UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 603 EAST SOUTH TEMPLE SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
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Volume 13
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September 1967
Number 3
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Uta h Archaeology 15 publJ3§1i:-mlquar'Eerlyoy e -o'ta'fl St;a ewiCn'!l -Arthe6To~ society. Membership and subscription fee combined is ~~2,OO per ¥ear. Correspondence may be directed to the President or the Secretary.
UTAH STATEWIDE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY President: Pres. Elect: Sec-Treas. :
George Tripp, 9g W. 2300 S. Bountiful, Utah Grant M. Reeder, M.D., 1969 S. Cltiremont Dr. Bountiful. Norma Dalton, 32·9 N. 100 VI. Sunset, Utah g4015
Notes: Several years ago, I was looking at a display of greeting cards. The tall slender ones that have goofy captions. On the front of one was a sketch of a cavemen ' chiseling on a hug!? sla.b of stOA€. The next page repeated the scene, finally on the inside amongst many irritation marks was the message: IiJust drop a line, don't make a project of itPI This may be the feeling of the USAS members t~· W"ards the publication staff of the Newsletter, and deservedly so! The II staff 'r? consists of George Tripp and myself (Norma Dalton). George did his part many moons ago, so we know where the fault lies for these delinquent issues! The cover illustration is a rather suggestive petroglyph pecked on some crumbling rock on Thiokol property w'est of Corinne, Utah., The petroglyph is about one foot long. The lead article of this issue presents the ideas of , Harvey P. Kopell M.D., Associate Professor, Orthopedic Surgery, Nevi York University'school of Medicine, and Marcus J. Smi~h M.D., Santa Fe, New Mexico, concerning some ancient happenings of the Mesa Verde p eople. These letters appeared in the Roc~ ~-1ou:'ltain Medical, Journal of October 1967. We are grateful to t h", thi' 8e parties involv od for permissjon to reprint these interc3ting remarks. A book review of liThe study of Manfl by Ralph quizzical surmnary of what it means to be 100
L~_ nton r,ives us a pu:~ C0:.: t American!
Thanks to Dr. and Mrs. Rodney A. stone and Joann Rich who have contributed to our Sherds column. (We wish each of you would). Ii
A Sketch of Utah Prehistory, II by Alic e P .. Hunt is the fEatured art i cle in this issue, and is a r e p:cint from our Vol. 6, No.1, March 1960 is sue which is nov'J' out of print.· Th er e are more rec ent studi e s .~nd surveys of Utah prehistory, how·c'.' er, M':rs . Hunt's article is valuable as a basic study f or one i :-..ter estGd . It is i mpo r t a nt t o know th e old to be able to.J:' under ~ t~nd and ap~rec~~-te t b e nevr th eories . Th e most popular snriace flD q S ar8 proJ e ctl.J e po:i.nt s. !1/[:t'S. Hunt' s artic le is profusely illus trated to help ama t eu.r s id entify t heir o'\llm co l12 r '. t ions. This paragrfl ph was tak en fr om th3 l1arch 1960 is s ue Edit?rial writt en by Mr. Lloyd P ier so n: \1:tv; l~S . Hunt of Denv er, Co:,"oratlo, has snent rouch of h(:~ :", tilD e:: in U'~ah and her mast ers thesJ_s at the Univ E>. rsity of Denver was b ase d on .an archeological . survey of the Lasal mountains." i' '"I-I0r h'l s b:md, Charles B. Hunt, i8 a fair archeolo g ist in his own r:;_ght. if Is it possible the organization of our USAS is old enough to be reviev.red historically? You may find IIHeflections il interesting if you think so.
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The October 1967 issue of the Rocky' Mountain Medical Journal cal?ried two letters liTo The Editor" commenting upon the lifeways of the prehistoric Indians of the Ameriaan Southwest. It is with pleasure w'e reprint these letters in' our Newsletter With permission from Dou~las W. Macomber, M.D. , Chairman'of the Editorial Board'of the Rocky Mountain Medical Journal, and Marcus J. Smith, M.D.. and Harvey P. Kopell, M.D. September 11, 1967 To the Editor: I am submittinr, a copy of a letter sent to me by an old friend, who after lecturing to our medical staff about some more current o.rthopedic problems than those mentiooed in his letter, visited f-.,est} 'Terde National ra:',k. His inferences after seein rr the ,s.::l nda:ls at the mUseum at the Park are Quite interestin'!. and I have r eceived his permission to make the letter availflble to the Pocky TJ'ountain , Medical Journal reAders • • In another letter to me, Dr. Kopell ipeculated qbout the flattened occiputs of these Indians. It has been su,",=r.r8 .s ted that the chan~e in shape of the head followed a newcradle instituted in the 8th century. A firm cradle bORrd replaced a soft padded cradle used before this time, and (without a pillow) the flattenin~ 0f the back of the head resulted.':~ . Not'so, su~~ests Dr. Kopell. The point of t he bi ndi n~ , h ~ believ es, ~':':'.. ,-J to :.:.T 8vent [" "Jhi)la sh i n jury . I t i "J pr 8m~:ll ed t~ e the moth,er r eturned to 1'\lork soon after deliv ery, and c ~ rried her baby pa poo s e styl e . Prob ably so ea rl v that t he baby co Qd not hold h1S h ead' up . To pr event rt hilTh c er v ical tr anss~ctio l1 fro m a f 10' pin,,: h ead , t he hq ~ 0 hp d t o be bound down to t he c a rryin~ R ~ '~rA tu s . Po ssibly t h e cha nNe to a m'·r e ri ". id supportinrr boar d WclS ne ecied to hold the baby more securely in position when t he mot her had t o climb ladders, perhaps coincident with t h e mov e fro m th e cliff to p to the cliff sid e. Thus the flattened head "'Ja S a n accider t , and on.ly later became a desired status symbol. The' point of my letter, reinforced by a visit to the park this summer, durin~ which I not ed in the museum some exhibits with medical explanation s that did not seem to be in keepino: with current knowledrre, is that p erha ps re-ev aluation of some of the s keletal remains and other dat a may be i n order at thi s time, perh a ps by a medic a l t eam with s ome a rc h eolo " ic a l and anthropoloo:ical talents. At le ast, I am sure t hat such visitors would - enjoy their sojourn in thi s most f a scin atin ~ Natio nal Park just as we did. - .-
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jl.'; arcus J. omJ.'LD, 1V) ." . (Santa Fe, N. ~fi.) - - - - - - - -- - - - - -- - - -- - -- -- .-_.._-, - '--'- ' *Reference: ' Indians of the Mesa Verde, Don Watson, Vesa verd8 Museum Association, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, 1961, pa~e 174.
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Dr. Lopell's letter follows: !\ urrust 9, 1967 Cur a to r-I'iIu s eun Ecsa Verde Hational Park, Color2do De::lr Sir:
I recently had the pleasure of vi~)itinn:: I!:esa 'Verde Vational Park, and ~oinn:: throu~h the rruseum. It was a valuable and entertainin~ educational c::'; :perience for ne and ElY far:'ily. :\fter vie' 'in'" and dj.scussilY~ the ::ruseun e:;:hibits, I felt Em ipulse to conment on pa) t of it. A profe,ssional interest he.s pro n pted the follov'iin,,: co ",);!ents. One of the ruchihits that aroused my special attention was the sandals . The firGt point concerns the c ut-outs, or scallopin~ of the for 1 ·/<l.rd edrre. It wo':~ld seem that the reaS011 for this 1-vas to free the toos to increase their prehensile ability in cli~,bin"'. The sandals 1tJOuld protr:;ct the sole, but their rir;oidity or non-conformability 1'}ould intGrfere ,,-lith a secure footi::r( on a ladder runt':' or toe-hold in a cliff side. The poiht 1'18S made in an (-;xhi:;it :::lOO lt the pl;~ce of the cut-out; in sone it 'V'}2S at the second and th:i_rd toes and SO~1e at the fifth toe. It could be inferred that the 2-3 toe cut-out was irn,portant for ladd~r runn:fj, the fifth to 8 CUt-'OlX':-' 1"Jhen m~ " e irren:ular cliff cracks or toe-,hclds Nere to ~Je us~cl in clL.1bLvr • The freein~ of the fifth toe would allo~ rrreater flexibility to conform to irre~ular surfacrs. The second point 1]83 the unusual or pronounced Near at the heels. There was a sandal on o~hibit wi~h a hole worn out ~t the heel. It is inferred that this was the result of the ~oe cut-out. ~s the plantar surface of the toes Here unprotncted, v'll1pn \:ialkin~ ov~r leve::' ;~ I'ound that "Jas hot or roun:h , the toes mi0'h c, bE held in some delT,} ee of hyperextension-for protection free the dist~rbj , n~ rround conta~t. - a po' " "" 1" reac t" II to e 'JO sture 81":.11"I 8.1' to tl1F),t "sstl):18(1 In Slt " l ve'JI:UJlnS.{l -lon would en.suc .. The rosult::mt ho~)~)lei n::ait, used in \\' ='lkinn:, not runninl'; would throw abnornal 1oJei~ht on the hecls. TW.s can be very easily tested out by yourself by waJ,kin~ about while Qaintainin~ toe hyperextension~ J
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FinCllly, :::-ra y studies of the feet of an older skeleton Eli.,.ht show correlative hypertrophic chan~es. Here mi~ht be a key to sooe productive resea rch. Yours very truly; ~Iarv e:[ P. If 0 p~~_l; 1',';.1) • . ;-::OOC1:-:'t8 frolo:",:00r OrthoDedic S~r~ery NCT'} Yor" University School of Eec1icine
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"lOOK
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Linton, Ralph, THE STUDY OF E ' P. Student'o Appleton-Century, 1936, p. 327.
l~dition.
Fe",} York:
flOur Golid J'~r:.!erica.n citizen R'A1akens ; n ::J bed built on a pattern which orir:inated in the PeClr '!~ast but which I'!as r.lodified in" Northern Europe before it "vw.s transr::itted to A"Jerica . He thrmvs back covers I71ade fran cotton, donestic8ted in ' India, or linen, dor~lesticated in 路t h e near Ea s t, or 101001 fron sheep:; A so dOLle '1 ticated in the Near East or silk, the use of which was discovered in China. all of t h ~s e o aterials have b e en spun and woven' by proce sses invented in the 1- ear Ea st. He, li ps into his noccasins, invented by t h e Indians of t i1 e ~a st e rn woodland s , a nd rroes to the b . throoD ' whose fixt ures are a n ixt,ure of J!:uro pean and t.!!1ericcll1. inventions, both of recent date . Be taK-es off his paja :"!as , a p'arrJent invented in India, ' and vJashes with Go a p inv e nted by the a ncient r.ual s . He then s1aves , a masoc histic ri te vJhich seel'1S to have been derived frol7l either Suoer or flncient 1!:,,=ypt. Returninn: to the bedroom, he reriloves his clothe s f ro '~ a c hair of southern TI:uropean type and proceeds t o dress. He puts on 'Tarments whose foro ori~inally derived fra n the ~ kin clot h in~ of the n omads of the Asin tic steppes, puts on shoes DRde fro m s kins tanned by a process invented in ancient Errypt a nd cut to a pattern d ~r ived from the classical civilisations of the ;" editerranean, and ties around his neck a strip of brirrht-colored C10 tll 1.!hich i s a ver;)tio-ial survival of the shoulder shawls 1rJorn by the sev ~ nteenth-ce nt 1ry r, ro .p tians. before I"':oin'" out for breakfa s t he fflances throufTh th "? win r10w, Ii ad e of (rlass invented irtE"'ypt, an.d if it i s rain in~ puts on ove;r sho es made of rubber discovered by the Centra l .~:.l':1erican Indians ~ nd take s an uI:lbrelln J. inVel'lted in sout h east ern " s i a . Upo n his head he puts" h a t n ad o 0.1' felt, a :!1aterial inv '3nted in the sia tic ste ) , es . On h i s \'Ja~r to bre&kfast he stops to buy a pa per, p ~y inrr for it \:/ith coins, an ancient Lydian invention. !' t t he re :::taurant a "Ihole n CVJ series of borrm"i ed el e.:lEmt s c onfront s hi~ . His plate is mad e of a for::1 of pottery invent ed in Ch ' n 11 . Hi s ' kniv es ar e made of [: teel, an alloy first PJad e in eouth ern India , his fork a medieval Italian invention) l.nd his s poo n a 路 derivative of a r'oman ori O' inal. He be~inR b r ea kfast ,,'li t h [-l.n ora 11'"'0 , fro r:1 the eastern ~,~ed iterrane an, a cantelolXy(; from. Persia, or perh a:")s a pi e c e of :\fri can ,..,atermelon. With this he has coffee, an i,byss inian pl a nt , with cream. and surrur . ~oth the do 路 estic[1.tion of .oo'/'} ,'] and t he idea of 1 ilkinfJ' 'the m ori"'inated in the Fear Ba st, v'Jhile su~ar 1'1 .... 13 fir s t Tnade in I:nd i a . !'.fter his fruit and fir s t coffee he "'oe s o n to 1.'laff le s , CAk es made b a SC;:],ndinrwian techn:i.r:ue fro n ,,~he c.~ t do n est ic.'lted in ' sj,q l;inor . Over these he ours Ll~~ple syrup, invented by the Indians uf t l.Lo 6. ~;" "n. vJOodlands. J\s a side dish he r'ay h ave the ef1"~ of a sp ec~ei3 of bird do:~"e8ticatp.d in Indo-China, or thin .strips of t he flesh of an aninal dor'8sticated in Eastern (,sia 1;路l bi ch h 8.ve been a ltod /;'Jnd sITloked 1)y a process devolop0d in northern !';urvpe.
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i:Jhen our friend hC:-ls finished eatil1'r he settles o::_'ck to s:',10ke, An An eriCan Indian hQ i) it, consun inrr ct plant do: ](;) sticated in ~':; r8:-~il in . either a pipe, deriv~d froe the Ind iAhs of u ir N ini8, or a ci~arette, derived frotI ne~~ico. If he i s !L.qrliy enou~h he !~lay even at'c e ' :p-t a ci,'".':Clr, transnittec1 to us fron the ·. ntille ,'] b~T 1,'Jay of Spain . While s~:lOkinO" he n~C1.cl,c:; the nc",-, s of the day, imprinted in character invented by the ancient Ser:lites upon a naterial invsnted in China by a process invented in ·"'ernany. :".8 he ~ori)s the P1ccounts of forei"'n trou-· bles he will, if h e is ~ ~ood conservative citizen, thank a Hebrew deity in nn Indo-European law-,:ua'"'"e that he is 100 percent r\.merican.
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. '-l)-::r£ s of this I n that •••• This D8diuD rrrey arrate arrowpoint was found ngar the be"innin~ of Hansen (;reek in Southern Utah. It \!lJa s on a flat sandy me sa top in the I~'orri80n fornation. The area apYJeared to be a chippTI1'"'" o:round. Th e f:1at erial used l'.7aS '-:10 stly colorful petrj..fie~~. vlJood frm;1 ' loo,:s erodinrr out of the. conrrlone:r-ate type strata. There \~!ere sc~veral chunky cho l')p er- scraper tvpe art if act s found also. 1'0 nTindinrr .stones or pottery ~Jere aY'parent. Dr. and Mrs. Rodney A. Stone •
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A sketch of Utah prehistory
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by Alice P. Hunt
Research Asoociate, University of Utah
Northern
The Indians liviJ.'"lg: in Utah at the tiQe the white Qen first reached the 8hoshon ' I area belong to the Shoshonean-speaking ':Y ' •• ",'t' , .", ut stock. The Ute and the Southern Paiute dialect s are closely rela ted, . elonginn, to the same branch, wh ereas the Shoshoni ~ .A dialect belonp.; s to a different branch . Southe ..., ... .c, . The Ute and Northen Sho shoni had the Faiutd . ~-~--~~ hor s e early and roamed widely, even Ma p 'of 1 showing over to the ea stern olains to hunt buffalo. , The Wes tern Sho s honi lacked areas oc~upied by different Indians the hors e , and led a s ea sonally nomadic in early 1800's life pr obably s i n ilar to that of the Ute and Eorthern 8ho honi before they had the horse . 'The:3e ·T,,T ect ern 8ho shoni depended uainly on r;atherinp.: i\]ild seeds, nut s, and b erries and sor,1e huntin~, for their living, and they moved seasonally as their food ripened. They lived in temporary pole huts thatched ,,,ith available hrush or reed s . Only the Southern Paiute practised a rude kind of ap;riculture, and this \-\]a8 supplemented with ~atherinr: and huntinr: like that of the Western 8hoshoni. We st errt-~1J-~'1I'l~ O sho ni
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Tho arrowpoints made by these historic Indian s and their i mr:1ediate predecessors are small, and quite similar "., hether made by Ut es, Southern Paiutes or Shoshoni. Some are trianr-:ular and unnotched, others are notched at the side for haftinp, to the arrow shaft. One kind has a basal notch as well. The nroiectile ryoints illustrated below, and all that are illustrated l~t e~, are n~t ural size.
Ar:tm,~points
of the hi storic Utah Indians and their Lmnediate
predec8,s $ors
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These Indians made crude 13rovm or black pottery vessels, mostly undecorated. Some Southern Paiute vessels have a single ro,"'" of finr;ernail impressions about a half inch, below the rim and a few have fing-er,nail inpressions allover. Vessels made by the Shoshone characteri8tically have flat bottolns ,and are undecorated; those Gade by the Ute and Southern Paiute more COD1TJOnly have rounded or pointed baseD. Hone has handle::.;. Navajo and Hopi pottery sherds are found at campsites in the La sal'I:Iountains in southeastern Utah with the sraall triangula.r points, but it is not known if these vessels were traded in, or carried in by the makers themselves (Hunt 1953). Other tools found at these southeastern Utah sites include oval and rectangular knives, snubnose and spatulate end scrapers, side~ scrapers, snaIl disc scraper planes, cobble and core choppers, flat and slightly basin shaped metates and oval one-handed manos. Most of the Indians in Utah had been livin,~ this seasonally nomad ic life in tempo rary camps for only about 600 years. Before about 1200 A.D. most of them were living in snaIl Villages and practi sing hortic u lture. TLey shared a flowerin,r-: of culture which had its cent e r in' the four-corners area of Utah, Arizona, Nevil ]\fie::-dco and Colorado, and Il1Jhich w'as brought a'l)out chiefly by the r;rowinr7 of corn. VIe kno",T that corn had been grovrn by the Indians in the southvwst several thousands of years before the beginninf~ of th,~ Christian era f r om evidence at Bat Cav e (Dick 1952), but the type of corn VII'a s primitive and s ometh:"ing like our popcorn. Se'\roral thousand yea r s e lap~~ed bef ore a t:}'pe of corn lvas grown which ,"'lould sup port a sedent2.ry populatio:1" Beginnin~ about 700 A.D. the Indians were l iv:i.nr: in srJa ll v illages and \'Jere¡ grovvlng corn, squash, beans and cotton and rai.s:i.ng turkGYs. The la:::--ge centers of this AnaE.lazi culture at M'esa Verde and Chaco Canyons reached their zenith bet1'J'leen 900 and 1200 A.D. &Ccuvc.tio ns at Alka li Ri dge , south of the Abajo ~¡10 u nt ains in sout heastern Utah , in t he early 1940ls (Brev.]' 1946 1 were i r.lpo-rtant in tra cing t h e d evelo pnent of these people, f rom early o n e -rOOD s 'o i- subt errrmean ' d,. ~e llin,r:s to lar~e pu e b lo s of above-ground contiguou.s r:la~onry dvmllings often around a central plaza. Outposts of this culture are found in Beef Basin (Rudy 1955) C'lnd near Boulder, Ut3h (Lister 1959). This is knov'ill 28 the Kayent2. Branch of the Anasazi. The Indians in sGutl1Vrestorn Utah also sheered in t,his Anasazi culture, and severa l of their vi llar,es have been e::::c avat ed , one in Zi 011 natio nal Park (Sh roeder 1955) and another near Paragonah , Utah {I\~ Gir:han 19 5t6 ~o They belon red to the Virg in RiV er Branch of the Anasazi. Instead of Baking grooved axe", like t heir noighbor:J to the east, they us ed p l ain cobbles for th eir hanmor's and axes.
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The Anasazi Dade exc811ent painted pottery aD well as plain pottery for cookinr;. After about 900 they even dressod up nany of their ' utility veGsels with all-over corru.e:~ ations. Their ston<:Mork, however, reflects their lack of interest in hunting, and is rather scanty on most Anasazi sites, i'or they were priDarily horticulturali st s. The two arrowpoinL s sho'tvn belm., are characteristic of the period. The rather long slonder arro'll'lpoint with long sharp tangs and concave sides is characteristic of the Basket IVIakcr III and Pueblo I periods (500 to 900 A.D.) and tho short, side-notched point of the Pueblo II period (Brew 1942).
A.D.
Early Anasazi
Late Anasazi
1. t about the sat1e tine, north of the Anasazi culture, a differ ent group of Indians was developing what i s known as the Fre!:10nt culture, naned after'the Fren ont River where it was fir s t described (Moros 1931). The earlie st site attributed -. \ to these people is in Dinosaur Hational I\1onument, and excavations there showud the development of t h ese people from early hunters and gatherers to horticulturalists a change t hat tooIt place around 400 )¡l.D. (Lister 1951), and n ark s the beg inninr: of the Frenont culture. The Frenont people retained h untinc: and gathering as the basis of their subsistence, and never became as dependent on horticulture as the j~naGazi. They really only settled doV'.rn to a conparatively sedentary life between about 900 and 1100 A.D.
1 nun ber of their small village sites ha.ve been investi~~a.ted by the University of Ut ah recently (Taylor 1957: Gunnerson 1957). ~ Th ei r homes are seui-subterranean or built on the surface of the g round, or built in rock shelters. They may'haveone room or several contiguous roons, ',"Jhich may be square, rectanfo:?ular} or r ound. Wall construction for t heir houses shows con~tld era t)] p. variety also: for the surface' dwellinr:s it was dry laid, or bould ors laid in adobe Llortar, or sticks or poles pla ste~ed vli th adobe wortar: for the.; pit hou3es the "..all constrnctlon was adobe plasterBd against. the dirt, or. plRin dirt ¡ (nUnllocrsOn 1957).
Arrowpoints ar e abundClnt around th8 dvvellim~s of these FrOI:l0nt people, and especia lly around their hunting camps~ The mo st common ty pes are lo ··tg and triangular vvi th straight or concave bases, less common are triangular arrowpoints with side notches (Taylor 1957). Corner notched points similar to early Anasazi points also are found but the stem is apt to be slightly convex rather than square (Gunnerson 1957; Wormington
1955).
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Fremont type arrowpoints and blades The Fremont culture is especially noted for the petroglypas and pictographs pecked and painted on canyon walls, and which are the finest found in the United states. Square shouldered figures .vlJith horns are an early type; later the figures are dressed up with big necklaces, earring s and kilts. Other artifacts found at Fremont sites are figurines of unbaked clay with fillets or pel l ets of clay a pplied as decoration (Morss 1954), bone awls, b eads and pendants , rectangularsid ed knives and s1)one balls. Grinding stones with a large (.; grinding depression at one end a nd a slnaller depr es sion or shelf at the other end are sometimes found at Fremont culture site s . As With the Virgin River Branch of the Ana s azi in southwestern Utah, grooved ax e s are lacking , and the Fremont people used hammerstones. Most of the Fremont pottery is undecorated. lI.1hen decora tion occurs it is apt to be inci s ed and pucaate designs around the necks and handles of the vessels, or small round disks of clay applied around the necks of the vessels. Painted sherds of Fremont ware are not common (Gunnerson 1959). The Indians _ living in w'estern Utah, nothe of the Virgin River Branch of the Anasazi, during the period prior to 1300 A.D. are known as Puebloid. Excavations of mo und sites at Grantsville? \·"lillard and Ga rrison (Steward 1936; Judd 1926; Taylor 1954J indicate t hat these Indians also raised corn. and proba1?ly bean ~ and squa sh, though even less reliance w'a s pl a ?ed on thJ.s' than J.n the more easterly FEemont area. Adobe dw·ellJ.ng s pottery, pecked ~tone balls, pipe s and gaming bone s al so a re found, probably borrowed from their neighbors to t h e south.
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The clinate and vegetation of Utah in the period of the last 2000 years which we have been describing s eems to have bEen about as it is today. There were period s of drought, l ike that at the end of the 13th century , -and perio ds of wetter weather but these periods were short, and t h e average of the ,,.., -: ....
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preceded the ~hristian era, a comparatively moist period that has been referred to by various names. It is here referred to as the Rec ent pluvial period. This period w'as wet enou,e;h for long enough time to develop shallOl'T lakes in the desert basins of the Great Basin. Even in Death Valley there was a lake 30 feet deep at the time of the Recent pluvial. ~-le cannot be sure hO"'1 much deeper Great salt Lake was at that time. It may have flooded the Great Salt Lake desert and be responsible fo r t he salts there, but it did not ri s e as high as Dang er C~ve which is 50 feet above the pres ent lak e. In ea st ern and floodplain deposits along the streams a nd produced an alluvial deposit referred to as the Tsegi a l luvium (Hack 1942). The assemblage of stone tools l ert by 't h e Indians who occupied eastern Utah during the Rec ent pluvial period have been ref err ed t o a s t he Uncompahgre compl e.!l (Wor mingt on and Lister 1956), In t h e Gr eat Ba s in, \'lh i ch includes no rthwe st ern Utah , the pattern of living is called the-Desert cul t ure (Jennings and Norbeck 1955). Grinding stones, for pulveriz i ng wild seed s , are found at sites in both areas indi cnt ing t ha t man reli ed heavily on vegetable resources. I n south eastern Utah t h e grinding stones are flat ' or ,.slight ly basin shaped, a nd a r e a s s o ci at ed with one-hand manos, and numerous kinds of km.ve s { dr il ls , and large corner notched projectile point s (Hunt 1953 ) .
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projectile points of the Uncompahgre compl ex These Indians used the atlatl, or throwing stick, for they had not discovered the bow and arrow. Atlatl and spear points generally weigh more than arr owpo ints. The atlatl is a device for artificially lengthening th e human arm to g i ve greater speed and length of flight to a -w eapon. It is a stick about
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20 inches long lrJ'ith a handle at Ol1e end and a small pro j ection at the other. This projection engages a little pit or cup drilled in the butt end of the dart and holds the dart shaft in position. The hand'grasps the stick and dart shaft at the other end of the stick, and steers the shaft at the beginning of its flight, Propulsion comes from the shoulder.
Atlatl or throwing stick
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A hunting and gathering occupat i on of the la s t few thousand years pr eceding the ~eginning of the Christian era has been found in the lower levels at Hells Midden on the Yampa River just east of Utah (Liste~ 1951). point s l ike the ones on the left w-ere found, associated with befacia~ knives, expanded-base dri lls, bone aw¡ls and - pendants, and manos. Larg er points, other-... . ise similc:r to (b), also are found at early sltes ( on and around the La sal Mountains in south-eastern Utah (Hunt 1953, Fig. 28).
Projectile p.:lints from Hells Midden
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Reconstruction of prehistory earlier than the Recent pluvial is decidedly fuzzy. The Recent pluvial HaS preceded by a period that was drier . ~~~:: ~~e ~~~sEmt k . ~~~ t~,~, fa~a an~, f~ora w!1~ like -L
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places, extensive and huge sand dunes ~ere formed. Th~ese old dunes, as we see them today, are deeply :! weathered and s 1:abilized. The best stratigraphic " ~~' evidence for the occupations during this period I is at Danger Cave west of Great salt Lake (Jennings ~ '?')-_ ' ~/.-9 1957). andThe lowest (I) date1 contains a Recent fauna flora and level has been by radiocarbon at between 8000 and 9000 B.C., and level II a~ about 7000 B.C. Projectile points in this level r.. _.. _ •. - ' are similar to points found at sites of approxEarly Recent imately this age on the Qali~ornia deserts and projectile point elsewherein the Great Basin. /~ Level I, Danger Gave '''\
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Projectile points from Levels II and III, Danger Gave Some other projectile points have been found in Utah that closely resemble types elsewhere known to be early, but the Utah specimens have been found out of context and cannot be dated as yet. The point illustrated on the right was found in the La Sal IViountains at an alt itude of 101..500 feet (Hunt 1953). It is three and one-hal!' inches long and the straight base ha s been thinned. It resembles Angostura or Agate Basin projectile points from Wyoming (\Ilormington 1957), but the illustrated pOl'nt i ~ m,qnA of no,rac"l i+.A the nearA~+. sourc e -~f"'~hich is west;;;;' ~ Tex~s •. Po ;~ibiy~ the' early people who made these points came to Utah,' but because the points were found out of context, 'V're cannot be sure they were not carried there by a later people. l.rYlf"'l1hm
The point on the right is the Angostura-like point from La sal Mountains. Several have been found there.
12
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GypSlU11 Cave type points
The projectile points illustrated at the left, called GYPSUQ Cave points, are found in the La Sal Mo untains associated with stemmed and rectangular knives, drills, gravers, flat snubnose s crapers, side scrapers, choppers, flat metates and one- hand manos (Hunt 1953: 28). At sites around the base of the La Sals these points are found w'i th a type of Pinto point having an expanding stem, as shown below at the right. This assemblage of tools, which I call the La sal complex (Hunt mmns.) is similar to the Concho complex (Hendorf and Thomas 1951) found in northern Arizona. The presence of grinding stones in the La sal complex means that these Indians were not only hunting but that they collected and ground the v,dld seeds and berries of the region.
The Gypsum Cave points above are an inch and a half to two inches in length, and have a characteristically small, contracting stem. Pitch used to fasten the point to the atlatl shaft still adheres to some points found at Gypsum cave, NevadQl . At this site the point w'as found in the same layer as extinct groWld sloth t 'camel and poss i bly horse (Harrington (1933 ), and is Pleistoc-ene in age. This point a nd the Pinto Basin points like t .he one at the ri ght, however, 1tJere found tog ether with a modern f auna above layers cont aining an extinct f auna at Ventana Cave, Arizona (Haury 1950), and these, by geological definition, are Re cent. A Gypsum cave type point also was found above the Folsom layer at the Lindenmeier site (Roberts 19LI-0). Point at right: Pinto projectile point with expanding stem. The earliest type of projectile point found in Utah is the' well known Folsom projectile point which, in ,southeastern Utah, resembles the best ames found at the Lindenmei er site in north·~ /.(;...~u. ern Color~do •. The characteristic feature of the ..' ' -' Folsom p01nt 15 the long central groove or con1'\ - v ~ e.avity on each face extending about tW'o-thirds ;'-:. / ' ) of th'e length of the point. The method used by ._( =the early Indians in making th es e points has been worked out from studying the unfinished points " and stone debris at the Lindenmeier site (Roberts ' ~~ 1935). First the point w'a s roughed out. A hump . . .., ' . - ] 'Was left ~n th~ center of. the concave base, 'VJhich ./ . formed'a "seat" for remov 1ng the long channel , . flakes,one from each faue. A tool of bone or Folsom antler probably was used to flip out the long Point central-flake; A fine, regular secondary flaking around the edges of the point completed it.
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Folsom points were first discovered west of the town of Folsom, in eastern Hew t1jexico near the Colorado-New' I;Texico line in deposits containing bones of extinct bison (Bison antiquus).' At the Lindenmeier site the Folsom points ~tJere found with camel and 1vith extinct bison, in a stratified late Pleistocene deposit. Three Folsom points have bel9n found at surface sites near Moab, Utah within the past year, and others hav:; been observed in colloctions made earlier in the area. The tools found with¡c , one of the Moab Folsom points include small snubnose scrapers. stemmed knives, large side scrapers, a perforator, and a type' . of Pinto Basin projectile point having an elongate thick stem, as illustrated at the left. Grinding stomes are not present. These associated artifacts are referred to as the Moab complex (Hunt, mnms.). They are found under old, weathered and stabilized dunes believed to be early Recent in age. A similar association of Folsom points "1ith long thick stemmed' Pinto type point s has been found at Concho, Arizona (Wendorf and Thomas 1951). The Plnto point of the 1-1oab complex is identic_al to points found Pinto Basin point near Aneth, Utah, on the San Juan River with elongate (Mohr and sample 1959), and is simi ar to thick stein po nts from level II at Danger Cave, Utah (Jennings 1957) for which a ' radiocarbon date of 7000 B. C. is given, and where it \-vas found w'i th modern fauna. Until the Moab complex is'found at a stra.tified site associated with vertebrat e remains, w'e cannot be sure whether the complex is late Pleistocene or Recent in age. A Word About Collecting By going to a little trouble, amateur collectors can make really 1oJ'o rthwhil e contributions to know'ledge of the prehistory of utah. Site l oca tion s should be plotted on a map (to~graphic maps ar e ava ilable from the U.S. Geological Survey, Denver 25, C9lorado). The l ocations s hould be given numbers, and the arrowpoints and other artifacts marked TtJ it h the same number in India ink. Doing t hi s will c hang e a collection of lipretties" to something valuabl e a nd con structive. Si te cnrds, ava ilabl e fro m t he Utah Archeo l og ical SOCiety or fr om th e Department of Anthro pology at the University of Utah a re helpful f or writing up sites. They ask for inform~tion.im porta nt t o the arc h eologi st. If the amateur arch eologl st w'lll shovv his coll ection to an 'archeo lo ~i st when he believes h e ha s f ound something i mportant, h e may hav e the thrill of findi ng h e ha s made a s i gnificant contribut ion to scientific knowl edg e. He should be ready to turn over his coll ection of artifa c ts t o museums or t he University where they wi ll be pre served for study and spar ed t he fate of ending up in a cigar box in an at tic.
14
A group of l"Ioab Explorer Scout s, under the leadership of -....... Bates Wilson of Arches lJational I\'~onument, mapped a group of sites in the Ho rse Canyon Clrea in so utheastern Utah, \'Jith this map the a rea vvas visited by an archeolop.:ist and a collection of artifacts including tV'fO vessels ,,,,as sent to the University along 'With a repo rt on the a rea , This led to a g eneral survey of the area and the excavation of several sites by the University of Utah (Rudy 1955). similarly the location of some sites , where Folsom and other early types of points and artifacts were found , was carefully made on a topographic map by an amateur archeologist . A report of these surface associations 'Will soo m be published , and probably will lead to future work in the area. Amateurs often lead professionals to important informatiort~ The admonition against digging need hardly be mentioned ~o readers of Utah ,Aroheology, who are acquainted with the Ant l. quities Act vvhich forbids digging without a p ermit . ' Not only does the professional know how' to excavate the site , but he a.J.~() is pre pared to publi sh the result s so they \'rill not be o ot â&#x20AC;˘ . He is grateful for help from the amateur in h is lidig T , and as most of you kno",",r , this can be a lot of fun , a s well as a worthl:Jhile contribution. Onc e the amateur gets the point of, view that he is contributing to the total of human knowJedge instead of merely collecting IIpretties 1i , his real enjoyment begins. Refer e nces . Brevv , J . O. , 1946 Archaeology of Alkali Rid e , Southeastern Utah. Pal)er s of' the Peabody Museum of American Archaeolo~y and Ethnology , Harvard University , Vol. 21, Cambridg e . Dick, 1-[.Vl . , 1952 , Evidence'of Early Man in Bat Cav e ~nd on the . Plain u of San' AUf[,u stin , 'Hew }'.~ exico . in In(b.a n Trl.b~s of Aborl.gi nal Am erica , Vo 1 . III, Pro c eedings~?th Inter~latl.ona l Con!;rss of Am ericanists , pp . 158- 163. Universl.ty of Chlcag o Press. Gunn e rson , J. H., 1957, An Archeolo?:ical SurveyJ of the E.remont ~ r ea. Univ ersi ty of Utah Anthropolo g ical Pa pers 1128 . Salt Lake @':tt y. , 1959, 1957 EXcavations, Glen Canyon Area. Univ. 6f utah Antnropo 1o g ica1 P;;., pers Numb er L~3 â&#x20AC;˘ Salt Lake City. Hack , J.T. ,1942, Th 'e Changing Physical Environment of the Hopi Indians of Arizona, Harvard University, Papers of the Peabody Museum of Anerican Archaeology and Ethnolo p.y, Vol. 35, No.1 cambridge. ' Harrinr:;ton; I'vI.R., 1933, Gypsum Cave, Nevada. Southwest Museum papers, No.8. Los Angeles. HaurL-E~ W., 1950, The Stratigraphy and Archaeology of Ventana cave, Arizona. University of Arizona Press and Univer' sity of Nel,v Mexico Press, Tuc son and Albuquerque. Hunt, A.P., 1953, Archeological Survey of the La Sal Mountain Area, Utah. University of Utah Anthropological Papers Number 14. salt Lake City. ' Jennings , J.D., 1957, Danger Cave. Memoirs of the Society for Am erican Archaeology Number 14. Published jointly by the Univ. of Utah Press and the Society for American Archaeol0.p-:y.
15
Judd, N. llf: .,1926 , Archa eo l ogical Ob !Jervations North of the Hio Colorado . Bu r eau of Americ a n Ethnology , Bulletin 82. Wash. D. C. Li s t er, R. H." 1S' 51, Ex c av ations at Hel ls rJIidden r Dinosaur Nat'l Mo numen t. Univ. of Co l o r a do Studi es , Serie s ln Anthropology No. 3.'Boulder, Colorado. ' ______ , 1959, The Coombs Site, Univ ersity of Utah Anthropological papers Humber 41. Salt. ' Lak8 City. Mei g han, C. \{ ., and other to, 1956, Archeological Excavations in Iron County , Utah . Univ. of Ut ah Anthro. papers No.25. salt Lake City. Mohr, !Ub ert and ~.L\ samg~!'.~ ' f1959; san Jose Sites in Sdutheastern utan . El palac J.o. vo l. , No.4, pp. 109-19. The Mu ,s8um of New !VI mci c o , 3a nt a Fe. Morss, N. ,1931, The Ancient Culture of the Fremont River in Utah. Pa·j ers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnolo Harvard Univ ersity, Vol XII, No.3. Cambridge. _ _-=,1954, Clay Figurines of the American Sout\tlJest. Papers of the Pea body Mus eum of American Archeology and Ethnolo gy, Harvard University, ·Vol. ' 49, No.1. Cambridge. Robort s , F.H.H., Jr.,1935, A Folsom Complex. Preliminary Report on Inve s tiga tions at the Linderuneier Site in Northern Colorado. Smi sonian Eisc :~llaneous Co1hlections, VOl 94, No.4. Washino:ton, D. C. _ _ ,1940, Dev elopments in th e Problem of the North American PaleoIndian, in Essays in Historical Anthro. of North America.'Smithsonian Misc. Collections, Vol. 100, p p.51-116. 1Jlashing:ton, D.C. Ru dy,J.R., 1955, Archeological Excavations in Beef Basin, Utah. Univ of Utah Anthro, Papers No.20. Salt Lake City, Utah. schro ed e~-,'A.H., 1955, Archeolog y of Zion park, Univ. of Utah Anthro pa pers, 'No. 22. Salt Lake City, Utah smith, E.R., The Archaeology of Deadman Cave, Utah Univ. Of Utah Anthropo logical Papers No.lO. Salt Lake City. 1952. st eward) J.H.,1936, Pu eblo Material Culture of Western Utah. Univ. of NCVJ E oxico Press" Albuqu e rque. _ _ ,1937, AncL:mt 'Cnv (', G of ,tho Great S21t L<~ k o R0gion. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 116. W"ashinp,ton D. C. Taylo r, D. C.,1954, The Garrison Site. University of Utah Anthro~ ologica1 Papers No, 16, salt Lake City, Utah. , 1957, Two Fremont Sites and Their Position in Southwestern -----prehistory. Univ. of Utah Anthro. papees No. 29~ Salt Lake City Wendorf, Fred and T. H. ThOI:na s ,1951, Early ]I~an Sites Pear Concho, Ariz. Americsn Antiquity, Vol.XVIII, No.2, pp. 107-14. s. L. C. No rmin to n H . M. and R.H. Li s ter, 1956, Archaeological Investigatic on t e ncompa lg;r e P a teau ~n H~st Central Colorado, Denver Mus of Natural Hi s tory, Proceedings, No.2. De,.ver . Wo rmJngton, H.M ',L1955, A Rea-p;;ra isal of the Fremont Culture with a Surrntlary of t n e Archaeology of the Northern Periphery. Denver r:fUs8um of Natur a l History,Proc e edings, No.1 Denver. __=' 1957, Anci 8 nt Man in Iviorth Amellica ~ Denver Museum of N8tural History, Popular Series No.4. Denver, Colorado.
------------- -- ----REFLECTIONS about Vol. 6, No.1, March 1960 For t h e first five y ears the Ut ~A~ch_~9J.ggY~ A. }Ie~~,~ l,t?t,t e r had beel print ed und e r th e dir e ction of J a mes I-I. Gurmer s on at th e Univer sity of ut ah . You ma y fi nd" the 1 r-; rowin~ pain s I of the USAS interest ing .
Vol, 3, No.1, March 1957: This issue declared t he organization of the first local chapt er of the USAS. Mr. Lloyd Pierson and Bates Wilson v,rore in strumental in launching the f<Toab group. The Moab Chapter was or ganized on J anua r y 31, 1957. Th e chapter becam e kno1rm as Points and Pebbles . Vol. 4, No .4, December 1958: The first mention of the Logan Chapter was printed. Mr. H. P-1erril Pet erson was giv en credit for being active in the formation of this group . The n ew' cl a pt er i s knovm a s th e Cache Geological and Archeological So ci ety . The University of Utah Anthropology department announced they would discontinue subsidizing the New'sletter at the end of 1959. The US AS momb ers were invited to attend the annual meeting ' of the Society for American Archeology in salt Lake City on May 2, 1959 . A small group met and determined the USAS organization should not be permitted to die. Off icers were chosen to serve . They were : President H. l\1erril Peterson, Logan, Utah. Secret a r y - Marion Pi er s on, Moab, utah. \lJith the beginning of 1960 the ne,,-/' edit or would be Lloyd Pierson, Moab, Utah. Mr. Pierson was serving on the staff of the Hational Park Service at the Arches National Monument. He is by training an anthropologist who specialized in archeology. The first message of-the first USAS President was printed i n t~e septemb er 1959 issue , stating primary objectives for the org a~ll- . zation a nd encouraging active membership. The pro posed Con stltutlon and By- Laws for the USAS were printed in the Dec emb er 1959 issue. This bit of history brings us to the printing of the fiEst issue of Vol. 6. Quoted here is the first paragraph of Mr. Pierson's editorial: \i Your new editor would like to start off by expr essing his thanks to the editor emeritus and found er of this socity - James H. Gunnerson. Jim ha~ done a fine dob with the SOCiety and done it practically alone for five years . I hope we can k eep i t goin~ in the same fine spirit in which he started it.1I The complete cover design for No.1 of Vol.6 was somewhat new' and has remain ed the same since t hat time. TI1e familiar pair of petroglyph s s een on the masthead of the Newsletter made t hei-:v'fir st a p"" _ . as line drawing s on t he cover of Vol. 2, No .3 , October ' - . No explanation was giv en and it t-}aS the first t i me any sort ~__~co~e rf page was pr epared. The f igures then were on the back ~ol . 2 , No . 4, Decemb er 1956. TI1is time t he line drawings were shaded in. Here is lrvhat Tl-Tr. Pierson s aid about this pair of petrnglyph s in the same editorial quoted before: \ You may have noted the two petroglyphs which have appeared o~ your membershi p card (if you paid your 1960 dues), on the Soclety's letterheads , a nd now on the masthead of the New's lett er. They have been chosen as the ¡ symbol of the Society because they are typical of most of Uta h , although these tw'O apparently from no s pecific location, and they are used widely by the Museum of Anthropology a t the University of Utah.1i I'llany members have asked how the petrop;lyph symbol was designed. This ,vas all the information I was able to find out about it. N.D. 17
---' Utah Archeology Depar.tment of Anthropology University of Btah salt Lake City, Utah 8411.2
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