Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Umeå, 1985. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 280-285).

xviii, 326 p. : ill. (some col.), maps. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT GN799 .F6 H46 2002 / Archaeological evidence indicates that cold storage of bison meat was consistently practiced on the eastern Snake River Plain over the last 8000 years. Recent excavations in three cold lava tube caves have revealed a distinctive artifact assemblage of elk antler tines, broken handstones, and bison bone in association with frozen sagebrush features. Similar evidence has also been discovered in four other caves within the region. A patch choice model was utilized in this study to address how the long-term practice of caching bison meat in cold caves may have functioned in prehistoric subsistence patterns. Because the net return rate for bison was critical to the model, the hunting success of fur trappers occupying the eastern Snake River Plain during the early 1800s, as recorded in their daily journals, was examined and quantified. According to the model, the productivity of cold storage caves must be evaluated against the productivity of other patches on the eastern Snake River Plain, such as ephemeral ponds and linear river corridors from season to season and year to year. The model suggests that residential bases occurred only within river resource patches while ephemeral ponds and ice caves would contain sites indicative of seasonal base camps. The predictions of the model were tested against documented archaeological data from the Snake River Plain through the examination of Geographic Information Systems data provided by the Idaho Bureau of Land Management. The results of this analysis indicate that seasonal base camps are directly associated with both ephemeral and perennial water sources, providing strong support for the model's predictions. Likewise, the temporal distribution of sites within the study area indicates that climate change over the last 8000 years was not dramatic enough to alter long-term subsistence practices in the region. The long-term use of multiple resource patches across the region also confirms that, although the high return rates for bison made them very desirable prey, the over-all diet breadth for the eastern Snake River Plain was broad and included a variety of large and small game and plant foods. Bison and cold storage caves were a single component in a highly mobile seasonal round that persisted for some 8000 years, down to the time of written history in the 19th Century. / Committee in charge: Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, Chair; Dr. Lawrence Sugiyama ; Dr. Jon Erlandson ; Dr. Dennis Jenkins ; Dr. Cathy Whitlock ;

xv, 296 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT E78.O6 H44 2001 / This study analyzes the botanical and archaeological material from a Middle Holocene occupation at the Bergen site, located in the Fort Rock Basin, Oregon. It serves to complement and enhance over a decade of research focused on regional settlement patterns in the Northern Great Basin. While previous studies in the region have focused on broadly based settlement patterns, this study shifted the interpretive lens toward an in-depth analysis of a single family dwelling, which was occupied some 6000 years ago. It thus introduces the domain of "household archaeology" into the practice of archaeological research in the Northern Great Basin for the first time. Macrobotanical analysis was conducted on 215 soil samples collected on a 50cm grid from this house. An additional 20 samples were analyzed from a second house structure at the site. These analyses have provided evidence of diet, environment, and social behavior associated with the prehistoric occupants of the house. The abundance of charred bulrush (Scirpus ), goosefoot (Chenopodium ), and waada (Suaeda ) seeds in the deposits indicate that small seeds of wetland-adapted plants were an important dietary resource during the Middle Holocene in the Fort Rock Basin. The patterned distribution of botanical material in 215 soil samples across the floor of the house provide strong evidence of prehistoric human activity areas. The highest concentration of seeds and charcoal in the house was located near the central fire hearth, where cooking and food preparation took place. An east-facing entryway is suggested by the presence of a secondary concentration of seeds and charcoal on the eastern edge of the structure. Analysis also revealed a differential distribution of seed types across the house floor. Higher concentrations of bulrush in the northern area of the floor, away from the hearth, suggest the presence of sleeping mats. Results of this study indicate that plant remains are not evenly distributed through archaeological deposits, therefore care must be taken when sampling for macrobotanical remains. Research at the Bergen site provides the basis for recommendations to assist future archaeologists in determining the best and most cost-effective locations within excavations to take macrobotanical samples. / Committee in charge: Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, Chair; Dr. Theresa O'Neil; Dr. Dennis Jenkins; Dr. Daniel Close

Thesis (M.Sc.(Agriculture)) -- University of Limpopo, 2007 / Refer to document / The Cannon Collins Educational Trust of South Africa

Few lithic analyses have been conducted or published on collections from Mount Rainier National Park (MORA). This study's lithic debitage analysis, and investigation of hunter-gatherer technological organization through time, contributes to the knowledge base and understanding of how hunter-gatherers used subalpine environments in MORA. The debitage sample is from archaeological excavations between 2005 and 2007 at a Buck Lake Site (45PI438) activity area in the subalpine environmental zone. Two cultural components were examined: the pre-Mount St. Helens Yn tephra component (before 3500 RCYBP) is thought to represent a forager-like mobility strategy and the post-Mount St. Helens Yn tephra component (after 3500 RCYBP) is thought to represent a collector-like strategy. Expectations theoretically grounded in hunter-gatherer mobility, tool design, raw material procurement, site function, and tool function were developed and tested. Results suggest that hunter-gatherers at Buck Lake relied on and maintained small, lightweight, transported bifaces made of nonlocal raw material regardless of expected changes in mobility strategy through time. For both foragers and collectors at Buck Lake, similar lithic raw material availability, terrain, and seasonality constraints and a common resource acquisition goal and overlapping site function resulted in similar hunter-gatherer technological organization strategies. Slight differences between the cultural components include: the use of more local igneous raw material in the forager-like component, the use of a more expedient technology in the collector-like cultural component, and smaller size debitage in the forager-like component. The use of expedient bipolar technology in both cultural components is possible, but only partially supported. Evidence of bipolar technology would suggest that hunter-gatherers were conserving nonlocal CCS by using the bipolar technique on exhausted transported tools or cached cores to produce expedient flakes used for small-game hunting and processing. Further research for the Buck Lake site should include: the sourcing of raw material; conducting experimental lithic reduction on toolstone found at Buck Lake to produce comparative debitage specimens; and increasing the lithic analysis sample size to include debitage recovered from 2008-2009 excavations and other artifact types.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Australian National University, 2005.