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Digging for the color of life: Paleoindian red ochre mining at the Powars II site, Platte County, Wyoming, U.S.A.
Author(s) -
Stafford Michael D.,
Frison George C.,
Stanford Dennis,
Zeimans George
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.10051
Subject(s) - assemblage (archaeology) , archaeology , geology , projectile point , digging , excavation , geography
Abstract The Powars II site, 48PL330, located near Sunrise, Wyoming, is a significant Paleoindian site in the Hartville Uplift area of eastern Wyoming. Intensive red ochre mining took place at Powars II, as indicated by Paleoindian materials in direct association with a natural hematite deposit. Projectile points ranging in age from Clovis to Late Paleoindian have been recovered, as well as stone and bone tools, shell and bone beads, and several pieces of incised bone. It is argued that the Powars II assemblage reflects a two‐part cultural manifestation: a technological component resulting from the process of mining and processing ochre, and an ideological component derived from emic beliefs about the ochre source itself. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.