Ann M. Johnson

Summer on Yellowstone Lake 9,300 Years Ago: The Osprey Beach Site

The Osprey Beach site (48YE409/410) and the Osprey Beach excavation locality are located in south-central Yellowstone National Park. We distinguish the location of the testing and excavation from artifacts collected along a stretch of beach with the designation Osprey Beach excavation locality (Figure 1.1). This site adds to the inventory of Cody occupations by its remarkable artifact assemblage and location at high elevation within an active geothermal area. Twelve sandstone shaft abraders indicate more manufacturing of wooden implements at the site than found to date at any other Cody locality. The majority of lithic artifacts are manufactured from obsidian, which is poorly represented in other Paleoindian inventories. This emphasis on obsidian at Osprey Beach is telling as there are numerous non-obsidian toolstone sources in and around Yellowstone National Park. By using the geological sources of the obsidian, we propose a seasonal settlement pattern for the Cody people that used Osprey Beach. The goals of this monograph are: 1) to describe the rich Osprey Beach site inventory; 2) to address research questions about the Cody complex at the Osprey Beach and in Yellowstone National Park; 3) to summarize regional Cody sites and their distribution in the Greater Yellowstone area and to the north; 4) using geological source locations for the obsidian tools combined with our knowledge of the local environment, we propose a seasonal settlement model for the Osprey Beach Cody people; and finally, 5) we evaluate other settlement models proposed for the Cody complex in the light of our results. Chapter 1

Leslie B. Davis, December 7, 1935–October 7, 2014

Leslie Beryl Davis was born December 7, 1935 in Cut Bank, Montana and died October 7, 2014 In Jefferson City, Montana. He is survived by his wife, Pamela Bompart, son, Michael Davis, and daughters, Paula Holland and KathyMcChesney. Les grew up between Shelby and Kevin, near the Canadian border, working on his grandfather’s farm. He attended high school in Cut Bank where he was active in the choir and edited the year book. He became the first member of his family to attend college when he matriculated to Montana State University (now University of Montana, Missoula) as an engineering major. He soon changed his major and received his B.A. in cultural anthropology in 1959. He worked in 1960 as an assistant curator at the Museum of the Plains Indians in Browning. This stimulated his interest in public education and the association with museums was to be renewed later in his career. Les landed a job as a counsellor with the Indian Rehabilitation Project at Northern Montana College in Havre, and held this position from 1962 to 1969. At about this time, the Montana Archaeological Society (1959) was founded and there was interest in forming local state chapters. He was one of the founding members and leaders of the Milk River Archaeological Society (MRAS), and this group conducted the first archaeological work in north-central Montana. It was during work with the MRAS that Davis developed his long-term interest in obsidian research. Several of the MRAS sites contained Avonlea components and this led to Davis’ (1966) early summary of Avonlea sites. His background around farmers and ranchers enabled him to talk to non-professionals with ease. One of them said ‘He [Les] treated me with respect.’ He developed long-standing relationships with amateurs and collectors which led to many of his archaeological investigations. During his time in Havre, while starting a family and working, Les completed the requirements for a master’s degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Montana. Les subsequently was a doctoral student at the University of Calgary. In 1969, he was hired as Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social and Criminal Justice, and Social Work at the Montana State University in Bozeman, and became a full professor in 1978. He remained at Montana State University until his retirement in 2007. While teaching at MSU and working on his Ph.D. requirements, he taught at the University of plains anthropologist, Vol. 61 No. 238, May, 2016, 195–200

1999 Distinguished Service Award

The Distinguished Service Awardee for 1999 is considered the father of Alberta archaeology. Richard George Forbiss research spanned the Paleoindian and Protohistoric periods. Fletcher, MacHaffie, Old Womens Buffalo Jump, Upper and Lower Kills, British Block Cairn, Rocky Mountain House, and Cluny remain important sites. With Marie Wormington, he coauthored an Introduction to Alberta Archaeology, which introduced the world to the richness of Alberta archaeology. Additionally, he was a major instigator in the passage and implementation of provincial heritage legislation. For many years, Forbis taught at the University of Calgary. At Calgary, with Scotty MacNeish, he founded the Department of Archaeology. In addition to teaching and serving as department chair, he served on many doctoral and thesis committees. He was valued for his good advice and dreaded by students for his editing and insistence upon clear thinking. Forbis was a mentor and role model for several generations of Plains archaeologists. He talked to students and amateurs as though they were persons who could make contributions to Plains archaeology. Certainly, this approach facilitated his relationships with amateurs whom he encouraged to conduct their activities in a scientific manner. He had very broad interests temporally and geographically, possibly deriving from his work under W. D. Strong at Columbia. His dissertation was on the MacHaffie site, near Helena, Montana. McHaffie contains the northernmost known in situ Folsom component, excavated in 1951. Although this was years before. the archaeological Richard 0. Forbis speaking at the Plains Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska (1956 or 1957). Wesley Hurt in left foreground; Franklin Fenenga in background.