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There is growing awareness of the importance of public outreach in archaeology. Many professional archaeologists argue that in order to ensure continued funding we must communicate the relevance of our discipline to the public in a more effective manner. Furthermore, it is often argued that public outreach and education provides perhaps the only reliable defense against looting and rampant psuedoarchaeology. Current outreach activities, however, tend to focus on what archaeologists have discovered about the past. While this type of outreach is important, a more effective model for public outreach would focus on the methods of archaeology, rather than the results. Archaeology, with its focus on multiple lines of evidence, intertwining of the sciences and humanities, and multi-cultural perspective provides a unique model for addressing and answering questions, a model which could serve as a base for education. Promoting the methods of archaeology as an educational model, or at the very least, remembering the methods in our outreach activities, may be, in the long run, the most effective method for establishing the relevance of our discipline.

Approximately 5,500 years ago a discreet period of wetter and cooler environmental conditions prevailed across the southern Columbia Plateau. This period was marked by the first prominent episodes of erosion to occur along the lower Snake River following the height of the Altithermal and eruption of Mt. Mazama during the mid post-glacial. In addition to the reactivation of small stream courses choked with debris and sediment, large stream channels began downcutting and scouring older terrace faces incorporated with large accumulations of Mazama ash. The resulting degradation of aquatic habitats forced concurrent changes within human economies adapted to the local riverine-environments. These adjustments reported for the Tucannon phase time period along the lower Snake River are notable and demonstrate the degree to which Cascade phase culture was unsuccessful in coping with environmental instability at the end of the Altithermal time period. This successionary event has demonstratively become the most significant post-glacial, qualitative change to occur in the lifeways of lower Snake River people prior to Euro-American influence. / Graduation date: 1995