Marcel Kornfeld

Paleoindian occupation of the High Country : The case of Middle Park, Colorado

Abstract Middle Park is one of the high intermountain basins of the Rocky Mountains that has been occupied continually for over 11,000 years. Our studies of the Paleo indian occupations suggest that many of the well known Plains complexes, as well as some mountain complexes, are present in Middle Parle This paper concentrates on the sites and collections we have investigated most thoroughly, but reviews other sites as well. Analysis of chipped stone and bone yields information on organization of Paleoindian technology and settlement-subsistence strategies. Middle Park is shown to have been densely occupied on a year-round basis by Paleoindian people with connections to the Great Plains to the east and Great Basin to the west.

Stone Tool Caching On the North American Plains: Implications of the McKean Site Tool Kit

AbstractA tool cache was recently recovered from the Middle Plains Archaic stratum of the McKean site in Wyoming. Analysis of this cache, including a microwear study of the utilized edges, yielded data about raw material procurement, manufacture, and the use of storage facilities on the NW High Plains of North America. These data are used to make inferences about the technological system from the perspective of implement storage behavior. The characteristics of settlement and subsistence strategies, a matter of current debate in the region, are addressed in this analysis.

10,000 Years in the Rocky Mountains: The Helen Lookingbill Site

Abstract Located in a spring-fed meadow at 2620 masl, Helen Lookingbill is a stratified, high-altitude open site in the Washakie Range of the Absaroka Mountains in NW Wyoming. The site contains cultural material ranging in age from Paleoindian through Late Prehistoric periods. Although the densest cultural deposits date to the Early Archaic (8000–5000 b.p., uncalibrated), other time periods are well represented. A 10,400 year old layer comprises the earliest component (Haskett/Hell Gap) in the main excavation area; above it is a series of Late Paleoindian, Early Archaic, later Archaic, and Late Prehistoric components. The major materials at the site are chipped stone and bone, while a deer bone bed dating between 6500 and 6800 b.p. is contained within the main excavation block. In addition to deet; the site contains the remains of mountain sheep, bison, porcupine, and other mammals. Located on and near both quartzite and chert stone sources, the mountain meadow served as a prehistoric camp site and yielded evidence of tool production, heat treatment, refurbishing, and use. Interdisciplinary research provides much information pertinent to understanding the nature of site occupation with implications for regional cultural dynamics, high altitude hunter-gatherer adaptations, and site formation processes.

Paleoindian bison procurement and paleoenvironments in Middle Park of Colorado

The Upper Twin Mountain Site, located within a geologic slump scar at 2548 m altitude, provides significant information on Paleoindian bison procurement. As the highest known Paleoindian bison bone bed, the site contained the partial skeletal remains of at least 15 adult Late Pleistocene bison (B. antiquus), Goshen projectile points, and debitage. Radiocarbon dates of 10,240±70 and 10,470±50 yr B.P. place Upper Twin Mountain midway between the northern Plains Goshen and southern Plains Plainview sites. With a late fall or early winter mortality of the bison and the presence of only local stone, year round occupation of Middle Park is indicated. Analysis of the geology, soil, and pollen, from the archaeological and nonarchaeological deposits at the Upper Twin Mountain and elsewhere in the region are used to describe the paleoenvironmental conditions in Middle Park.

The Rocky Foolsm Site: A Small Folsom Assemblage from the Northwestern Plains

A recent survey at Keyhole Reservoir in northeast Wyoming resulted in investigations of over fifty archaeological locations. One of these produced an assemblage of Folsom artifacts. Although these artifacts have been redeposited, the assemblage described here is thought to be of Folsom age. The goal of this article is to describe this small assemblage (n = 22) and use the perspective provided by the analysis of this site to review Folsom cultural dynamics.

Rockshelter Archaeology and Geoarchaeology in the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

Abstract This paper reports on 10 years of research at the Black Mountain Archaeological District, located in north central Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountain range. It focuses specifically on two rockshelters: 48BH1827 (Two Moon Shelter) and 48BH1065 (BA Cave). Two Moon Shelter bears stratified Paleoindian deposits that include a Folsom projectile point fragment, a 10,060 ± 60 B.P. radiocarbon date, and an undated Paleoindian component positioned stratigraphically below the Folsom occupation. Upper levels in the site date to about 8500 B.P. and are associated with the Late Paleoindian Pryor Stemmed complex. BA Cave is a well-stratified and well-dated archaeological deposit yielding cultural occupations spanning the last 4,000 years. Geoarchaeological investigations at BA Cave describe changes in sediment depositional regimes that may reflect significant Late Holocene trends in centennial-to-millennial-scale climatic changes in the Middle Rocky Mountain region. Together, research at these two rockshelters provides a well-rounded picture of prehistoric life and environments in the Northwestern Plains culture area.

THE NELSON SITE, A CODY OCCUPATION IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO

Abstract The Nelson site in northeastern Colorado represents a Cody age occupation of the High Plains. Because Paleoindian sites of any age are sparse in the archaeological record, each known occurrence adds significant information about prehistory. The Nelson site has received no formal field investigation; however, a small quantity of data has accumulated over nearly one half century of collecting. The cultural affiliation can be demonstrated with the recovered chipped stone assemblage and a new radiocarbon date, while zooarchaeological assessment of the fauna yields preliminary information about the nature of the occupation and Paleoindian lifeways.

Stones, Bones, and Profiles: Exploring Archaeological Context, Early American Hunter-Gatherers, and Bison

The annual SAA meetings are common venues for archaeologists to hold symposia to recognize the achievements of their distinguished mentors and colleagues. This was the goal of the 2012 SAA session organized to honor the work of Vance Haynes and George Frison. Following two fascinating biographies, the editors present twelve chapters grouped among the three “research domains in which Frison and Haynes have made some of their most lasting contributions”: Peopling of North America and Paleoindians, Geoarchaeology, and Bison Bone Bed Studies. The range and quality of the contributions to this volume really represent an effort to parallel the remarkable contributions to so many aspects of North American geology and archaeology made by Haynes and Frison. The bibliographies of these two men reveal both the quantity and quality of their extensive fieldwork and analyses beginning with the first publications by Haynes in 1955 and Frison in 1962 and continuing until today. Many of the chapters are original reports of new research; some are updated syntheses of work previously published. The section on Peopling of North America and Paleoindians begins with Stuart Fiedel’s critical review of the evidence for pre-Clovis occupations in North America. Once again he provides quite a detailed summary, site by site, that supports his continuing skepticism for many of the claims. Andrea Freeman provides an excellent summary of the environmental and archaeological record of the ice-free corridor that separated the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets, which has for many years been of intense interest as a possible pathway for movements and adaptations by Paleoindians. The record of Paleoindians in Mexico is the subject of the chapter by Sanchez and Carpenter, who review the density and distribution of Clovis and younger Paleoindian artifacts, as well as an overview of the archaeological evidence for human associations with mammoths in the Basin of Mexico. Although dated sites are rare, the authors conclude that there is no evidence for any occupation of Mexico prior to 13,000 years ago. Following a sincere tribute to the many contributions to Paleoindian lithic analysis by Frison, Smallwood and Jennings present a new summary of their analysis of use wear on Clovis bifaces from the Gault site in Texas. Their microwear studies, supported by considerable experimental work, is an excellent contribution. The last paper in this section of the book is on the Younger Dryas archaeology at the Paisley caves in the northern Great Basin. With none of the controversy surrounding the claimed pre-Clovis materials below this horizon, this chapter presents a fascinating summary of the phenomenally diverse and well-preserved array of organic materials recovered from this thin zone within the caves. Most important are the vivid conclusions that they draw concerning the diet and behavior of the inhabitants. 426 | JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH FALL 2018

A Model of High Plains and Intermountain Stockraising Settlement Systems

A general model of stockraising settlement systems on the High Plains is presented. Major characteristics of cattle and sheep ranching as these activities have been practiced for the past century are discussed. The presentation of this model is necessary because a large body of archaeological information is currently being collected on the remains of stockraising activities which needs an interpretive framework. This model is designed to serve this purpose.

Microcores and microliths in Northwestern Plains and Rocky Mountain front lithic assemblages

Microcores and microliths have been identified in archaeological sites in Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota. While clearly the product of patterned reduction yielding flakes with roughly parallel sides, the cores seldom produced regular flake removals, suggesting a high degree of variability in the resulting microliths. This irregular pattern of reduction contrasts with classic microblade cores from higher latitudes, where uniformity of microblades was desired. When noted by field archaeologists, microcores are variously described as conical or circular scrapers as well as microcores or microblade cores. They occur in low frequencies in several time periods and are seldom identified with associated production debitage let alone microliths. This article examines microlith manufacture and microcore discard in the Northwestern Plains and adjacent regions and proposes that the technology fulfilled a specialized role in the organization of lithic technology linked to the infrequent manufacture of specialty items.