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Geoarchaeological context of clovis and western stemmed tradition sites in Dietz Basin, Lake County, Oregon
Author(s) -
Pinson Ariane O.
Publication year - 2007
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.20205
Subject(s) - structural basin , pleistocene , holocene , younger dryas , context (archaeology) , geology , period (music) , archaeology , paleontology , geography , physics , acoustics
Description and analysis of 57 exposures in Dietz Basin, Lake County, Oregon, are used to investigate the paleoenvironmental context of the Clovis and Early Archaic occupations. Prior research suggested that a series of shallow permanent lakes in the basin acted as a draw for foragers during the Pleistocene‐Holocene transition (11,500–9000 RCYBP). However, the stratigraphic studies described here show that all lakes predate human occupation. During the Clovis period, a shift to warmer, drier climates was marked by the formation of a rainfallcontrolled playa‐lunette system. Lunette formation ceased with a return to colder, wetter climates during the Younger Dryas, which led to formation of a wet meadow in the basin. The shift to progressively warmer, drier climates after 9600 RCYBP led first to the formation of a second playa‐lunette system in Dietz Basin, and then to the establishment of a dry basin‐floor environment that persisted into the modern period. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.