Thesis
Late Holocene occupation of the Birch Creek site (35ml181), Southeastern Oregon
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2009
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100586
Abstract
Recent studies of the Late Archaic period in the Great Basin have identified major changes in settlement, subsistence, and technology compared to those seen during the Middle Archaic. The concern of this study is whether the Late Archaic at the Birch Creek Site (35ML181) is marked by a significant change in adaptive strategy, as it appears to be in much of the Great Basin. This thesis uses the sediments encountered and material recovered from the 2006 excavations of the Birch Creek Site, including datable samples, ancient pollen, ground stone tools, chipped stone tools and debitage, faunal remains, and evidence of ceramic technology as evidence of the adaptive strategy of Late Archaic people at the Birch Creek Site. The Late Archaic component was expected to be structured very differently from earlier materials if it were created by a new group of people practicing a new adaptive strategy beginning during the Late Archaic. Comparisons of Late Archaic artifact assemblages to previously studied materials from the Middle Archaic component of the Birch Creek Site were used to determine if a discontinuity in adaptive strategy exists. Material evidence of settlement, subsistence, and technological organization do not reflect direct continuity, nor do they indicate an abrupt shift, in adaptive strategies. The adaptive strategy during Late Archaic occupation of the Birch Creek Site appears to be a product of relatively local conditions related to subsistence and tool raw material resources, with some indications of wider regional interactions.
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Details
- Title
- Late Holocene occupation of the Birch Creek site (35ml181), Southeastern Oregon
- Creators
- Christopher Douglas Noll
- 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
- 99900525181901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis