Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

Towards The Identification Of Lampreys (Lampetra Spp.) In Archaeological Contexts, Ross E. Smith, Virginia L. Butler

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Lampreys were and continue to be an important resource for Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest. Lampreys possess several skeletal structures that are regularly identified in marine mammal and bird stomach contents and fecal samples, suggesting that lamprey elements may preserve in archaeological contexts. However, their remains have not been identified in archaeological faunal samples in the Pacific Northwest. This may be due to the lack of an adequate "search image" for lamprey remains among faunal analysts and limited use of line screen sampling. Descriptions and photographs of lamprey remains that are most likely to survive in archaeological contexts are …

Archaeological Investigation Of Historic Kormantse, Ghana: Cultural Identities, E. Kofi Agorsah, Thomas Butler

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

An archaeological project launched as part of Kofi Agorsah’s Fulbright Scholar program at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana in 2007, aimed at investigating the cultural formation and transformation of the historic Kormantse settlement on the Gold Coast, in response to changes occurring through colonial times. It sought to explain, by use of ethnographic and archaeological material, the processes and cultural manifestations by which the settlement’s population, including those who passed through Kormantse during the trans-Atlantic slave trade between the 16th and 20th centuries, negotiated their survival and identities. Preliminary studies in 1999 and 2007 indicate that Kormantse embraced the …

Exploring The Chinook Culture Contact At Station Camp At The Mouth Of The Columbia River, Douglas C. Wilson

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Station Camp/McGowan site, at the mouth of the Columbia River, contains the remains of a contact-period Chinook Indian village characterized by abundant fur-trade era goods and well-preserved architectural features associated with at least three plank structures. The Chinookan fur-trade site (identified as the "Middle Village" by Chinook people) contains an abundance of wealth items and a dearth of productive tools and debris within traditional activity spaces. These data suggest the intensity and context of interaction between Native American groups at the coast and Euro- American traders.

Structural Bone Density Of Pacific Cod (Gadus Macrocephalus) And Halibut (Hippoglossus Stenolepis): Taphonomic And Archaeological Implications, Ross E. Smith

Dissertations and Theses

Describing prehistoric human subsistence strategies and mobility patterns using archaeofaunal assemblages requires archaeologists to differentiate the effects of human behavior from natural taphonomic processes. Previous studies demonstrate that differences in bone density both within and between taxa contribute to variation in element representation in archaeofaunal assemblages. Measurements of contemporary Pacific Cod (Gadus macrocephalus) and Pacific Halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) skeletal elements using Dual Energy Absorptiometry (DEXA) and hydrostatic weighing revealed differences in bone volume density between elements and taxa.

Density values were highest in Pacific cod and halibut jaw elements; the lowest bone volume densities were measured in Pacific cod and …

Relic Hunting, Archaeology, And Loss Of Native American Heritage At The Dalles, Virginia L. Butler

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Assesses the damage done to Native American sites and heritage by relic hunters and archaeologists digging in the mid-Columbia River region that was inundated by completion of The Dalles Dam in 1957. Long before the dam was built,relic hunters disturbed grave sites and mounds in their search for artifacts. The artifacts went into private collections or were sold, without concern for their context or for the rights and concerns of native people. The article also discusses the development of the profession of archaeology and the ways professional archaeologists were complicit in the desecration of native sites. Sites along the river …

Where Have All The Native Fish Gone? The Fate Of Fish That Lewis And Clark Encountered On The Lower Columbia River, Virginia L. Butler

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

As part of a special issue of the 'Oregon Historical Quarterly,' discusses the native species of fish in the lower Columbia River described by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1805-06. They identified red charr, salmon trout, sturgeon, anchovy, skeet, and other fish that Indians caught and used as trade items with the Corps of Discovery. However, editors of the Lewis and Clark journals have often erred in identifying the fish Lewis and Clark described; the challenge in identifying anadromous fish lies in changing coloration, markings, and examination of habitat. There has been a drastic decline of native fish since …

The Holocene History Of Bison In The Intermountain West: A Synthesis Of Archaeological And Paleontological Records From Eastern Oregon, Nicole Anne Stutte

Dissertations and Theses

Intermountain West bison abundance and chronology is much debated, but little work addressing these debates has occurred in eastern Oregon. Historic records indicate bison were absent from eastern Oregon at Euro-American contact. However, during explorations in eastern Oregon in 1826 Ogden reported bison skeletons in a dry lake bed, suggesting bison once lived in the area.

This study reviews archaeological and paleontological records, and ethnohistoric accounts of early 19th century explorers, to synthesize the Holocene history of bison eastern Oregon. Bison NISP (number of identified specimens) was documented from site reports when available, and overall abundance was measured by number …

The Scale Of Pottery Manufacture During The Old Kingdom, Sarah L. Sterling

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The existence of specialized craftsmen — including stonemasons, coppersmiths, carpenters, jewelers and potters — in ancient Egypt arises in part from the general industries spawned from the elaborate monumental constructions that characterize the Old Kingdom (ca. 2600-2100 BCE). Pottery vessels in particular are one of the most abundant kinds of artifacts known from ancient Egypt, with functions ranging from formal presentation to baking bread, to grains and olive oil storage. While not all pottery is associated with monumental architecture, the emergence of specialized or semi-specialized potters is likely due to the same socioeconomic factors that gave rise to such famous …

Book Review Of, Plants Of Haida Gwaii, Douglas Deur

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reviews the book "Plants of Haida Gwaii" by Nancy J. Turner.

The Other Side Of The Tracks: The Archaeology And History Of A Virginia City, Nevada Neighborhood, Julie Marie Schablitsky

Dissertations and Theses

Archaeologists and historians have conducted a limited number of 19th century western neighborhood studies. The small number of inquiries into the urban past has left research on western working and middle class neighborhoods, along with their ethnic and class composition, relatively untouched by modern scholars. Although eastern immigrant neighborhood studies by historic archaeologists are currently increasing, western immigrant neighborhood research projects continue to be underrepresented in the literature. Perceiving an absence of western urban neighborhood studies, an intensive study on an ethnically heterogeneous working and middle class neighborhood was conducted in Virginia City, Nevada.

The community was situated adjacent to …

Rethinking Precolonial Plant Cultivation On The Northwest Coast Of North America, Douglas Deur

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast of North America are widely believed to have been true “hunter-fisher-gatherers,” lacking plant cultivation of any kind. This depiction of the region's indigenous inhabitants emerged within early colonial accounts and was perpetuated within the literatures of geography, anthropology, and archaeology. Still, there is ample evidence of plant cultivation available from archival, archaeological, and ethnographic sources. In particular, the peoples of coastal British Columbia created large gardens of edible estuarine plants, using sophisticated indigenous technologies. The oversight of these practices in written representations of the region reveals consistent patterns of bias, emanating from the …

Contested Lands, Contested Identities: Revisiting The Historical Geographies Of North America's Indigenous Peoples, Douglas Deur

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In my work with the tribes and First Nations of western North America, I am told the same stories again and again. In intricate and sometimes gruesome detail, I am told how the white world, in its efforts to occupy and claim the western half of the continent over the last two centuries, employed myriad strategies—strategies of conquest—to separate indigenous peoples from their lands. And in these stories, tribal members, no matter their levels of education or backgrounds, recognize that the military conflicts, genocide, territorial dispossession and displacement, and enforced marginalization that has characterized Indian-white relations over this period cannot …

Public Outreach And The "Hows" Of Archaeology : Archaeology As A Model For Education, Jon Darin Daehnke

Dissertations and Theses

There is growing awareness of the importance of public outreach in archaeology. Many professional archaeologists argue that in order to ensure continued funding we must communicate the relevance of our discipline to the public in a more effective manner. Furthermore, it is often argued that public outreach and education provides perhaps the only reliable defense against looting and rampant psuedoarchaeology.

Current outreach activities, however, tend to focus on what archaeologists have discovered about the past. While this type of outreach is important, a more effective model for public outreach would focus on the methods of archaeology, rather than the results. …

Kennewick Man: Cultural Affiliation Report, Chapter 2: Review Of The Archaeological Data, Kenneth M. Ames

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Portland State University Professor Kenneth M. Ames was one of 18 distinguished scholars chosen to investigate and report on the cultural affiliation of the Kennewick human remains. This report reviews the extant archaeological record for the Southern Columbia Plateau.

The Experimental Reduction Of Rock In A Camas Oven: Towards An Understanding Of The Behavioral Significance Of Fire-Cracked Rock, Douglas C. Wilson, David V. Delyria

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The selection and management of rock for roasting ovens, hearths, and sweat lodges were not trivial concerns for prehistoric households. The results of replicating a camas roasting oven are used to address the use-life and use-stages of fire-cracked rock. We concluded that the industry associated with the procurement and management of fire-cracked rock in the Pacific Northwest required significant quantities of labor and expertise to manage the raw materials and camas roasting byproducts. Recording the technological performance characteristics of fire-cracked rocks, including composition, size, and durability, is a necessary step to interpret and compare fire-cracked rock features at archaeological sites.

Archaeological Investigations At 45cl1 Cathlapotle (1991-1996) , Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Clark County, Washington: A Preliminary Report, Kenneth M. Ames, Cameron M. Smith, William L. Cornett, Elizabeth A. Sobel, Stephen C. Hamilton, John Wolf, Doria Raetz, United States. Department Of The Interior, U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service, Region 1, Portland State University. Department Of Anthropology

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is the preliminary report, one in a series on the archaeology of the Wapato Valley region of the Lower Columbia River. Most of the reports discuss aspects of the excavations and archaeology of two sites, the Meier site (35CO5) and Cathlapotle site (45CL1). Other related topics are also treated.

Archaeological investigations at site 45CL1, Clark County, Washington, demonstrate that the locality is a very large (c 1.5ha), deeply stratified (2-4m) town site with an occupation spanning at least 1000 years (c. AD 1000 to 1840). Six large, complex depressions have been mapped. Test excavations show that these depressions represent …

Strategies Of Indian Burning In The Willamette Valley, Robert T. Boyd

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This chapter, included in Indians, Fire and the Land in the Pacific Northwest, published by the Oregon State University Press in 1999, explores fires set by the aboriginal inhabitants of the Willamette valley.

In 1971, geographer Carl Johannessen and colleagues at the University of Oregon published an article, "The Vegetation of the Willamette Valley," which proposed that, prior to European contact, the Willamette Valley, though surrounded by dense forests of Douglas-fir, was an open oak.savanna grassland. They also presented historical evidence to show that these prairie grasslands were maintained by annual fires set by the aboriginal inhabitants of the …

Early Holocene Occupation At The West Lost River Site, Klamath County, Oregon, Douglas C. Wilson, John L. Fagan, Dorothy E. Freidel, Susan M. Colby

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Excavations at the West Lost River Site (35KL972) provide new insights on early Holocene occupation of southwestern Oregon. The article focuses on the artifacts and specimens recovered from the site.

The Spatial Distribution Of Ground Stone Tools As A Marker Of Status Differentials In A Chinookan Plank House On The Lower Columbia River, John William Wolf

Dissertations and Theses

Social status was an integral part of the social structure of Northwest Coast societies. The presence of ranked social structures and household space based on rank is reported in the ethnographic literature. Archaeologists have long searched for independent and verifiable means to infer social structure from archaeological deposits. Burial goods have been used to identify status differences. Do other items of material culture also reflect such differences?

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether or not the distribution of certain tools recovered from a Chinookan plank house on the lower Columbia River paralleled the household residence location that …

The Burnett Site: A Cascade Phase Camp On The Lower Willamette River, Robert M. Burnett

Dissertations and Theses

Artifacts recovered from archaeological excavations near the Willamette River in Lake Oswego, Oregon indicate the presence there of a Late Windust-Early Cascade Phase site possibly dating to 9,000 B.P. The assemblage includes 137 projectile points, bifaces or point fragments, nearly all of the Cascade-type. Two stem fragments and one complete point which are similar to those of the Windust Phase which dates 10,000-8,000 B.P. in the southern Columbia Plateau also were found. Stone knives, choppers, scrapers, hammerstones, cores and microblades also are included in the assemblage. No later type notched or stemmed points have been recovered from the site. If …

The Archaeology Of The Longue Durée: Temporal And Spatial Scale In The Evolution Of Social Complexity On The Southern Northwest Coast, Kenneth M. Ames

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The emphasis on temporal and geographic scale of the French Annales school of history (cf. Braudel 1980; Baker 1984; Lewthwaite 1988) is the inspiration for this paper. Braudel (1980) divides time into three durations: short term events (days, weeks, months, a few years), medium length conjunctures (years, decades, even major portions of centuries), and long term structures (which may last centuries, even millennia). This last duration is the longue durée. Basic to Annales' thought - and the longue durée - is the idea that to understand historical developments, to explain their causes and dynamics, one must know their temporal and …

Sedentism: A Temporal Shift Or A Transitional Change In Hunter-Gatherer Mobility Patterns?, Kenneth M. Ames

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Archaeologists widely perceive sedentism as a necessary precondition for social elaboration and complexity among hunter-gatherers. The origins and causes of sedentism are major archaeological research problems, and researchers concern themselves with the transition between nomadism and sedentism. In this paper I argue that there is only variation in residential patterns, which may include sedentism; that sedentism, however it is defined, is not a stable residential pattern among hunter-gatherers; and that, rather than explain the causes of sedentism, one must explain shifts in residential mobility patterns. The case study illustrating these points is drawn from the dry interior region of the …

Immunology And Archaeology: Blood Residue Analysis Of Three Sites, Shirley Jo Barr Williams

Dissertations and Theses

Cross-over electrophoresis, an immunological method for analyzing blood residues on archaeological artifacts, is tested. Artifacts from three sites were utilized in the testing of this methodology. The sites are the Dietz site in south-central Oregon (282 artifacts), Konemehu in northern California (48 artifacts tested for Winthrop Associates), and Chimney Shelter in southwestern Oregon (3 artifacts from the Umpqua National Forest).

A brief description of each site and its known significance is included. Particular attention is paid to the background of the Clovis component of the Dietz site, due to its age (11,000 - 12,000 B.P.), and the fact that it …

The Orchestration Of Nature's Writing Surfaces, Laurie M. O'Reilly

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

This articles stretches Derrida’s notion of writing by positing that writing itself might be thought of as "that which can be read or interpreted." This breaks the absolute bond between writing and human handicraft and suggests new ways of understanding the way we interpret natural phenomena. This paper traces this concept through numerous natural phenomena and suggests that perhaps the limits of meaning might have more to do with the interpreter’s range of understanding when it comes to natural gestures and "writings." In the end writing comes to be understood as durative, or has having duration. In this interpretation comes …

Structure And Dynamics Of Household Hazardous Wastes, Douglas C. Wilson, William L. Rathje

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Municipal Solid wastes--the majority of which are household refuse--have, increasingly been implicated as a source of hazardous materials in landfill leachate discharges (U.S. EPA 1988). Data collected on the components of these wastes are critical for solid wastes systems planning--especially landfill design, hazardous materials collection systems, and resource recovery. A number of recent studies by the University of Arizona's Garbage Project have identified household products as a possible source of hazardous materials in landfills (Wilson 1985, Rathje et al. 1987a, 1987b). Studies have addressed (1) the definition of these "household hazardous wastes" (HHW), (2) the characteristics of HHW from hands-on …

Bone Tool Assemblages As An Aid To Shell Mound Site Typologies On The Northwest Coast, Doria Lee Fingerhut Raetz

Dissertations and Theses

Fifteen bone tool assemblages from shell midden sites were compared. Three of these are unpublished sites from Prince Rupert Harbor. They were grouped using cluster analysis. Inter and intragroup variation in bone tool assemblage structure was analyzed. One of the objectives of this study was to generate hypotheses about the function of the unpublished sites by comparing their bone tool assemblages with those from sites which are better understood by looking for underlying patterns in the bone tool assemblages. Other objectives were to test the utility of using bone tool assemblages as a diagnostic tool in analyzing sites and to …

Subsistence Variability On The Columbia Plateau, Ricky Gilmer Atwell

Dissertations and Theses

Long-term human dietary change is a poorly understood aspect of Columbia Plateau prehistory. Faunal assemblages from thirty-four archaeological sites on the Plateau are organized into fifteen aggregate assemblages that are defined spatially and temporally. These assemblages are examined in terms of a focal-diffuse model using ecological measures of diversity, richness and evenness. Variability and patterning in the prehistoric subsistence record is indicated. Major trends in human diet and shifts in subsistence economies are documented and the relationship between subsistence and some initial semi-sedentary adaptations on the Plateau is clarified.

Neutron Activation Analysis And Chemical Inference For The Identification Of Buena Vista Ceramics, Daniel D. Sullivan

Dissertations and Theses

Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis was used for this study of stonewares collected from the site of the Buena Vista/Oregon Pottery Company (1866-1890).

The results show significant chemical signatures in the samples tested. Thorium/ytterbium and thorium/chromium ratios within their respective ranges of variation demonstrate a relative conformity among all samples of Buena Vista ceramics.

Archeological Implications Of Traditional House Construction Among The Nchumuru Of Northern Ghana, E. Kofi Agorsah

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Ethnographic data from the Nchumuru settlement of Wiae, Kete-Krachi District, northern Volta Region, Ghana, are used to examine the manner in which earth-walled houses in Nchumuru traditional settlements are transferred from the systemic to the archeological record. Archeological survey and excavation of two early Nchumuru sites were conducted to establish the extent to which the observed cultural and natural processes of house and settlement development could help identify the location and distribution of prehistoric structural features. The result was the almost complete reconstruction of the location and distribution of structural features at one of these sites. Knowledge of the mechanisms …

Tillamook Indian Basketry : Continuity And Change As Seen In The Adams Collection, Ailsa Elizabeth Crawford

Dissertations and Theses

In the Adams Collection at the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, Tillamook, Oregon, there are 29 baskets that were probably made between 1880 and 1940. They are mostly of raffia, are somewhat faded from their original, bright, commercial colors, and are generally quite small. Despite the fact that these baskets are well-documented and were made by Tillamook women, they are the sort that have been overlooked by anthropologists and by collectors because of their non-"traditional" appearance. In order to determine what relationship these baskets have to Tillamook basketry made earlier, I analyzed them and 39 Tillamook baskets from four other museum …