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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Anthropology

Brigham Young University

Faculty Publications

Northern Utah

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Obsidian Provenance Studies Of Sites In Northern Utah, Jeffrey Ferguson, James R. Allison Jan 2015

Obsidian Provenance Studies Of Sites In Northern Utah, Jeffrey Ferguson, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Previous studies of obsidian from archaeological sites in Utah Valley and the Salt Lake Valley have used relatively small samples to document temporal shifts in obsidian procurement, with southern sources (especially Black Rock) dominating Fremont assemblages, while most post-Fremont obsidian comes from the Malad source to the north. Our greatly expanded XRF analysis of almost 4,000 obsidian artifacts from sites in Utah and Salt Lake Valleys confirms the temporal change noted by earlier researchers, but also shows site- and source-specific patterns of obsidian use, as well as variation in the frequency of different obsidian sources in tools, debitage, and micro-debitage.


The Chronology Of Fremont Farming In Northern Utah, James R. Allison Jan 2014

The Chronology Of Fremont Farming In Northern Utah, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Fremont maize cultivation in northern Utah occurred at the northernmost extent of prehistoric Native American horticulture west of the Rocky Mountains. Fremont chronology currently relies almost entirely on a large database of radiocarbon dates, but most of the existing dates are on wood charcoal subject to old wood problems; dated charcoal also often has unclear associations with maize or other cultural materials. Recent efforts to directly date archaeological maize from museum collections have helped refine the chronology of Fremont horticulture. These new dates indicate that the timing of the earliest appearance of maize varies across northern Utah, and that in …