Ridge.
The core assemblage consists of five bifacial and multidirectional chert objects,
and two metavolcanic globular multidirectional specimens. The metavolcanic cores are
small and near exhaustion, while the chert cores are larger with bifacial characteristics.
The assemblage at this site is heavy with bifacial cores, an effective form for toolstone
106
transport.
The globular cores are associated with expedient technologies, removing
flakes as required; the bifacial cores are associated with curation, utilizing the core as
both an efficient flake carrier and potential repurposing to a variety of tools.
The battered cobble and miscellaneous ground stone fragments speak to the
vegetal processing. The battered cobble is a generalized tool not formalized enough to
represent a handstone, pestle, or hammerstone. They are likely multi-purpose expedient
implements used to satisfy whatever need is at hand for which they are appropriate. The
miscellaneous ground stone, on the other hand, speaks more directly to the vegetal use at
the site. One might expect that heavy use of ground stone artifacts will fragment them.
In combination with the milling slabs and handstones, the high number of miscellaneous
fragments (n=21) re-affirms the importance of plant processing technologies.
Discussion
The tool assemblage at site HUM-573 is indicative of a habitation area. There
appears to have been a relative peak in resource diversity, density, and availability at this
location. Large milling equipment was imported at great expense. The debitage profiles
reflect a relative closeness to raw tool stone sources of cryptocrystalline silicate, staging
for flaked stone tool replacement and intensive use of flaked stone tools. The site
characteristics are consistent with a residential base potentially associated with either a
sedentary or mobile subsistence system, though evidence leans toward that of a mobile
society. There is a relative lack of expedient technology, seen only in the form of several
metavolcanic cores.
107
CA-HUM-367
Analysis of the HUM-367 assemblage was conducted through a sampling of the
collection. Hildebrandt and Hayes (1983:8.7) consider the site to be a single component
Borax Lake Pattern occupation with slight intrusions of late period artifacts. Because of
this intrusion, the surface artifacts have been removed to exclude as many artifacts
reflecting the Middle and Late periods as possible. The site has a diversity of tool types,
but less than HUM-573.
Flaked Stone
The flaked stone assemblage from this site is highly fragmentary. Among the
projectile points and the general bifacial tools there are few whole objects and when there
is a nearly complete or whole specimen it has been reworked to an unusable state. The
exception to this is the formed flake tool category. It would appear that the flaked stone
assemblage reflects a pattern of retooling indicative of relative proximity to a raw
material source.
Projectile Points
The projectile points at HUM-367 (n=10) mimic the patterns at HUM-573. A
single preform is present and all other points show evidence of in-haft reworking (n=9)
and impact fracturing (n=7). Unique to this site is evidence of step fracturing on those
whole points with convex reworking (n=2). These pieces were likely used as projectile
points and then scrapers or chisels of some sort. With the evidence of step fracturing on
whole specimens having convex working edges it seems likely that they experienced use
108
in some sort of pounding action. Their specific use cannot be attributed as the analysis
did not look at micro-wear, but it can be assumed that chopping was part of the tools use
life. Neck widths averaged 25 mm with a standard deviation of 1 mm. Again, indicators
of curation are present in the recycling of the tool and there is evidence that re-tooling
was occurring at the site via the presence of the preform.
Bifaces
The projectile point assemblage suggests that retooling was occurring at the site
and the biface profile favors early to mid-stage specimens, combined with heavy use and
replacement (table 19).
BIFACES BY STAGE CA-HUM-367
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
STAGE 5
n=
2
3
8
11
14
38
OBS
-
-
-
1
4
5
CCS
2
3
8
10
10
33
WHL/NC
-
-
1
2
1
4
PRX
1
1
4
4
7
16
DST
-
-
-
-
1
1
END
-
1
-
-
-
1
MED
-
-
-
2
3
5
MRG
1
1
3
3
4
11
PRS
1
1
2
6
11
20
ABS
1
2
6
5
5
18
TOTAL
CONDITION
USE WEAR
Table 19 Bifaces by Stage at CA-HUM-367
The biface assemblage is heavily fragmented. Just four of 38 bifaces are whole or
near-complete; the two nearly complete objects include one early stage and one Stage 5
109
form. The two whole specimens are late stage pieces and are exhausted tools; one has
been recycled into its present form from a larger biface fragment. This leaves 34 of 38
(89.5%) of the collection as fragments. Much like HUM-573, there is a predominance of
proximal ends (42.1%) and margins (28.9%), which together total 71% of the collection.
This indicates that, as with both the other upland sites, there was intensive biface use
occurring. Similar to HUM-573, biface replacement is occurring among the hafted
forms, which also indicates heavy use and proximity to raw material sources or
availability of staged replacement materials in expectation of replacement needs.
Within the biface assemblage there are 34.2% early stage (1-3) and 65.8% late
stage (4-5) forms; a 1:2 ratio which is relatively high. This suggests that tools used to
replace the late stage bifaces are being used and broken at the site.
This further
substantiates the idea that early stage bifaces are being brought to the site in anticipation
of heavy use and a need to replace late stage tools.
Flake Tools
The flake tool assemblage at HUM-367 is relatively sparse with two simple flake tools,
one cobble spall and seven formed flake tools (table 20).
110
DOMED FORMED FLAKE TOOL ATTRIBUTES
CONDITION
EDGES
EDGE SHAPE
EDGE ANGLE
SFT
2
1
1
3
1
-
SPALLS
1
1
2
FFT
4
3
1
5
1
25-450
4
2
-
46-550
1
-
3
56-650
-
-
2
66-750
-
-
1
76-850
TOTAL TOOLS
-
-
1
2
5
1
2
7
14
WHOLE/NEAR COMPLETE
END
ONE
TWO
THREE
CONCAVE
CONVEX
STRAIGHT
TOTAL EDGES
6
1
Table 20 Flake Tool Attributes at HUM-367
Simple Flake Tools
There are two simple flake tools in the assemblage analyzed at this site, indicating
a relative lack of importance for such tools; this does not preclude the possibility that
expedient flake use did not involve intensive use and edge re-sharpening resulting in
artifacts that would not be readily identifiable as implements in this analysis. The two
specimens are both fashioned from chert, one has a single convex edge and the other
three edges, two are convex and one is concave.
Cobble Spalls
Cobble spalls also occur rarely at the site (n=1), consistent with the simple flake
tool assemblage. Unlike the latter sample, the cobble spalls do not retain the possibility
of missing incipient use as there are no large sandstone flakes in the debitage assemblage.
111
Formed Flake Tools
Formed flake tools are an important part of the technology at this site. While only
seven objects were identified, 57.1% were whole or near-complete.
The balance of the assemblage is end fragments. One additional formed flake tool
is too fragmentary and thin in section to identify as domed. The whole artifacts are all
well used with edge angles greater than 45o. These edges are reworked and six of seven
have more than one edge. Such use wear characteristics are consistent with heavily used
tools, edge angles indicating that the implements were employed in some form of
scraping or planning. In either case it is an important aspect of the flaked stone tool
organization at the site.
Debitage
The debitage profile at HUM-367 is notable in the quantity of obsidian,
representing 20.9% of the assemblage. The vast majority of that material is pressure
flaking debris, but there are earlier stages present, as well as a wide variety of flake types,
including a specimen with cortex and two simple interior percussion flakes (table 21).
112
DEBITAGE ATTRIBUTES AT HUM-367
OBS
CCS
OBS
CCS
SECONDARY DECORTICATION
1
3
0.1%
0.1%
SIMPLE INTERIOR PERCUSSION
2
4
0.2%
0.1%
COMPLEX INTERIOR PERCUSSION
13
147
1.1%
3.4%
LINEAR PERCUSSION
5
40
0.4%
0.9%
EARLY BIFACE THINNING
3
42
0.3%
1.0%
LATE BIFACE THINNING
76
415
6.7%
9.7%
ANGULAR PERCUSSION
6
117
0.5%
2.7%
LINEAR PRESSURE
418
1269
36.8%
29.6%
ROUNDED PRESSURE
552
1930
48.6%
45.0%
INDETERMINATE PERCUSSION
19
153
1.7%
3.6%
INDETERMINATE PRESSURE
TOTAL
41
171
3.6%
4.0%
1136
4291
100%
100%
DECORTICATION
1
3
0.1%
0.1%
INTERIOR PERCUSSION
23
233
2.0%
5.5%
BIFACE THINNING
79
457
7.0%
10.8%
PRESSURE
970
3199
85.6%
75.9%
INDETERMINATE
60
324
5.3%
7.7%
TOTAL
1133
4216
100%
100%
<1.0 cm
859
3011
76.0%
70.2%
1.0-2.0 cm
253
1056
22.4%
24.6%
2.0-3.0 cm
14
188
1.2%
4.4%
3.0-4.0 cm
4
36
0.4%
0.8%
1130
4291
100%
100%
TOTAL
Table 21 Debitage Attributes at HUM-367
The availability of obsidian at this site is the greatest of all the upland sites. As
the nearest sources are well to the east of Pilot Ridge, it is interesting that this site is the
only upland location on the eastern edge of the landform. The prevalence of obsidian
implies a different level of social interaction or subsistent-settlement range.
The chert debitage that was typed and size sorted (n=4216), is also comprehensive
in the diversity of types. The assemblage is heavy in pressure flakes, at 75.9%, but there
is a substantial representation of biface thinning flakes (10.9%) and interior percussion
(5.5%) debris. The high frequency of pressure flakes is indicative of tool maintenance
113
and intensive tool use. The biface thinning and interior percussion flakes reflect creation
of new tools to replace exhausted implements. In this regard, the debitage assemblage
reinforces the interpretation of the biface and flake tool samples as intensively used and
the technological organization designed to retool at this site.
Ground Stone
The ground stone assemblage at HUM-367 is perhaps the most interesting aspect.
In removing the surface assemblage, a very different pattern emerges indicating the
locality was occupied for very specific purposes (table 22).
GROUND STONE USE WEAR AT HUM-367
HNDSTN
MLGSLB
ONE SURFACE
7
1
TWO SURFACES
3
-
THREE SURFACES
-
-
SMOOTH
-
1
STRIATIONS
3
1
NO STRIATIONS
7
-
PECKED
9
-
NOT PECKED
1
1
POLISHED
6
1
NOT POLISHED
4
-
SECONDARY MODIFICATIONS
8
-
NO SECONDARY MODIFICATIONS
2
1
NOT OCHRE STAINED
-
1
10
1
TOTAL:
Table 22 Ground Stone Use Wear at CA-HUM-367
114
Millingslabs
The culling of surface materials drops the number of milling slabs to one This
leaves little to say about the use wear patterns, but does show that the tool class had
relatively little to do with the technological organization at the site. Even if milling slabs
were brought to the site and removed when people left for another location, the lack of
staging or caching indicates that redundancy was not a priority. Handstones, on the other
hand, appear to have been an important during site occupations.
Handstones
The handstones from HUM-367 reflect resource procurement, though the relative
lack of milling slabs suggests that little processing was occurring at the site. The use
wear on handstones reveals two distinct types; a large form with extensive modification
and a smaller form that lacks some of the characteristics of the former.
The larger variety of handstones (n=7) all share a common sort of modification,
pecking on the medial section of one or both faces of a relatively deep cupule commonly
interpreted as anvil use.
In addition, all are battered on both ends.
The smaller
handstones (n=3) do not have either of these traits as a group, though a single specimen
does exhibit end battering. The handstone assemblage at this site is unique to all other
samples, the larger form predominates and they are not found in any quantity at either of
the other two sites.
115
The use wear on handstones is also unique; the larger handstones do not exhibit
striations, all have a single face and they are consistently battered on the ends and
perimeter. A lack of striations indicates that they were not used for hard seed processing;
while the intensive battering around the entire perimeter offers evidence of use in
pounding. The presence of only a single face on these handstone forms minimizes their
role as grinding implements.
The near complete lack of milling slabs and dominance of large, battered
handstones with evidence of anvil use, the lack of striations, and the presence of only a
single face on the majority of the artifacts suggests that this site was used to procure and
initially process resources, likely nut products for transport to another location for
processing into flour. This is both suggestive of collector-like task group use and storage
behavior back at the residential hub.
Discussion
The assemblage analyzed shows a wide variety of artifacts with a relatively high
percentage of bifaces (52.0%), projectile points (7.6%) and handstones (7.6%) relative to
milling slabs (.8%). These aspects of the technological organization are important to the
function of the site. The relative lack of milling slabs when compared to handstones
(1:10) and the use wear on larger handstones indicate that this site was a procurement
area with little on-site processing other than the shelling of nut crops for final processing
at another location.
116
Lowland Sites
The lowland site assemblages do provide for a distinct artifact frequency,
although both have a relatively full complement of tools (table 23).
INVENTORY OF ASSEMBLAGE CONSTITUENTS AT SHA-475 AND TRI-1008
PPT
BIF
FFT
SFT
SPALL
COR
CTL
DEB
MLG
HND
BTC
ASSCOB
CBLTL
DRL
MGS
SHA-475
9
8
2
2
2
-
-
400
2
2
-
-
1
-
2
TRI-1008
7
22
8
16
2
2
2
1944
2
7
-
1
-
2
5
Key: PPT- Widestem Projectile Point; BIF- Biface; FFT- Formed flake Tool; SFT- Simple Flake Tool; SPALL- Cobble Spall; COR- Core; CTLCore Tool; DEB- Debitage; MLG- Milling Slab; HND- Handstone; BTC- Battered Cobble; ASSCOB- Assayed Cobble; CBLTL- Cobble Tool; DRLDrill; MGS- Miscellaneous Ground Stone.
Table 23 Inventory of Assemblage Constituents at SHA-475 and TRI-1008
SHA-475
The assemblage at SHA-475 associated with the Borax Lake Pattern occupation is not
nearly as rich in quantity as the later assemblages.
Flaked Stone
The flaked stone raw material choice is obsidian due to the relative ease of access
with several sources nearby. Other materials are present, but in much reduced quantities.
Projectile Points
As noted in Chapter 5, this analysis revealed patterns within the three point types
at this site indicating that neck width of the expanding stem points differ from both the
bifurcate and square stemmed points (table 24).
117
CA-HUM-475 PROJECTILE POINTS
EXP STM
SQ STM
BIF STM
MEAN
18.41
15.69
23.35
SD
3.59
0.89
2.68
Table 24 Mean Neck Widths of SHA-475 Projectile Points
While the statistical differences are not significant, their distribution within the deposit is
indicative of discrete assemblages that sort stratigraphically. The projectile point analysis
implies that the previous analyses missed the mark in identifying a discrete Borax Lake
Pattern package.
With regard to the diversity and use wear of projectile points, eight of the nine
projectile points are obsidian; one of the points is chert. This point is well worn and
curated, but has not been recycled into another tool form. The other interesting aspect of
the use patterns at this site is the relative lack of use wear (n=4) and impact fractures
(n=3) among the points. The chert point is reworked into the typical rounded convex
shape. Seven of the nine points are either complete or nearly complete, giving a sense
that the site is used as a retooling area with staged points at the ready. Raw materials are
located relatively nearby and less attention is being paid to curating or reworking points.
Bifaces
The bifaces assemblage at SHA-475 directly associated with the Borax Lake
Pattern occupation consists of eight specimens. Of these items, half are proximal ends,
one is a projectile point perform that is nearly complete, two are distal ends, and one is a
midsection. All of the bifaces are Stage 5 forms and, as with the rest of the assemblage,
they are made from obsidian (table 25).
118
BIFACES BY STAGE SHA-475
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
STAGE 5
n=
-
-
-
-
8
8
OBS
-
-
-
-
8
8
WHL/NC
-
-
-
-
1
1
PRX
-
-
-
-
4
4
DST
-
-
-
-
2
2
MED
-
-
-
-
1
1
PRS
-
-
-
-
4
4
ABS
-
-
-
-
4
4
TOTAL
CONDITION
USE WEAR
Table 25 Bifaces by Stage at SHA-475
This assemblage is unique in that there are only late stage bifaces, and no on-site
reduction appears to be taking place. A lack of margins and low incidence of use wear
suggests that these tools were not being heavily used. On the other hand, the fact half of
the assemblage is comprised of proximal ends and all but two are projectile point
fragments; indicates that projectiles are being removed from their hafting and replaced at
the site.
Flake Tools
The cobble spalls are the most striking within the SHA-475 flake tool assemblage.
With regard to the internal issues at the site, the raw count of spalls drops from 65 to two
when artifacts associated with contracting-stem and expanding-stem packages are
removed. The two are included only because they were located between soil packages
and are not clearly associated with any projectile point types. They may be intrusive but
have been included in the analysis (table 26).
119
FLAKE TOOL ATTRIBUTES AT SHA-475
EDGE SHAPE
WHOLE/NEAR COMPLETE
END
ONE
THREE
CONVEX
SFT
2
2
2
SPALL
2
2
2
FFT
1
1
1
1
2
EDGE ANGLE
25-450
2
2
1
66-750
-
-
3
TOTAL TOOLS
TOTAL EDGES
2
2
CONDITION
EDGES
2
4
Table 26 Flake Tool Attributes at SHA-475
Simple Flake Tools
The simple flake tools, excluding cobble spalls are culled to two specimens for
this analysis. The significance of this tool is severely limited and the analysis of these
two objects becomes relatively mute with regard to any statistical patterning. One is
made from obsidian and the other basalt. It is worth mentioning that the obsidian object
is unique in being elongate with a single edge, resembling a burin.
Cobble Spalls
The two cobble spalls each have a single convex edge, are made of sandstone,
with cortex on each. The edge angles are both less than 45o and both show evidence of
step fracturing. The tools were most likely used for chopping but, again, appear to have
played a small role in the technological organization.
Formed Flake Tools
The formed flake tool assemblage directly associated with the Borax Lake
occupation at SHA-475 is reduced to two specimens. Both are found in unit N65/E191
120
C, one at 10.5 feet and the other at 12 feet. One specimen is thin in section and the other
is exhausted. This leaves very little data to analyze but does give a sense of the relative
lack of importance of the tool type within the Borax Lake occupation of the site. One
specimen has a single 22-45o edge, the other three very steep (66-75o) edges and
exhausted, indicating both evidence of curation and expedience within the sample. These
factors combine to demonstrate the lack of significance afforded the tool type. If one was
needed or on hand it appears to have been used but form or condition did not play a role
in its use.
Debitage
The debitage assemblage at the site is the smallest of all sites due to the exclusion
of artifacts associated with the later components, and the only one comprised of only
obsidian (table 27).
121
DEBITAGE ATTRIBUTES SHA-475
SECONDARY DECORTICATION
SIMPLE INTERIOR PERCUSSION
COMPLEX INTERIOR PERCUSSION
LINEAR PERCUSSION
EARLY BIFACE THINNING
LATE BIFACE THINNING
ANGULAR PERCUSSION
LINEAR PRESSURE
ROUNDED PRESSURE
INDETERMINATE PERCUSSION
INDETERMINATE PRESSURE
TOTAL
DECORTICATION
INTERIOR PERCUSSION
BIFACE THINNING
PRESSURE
INDETERMINATE
TOTAL
<1.0 cm
1.0-2.0 cm
2.0-3.0 cm
3.0-4.0 cm
TOTAL
4
8
25
11
10
33
23
108
160
7
11
400
4
54
43
268
18
387
36
288
59
17
400
1.0%
2.0%
6.3%
2.8%
2.5%
8.3%
5.8%
27.0%
40.0%
1.8%
2.8%
100%
1.0%
13.9%
11.1%
69.3%
4.7%
100%
9.0%
72.0%
14.8%
4.2%
100%
Table 27 Debitage Attributes at SHA-475
The resulting assemblage has a high ratio of interior percussion and biface reduction
debitage to pressure flakes, nearly 1:3, and 19.8% of the debitage is associated with
bifacial or other flake stone reduction at a relatively late stage. The debitage size profile
is also telling, showing that 81% of flakes are less than two centimeters in diameter. The
data suggests that maintenance of flaked stone tools is the main focus at the site. Most
formed artifacts appear to have arrived at SHA-475 in finished or near-finished condition.
The SHA-475 sample of obsidian also allows for comparison with both TRI-1008
and HUM-367. Debitage profiles between these three sites are very similar and in
relation to distance from source, there appears to be a common thread between the three
122
sites. All three look to have had established relationships with the same source of raw
material, Lost Iron Well/Grasshopper Flat and brought finished tools or preforms to the
respective locality for reduction and maintenance.
Ground Stone
The ground stone assemblage at SHA-475 is minimal with two milling slabs and
two hand stones. The specimens are described in detail below, forgoing the need for a
table. The main point brought forth is that the proposed Borax Lake component at SHA475 creates a significantly different picture of plant processing than has been previously
proposed.
Milling slabs
The milling slab assemblage drops to two specimens if we accept the component
segregation used in this study. One is flat, the other concave; both are smooth, pecked
and polished, and neither has striations.
This matches the two handstones in the
assemblage as described below. It appears that hard seed products were not processed
with these tools leaving the focus on soft meat vegetal products. As with the handstones
it is difficult to determine the exact use of these tools with only two to assess, but low
count does indicate that milling slabs played a minimal role at the site.
Handstones
The handstone assemblage is, again, represented by just two specimens. Both
objects have three faces, neither has striations, one is pecked, both are polished, and
123
neither has secondary modifications. The lack of striations reflects the processing of soft
vegetal materials particularly when coupled with polishing. The pecking on one but not
the other suggests that this may be serendipitous to the object, but even if it was resharpened that does not preclude re-sharpening for more efficient processing of soft
vegetal materials. Again, with two specimens it is difficult to assess the use of the
objects at the site but it is clear that handstones played a minimal role during the Borax
Lake occupation.
Other Tools
There is a limited diversity of tools at SHA-475 associated with the Borax Lake
Pattern component, including the above described types, two pieces of miscellaneous
ground stone and a single cobble tool. The two fragments of miscellaneous ground stone
substantiate the minimized role of vegetal resources. The cobble tool appears to be
associated with use as a chopping instrument as it has two flakes removed from one face
to create a sharp edge and step fracturing along that single edge. It may have been used
as a butchering tool.
Discussion
The site SHA-475 played a much more significant role later in time when
compared to the Borax Lake Pattern. The final analysis included 4.4 cubic meters of
deposit after nearly 20 cubic meters of initial analysis. The analysis of this assemblage
took three years to accomplish and over 20,000 individual artifacts were assessed to come
up with a total of 20 formed tools and 400 pieces of debitage to present in these results.
124
This in itself implies that the site was used sparsely during the Borax Lake Pattern
occupation.
The loss of significant ground stone processing technology at SHA-475 within
this analysis by its predominant association with expanding-stem and contracting-stem
projectile point forms reflects a significant trend within the site towards greater
dependency on vegetal resources later in time.
This technological change in the
assemblage is directly associated with ecological changes in response to known climatic
changes and the relatively sparse assemblage directly associated with the Borax Lake
Pattern is justified when considering ecological conditions as presented in the next
chapter.
TRI-1008
The assemblage from TRI-1008 is the most diverse of the five sites assessed as
part of this study (table 40). It is similar to that of HUM-573 both in diversity and
density, with the exception of a few key factors. The assemblage was generated over
several field seasons and was difficult to define but once the cleanest portion of the site
was identified, it proved to be highly interesting. It should also be noted that there are
several Borax Lake Pattern sites in the local area, the Trinity River basin, but these sites
have not had the quality or quantity of work performed at them. This is a key site to our
understanding of the Borax Lake Pattern in the region.
125
Flaked Stone
Projectile Points
The projectile point assemblage at TRI-1008 totals seven items.
Six of the
specimens are bifurcate stems and the seventh is a square-stem point. Three show
evidence of impact fractures and four exhibit use wear. Reworking and recycling is
evident on all the artifacts, predominated by convex reworking patterns as with the other
sites. The mean neck widths within the bifurcate stem variants that could be measured is
20.6 mm with a standard deviation of 0.5 mm, but the sample is limited to two points. A
single square stem form has a neck width of 16.2 mm.
The projectile point assemblage is again characterized by curation and
repurposing of the projectile points into other tool types at the end of their use life. The
limited assemblage at TRI-1008 appears to represent exhausted specimens being replaced
at a residential base.
Bifaces
A total of 22 bifaces were analyzed. The assemblage is weighted towards late
stage forms, 63.6%, but there is a diversity of stages represented at the site (table 28).
126
BIFACES BY STAGE TRI-1008
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
STAGE 5
n=
-
1
3
4
15
23
OBS
-
-
-
-
3
3
CCS
-
1
3
4
11
18
OTH
-
-
-
-
1
1
WHL/NC
-
-
-
-
1
1
PRX
-
1
1
4
6
12
END
-
-
-
-
1
1
MED
-
-
-
-
3
3
MRG
-
-
2
-
4
6
PRS
-
-
1
2
13
15
ABS
-
1
2
2
2
7
TOTAL
CONDITION
USE WEAR
Table 28 Bifaces by Stage at TRI-1008
Most of the bifaces are either proximal ends (54.5%) or margins (22.7%), together
comprising three-quarters of the sample. Nearly all (68.3%) specimens exhibit some
form of use wear. These are all indicators of impact fractures and heavy use. The
presence of the proximal end of the biface indicates re-tooling, removing the proximal
end of the biface from the haft and replacing it with a new biface.
If this is the case, as
at HUM-573, there should be evidence of staging for replacement with early stage
bifaces. There is one whole biface and four early stage forms in the assemblage. This
combination of many artifacts showing intensive use, the presence of early stage
specimens and a whole biface staged to replace the exhausted tools makes it fairly certain
that such implements played a significant role in the technological organization at the
site.
127
Flake Tools
The flake tool sample has some unique qualities. There are a substantial number
of both simple and formed flake tools, while cobble spalls are sparse as at the other sites
(table 29).
FLAKE TOOL ATTRIBUTES AT CA-TRI-1008
CONDITION
EDGES
EDGE SHAPE
EDGE ANGLE
SFT
6
10
12
3
1
2
8
6
SPALL
2
1
1
1
3
25-450
8
3
8
46-550
5
1
10
56-650
1
-
8
2
-
7
16
25
2
4
1
2
WHOLE/NEAR COMPLETE
MARGIN
ONE
TWO
THREE
CONCAVE
CONVEX
STRAIGHT
66-750
TOTAL TOOLS
TOTAL EDGES
FFT
8
7
1
2
6
1
5
2
Table 29 Flake Tool Attributes at TRI-1008
Simple Flake Tools
Simple flake tools seem to play a relatively significant role at this site, both in
their quantity (n=16) and in their use wear patterns. There are six whole artifacts and 10
margin fragments within the simple flake tool sample; as with the biface assemblage, this
high incidence of margins implies intensive use. Consistent with this perspective is the
pattern of edge frequency, one quarter of the assemblage having more than one edge.
Eight tools (50%) have working edges that are less than 45o, and another half have
128
straight or concave edges, a direct result of dulling and wear through use. Overall the
assemblage appears not only to have been heavily used but re-used on multiple occasions.
Cobble Spalls
The cobble spall assemblage comprises two specimens. One spall has a single
edge and the other has three modified edges. All primary edge angles are between 30o
and 35o, secondary modified edges are 45o and 50o. The single edged tool has a margin
shape that is convex and even, the other tool has edges that are straight and even. This
variety of edge shapes and angles coupled with the low count of the tool type makes it
difficult to justify a use, though it appears these tools were used for multiple functions.
Formed Flake Tools
The formed flake tool assemblage is comprised wholly of fragmented specimens;
all are margins and most have one convex edge with a relatively large angle (table 43).
Differences in the assemblage at TRI-1008 include the majority of the tools,
seven of eight, with only one utilized edge, but this is due to the sample being comprised
of margins. The lack of whole or nearly complete tools indicates that while they were
utilized at the site, they were also transported away at the end of seasonal occupation.
High edge angles speak to the use of the tool at the site, rather than functioning for slicing
they likely were used for planing, chopping or scraping. As the sample is comprised of
margins only it is most likely that the tools experience high impact during their use,
swaying the argument towards use as a chopping implement at the site. A relatively high
129
edge angle also substantiates the intensive use of the tool as edge angle increases with
use.
The formed flake tool assemblage at this site is clearly heavily used and an
important part of the technological organization at the site, but with no whole or near
complete tools left behind it is likely that the occupants were assured of access to raw
materials for these tools prior to their arrival at the site during their seasonal round.
Debitage
The debitage assemblage contains both chert and obsidian in an approximately
8:1 ratio. There are a total of 1703 pieces of debitage that were typed and size sorted
during this analysis (table 30).
130
DEBITAGE ATTRIBUTES AT TRI-1008
OBS
CCS
OBS
CCS
PRIMARY DECORTICATION
-
1
-
0.1%
SECONDARY DECORTICATION
-
16
-
0.9%
SIMPLE INTERIOR PERCUSSION
6
28
2.5%
1.6%
COMPLEX INTERIOR PERCUSSION
20
168
8.3%
9.9%
LINEAR PERCUSSION
9
18
3.7%
1.1%
EARLY BIFACE THINNING
-
4
-
0.2%
LATE BIFACE THINNING
23
295
9.5%
17.3%
ANGULAR PERCUSSION
3
42
1.2%
2.5%
LINEAR PRESSURE
75
340
31.1%
20.0%
ROUNDED PRESSURE
97
725
40.2%
42.6%
INDETERMINATE PERCUSSION
6
63
2.5%
3.7%
INDETERMINATE PRESSURE
2
3
0.8%
0.2%
241
1703
100%
100%
-
17
-
1.0%
INTERIOR PERCUSSION
35
218
14.7%
13.1%%
BIFACE THINNING
23
299
9.7%
18.0%
PRESSURE
172
1065
72.3%
64.0%
8
66
3.3%
3.9%
238
1665
100%
100%
<1.0 cm
83
577
34.4%
33.9%
1.0-2.0 cm
147
980
61%
57.5%
2.0-3.0 cm
10
130
4.1%
7.6%
3.0-4.0 cm
1
16
0.4%
0.9%
241
1703
100%
100%
TOTAL
DECORTICATION
INDETERMINATE
TOTAL
TOTAL
Table 30 Debitage Attributes at TRI-1008
The chert debitage attributes are striking in a near complete lack of early biface thinning
flakes (0.2%) and a combined primary and secondary cortical presence of 0.2%. Coupled
with the presence of a high percentage (27.2%) of complex interior and late biface
thinning debitage indicates that finished tools were being transported to the location and
reduced or maintained during occupation. This also indicates that raw material available
in the form of chert river cobbles were not a major part of the raw material source for
tools.
131
The obsidian debitage profile correlates nicely with that of both SHA-475 and
HUM-367. There is a higher percentage of early to mid-stage debitage at TRI-1008
(26.5%) than at SHA-475 (21.9%). Given that TRI-1008 is substantially further from the
source this is a surprising reliance on exotic materials and is likely a function of close
cultural ties with groups to the east and north as opposed to the west, although the sample
from HUM-367 seems to contradict this view. Again, the percentage of early to midstage debitage at HUM-367 (12.3%) offers a correlation with TRI-1008. If one considers
the greater distance to source and the relative early to mid-stage obsidian sample
percentages (0.0%) of the other two upland sites, there appears to be a relationship
established between HUM-367 and TRI-1008 to the exclusion of HUM-573 and HUM577.
Ground Stone
The ground stone assemblage is moderate in size with two milling slabs and seven
handstones. The use wear on both the tool types are fairly consistent with each other and
with other assemblages that contain ground stone (table 31).
132
GROUND STONE USE WEAR AT TRI-1008
HNDSTN
MLGSLB
CONCAVE
-
1
CONVEX
7
1
SMOOTH
7
2
ONE SURFACE
2
2
TWO SURFACES
5
-
STRIATIONS
3
1
NO STRIATIONS
4
1
PECKED
5
-
NOT PECKED
2
2
POLISHED
7
2
SECONDARY MODIFICATIONS
2
1
NO SECONDARY MODIFICATIONS
5
1
OCHRE STAINED
-
1
NOT OCHRE STAINED
7
1
TOTAL:
7
2
Table 31 Ground Stone Use Wear at TRI-1008
Milling Slabs
The milling slab assemblage, while small, is telling in that use wear
patterns reflect a relatively expedient technology The sample is relatively split in the use
wear patterns, one with striations, one without; one with secondary modifications, one
without; one having ochre staining, and one not. Similarities include the lack of pecking
on both, as well as smooth and polished single surfaces. The patterning makes sense in
that there is a ubiquitous source of raw material in the riverbed adjacent to the site. This
also explains the relative dearth of the tool type and the use of only one side of each
object; the river provides a natural “cache” with no need to leave objects behind for
future use or utilize both sides of any one specimen. One of the specimens is also convex
133
on the milling surface, which both substantiates the ephemeral use of the tool and may be
an indicator of root processing, helping us understand their use. The lack of striations
indicates that hard seed products were not being processed, at least not in quantity. The
ochre staining on one specimen may represent attempts at cutting acidity in certain
products such as acorn.
When the use wear patterns are viewed as a whole, indicators point to a tool best
described as relatively expedient within the technological organization due to the
ubiquitous nature of the raw material next to the site. Caution should be used when
assessing their importance to the technological organization at the site because of the
ready availability of raw material. The site should be seen in the context of a seasonal
round and an opportunity to re-tool with fresh milling slabs exported to other sites
without unfettered access to the raw materials. In addition, use of the milling slab at TRI1008 may include expedient use at the river bed where any evidence would be lost with
annual floods and those objects proving robust enough for curation exported away from
the site.
Handstones
Handstones can be seen in the same light. Although there are substantially more
specimens to assess within this analysis, the raw material is also readily available at the
river. The use wear patterns, on the other hand, reflect a relatively curated tool. Most of
the specimens have two faces (n=5), nearly half (n=3) have striations, and five of seven
134
(71%) are pecked. All of the handstones (n=7) are polished, but only two have secondary
modification.
The use wear differences between milling slabs and handstones can be explained
through their relative portability. It takes less energy to transport a handstone than a
milling slab; with an unending supply of raw materials at the site, the transport of milling
slabs is unreasonable while the transport of handstones is inconsequential. In another
light, the use of handstones may better represent the vegetal processing at the site. If the
processing was occurring within the river bed on ephemeral milling slabs, the quality
handstones may have been brought back to the site simply because it was easy to carry
them back. When leaving the site for another location only the best were transported and
others simply left behind. However the scenario is portrayed, the handstones likely better
represent the processing intensity occurring at the site.
Other Tools
The diversity of this assemblage is impressive.
In addition to the classes
discussed above, there are two cores, two core tools, five miscellaneous ground stone
fragments, two drills, and a single assayed cobble. A total of 12 tool types occur at the
site, the most of any analyzed in this research. This is a strong indicator that TRI-1008
was used as a residential base and that it was the scene of intensive use during its
occupation.
135
Discussion
The analysis of the technological organization at this site reveals a high diversity
of tool types, while a variety of use wear patterns indicates that the site was the location
of a diversity of resource procurement activities. The combined assessment of the use
wear patterns and tool types are consonant with a residential base located in an area that
doubled as a ground stone procurement source. The specific processing at the site is
difficult to ascertain, but it appears that a modicum of hunting was occurring and soft
meat vegetal products were being processed.
Conclusions
An examination of the environmental context of the sites, integrating it with the
archaeological assemblages, begins to show clear implications for the technological
organization not only at TRI-1008 but all the sites analyzed as part of this research. This
provides a context and rationale for the variability between the assemblages revealed in
this chapter.
136
Chapter 7
REGIONAL COMPARISONS
A regional comparison of these sites provides significant insight into the
technological diversity and variability present within and between upland and lowland
settings. This chapter presents a comparative analysis of the data. As with the previous
section, the chapter is divided according to flaked and ground stone and subdivided by
tool type. The end of each portion provides the results of the variation in technological
organization between the sites and the end of the section addresses raw material
variability and temporal variability. A synthesis of technological variability between the
sites focuses on differences in environmental context over time and space.
Flaked Stone Variability
The flaked stone reveals substantial variability between sites, particularly with
regard to HUM-577 and between the raw material profiles of HUM-573, HUM-577 and
HUM-367.
The biface, flake tool and formed flake tool assemblages all speak to
differences within and between the sites.
Projectile Points
The projectile points are largely homogenous across the sites with the exception
of SHA-475 and TRI-1008, both of which contain square and bifurcate-stem points. This
aspect of the assemblages could reflect one of two factors, either the inclusion of squarestem points represents technological differences in a lowland setting (or the lack of their
need in upland settings) or it is a technological difference based in cultural differences.
137
Given the overall assessment of the assemblages, it seems more likely that there is some
functional need for the square stemmed variety at the lower elevations or simply a lack of
its need at the higher elevations. The functional difference between square and bifurcate
stems relates to hafting requirements. The bifurcate stemmed hafting element is designed
to keep a projectile securely lashed to the haft and keep the point embedded in prey by
adding another level of barb in addition to the ears of the point. The square stemmed
hafting element is socketed into the haft and is designed to release from the haft more
easily remaining in the prey without the haft attached. The functional difference then
relates to the shaft, or more succinctly the foreshaft. A technology with a foreshaft
element would be more amenable to the bifurcate-stem; the point and foreshaft remain in
the prey. A technology lacking a foreshaft would accommodate the square stem style
more appropriately as the point becomes a weak point and detaches in the prey, saving
the shaft from potential destruction. The addition of the square-stemmed variety in the
lowlands suggests a separate technology is required in this setting. The obvious resource
that is present in lowland areas but lacking in the uplands and potentially require
projectile points are salmon. The foreshaft technology works well with large mammals
as they can be tracked once shot, with salmon the detachment of a foreshaft will result in
its loss down river. Logically, it would be more efficient to lose a stone tip and opposed
to the more labor intensive foreshaft, just as it is more efficient to lose a foreshaft in a
large mammal than the whole shaft.
The consistency of wear patterns between the sites is also of interest. It appears
that the points are the “swiss army knife” of the assemblage. They are experiencing in-
138
haft re-sharpening and then reworking into other tools, a form of recycling, but are kept
in the haft. The fact that they appear to be left in the haft during the entirety of their uselife suggests that there is a foreshaft element to the tool; initially used to tip an atlatl
shaft, or possibly initial use begins as a hafted knife given the size of the preforms, then
they are recycled into an end scraper (still hafted in the foreshaft) or a chopping
implement (or both) at certain sites. The convex reworked morphology of the points
precludes their continued use as projectiles for the most part and the fact that these are the
predominant forms found in the site assemblages indicates this is the end of their use life.
The other interesting aspect of their deposition in this condition is the fact that
they are consistently found at locations that appear to be residential bases. They are not
being replaced to any large degree at HUM-577, they are being conserved. When in use
they are not being replaced in the quantity that they are when back at the residential base,
where raw material is more readily available. All things considered, these assemblages
all point to considerable conservation and reuse through repurposing. The Borax Lake
Widestem is a critical aspect of this technology serving multiple purposes and being
curated in the extreme.
Bifaces
Most unique among the flaked stone assemblages is the one from HUM-577.
This site represents a specialized task area or a location, in Binfordian terms indicative of
logistical behavior more suited to a collector strategy. The assemblage at HUM-577 is
remarkable for the percentage of margins within the collection. It appears the site is a
139
specialized use area based on the flaked stone assemblage, particularly use-wear patterns
observed on bifaces (table 32).
n=
MATERIAL
OBS
CCS
OTH
CONDITION
WHL/NC
PRX
DST
END
MED
MRG
USE WEAR
PRS
ABS
BIFACES BY STAGE
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
367 ONLY 475 1008 573 577 367 475 1008 573 577 367 475 1008 573 577 367
2
1
3
2
3
3
7
2
8
4
7 1 11
475
8
STAGE 5
1008 573 577 367 TOTAL
15 30 4 14
125
2
-
-
1
-
3
-
2
-
3
-
-
3
-
7
-
2
-
8
-
-
4
-
7
-
1
-
1
10
-
8
-
3
11
1
30
-
4
-
4
10
-
16
108
1
1
1
-
1
-
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
-
1
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
4
3
-
4
-
2
5
1
2
4
2
3
1
4
2
1
-
1
6
1
3
4
13
1
2
14
1
3
1
7
1
1
4
9
51
5
2
10
48
1
1
-
1
3
-
2
-
1
2
-
1
2
7
-
1
2
2
6
-
2
2
5
2
1
6
5
4
4
13
2
26
4
1
3
11
3
86
39
Table 32 Biface Attributes by Stage and Site
At the other end of the spectrum, both HUM-573 and TRI-1008 have diverse
biface use wear but an abundance of margins and proximal ends. These sites were most
likely habitation areas where people re-tooled and used bifaces in various processing
activities.
Site HUM-367 has a third distinct pattern that is heavy in early stage bifaces
relative to other sites, both upland and lowland. People at this location were prepared to
replace the biface assemblage on-site, indicating a strong need for the tool. Proximal
ends and margins are again prevalent, but appear to be utilized in a different fashion, with
a relative absence of substantial use wear in the form of dulling or step fracturing.
Finally, the assemblage from SHA-475 again contrasts with all other sites; there is
a complete absence of anything but Stage 5 bifaces. Nearly all are proximal ends and
there are no margins.
This suggests that very little production using bifaces was
140
conducted on site and that exhausted hafted bifaces were replaced with late stage
specimens prepared before arrival at the site.
Simple Flake Tools
The simple flake tool assemblages appear to be the most consistent among all the
tool types analyzed. This is likely due to the nature of the tool itself, which, as an
expedient object is utilized and discarded with little effort put into maintenance. The
artifact class is not prevalent at any of the sites (table 33).
SIMPLE FLAKE TOOL ATTRIBUTES BY SITE
CONDITION
EDGES
EDGE SHAPE
EDGE ANGLE
577
573
475
367
1008
OBS
CCS
CCS
OBS
BAS
CCS
WHOLE/NEAR COMPLETE
4
4
1
1
2
6
MARGIN
-
-
-
-
-
10
ONE
4
1
1
1
1
12
TWO
-
1
-
-
-
3
THREE
-
2
-
-
1
1
CONCAVE
1
-
-
-
-
2
CONVEX
2
2
1
1
1
8
STRAIGHT
1
2
-
-
1
6
25-450
2
3
1
1
1
8
46-550
2
-
-
-
1
5
56-650
-
1
-
-
-
1
66-750
-
-
-
-
-
2
TOTAL TOOLS
4
4
1
1
2
16
TOTAL EDGES
4
9
1
1
4
25
Table 33 Simple Flake Tool Attributes by Site
141
Cobble Spalls
The number of cobble spalls in the final analysis is small (n=9), which drastically
limits what can be said with regard to intersite variability. The sample does reveal that the
tool type within the technological organization of the Borax Lake Pattern is less
significant than previously thought. Attributes of the spalls depict gross uniformity in the
use of these items at all sites (figure 11).
Figure 11 Cobble Spall Site CA-HUM-573 Cat# 82-14-318
There is strong indication in the wear patterns. A predominance of single edge
utilization with dulling and step fracturing indicates they were used as pounding or
chopping implements. There are over twice as many single edge spalls as multiple edge
specimens and only a single occurrence of use wear on three edges (table 34).
142
COBBLE SPALL ATTRIBUTES BY SITE
FLAKE TYPE
NUMBER OF EDGES
EDGE SHAPE
EDGE MORPHOLOGY
EDGE MODIFICATION
EDGE ANGLE
REDUCTION TYPE
475
1008
367
573
TOTAL
n=
2
2
1
4
9
CORTICAL
1
2
-
2
5
INTERIOR
1
-
1
2
4
1
2
1
-
3
6
2
-
-
1
1
2
3
-
1
-
-
1
STRAIGHT
-
1
1
-
2
CONVEX
2
1
-
4
7
EVEN
2
2
1
4
9
YES
-
1
1
2
4
NO
2
1
-
2
5
20-45
2
2
1
4
9
76-86
-
-
1
-
1
PERCUSSION
1
2
-
2
5
BIPOLAR
1
-
1
2
4
Table 34 Cobble Spall Attributes by Site
Evidence of hafting, on the other hand, is difficult to produce. The items are not
notched in any intentional manner but, as noted by Gilreath (1989:A49), many have
evidence of polishing on the ventral surface (the brown shading in figure 12, below).
Figure 12 CA-HUM-573 Spall Showing Polish on Ventral Surface. Cat #82-14-430
Gilreath (1989:A49) favors interpreting this polish as a product of hafting. The
patterns of use wear are consistent at each site, the items are well used and there is good
143
evidence of step fracturing and dulling. On the other hand, Jobson (1989:F12) does not
see macroscopic use wear evidence of chopping and infers use for splitting or as a plane.
This analysis is at odds with Jobson’s assessment, but that can be readily explained
through the temporal differences in the assemblages analyzed; Jobson analyzed these
tools as part of the Shasta I-5 project (Basgall and Hildebrandt 1989) which encountered
very little evidence of Borax Lake Pattern materials, he was focused on later
assemblages. In agreement with this research, it appears that cobble spalls are more
frequently associated with the later assemblages. The importance of these tools within
the technology of the Borax Lake Pattern is minimal and there is no reason to expect that
they are being utilized in the same manner. Their use in the Borax Lake occupation
indicates they are being utilized as chopping implements; all edge angles are at 45o or
less and all are rounded and dulled, not what one would expect from a planing or splitting
implement. While the exact use of such tools has yet to be determined, the strongest
evidence is that these tools were used as chopping instruments and potentially hafted.
Intersite variation is minimal. The predicted pattern of well used spalls at upland
sites is somewhat played out in the presence of the only two fragmentary items at HUM573, but beyond this there is little variability between upland and lowland spall
assemblages. Cobble spalls at HUM-573 appear to be slightly more conserved, while
those at SHA-475 appear to be relatively more expedient in that the two specimens show
no evidence of edge reworking. In the details of the analysis there are hints of variability
in the cobble spall assemblage between upland and lowland assemblages but with a very
small sample size there is no way of substantiating such differences.
144
It is the sample size itself that speaks to the technological organization of the
Borax Lake Pattern. Although the tool type has been identified as an indicator tool for
early/middle Holocene occupation, this would be capricious at best according to this
analysis. The cobble spall is utilized as part of the technological organization, but does
not appear to be a significant tool. More alarming is the apparent blossoming of the
artifact type at SHA-475 in the cultural horizon above what is here considered to be the
Borax Lake Pattern. The tool type increases in frequency exponentially in association
with the expanding-stem and contracting-stem projectile points, indicating a change in
technological organization at the end of the Altithermal. This tool type should not be
considered a marker of the Borax Lake Pattern; instead, the fluorescence of the type
appears to correspond with the beginning of middle period assemblages that are currently
poorly defined in the northwestern California region.
Evidence for this change in
northeastern California can be found in Basgall and Hildebrandt’s (1989:441) study of
the Sacramento River Canyon, where horizons associated with the Pollard Flat phase
(2,700-5,300 BP) contain a high percentage of cobble spalls relative to later periods.
This analysis confirms both the artifact association and dates for the pulse of cobble
spalls at SHA-475. There is a clear association between the Pollard Flat Phase and the
expanding-stem and contracting-stem assemblages at SHA-475; it is proposed here that at
least the contracting-stem component be assigned to the Pollard Flat Phase.
The
expanding-stem component needs to be further investigated before including it as part of
that complex.
In addition, current environmental data suggests that the change in
technological organization from the Borax Lake Pattern to the Pollard Flat Phase is
145
concurrent with the end of the Altithermal and an increase in effective moisture. In turn,
the fluorescence of the cobble spall is likely an adaptation to an increase in hydrophytic
plant species, particularly root crops.
Again, this is a subject with significant
implications and future study will produce a more refined chronology for SHA-475 that
can more effectively explore the relationship of technological adaptations to changing
ecological conditions.
Formed Flake Tools
The formed flake tool assemblages also reveal variability between sites. Three
sites stand out among the assemblages, the HUM-573 produced a substantial number of
margins, TRI-1008 is comprised completely of ends, and HUM-367 contains mostly
near-complete or complete tools (table 35).
146
FORMED FLAKE TOOL ATTRIBUTES
CONDITION
EDGES
EDGE SHAPE
EDGE ANGLE
573
475
367
1008
CCS
OBS
CCS
CCS
WHOLE/NEAR COMPLETE
1
1
4
-
END
1
1
3
8
MARGIN
6
-
-
-
ONE
5
1
1
7
TWO
3
-
5
-
THREE
-
1
1
1
CONVEX
8
2
6
2
STRAIGHT
-
-
1
6
25-450
1
1
-
1
0
46-55
3
-
3
5
56-650
3
-
2
2
66-750
1
1
1
-
76-850
-
-
1
-
TOTAL TOOLS
8
2
7
8
TOTAL EDGES
11
4
14
10
Table 35 Domed Formed Flake Tool Attributes All Sites
Both collections with a high percentage of margins and ends imply intensive
formed flake tool use, although the presence of only ends at TRI-1008 could indicate that
tools were hafted and only being replaced at the site. Looking at use wear patterns at the
site, this could well be the case. All but one of the tools has a single edge and six of eight
edges are straight; both characteristics are unique to the domed flaked tools at this
locality. The debitage patterns at this site further substantiate the perspective of hafted
tool replacement, presented below.
The HUM-367 collection again shows signs of being situated close to a raw
material source within the seasonal round as well as an intensive pattern of tool use. This
147
tool type was highly important to the organization of work at the site, where whole or
nearly complete tools were left behind in expectation of return and use. Whether this is
simple caching or a product of ubiquitous access to raw material is inconsequential as the
result and significance is the same; the tool type is an important aspect of the resource
procurement activities.
The variability between sites in how these tools were used is significant. Patterns
reflect different functional roles within the same and different environmental contexts.
Debitage
The debitage profiles provide substantiating evidence for variation in flaked stone
tool assemblages between the sites. Raw material profiles show substantial differences in
access to obsidian.
The most obvious implication is that people at SHA-475 had
unfettered access to obsidian, with either limited access or no interest in chert (table 36).
148
TYPED DEBITAGE ATTRIBUTES BY SITE
573
475
1008
367
577
OBS
CCS
OBS
OBS
CCS
OBS
CCS
OBS
PRIMARY DECORTICATION
-
9
-
-
1
-
-
-
CCS
-
SECONDAARY DECORTICATION
-
15
4
-
16
1
3
-
2
CORTICAL SHATTER
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
SIMPLE INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
234
8
6
28
2
4
-
38
COMPLEX INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
592
25
20
168
13
147
-
137
LINEAR PERCUSSION
-
30
11
9
18
5
40
-
1
EARLY BIFACE THINNING
-
48
10
-
4
3
42
-
14
LATE BIFACE THINNING
-
317
33
23
295
76
415
-
96
ANGULAR PERCUSSION
-
181
23
3
42
6
117
-
66
-
158
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
LINEAR PRESSURE
10
417
108
75
340
418
1269
1
223
ROUNDED PRESSURE
36
1814
160
97
725
552
1930
7
884
INDETERMINATE PERCUSSION
3
82
7
6
63
19
153
-
39
INDETERMINATE PRESSURE
-
128
11
2
3
41
171
-
103
49
4028
400
241
1703
1136
4291
8
1603
PERCUSSION FRAGMENT
TOTAL
DECORTICATION
-
27
4
-
17
1
3
-
2
INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
904
54
35
218
23
233
-
190
BIFACE THINNING
-
365
43
23
299
79
457
-
110
PRESSURE
46
2231
268
172
1065
970
3199
8
1107
INDETERMINATE
3
210
18
8
66
60
324
-
142
TOTAL
49
3737
387
238
1665
1133
4216
8
1551
<1.0 cm
7
1804
36
83
577
859
3011
6
913
1.0-2.0 cm
47
3675
288
147
980
253
1056
2
614
2.0-3.0 cm
-
809
59
10
130
14
188
-
66
3.0-4.0 cm
-
92
17
1
16
4
36
-
10
4.0-5.0 cm
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
54
6383
400
241
1703
1130
4291
8
1603
TOTAL
Table 36 Typed Debitage Attributes by Site
Comparative analysis of variation between sites through typological means is best
managed via percentages, and the raw frequencies have been reduced to two separate
percentage tables. The first provides a detailed breakdown of flake types (table 37).
149
PERCENTAGE TYPED DEBITAGE ATTRIBUTES BY SITE
573
475
1008
367
577
OBS
CCS
OBS
OBS
CCS
OBS
CCS
OBS
PRIMARY DECORTICATION
-
0.2%
-
-
0.1%
-
-
-
-
SECONDARY DECORTICATION
-
0.4%
1.0%
-
0.9%
0.1%
0.1%
-
0.1%
CORTICAL SHATTER
-
0.1%
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
SIMPLE INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
5.8%
2.0%
2.5%
1.6%
0.2%
0.1%
-
2.4%
COMPLEX INTERIOR PERCUSSION
-
14.7%
6.3%
8.3%
9.9%
1.1%
3.4%
-
8.5%
LINEAR PERCUSSION
-
0.7%
2.8%
3.7%
1.1%
0.4%
0.9%
-
0.1%
EARLY BIFACE THINNING
-
1.2%
2.5%
-
0.2%
0.3%
1.0%
-
0.9%
LATE BIFACE THINNING
-
7.9%
8.3%
9.5%
17.3%
6.7%
9.7%
-
6.0%
ANGULAR PERCUSSION
-
4.5%
5.8%
1.2%
2.5%
0.5%
2.7%
-
4.1%
PERCUSSION FRAGMENT
-
3.9%
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
LINEAR PRESSURE
20.4%
10.4%
27.0%
31.1%
20.0%
36.8%
29.6%
12.5%
13.9%
ROUNDED PRESSURE
73.5%
45.0%
40.0%
40.2%
42.6%
48.6%
45.0%
87.5%
55.1%
INDETERMINATE PERCUSSION
6.1%
2.0%
1.8%
2.5%
3.7%
1.7%
3.6%
-
2.4%
-
3.2%
2.8%
0.8%
0.2%
3.6%
4.0%
-
6.4%
54
6383
400
241
1703
1130
4291
8
1603
INDETERMINATE PRESSURE
TOTAL
CCS
Table 37 Percent Typed Debitage Attributes by Site
The first notable difference between assemblages is manifest in interior
percussion flakes. The percentage of simple and complex interior percussion flake debris
at HUM-573 is twice or more that of all other sites. Knowing that the deposit is a
residential location helps to explain the intensity of flaked stone reduction and is
consistent with the environmental context relative to other sites. Reduction of chert raw
material that had its cortical elements removed prior to transport to the site was occurring
at twice the rate of the other locations in this study. There is, therefore, a relatively
higher need for staged flaked stone material at this site.
At the other end of the spectrum is HUM-367, where interior percussion flakes
are under-represented and occur in less than one third the number than other samples. In
this respect, and in contrast to HUM-573, there is a relatively little need for staged flaked
stone materials at this site. Looking a little closer at the flake types, a relative abundance
150
of late biface thinning flakes is apparent; while not excessive relative to the other sites, it
appears that the presence of bifacial tools was more important than core and flaked based
implements.
A high percentage of biface thinning flakes is found at TRI-1008, at 17.3% or
nearly twice the proportion of all other sites. This indicates that newly produced bifaces
played a relatively important role at this site.
The size of the chert debitage among the project sites supports the notion that
HUM-367 was the locus of biface maintenance, having a 13-42% higher sample of
debitage less than 1.0 cm in size (table 38).
Percent Debitage by Size and Site
573
475
1008
367
577
OBS
CCS
OBS
OBS
CCS
OBS
CCS
OBS
CCS
<1.0 cm
13.0%
28.3%
9.0%
34.4%
33.9%
76.0%
70.2%
75.0%
57.0%
1.0-2.0 cm
87.0%
57.6%
72.0%
61.0%
57.5%
22.4%
24.6%
25.0%
38.3%
2.0-3.0 cm
-
12.7%
14.8%
4.1%
7.6%
1.2%
4.4%
-
4.1%
3.0-5.0 cm
-
1.4%
4.3%
0.4%
0.9%
0.4%
0.8%
-
0.6%
Table 38 Percent Debitage by Size and Site
The size sorting of the debitage also revealed other inter-site variation; site SHA475 has a high percentage of 1.0 to 2.0 cm debitage, the lowest amount of debitage under
1.0 cm, and the highest proportion between 4.0 and 5.0 cm. This is likely due to the lack
of 1/8” mesh samples, which is confirmed if we look at the raw numerical counts. Site
HUM-577 has the next highest percentage of debitage less than 1.0 cm, consistent with
the importance of tool maintenance occurring here as well as at HUM-367.
151
The HUM-573 and TRI-1008 samples have three times and twice the percentage
of debitage over 2.0 cm relative to other sites. While SHA-475 is strictly not comparable
for the above stated reasons, the site does share similarities with the two locations. These
profiles show a strong relationship in the need for earlier stage flaked stone to be reduced
at the sites, which, in turn, supports the idea that all three were residential bases.
Ground Stone Variability
Measures used to assess variability within both handstones and milling slabs include
weight, length, width, thickness, number of utilized edges and positive or negative
assessment of re-sharpening through pecking, an assessment of the relative size of
handstones and milling slabs has been added in the comparative analysis. Variability in
use wear and artifact size/volume patterns is fundamental to understanding land use
patterns within the Borax Lake Pattern.
Milling Slab Variability
Milling slabs from CA-HUM-367 and CA-HUM-573 are exceptional in the nearly
one to one relationship between surface area and thickness and, as upland sites away
from sources of raw material, the artifacts are the smallest and thinnest of the project
sites. The smallest milling slabs are coming from two of the upland sites, reasonable
given their transportation costs and relative distance from raw material sources. It must
be restated here that the HUM-577 assemblage analyzed here contains no identifiable
ground stone, highlighting its unique technological organization.
152
The two lowland assemblages lack substantial numbers of milling slabs. The
samples from TRI-1008 and SHA-475 are limited to four specimens (two at each
location), strongly suggesting either a minimal role for vegetal processing, that ground
stone was removed from the sites, or that ready access to raw material adjacent to the
sites precluded its movement from the source to the sites (table 39).
MILLING SLAB USE WEAR BY SITE
367
573
1008
475
FLAT
-
5
-
1
CONCAVE
1
7
1
1
CONVEX
-
1
1
-
SMOOTH
1
13
2
2
ONE SURFACE
1
5
2
2
TWO SURFACES
-
8
-
-
STRIATIONS
1
11
1
-
NO STRIATIONS
-
2
1
2
PECKED
-
11
-
2
NOT PECKED
1
2
2
-
POLISHED
1
9
2
2
NOT POLISHED
-
5
-
-
SECONDARY MODIFICATIONS
-
2
1
-
NO SECONDARY MODIFICATIONS
1
11
1
2
OCHRE STAINED
-
8
1
1
NOT OCHRE STAINED
1
5
1
1
TOTAL MILLING SLABS:
1
13
2
2
Table 39 Milling Slab Use Wear by Site
Handstone Variability
Handstone variability between the sites is also revealing. Two sites, HUM-367
and TRI-1008 show a negative linear relationship between surface area and thickness, as
would be expected with an effective technological organization designed around a
153
residentially mobile subsistence system. As surface area increases, thickness decreases in
response to portability restrictions (table 40).
HANDSTONE USE WEAR BY SITE
367
573
1008
475
ONE SURFACE
7
3
2
-
TWO SURFACES
3
4
5
-
THREE SURFACES
-
1
-
2
STRIATIONS
3
7
3
-
NO STRIATIONS
7
1
4
2
PECKED
9
7
5
1
NOT PECKED
1
1
2
1
POLISHED
6
7
7
2
NOT POLISHED
4
1
-
-
SECONDARY MODIFICATIONS
8
5
2
-
NO SECONDARY MODIFICATIONS
2
3
5
2
TOTAL HANDSTONES:
10
8
7
2
Table 40 Handstone Attributes by Site
Site SHA-475 also follows expected patterns as ubiquitous raw materials allow
for more massive handstones. By contrast, site HUM-573 initially appears to counter the
pattern with the widest range of handstone sizes. However, the fact that the artifacts
derive entirely from a house floor and its immediate surroundings helps to explain the
variant assemblage. In a residential habitation one would expect to be returning on an
annual basis to spend substantial time in the area. The occurrence of relatively massive
handstones at this site suggests they were important to the activities performed at the
location and worth the energy expenditure to transport them from distant sources.
Coupled with the presence of smaller and thinner handstones than at any of the other
sites, the pattern of handstone organization follows that of an extremely important vegetal
processing habitation area with large specimens representing site furniture brought to the
154
site at times when the excess energy could be spared and left there for anticipated future
use. Smaller specimens represent exhausted fragments and indicate relatively intensive
use in an environment of restricted raw material access. In the context of a house floor,
the HUM-573 assemblage reinforces the importance of vegetal processing in upland
areas. The ground stone assemblage represents redundancy in the system, curatorial
behavior evidenced in of recycling fragmentary items in the household and an emphasis
on durability through the larger specimens.
The assemblage at site HUM-367 is comparable to that of HUM-573. The same
general patterns are evident in both samples, although in a different context at HUM-367.
Artifacts from the latter sites were not from a domestic feature and it is be reasonable to
expect a more subtle expression of the emphasis on vegetal resources in this context. A
closer look at variability between these assemblages through macroscopic use wear
analysis does reveal significant differences in the HUM-367 ground stone assemblage.
This site is unique in that, as described above, the ground stone is heavily weighted
toward handstones to the expense of milling slabs. In addition, the handstones can be
separated into either a large or small category based both on their size and modifications.
All large specimens at this site show evidence of use as a pounding implement, grinding
tool, and as an anvil. The small specimens do not show evidence of anvil use. Patterns
of handstone and milling slab use at this site suggest a focus on resource procurement at
the expense of resource processing. This, in turn, reveals the specialized nature of this
site relative to other upland settlements. While the current data still suggest the site was a
residential base, based on the tool stone diversity, it seems clear that the site function
155
differs somewhat from other sites in the study. Site HUM-367 most likely functioned to
gather resources at a higher rate than was necessary to sustain the immediate occupation.
In other words, the evidence reveals a form of storage behavior; people are gathering
more than they are processing in an effort to take advantage of an abundance of resources
for later use.
The relative lack of ground stone technology associated with bifurcate and square
stemmed projectile points at SHA-475 could reflect incipient use of ubiquitous raw
materials, removing items destined for upland areas where the significant quantities and
high diversity of vegetal resources merited their use and curation.
Raw Material Variability
General observations of assemblage variability must include the toolstone type.
Upland contexts are split between the use of obsidian and chert, HUM-367 containing a
relatively high proportion of obsidian (26%) in contrast to other upland sites (>0.01%).
The percentage of obsidian present at this site most closely aligns with TRI-1008 (14%),
while SHA-475 is devoid of chert. Both TRI-1008 and HUM-367 have nearly equivalent
percentages of obsidian and the same patterns of use wear among obsidian objects. This
is interesting as the other two upland sites are substantially closer to HUM-367 than is
Cox Bar. This could be the result of either a contemporaneous cultural relationship
linking HUM-367 to TRI-1008 and a lack of interaction with the other two upland sites.
Another option may be that the upland sites were not inhabited during the same period of
time; obsidian hydration data from the upland sites may reveal the answer.
156
Both HUM-367 and TRI-1008 have obsidian from the same sources, Grasshopper
Flats/Lost Iron Wells (GF/LIW) and Medicine Lake Highlands (MLH). With regard to
this research, the mean at CA-HUM-367 is 3.6 microns with a standard deviation of 0.60
(Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983:8.13). Using the most prevalent obsidian type, GF/LIW,
the hydration mean at TRI-1008 is 5.74 microns with a standard deviation of 1.31
microns (Sundahl 1988:47). The intensity of occupation between the two sites may be at
their zenith during different periods or the effective rate of hydration may be different
between the two localities; either way, the range of hydration readings do overlap and the
sites were most likely occupied contemporaneously.
The most important correlation here is between sites in the uplands. There is no
issue with the rate at which obsidian absorbs moisture between these sites as they are in
the same environmental context, although HUM-577 cannot be compared due to an
absense of obsidian hydration data. Site HUM-367 has a hydration mean of 3.60 microns
with a standard deviation of 0.60; and HUM-573 has a mean of 4.20 and a standard
deviation of 0.57 microns. The range of readings does overlap, but it appears that the
most intensive habitation of HUM-573 occurred earlier than that at HUM-367. There
seems to have been a shift in the use of the landscape coupled with an increase in access
to obsidian.
Variability in Assemblage Diversity
The assemblages have stark differences in their diversity and organization,
particularly HUM-577. Excluding debitage, this site is limited to three tool types. Two
157
of these tool types are represented by six tools, miscellaneous ground stone (n=2) and
simple flake tools (n=4). The pattern clearly implies a specialized use area with specific
tools being brought to the site and maintained without the need for staging and
replacement (table 41).
INVENTORY OF ASSEMBLAGE CONSTITUENTS BY SITE
PPT
BIF
FFT
SFT
SPALL
COR
CTL
DEB
MLG
HND
BTC
ASSCOB
CBLTL
DRL
MGS
TRI-1008
15
28
16
23
3
2
2
4717
2
8
-
1
-
2
5
HUM-367
10
38
8
3
1
-
1
6070
1
10
-
-
-
2
-
SHA-475
33
8
2
2
2
-
-
400
2
2
-
1
1
-
2
HUM-573
6
47
11
13
3
7
4
6560
11
8
1
3
-
1
21
HUM-577
-
10
-
4
-
-
-
1741
-
-
-
-
-
-
2
Total
64
138
39
58
9
10
11
22405
18
29
1
5
2
6
33
Key: PPT- Widestem Projectile Point; BIF- Biface; FFT- Formed flake Tool; SFT- Simple Flake Tool; SPALL- Cobble Spall; COR- Core; CTL- Core Tool; DEB- Debitage;
MLG- Milling Slab; HND- Handstone; BTC- Battered Cobble; ASSCOB- Assayed Cobble; CBLTL- Cobble Tool; DRL- Drill; MGS- Miscellaneous Ground Stone.
Table 41 Inventory of Assemblage Constituents by Sites
Three of the sites, HUM-573, TRI-1008, and SHA-475 have the highest tool
diversity, n=13, n=12 and n=10 respectively; and HUM-367 follows closely with nine
tool types. It is virtually certain that HUM-573 represents a residential habitation are and
based on the diversity of tools, use wear analyses and the debitage profiles, it appears to
be a residential base. The comparative analysis of the use wear at the sites coupled with
the diversity found at each site allows for a modicum of confidence that TRI-1008 is also
a residential base and, with less confidence, that association also applies to SHA-475.
Use wear analysis at HUM-367 shows some significant differences that point to the site
being occupied for more specialized purposes. Activities at the site did not include final
resource processing, precluding a designation as residential base and directing the
158
assessment towards this site as a significant task area. The site may well have included
the entire social group, but with limited task operations which included only the initial
processing of vegetal resources to be returned to a separate residential base.
Assemblage Variability, Diversity, and Ecological Context
The ecological context within which the use of these sites occurred provides for a
clearer understanding of the factors influencing assemblage variability and tool class
diversity found at each site. To recap the environmental contexts, there are two general
ecological zones; the Klamath Mountain and Northern California Coast Range. Four of
the project sites fall within the Coast Range province and the fifth, SHA-475 is within the
Klamath Mountain ecological zone. Given that three of the sites are within the upland
areas of the Coast Range ecological zone, this research proceeded from the premise that
the study was dealing with three distinct localities. The sites TRI-1008 and SHA-475
share the commonalities of being in riverine contexts and relatively low elevations, but
do not share a common ecological zone or the resource mosaic.
The environmental analysis at SHA-475 suggests that the most reasonable time of
habitation is late fall through winter and into spring with a focus on mammalian species.
Antelope, salmon, deer, and smaller game require flaked stone technologies, but a lack of
salmon intensification coupled with a focus on pronghorn would lead one to expect a
generalized toolkit to manage a diversity of mammalian and avian species with a focus on
large game. The herding behavior of pronghorn during the fall and winter and the
availability of relatively easily hunted calves and mothers during the early spring would
159
led to an expectation of a technology focused on these animals; large and durable
projectiles, processing and hide preparation tools.
The virtually monoculture of vegetation, manzanita, that is thought to have
predominated the area surrounding the site tends to favors the concept that pronghorn
were the focus of resource procurement at this site (figure 13).
Figure 13 Altithermal Vegetation Within the Site Catchment of SHA-475
In addition, the processing of manzanita berries would require very little effort
with regard to ground stone tools. What we see at the site is a strong focus on flaked
stone technology at the expense of ground implements. Independent analyses, both
environmental and lithic, point towards this site as a residential base inhabited during the
winter with a focus on pronghorn.
160
Site TRI-1008 lies in a comparable lowland environment but the resource base
was substantially different. The site catchment along the Trinity River might reflect a
similar technology as it represents another lowland site, but the zone contains a relatively
rich set of vegetal resources (figure 14).
Figure 14 TRI-1008 Site Catchment
Pine and madrone play a strong role along with a presence of montane chaparral and oak
species and grasslands as well. This diversity of vegetal species also supports a wider
diversity of faunal resources and provides a longer season of resource availability. There
is no question that the upland has a richer, more diverse resource base including more
favorable summer habitat for elk herds. As resource conflict would begin during the late
spring through fall, a winter habitation at this site can be inferred.
161
On the other hand, the resource base is relatively diverse when compared to SHA475, particularly with regard to the late fall availability of acorns; the archaeological
assemblage contains a higher frequency of relatively well used handstones but lacks
evidence for intensive use of millingslabs.
The use wear analysis comes to the
conclusion that the unfettered access to raw material in the adjacent river bed provides a
justification for this apparent shortcoming in the assessment. In addition, the vegetal
resources processed in upland areas during the summer and late fall were likely brought
to the site and stored for winter use.
The analysis of the technological organization at TRI-1008 reveals a high variety
of tool types with a variety of use wear patterns indicating the site was the locus of
diverse resource procurement activities.
The combined assessment of the use wear
patterns, range of tool types, and the diverse ecological setting of the site point toward it
being classified as a residential base occupied during the winter season and possibly
extending into the spring. The specific procurement and processing activities at the site
are difficult to ascertain, but it appears that a modicum of hunting was occurring and soft
meat vegetal products were certainly being processed; it is also very likely that salmon
and other fish species were harvested along with multiple faunal species.
The three upland sites, HUM-573, HUM-577, and HUM-367 all fall within the
most diverse ecological zone (figure 15).
162
Figure 15 Altithermal Vegetation Within the Site Catchment of HUM-573, HUM-577 and HUM-367
The diversity of resources within these catchments does not necessarily translate
into all settlements having a uniform functional pose as has been shown in the by-site
analyses. There is a shift in the subsistence system to a division of labor into task groups
due to both the diversity of resources and the conflict of resource availability. The
adjustment was required in order to take advantage of both vegetal and faunal resources
in order to capture enough calories to ride out the winter in the lowland sites through a
combination of storage and resource take in the lowland areas. A rich upland resource
base allowed for a change in technological organization that is detectable in the
archaeological record when variability is assessed. It seems clear that HUM-577 is a
specialized task location, while HUM-367 seems to focus on the initial processing of
163
vegetal materials but lacks evidence of later stage processing, implying it is a specialized
task area as well.
The HUM-573 residential base is marked by high tool class diversity and high
density of artifacts. We can also assume from these measures that there was substantially
more work happening at this site relative to the two lowland settlements. The notion that
all three upland sites are inter-related and co-temporal is not borne out by patterns of raw
material use.
The breakdown of flake stone raw material type is disjunctive between HUM-367
and the two other upland sites, which has a much higher percentage of obsidian (26%)
than the other two (<0.001%).
Furthermore, the hydration data presented earlier
associate HUM-367 and TRI-1008 with one another. This is an interesting relationship
that most closely associates these two sites with one another and throws doubt on a clear
relationship between the three upland localities.
Summary and Implications
This research reveals variability within the technological organization at each of
the three ecological zones in response to varying environmental conditions. Foragers
were using logistic strategies under certain circumstances. The premise presented here is
that the Borax Lake Pattern within far northern California represents a residentially
mobile subsistence system on the forager end of the spectrum but, contrary to recent
regional settlement models (i.e., Hildebrandt and Hayes 1983; Sundahl 1988), there is
variability in technological organization in response to varying ecological conditions.
These represent unique behaviors that include collector-like strategies in the upland areas,
164
pushing their point on the continuum closure to the collector end while still within the
forager end of the spectrum.
165
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