Thesis
Curation and lithic technological organization studies on the Owyhee River: A case study of the Chalk Basin site (35ML143), Malheur County, Oregon
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2007
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/101157
Abstract
In lithic studies, the concept of curation has been defined as the relationship between a tool's potential utility and its actual usage. This concept has proven to be a valuable tool for understanding a group's mobility patterns and resource management strategies by examining the stone tools discarded at a site. This study will define curation and explore how it is commonly assessed through lithic retouch. In a controlled setting, a retouch index was developed and evaluated on an experimental assemblage of chert bifaces. It is shown that reduction activities on bifaces may create extensive amounts of retouch that are contingent upon a number of factors from both the production and resharpening events that must be taken into consideration before understanding the degree to which a biface has been curated. Drawing upon the results of the biface experiment and using a suite of other retouch indices, the concept of curation is studied in an archaeological context where the locations of raw material sources are known. The assemblage used in this analysis is from Chalk Basin, southeastern Oregon, which was used as a riverine campsite and as a place to acquire high quality raw material to replenish stone tool kits during the Middle and Late Archaic period in the northern Great Basin.
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Details
- Title
- Curation and lithic technological organization studies on the Owyhee River
- Creators
- Jennifer Keeling Wilson
- Contributors
- William Andrefsky (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525287001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis