Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

Data Potential Of Archaeological Deposits At The Chelan Station Site, Matthew J. Breidenthal

All Master's Theses

The Chelan Station Site (45CH782/783), located along the Rocky Reach of the Columbia River, includes lithic and faunal artifacts buried beneath volcanic tephra from Mt. Mazama (6,830 BP). Artifacts were inadvertently discovered in buried soils within a secondary alluvial terrace during construction of a pipeline to supply water to the Beebe Springs Fish Hatchery. This thesis stems from participation in original field work and includes the author’s own models of early land forms and site formation. The study reviews the construction monitoring and archaeological testing of both sites, and documents the archaeological data potential early occupations of the vicinity. The …

Forager And Collector Strategies In The Yakima Uplands: An Analysis Of Archaeological Assemblages From Testing Projects On The U.S. Army Yakima Training Center, Wa., John M. Davis

All Master's Theses

Despite nearly 40 years of testing projects on the Yakima Training Center, there remains little understanding of human adaptations and subsistence patterns through time in the Yakima Uplands. Additionally, there is a need for a managerial testing review. Assemblage data from fifty-one discrete components spanning the Holocene allowed an economic site type model to be built. Results indicate a shift towards intensive upland resource procurement systems beginning 2,200 cal B.P. Assemblage artifact dimensions do not correlate with Site Type but do reflect expected changes associated with a transition from forager to collector systems. Assemblage data only appear complete at 10m …

Talus Features Of The Middle Columbia River: Typological And Locational Analyses, Jeremy Ripin

All Master's Theses

The form and function of talus features of the Columbia Plateau are the subject of archaeological investigations and cultural resource evaluation and protection programs. Depressions excavated in talus slopes, most often circular to oval in shape, are called talus pits. Pit features are also located in colluvium and alluvial fans, and at the base of cliff overhangs. Over 568 of these features have been documented for 48 sites within the project area of the Priest Rapids and Wanapum reservoirs. Pits may have been used for hunting blinds, storage (food and/or equipment), burial, and/or and spirit questing. The size of pits …

Comparing A Surface Collection To An Excavated Collection In The Lower Skagit River Delta At 45sk51, Sherri M. Middleton

All Master's Theses

In the Puget Sound Lowland of the Pacific Northwest, archaeologists have investigated a shift in settlement and subsistence patterns occurring in the mid-Holocene Epoch. The artifacts used as the evidence of this shift are interpreted with a concept known as resource intensification. This shift in artifact frequencies has been studied only in the last thirty years and in limited areas of the Puget Sound Lowlands. An opportunity to investigate a site dating to after the shift presented itself when Central Washington University acquired the Lower Skagit River Delta Surface Collection (LSRDSC). This artifact assemblage was collected from a plow-zone surface …

The Hidden History Of Western Washington Logging Camps: St. Paul And Tacoma Lumber Company’S Camp #5 Ca. 1934-1947, Kayley Bass

All Master's Theses

Despite the importance of logging to Washington State’s heritage, there is little information on the life in the logging industry and the lumbermen who helped shape western Washington. The St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company (SPTLC) harvested the Kapowsin Timberlands from the early 1900s to the late 1950s. The logging camps located within these timberlands can provide information on the organization of these industry camps as well as on the daily lives of the men that would help build one of the most important industries in Washington. This thesis employed archaeological and historical approaches to understand this period of history. …

Tracing Ainu And Pre-Ainu Cultural Continuity Through Cladistic Analysis Of Faunal Assemblages, Christopher Lowry

All Master's Theses

Cladistics (Hennig 1950, 1965, 1966), a method for establishing evolutionary relationships, is used to compare faunal assemblages from Jōmon (14,000-500 BC; 14,000–2700 cal. BP), Epi-Jōmon (3rd – 7th century; 2700-1500 cal. BP), Satsumon (7th century - 13th century AD; ca. 1500-800 cal. BP), and Ainu (13th century AD – present) period components (Habu et al. 2011; Matsumura 2006; Ōnishi 2014; Weber et al. 2013) from sites in Central Hokkaido, Japan using Generalized Frequency Coding methods (Smith & Gutberlet 2001). Associations of site components follow geographic rather than temporal trends, showing similarities in animal use across these time periods but differentiated …

Species Identification Of The Stylohyoid Bone For North American Artiodactyls, Thomas A. Hale

All Master's Theses

Zooarchaeologists cannot identify mammal species by their stylohyoid bones. Current trends in zooarchaeological research stress the need for rigorous and accessible identification methodology. I examined the stylohyoids of 15 hooved mammals: cattle, bison, domestic sheep, bighorn sheep, Dall sheep, mountain goat, domestic goat, elk, caribou, white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, pronghorn antelope, domestic pig, and horse. Objectives included documenting how to side the stylohyoid (left or right), and producing species identification criteria based on large samples. A total of 325 samples were measured from eight repositories. Written descriptions, photographs, and success ratios for metrics and distinct traits are included for …

An Economic Approach To Modeling Archaeological Settlement Patterns In Central Idaho, Anthony J. Saunders

All Master's Theses

Archaeologists can gain a better understanding of subsistence strategies by analyzing the net advantage of exploiting certain resources over others across a large area with the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and application of economic. GIS modeling is a powerful tool used by archaeologists to catalog and analyze site information in a spatial context. Economic models interpret human behavior in terms of cost and benefit. Little archaeological research has been done in central Idaho. This thesis develops economic models of hunting, gathering and fishing for the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness (FC-RONRW). This research builds upon previous …

Mapping And Radiocarbon Dating Archaic Period Monuments: La Alberca Structure Complex, Highland Michoacán, Mexico, Mark F. Steinkraus

All Master's Theses

Ongoing collaborations with the Comunidad Indígena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro hold great potential for exploring the origins of sedentary ranked communities that predate others in Mesoamerica by as much as one thousand years. Three carbon samples from the lower buried portions of the Central Structure at La Alberca Complex yield a date range of 7245-6470 cal B.P. The carbon sample laying on an upper tier of the feature yields a date of 4780 cal B.P. These dates suggest that the feature is 7000 to 6000 years old and may have been in use as recently as 5000 to 4000 …

Alternatives To Charcoal For Improving Chronometric Dating Of Puget Sound Archaeological Sites, James W. Brown

All Master's Theses

Radiocarbon dating of archaeological sites in the Puget Lowlands can be problematic. Dating specific cultural events associated with features and sites is difficult due to the ubiquity of charcoal in forest soils and poor preservation of bone in acidic soils. These conditions have impeded the development of regional cultural chronologies. The lack of dates for critical time periods also inhibits testing processual models of cultural change. Evidence for the timing and rate of ecological, economic, and political change is critical for testing evolutionary models in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Radiocarbon dating highly burned bone (calcined bone) and luminescence dating fire-modified …

Using Satellite Image Analysis For Locating Prehistoric Archaeological Sites In Alaska's Central Brooks Range, Robert Hickey, J. Keeney

Geography Faculty Scholarship

In this pilot study, we apply satellite image analysis to archaeological site prospection in Alaska's Brooks Range. Our goal was to test whether satellite remote sensing, which has been successful in locating large archaeological features associated with sedentary peoples, could be applied to arctic interior sites associated with mobile hunter–gatherers. In particular, we strove to develop a relatively straightforward and inexpensive model using existing data which could be used to help guide archaeology surveys. Using 1-m resolution IKONOS imagery of Lake Matcharak along the upper Noatak River, we produced a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and tasseled cap transformation of …

Measuring The Cost And Performance Of Lithic Industries At The Sunrise Ridge Borrow Pit Site (45pi408), Patrick Christropher Lewis

All Master's Theses

This thesis applies a theoretically informed protocol that focuses on variation in stone tool manufacture and use as measured in the 45PI408 lithic assemblage. The model used is based on the variables of stone tool cost and performance. Guided by this model, technological and functional paradigmatic classifications are employed to measure intra­site variation in lithic frequencies. This method avoids difficulties encountered by previous archaeologists by using mutually exclusive analytical units that measure subtle variation in the archaeological record. Variability in technological and functional paradigmatic classificatory dimensions such as stone tool heat treatment, raw materials, use wear, and reduction class were …

Saffron Cod (Eleginus Gracilis) In North Pacific Archaeology, Megan A. Partlow, Eric Munk

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis) is a marine species often found in shallow, brackish water in the Bering Sea, although it can occur as far southeast as Sitka, Alaska. Recently, we identified saffron cod remains in two ca. 500-year-old Afognak Island midden assemblages from the Kodiak Archipelago. We developed regression formulae to relate bone measurements to total length using thirty-five modern saffron cod specimens. The archaeological saffron cod remains appear to be from mature adults, measuring 22–45 cm in total length, and likely caught from shore during spawning. Saffron cod may have been an important winter resource for Alutiiq people living …

Determination Of Site Functionality And Subsistence Patterns At The Bray Archaeological Site (45pi1276) In Edgewood, Washington, David J. Sheldon

All Master's Theses

Resource intensification, or the logistical approach to the mass capture and extension of food resources through storage, is first evident for marine resources of the Northwest Coast during the Locarno Beach Phase (LBP) (ca. 3,500 BP to ca. 2,400 BP). Plant resource intensification is evident by 4,000 BP within the interior of the Pacific Northwest, but until recently there has been little evidence to support early intensification of plant use in the Puget Sound during the LBP. Test excavations conducted as part of a damage assessment of the Bray Site indicated that the site may contain the earliest known evidence …

Rediscovering An Upland Site: The Manastash Pines (45kt346) Kittitas County, Washington, Christopher J. Moose

All Master's Theses

The Manastash Pines site (45KT346) was excavated in 1979 and 1980 by Dr. James Alexander as part of a Central Washington University (CWU) field school. The excavation included 63 units (1 x 1 m) and three trenches, collecting lithics, fauna, charcoal, and sediment samples. The recovered artifacts were set aside to be analyzed at a later time. Starting in 2012, as part of a larger CWU project revisiting prior university excavations, I catalogued over 18,000 artifacts, scanned excavation records, and analyzed all of the fauna and a sample of the lithics from the site. A total of 2,586 faunal specimens …

Organization Of Technology At The Sanders Site (45kt315): Analysis Of Formed Tools From The Yakima Uplands, Wa, Patrick D. Garrison

All Master's Theses

Analysis of the stone tools from the Sanders Site reveals trends in the development of stone tool technology and settlement patterns within the Yakima Uplands west of the Middle Columbia River. The Sanders Site collection provides exceptional opportunity for the study of stratified components that date between 9000 and 1000 years ago. Three components include evidence of stone tool manufacture using local bog stone along with refuse from seasonal hunting and plant gathering. Identification of projectile point morphologies support temporal assignments for each component, and reflect shifts from dart to bow hunting. Analysis of all the bifacial formed tools (raw …

A Zooarchaeological Analysis Of The Monashka Bay Site (Kod-026) Kodiak Island, Alaska, Ayla Aymond

All Master's Theses

This thesis involved the initial analysis of fauna recovered in 1989 by Christopher Donta at the Monashka Bay site on Kodiak Island. Analysis included all vertebrate remains (n = 36,273) larger than 1/8” from bulk samples collected in Area 3, a midden dating AD 1550-1670 during the site’s Koniag occupation. Results indicated a focus on cod (68% of fish identified to order), with modest amounts of sculpin, and small amounts of flatfish, salmon, herring, bird, and sea mammal. The predominance of cod is likewise seen at other Koniag-era sites in the vicinity, though the lack of salmon, which composed 2% …

Experiments To Measure The Effects Of Timber Harvesting Equipment On Surface Lithic Scatters, Douglas J. Baughman

All Master's Theses

The importance of cultural resource preservation cannot be overstated; however local economies are at least as important. Due to conservative archaeological site protection practices in Region 5 of the United States Forest Service, the economy of Northeastern California is being adversely affected. In an attempt to help the Forest Service make more informed management decisions and improve the Northeastern California economy, I undertook experiments on the effects of timber harvesting on lithic scatters on Modoc National Forest. The experiments involved placement of 225 glass tiles (proxy lithics) in each of three plots subject to vehicle traffic and log dragging by …

The Grissom Site (45kt301): A Review And Synthesis Of Investigations And Exploration Of The Site's Research Potential, Holly Ann Cecilia Shea

All Master's Theses

The Grissom site (45KT301) is a multi-component archaeological site in northeast Kittitas Valley excavated by Central Washington State College from 1967-1971. The site is significant because it is one of few scientifically excavated upland sites in the Columbia Plateau and likely represents part of Che-lo-han, the intergroup gathering of Plateau cultures known to occur annually in the Kittitas Valley. Furthermore, the Grissom site collection is a rehabilitated archaeological collection and, therefore, provides a cost-effective way to explore research questions while still gaining new knowledge about the past. Excavations at the site produced 13,622 catalogued bags of pre-contact and historic artifacts …

Holocene House Hunting: An Application Of Satellite Image Analysis Towards Locating Prehistoric Archeological Sites In Alaska's Brooks Range, Joseph Keeney

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this study, satellite image analysis was applied to archeological sites at Lake Matcharak in the Brooks Range of Alaska. The Goal was to test whether or not satellite remote sensing, which has been successful in locating large-size archeological features, could be applied to small-size prehistoric features found in Arctic Alaska. Using 1-m resolution IKONOS and 30-m resolution ASTER DEM data, vegetation indices (NDVI and tasseled cap) and slope were generated and stacked into one image. Supervised and unsupervised classifications were then applied to the resulting image to look for spectral/slope characteristics that were unique to known site locations at …

The Identification And Historic Context Of Mining Archaeology Of The Wenatchee Mountains Within The Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Jared Valenta

All Master's Theses

A historically important metal mining region within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of the Wenatchee Mountains was studied employing archival research and systematic pedestrian archaeological survey. The objective of the study was to provide a historical context for hardrock mining activities within the study area and vicinity and document any new historic archaeological sites within the study area. The results serve the scientific, scholarly, and general public by providing both a more complete archaeological record and aid in the formulation of land use policy within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Three loci of activity containing a total of 27 features with associated …

Relationships Between Snake River Paleofloods, Occupational Patterns And Archaeological Preservation At Redbird Beach Archaeological Site In Lower Hells Canyon, Idaho, Tabitha Trosper

All Master's Theses

The Snake River basin drains 282,000 km² of the northwestern U.S. and is the largest tributary to the Columbia River. Redbird Beach, an archaeological site located in the lower Hells Canyon reach of the Snake River, contains extensive vertical exposures of archaeological materials interbedded with Snake River flood sediments. Redbird Beach formed in the lee of the Redbird Creek debris fan, is composed of interfingering deposits from large floods on the Snake River and locally-derived alluvial sediments from Redbird Creek. Through stratigraphic analyses of slackwater deposits, this study compares the temporal and spatial patterns of human occupation at Redbird …

Analysis Of Historic Glass In Kittitas Valley Sites, Minori Muramoto

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this project was to investigate a sample of the historic glass artifacts from three excavation sites in the Kittitas Valley: the Grissom Site (45KT301), the Robber's Roost Site ( 45KT800), and the Sorenson Site (no site number). I addressed five questions about the glass artifacts: 1) what was the minimum number of vessels, 2) what functional types of glass were found, 3) what technologies were used to manufacture them, 4) when, where, and which company made this glass, and 5) what Ellensburg stores or companies are represented in the sample. I also used the data to estimate …

Paleoflood Record Reconstruction At An Archaeological Site On The Owyhee River, Southeastern Oregon, Stephanie Louise Vandal

All Master's Theses

The magnitude and frequency of late Holocene floods on the Owyhee River in southeastern Oregon were reconstructed from fine-grained flood deposits at three sites in the river canyon. The stratigraphy at the Birch Creek study site (BCSS) preserves a record of seven to nine large floods from the last 2800 years. Two additional study sites, the Iron Gate and Waterwheel, within a 5-km reach of the BCSS, showed 18-26 floods from the late Holocene to 1993 A.D. and 17-22 floods from 8600 B.P. to 1993 A.D., respectively. Hydrologic Engineering Center-River Analysis System modeling of the 1993 flood and several paleofloods …

Patterns Of Mtdna Diversity In Northwestern North America, Ripan S. Malhi, Katherine E. Breece, Beth A. Schultz Shook, Frederika A. Kaestle, James C. Chatters, Steven Hackenberger, David Glenn Smith

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups of 54 full-blooded modern and 64 ancient Native Americans from northwestern North America were determined. The control regions of 10 modern and 30 ancient individuals were sequenced and compared. Within the Northwest, the frequency distribution for haplogroup A is geographically structured, with haplogroup A decreasing with distance from the Pacific Coast. The haplogroup A distribution suggests that a prehistoric population intrusion from the subarctic and coastal region occurred on the Columbia Plateau in prehistoric times. Overall, the mtDNA pattern in the Northwest suggests significant amounts of gene flow among Northwest Coast, Columbia Plateau, and Great …

Cultural Diversification And Decimation In The Prehistoric Record, William C. Prentiss, James C. Chatters

Anthropology and Museum Studies Faculty Scholarship

The history of human cultures is frequently marked by a distinctive pattern of evolution that paleobiologists term diversification and decimation. Under this process, fundamentally new socioeconomic systems appear during periods of dramatic cultural diversification, typically through cultural cladogenesis. Significant diversification episodes come about under conditions that favor group economic success under effective or geographic isolation. Typically shortlived, they are often followed by abrupt decimation under more competitive economic conditions. Regional archaeological sequences, viewed from this perspective, suggest that (1) cultural evolutionary trends are strongly conditioned by historical contingency, though general evolutionary processes are continuously active; (2) the emergence of new …

Toward A Scientific Approach To Significance Assessments Of Prehistoric Achaeological Properties At Mount Rainier National Park, Nicholas James Smith

All Master's Theses

Managing prehistoric archaeological properties at Mount Rainier National Park (MORA) is challenging. The prehistoric archaeological record is not well known, a myriad of geomorphologic processes are at work from minute to catastrophic, and until recently, archaeologists largely ignored stratovolcanoes in the Pacific Northwest. They, therefore, lack the local and regional contexts to evaluate many kinds of prehistoric archaeological properties at MORA in terms of their data potential.

Once thought to be of scarce data potential (cf. Boxberger 1998; Burtchard 1998; Daugherty 1963; Grabert and Pint 1978; Mierendorf et al. 1998; Smith 1964a; Zweifel and Reid 1991), the montane environments of …

The Indigenous Origins Of The Egyptian God-King, Deborah Jo Burnham

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The question of the Egyptian God-King's origin is not a matter of ethnicity, but rather one of culture. Is it indigenous and as such, an integral part of the rise of Egypt as a primary civilization? Or is it Mesopotamian and a product of diffusion, bringing with it the idea of the city-state and monumental architecture including the pyramid?

Some Interactions In The Evolution Of Man And Tools, Gary W. Weston

All Master's Theses

This paper looks at some of the interactions between the development of tools and the evolution of man and his ancestors. It begins with a brief history of life up to the primates as a foundation. Next the use of tools by other animals is examined followed by the coverage of the period of time from Australopithecus to Modern Man showing the interweaving of physical and mental evolution of man and the development and refinement in his physical tools. Lastly, a look at possible future interactions in the physical and mental evolutionary developments in man as influenced by his tools …