xxi, 541 p. : ill. (some col.), maps. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT E78.O6 O37 2006 / Many archaeological researchers that have conducted investigations in the Harney Valley of southeastern Oregon use the ethnographic description of the seasonal round of the Harney Valley Paiute reported by Beatrice Blyth Whiting in her 1950 work Paiute Sorcery as a framework for discussions of prehistoric human use of the area. Archaeological investigations of seven sites, situated in areas identified as having been utilized by the Harvey Valley Paiutes, were conducted to test the relationship between Whiting's ethnographic account and the archaeological record. Data recovery excavations occurred at the Hoyt (35HA2422), Morgan (35HA2423) and Hines (35HA2692) sites near Burns, and test excavations occurred at the Knoll (35HA2530) site in the Silvies Valley, the RJ site (35HA3013) in the Stinkingwater Mountains, and the Broken Arrow (35HA2735) and Laurie's (35HA2734) sites near Malheur Lake. Studies of the cultural materials recovered during the excavations were undertaken to evaluate the content and complexity of each site. Analyses included typological considerations of the chipped stone tools, ground stone, bone tools, and shell, bone, and stone beads. Radiocarbon dating, obsidian sourcing and hydration, and zooarchaeological and paleobotanical analyses were also conducted when possible. Based on the results of the analyses, the seven sites reported herein were primarily used during the past 2000 years, with periods of less intensive use extending beyond 4000 BP. The results of the archaeological investigations indicate that there is a strong correlation between the late Holocene prehistoric record and Whiting's ethnographic description. However, the relationship between human use of the centrally-located lakes and wetlands and the neighboring uplands is clearly more complex than the ethnographic record suggests. Patterns of settlement and mobility revealed through the archaeological record indicate that central places, located closer to wetlands and lacustrine settings but within relatively easy reach of the uplands, may have figured more prominently in the behavior of prehistoric populations than the seasonal round as described by Whiting. Future research will benefit from explorations of central place foraging, emphasizing the role of behavioral ecology in the placement of sites and patterns of site use within the Harney Valley and the northern Great Basin at large. / Committee in Charge: Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, Chair; Dr. Dennis L. Jenkins; Dr. Douglas J. Kennett; Dr. Esther Jacobson-Tepfer

In the archaeological literature, mountains are often portrayed as the boundaries between inhabited spaces. Yet occupying high elevations may have been an adaptive choice for ancient peoples, as rapidly changing elevations also offer variation in climate and resources over a relatively small area. So what happens, instead, if we put mountain landscapes at the center of our analyses of prehistoric seasonal rounds and ecological adaptation? This Ph.D. argues that, in order to understand any landscape that includes mountains, from the Alps to the Andes, one must include the ecology and archaeology of the highest elevations. Specifically, I base my findings on new fieldwork and lithic collections from the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) of the Rocky Mountains, which was a vital crossroads of prehistoric cultures for more than 11,000 years. I include five interlocking analyses. First, I consider the impacts of anthropogenic climate change on high elevation cultural resources, focusing on the diminishing resiliency of ancient high elevation ice patches and the loss of the organic artifacts and paleobiological materials they contain. Second, I create a dichotomous key for chronologically typing projectile points, suggesting a methodological improvement for typological dating in the GYE and for surface archaeology more broadly. Third, I use obsidian source data to consider whether mountain people were a single, unified group or were represented by a variety of peoples with different zones of land tenure. Fourth, I consider high elevation occupation in both mountain ranges as part of the seasonal round, using indices of diversity in tool types and raw material to study how the duration of those occupations changed through time. And, finally, I test the common contention that ancient people primarily used mountains as refugia from extreme climatic pressure at lower elevations. Ultimately, I find that, in both mountain ranges, increased high elevation activity is most highly correlated with increased population, not with hot, dry climatic conditions. In other words, the mountains were more than simply refugia for plains or basin people to occupy when pressured by climatic hardship. In addition, between the Absarokas and the Beartooths the evidence suggests two different patterns of occupation, not a monolithic pan-mountain adaptation. These results demonstrate the potential contributions of surface archaeology to our understanding of prehistory, and have important implications for the way we think about mountain landscapes as peopled spaces in relation to adjacent lower-elevation areas.