Geoarcheology of a Middle Archaic Site in Wyoming: Contexts for Exploration. (original) (raw)

FEATURED RESEARCH Geoarcheology of a Middle Archaic Site in Wyoming: Contexts for Exploration. Mark L. Howe, Karin Bryan, Craig Bromley. Bureau of Land Management, Lander Field Office, Lander, Wyoming. Field work for the Bureau of Land Management in Lander, Wyoming over the last several months has revealed a large (40 acre) Middle Archaic to Late Prehistoric site with a small Historical Component. This site is situated near a permanent spring at an elevation of about 7100 ft and an outcrop of Chert and possible Quartzite deposits on the northwest side of the site. The site itself has yielded a surface collection of over 20 projectile points of various source material and 20 different kinds of material ranging from Obsidian, Chalcedony, Chert, Quartzite, Basalt and Quartz. This area is composed of sage and grassland with native rocks of Sandstone and Granite to the West and North and is located in the geologic setting of the extreme southern end of the Wind River Range (Love and Christianson: 1985). Soil development in the site is low on the bedrock outcrops to mature soils in the ravine and adjacent slopes. Investigations for site chronology and scope have yielded buried deposits consisting of hearths (Photo 1), bands of staining (Photo 2) and exposure of adjacent stains and artifacts caused by our friends the range allotment cow. The site recording has spanned several months due to weather conditions, project workload and finding the site boundaries of which gave us the name of the site: Griff’s Hell Site, named after the project proponent. Photo 1.Hearth with secondary hearth to the right. The majority of buried material centered near the southern part of the site in the ephemeral arroyo leading north to the permanent spring source. The areas in the arroyo and the trails leading off the adjoining topography helped to find the cultural deposits. Trowel scrapings with late October light helped to expose a fire pit in Photo 1 and further analysis of the photo revealed a second stain to the right that was not observable during the recording of the site. Both stains show considerable promise for further analysis with intact deposits below them in the hearth floor (Photo 1). To the south of these hearths about three meters away we found peculiar horizontal staining (Photo 2) that continued south along the arroyo side on the east wall. These stains are vertically separated by about 15 cm on average with some concretions on the bottom of the lowermost stain. The stains show a mottled appearance with no observable artifacts associated with them and continued in the arroyo south and north. Further testing will be required to warrant if these are cultural or naturally derived features. Site recording along Point Ridge revealed another stain with artifacts that was exposed by cattle. Our initial analysis leads us to believe this is a well-stratified site ranging in age from at least Middle Archaic to Late Prehistoric with a substantial trade network in and out of the area (McKean Obsidian Point, Bifaces of Dendritic Chert, and McKean Quartzite Points) and consisting of seasonal occupation. Bibliography Love, J.D., and Christiansen, A.C., 1985, Geologic Map of Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey, scale 1:500,000. 4 Photo 2. Close-up of staining (trowel points north).