Anna Camp | University of Nevada, Reno (original) (raw)
Papers by Anna Camp
Researchers have argued that basketry technologies can be used to mark cultural boundaries. This ... more Researchers have argued that basketry technologies can be used to mark cultural boundaries. This has been accomplished in the Great Basin by examining frequencies of basketry technologies through time and space (Adovasio 1970, 1974, 1986a). Because basketry can be directly dated, researchers can determine the timing of cultural changes and cultural stability to identify when ethnolinguistic groups occupied specific sites. In this paper, I examine the frequencies of four diagnostic archaeological basketry technologies (warp-faced plain weave, Numic diagonal twining, Catlow Twine, and Lovelock Wickerware) and compare them to corresponding linguistic, ethnographic, genetic, and archaeological data to determine the ethnolinguistic affiliation of the weavers who produced those textiles. My results suggest that the ethnographic Numic groups who occupied the Great Basin were likely not related to, or were at least significantly different culturally from, the earlier prehistoric groups who occupied the region.
Quaternary International, 2016
Abstract The Great Basin is home to many rockshelters and caves where perishable materials are of... more Abstract The Great Basin is home to many rockshelters and caves where perishable materials are often well-preserved. These materials including textiles such as baskets, bags, mats, nets, and sandals, all of which provide significant information prehistoric human lifeways in this region. Catlow Twine basketry, which was manufactured for over ∼9000 cal years B.P., is a unique basketry type and provides valuable information about human activities in the western Great Basin. These activities include, burial practices, caching, and possibly trade. The context in which Catlow Twine is found archaeologically demonstrates its durability and value to people who occupied this region, and the diachronic changes in its distribution and frequencies could represent shifting cultural boundaries in the northern and western Great Basin over the past ∼9000 years.
The relationship between humans and the environments in which they lived is a major topic of inte... more The relationship between humans and the environments in which they lived is a major topic of interest to archaeologists in the Great Basin. Many early archaeological sites occur on remnant shorelines of ancient lakes and marshes, suggesting a reliance on wetland resources within the region. Archaeological data collected between 2004 and 2006 from surface sites in the Black Rock Desert offer an example of early human occupations surrounding these pluvial lakes as well as the nature of these occupations. This study demonstrates how people concentrated their activities adjacent to large lakes and wetlands following their arrival to the Great Basin. It also compares the spatial and temporal relationships between archaeological sites and lake levels in the West Arm of the Black Rock Desert. The results indicate that the Black Rock Desert is an ideal place to better understand human occupations during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (11,500 B.P.-7,500 B.P.)
American Antiquity
Robert Heizer excavated Leonard Rockshelter (26Pe14) in western Nevada more than 70 years ago. He... more Robert Heizer excavated Leonard Rockshelter (26Pe14) in western Nevada more than 70 years ago. He described stratified cultural deposits spanning the Holocene. He also reported obsidian flakes purportedly associated with late Pleistocene sediments, suggesting that human use extended even farther back in time. Because Heizer never produced a final report, Leonard Rockshelter faded into obscurity despite the possibility that it might contain a Clovis Era or older occupation. That possibility prompted our team of researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno and Desert Research Institute to return to the site in 2018 and 2019. We relocated the excavation block from which Heizer both recovered the flakes and obtained a late Pleistocene date on nearby sediments. We minimally excavated undisturbed deposits to rerecord and redate the strata. As an independent means of evaluating Heizer's findings, we also directly dated 12 organic artifacts housed at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of An...
American Antiquity, 2022
Robert Heizer excavated Leonard Rockshelter (26Pe14) in western Nevada more than 70 years ago. He... more Robert Heizer excavated Leonard Rockshelter (26Pe14) in western Nevada more than 70 years ago. He described stratified cultural deposits spanning the Holocene. He also reported obsidian flakes purportedly associated with late Pleistocene sediments, suggesting that human use extended even farther back in time. Because Heizer never produced a final report, Leonard Rockshelter faded into obscurity despite the possibility that it might contain a Clovis Era or older occupation. That possibility prompted our team of researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno and Desert Research Institute to return to the site in 2018 and 2019. We relocated the excavation block from which Heizer both recovered the flakes and obtained a late Pleistocene date on nearby sediments. We minimally excavated undisturbed deposits to rerecord and redate the strata. As an independent means of evaluating Heizer's findings, we also directly dated 12 organic artifacts housed at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Our work demonstrates that people did not visit Leonard Rockshelter during the late Pleistocene. Rather, they first visited the site immediately following the Younger Dryas (12,900-11,700 cal BP) and sporadically used the shelter, mostly to store gear, throughout the Holocene.
Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 2016
Author(s): Smith, Geoffrey M.; Ollivier, Aaron; Barker, Pat; Camp, Anna J.; Harvey, David C.; Jon... more Author(s): Smith, Geoffrey M.; Ollivier, Aaron; Barker, Pat; Camp, Anna J.; Harvey, David C.; Jones, Hillary | Abstract: The Great Basin is well known for its rich record of prehistoric basketry. Although uncommon, sandals, like other types of basketry, can be directly dated and offer data regarding technology and, potentially, ethnicity. Here we report on the contents of a storage pit from a rockshelter in Warner Valley, southcentral Oregon. Its contents, which included ber sandals, a piece of a basket or bowl, and a bundle of shredded sagebrush bark, were directly dated. These dates and the techniques used to manufacture the artifacts provide information about the spatial and temporal distribution of sandals and other basketry types in the northern Great Basin. Furthermore, they suggest that the Klamath, whose ethnographic territory did not include Warner Valley, occupied that area until relatively recently.
Researchers have argued that basketry technologies can be used to mark cultural boundaries. This ... more Researchers have argued that basketry technologies can be used to mark cultural boundaries. This has been accomplished in the Great Basin by examining frequencies of basketry technologies through time and space (Adovasio 1970, 1974, 1986a). Because basketry can be directly dated, researchers can determine the timing of cultural changes and cultural stability to identify when ethnolinguistic groups occupied specific sites. In this paper, I examine the frequencies of four diagnostic archaeological basketry technologies (warp-faced plain weave, Numic diagonal twining, Catlow Twine, and Lovelock Wickerware) and compare them to corresponding linguistic, ethnographic, genetic, and archaeological data to determine the ethnolinguistic affiliation of the weavers who produced those textiles. My results suggest that the ethnographic Numic groups who occupied the Great Basin were likely not related to, or were at least significantly different culturally from, the earlier prehistoric groups who occupied the region.
Quaternary International, 2016
Abstract The Great Basin is home to many rockshelters and caves where perishable materials are of... more Abstract The Great Basin is home to many rockshelters and caves where perishable materials are often well-preserved. These materials including textiles such as baskets, bags, mats, nets, and sandals, all of which provide significant information prehistoric human lifeways in this region. Catlow Twine basketry, which was manufactured for over ∼9000 cal years B.P., is a unique basketry type and provides valuable information about human activities in the western Great Basin. These activities include, burial practices, caching, and possibly trade. The context in which Catlow Twine is found archaeologically demonstrates its durability and value to people who occupied this region, and the diachronic changes in its distribution and frequencies could represent shifting cultural boundaries in the northern and western Great Basin over the past ∼9000 years.
The relationship between humans and the environments in which they lived is a major topic of inte... more The relationship between humans and the environments in which they lived is a major topic of interest to archaeologists in the Great Basin. Many early archaeological sites occur on remnant shorelines of ancient lakes and marshes, suggesting a reliance on wetland resources within the region. Archaeological data collected between 2004 and 2006 from surface sites in the Black Rock Desert offer an example of early human occupations surrounding these pluvial lakes as well as the nature of these occupations. This study demonstrates how people concentrated their activities adjacent to large lakes and wetlands following their arrival to the Great Basin. It also compares the spatial and temporal relationships between archaeological sites and lake levels in the West Arm of the Black Rock Desert. The results indicate that the Black Rock Desert is an ideal place to better understand human occupations during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (11,500 B.P.-7,500 B.P.)
American Antiquity
Robert Heizer excavated Leonard Rockshelter (26Pe14) in western Nevada more than 70 years ago. He... more Robert Heizer excavated Leonard Rockshelter (26Pe14) in western Nevada more than 70 years ago. He described stratified cultural deposits spanning the Holocene. He also reported obsidian flakes purportedly associated with late Pleistocene sediments, suggesting that human use extended even farther back in time. Because Heizer never produced a final report, Leonard Rockshelter faded into obscurity despite the possibility that it might contain a Clovis Era or older occupation. That possibility prompted our team of researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno and Desert Research Institute to return to the site in 2018 and 2019. We relocated the excavation block from which Heizer both recovered the flakes and obtained a late Pleistocene date on nearby sediments. We minimally excavated undisturbed deposits to rerecord and redate the strata. As an independent means of evaluating Heizer's findings, we also directly dated 12 organic artifacts housed at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of An...
American Antiquity, 2022
Robert Heizer excavated Leonard Rockshelter (26Pe14) in western Nevada more than 70 years ago. He... more Robert Heizer excavated Leonard Rockshelter (26Pe14) in western Nevada more than 70 years ago. He described stratified cultural deposits spanning the Holocene. He also reported obsidian flakes purportedly associated with late Pleistocene sediments, suggesting that human use extended even farther back in time. Because Heizer never produced a final report, Leonard Rockshelter faded into obscurity despite the possibility that it might contain a Clovis Era or older occupation. That possibility prompted our team of researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno and Desert Research Institute to return to the site in 2018 and 2019. We relocated the excavation block from which Heizer both recovered the flakes and obtained a late Pleistocene date on nearby sediments. We minimally excavated undisturbed deposits to rerecord and redate the strata. As an independent means of evaluating Heizer's findings, we also directly dated 12 organic artifacts housed at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Our work demonstrates that people did not visit Leonard Rockshelter during the late Pleistocene. Rather, they first visited the site immediately following the Younger Dryas (12,900-11,700 cal BP) and sporadically used the shelter, mostly to store gear, throughout the Holocene.
Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 2016
Author(s): Smith, Geoffrey M.; Ollivier, Aaron; Barker, Pat; Camp, Anna J.; Harvey, David C.; Jon... more Author(s): Smith, Geoffrey M.; Ollivier, Aaron; Barker, Pat; Camp, Anna J.; Harvey, David C.; Jones, Hillary | Abstract: The Great Basin is well known for its rich record of prehistoric basketry. Although uncommon, sandals, like other types of basketry, can be directly dated and offer data regarding technology and, potentially, ethnicity. Here we report on the contents of a storage pit from a rockshelter in Warner Valley, southcentral Oregon. Its contents, which included ber sandals, a piece of a basket or bowl, and a bundle of shredded sagebrush bark, were directly dated. These dates and the techniques used to manufacture the artifacts provide information about the spatial and temporal distribution of sandals and other basketry types in the northern Great Basin. Furthermore, they suggest that the Klamath, whose ethnographic territory did not include Warner Valley, occupied that area until relatively recently.