Anth 176A: North American ArchaeologyProf. Judith Habicht-MaucheSpring 2009UCSC1Foragers of the Far West II:The PlateauLecture 11North American ArchaeologySpring 2009UCSCThe Plateau Interior of the PacificNorthwest Not as socially orpolitically complex asthe coast Resources not asabundantAnth 176A: North American ArchaeologyProf. Judith Habicht-MaucheSpring 2009UCSC2Environment and Resources South – dry, opensagebrush/grasslands North – more wooded Two major riversystems Columbia (South) Fraser (North)Fraser Canyon, British ColumbiaTypical Ethnographic Pattern Logistical Residential Pattern Riverside winter villages oflarge, substantial, semi-subterranean earth lodges Subsistence based onstorable resources salmon fishing root gathering (camas)How far back can wetrace this pattern?...Evidence of mudslides onFraser River, BritishColumbiaColumbia and Fraser Rivers subject toflooding.Early sites buried under deep sedimentand mudslidesAnth 176A: North American ArchaeologyProf. Judith Habicht-MaucheSpring 2009UCSC3Windust Cave Lind Coulee Dam, LowerSnake Long sequence goingback to 8500 BC Small scale, highly-mobile foragers Suggested thatethnographic pattern wasfairly recent (ca. 1000years) But, CRM and damprojects demonstratethat ethno pattern ismuch olderSalmon Fishing and Storage Five Mile Rapids (TheDalles), Columbia River(South) Salmon bones at 7800-5800 BC Drynoch Slide Site,Fraser River (North) Salmon bones at 5100 BC Kettle Falls, Columbia R. Evidence of salmon fishingat 7000 BC--but eating onthe spot--no evidence offilleting, drying, storageDrynoch Slide Site: Layer of white Mazamavolcanic ash laid down 6,800 years ago by agigantic eruption at Crater Lake, Oregon. Thebrown silty sand beneath the ash containssalmon bones and rare artifacts dating 7,500years in age. These deposits are all overlain bya massive landslide that came down sometimeafter the Mazama ash fall.***Dramatic increase in salmon fishing and processing after 3000 BC***Houses and Settlement Paulina Lake Small oval structure (7600-7100 BC) First Pithouses (4300 BC) Alpowai Site, LowerSnake (South) Substantial winter pithousevillage (3000 BC) Lochnore Creek, FaserRiver (North) Early pithouses (1500 BC)***Developments later in Norh than in South***Anth 176A: North American ArchaeologyProf. Judith Habicht-MaucheSpring 2009UCSC4Trade andInteraction Major TradeCenters The Dalles,Columbia River Lillooet/Lytton,Fraser RiverThe Plateau InteractionSphere 450 BC to AD 1750 Concentration of exotic, highly crafted artifacts atmajor fishing stations Hayden and Schulting: Focus of elite prestigebuilding rituals and exchange activitiesAntler Digging Stick HandleDentalia ShellCooperObsidianEcentricsPectinShellAnth 176A: North American ArchaeologyProf. Judith Habicht-MaucheSpring 2009UCSC5Anth 176A: North American ArchaeologyProf. Judith Habicht-MaucheSpring 2009UCSC6Anth 176A: North American ArchaeologyProf. Judith Habicht-MaucheSpring 2009UCSC7This pattern continued more or less intact up throughthe late 18th and early 19th centuryIntro of horse – more mobile pattern – seasonal bison hunting on