Utah Statewide Archaeological Society, Volume 10, Number 3, September 1964

UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 603 EAST SOUTH TEMPLE

Ul~kKE 'Q't~Ttaeolo9~

EXED

A Newsletter

Vel .. 10, No .. 3

sept. 1964

UTAH ARCHAEOLOGY is published quarterly by the UTAH S'l'ATEWIDE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Subscription is included in membership. Membersh.ip in the society is available fl'Om the secretary-treasurer at $2.00 per year. Correspondence concerning the activities of the society should be directed to the president. All manuscripts alld news items should be sent to: Utah Statewide AJ:chaeology Society % Dept. of Anthropology, University of Utah.

UTAH STA'lE\VIDE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCm'IY PRESIIENT; Francis Hassel 906 Rancho Blvd, Ogden, utah VICE PRESImNT: George Tripp 98 W. 2000 South, Bountiful, utah SECRETARY-'IREASURER: Carol Hassel 906 Rancho Blvd, Ogden, utah ADVISOR: Ir. Jesse D. Jennings, Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City 12, Utah EDITOR: W. D. Pack, 310 South 3rd East, Preston, Idaho

EDI'fOR1S NO'lES The artiole "Cultural Development in the Great Basin" , is a descriptive inventory and disoussion of all the major-archeologioal sites in the Great Basin area. Beoause of its comprehensiveness the paper is of considerable size, and thus will have to be printed in three installrre nts. Part I, presented in the June 1964 issue, disoussed modern and ancient environments in the Basin, summarizes the lifeway present there at the time of first white contact, and discusses some of the concepts by means of which the archeological record is interpreted. Part II, presented in this issue, summarizes the major early Basin sites from Utah and Oregon. Part III , to be presented in the nec. 1964 issue will desoribe the Nevada and California Sites, and w~l present the author's oonolusions on Great Basin culture history.

The author of this paper, Mr. James A. Goss, received the B.A. degree from the University of Oregon, the M.A. degree from the University of Chicago, and is now completing the final requirements for the Ph.~ degree from the same institution. He is presently employed as Instructor in Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Our President, Franois Hassel, has submitted a self explanitory paper on a Weber County site. Thanks for the fine article. Now that you have sent this one lets keep them coming. We want the rest of our members to follow your example and send us rna terial right along.

The cover picture is reproduced from some photographs taken in Box Elder County of a rock on the Thiokol proving ground, by Darrel Peterson of Logan.

The plans for our Museum in Sal t Lake City are moving forward and it really looks like that in a few years it will beoome a reality.

SURFACE MATERIAL FROM A SITE IN WEBER COUNTY

..y F. K. Hassel

During the course of a personal survey for local archeological sites, 8ne ancient habitation area was discovered which was of particular interest due to surface finds of extremely well preserved bone implements.

The site was situated along the southern face of one sandhill of a series near the rural community of Kanesvil1e in southern Weber County, approximately 10 miles west south west of Ogden. The site elevation is approximately ft. above the n~minal level of Great Salt Lake (4200 ft.) and it is approximately ..Il 7-8 mUes '.eact of the present water line. Cuts in the hillside indicate that the sandhil1s are the result of aeolian action on an alluvial sand deposit. 'Ihe san~.hi11s are now stabilized by a cover of vegetation, however, the habitation area was partially uncovered by the removal of sand for construction purposes which then allowed the wind to actively erode the hillside.

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In deflated areas were found several fire areas, fire cracked rocks, bone fragments, flint and obsidian chips, broken grinding implements, etc.

The visible area of occupation extended about 70 ft. along the east-west axis and about 20 ft. north to south. A test pit was sunk in undisturbed ground approximately 15 ft. north of the zone of heaviest occupation under the guidence of Mel Aikins of the University of utah staff, in an attempt to section the midden strata. 'Ibis was unsuccessful, however, leading to the conclusion that only lenses of midden are present in the unconsolidated sand.

ÂĽocal residents volunteer the information that numerous projectile points, manos and metates have been found but are unable to describe them in detail. The metate fragments observed at the site were all of the thin "slab" variety, while the manos appear to be unshaped cobbles.

Only three pieces of worked stone were recovered by the author; A. Bi-facial blade fragments 4 12/16 in. in length, of greygreen chert, apparently shaped by percussion (fig. 1) B. Basal half of a small projectile point, 3/4 in. in length, tan and pink mettled chalcedony, pressure flaking (Fig, 2) C. Small section of polished slate, notched along one edge (pendant fragment?)

Bone implements consist of 4 somp1ete awls, approximately 50 bone tube and one fragment too smalL to identify as to purpose.

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Three of the four awls are fashioned from medium sized mammal bone with part of the articulation, or joint, still visible. The other is a splinter of unidentifiable large mammal bone. A more detailed description of the individual awls is as follows: a. 7 13/16 in. long, slender, highly polished, medium sharp point, articulation partially ground away. (Fig. 3) b. 4 in. long, highly polished, elongated slender point, articulation partially ground away (Fig. 4) c. 2 3/16 in. long, polished, bone cut half way through at approximately 45 0 , then point shaped from remainder, articulation 1.

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partially split off and polished (Fig. 5).

6 11/16 in. long; (restored) polished but fire blackened throughout, section of split, heavy mammal bone, medium sharp point (Fig. 6).

The bone tube was partially exposed at one time causing about 50% of the bone to weather a way. ~e cuts made to separate the tube are still readily visible; the ends were apparently polished after cutting. Only minor evidence of cancellous material is visible on the interior indicating that it was deliberatly removed. No evidence of charring is present on the interior. Dimensions i f complete would be 3 3/4 in. long with an approximate deameter of 1 3/8 in. at the large end and 1 liB at the smaller end.

The well preserved condition of the bone is attributed to the excellent drainage as well as protection afforded by the loose sand of the site.

Conclusions to be drawn from the few observed or recovered artifaotB are meager at best. The shallow basin slab metate and non-descript mano are typical of three of the known occupational periods of Northern Utah and are not unknown in the fourth. Bone awls and tubes of the types described as well as the bi-facial blade have a broad distribution and are therefore, also, non-diagnostic.

The single projectile point is similar in appearance to points reported from Dead Man's cave, (Smith 1952, Fig. 4cl and 4c6) and from mack Rock Cave (Steward, 1937, Fig. 47). Based on occurence, the cited examples can probably be attributed to the Desert period. The complete absence of pottery would seem to effectively eliminate the Puebloid, Promontory and Shoshoni, again leaving only the Desert period, 1his is negative evidence, however, and considering the minute amount of material available, it is highly suseptible to error.

About the only positive statement that can be made is that the types of implements indicate that the site was occupied over a brief time span, by a complete family group or groups who were dependant on both hunting and gathering for subsistance.

Bibliography Smith, Elmer R. 1952 The Archaeology of Deadman Cave, utah, A Revision Anthropological Papers, No. 10 Steward, Julian II. 1937, Ancient Caves of the Great Salt Lake Region.

B. A. E. Bulletin No. 116 Governmant Printing Office, washington.

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CULTURAL ffiVELOPMENT

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TIlE GREAT BASIN

by James A. Goss Part II -Hajor Early Sites of the Great Basin. • The Utah Sites: • • • • • • • Danger Cave • • • • • • Black Rock Cave • • . • • • • • Promontory Cave No.2. • • • • ~e Puebloid Intrusion • • •

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The Oregon Sites: • • • • • • • • • • •• Fort Rock Cave • • • Cougar I10untain Cave • • •• • • Medicine Rock Cave • • • • • • • Kawurnkan Springs Hi deb n. • • · .

Paisley Five Mile Point Caves •• • • Catlow Ca1re No.1. . . • · • In Sununary: •• • • • • • • • • • •

Major Early Sites of the

Gre~t

4 4 4 6

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8 9 11 II 12 12

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Basin

The utah Sites: Danger Cave reported upon by Jennings (1957) is my choice for a begimling point s i nce h ere is the most impor tant recent work, the longe:;r~, lUlb.l'ukeh r~co:n~ of cultural succession, and the best series of radio-~aJ.·bon crates in the Great Bas in.

Samples for radio-carbon dating were sent to both the University of Michigan ann the University of Chicago. 'Ihe results of these analyses are as follows (After Jemings 1957:93): Cul tural Level

Level V (topmost)

Column 1 Column 2 Michigan Laboratory: (Crane, 1956) Chicago Laboratory __ __ __ _ " _ _ (L~b~1. 195_~a, 1952b)

-"-- M::-:iOJ, - uncharre d twigs -and -leaves--- ---c-~6~{5 , charredbe. t guano' an-dfrom middle of Le 1T el V 4900 B.P. twigs 19JC B.P. 1[-205, uncharred twigs and leaves- ---'- - from base of Level V 4900 B.P.

- -- - -- - -..--- --- - - Level IV

- - - ;C ;;"- 6"36, charre d ba t guano andtwigs 3819 B. P.

- - - - - - - - - ---_.-_.

Lelrel III

- ------ ---- --- - - - - - - -- ----------- 4.

C-6l1, carcoal i n pit or i ginattng at lower middle zone of Level II 9789 B. P. c-640, charred rat dung from base of level II 8960 B. P. M-118, uncharred sheep dung C-609, uncharre d sheep dung Level I ;;;;-":;.....-;::;'~l~l~ OO,:-:O~B~.P:r0----:--._::-r-"':7-;:""=--r-_ _ _ _.::.:ll=-=.OOO B. P. Sand 2 ]~119, uncharred woody material :::--_--:-..---._~(twi--.:.¡..!::g~ s~,_leaves ~p. ,400 Bo ~_ . _ _.

Occupation Area bet- M-202, charcoal from one of six ween sands fireplaces of sand 1 surface 10 270 B.P. Level II

--------------------

Lev"!l I Sand 1

M-204, slightly charred sheep dung 10,270 B.P.

C-610, uncharred wood (stem of large shrub) 11,151 B.P. _.-. - --- - - -- - ._--- - - -

Jennings has classified 87 chipped flint forms and he has plotted the distribution of these forms through the levels. Many of the forms appear throughout the deposit from Level II to Level V indicating great stability through at least 9,000 years. He notes a general increase in number and decrease in size of projectile points from bottom to top. It is not possible to list his complete typology here but it may be referred to in Jennings (1957:71-73). 'Dle typology has been criticize,j by Wonnington (1957) and others in that many of the types are so generalized as to have little diagnostic value.

Cultural Level I, dated variously from 11,151 B.P. to 10,270 B.P~ is composed of two sand strata. The lower is waterlain, and is probably a fossil beach deposited as Lake Bonneville receded. At least 6 fires had been built upon this Sand 1 and many nondiagnostic bits of worked obsidian and jasper were found in c1o~e association with these hearths. One projectile point classified tos "W-9" by Jennings, lanceolate, steamless, with convex edges, a contracting and slightly concave base, about 3 b.Y 3/4 inches and of chert was also found at this level. One ungUlate incisor, grooved as if for suspension, 3 fraements of milling stone, and a disc flake scraper complete the inventory. No e"idence of basketry was found at this level. Sand 2, a wind deposited dune formation, lies above the occupation area on the surface of Sand 1. Sand 2 is sterile of cultural materials.

Cultural Level II, dated variously at from 9789 to 8960 B/P., is composed of a mixed guano, sand, and roof scale deposit which lies upon Sand 2 of Cultural Level I. Within Level II is a living floor with hearths, artifacts, flint chips and bones of animals which had been cooked and eaten.

The rest of the Level is a fill of earth, sand, ash, debris from the roof, bat guano, and brushy materials which were probably used as bedding. The level contained a great variety of projectile points which fell into at least 5 of Jenning1s categories. Jennings feels that some of the types

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resemble Pinto Basin and Lake Mohave types. Other artifacts included a worked bone point, a worked wooden point, bone awls, worked antler, 10 pieces of red and one of yellow ochre, both slab and block type milling stones, manos, 5 scraps of leather, and basketry appears in close, open, and open diagonal twining~ Cultural Level III, is a deep and complex zone full of pickleweed fibers and twigs. These appear in layers, in an almost varve-like deposit and lead Jennings to postulate a seasonal, probably autumnal occupation of the site.

There is much ash apparently from a great many fires. A marked increase in the quantity of projectiles and other worked flint indicate a more intensive occupation than in the lower le~rels. Here are found the first evidences of coiling as a basketry technique. Twined basketry continues in two styles. The cordage, quids of bulrush fiber, and metates and manos that are found in all levels from II to the surface continue. Bone splinter awls, L-shaped awls, and 11 scraps of leather occur here. ~~ny mussel shells and 2 Olivella shell beads found in this level indicate probable contact or at least trade with the Pacific Coast, or perhaps the Gulf of California. Bone tubes also make their first appearance.

Cultural Level IV, probably at least 4000 years old, is quite similar to level III, but is a thin layer and proportionately yields less artifacts. This layer, however, is the most diversified level in the entire fill in terms of bypes of stone artifacts represented. Twelve of Jennings I types dominate the deposit. The deposit contains the usual metates, manos, quids, and cordage.

Textiles include 12 fragments of close twining, 1 of wicker, 1 of open coiling, 11 of close coiling, and one piece of cloth made of cliff rose fiber. Eight fragments of leather, bone splinter and L-shaped awls, and bone tubes complete the Level ]V inventory.

Level IV is capped by a layer of roof debris which mayor may not indicate a lengthy break in occupation.

Cultural Level V, the topmost level is quite similar to IV, but contains no pickleweed "varves" in the upper 3 or 4 inches. Instead desert bulrush fibers are found in great quantity. Fewer stone artifact types occur in Level V but the overall quantity of stone artifacts is about the same as in Level III. More leather was found in this level, 123 pieces. Quids, cordage, manos and metates, bone tubes, splinter and L-shaped awls all continue. Coiled basketry is much more common than in the lower le~rels. Fifty-eie;ht pieces of close coiled basketry were noted, 4 pieces of open coiling, and close and open twining continued. Ten pieces of mica were found near the surface, also fragments of clay effigies, and sherds of both Shoshonean and Sevier-Fremont (Puebloid) pottery. The upper layer is evidently multi-component and probably has been subject to much mixing by the occupants.

Black Rock Cave Black Rock Cave (Steward 1937) is located on the southern shore of Great Salt Lake. It is at present 364 feet above the level of that lake. Steward suggests that it was left habitable by the recession of Lake Bonneville at least 10,000 years ago. He believes that charcoal mixed with the gravels of the floor of the cave represent human occupation soon after recession of the lake. There are no absolute dates for the site.

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Above these basal gravels is a layer assigned to an "Early Period". Here Steward found 2 small pOints, and infant burial, 2 chipped knives, 2 retouched scrapers, and 4 bone splinter awls.

Above this level is a layer representing the "Black Rock Culture", distinguished by corner-notched projectile points of gray or reddis~l quartzite.

Other artifacts in this level resemble those below and indicate a great degree of continuity from the earlier period. From 10 inches to the surface the deposit was full of pottery and is taken by Steward to represent the "Promontory Culture." Steward is not sure whether his "Promontory Culture" is a type of itself or is "Shoshonean". Later linguistic evidence (Lamb 1958) seems to indicate that this le 1rel could represent the expansion of Shoshonean speaking peoples into the area.

Promontory Cave, No.2 Promontory Cave No. 2 (Steward 1937) is located on Promontory point which juts southward into northern Great Salt Lake. As it is at a low level with respect to the lake, Steward believes that it was inhabited about 3,000 years ago. 1he most interesting artifacts from the site are bifurcate based points closely resembling those fDund at Pinto Basin, in association here with slate blades.

Later broad corner notched points appear and then small side notched types which Steward infers were for arrows w The people using the arrow points were making pottery and Steward suggests that they are of the same IIPromontory (possibly Shoshonean) Culture" as represented in the upper le\rels of Black Rock Cave.

Promontory Cave No~ I was apparently occupied later than No. 2 and represents more evidences of the "Promontory Culture". Jennings (1957) considers the "Promontory Culture" to be a recent varjant of the "Thsert Culture" type, probably occurring after the "Puebloid" intrusion.

The Puebloid Intrusion The Puebloid Culture represents a probable expansion of culture type northward from the early Pueblo or Anasazi are1., probably centered in tr.~ San Juan area. ~is culture type seems to have reached the area around 1300 years ago as a max:imal extension of the "Greater Southwest". Its sudden rece':H,ion is evident about 700 years ago, when the "puebloid" areas seem to have been reclaimed by carriers of the "D3sert Culture" type.

Various sites have been investigated in the area of the Great Salt Lake~ eastern and southern Nevada, which may be assigned to this culture type. The "Pueblo" layer in Gypsum cave may also correspond to this stage ..

East of Great Salt Lake Judd (1926) investigated a site of the "puebloid" stage characterized by semi-subterranean earthlodges. rhese were circular in form and had central fire-pits rimmed with stones. Pole and adobe were employed in the construction. storage bins were noted near the walls in several of the houses. Judd found nothing :Ln the bins but was told by a nati,re of the area that charred corn and beans had been found in the mounds. Many metates were found along with manos, arrowpoints, bone awls, abraiders 7 hammerstones, stone 7

wedges or "chisels" and pottery sherds.

The sherds were of a plain grayware.

A decade later Steward (1936) investigaterJ this area and other sites of the southern side of the Great Salt Lake. In the latter sites Steward found semi-subterranean earthlodges which were rectangular. Clay effigies were found which may correspond to those in the upper levels at Danger Cave.

Farther to the south Steward (1933) found a site with houses rectangular in pattern, and walls of free-standing coursed adobe. At the same site he reports a square semi-subterranean kiva, which is the only known structure of this sort found so far north. A different pottery type is found here than that to the north, which may be of diagnostic value in showing differentiation within the "Puebloid" manifestations. Evidences for corn, bean, and squash horticulture are in evidence. Related sites are scattered to the south, southwest, and east, and all are probably related to the "Fremont" cultural manifestations across the Wasatch range. I mean here just to characterize the "puebloid" intrusion, and devote more space to earlier manifestations in the Grea. t Bas in.

THE OREGON SImS:

A number of sites in Oregon, especially those investigated by Cressman, have yielded much valuable data. The dating of sagebrush sandals from Fort Rock cave by the R,adio-Carbon Laboratory at the University of Chicago at 9,053 years B.P. (Libby 1955) was the first concrete validation of a great antiquity for the Great Basin cultures. Layers of pumice have been deposited in cave sites from the eruptions of volcanoes on the northern periphery of the Basin. Since the maj~ of these eruptions have now been dated by C-14, the pumice layers serve as absolute indexes, and may be used m:lch as "index Fossils" in paleontology.

The two now extinct volcanoes which ha,re given us these aids to chronology are Mr. ][azama, of which Crater Lake is a remnant and Newberry Crater whioh is to the north and east of Crater Lake and is now a similar structure, only it contains two lakes, East and Paulina. '!he final eruption of pumice from Mr. Mazama is now dated at 7,610 years ago (Preston, Person and 1):Jevey 1955=951).

The final eruption of Newberry is dated at 2,054 (Libby 1955).

Fort Rock Cave Fort Rock Cave (Cressman, Williams, and Krieger 1940 and Cressman 1942) is located in south central Oregon in the extreme northern reaches of the Great Basin. It is on the floor of the Fort Rock Basin, and from evidence of terraces, was once at least 100 feet under the surface of a large lake. ~e floor of the cave is of lake washed gravels. The cave is approximately 120 feet long by 30 feet wide.

A test pit dug in 1937, showed a good stratigraphic series in which the upper and lower levels were separated by an undisturbed layer of pumice, prompted Cressman to return for further excavations.

Unfortunately the layers above the pumice had been burned and all infla.m... able materials were evidently destroyed. The stone artifacts were, oÂŁ course,

intact both above and below the pumice layer.

Below the pumice level were found charred pieces of mats, string, and between 75 and 100 sandals 0vith tongue in cheek Cressman has called Fort Rock his "Sandal-malter's shop"), and several fragments of twined basketry. Cressman (1942) describes the sandals as being all of sagebrush fiber. The sandals all have flat soles and no heel pockets. Twelve sandals had an added grid of the bottom. These sandals, designated as "Fort Rock" type were also noted in 12 specimens from Catlow Cave No.1. The mats were made of sagebrush, tule, and grass. Below the pumice, besides the textiles were found splinter awls and rib awls of bone, bone flakers, 34 spall scrapers, 24 ovoid biconvex scrapers varying greatly in size, 3 expanding base drills, one side-notched drill, 6 manos, 1 metate, 5 choppers, and a polishing stone.

Above the pumice were found parts of a wooden fire drill, a large variety of projectile points, expanding base and notched base drills, snub-nosed and and spall scrapers, one chopper, and one mana.

The pumice layer is attributed to the Newberry eruption and is now dated at 2045 years B.P. (Libby 1955). 7he sandals, some distance below the pumice, were directly dated at 9,053 years ago. This is probably also the date for the twined basketry.

The basketry, metates and manos below the pumice well demonstrate the presence in the northern Great Basin of the "IEsert Culture" type. Unfortun,.. ate1y the textiles which may have been above the pumice was destroyed and we lack the progression in textiles, to coiling, found in Danger and Catlow caves.

At least Fort Rock has furnished a very early date for highly developed techniques of tWining, and sandal making in the northern Great Basin.

Cougar Mountain Cave Cougar ]IDuntain Cave (Cowles 1959) is also located in the Fort Rock Basin, eleven miles east and a bit north of Fort Rock Ca,re. This cave is at least 100 feet above the level of Fort Rock Cave, and is on the northern edge of the basin.

The evidence seems to indicate that the cave was inhabited soon after the water had subsided enough to allow its use. '!his could mean that Cougar Mountain Cave was occupied earlier than Fort Rock Cave.

However, there is no good dating from the deposits and the stratigraphy But the Newberry pumice layer completely caps the lower deposits and in his description Cowles (1959) gives relative locations of artifacts with respect to this absolutely dated layer. Four feet of stratified deposits occur below the pumice cap which is dated at 2,045 years. is not worked out too certainly, being dug by an amateur.

Cowles (1959) mentions another cave on Cougar Mountain which was dug b.Y Virgil Hill, another amateur, which is 25 feet below the level of Cougar Mountain Cave. Notched points were found in the bottom layers of this cave and the subsequent levels correspond to later levels of Cougar Mountain Cave. Cowles postulates that a cultural deposit of 2 1/2 feet had been deposited in Cougar Mountain Cave before Hill's Cave was occupied, or fit for habitation through the recession of the lake.

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o"'e foot lc3.;rers and the artifacts were regorded ÂŁ07' ',:_, ':" D 'up SULd interesting new evidence for the llor'(jhern Great Basin.

The lower deposits rest on the lake washed gravel floor of the cave.

Ri80n bOnpS'I'8re found in the lower two fop-t of th (;! ce:~o u :lt. :; ,,~: ~', ':- .I":' j~ : .; e n, ~"' ,~, ~j:,l ':',:'.,:::L: d DT!.d f :OVi ::l '2.ea"t:iner. Also :in association with the0'G m '(j l i,'1';;'; r, ()iJ d,.~'. (from 3 to over 5 inches long) probably javelin or "thrusting s.peal''' points.

These are stemless, lanceolate, with convex sides and contracting bases, sometimes with a convex base. These points resemble some of the Nebo Hill and Guilford spectmens. Braided cordage is associated with this earliest "complexl1 • The first sandals, made of tule and " Qui t e muddy'! were found a t the 1 foot level. These are replaced a t 1 1/2 f ee t by s a gebl 'ls11 sandals whiuh cont:i nue on through the depos it. Stemmed point s begin a t 1 1/2 f ee t also an d are noticeably small er t.han the l ance olat e points of the lower level. This fact in conjunction with the fact that atlatl shafts and fragments begin to appear next leads to the inference that atelnmed points and the atlatl appear at this level and begin to replace the 11 'Ihrusting spearl1 ..

The stemmed points are replaced by notched (mostly corner-notched) points at the 2 1/2 foot level. This is also the level where the first twined basketr y appears. The appearance of basketry is accompani e d by the virtual disapper ance of l eather. Just tmderlying the Newber ry pum ice is a ver y restricted l ayer containing small nicely-ma de triangular points which are quite limited here and may at some later time prove to be of diagnostic value.

Above the pumice the notched projectile points become smaller and only one atlatl dart shaft fragment was recovered. The bow and arrow appear here and indicate the probable replacement of the atlatl by the bow at about the time of Christ, which corresponds to Jenning1s (1957) conclusions at Danger Cave. The first sandals with backs or Ilheel cupsl1 also appear immediately above the Newberry pmnice.

Cowles notes that bone grows in disuse from abundance in the lower levels to none in the area above the pumice. He also notes finer workmanship on flints in the lower level than in the upper levels. Manos were found throughout the deposit.

It is unfortunate that we as yet have no good dating on this site. It is quite possible that here we have cave habitation in the northern Great Basin earlier than that at Fort Rock and a story of development from a mor e specialize d hunting culture when game was plent i f ul, to a relative unspe cialized 11 de sert Cul ture l1 type as an adjus tment to an emri ro rnnent with dwi ndling animal resources.

The first sagebrush sandals which correspond to the Fort Rock type are above 1 1/2 feet of cultural debrlis. The earlier l1muddyl1 tule sandals may have been worn along the lakeshore while Fort Rock Caye was still under water. By the time that Fort Rock Cave was dry enough for habitation tule was probably not as readily available due to the dessication of the area. Today the nearest abundant source of tules is 30 miles away from either cave, at Silver Lake to the south.

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1 ] ,'2 foot lC1Tel proba,bly closely corresponds

Subsequent levels up to the pumice are comparable. Unfortunately since the Fort Rock deposits above the pumice were burned we have no record of perishables.

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leveL J.n Fort Rock Cave.

It is interesting to note that coiling as a basketry technique does not appear in Cougar ]~ountain Cave as at ranger and Catlow.

Evidence is here for the appearance of the atlatl at about the time of the appearance of the sagebrush sandals (9000 years ago?) and for the appearance of the bow and arrow at about the time of Christ.

At this point I would fittingly urge that more cave sites in the basin be dug before the best ones are lost to amateurs. Cowles did a tolerable job, but we are only lucky in this, and still have no good dates. I personally know of five promising caves between Klamath Lake and the Fort Rock Basin which have not been touched as yet, but amateurs could ruin them in short order.

Medicine Rock Cave Medicine Rock Cave (Crossman 1956) is located on the Sprague River about 10 miles north and east of Upper Klamath Lake. In this small stratified site Cressman found 44 classifiable artifacts. Only one, a large, well made corner notched atlatl point, was found below a continuous layer of Mr. Mazama pumice, dated elsewhere at 7,610 years ago (Preston, Person and Deevey 1955). The point then is at least this old.

Above the pumice only one small fragment of matting represented the textile inventory, but this was expected since this cave was damp. A large basalt metate was found directly above the pmnice layer. The rest of the fill contained projectile pOints, scrapers, knives, drills, gouges, gravers, an antler flaker, a fish gorge of bone, a bone pendant, and a bone needle. Fish bones and mussel shells found in the cave and the exclusion of mammal bones indicate to Cressman that the cave must have been occupied seasonally for the fish runs by a seasonally migratory "Desert Type" of culture.

KawQ~an

Springs Midden

Kawumkan Springs (Cressman 1956) is an open site about fbre miles up the Sprague River from Medicine Rock Cave. As this is an open site, nearly all of the inventory was of stone. Scrapers of the small 1!spall ll type were the most abundant artifact. '!here VIere 2,084 of these, 374 projectile points, 281 manometates, 196 choppers, 11 hotrocks (presumably used in stone boiling), 191 mortar-pestles, 61 hammerstones, and a few other types of artifacts in small quanti ty. He sees the lack of a well developed scraper and knife complex and an indication that the hunting of large game was of slight importance to this culture. There is a lack of well-defined stratigraphy, and no absolute dating but Cressman suggests that the lower level of the area excavated is at least 7,000 years old. He notes that projectile points get smaller toward the top of the deposit and that "hotrocks" are more abundant toward the top. Cressman goes into an elaborate typology of mano types and projectile types whic~ is too cumbersome to include here.

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Paisley Five Mile Point Caves The Paisley caves (Cressman 1942) lie on the eastern rim of Summer ' Lake about 5 miles northwest of the settlement of Paisley in couth-central Oregon.

All three caves contain pumice from the Mr. Mazama eruption dated at 7,610 years ago.

In Cave No. 1 the stratigraphy is good and fire lenses, a fragmentary chalcedony lanceolate projectile point possibly corresponding to those in the lower levels of Cougar Mountain Cave, retouched flakes, scrapers, fire drills, wood pOints, matting, a piece of basketry, and tule and sagebrush sandals all occur below the pumice. Above the pumice is the usual proliferation of projectile paints, and textiles. Mill stones occur throughout the deposit.

Cave No. 2 is only clearly s tra t.:li' j 0 d r~e :4r Ul() (;;m -t.l'fl nee where "tIle };.Itunioc layer is still intact. Farther back in the cave the pumice is mixed in the fill, probably as a result of shifting of the deposits by the inhabitants.

This cave is immediately adjacent to Cave No.1 and the inventory is similar, but as stratigra.phy is uncertain the record is not as valuable.

Cave No. 3 is about 65 yards north of the other two caves. It is really a shallow rock shelter which looks out over Summer Lake. It is evidently not a place of long and continued ha~itation as are Caves 1 .and 2. The top stratum, dated at 7,610 years ago. Below the pumice were 2 1/2 feet of cultural ly s ter i le deposits. Below this was a layer containing the r emains of extinct camel and horse, which ha d apparently been eaten, in association with wor ke d obs idian in the fo rm of f r agments of points or scrapers and waste chips, and hearths. Cressman believes that these are the evidences of brief encampments of migratory large game hunters, who, somewhere around the juncture of the late Pleistocene and the Anathermal, stoppe d here to cook and eat their game, and repair their "tools of the chase".

Cressman (1942) infers from the evidence that lIman and an extinct fauna occupied this region in southern Oregon at some fairly remote time --- something more than 10,000 years ago." He correlates this with the evidence from neighboring caves to show that "--human occupation of the Northern Basin has been continuous since that period".

Catlow Cave No.1 Catlow Cave No.1 is situated on the western escarpment of the Steens Mountains and overlooks Catlow Valley which is another old lake bed. The pumice deposition apparently did not reach this far eastward, so our good point of reference is lacking in this case. Cressman (1942), however, maintains that there are two distinct levels. The lower foot has no basketry and the upper levels are full of textiles. Some human bones were found in the basal gravels in possible association with a bone of an extinc~ horse. In the lower foot whibh was void of basketry large triangular notched and unnotched points were found.

Above the lower foot 112 specimens of basketry were found near the top of the deposit, and probably "historic" were 8 fragments of soiled basketry, which is very rare in any of the Oregon sites, though plentiful throughout 12

the Lovelock depoei ts in Nevada and in the upper levels of ranger Cave. Tule and sagebrush sandals were plentiful, but the exact proverlierice is not given, so we are unable to oompare them stratigraphicaliy with those of Cougar Mountain Cave. Atlatl fragments, fire drills, knife handles, gaming pieces, arrowshafts, wooden pOints, and manos were noted. The projectile point assemblage was classified by Cressman into 9 categories. Only two or possibly three types occur in the textile-less layer and there is a gradual accretion of the other types toward the top. No snub-nosed scrapers were found. The spall scrapers so common in all these sites were noted throughout the deposit.

Drills were tabular and parallel sided, or expanding based. Metates were common and even rock-falls from the roof were utilized as metates. One of these rock-falls had been used for grinding red ochre. Eight sherds of unidentified pottery were found near the surface, probably in conjunction with the coiled basketry_ Cressman (1942) says that the pottery does not seem to be Shoshonean.

In Summary: The Oregon sites show occupation of the northern Great Basin from the tUne of association with extinct fauna to the present, probably at very least 10,000 years.

The highly developed basketry complex appears full blown. It evidently came in at a given time level, at least 9,000 years ago. The center of' twining ethnographically is still the Klamath-Modoc area of southern Oregon and northern California. ~e closest relationships seem to be with Northwest Coast Basketry, particularly that of the Tiingit (Crossman 1942).

The basketry carriers apparently brought the aUatl also.

There is no violent displacement of traits evident in any of the sites.

They seem accretional, that is, new traits and t,r.pes are brought in but they do not suddently displace old (except possibly in Cougar Mountain cave). The new and old traits complement one another and perhaps gradually, over a thousand or so years of co-occurance the new may replace the old.

The early deposits of Cougar Mountain Cave, Catlow Cave, and Paisley Caves 1 and 3 associated with large projectile points and evidences of an extinct fauna are probably the occasional remains left by nomadic big game hunters at or shortly after the end of the Pleistocene. This mayor may not have been the basal culture for subsequent development of the full-blown D3sert Culture type.

The atlatls resemble those of the Eskimo and TLingit more than those of Basketmaker sites of the Southwest. This may add to the argument for a northern origin of the carriers of baskets and atlatls. ~ffusion, of course, may have gone on in either or both directions.

Ethnographically the Klamath and Modoc have stabilized their culture through specialization in gathering the wocus seeds so abundant in the Klamath area. This development is obviously a specialization from a Desert Culture base in a particularly generous environment.. 'ilie Northern Paiute Bands which were still inhabiting this northern part of the Great Basin at the time of contact were still a true "tesert Culture" and not a very rich one. Early reports describe them as being constantly on thF.l verge nÂŁ etarvCl.tion. They welcome d the cattle of the white pioneerB.. which they took 1n el)ftS t.an1:i ~ ... i~lt-"a_

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Salt Lake-Davis County chapter.

Formal meetings of the Salt Lake-Davis County Chapter were suspended as usual during the summer months to permit members to take part in field activities~ 'lWo field trips were made to Salina Canyon to observe "the Dig" underway there at Snake Rock ••• an interesting Fremont Village Site. C. Melvin Aikens, Utah State Archaeologist, Supervisor of the excavation hosted the group and explained what was going on there.

Over the 24th of July another choice field trip was made to Salt Creek Canyon, San Juan County, Utah with Floyd Memmott in charge. '!his trip was made with the purpose in mind of extending, if possible, a photographic survey of the archaeological features of this fascinating area begun by Floyd Memmott and Howard Logsdon several years ago.

,

0

The third field trip took us to visit and photograph the unusual pictographs found in Lion's Head Cave which is located in the foot hills w~st of Cedar Ci.ty. On the way home from Lion's Head Cave, we stopped in Rarowan Gap to study and record on film the numerous petroglyphs for which the area is famous.

Cache Geological and Archeological

Socie~

chapter.

Our meetings are held the second 1hursday in each month at 230 No. Main, Logan, Utah. We wish to extend an invitation to any of the members of the Utah Statewide Archeological Society to attend our meetings. We would suggest that U.S.A.S. develop a program to be taken to the various clubs that constitute this Statewide Archeological Society, in order that each group mir,ht know why they belong to this organization~ Oscar Grunig, President

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