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

L’objectif de cette thèse est la caractérisation technologique et typologique des industries lithiques du site de Proskynas en Grèce Centrale durant le Néolithique Récent (NR) et le Bronze Ancien (BA). En comparant ce corpus avec les industries lithiques régionales publiées jusqu’à présent et en contrôlant les techniques par l’expérimentation archéologique, cette étude révèle la contribution de l’industrie lithique dans la compréhension de la transition du Néolithique Récent au Bronze Ancien. L’approche méthodologique envisage une description analytique de tous les objets débités. L’analyse de la base de données ainsi constituée se fonde sur l’étude technologique et typologique approfondie par matière : obsidienne, silex chocolat et silex brun clair. Cette méthode permet de reconstituer mentalement les chaînes opératoires mises en œuvre et de reconnaître les gestes techniques appliqués. La composition des descripteurs analytiques et le croisement multi varié intra-situ et inter-situ des résultats obtenus révèlent une production de lames et d’éclats sur matières locales et importées. La variabilité régionale des chaînes opératoires et des supports débités caractérise le NR. Le BA affiche une grande homogénéité dans les conceptions opératoires et une remarquable standardisation des lames débitées surtout sur obsidienne. L’analyse typologique privilégie la description détaillée des produits confectionnés en outils (supports et retouche). La typologie des outils retouchés, la morphométrie des produits exploités bruts de débitage et sans traces d’utilisation macroscopiques sont des facteurs qui varient aussi bien entre les trois matières principales qu’entre les deux périodes (NR et BA). / The objective of this thesis is the technological and typological characterization of the lithic industries at the site of Proskynas in Central Greece during the Late Neolithic (LN) and the Early Bronze Age (EBA). By comparing this corpus with the regional lithic industries published to date and by verifying manufacturing techniques through archaeological experimentation, this study elucidates the contribution of the stone industry to the understanding of the transition from the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age.The methodological approach envisages an analytical description of all the produced objects. The analysis of the database so constituted is based on the technological and typological study deepened by material: obsidian, chocolate silex and light brown silex. This method allows to reconstitute mentally the chains operating implemented and to recognize technical gestures applied. The composition of the analytical descriptors and the intersection multi-varied intra-situ and inter-situ of the obtained results reveal a production of blades and flakes on local and imported materials. The regional variability of operating chains and of debited supports characterizes the LN. The EBA shows a great homogeneity in the operational conceptions and a remarkable standardization of blades produced especially on obsidian. The typological analysis emphasizes the detailed description of tools manufactured (supports and retouch). The typology of the retouched tools, the morphometrie of the products exploited raw debited and without macroscopic traces of use are factors which vary between the three major materials and the two periods (LN and EBA).

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.