Thomas J. Connolly

Clovis Age Western Stemmed Projectile Points and Human Coprolites at the Paisley Caves

They Walked Together Paisley Cave in Oregon provides some of the earliest evidence for humans in North America. Jenkins et al. (p. 223) provide a wide variety of additional evidence of early human occupation of this site, including a series of radiocarbon ages extending back to nearly 12,500 radiocarbon years ago (about 14,500 calendar years ago). The find includes examples of projectile points representative of the Western Stemmed Tradition dating to about 11,100 radiocarbon years ago. The Western Stemmed Tradition has been thought to have evolved after the dominant Clovis technology, but the find suggests that the two cultures overlapped in time. The age of a Western Stemmed projectile point implies that this culture overlapped with the Clovis culture in North America. The Paisley Caves in Oregon record the oldest directly dated human remains (DNA) in the Western Hemisphere. More than 100 high-precision radiocarbon dates show that deposits containing artifacts and coprolites ranging in age from 12,450 to 2295 14C years ago are well stratified. Western Stemmed projectile points were recovered in deposits dated to 11,070 to 11,340 14C years ago, a time contemporaneous with or preceding the Clovis technology. There is no evidence of diagnostic Clovis technology at the site. These two distinct technologies were parallel developments, not the product of a unilinear technological evolution. “Blind testing” analysis of coprolites by an independent laboratory confirms the presence of human DNA in specimens of pre-Clovis age. The colonization of the Americas involved multiple technologically divergent, and possibly genetically divergent, founding groups.

Comments on America's oldest basketry

A recent publication on directly dated basketry specimens from the western United States (Berger et al. 1998, Radiocarbon 40(2):615-20) contained some misleading information, and in a few cases discussed radiocarbon ages from unacknowledged sources. We provide the missing original citations along with some clarifications. We focus especially on the age of distinctive Fort Rock and Multiple Warp-style sandals, for which we provide additional previously unreported (super 14) C ages. Direct dates on fibers from Fort Rock sandals from 3 different sites range in age from 10,500 cal BP to about 9200 cal BP. Contextual evidence suggests that Multiple Warp sandals may date as early as 6600 cal BP, but the few directly dated specimens are less than 1000 yr old.

AN EARLY HOLOCENE/LATE PLEISTOCENE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE ON THE OREGON COAST? COMMENTS ON HALL ET AL. (2005)

In the journal Radiocarbon, Hall et al. (2005:383) claim that 35-CS-9, located in Bandon Ocean Wayside State Park on the southern Oregon coast, is one of the few Oregon coast sites that includes sediments and artifacts dating to the early Holocene and possibly to the late Pleistocene. Their claim for an early Holocene or late Pleistocene human occupation rests on a single radiocarbon date of 11,000 140 BP (12,71012,680 cal BP) taken from charcoal found at least 20 cm below the nearest artifact. Although Hall et al. compile various kinds of geoarchaeological evidence to support this claim, their case is not convincing. While we applaud aspects of their analyses, the inferences they have drawn are not substantiated by the evidence they present. We agree that 35-CS-9 is a significant site but believe claims for the antiquity of its human use have been exaggerated.

IMPLICATIONS OF NEW RADIOCARBON AGES ON COILED BASKETRY FROM THE NORTHERN GREAT BASIN

Abstract Coiled basketry dates to more than 8,000 years ago in the Eastern Great Basin and is found in the Western Basin by 4,500 years ago. In the Northern Great Basin, archaeological basketry is dominated by twineware; fewer than 20 fragments of coiled basketry have been reported. Coiling has long been thought to have appeared very late in the Northern Basin, and the perceived late presence of coiling in the north has been considered by some to be an indicator of a late Numic incursion from the south. Recent direct radiocarbon dating of fiber samples from the coiled specimens from the Northern Great Basin undermines the previous assumptions of a uniformly late age. Though rare, coiling has a consistent presence in the region for more than 2,500 years. Further, its distribution suggests that this technological influence may have derived primarily from eastern, rather than southern, sources.

The Archaeology of a Pioneer Family Cemetery in Western Oregon, 1854–1879

A forgotten late-19th-century cemetery (ca. 1854–1879) with 12 graves was discovered in early 2008 during a construction project in western Oregon. Eight graves had been previously opened during a 1901 disinterment, but four remained intact. All provided information on burial patterns during the decades following American settlement of the Willamette Valley by Oregon Trail pioneers. Although the timeline is both slightly delayed and compressed, trends in burial ornamentation and hardware generally follow those noted in American cemeteries in the East. The unadorned graves of the 1850s are most similar to those of earlier decades on the eastern seaboard. By the end of the 1870s, rail lines had been built through the Willamette Valley, and within a few years the valley was linked to a growing national rail network. A relative immediacy of bicoastal contact was achieved at this time, allowing a measure of synchronicity in funerary trends.

Return to Fort Rock Cave: Assessing the Site's Potential to Contribute to Ongoing Debates about how and when Humans Colonized the Great Basin

Oregons Fort Rock Cave is iconic in respect to both the archaeology of the northern Great Basin and the history of debate about when the Great Basin was colonized. In 1938, Luther Cressman recovered dozens of sagebrush bark sandals from beneath Mt. Mazama ash that were later radiocarbon dated to between 10,500 and 9350 cal B.P. In 1970, Stephen Bedwell reported finding lithic tools associated with a date of more than 15,000 cal B.P., a date dismissed as unreasonably old by most researchers. Now, with evidence of a nearly 15,000-year-old occupation at the nearby Paisley Five Mile Point Caves, we returned to Fort Rock Cave to evaluate the validity of Bedwells claim, assess the stratigraphic integrity of remaining deposits, and determine the potential for future work at the site. Here, we report the results of additional fieldwork at Fort Rock Cave undertaken in 2015 and 2016, which supports the early Holocene occupation, but does not confirm a pre–10,500 cal B.P. human presence. La cueva de Fort Rock en Oregón es icónica por lo que representa para la arqueología de la parte norte de la Gran Cuenca y para la historia del debate sobre la primera ocupación de la Gran Cuenca. En 1938, Luther Cressman recuperó docenas de sandalias de corteza de artemisa debajo de una capa de cenizas del monte Mazama que fueron posteriormente fechadas por radiocarbono entre 10,500 y 9200 cal a.P. En 1970, Stephen Bedwell reportó haber encontrado herramientas líticas en asociación con una fecha de más de 15,000 cal. a.P., una fecha descartada como irrazonablemente antigua por la mayoría de los investigadores. Ahora, con evidencia de una ocupación de casi 15,000 años de antigüedad en las cercanas cinco cuevas de Paisley Five Mile Point, regresamos a la cueva de Fort Rock para evaluar la validez de las afirmaciones de Bedwell, evaluar la integridad estratigráfica de los depósitos restantes y determinar el potencial para investigaciones futuras en el lugar. Aquí presentamos los resultados de trabajo adicional en la cueva de Fort Rock llevado a cabo en 2015 y 2016. Estos apoyan la ocupación en el Holoceno temprano, pero no confirman una presencia humana antes de 10,500 cal a.P.