10

Prescribed Fires and Native American

Archeology

Chris T. Wenker

The need for Bryce Canyon National Park to
implement a prescribed fire program provided the
impetus for the Bryce Canyon AIS. The inventory
was designed to discover and document all of the
visible archeological sites in the park’s plateau-
top fire-management areas. The park identified 16
separate FMUs, encompassing a total area of
4,148 ha (10,251 acres), that delineate the zones
to be treated with prescribed fire (see Figure 5.1;
Tables 5.1 and 10.1). Individual FMUs range in
size from 9 to 1,581 ha (23 to 3,907 acres). The
FMUs cover nearly the entire area between the
western park boundary and the Pink Cliffs
escarpment on the east. Between 1983 and 2001,
park managers ignited prescribed fires totaling
2,221 ha (5,490 acres) in 12 of the FMUs
(Table 10.1).

This chapter explores two separate issues
concerning the effects of prescribed fire on Native
American artifact-scatter sites. First, the
frequencies of Native American artifact scatters
recorded in the FMUs before and after the
inventory are compared to determine if site-
visibility characteristics are altered by the park’s
prescribed fires. The relationships between artifact
visibility, survey intensity, and site identification
have significant ramifications for evaluating the
reliability of data collected from surface surveys
(Alexander 1983; Sundstrom 1993; Wandsnider
and Camilli 1992). For example, the presence of a
significant bias in site visibility could negate any

209

behavioral inferences derived from site-frequency
or spatial-patterning data. The second main
subject of this chapter is a review of the artifact-
condition data to determine if and how recent pre-
scribed fires are damaging flaked lithic artifacts.
A wealth of experimental data on the heat
alteration of lithic materials (e.g., Ahler 1983;
Griffiths et al. 1987; Mandeville 1973) suggests
that analytically important characteristics of stone
artifacts can be adversely affected by post-
depositional heating, and it is important for future
researchers and park managers to understand the
degree to which artifacts are damaged during pre-
scribed fires.

Prescribed Fire and Artifact Scatter
Visibility

All of the 16 FMUs had received some level of
archeological survey prior to the beginning of the
Bryce Canyon AIS, but the proportions of
coverage were variable. In the entire FMU area,
1,063 ha (2,626 acres) had been previously
inventoried (26 percent of the project area).
Within the FMUs that were burned prior to the
inventory, 639 ha (1,577 acres) had been surveyed
(38 percent of the total burned area). Most of
these previous archeological surveys followed
narrow corridors for trail maintenance or road-
construction projects, and few block surveys were


FIELD METHODS AND RESEARCH DESIGN 39

Table 5.1.

Fire management units and previous archeological survey coverage.

Area surveyed

Fire Management Unit Designation Year Burned Total FMU Area prior to AIS
Monument 1994 384 ha (949 acres) 79ha (194 acres)
unnamed (AIS Unit 2/Lodge) unburned 139ha (344 acres) 139ha (344 acres)

Residential Area

1998, 1999
Sunset Campground 1992
Test Run 1983
East Creek Meadow 2000
Paria/Bryce Point 1993
East Creek Ridge 2001
County Line 1995
Agua 3 2000
Agua 2 1999
Agua 1 1999
Yovimpa 1995
Yovimpa 2 unburned

unnamed (AIS Unit 15/Cougar Hollow Ridge) unburned
unnamed (AIS Unit 16/Podunk Creek)
Total for All FMUs -

unburned

1990, 1991, 197ha (486 acres) 197ha (486 acres)

121ha (300 acres) 113ha (280 acres)

74ha (183 acres) Tha (18 acres)
160 ha (396 acres) 20 ha (49 acres
393 ha (972 acres) 138ha (341 acres)

569 ha (1,405 acres) 36 ha (89 acres)
28 ha (70 acres) Ilha (26 acres)
52ha (128 acres) 28 ha (70 acres)

9 ha (23 acres) 6 ha (14 acres)
2lha (52 acres) 12 ha (30 acres)
213ha (526 acres) 28 ha (69 acres)

1,581 ha (3,907 acres) O8ha (515 acres)
113ha (279 acres) 9ha (47 acres)
94ha (231 acres) 2ha (54 acres)
4,148 ha (10,251 acres) 1,063 ha (2,626 acres)

During the fieldwork, the FMUs provided the
structure for subdividing the project area into
manageable parcels. The FMUs also represented the
areas of primary interest to park managers, and all
compliance-related archeological site information
was categorized by fire management units. In this
survey report, however, the FMUs play little role in
the description and interpretation of the park’s
archeological resources. The irregular sizes and
archeologically arbitrary boundaries of the FMUs
preclude their use as comparative sampling strata
for data analysis. The FMUs do, however, enable the
identification of sites burned by recent prescribed
fires. The effects of prescribed fires on archeological
resources are explored later in this report.

Logistics and Methods

During the 2000 and 2001 summer field
seasons, the entire area of 4,148 ha (10,251
acres) covered by the FMUs was intensively
surveyed. An additional 221 ha (548 acres)
outside and adjacent to the FMU boundaries
were also surveyed, providing overall survey
coverage of 4,370 ha (10,799 acres) (Figure
5.2). Wenker and Eininger (2001) and Wenker
and Herhahn (2002) present detailed
descriptions of field logistics and methods,
and the following sections summarize these
topics.



BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

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Chronology and Cultural Affiliation

The projectile points identified in the project area
have been classified into regionally recognized types
according to methods developed by Thomas (1981)
and others (e.g., Brown et al. 1993; Holmer 1978,
1986) to establish a preliminary temporal framework
for sites in the Bryce Canyon project area.
Typologically, the projectile points represent a broad
span of time from the late Paleoindian/early Archaic
to protohistoric or historic periods (Table 7.1).

Projectile Point Types

The earliest use of the project area is indicated by
two Great Basin Stemmed points, and possibly also
by three unclassified stemmed point bases. The
Great Basin Stemmed point in the survey collection
is very similar to Lake Mojave and Silver Lake
points of the Great Basin Western Pluvial Lake
Tradition that dates between 8000 and 6000 B.c.
(Holmer 1986). A previous study (Dominguez et al.
1992) also documented a Great Basin Stemmed
point from an isolated context in the park. While
these points are generally associated with a hunting
and gathering tradition that utilized the shrinking
lake shore environments of the Great Basin, these
points may also be part of a hunting and gathering
complex that focused on upland resources.
Alternatively, a similar point that was classified as
a Jay point has been documented at Natural Bridges
National Monument in southeastern Utah (Irwin
2001). The Jay point is an early Archaic type
belonging to the Oshara Tradition of the San Juan
Basin that dates between 5500 and 4800 B.C. Jay
points are morphologically similar to the Great
Basin Stemmed point collected during the Bryce
Canyon AIS, but the distribution of Jay points is
generally not recognized to extend into south-
central Utah.

Two points in the survey assemblage that are
categorized as unclassified stemmed points exhibit
basal and lateral grinding. These tools may
represent Paleoindian point fragments. These point
fragments appear to be broken lanceolate points that
are similar to a possible Paleoindian lanceolate

PROJECTILE POINTS 103

point base previously documented at Site
42GA1903 (Dominguez and Danielson 2000:
Figure 13h). The Bryce Canyon points resemble
Haskett, Agate Basin, or Hell Gap types (Frison
1978; Russell 1993). Haskett points have been
documented in northern Utah in contexts that date
between 8050 and 7900 B.C. (Russell 1993), while
Agate Basin and Hell Gap points are found in
Plains contexts that date roughly between 8500 and
8000 B.C. (Frison 1978).

Archaic projectile points suggest a continued
use of the project area that peaked during the late
Archaic period. Early Archaic use of the project
area is suggested by five Pinto Shouldered points
collected during the survey and six Pinto points
from previous projects. Pinto Series points are
found in regional contexts that date between 6300
and 4200 B.c. (Holmer 1978, 1986). Although the
points collected during the Bryce Canyon AIS lack
the pronounced bifurcated base that is typical of
this type (Holmer 1978), they do bear similarities to
the Pinto points from Hogup Cave illustrated by
Aikens (1970:42) and Jennings (1978:Figure 51c,
g), as well as to a specimen from Cedar Breaks
National Monument (Canaday 2001) and a Pinto
point documented in the park at Site 42GA1903
(Dominguez and Danielson 2000:Figure 13e). Five
previous examples of Pinto points from Site
42GA1903 exhibit the bifurcated base that is more
typical of this type. Two of the un-bifurcated survey
points classified as Pinto Shouldered points (FS 12
and 17) exhibit basal grinding and flaking patterns
suggestive of a possible Paleoindian derivation.
Although these points bear some resemblance to
late Paleoindian variants found on the Plains, such
as Alberta-Cody Complex points (7850 to
7050 B.C.), the Bryce Canyon points have slightly
expanding concave bases while Alberta-Cody
Complex points have straight-sided stems with a
straight base (Frison 1978). These two stemmed
points also strongly resemble Archaic San Jose
points of the eastern Colorado Plateau’s Oshara
Tradition (Agogino and Hester 1956; Bryan and
Toulouse 1943; Irwin-Williams 1973; Mohr and
Sample 1959; Moore 1982; Turnbow 1997). San
Jose points date roughly between 3000 and
1800 B.C. (Irwin-Williams 1973). Some researchers



2

Setting and Environment

Chris T. Wenker and Cynthia Herhahn

Up the Sevier (East Fork) a few miles and then
to the left a few miles more until we came
suddenly on the grandest of views. We stand on
a cliff 1,000 feet high, the “Summit of the
Rim.” Just before starting down the slope we
caught a glimpse of a perfect wilderness of red
pinnacles, the stunningest thing out of a picture.

This passage from Grove Karl Gilbert’s 1872
notebook, recorded during the Wheeler survey, is
one of the earliest descriptions of the area destined
to become Bryce Canyon National Park (Scrattish
1985:9-10). In the late nineteenth century, the great
federally funded westem survey expeditions
focused on collecting geologic and geographic
information about the American frontier, but the
surveyors also recorded a wide range of information
about the region’s hydrology, climate, flora, fauna,
and culture (Bartlett 1989). This chapter adopts a
similarly holistic approach. Relevant aspects of
Bryce Canyon National Park’s natural history,
including geography, geology, climate, and
biological resources, are described. A review of the
tegion’s paleoenvironmental conditions is also
presented. These topics set the stage for subsequent
discussions of the park’s human history.

Physiographic Setting

Bryce Canyon National Park occupies the
eastern escarpment of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in
western south-central Utah (Figure 2.1). The

Paunsaugunt Plateau is among the southernmost of
Utah’s High Plateaus, which form part of the
transitional zone between the western edge of the
Colorado Plateau and the eastern margin of the
Great Basin. The park literally straddles a divide
between these two provinces, because water
flowing off the eastern face of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau drains into the Colorado River, while water
flowing westward into the interior of the plateau
feeds the East Fork of the Sevier River, which
ultimately sinks into a land-locked lake in western
Utah.

Together with its neighboring High Plateaus,
the Paunsaugunt Plateau forms part of the highest
level of Utah’s Grand Staircase, which is a terraced
series of sandstone cliffs and mesas that drop
southward in steplike fashion toward the entrenched
Colorado River. The Pink Cliffs, which define the
southern and eastern perimeter of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau, are the highest tier of cliffs in the Grand
Staircase.

Local Landmarks

The Paiute referred to the Paunsaugunt Plateau as
Paunsaganti (beaver place), so named because of
its profile (Kelly 1964:xii, 147). The center of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau lies at a lower elevation than
the cliff rims that bound its western, southern, and
eastern edges, and the entire plateau also dips
gently to the north. The East Fork of the Sevier
River collects its headwaters from the southern
interior slopes of the plateau and flows northward



134. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

opportunity to study changes in toolstone
preference over time because the study area itself
contains virtually no high-quality natural
toolstone. Nearly all flaked and ground stone arti-
facts had to be carried onto the plateau, obviating
the possible obfuscatory influences that might
otherwise have been introduced by locally
available lithic sources. The following section
explores the prevalence of stone types at sites of
known or estimated age to determine if trackable
changes are evident. Later sections will explore
the technological characteristics of these assem-
blages for concurrent changes, which may or may
not be dependent on the stone types being used.

Two categories of data collected by the
project analysts can be used to explore temporal
changes. First, the overall lithic assemblages at
single-component sites of known or estimated age
can be used to gain broad views of all debris and
tool materials. Table 8.3 presents the number of

sites and artifacts included in the assessment of
each time period. Second, the park-wide assem-
blage of temporally diagnostic projectile points
(including IOs and points collected from
multioccupation sites) can be compared to the
single-component site-assemblage data.

Tabulation of the site-wide assemblages
shows that four main lithic material classes
persist through most time periods. The
proportions of these material classes (obsidian,
local quartzite, Brian Head chert, and untyped
chert) are depicted in Figures 8.8 and 8.9.
Figure 8.8 depicts only Archaic period sites and
Figure 8.9 compares Archaic and post-Archaic
period assemblages (which also include
sandstone). The middle Archaic period lithic
sample (Figure 8.8) is based on only 35 items
from one site, so the disproportionate frequency
of non-Brian Head chert at this site may result
from a sampling deficiency.

Table 8.3. Single-component sites used for temporal analysis of lithic assemblages.
Grouped Assemblage Size

Count of Count of Total

Sampled All Analyzed
Period Site Flaking Debris Tools Assemblage
Early Archaic 42GA5177, 42GA5182, 42GA5190, 42GA5218,

42GA5237 132 2 14

Middle Archaic 42KAS798 21 14 35
Late Archaic 42GA1902, 42GA3388, 42GA5210, 42GA5213 50 20 70
All Archaic* 42GA1896, 42GA1902, 42GA3388, 42GA3558,

42GA5177, 42GA5182, 42GA5190, 42GA5200,
42GA5209, 42GA5210, 42GA5213, 42GA5218, 328 89 417
42GA5223, 42GA5235, 42GA5237, 42GA5284,
42KA3284, 42KAS773, 42KA5798, 42KA5813

Late Prehistoric/
Formative

Numic/Paiute
42GA5245, 42GA5262

32GA3560, 42GA5193, 42GA5202, 42GA5203,
42GAS205, 42GA5244, 42GA5278, 42KA5756

42GA2634, 42GA3387, 42GA3488, 42GA5192,

147 14 161

143 35 178

* Includes all early, middle, and late Archaic period sites as well as generalized Archaic period sites.


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 129

N © Numic/Paiute Site

0 1 2 Kilometers

~~ |
0 1 2 Miles |

Figure 8.7. Locations of all sites containing Numic/Paiute period material recorded in the project
area,


Cover:

Headwaters of Paria Creek from Rim of the Basin - Southern Utah, 1872, by John E. Weyss.
Originally published in 1889 as Plate VI in Report upon United States Geographical Surveys
West of the 100" Meridian, in Charge of Capt. Geo. M. Wheeler. Volume 1, Geographical
Report.



Figure 7.9.

a
: n, FS 44

PROJECTILE POINTS 99

d, FS 106

e, FS 136

£,FS9 ° i, FS 48

g, FS 23

i>

j, FS 102 k, FS 103

D
‘
U
"

|, FS 109

m, FS 114
0 1 2

CENTIMETERS

0, FS 119

Late Prehistoric/Formative and Numic projectile points: (a) Rosegate Corner-notched,
(b-e) Rosegate Stemmed, (f-l) Desert Side-notched, (m-n) Parowan Basal-notched, and
(0) Bull Creek.



48 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

The Numa and the Southern Paiute on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau

Many of the sites in the park with Southern
Paiute Brown Ware ceramics also show a strong
reliance on flaked stone tools, indicating a
possible prehistoric or protohistoric temporal
affiliation. These potentially early Numic sites
may contribute important information relevant
to the origin of Numic-speaking groups in the
eastern Great Basin (Aikens and Madsen 1986;
Bettinger and Baumhoff 1982; Holmer 1994;
Lamb 1958). The archeological study of historic
Southern Paiute sites is similarly important
because it provides a more balanced history of
this marginalized group than that recorded by
Euro-American explorers and settlers, and it
fills some of the many gaps in the ethnographic
information collected in the 1930s (Kelly 1934,
1964; Steward 1938). The sites in the park that
can be confidently assigned a historic or
protohistoric Numic affiliation contain bark-
stripped ponderosa pine trees that show the
marks of steel axes. The presence of bark-
stripped trees in the park suggests that these
groups were under significant subsistence
stress, so sites of this period can be studied to
document the impact of Euro-American
settlement on Paiute subsistence practices and
land-use patterns (Martorano 1981, 1988;
Schroeder 1965; Swetnam 1984; cf. DeVed and
Loosle 2001:12).

Undated/Unaffiliated Native American Sites in
Bryce Canyon National Park

Many Native American sites in Bryce Canyon
National Park do not contain temporally diag-
nostic artifacts or features on the modern
surface. These sites cannot presently be attrib-
uted to an archeological culture or a cultural
affiliation more specific than that of generalized
Native American. Many of these sites may
contain hidden or buried artifacts or features;
duff and vegetation inhibited visibility at many
sites and some temporally diagnostic artifacts
may have gone unnoticed during the survey.

Furthermore, the results of previous archeo-
logical test excavations at several Native
American sites along the Rim Road (Dominguez
and Danielson 2000) indicate that buried
artifacts and possible cultural deposits are not
uncommon. Hence, once their cultural affiliations
are determined, these sites could exhibit potential
to contain data relevant to answering certain of
the above research questions.

Even if sites cannot be attributed to a general
cultural or temporal group, the data contained in
those sites’ artifacts and features can provide
important information about generalized high-
elevation adaptations. These unaffiliated sites
present archeologists with opportunities to develop
new interpretive methods or to independently test
existing interpretations of affiliated sites. For
example, the unaffiliated sites can provide
archeologists with generalized information about
the atemporal technological aspects of high-
elevation resource procurement or processing sites.
The range of functions of high-elevation sites of
unknown affiliation can be contrasted against the
functions of sites of known affiliation to examine
the degree of functional variety or homogeneity at
all montane sites. The interpretive benefits of this
type of study are manifold. If differences in site
function at affiliated sites show patterned changes
through time, the unaffiliated sites that show similar
patterns may be better placed in context.
Conversely, if technological adaptations at af-
filiated sites show little change through time, the
results of a technological analysis of unaffiliated
sites can provide a control sample to test the
validity of such an interpretation. Other important
research avenues could include sourcing lithic
materials to examine generalized regional exchange
patterns, or examining site distributions to
determine the intensity of regional land use. This
evaluation is especially true when the Native
American site density in Bryce Canyon National
Park is compared with site densities in adjacent
areas of the southern Paunsaugunt Plateau on the
Dixie National Forest. There, in a nearly identical
plateau-top setting, remarkably few archeological
sites have been recorded, partly due to different



214 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

straightforward goal of locating and docu-
menting all observable archeological sites and
TOs. The degree to which the survey project
succeeded in achieving this goal is indicated by
the fact that, in addition to the 192 sites
recorded within the project area, an additional
951 IOs and 3,909 log-and-rock checkdams
were also recorded. Additional sites may
certainly exist in areas of thick duff cover or
heavy vegetation, but the inventory results
probably provide a representative sample of the
quantity and distribution of the park’s plateau-
top archeological resources.

Prescribed Fire and Flaked Stone
Artifacts

The effects of prescribed and wildland fire on
archeological material have been recognized in
many recent studies. Most studies focus on the
surface and subsurface effects of wildland fire to
artifacts and features (e.g. Ruscavage-Barz
1999; Traylor et al. 1990), but relatively few
focus on prescribed fire effects (Sayler et al.
1989). The lack of research on prescribed fire
effects is partially mitigated by the fact that
prescribed fires can be expected to produce
effects that are similar to those caused by
wildland fires. Prescribed fires, however,
represent a different class of event from wildland
fires, because prescribed fires are closely
managed. Fuels may be manipulated, specific
areas may be excluded from ignition, and the
seasonality and meteorological conditions are
closely monitored. Many prescribed fires in
Bryce Canyon National Park focus on under-
brush and other light ground fuels, resulting in
low-intensity fires. Conversely, depending on
accumulated fuel loads and short- and long-term
weather conditions, unmanaged wildland fires
can ignite forest canopies and produce abundant
flames and high heat. Hence, the effects of
prescribed fires on archeological materials can be
expected to differ in subtle ways from those of
wildland fires.

Heat Effects on Flaked Stone Artifacts

The effects of heating and combustion on Native
American flaked lithic artifacts vary according to
rock or mineral type and the temperature and
duration of the fire. In general, fine-grained mate-
rials such as high-quality silicates and obsidian,
and some coarser materials such as quartzite,
show changes in their properties at low tem-
peratures. Other coarse-grained materials such as
poor-quality silicates and certain metamorphic
and igneous rocks are altered only at higher tem-
peratures. Experimental studies show that changes
in color, luster, tractability, and translucence of
chert and flint are affected by heating to tem-
peratures as low as 200° C. Heating to tem-
peratures higher than 300° C can cause crazing
and cracking, decreased tensile strength, and in-
creased brittleness. Under extreme heat (greater
than 600° C), chert and flint can become brittle
and crumbly. Color changes and crazing can
inhibit raw material identification. Changes to an
artifact’s color and luster from postdepositional
fires can also destroy evidence of cultural heat
treatment of lithic material. Heat spalling or “pot-
lidding” can also have serious effects on stone
artifacts. A heat-induced effect that is particular to
obsidian is vesicularization, which occurs when
volatiles trapped in the volcanic glass expand and
turn the artifact into a frothy mass (Ahler 1983;
Crabtree and Butler 1964; Griffiths et al. 1987;
Mandeville 1973; Schindler et al. 1982; Trembour
1990). By damaging the surface or altering the
appearance of an artifact, the effects of heat can
alter an item to such an extent that formal attribute
analysis is not possible. If the alteration is
extreme, an artifact may be essentially destroyed
and its information potential lost.

An investigation into the degree of damage
caused by prescribed fires is primarily an exer-
cise that provides information about site-for-
mation processes to land managers. This exercise
at first appears to provide little behavioral infor-
mation about the original site residents, but the
degree to which fire alters a lithic assemblage can
have important implications for the correct inter-


132. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

blue siliceous material that resembles chalcedony.
These stone types probably represent source areas
other than the Brian Head formation, but the area
of procurement is unknown. Some material may
derive from sparse lag gravel deposits on the pla-
teau top (see the discussion of quartzite, below).
Other possible local sources for chert (including
Kaibab chert) may exist in conglomerate beds
below the Pink Cliffs (Gayle Pollock, Bryce
Canyon Natural History Association, personal
communication 2001). Although Bryce Canyon
AIS staff discovered several small chert veins
outcropping from the Claron Formation in the
eastern tributary canyons of Podunk Creek, none
of these outcrops showed any signs of cultural
exploitation. Christensen et al. (1983:13) report
that abundant chert, chalcedony, and quartzite
cobbles are found in the Alton area, immediately
south of the park.

Flaking debris and tools of jasper and
petrified wood are present in low quantities
(Table 8.2). The sources for these materials are
unknown, although several regional sources are
available. Geib et al. (2001:185-186) describe
Boulder jasper, an opaque reddish brown or
brown material that outcrops in the Escalante
River drainage to the east. Another variety, Zion
jasper, is an opaque and semitranslucent red,
yellow, black, gray, and white banded chert that
derives from areas south of Zion National Park
(Matt Betenson, Zion National Park, personal
communication 2002). Based on these de-
scriptions, most of the jasper in Bryce Canyon
National Park may be from the Boulder source.

The examples of petrified wood at the project
sites are generally dark brown to tan in color. This
material is typically microcrystalline and quite
opaque. None of the items resembled the brightly
colored Morrison Formation agatized wood known
from the Escalante area, and it is more probable that
the artifacts are made of Chinle Formation petrified
wood, which is available from the Vermilion Cliffs
southeast of the park (Geib et al. 2001:184).

Obsidian

Obsidian represents the next most common
material type (Table 8.2). X-ray fluorescence
analysis of 15 projectile points collected during
the inventory indicates a heavy reliance on stone
deriving from the Wild Horse Canyon source area
in Utah’s Mineral Mountains (approximately
112 km [70 mi] to the northwest). A single point
was assigned to the Panaca Summit/Modena
source (roughly 192km [119 mi] to the west
along the Nevada/Utah state line) and one was
unsourced (Appendix 7.3). No flaking debris from
the project sites was submitted for source analysis.
Dominguez and Danielson (2000) previously
analyzed eight obsidian artifacts including flakes,
cores, and a single projectile point from three sites
in the project area. The analyzed items indicated a
variety of source areas including Wild Horse
Canyon (n=3), Panaca Summit/Modena (n=2),
and Pumice Hole (n=1) in Utah as well as
Brown’s Bench (n=l) in Nevada, plus one un-
sourced specimen (Hughes 2000). The results
from Bryce Canyon National Park mirror the
analysis results from Cedar Breaks National
Monument to the west (Canaday 2001), where 53
of 68 specimens derived from the Wild Horse
Canyon source and 11 were from the Panaca
Summit/Modena area, while 3 were from Nevada
and 1 came from Black Mountain in Utah
(Hughes 2001).

Conversely, the preponderance of obsidian
artifacts in a sample from Zion National Park,
somewhat farther to the west, match the Panaca
Summit/Modena source more frequently (14 of
21); only six were from Wild Horse Canyon and
one was from Black Mountain (Hughes 2001).
To the east of Bryce Canyon National Park,
surveyors on the Kaiparowits Plateau found
relatively little obsidian. Geib et al. (2001:186)
visually identified most of the obsidian as
Modena or Mineral Mountains material, but no
X-ray fluorescence analysis was conducted so
no quantifiable frequency data are available.


LEGEND
PROJECTILE POINT

“t_— CONTOUR LINE / SLOPE

z
4

° 25
SCALE IN METERS.

Figure 6.3.

42GA5192

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS
|!

42GA5190

LEGEND
xX PROJECTILE POINT
ev DRAINAGE,

4 CONTOUR LINE / SLOPE

Ny

50

°
—_§r—n
SCALE IN METERS.

\
SITE BOUNDARY

a

e

é

d

~ 5 \oeary z
é

LiTHic oe
QL

e-\= y
/ YLS-THERMAL FEATURE
(FIRE - CRACKED ROCKS)

a ~~ \
ONCENTRATION-

ce
CERAMIC CONCENTRATION GWovantzire, covsces,
(PoTaREAK) FLAKES, AND CORES

Maps of representative Native American sites in Bryce Canyon National Park. Top
Site 42GA5190, an early Archaic period flaked lithic artifact scatter. Bottom: Site

42GA5192, a Numic/Paiute camp.



248

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Appendix 6.2. (continued)

IONo. Cultural Affiliation IO Type

IONo. Cultural Affiliation IO Type

3529
3530
3531
3532
3533
3534

3535
3536
3537
3538
3539
3540

3541
3542
3543

3544
3545,
3557
3558
3559
3560
3561
3562
3563
3564
3629
3640
3641

3642
3643
3655

Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American

Archaic

Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Native American

Archaic

Euro-American
Euro-American

Euro-American

Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Archaic

Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American

Late Prehistoric

Euro-American
Euro-American

Euro-American

Dendroglyph
Bottle

Can, food
Flake

Cairn

Unknown comer-notched dart
point

Dendroglyphs

Bottle

Dendroglyphs
Pressure flaked biface
Pressure flaked biface

Unknown corner-notched dart
point

Can, food
Telephone/powerline locus

Dendroglyph; Historic Refuse,
food, nonfood

Can scatter, food
Flake

Can scatter, food
Pressure flaked biface
Historic refuse, food
Dendroglyphs

Can, tobacco

Elko Corner-notched point
Flake

Road

Cairn

Blazed tree

Lithic scatter, includes 1
Rosegate Stemmed point

Earthen dam
Benchmark

Can scatter, food

3658
3659
3660
3661
3662
3663
3664
3665
3666
3667
3668
3669
3670
3671
3672
3673
3674
3675
3676
3677
3678
3679
3680
3681
3682
3684
3788
3800
3801
3802
3803
3804
3805
3806

Euro-American
Euro-American
Late Prehistoric
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Native American
Euro-American
Native American
Native American
Native American
Euro-American

Euro-American

Hardware

Can, food

Desert side-notched point
Telephone/powerline locus
Historic refuse

Historic refuse

Bottle

Lithic scatter
Benchmark

Can, nonfood

Rockpile; Historic refuse
Campfire; wood pile
Hardware

Bottle

Historic refuse

Can scatter

Bottle scatter

Historic refuse
Boundary segment
Campfire; Historic refuse
Blazed tree

Can scatter

Road

Road

Pipeline

Depression

Flake scatter

Pressure flaked biface
Campfire

Pressure flaked biface
Flake scatter

Flake scatter

Historic refuse

Caim



8. NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU (continued)

Multioccupation Sites
Discussion of Site Types..
Artifact Assemblages and Site Types
Native American Land Use on the Paunsaugunt Plateau
Hunting Locales
Processing Camps see
Native American Land Use in Utah’s Gi
Archaic Period Land Use
Late Prehistoric/Formative Land Use .
Numic/Paijute Land Use .
Conclusions

9. | EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY
Sue Eininger...

Archeological Evidence of Livestock Grazing.
Historic Inscriptions...
Dendroglyphs...

Other Historic Inscriptions
Water-Development Features...

A Glimpse into Historic Herding Acti
People on the Plateau.
Periods of Use
Tracking Land Use on the Plateau......

The Paunsaugunt Plateau as a Scenic Resource .
US. Forest Service Archeological Material
National Park Service Archeological Material
The Civilian Conservation Corps in Bryce Canyon National Park..
The Development of Tourism on the Paunsaugunt Plateat
Conclusion ..

10. PRESCRIBED FIRES AND NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY
Chris T, Wenket .....cccssessseesssessssssessecssenssnsssusssssesssesessssasscssnecsaessseseneesneesseceaneenvecanecaneseniseaneeannessnnes 209

Prescribed Fire and Artifact Scatter Visibility

Site Visibility in Fire Management Units.
Prescribed Fire and Flaked Stone Artifacts ..
Heat Effects on Flaked Stone Artifacts.
Burned and Unburned Assemblages in the Project Area

11. PROJECT SUMMARY AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR ARCHEOLOGICAL
RESEARCH
Chris T. Wenker

Bryce Canyon Archeological Inventory Survey Summary
Native American Archeology.
Euro-American Archeology .....-ceccecsesessesessssessesessseseseeenessssssecsreessessenesassesseeserseneacanetseaneese



210 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 10.1. Comparison of changes in Native American archeological site frequency in previously
surveyed areas of burned and unburned fire management units.

Percent
Total AIS Increase of
Site Count Site Count
Year of Count of in in
Previous Previously Previously Year of Previously Previously
FMU Total FMU = Archeological Surveyed Recorded Prescribed Surveyed Surveyed
Designation Area Surveys Area Sites* Fires Areas* Areas
Burned FMUs
Monument 384 ha/ 1979, 1988, 79 ha/ 4 1994 5 25%
949 acres 1990 194 acres
Residential Area 197 ha/ 1979, 1983, 197 ha/ - 1990, 1991, 3 Not
486 acres 1988, 1990 486 acres 1998, 1999 calculable
Sunset 121 ha/ 1979, 1988 113 ha/ - 1992 1 Not
Campground 300 acres 280 acres calculable
Test Run T4ha/ 1979, 1990 Tha/ - 1983 - 0%
183 acres 18 acres
East Creek 160 ha/ 1979, 1988, 20 ha/ 3 20007 3 0%
Meadow 396 acres 1990 49 acres
Paria/Bryce 393 ha/ 1979, 1988, 138 ha/ 2 1993 3 50%
Point 972 acres 1990 341 acres
County Line 28 ha/ 70 1979 lLha/ - 1995 - 0%
acres 26 acres
Agua 3 52ha/ 1979, 1988 28 ha/ - 2000° - 0%
128 acres 70 acres
Agua 2 9ha/ 1979 6ha/ - 1999 - 0%
23 acres 14 acres
Agua | 2tha/ 1979 I2ha/ ~ 1999 - 0%
52 acres 30 acres
Yovimpa 213 ha/ 1979, 1988 28 ha/ 1 1995 2 100%
526 acres 69 acres
Subtotal* 1,652 ha/ - 639 ha/ 9 - 17 89%
4,085 acres 1,577 acres
Unbured FMUs.
Unnamed; AIS 139 ha/ 1979, 1983, 139 ha/ 1 unburned 5 400%

# 2/ Lodge 344 acres 1988 344 acres



Appendix 6.2. (continued)

APPENDIX 6.2 ISOLATED OCCURRENCES =. 253

IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type
4165 Euro-American Historic refuse 4225 Euro-American Can, nonfood
4166 Euro-American Dendroglyphs 4226 Euro-American Benchmark
4167 Euro-American —_ Historic refuse 4227 Euro-American Wood pile
4168 Euro-American Historic refuse 4228 Euro-American _Bottle scatter
4169 Euro-American Telephone/powerline locus 4229 Euro-American Campfire; Historic refuse
4170 Euro-American —_ Historic refuse 4230 Unknown Manuport
4173 Native American Flake affiliation
4174 Euro-American Can scatter 4231 Euro-American Bottle
4175 Euro-American Historic refuse 4232 Euro-American Benchmark
4176 Euro-American Historic refuse 4233, Euro-American _Lithie scatter
4180 Euro-American Road 4234 Euro-American Historic refuse
4181 Euro-American Historic refuse 4235 Euro-American Rock alignment
4182 Euro-American Blazed tree 4236 Euro-American Historic refuse
4183 Buro-American Benchmark 4237 Euro-American Historic refuse
4184 Euro-American Bottle 4242 Euro-American Historic Refuse
4185 Euro-American Can, food 4243 Euro-American _Historic refuse
4186 Euro-American Can scatter 4244 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface
4187 Euro-American Hardware 4245 Euro-American Sign
4188 Euro-American Historic refuser 4246 Native American —_ Ground stone tool
4189 Euro-American Can, nonfood 4247 Euro-American Blazed tree
4190 Euro-American Can, food fas onenown Manuport
4191 Euro-American Can, nonfood 4249 Euro-American Historic refuse
4192 Euro-American Historic refuse 4250 Euro-American Foundation; Historic refuse
4193 Euro-American Hardware 4251 Native American Flaked stone tool
4194 Euro-American Historic refuse 4252 Euro-American ‘Fence
4195 Euro-American Hardware 4253 Euro-American Hardware
4196 Euro-American Historic refuse 4254 Euro-American Fence
4197 Late Prehistoric Lithic scatter, includes 1 4255  Buro-American Historic Refuse
and Euro-American unknown arrow point; and
Bottle 4256 Euro-American —_Historic Refuse
4198  Buro-American Can, nonfood 4257 Euro-American Pipeline
4199 Euro-American Benchmark 4258 Euro-American _Pipeline
4200 Euro-American Fence 4259 Euro-American Can scatter
4201 Euro-American —_Historic refuse 4260 Euro-American Can, nonfood
4210 Euro-American Can, food 4261 Euro-American Bottle scatter



BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

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(panuyuor) ‘7, xipuaddy



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU _ 177

On the Kaiparowits Plateau, Numic/Paiute
residential, processing, and hunting camps are
absent in the lowest elevation zones and are most
common in the highest zones (Geib et al. 2001).
Paiute sites are also relatively common in the
Alton area on the Skutumpah Terrace (Keller
1987:39-40). Nearly one-half of the Paiute sites in
the Alton area contain clusters of ground stone
artifacts, and 90 percent contain hearth features,
including many hearth clusters (Keller 1987:106).
As among the Archaic period sites, the fre-
quencies of thermal features and milling tools
indicate that many of the Paiute sites on the
Skutumpah Terrace may be classifiable as tem-
porary residential or processing camps. Christen-
sen et al. (1983:85) identify these sites as pinyon
nut gathering locales, but the common presence of
thermal features and the consistent placement of
sites near water sources (Christensen et al.
1983:67; Keller 1987:98) suggest more of a
residential function.

Kearns (1982) reports a single Paiute temporary
camp in the Johns Valley area. The Numic/Paiute
sites in the Bryce Canyon project area carry this
pattern of small processing or residential camp sites
to the very highest step of the Grand Staircase. In
their artifact assemblages, the plateau-top Numic/
Paiute sites appear to functionally resemble sites in
lower settings. The single Numic/Paiute site in
Cedar Breaks National Monument, which lies above
3,200 m (10,500 ft) asl, contains ceramics and
ground stone artifacts, suggesting that it too is classi-
fiable as a “processing” camp (although this site also
has Archaic period material that may obscure site
functions, Canaday 2001:45). The primary dif-
ference seen at the high-elevation Numic/Paiute sites
is an exceptionally low count of thermal features,
but the few known hearths in Bryce Canyon
National Park are almost entirely found at
Numic/Paiute sites.

Overall, the plateau-top Numic/Paiute land-
use strategy closely resembles the contemporary
Paiute strategies of lower-elevation land use.
This relationship differs from that of preceding
periods. During the Archaic and late Prehistoric/

Formative periods, the range and types of sites
on the plateau differ substantially from those in
lower-elevation settings. The plateau mainly
appears to have been used logistically for the
procurement of specialized resources during
these early periods. Conversely, the Numic/
Paiute use of the plateau top appears to represent
simply an extension of the same land-use
strategy that was pursued in lower elevation
zones, a phenomenon that is explored in the
concluding section.

Conclusions

Archeological interpretations of Great Basin
Archaic period lifeways commonly draw be-
havioral analogues from Paiute, Shoshoni, and
Ute ethnographies (e.g., Kearns 1982; Thomas
1973). The process of drawing analogies between
these historic hunting and gathering groups and
the Archaic period groups seems straightforward
because of geographic proximity and perceived
adaptational similarities, but the validity of this
practice is coming into doubt. In short, archeo-
logical, ethnographic, or ethnohistoric examples
of Numic lifeways may not provide a valid
model against which to evaluate Archaic period
lifeways.

Geib et al. (2001:369-373) point out sig-
nificant differences between the archeological
materials of Archaic period and Numic/Paiute
hunter-gatherers on the Kaiparowits Plateau. Sites
of these two periods show dissimilarities in the
types of toolstone, proportions of tool types, site
sizes, artifact densities, and, to a limited degree,
distributions of site types across the landscape.
The obvious question asks “why [does] the record
left by Archaic foragers . . . appear different from
that of Post-Formative Paiute foragers of [the]
same region” (Geib et al. 2001:369)? After careful
evaluation Geib et al. (2001) determine that these
differences are not attributable to site-formation
processes but appear to represent actual be-
havioral differences.


286 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Geib, P. R.

1989 Archaeological Survey of Lower Glen
Canyon Benches and a Descriptive Model
of General Site Location. Archaeological
Report No. 1011. Northern Arizona
University, Flagstaff.

1996a Archaic Occupancy of the Glen
Canyon Region. In Glen Canyon Revisited,
edited by P. R. Geib, pp. 15-39. University
of Utah Anthropological Papers. No. 119.
University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

1996b The Early Agricultural Period:
Transition to Farming. In Glen Canyon
Revisited, edited by P. R. Geib, pp. 53-77.
University of Utah Anthropological Papers.
No. 119. University of Utah Press, Salt
Lake City.

1996c Early Formative Occupancy of Glen
Canyon. In Glen Canyon Revisited, edited
by P. R. Geib, pp. 78-97. University of
Utah Anthropological Papers. No. 119.
University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Geib P. R., and J. M. Bremer
1996 Problems with Inferring Site Function.
In Glen Canyon Revisited, edited by P. R.
Geib, pp. 136-154. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers No. 119. University
of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Geib, P. R., J. H. Collette, and K. Spurr

2001  Kaibabitsintingwii, An Archaeological
Sample Survey of the Kaiparowits Plateau.
Cultural Resource Series No. 25. Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Special Publication No. 1. United States
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Geib, P. R., J. Huffman, and K. Spurr
1999 An Archaeological Sample Survey of
the Western Kaiparowits Plateau.
Archaeological Report 98-112. Navajo
Nation Archaeology Department, Flagstaff,
Arizona.

Gillio, D. A.

1974 Archeological Clearance Investigation:
Mill Hollow Timber Sale, Dixie National
Forest. Report Number DX-74-9. Ms. on
file, Dixie National Forest, Cedar City,
Utah.

Grayson, D. K.
1993 The Desert’s Past: A Natural
Prehistory of the Great Basin. Smithsonian
Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

Griffiths, D. R., C. A. Bergman, C. J. Clayton,
K. Ohnuma, G. V. Robins, and N. J. Seeley
1987 Experimental Investigation of the Heat

Treatment of Flint. In The Human Uses of
Flint and Chert: Proceedings of the Fourth
International Flint Symposium, Held at
Brighton Polytechnic, 10-15 April 1983,
pp. 43-52. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.

Grimes, O. J.
1918 Utah’s New Wonderland. Salt Lake
Tribune. 25 August.

Gunnerson, J. H.

1956 Fremont Ceramics. In Papers of the
Third Great Basin Archaeological
Conference, edited by F. C. Cole,
pp. 54-62. Anthropological Papers No.
26. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake
City.

Halibirt, C. D., and C. A. Gualtieri
1981 Archeological Investigations, Utah
International, Inc., San Francisco Alton
Coal Field Survey, Federal, State, and
Private Lands, Kane County, Utah. Report
A-79-108. Ms on file, Museum of Northern
Arizona, Flagstaff.

Hansen, A. J
nd. The Village of Tropic. Ms. on file,
Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce
Canyon, Utah.



108 = BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 7.2. Patination on projectile points.
Degree of Patination
Projectile Point Type None Minimal Moderate Hea Total
Great Basin Stemmed - - 1* - 1
100.0° 8
Humboldt 1 - - - 1
100.0 38
Elko Corner-notched 16 1 - 2 19
84.2 5.3 10.5 15.4
Elko Eared 10 2 1 13
76.9 15.4 17 10.6
Elko Side-notched - - - 1 1
100.0 38
Pinto Shouldered 1 - 4 5
20.0 80.0 41
Gypsum 12 2 1 1 16
75.0 12.5 63 6.3 13.0
Sudden Side-notched 2 - - - 2
100.0 1.6
Northern Side-notched 1 - - - 1
100.0 8
San Rafael Side-notched 1 - - - 1
100.0 8
Unclassified Corner-notched, Dart 6 3 2 1 12
50.0 25.0 16.7 8.3 9.8
Unclassified Side-notched, Dart 3 1 - 4
75.0 25.0 3.3
Unclassified Stemmed, Dart 1 1 - - 2
50.0 50.0 1.6
Unclassified, Dart 9 - 1 2 12
75.0 8.3 16.7 9.8
Rosegate Corner-notched 1 - - = 1
100.0 8
Rosegate Stemmed 4 - - - 4
100.0 3.3
Parowan Basal-notched 2 - - 2
100.0 1.6
Bull Creek 1 - - -
100.0 8
Desert Side-notched 7 - - - 7
100.0 5.7
Unclassified Corner-notched, Arrow 6 1 - - 7
85.7 14.3 5.7
Unclassified Side-notched, Arrow 4 - - - 4
100.0 3.3
Unclassified, Arrow 4 3 - - 7
57.1 42.9 5.7
Total 92 12 7 12 123
74.8 9.8 5.7 9.8 100.0
* Count.

* Row Percentage.
+ Column Percentage.



APPENDIX 7.3 XRF ANALYSIS OF OBSIDIAN ARTIFACTS — 277

REFERENCES (continued)

Macdonald Ray, Robert L. Smith, and John E. Thomas
1992 Chemistry of the Subalkalic Silicic Obsidians. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper
1523.

Nelson, Fred W., Jr.
1984 X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Some Western North American Obsidians. Jn Richard E.
Hughes (ed.) Obsidian Studies in the Great Basin. Contributions of the University of
California Archaeological Research Facility No. 45:27-62.

Nelson, Fred W., and Richard D. Holmes

1979 Trace Element Analysis of Obsidian Sources and Artifacts from Western Utah. Antiquities
Section Selected Papers 6 (15). Division of State History, Utah State Historical Society.

Geochemical Research Laboratory Letter Report 2001-83



114. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

the project area through the early, middle, and
late Archaic periods. Although early and middle
Archaic use of the area remained low and showed
a similar focus on access to upland drainages, a
marked increase in the number of late Archaic sites
and isolates indicates a broadening use of the
resources across the plateau. Late Archaic points
are found in more diverse settings, indicating an
increased emphasis on upland hunting in addition

to the drainage-focused pattern of the preceding
periods. Late Prehistoric/Formative use of the
plateau appears to have continued this pattern of
generalized land use, but there was an increased
emphasis on hunting in low-elevation plateau-top
settings. Finally, the Numic occupation followed
similar land-use patterns as the preceding period,
but this occupation appears to have been less
intensive.



BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

232

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NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU __ 169

o Ff y pe = _7 NX At

A Undated hunting camp

© Undated indeterminate site

D Undated processing camp |
Undated lithic reduction locus,

N

NO

0 1 2 Kilometers
0 1 2 Miles

ce

Figure 8.19. Distribution of undated single-component functional site types in the project area.


310 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Schroed]l, R., 103-4
scrapers, 66, 74, 131, 141, 142
Scrattish, N., 36, 203-4
semipermanent residence site type, 156
settlement of southwestern Utah, 19, 22-23, 49,
196, 222
Sevier fault, 9
Sevier Fremont ceramics, associated with
projectile points, 106
Sevier Lake, 12-13
Sevier National Forest (later Dixie National
Forest), 7, 26, 34, 201
Sevier River, 23, 110
East Fork, 5, 7, 11, 47
as a source of stone materials, 130, 225
Shaker Spring (42GA5216), 69-70, 195, 208
pipeline, 202
Sheep Creek stock trail, 195
Sheep Creek/Swamp Canyon Connecting Trail, 31
sheep grazing, 25, 27-28, 198-200
Shinarump Corrugated Ware, 66, 151, /52
Shinarump Gray Ware, 66, 151
Shinarump Red Ware, 66, 151
siltstone, 109-10, 131, 133
Silver Lake stemmed points, 119
simple multioccupation site type, 156
single-component sites, 55, 58, 60, 116
site types, 158-62, 168-69
temporal analysis of lithic assemblages, 134,
135-36
Site 42GA905, 100, 105, 153
Site 42GA1896, 31
Site 42GA1899, 31
Site 42GA1900, 31
Site 42GA1901, 31
Site 42GA1903, 31, 94, 121, 123
diagnostic artifacts, 63
projectile points, 89, 103-5, 111, 119
Site 42GA1904, 31, 55, 72
lithic artifacts, 66
projectile points, 101, 104, 106
Site 42GA1905, 34
Site 42GA2634, 150
Site 42GA3289, 100, 105
Site 42GA3383, 31
projectile points, 97, 100-101, 104-6
Site 42GA3384, 31
Site 42GA3387, 31

Site 42GA3388, 31
Site 42GA3488, 31
Site 42GA3558, 31
Site 42GA3559, 31
Site 42GA3560, 31, 55
Site 42GA3561, 31, 57, 71, 202-3
Site 422GA3903, 194
Site 42GA5190, site map, 59
Site 42GA5192
ceramics, 66
cores, 141
feature, 64
site map, 59
Site 42GA5197, 72, 204
Site 42GA5218, stone tools, 141
Site 42GA5219, 71, 202, 204
Site 42GA5224, 71-72, 202
Site 42GA5230, 69
Site 42GA5232, chronological data, 67, 184,
201
Site 42GA5240, 57
features, 64
stone tools, 141
Site 42GA524]
chronological data, 67
spring, 195
watering troughs, 70, 190, 194
Site 42GA5242, 55, 57
bark-stripped ponderosa pine, 64
site map, 56
Site 42GA5257, 71
Site 42GA5262, ceramics, 66
Site 42GA5263, 71, 205-6, 206-7
Site 42GA5265, artifact scatter, 73
Site 42GA5269, 72
Site 42GA5270, 70-71, 204
site map, 62
Site 42GA5277, 70, 206-7
site map, 60
Site 42GA5278, 57, 70, 201
Site 42GA5280, 207
Site 42GA5281, 55
Site 42GA5286, 207
Site 42GA5287, 57, 65, 65, 69, 151, 153, 155,
194
Site 42GA5288/42K A5814, 57, 77, 203
features, 69
Site 42GA5798, 55, 57, 71



158 | BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 8.5. Site types in the project area.
Site Type
a
a &§ 3 g &
E is) Ss 2 Es S
io) 20 g B= S 3 =
Bi 2 xo oO
2 3 g & 3 $3 8
* g 2 g g roan} 2g
2 ¢ €¢ 8 2 FS FE
Aon 3
Temporal Affiliation 2 E 2 = S é
Single-Component Sites
Early Archaic 5 - - - - = ~
Middle Archaic 1 - - - - - _
Late Archaic 3 1 - - - - -
General Archaic 7 - - 3 - - -
All Archaic Subtotal 16 1 - 3 - - -
Late Prehistoric/Formative 1 2 - 5 - = _
Numic/Paiute - 7 - - - - -
Dated Sites Subtotal 17 10 - 8 - - -
Undated Sites 12 4 9 25 1 ~ -
Single-Component Site Subtotal 29 14 9 33 1 - -
Multioccupation Sites
Late Paleoindian/Early Archaic to Late
Prehistoric/Formative - - - - ~ 1 -
Early to Late Archaic - - - - - - 1
Early Archaic to Late Prehistoric/Formative - - - - - 1 -
Late Archaic to Late Prehistoric/Formative - - - - - - 1
Late Archaic to Numic/Paiute - - - - - 1 -
Archaic to Late Prehistoric/Formative - - - - - 1 3
Archaic to Numic/Paiute - - - - - 1 2
Multioccupation Site Subtotal - - - - - 5 7
Total 29 14 9 33 1 5 7



we Lae

0 1 2 Kilometers

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

54

Locations of archeological sites recorded during the Bryce Canyon Archeological

Inventory Survey project.



BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

236

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Great Depression, Bryce Canyon National Park
development, 28
ground stone tools, 17, 64-65, 133, 149-50, 220
stone materials, 131
Gualtieri, C. A., 170
Gypsum points. See Gatecliff Contracting
Stem/Gypsum points

Halibirt, C. D., 170
hammerstones, 66, 131, 141, 150
Harding, Warren J., 27
Harriman Blue earthenware, 204-5, 207-8
Hartley, R. J., 29-31, 116, 212
Haskett points, 103
Hatch, Utah, 196
Hauck, F. R., 176
Hawken Side-notched points, 103, 111
hearths, 64, 68, 71, 177, 204, 221
previously recorded, 31, 34
and site types, 156-57, 172-74
Hell Gap points, 89, 103
Henderson family, 197-98
Henrieville, Utah, 24, 196
Herhahn, C., 30, 34, 39
historic buildings, 204
historic inscriptions
aspen dendroglyphs, 67, 196, 201
personal names and dates, 180, /82-83, 184,
185, 191, 204, 205
related to livestock brands, 189, /9/-92
on bark-stripped ponderosa pines, 190
locations of, /8/
pictographs, 57, 65, 65, 69, 151, 153, 155,
194
on watering troughs, 190, 194, 195
history of the region, 36, 196
Hogup Cave, 88, 95, 103
Holmer, R. N., 88, 95, 97, 103-6
Holocene Epoch, 45-46
climate, 12-13
homesteaders, 23, 25, 49
Hopi Yellow Ware, 204
horticulture, 17-19, 47, 175
house foundation, 67
Howell, Edwin, 24
Huffman, J. See Geib, P. R., J. Huffman, and K.
Spurr
Humboldt points, 87, 95, 103, 111
Humphrey, J. W., 26

INDEX 305

hunting, 111-12, 167
hunting camp site type, 156-61, 165, 167, 178
hydrology, 11

igneous stone, 131, 133
ignimbrite, 109-10
indeterminate site type, 156, 158-61
Trwin, D. C., 85, 105
isolated occurrences (IOs), 55, 73-79, 126, 220,
241-56
cultural affiliation, 74-75
definition, 40
distribution of, 166
and land-use patterns, 165
recording procedures, 43, 53
IO 233, checkdams, 78
10 2080, 53

jacal and masonry structures, 18
Jacklin, M., 109-10
jasper, 109-10, 131, 132, 220
effect of fire on, 215
Jay points, 103, 119
Jennings, J. See Christensen, D., S. M. Chandler,
S. Kreutzer, and J. Jennings
Jennings, J. D., 16, 88, 95, 103
Johnson, A. J., 30
Johns Valley, 34
archeological resources, 150, 177, 223
Jurassic Period rocks, 10

Kade silt loam, 10-11
Kaibab Paiute band, 20
Kaiparowits Paiute band, 20
Kaiparowits Plateau archeological resources, 132—
33, 141, 148, 150, 156, 170, 171
Archaic period, 119, 124-26, 171, 173-74, 177
compared to Paunsaugunt Plateau sites, 124—
26, 147-49, 170, 173, 199
flaked stone artifacts, 105, 147, 149, 165
Numic/Paiute culture, 128, 176-77, 221
Kanab, Utah
sites, 148
as a source of stone materials, 133
Kanarra Cattle Company, 20, 25, 49, 197
Kayenta Anasazi culture, 18-19
ceramics, associated with projectile points, 106
Kearns, T. M., 156, 173, 176
Aquarius Plateau archeological resources, 170



12 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

communities contain similarly low levels of species
diversity and in the absence of fire, presently show
signs of sagebrush encroachment (Buchanan 1981;
Roberts, Jenkins, and Wight 1992; Roberts, Wight,
and Hallsten 1992).

Principal mammal species in the park include
elk, mule deer, black bear, cougar, pronghorn
antelope, coyote, gray fox, bobcat, badger, porcu-
pine, skunk, jackrabbit, cottontail rabbit, prairie
dog, weasel, squirrel, chipmunk, and deer mouse.
Rattlesnakes are common below the canyon rim and
have been observed on the plateau top. Common
birds include Steller’s jay, Clarks’ nutcracker,
pigmy nuthatch, white-breasted nuthatch, mountain
chickadee, gray-headed junco, hairy woodpecker,
and red crossbill. Bald eagles migrate through the
area, and golden eagles and osprey occasionally
nest in the park. Peregrine falcons nest in several
aeries in the Pink Cliffs (National Park Service
[NPS] 1987:63).

Paleoenvironmental Conditions

Although detailed information is not available
from the park itself (cf. Agenbroad et al. 1992),
paleoenvironmental research throughout the Great
Basin and Colorado Plateau provides a general
picture of the regional environmental conditions
that prevailed during the last 12,000 years. A
review of past climatic variations and the con-
comitant environmental changes is fundamental to
understanding the culture history and current
archeological research issues relevant to Bryce
Canyon National Park.

During the terminal Pleistocene and early
Holocene Epochs (about 12,000 to 8000 B.P.
[before present, i.e., 1950]), the environment of
the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau appears
to have been wetter and cooler than at present, but
warmer and drier than during the late glacial
maximum at about 18,000 B.P. (COHMAP 1988;
Hostetler et al. 1994; Kutzbach et al. 1993). How-
ever, the early Holocene Epoch climate was not
simply wetter and cooler than today’s; weather

circulation patterns also produced a different
annual cycle of precipitation and temperature
extremes. For example, data and retrodictive
models suggest that the summer monsoonal rain
pattern of the Colorado Plateau was not estab-
lished until after 9000 B.p. (Thompson et al.
1993). The multiple axes along which the climate
changed (temperature, moisture, and seasonality)
differentially affected the region’s vegetation
communities. Lacustrine zones and marshlands
would have responded more strongly to moisture
and temperature changes, while upland plant
communities would have felt changes in moisture
and temperature levels as well as in the
seasonality of precipitation (Beck and Jones 1997;
Huckell 1996).

Pluvial lakes in the Great Basin reached their
maximum stands between 15,000 and 13,000 B.P.
(Beck and Jones 1997:169). Temperatures
increased between 12,000 and 8000 B.P., but
effective precipitation did not show a
concomitant decrease, allowing many lakes to
persist, although below their maxima. This
appears to be the case in the Sevier Lake basin
(the nearest pluvial lake, roughly 160 km
[100 mi] northwest of the park), where there is
evidence that the lake stayed at very high levels
until after 10,000 B.P. (Oviatt 1988). After
8000 B.P., significant desiccation occurred at
most, if not all pluvial lakes in the Great Basin.

Early Holocene Epoch climatic changes also
significantly affected the distribution of plant
and animal communities away from pluvial lakes
(Huckell 1996). During the terminal Pleistocene
and early Holocene Epochs (12,000-10,000 B.P.),
many vegetation communities occupied settings
nearly 1,000 m (3,280 ft) below their current
stands. The distribution of subalpine conifers
shows this most dramatically, and in addition to
elevational changes, the latitudinal limits of
pinyon pine and Douglas-fir appear also to have
extended south of their current range (Thompson
1990). The terminal Pleistocene and early
Holocene Epoch vegetation of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau probably closely followed these general
trends. Based on data from paleoecological



204. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

erosion-control checkdams, park buildings, fence
lines, trails, and road improvements, and the
implementation of a variety of insect-control
activities throughout the park’s forests (Dammann
1993; Garfield County News 1987; Madrid 1993;
Scrattish 1985). Historic photographs of trucks
loaded with timber and rocks (Scrattish 1985)
suggest that CCC crews worked along roadways
and other vehicle-accessible areas to retrieve con-
struction materials. Other tasks such as tree
thinning and fence building took them into more
remote sections of the park. According to
Scrattish (1985:156), insect-control activities
conducted by the 1936 CCC crews covered a
4,047-ha (10,000-acre) area.

Several short-term campsites may be asso-
ciated with these back-country CCC work
ventures, although these camps may also represent
herding camps or recreational camps used by
tourists or off-duty workers. These camps
generally contain fire hearths and small refuse
scatters indicative of a brief overnight stay. One
such site lies across the road from the possible
road-construction camp (42GA5219) described
above. Two dendroglyph sites provide more
conclusive evidence of a CCC presence in remote
portions of the park. At Site 42GA5197, the
“CCC” acronym is associated with 1935 dates at
two separate dendroglyph panels carved by two
different people. Bob Dickinson’s carving at this
site (Figure 9.19, right) includes the number
“962,” which corresponds with the CCC company
number.

Another dendroglyph near Yovimpa Pass
reads, in part, “BRYCE CCC CAMP / GUY /
MCNELLY ESCALANTE UTAH / Agust 1 1938”
(Figure 9.19, left). This site lies along a dirt road to
Yovimpa Pass that Finch (1935) reports was in
existence by 1935. A variety of projects such as
boundary-fence construction, road maintenance,
and tree thinning would have drawn CCC crews
into the area.

The Development of Tourism on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau

Since the establishment of the Syretts’ makeshift
camp in 1919, the land above the Bryce Canyon
tim has seen the construction of most of the
park’s tourist-related accommodations (Figure
2.2). The numerous standing historical buildings
are well-documented (e.g., Caywood 1994;
Caywood and Grant 1994; James R. McDonald
Architects 1999; Scrattish 1985). Some historic
features, however, have been impacted by
decades of development and use and are only
recognized based on their archeological remains.
Numerous artifact scatters, some with associated
features, are recorded in the vicinity of the lodge.
Based on their artifact assemblages and
information gleaned from various park
documents, these sites appear to be the result of
concessionaire-related activities.

Site 42GA5270, located 1,000 m (3,280 ft)
west of the Bryce Canyon Lodge, represents the
most intact campsite found in the park. Prominent
features include four leveled, graveled tent
platforms; a ramada platform; and a series of
graveled, rock-lined pathways connecting the tent
platforms to a rock-lined parking area
(Figure 6.5). A possible outhouse depression and
an abundant scatter of coal and cinders
(suggestive of a stove or furnace) indicate the
presence of additional camp facilities. Several
dense refuse scatters and dumps are present, and a
variety of “luxury” artifacts are noted in the
assemblage. Shards of sun-colored purple glass
parfait or sherbet cups and drinking tumblers are
liberally scattered across the site. This site also
contains numerous beverage bottle bases. Sherds
from white earthenware cups, plates, bowls, and
pitchers decorated with the Harriman Blue
pattern, a special design used by the Union Pacific
Railroad (Luckin 1990:258), are common. Other
specialty items include sherds from at least three
historic Hopi Yellow Ware vessels. These Hopi



Unshouldered,
PSA=0°

Large points,
>25mm

Shouldered,
PSA > 0°

PROJECTILE POINTS

83

Humboldt Side-notched, Comer-notched, Stemmed,
Concave base PSA 2150°, PSA > 110° & PSA 110°,
notches <6mm < 150°, notches NOI > 60°
<5mm, straight to
convex base
Elko Cornes-notched
Stem height Stem height Stem height Stem height
<10mm >10mm <20mm >20mm
Straight to | | Concave Straight to. | | Concave Straight to Straight to Great Basin
convex base slightly base contracting expanding Stemmed
base convex stem, stem,
base PSA s 100° PSA > 100°,
concave
base
Gatecliff/ Pinto
Elko Side- | | Northern Sudden San Rafael Gypsum
notched Side- Side- Side- Contracting
notched notched notched stemmed

Figure 7.1. Classification key for large projectile points collected during the Bryce Canyon
Archeological Inventory Survey project.



zones, and the archeological materials ascribed to
this Puebloan group show a similarly wide range of
architectural and artifactual types and settlement
patterns. The taxonomic validity of the Virgin
Anasazi has been a subject of some debate, but it is
generally viewed as equivalent in scope and
distinctiveness to the Kayenta, Chaco, and Mesa
Verde Anasazi groups (McFadden 1996). The
Kayenta Anasazi represent a _ better-known
archeological culture that is recognized throughout
northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah, but
Bryce Canyon National Park lies well outside the
core Kayenta area.

Significant Puebloan occupation of the Grand
Staircase physiographic province began during the
Pueblo I period (about A.D. 700) and peaked in the
late Pueblo II period (by A.D. 1150) (McFadden
1996). Larson and Michaelson (1990) posit that a
catastrophic drought at the end of the Pueblo II
period probably prompted the complete
abandonment of the southern Great Basin by
Puebloan groups (cf. Allison 1996). Others have
argued that their demise was hastened by the arrival
of Numic speaking hunter-gatherers from the Great
Basin (Ambler and Sutton 1989).

A small number of sites in Bryce Canyon
National Park contain Virgin Anasazi ceramics.
Few others are known on the plateau. In a review of
past research in Bryce Canyon National Park,
Dominguez and Danielson (2000:11) previously
asserted a “high frequency” of Virgin Anasazi sites
on the Paunsaugunt Plateau, but these sites actually
lie off the plateau, to the south in the Skutumpah
Terrace and Alton areas (Davidson et al. 1978).
Three sites attributed to the Kayenta Anasazi are
reported north and northeast of the park (Hauck
1979), but the attribution of some of these sites to
the Kayenta branch, or even to the Anasazi, seems
questionable (see Kearns 1982:269-270). Use of
the study area by Puebloan groups was probably
restricted to upland resource procurement rather
than significant long-term occupation, due to the
absence of a suitable horticultural climate (e.g.,
McFadden 1996).

CULTURAL HISTORY 19

Numic/Southern Paiute Groups

Modern Numic-speaking people include Paiute and
Shoshonean groups. Numic groups are thought to
have spread from the far southwestern Great Basin
starting sometime around A.D. 1000 (Bettinger and
Baumhoff 1982; Fowler et al. 1973; Jennings 1978;
Lamb 1958; Madsen 1975; Steward 1938). These
highly mobile hunter-gatherers probably supple-
mented their seasonal rounds with occasional
reliance on maize horticulture. Archeological
materials that are indicative of these groups include
small arrow points (particularly Desert Side-
notched types) and thick, coarse-tempered, plain
brown ware pottery (Lyneis 1994b, cited in Madsen
and Simms 1998).

During the historic period, the park and its
vicinity lay within the province of the Southern
Paiute, who were first contacted by the Dominguez-
Escalante expedition in 1776 (Euler 1966; Kelly
1934, 1964; Steward 1938). With the opening of the
Spanish Trail soon after this expedition, the
Southern Paiute fell victim to the Mexican and Ute
slave trade, although little information is available
from this early period (Euler 1966; Holt 1992). The
impact of the slave trade appears to have been
minor compared to the cultural and economic
impact of the Mormon settlers in the 1850s (Euler
1966; Holt 1992). In southern Utah, much of the
Euro-American settlement occurred along the
Muddy and Virgin Rivers, but the relatively well-
watered land of the Paunsaugunt Plateau also
eventually attracted the settlers’ interest. The Paiute
territory east of the Paunsaugunt Plateau along the
Paria River was settled by Euro-Americans in the
late nineteenth century. Although specific instances
of violence between the local Paiute and settlers are
not reported, in the 1860s southern Utah witnessed
a period of strife and violence between Euro-
Americans and Native Americans known as the
Black Hawk War (Euler 1966; Steward 1938:5). By
1870, warfare had ceased and most of Utah’s Paiute
groups had settled near towns or on reservations
and depended on issued food for subsistence (Euler
1966; Holt 1992; Kelly 1964).



BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

230

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Martin, S. L.

1998 A Dietary Reconstruction for the Virgin
River Branch Anasazi. In Learning from the
Land—Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument Science Symposium Proceedings,
edited by L. M. Hill, pp. 75-90. Southern
Utah University, Cedar City, Utah.

Martorano, M. A.

1981 Scarred Ponderosa Pine Trees
Reflecting Cultural Utilization of Bark.
Unpublished master’s thesis, Department of
Anthropology, Colorado State University,
Fort Collins.

1988 Culturally Peeled Trees and Ute
Indians in Colorado. In Archaeology of the
Eastern Ute: A Symposium, edited by P. R.
Nickens, pp. 5~21. Colorado Council of
Professional Archaeologists Occasional
Papers No. 1. Denver.

Marwitt, J. P.
1968 Pharo Village. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers No. 91. University
of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

1970 Median Village and Fremont Culture
Regional Variation. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers No. 95. University
of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Mathew, K.

1997 Archeological Survey of Underground
Cable Route, Bryce Canyon National Park,
Highway 12. Ms. on file, National Park
Service, Midwest Archeological Center,
Lincoln.

Matson, R. G.
1991 Origins of Southwestern Agriculture.
University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

Matson, R. G., W. D. Lipe, and W. R. Haase
1988 Adaptational Continuities and
Occupational Discontinuities: The Cedar
Mesa Anasazi. Journal of Field
Archaeology 15:245-264.

REFERENCES CITED = 291

Moffit, K.

1978 Archaeological Investigations along
the Navajo-McCullough Transmission Line
Southern Utah & Northern Arizona.
Museum of Northern Arizona Research
Paper No. 10. Flagstaff.

Mohr, A., and L. L. Sample
1959 San Jose Sites in Southeastern Utah. E/
Palacio 66(4):109-119.

Moore, R. A.
1982 Lithic Analysis. In Archaeological

Excavations in Blocks VI and VII, N.ILLP.,
San Juan County, New Mexico, Volume 3,
edited by T. A. Del Bene and D. Ford,

pp. 859-920. Navajo Nation Papers in
Anthropology Number 13. Window Rock,
Arizona.

Moore, R. A., and G. M. Brown
2002 A Projectile Key for Unlocking the
Oshara Tradition. Paper presented at the
67" Annual Meeting of the Society for
American Archaeology, Denver.

Morris, E. H., and R. F. Burgh
1954 Basket Maker II Sites near Durango,
Colorado. Publication 604. Carnegie
Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.

National Park Service (NPS)
1983. Agua Canyon Gravel Quarry
Restoration Project. Ms on file, Bryce
Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

1987 General Management Plan /
Development Concept Plan, Bryce Canyon
National Park, Utah. Ms. on file, Bryce
Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

1991 Archeological Project Research Design
and Data Recovery Plan for Mitigation on
Bryce Canyon Road Widening. Ms. on file,
Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce
Canyon, Utah.

1998 Bryce Canyon National Park
Archeological Overview and Assessment.


226 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

necessary at sites of all time periods (not just
Anasazi or Fremont sites) to provide the robust
data sets needed for accurately assessing the
interpretations of regional surveys.

The High Plateaus that frame the Grand
Staircase occupy a geographic boundary zone
between the eastern Great Basin and the western
Colorado Plateau. Through the entire 8,000-year
Archaic period, the material culture of the residents
of this boundary zone shows a strong affinity to
that of the contemporary archeological cultures
inhabiting the Great Basin to the west. No such
affinity to the Southwest culture area of the
Colorado Plateau to the south and east is evident.
This pattern is striking because of the dramatic
dissimilarities between the environments of the
Grand Staircase (which is typical of Colorado
Plateau grasslands and woodlands) and the Great
Basin, with its lacustrine basins and cold-desert
settings. Identifying the processes through which

the material culture of Great Basin-focused
archeological cultures came to be used on the
Colorado Plateau remains an important archeo-
logical problem. One key to the interpretation of
this pattern involves working out the temporal and
spatial relationships of diagnostic Archaic period
projectile point styles in southern Utah. The
relationship of local projectile point styles to those
of traditions in neighboring areas (e.g., the northem
Southwest’s Oshara Tradition) must also be
clarified. Simple points-equal-people _ interpre-
tations will probably fail as explanations. Other
technological, environmental, geographic, social,
and economic factors also surely played important
roles in promoting or constraining the nature of the
Great Basin Archaic period adaptation to southern
Utah’s canyons and mesas. Data from throughout
the Great Basin/Colorado Plateau interface, and
places like Bryce Canyon National Park in
particular, will contribute to the resolution of this
question and many others about the past.



144. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

exists (e.g., Ahler 1989; Sullivan and Rozen
1985), meaning, for example, that biface-thinning
activities do not produce exclusively biface-
thinning flakes. Still, the proportions of flakes of
different types can correlate in a general way to
overall reduction strategies, allowing activities
such as core reduction to be distinguished from
tool sharpening or other activities. The presence
of certain flake types, such as pressure, notching,
and biface-thinning flakes, even in low
frequencies, can also point out with good certainty
that specific activities occurred at a site. Flake
type definitions mainly follow Ahler (1989),
Crabtree (1972), and Newcomer (1971).

Biface-thinning flakes exhibit some combi-
nation of several distinctive attributes such as a
thin, flat cross section; acute edge angles asso-
ciated with feathered terminations; multiple dorsal
flake scars with little cortex; and a narrow,
faceted, prepared, lipped platform with a subdued
positive bulb of force. Biface-reduction flakes
show some attributes of thinning flakes (e.g.,
dorsal scars, faceted or prepared platforms, etc.)
but also show cone-fracture positive bulbs of
force or thick cross sections that suggest an origin
from other than strictly thinning reduction. These
flakes may represent early-stage biface-edging
activities, biface-thinning accidents, or biface
error-recovery flakes. Freehand reduction flakes,
produced through direct freehand percussion,
display cone or indeterminate platforms. This type
generally follows Ahler’s (1989:211) definition of
hardhammer or other “good” flakes. These flakes
possess attributes that allow their orientation to be
determined but otherwise lack a technologically
diagnostic morphology; they can derive from any
reduction technique and are not diagnostic solely
of core reduction. Bipolar flakes, commonly
produced during bipolar core reduction, display
sheared, opposed, crushed platforms and accen-
tuated ripple marks.

Pressure flakes, produced with pressure-
flaking tools during shaping or sharpening tasks,
are often small and show prepared, lipped
platforms and parallel dorsal scars. Notching

flakes are a specialized subset of pressure flakes
that show deeply concave dorsal flake scars near
the proximal end and a V-shaped platform surface,
indicating the flake was removed from the notch
of a projectile point. Pieces of angular debris are
cubical or irregularly shaped chunks that cannot
be oriented because they lack any well-defined
bulbs of percussion or systematic alignment of
cleavage scars. Potlid flakes also lack platforms,
but they resemble dome-shaped spalls with one
flat (often cortical) face; these flakes derive from
excessive heating or natural material flaws. Potlid
flakes do not provide appreciable behavioral
information but can indicate postdepositional fire
effects on lithic assemblages.

Table 8.2 summarizes the counts of analyzed
flake types at all project sites. Because Brian
Head chert is the overwhelmingly dominant raw
material (89 percent of the assemblage), flakes of
this stone type significantly skew the proportions
of overall flake types. Obsidian, local quartzite,
and untyped chert constitute the three other most
common flake materials. Excluding notching and
potlid flakes, the proportions of quartzite flake
types do not appear to differ from Brian Head
chert, but untyped chert and obsidian appear to
have been flaked differently than Brian Head
material. Although local quartzite has some empty
cell values, a chi-square test of independence
indicates flake-type frequencies that are not
statistically different from Brian Head chert Q?=
8; df = 4; p = .11). The quartzite assemblage
probably appears similar to Brian Head chert due
to the predominance of freehand percussion flakes
in both assemblages. When the frequencies of
obsidian and Brian Head chert flake types are
compared, however, significant differences are
apparent (%° > 37; df = 4; p < .01). A visual
assessment of obsidian flake counts indicates that
substantially higher proportions of _ biface
thinning, biface reduction, and pressure flakes are
present than among the Brian Head chert
assemblage. Similarly, untyped chert also shows
significantly different flake type proportions from
Brian Head chert (%?> 19; df = 4; p <.01), possibly
induced by a lower-than-expected frequency of


References Cited

Adovasio, J. M.
1970 Chipped Stone. In Median Village and
Fremont Culture Regional Variation, by J.
P. Marwitt, pp. 75~96. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers No. 95. University
of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Agenbroad L. D., J. I. Mead, and R. S.
Anderson
1992 Quaternary Paleoenvironmental Studies
of the Colorado Plateau Year I. National
Park Service Contract RMR-R91-0176. Ms.
on file, National Park Service, Denver.

Agogino, G., and J. Hester
1956 A Reevaluation of the San Jose Non-
Ceramic Cultures. E/ Palacio 63(1):6-21.

Ahler, S. A.
1983 Heat Treatment of Knife River Flint.
Lithic Technology 12:\-8.

1989 Experimental Knapping with KRF
and Midcontinent Cherts: Overview and
Applications. In Experiments in Lithic
Technology, edited by Daniel S. Amick
and Raymond P. Maudlin, pp. 199-234.
BAR International Series 528, Oxford.

Ahlstrom, O.
1935 The Early Days of Tropic. Ms. on file,
Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce
Canyon, Utah.

279

Aikens, C. M.

1970 Hogup Cave. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers No. 93.
University of Utah Press, Salt Lake
City.

Aikens, C. M., and D. B. Madsen
1986 Prehistory of the Eastern Area. In
Great Basin, edited by W. L. D'Azevedo,
pp. 149-160. Handbook of North
American Indians, vol. 11, W. C.
Sturtevant, general editor. Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C.

Alexander, D.

1983 The Limitations of Traditional
Surveying Techniques in a Forested
Environment. Journal of Field Archeology
10:177-186.

Alexander, T. G. (interviewer)

1973. Glen M. Alexander (interview
transcript). Charles Redd Center for
Western Studies, Brigham Young
University Oral History Project.
Brigham Young University, Provo.

Allison, J. R.

1996 Comments on the Impacts of
Climatic Variability and Population
Growth on Virgin Anasazi Cultural
Development. American Antiquity
61:414-418.


44 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

sites and a single Euro-American site along the Rim
Road construction corridor (NPS 1991). That
document, written part-way through the
multiyear project, outlined the project’s field
methods and described the expected range of
recovered artifact and data classes. The primary
goal of the research design for Native American
sites was to “allow the development of a culture
chronology for Bryce Canyon, which has not
been explicated to date. The data will also allow
investigation of several aspects of forest fire
history and cultural use of post-fire commu-
nities” (NPS 1991:1-2). Similarly, for the
historical CCC campsite, “many issues regarding
the hierarchic nature of the camp’s layout, the
distribution of personnel, and socio-economic
disparities are not explicit in the documentary
sources. Recording these traces of facilities and
associated discards will allow examination of
these issues” (NPS 1991:2).

Similarly, the preliminary research design
that directed the field strategy during the 2000
and 2001 inventory seasons outlined a suite of
fundamental questions about the park’s cultural
history (Wenker and Eininger 2001:15—18). The
research domains that initially directed the Bryce
Canyon AIS included: (1) chronology of Native
American and Euro-American use of the park,
(2) Native American and Euro-American land-
use patterns, and (3) Native American and Euro-
American cultural affiliation and interaction.
These divisions allow synchronic and diachronic
evaluations within and among each research
domain or sub-domain.

Both of the above research designs empha-
size the basic need to flesh out our understanding
of the human history at Bryce Canyon National
Park. Because this type of baseline data was
sorely lacking, questions about the chronology of
human occupation, cultural affiliation, and
patterns of land use dominated the research
plans. These issues remain as the most important
research questions in the present study, While the
results of the project may help expand or refine
our knowledge about these topics, these issues

should remain at the forefront of future
archeological research as well.

After the end of the 2001 field season, the
range and types of archeological resources at
Bryce Canyon National Park were fairly well
understood. As outlined below, the preliminary
research design expanded to involve a variety of
research questions that could be explored with
available data. Necessarily, the research design
acknowledges the survey’s data-collection methods,
which were implemented through a management-
oriented, compliance-driven inventory project.
Certain established aspects of the field methods
(such as the practice of recording sites apart from
IOs, or the use of 15-m-wide transects) must be
accommodated by the research plan. Similarly,
the range of data classes collected in the field
limit the topics that can be addressed by the final
research design.

Revised Research Plan

The three primary research domains (chronol-
ogy, land use, and cultural affiliation) outlined
by Wenker and Eininger (2001) remain central
to the Bryce Canyon AIS. The goal of the
chronology research domain is the deter-
mination of the sequence of prehistoric and
historic occupations that occurred in and near
the project area. Events that occurred within
recent memory or during the period of recorded
history are relatively easy to identify and order
chronologically. As the time period in question
becomes more remote, an area’s occupational
history becomes more difficult to confidently
identify and order. At this point, the focus lies
not on identifying individual events but on
outlining patterns or general sequences of
occupations. An investigation of chronology
cannot be divorced from issues such as cultural
affiliation and land-use patterns, however.

The goal of the research domain that
focuses on land use is the identification and
interpretation of the function, periodicity, and
duration of the episodes of human occupation in



246

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Appendix 6.2. (continued)

IONo. Cultural Affiliation IO Type IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type
3065 Euro-American _Bottle 3262 Native American Flake
3093 Native American Flake 3263 Euro-American _ Historic refuse, food, nonfood,
3094 Euro-American Road tobacco
5095 Native American Lithie scatter 3264 Late Prehistoric Unknown come notched
3096 Archaic Lithic scatter, includes | Elko 3265 Euro-American Can, food
Corner notched point
3097 Euro-American _Dendroglyph 3266 Native American Pressure flaked biface
3098 Native American Flake 3267 Native American _ Flake scatter
3099 Euro-American Can, nonfood 3268 Native American Flake scatter
3193 Euro-American Cairn 3269 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface
3197 Euro-American Wood pile 3270 Late Archaic Gypsum point
3198 Euro-American Can scatter, nonfood 3271 Late Prehistoric anon paint er orehed
3199 Native American Pressure flaked biface 3272 Euro-American Bottle
3225 Euro-American Can, tobacco 3273 Euro-American Campfire; Can scatter, food
3242 Native American Flake 3274 Euro-American Can scatter, food, tobacco
3243 Euro-American Can, food 3275 Euro-American Road
3244 Euro-American Hardware 3276 Euro-American Can scatter, food
3245 Euro-American Bottle 3277 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3246 Native American Flake 3278 Euro-American _Rock alignment
3247 Euro-American Hardware 3279 Euro-American Dendroglyphs
3248 Native American Flake scatter and Historic 3280 Euro-American Bottle
and Euro-American refuse, food
3249 Euro-American Bottle 3281 Euro-American Benchmark
3250 Euro-American Can scatter, food 3282 Euro-American Hardware
3251 Euro-American —_Can scatter, food 3283 Euro-American Dendroglyphs
3252 EurorAmerican Sign 3284 Euro-American Campfire; Can, food
3253 Euro-American Fence 3285 Euro-American Hardware
3254 Euro-American Fence 3286 Euro-American _Bottle
3255 Euro-American Boundary segment 3287 Euro-American Dendroglyph
3256 Euro-American Can, food 3288 Euro-American Road
3257 Native American Pressure flaked biface 3289 Euro-American Road
3258 Buro-American Can, food 3354 Euro-American _ Historic refuse, food
3259 Euro-American Boundary segment 3382, Euro-American Cairn
3260 Euro-American Boundary segment 3383 Native American ‘Flake scatter
3384 Euro-American Hardware

3261

Native American

Lithic scatter



LG
Ww. ALS.
USFS

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5 a

EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 183
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Figure 9.3. Examples of complex aspen dendroglyphs with personal names and dates. Not to scale.


282. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Bryce Canyon. Subject: Stock Driveways
within Bryce Canyon National Park. May
8, 1969. Memorandum on file, Bryce
Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon,
Utah.

Bryan K,, and J. H. Toulouse, Jr.
1943 The San Jose Non-ceramic Culture and
Its Relation to Puebloan Culture in New
Mexico. American Antiquity 8:269-280.

Bryant, R.
1997 Rock Quarry Restoration Saves Park
Big Dollars. Park Steward Spring 1997:8—
9. National Park Service, Washington,
D.C.

Buchanan, H.

1960 The Plant Ecology of Bryce Canyon
National Park, Utah. Unpublished master’s
thesis, Department of Botany, University of
Utah, Salt Lake City.

1981 Plant Community Changes at Bryce
Canyon National Park from 1957-1980.
Final Report to the National Park Service,
Contract No. CX-1200-8-BO16.
Department of Botany, Weber State
University, Ogden, Utah.

Buchanan, H., and K, T. Harper
1981 Successional Dynamics of the

Forests of Bryce Canyon National Park,
Utah. Part Il of Plant Community Changes
at Bryce Canyon National Park from
1957-1980, by Hayle Buchanan. Final
Report to the National Park Service,
Contract No. CX-1200-8-BO16.
Department of Botany, Weber State
University, Ogden, Utah.

Butler, B. Robert
1978 A Guide to Understanding Idaho
Archaeology: The Upper Snake and Salmon
River Country. 3rd ed. Idaho State
Preservation Office, Boise.

Calabrese, F. A.
1974a Archeological Investigations—
Proposed Sewer Line Extension,
Headquarters Area, Bryce Canyon National
Park. Ms. on file, National Park Service,
Midwest Archeological Center, Lincoln.

1974b Letter to Dr. David B. Madsen, Utah
State Archeologist, State Historic
Preservation Office. Ms. on file, National
Park Service, Midwest Archeological
Center, Lincoln.

Callahan, E. C.

1979 The Basics of Biface Flintknapping in
the Eastern Fluted Point Tradition: A
Manual for Flintknapper and Lithic
Analysts. Archaeology of Eastern North
America 7:1—-180.

Canaday, T. W.

2001 High-Altitude Archaeological
Investigations at Cedar Breaks National
Monument, Utah. Cultural Resources
Selections No. 17. Intermountain Region,
National Park Service, Denver.

Carr, C., and J. Neitzel
1995 Integrating Approaches to Material
Style in Theory and Philosophy. In Style,
Society, and Person: Archaeological and
Ethnological Perspectives, edited by C.
Carr and J. Neitzel, pp. 3-26. Plenum Press,
New York.

Caywood, J.

1994 National Park Service Housing, Old
Housing District National Register of Historic
Places Registration Form. Ms on file, Bryce
Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

Caywood, J., and F. Grant
1994 Inventory and Evaluation of Historical
Resources within Bryce Canyon National
Park. Historical Research Associates, Inc.,
Missoula.



128. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

component occupations argue that cultural factors
such as site function and land-use strategies rather
than sample sizes are responsible for the low level
of occupational intensity. These topics are
explored later in this chapter.

Numic and Paiute Occupation

Following Reed (1994) and Geib et al.
(2001:392), all sites in the project area containing
post-Formative artifact or feature types such as
Desert Side-notched points, brown ware ceramics,
or bark-stripped trees are assigned general
Numic/Paiute affiliations, because Bryce Canyon
National Park lies squarely in the historic range of
Southern Paiute bands (Kelly 1964) and this
attribution seems safely warranted. Eleven sites
recorded during the inventory contain Numic or
Paiute material (Table 8.1; Figure 8.7). Four sites
were identified by the presence of bark-stripped
ponderosa pine trees. The steel axe marks on these
trees indicate a protohistoric or historic age for
these features, and these sites are attributed to the
Southern Paiute, who are historically documented
to have occupied the plateau (Kelly 1964). One of
these sites also contains a Desert Side-notched
projectile point. Two of these bark-stripped tree
sites also contain Archaic period lithic scatters.

The remaining seven Numic sites are
identified by the presence of Desert Side-notched
projectile points or Southern Paiute Brown Ware
ceramics. Because these sites cannot be
confidently ascribed to either the prehistoric,
protohistoric, or historic periods, they are catego-
rized as general Numic sites (hence the “Numic/
Paiute” ascription for the class as a whole). Three
of these sites contain brown ware sherds, two
contain Desert Side-notched points, one contains
both brown ware ceramics and a Desert Side-
notched point, and one contains a Desert Side-
notched point and also returned three radiocarbon
dates that indicate a sixteenth to eighteenth
century period of use (Dominguez and Danielson

2000:110). An additional six Desert Side-notched
points are recorded as IOs in the project area.

The occupational intensity represented by the
Desert Side-notched projectile points alone
supercedes all other point types (Figure 8.2).
When all late Prehistoric and Formative period
types are lumped (Figure 8.3), that period’s
occupational intensity exceeds that of the
Numic/Paiute period, but only by a slight margin.
Geib et al. (2001:442) observe a similar phe-
nomenon on the Kaiparowits Plateau. There,
although Archaic period sites were the most
numerous, “the sites of Post-Formative foragers
actually have a greater density per unit of time.
There are 0.05 Archaic sites per year, whereas
there are 0.1 Post-Formative sites per year.” On
the Paunsaugunt Plateau, the project area contains
004 Archaic period sites per year and .016
Numic/Paiute sites per year. This 1:4 ratio
represents an even higher proportion of
Numic/Paiute sites than reported by Geib et al.
(2001).

Site-size assessments (Figures 8.4 and 8.5)
reveal that Numic/Paiute sites are generally larger
than all size categories except the late Archaic
period. This observation is not in line with sites on
the Kaiparowits Plateau, where Geib et al.
(2001:397, 443) characterize the post-Formative
sites as being much smaller than Archaic period
sites. This discrepancy may be due to the different
types and functions of sites present in Bryce
Canyon National Park, which include sites with
either bark-stripped trees or Southern Paiute
Brown Ware ceramics, neither of which are
present in the Kaiparowits Plateau survey area.
When the four sites with bark-stripped trees are
excluded, the average Numic/Paiute site size
drops to 1,439 m’, indicating that the artifact
scatters at these sites are actually quite small, as
Geib et al. (2001) also point out. Paiute site types
and functions are further discussed in a following
section.



3

Cultural History

Sue Eininger, Cynthia Herhahn, and Chris T. Wenker

The following passage relates a Paiute account of the
creation of Bryce Canyon, as explained to a park
naturalist by an elderly Paiute man who lived on the
Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation in the 1930s.

Before there were any Indians, the Legend
People, To-when-an-ung-wa, lived in that place.
There were many of them. They were of many
kinds—birds, animals, lizards, and such
things—but they looked like people. They were
not people; they had power to make themselves
look that way. For some reason the Legend
People in that place were bad; they did
something that was not good, perhaps a fight,
perhaps some stole something. . . . the tale is not
clear at this point. Because they were bad,
Coyote turned them all into rocks. You can see
them in that place now, all turned into rocks;
some standing in rows, some sitting down, some
holding onto others. You can see their faces,
with paint on them just as they were before they
became rocks. The name of that place is Angka-
ku-wass-a-wits [red painted faces]. This is the
story the people tell. (Presnath 1936, in
Scrattish 1985:7, italics added)

For comparison, consider the following passage
written in a moment of “feverish inspiration” by
T. C. Bailey, a government surveyor, on November
18, 1876.

Immediately east and south of the last corner
set, the surface breaks off almost perpen-
dicularly to a depth of several hundred feet—
seems indeed as though the bottom had dropped

15

out and left rocks standing in all shapes and
forms as lone sentinels over the grotesque and
picturesque scenes. There are thousands of red,
white, purple, and vermilion colored rocks, of
all sizes, resembling sentinels on the walls of
castles, monks and priests in their robes,
attendants, cathedrals and congregations. There
are deep caverns and rooms resembling ruins of
prisons, castles, churches with their guarded
walls, battlements, spires, and steeples, niches
and recesses, presenting the wildest and most
wonderful scene that the eye of man ever
beheld. (in Scrattish 1985:10)

Despite the temporal and cultural gulf
separating these two accounts, both statements
underscore the evocative impact of Bryce
Canyon’s surreal landscape. Over the past
centuries, the Bryce Canyon area has been home
to both Native Americans and Euro-Americans,
and the landscape has surely wrought its imprint
on the minds of many who have lived there.
This chapter recounts the human history of the
park and the plateau.

Native American Cultural History on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau

Bryce Canyon National Park occupies a transitional
area between the Great Basin and the Colorado
Plateau physiographic provinces, and simultaneously
the park lies along the peripheries of multiple



FIELD METHODS AND RESEARCH DESIGN 47

Because much of the eastern and southern
Great Basin lacks large lakes, smaller and more
dispersed marsh resources along rivers, streams,
and small lakes may have been crucial to Archaic
period Great Basin adaptations. In the Great
Basin/Colorado Plateau transitional area, these
types of mesic resource zones are typically found
only in the highest-elevation settings. In the
vicinity of Bryce Canyon National Park, portions
of the East Fork of the Sevier River and its
tributaries may have provided just such a
resource zone. If marsh resources did exist in the
park itself, they probably would have been found
in the areas of East Creek and upper Podunk
Creek, or in the wetter canyons below the Pink
Cliffs. If the presence of past wetlands could be
determined through paleoenvironmental research,
the middle and late Archaic period sites of the
plateau could have the potential to provide
important information relevant to the study of
montane adaptations in the Great Basin/Colorado
Plateau transitional zone during the middle and
late Holocene Epoch.

Late Prehistoric/Formative Cultures: Fremont
and Puebloan Groups on the Paunsaugunt
Plateau

Following the end of the Archaic period, the
cultural-historical picture becomes very complex
due to the overlapping ranges of groups who
pursued a variety of adaptive strategies and
exhibited a high degree of demographic fluidity.
The research questions that focus on the late
Prehistoric or Formative (e.g., Fremont, Puebloan)
occupation of the area explore the adaptive
responses engendered by the addition of
horticultural products to post-Archaic period
subsistence strategies.

The Archaic period clearly shows a hunting
and gathering focus, but post-Archaic period
subsistence pursuits ranged from full-time
foraging to full-time farming, and included
everything in between (Madsen and Simms
1998). The Fremont archeological culture fully
represents this range of subsistence strategies.

While no recorded sites in Bryce Canyon
National Park are clearly of Fremont origin,
many of the park’s nonceramic sites are certainly
late Prehistoric (ie., post-Archaic) in age.
Several Fremont sites are known from along the
East Fork of the Sevier River near the northern
and western park boundaries, so a Fremont
presence on the plateau is certain. The prox-
imity of the contemporaneous Virgin Anasazi
culture area to the south, which has a definite
presence in the park, further complicates the
process of determining the cultural affiliation of
the park’s aceramic late Prehistoric sites. These
sites must be accounted for in the interpretation
of the park’s prehistory and are considered in
this discussion as generalized late Prehistoric/
Formative sites that may have been occupied by
Fremont, Puebloan, or other post-Archaic groups.
The generalized late Prehistoric/Formative
archeological record in Bryce Canyon National
Park does not contain any signs of sedentary
villages, but it does contain sites that may be
related to the procurement of wild resources.
Prominent research issues applicable to all late
Prehistoric/Formative sites center on the study
of land-use patterns away from settled villages,
the extent of prehistoric catchment areas, and
how these areas interface with procurement zones
of other contemporary late Prehistoric- or
Formative-era peoples (e.g., Parowan vis-a-vis
San Rafael Fremont, or Fremont vis-a-vis
Puebloan groups).

The research issues that apply specifically to
the Puebloan use of Bryce Canyon National Park
also focus on montane resource procurement.
Unlike Fremont farmers, Virgin Anasazi horti-
culturists are believed to have been less reliant
on wild resources, and their settlement patterns
were structured to emphasize farming rather than
to optimize access to wild resources (Lyneis
1995; McFadden 1996; cf. Fawcett and Latady
1998). The park’s Puebloan sites are not
numerous, but they can provide a broader view of
Puebloan subsistence practices than that derived
solely from architectural sites at lower
elevations.


170 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

During their Kaiparowits Plateau survey, Geib
et al. (2001) examined samples of nine different
physiographic features across a 323,760 ha
(800,000 acre) study area. The sampled areas
encompassed various steps of the Kaiparowits
Plateau ranging in elevation from roughly 1,334 to
1,981 m (4,375 to 6,500 ft) asl. The physiographic
features were used as sampling frames to inves-
tigate differences in human settlement patterning
among environmental zones. Geib et al. (2001:4)
used this scale of inquiry “because locational
decisions at this scale are more directly related to
subsistence strategies, to the resource structure of
the landscape, and to changes in this structure
from environmental change.”

Although Bryce Canyon National Park lies at
least 40km (25 mi) west and north of the
Kaiparowits Plateau, the area encompassed by the
inventory project can validly be considered an
additional sampling frame in the context of
regional archeological research. The level of survey
intensity in the Bryce Canyon project area matches
or exceeds any in the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument, and site-definition criteria
generally correspond (e.g., Geib et al. 2001:12).
The Paunsaugunt Plateau provides an especially
valuable region to examine in the context of
southern Utah’s mesa and canyon country because
it represents a high-elevation setting that is not
represented in the Kaiparowits Plateau or Glen
Canyon areas. The Bryce Canyon inventory area
covers mesa tops and canyons ranging in elevation
from 2,323 to 2,778m (7,620 to 9,115 ft) asl,
averaging 2,534m (8,315 ft) asl. Granted, a
significant elevational gap exists between the
highest Kaiparowits Plateau sampling strata and the
lowest end of the Bryce Canyon AIS. Spatially and
topographically, several prominent ridges and
canyons, not to mention the Paria River and the
White and Pink Cliffs, also intervene between the
Kaiparowits and Paunsaugunt Plateaus. Regardless
of its elevational and spatial remoteness from the
Kaiparowits Plateau, the Bryce Canyon project area
can be viewed as a representative and comparable
sampling frame of one of the highest steps in the
Grand Staircase.

Fortunately, areas that encompass the
elevational and physiographic zones between the
Paunsaugunt and Kaiparowits Plateau study areas
have also been examined by previous archeo-
logical surveys. For example, Kearns (1982)
reports extensive archeological sample surveys in
Tract II of the Escalante Project, which covers
parts of the foothills of the Aquarius Plateau
northeast of the park, at elevations slightly lower
than the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Christensen et al.
(1983), Halibirt and Gualtieri (1981), and Keller
(1987) surveyed extensive sample parcels in the
Alton area south and southwest of Bryce Canyon
National Park, in the Gray Cliffs region
immediately below the Paunsaugunt Plateau.
Other comparative high-elevation data is provided
by Canaday (2001), who describes an intensive
archeological survey at Cedar Breaks National
Monument on the Markagunt Plateau to the west,
which is situated at a slightly higher elevation
than Bryce Canyon National Park. Geib (1989)
reports survey results from the lower Glen
Canyon benches, in a setting that is generally
lower than the Kaiparowits Plateau. Hauck (1979)
also summarizes sample surveys throughout much
of south-central Utah.

The following assessment of regional
settlement trends does not attempt to synthesize
all of the data presented by the above-cited
projects. The differences in sampling strategies,
field methods, site criteria, and site typologies
among the projects renders some of the results
difficult to reconcile with Bryce Canyon AIS data.
By virtue of their similar site typologies, the
results and interpretations presented by Kearns
(1982) and Geib et al. (2001) are most easily
compared with the Bryce Canyon project results.
Information gleaned from the other projects will
be incorporated when appropriate. The following
sections summarize observations of regional land
use from the low-elevation, desertscrub settings
of Glen Canyon, through the mid-elevation
pinyon-juniper woodlands of the Kaiparowits
Plateau and Grand Staircase, to the montane
High Plateaus such as studied in Bryce Canyon
National Park.


278 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

October 9, 2001Bryce
R. E. Hughes, Analyst

Canyon, Utah, Xrf Data
Page 1 of 1

Trace and Selected Minor Element Concentrations Ratio
Cat. . v Obsidian Source
No. Zn Ga Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Ba Ti Mn FeO, Fe/Mn (Chemical Type)
FS #32 40 16 184 36 20 104 19 154 nm nm nm nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
+6 #43 +46 43 43 440 43) 413 (Mineral Mountains)
FS #33 40 17 187 39 20 109 21 161 mm nm nm nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
+6 43 +4 43 43 44 43 +13 (Mineral Mountains)
FS #39 41 15 189 37 18 103 17 205 nm nm am nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
26 +3 44 43 43 44 43 213 (Mineral Mountains)
FS #43 39 «18 «188 035.19 106 20 200 nm nm am nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
+6 43 44 43 43 44 43 413 (Mineral Mountains)
FS #52 39 1S 175 39 18 107 20 198 nm nm nm nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
46 43 4 43 43 44 33 413 (Mineral Mountains)
FS #59 41 15 183. 37 19 100 20 181 nm nm nm nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
+5 43 44 43 43 <4 43 213 (Mineral Mountains)
FS #60 42 19 188 36 17° 100) «19 169 nm nm nm nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
+6 $3 £4 43 43 +4 43 413 (Mineral Mountains)
FS #74 4} 1S 17736 19 103 18 142 nm nm nm nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
46 #43 +4 43 £3 44 43 413 (Mineral Mountains)
FS #77 47 13° 191 74 25 112 14 476 nm nm nm nm Panaca Summit
#4045 +3 43 44 430 460 415
FS #82 91 21 380) 13) 38 «234. 77-19 1108748 1.250 14 Unknown
+6 $3 25 £3 43 44 43 £12 424 412 £10
FS #88 38 19 194 37 19 105° 20 164 nm nm nm nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
+6 43 +4 43 43 44 43 £13 (Mineral Mountains)
FS #97 44 1S) 182 37 19 104 18 187 nm nm nm nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
+6 43 +4 43 23 44 43 213 (Mineral Mountains)
FS#103 49 16 190 37 22 108 20 189 nm nm nm nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
26 43 t4 43 43 +4 43 214 (Mineral Mountains)
FS#104 360 19) 192, 38) 17,105 22,193 nm am nm nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
+6 443 +4 43 43 +4 43 £13 (Mineral Mountains)
FS #105 39 16 192 38 20 102 23 188 nm nm am nm Wild Horse Canyon, UT
+6 43 +4 43 43 44 43 413 (Mineral Mountains)
Values in parts per million (ppm) except total iron (expressed in weight percent) and Fe/Mn intensity ratios
+ = estimate (in ppm) of x-ray counting uncertainty and regression fitting error at 300 and 600 (*) seconds livetime
nm = not measured.



176 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
sites on the Paunsaugunt Plateau are also
completely lacking in features. The dramatic
difference in site density between the Paunsaugunt
Plateau and Skutumpah Terrace further indicates a
precipitous drop in occupational intensity on the
high plateau, despite its proximity to the relatively
well-used terraces below. This difference in use is
apparent even if all late Prehistoric/Formative
period sites on the plateau are considered in
addition to the known Puebloan sites. Apparently,
the top of the plateau did not contain sufficiently
unique resources that could not be acquired in
other occupation zones. The time and energy
expenditure that would have been needed to climb
the roughly 500-m-high Pink Cliffs step from the
south appears to have precluded substantial
Puebloan period use of the plateau.

The site-specific locations in the project area
indicate that, when Puebloan groups did climb the
plateau, they stayed near the tops of passes
through the Pink Cliffs. The near-absence of
Puebloan sites from the interior of the Paun-
saugunt Plateau supports this contention. Hauck
(1979:233-241) reports two Puebloan artifact
scatters at elevations of 2,134 m (7,000 ft) asl ina
sample survey of the Paunsaugunt-Sevier
Planning Unit, but both these sites actually lie
well east of the park in the Kaiparowits Plateau
area (cf. Dominguez and Danielson 2000:11).
Hauck (1979:Figure 3-6) also maps a_ third
Puebloan site in the Paunsaugunt-Sevier Planning
Unit in a location north of the park, apparently
along the west bank of the East Fork of the Sevier
River, but this site is not described. Kearns
(1982:269-270) questions the Anasazi affiliation
of two of these sites, which may have been dated
through projectile point typologies. The nearest
substantial cluster of sites (consisting of
temporary and extended camps) recorded by
Hauck (1979) also lies in the Kolob Terrace to the
south. To the east, Puebloan sites cluster around
the town of Escalante and become more frequent
to the south, on the Kaiparowits Plateau. High-
elevation Puebloan sites are generally uncommon
throughout Hauck’s (1979:218) study area; all but
two lie below 2,377 m (7,800 ft) asl in elevation.

A lithic scatter attributed to the Anasazi lies at
2,951m (9,680 ft) asl in elevation near the
Aquarius Plateau, and a cist in the Kolob area was
found at 2,597 m (8,520 ft) asl in elevation.

Conversely, a handful of Fremont sites are
known on the top of the Paunsaugunt Plateau
northeast and northwest of Bryce Canyon
National Park. By extension, it is possible that
some of the unaffiliated Formative period sites in
the park may derive from Fremont use, although
the regional affiliation (ie., Parowan or San
Rafael) remains unclear. Kearns (1982:403)
proposes that the Fremont occupants of the
eastern parcel of Tract III (east of the Aquarius
Plateau) derived from the permanent settlements
in the valley of the Escalante River, farther to the
east. Many other unaffiliated late Prehistoric sites
in the project area probably represent Numic/
Paiute occupation, which is well represented
within the park.

Numic/Paiute Land Use

On the Paunsaugunt Plateau, all single-component
Numic/Paiute sites are classified as processing
camps. Two additional multicomponent Native
American sites with bark stripped trees can also
probably be added to the list of Numic/Paiute
processing camps. Similarly, processing camps
constitute the most common post-Formative site
type on the Kaiparowits Plateau (44 percent).
Hunting camps are the next most frequent site
type on the Kaiparowits Plateau (27 percent), and
temporary residential camps make up only 15
percent of the identified Numic/Paiute sites (Geib
et al. 2001:396). Many Kaiparowits Plateau sites
that are classified as processing camps contain a
similar range of artifact and feature types as
residential camps, only in smaller quantities.
Accordingly, Geib et al. (2001:332-335, 396)
suspect that Numic/Paiute processing camps
actually represent temporary residential camp
sites that were occupied by small groups. The
common presence of thermal features and ground
stone artifacts at these sites makes this supposition
tenable.



288 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Canyon Road Widening, by S. Dominguez
and D. Danielson, pp. 307-310. Midwest
Archeological Center Technical Report No.
65. National Park Service, Lincoln.

2001 Letter Reports on Cedar Breaks
Obsidian Sourcing. In High Altitude
Investigations at Cedar Breaks National
Monument, Utah, by T. W. Canaday,
pp. 145-154. Cultural Resources Selections
No. 17. National Park Service, Denver.

Humphrey, J. W.
n.d. Early Development of Bryce Canyon.
Ms. on file, Bryce Canyon National Park,
Bryce Canyon, Utah.

Irwin, D. C.

2001 Stone Tool Manufacture and Use. In An
Archaeological Survey of Natural Bridges
National Monument, Southeastern Utah,
edited by J. L. McVickar, pp.133-184.
Professional Paper No. 64. Intermountain
Cultural Resource Management, National
Park Service, Santa Fe.

Irwin-Williams, C.

1973 The Oshara Tradition: Origins of
Anasazi Culture. Eastern New Mexico
University Contributions in Anthropology
5(1). Eastern New Mexico University,
Portales.

Jacklin, M.
1993a_ Alstrom Hollow/Bluefly T/S. Report
Number DX-92-0592. Ms. on file, Dixie
National Forest, Cedar City, Utah.

1993b Blubber Creek Mistletoe. Report
Number DX-93-0633. Ms. on file, Dixie
National Forest, Cedar City, Utah.

James R. McDonald Architects
1999 Historic Structures Report, Bryce
Canyon Lodge Historic District, Bryce
Canyon National Park, Utah. James R.
McDonald Architects, Missoula, Montana.
Ms. on file, Bryce Canyon National Park,
Bryce Canyon, Utah.

Sanetski, J. C.

1986 The Great Basin Lacustrine
Subsistence Pattern: Insights from Utah
Valley. In Anthropology of the Desert West:
Essays in Honor of Jesse D. Jennings,
edited by C. J. Condie and D. D. Fowler,
pp. 145-167. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers No. 110. University
of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Jeffers, L.
1918 The Temple of the Gods in Utah.
Scientific American 119(14):1.

Jennings, J. D.
1953 Danger Cave: A Progress Report. E/
Palacio 60(5):179-213.

1978 Prehistory of Utah and the Eastern
Great Basin. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers No. 98. University
of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

1980 Cowboy Cave. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers No. 104. University
of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Jennings, J. D., A. R. Schroedl, and R. N.
Holmer
1980 Sudden Shelter. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers No. 103. University
of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Jewkes, J. D.
1909 Marks and Brands for the State of Utah
Embracing All Marks and Brands Recorded
from October 1°' 1909 to October 1° 1910.
Ms on file, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake

City.

Jochim, M., C. L. Herhahn, and H. E. Starr
1999 The Magdalenian Colonization of
Southern Germany. American
Anthropologist 101:129-142.

Johnson, A. J.
1983 Trip Report. Ms. on file, National Park
Service, Midwest Archeological Center,
Lincoln.



84 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Small points,
<25mm
Unshouldered, Shouldered
concave base
Bull Creek
Side-notched, Corner- Basal-notched,
PSA > 130°, notched, PSA PSA < 90°
concave base 90 - 130°
Desert Side- Ne |
notched
Expanding Straight to Parowan Basal-
base slightly notched
expanding base
Rosegate Rosegate
Corner-notched Stemmed
Figure 7.2. Classification key for small projectile points collected during the Bryce Canyon

Archeological Inventory Survey project.

The base shape variable categorizes the outline of
the point base as either straight, concave, notched,
convex, or unknown, The serration variable codes the
presence or absence of intentional serration of
projectile point margins. Three states are distin-
guished: absent or no serration, present with minute
serration, and present with large serration (ie.,
toothed).

Metric Variables

Twelve additional variables were measured.
These metric variables include length, width,
thickness, proximal shoulder angle (PSA), distal
shoulder angle (DSA), notch opening index
(NOD, notch width, notch depth, stem height,
base or stem width, shoulder width, and weight
(see Thomas 1981:Figure 3).

The /ength measurement records the maximum
existing length of each point. Length was measured
using digital calipers and recorded in millimeters. A
secondary field was used to record points with in-
complete length measurements. The maximum
width of each point was measured using digital
calipers and recorded in millimeters. Points with
incomplete width measurements were recorded in
a secondary field. The thickness of each point was
measured at the juncture of the blade and the haft
element. Thickness was measured using digital
calipers and recorded in millimeters.

The proximal shoulder angle (PSA) variable
measures, in degrees, the angle between the side of the
projectile point base and an artificial line perpendicular
to the tool’s long axis. The distal shoulder angle
(DSA) variable measures, in degrees, the angle



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 147

BAI Archaic

Late

Percent

Prehistoric/Formative

~~
sy

Angular debris
Biface thinning
Biface reduction

Hard hammer
Pressure
Notching

Core

Pressure-flaked bifaces

Artifact Category

Used flake Ss |
]
Scraper te

Projectile points
Percussion biface

Figure 8.15. Frequency of flaking debris types (left) and flaked stone tool types (right) through time
at all single-component project sites. Flake and tool type percentages are calculated

separately.

also observed, wherein cores are most common
at late Prehistoric/Formative period sites and
decline somewhat in frequency at Numic sites, but
again, this relationship cannot be taken as a causal
one.

Overall, few obvious temporal trends can be
identified in the flaking debris assemblage.
Several parallel or inverse temporal relation-
ships are evident among and between certain
flake, tool, or raw material types, but few of
these relationships are sufficiently strong to
allow definitive observations about techno-
logical change.

Implications of Flaked Stone Technology

Some inferences about the flaked stone
assemblages at the Bryce Canyon National Park
sites do not mesh with the interpretations of Geib
et al. (2001) at contemporary sites on the
Kaiparowits Plateau to the east. These obser-
vations indicate that environmental or cultural
differences between the two areas may be
working in the background. Smaller sample sizes
(both in terms of site counts and project-wide
artifact counts) may also impinge on the project
sites, but some dissimilarities between sites in the
two areas are bold and are worth examining.


106 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Rosegate Corner-notched and Rosegate Stemmed
points (and a possible Uintah Side-notched point
[Dominguez et al. 1992]). Rosegate Series points
generally date between A.D. 300 and 925 in the
region (Holmer 1986). Although Rosegate Series
points first appear in preceramic strata at Cowboy
Cave, these points are generally considered a
Fremont type in the western Colorado Plateau
(Holmer and Weder 1980). However, small corner-
notched and stemmed arrow points have also been
documented at sites on the Kaiparowits Plateau that
clearly have Puebloan ceramics (Geib et al.
1999:5.42). Stemmed arrow points similar to the
Bryce Canyon Rosegate Stemmed points are also
commonly found at Basketmaker III and Pueblo I
sites throughout the Four Corners region (e.g., Brew
1946; Smiley 1995; Tipps 1988; Walling 1985),
while later Pueblo II and Pueblo III sites contain a
variety of point types including Rosegate Corner-
notched, Bull Creek, and Parowan Basal-notched
points.

Two Parowan Basal-notched points and five
unclassified corner-notched arrow points that
appear to be broken Parowan Basal-notched
points indicate a late Formative period occu-
pation of the park. Regionally, Parowan Basal-
notched points are found at Formative period
sites dating roughly from A.D. 900 to 1200
(Holmer 1986; Holmer and Weder 1980). A
possible Parowan Basal-notched point was
previously reported at Bryce Canyon (Site
42GA3383) but was typed as Rose Springs
Corner-notched by Dominguez et al. (1992:
Figure 10c). Other Parowan Basal-notched points
are known from Cedar Breaks National
Monument (Canaday 2001) and on_ the
Kaiparowits Plateau (Geib et al. 2001). Holmer
and Weder (1980:64) summarize the spatial
distribution of Parowan points in the Fremont
area and suggest that sites with these points can
be divided into two groups based on ceramic
associations. One group of sites includes the
Virgin River, Santa Clara River, and Johnson
Canyon areas of southwestern Utah. Sites in
these areas contain high percentages of Virgin
Anasazi ceramics (98 percent) along with small

numbers of Kayenta and Mesa Verde Anasazi
ceramics and Sevier Fremont ceramics. At these
sites, Parowan points constitute 63 percent of the
total arrow points and are found in temporal
contexts that cluster between approximately
A.D. 900 and 1200. The second group of sites is
found slightly to the north, in the Parowan
Valley, part of the Sevier River drainage, and
part of southeastern Nevada. These sites contain
predominantly Sevier Fremont ceramics with
dates that cluster around A.D. 950 to 1150.
Parowan points constitute 55 percent of the total
arrow points at these sites. Fremont ceramics
have not been documented in Bryce Canyon
National Park. The presence of Virgin Anasazi
ceramics in the study area suggests a Virgin
Anasazi cultural affiliation for these Parowan
Basal-notched points, with an A.D. 900 to 1200
date range.

One Bull Creek point was also found in the
project area, and Dominguez and Danielson
(1993) previously documented an incomplete
Bull Creek point at Site 42GA1904. Holmer and
Weder (1980:61) also summarize the distribution
of these points and find that the spatial
distribution of these points in the Fremont area is
limited to the southeastern corner of Utah, but
Bull Creek points extend south of the Colorado
River into the Mesa Verde and Kayenta Anasazi
areas. According to Holmer and Weder
(1980:61), Bull Creek points have never been
recovered from sites that have high percentages
of both Fremont and Mesa Verde Anasazi
ceramics. Bull Creek points are only present at
sites that contain exclusively Kayenta/Mesa
Verde or Kayenta/Fremont ceramic mixtures.
Holmer and Weder (1980) indicate that Bull
Creek points are consistently found in temporal
contexts that fall between A.D. 1050 and 1300
and emphasize that these points are almost
always associated with Kayenta ceramics. Geib
(1996b:107) indicates that Bull Creek points
found north and west of the Colorado River tend
to be greater than 45 mm long, while those
deriving from the Kayenta Anasazi region south
and east of the Colorado River are generally less



231

APPENDIX 6.1 SITE SUMMARY

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(panuyuoa) *]°9 xipuaddy



the Paunsaugunt Plateau. A ditch 11 km (7 mi) long
was constructed to carry water across the plateau top,
over the Pink Cliffs rim and into Water Canyon. This
natural watercourse then carried water down the
plateau escarpment to a diversion ditch leading to the
Tropic townsite (Crampton 1965:205; Hansen n.d.;
Scrattish 1985:12). The Tropic Ditch is still in
operation, crossing through what is today the northern
portion of the park.

Early Economic Use of the Paunsaugunt Plateau

Livestock raising was a primary source of
livelihood for the Mormon homesteaders. The
number of stockmen in the area grew during the
1870s and 1880s, and attendant increases in herd
sizes created a demand for livestock forage. High-
elevation areas, which had previously drawn little
attention due to their harsh winters and short
growing season, were now looked to as a valued
source of summer grazing land.

The Kanarra Cattle Company, a co-operative
organization that included livestock owners from
ranches in the vicinity of Kanarraville, Old Harmony,
Cedar City, and Panguitch, was the first group to use
the high country around Bryce Canyon for seasonal
forage (Daughters of the Utah Pioneers 1949:33). The
company expanded their summer range eastward from
the Markagunt Plateau to the Paunsaugunt, and by
1873 Kanarra Cattle Company livestock were grazing
along the East Fork of the Sevier River. A summer
headquarters was established by 1874 at nearby Blue
Fly Creek, approximately 6.5 km (4 mi) west of the
present-day Bryce Canyon National Park Visitors
Center (Buchanan 1960:7; Crampton 1965:204;
Davies n.d.:13). The company then also extended its
winter range to the Paria River headwaters east of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau. The Kanarra Cattle Company
introduced sheep grazing to the plateau in 1877
(Buchanan and Harper 1981:7). By the end of the
century, sheep well oumumbered cattle across most of
Utah’s rangelands (Peterson 1973:5).

Operating on a much smaller scale, the local
homesteaders also looked to the plateau as a source of
grazing range. The homesteaders in the Paria River
amphitheater initially used their homestead holdings

CULTURAL HISTORY 25

and the lower slopes of the Paunsaugunt Plateau to
meet their grazing needs. As demands on the local
range increased, the homesteaders sought additional
winter range in the pristine valleys to the south and
east along the Paria River, and they also used the
nearby Paunsaugunt Plateau for summer range
(Condie 1963; Cope 1935; Rich 1961a, 1961b). In the
late 1870s stock trails began to be established along
the eastern slopes of the Paunsaugunt Plateau to
expedite the seasonal movement between the Paria
River valley and the high country atop the plateau
(Broyles 1969). Presuming that the intensity of the
exploitation of the Paunsaugunt Plateau paralleled that
which occurred throughout Utah, by 1890 all available
rangeland was probably fully occupied (Peterson
1973:5-6; Walker 1964:190). Public-lands grazing had
become an integral part of the livestock industry’s
survival, for large and small interests alike.

Logging, although minor in scale when
compared to the livestock industry, also influenced
the development of the early homestead com-
munities and land use on and around the
Paunsaugunt Plateau. As towns grew, the demand
for lumber increased, and suitable construction
timbers became more difficult to obtain. In
response to this need, several small sawmills were
established in the Bryce Canyon area during the
1890s. These sawmills were built at the mouths of
timber-rich canyons in the Paria River amphitheater
and atop the plateau along the East Fork of the
Sevier River (Ahlstrom 1935:8-9; Buchanan
1960:9; Cope 1935; Daughters of the Utah Pioneers
1949; Hansen n.d.:6; Rich 1961b:1). Sawmills
opened and closed in response to lumber demands
and as nearby timber resources were depleted.
Timber was logged from the pristine forests across
much of the plateau top, with some of this logging
activity occurring within the boundaries of what
later became Bryce Canyon National Park
(Buchanan 1960:9).

Popularizing Bryce Canyon’s Scenic Splendor

Although the beauty of the landscape did not go
unnoticed by the homesteaders, the land’s scenic
value was of little importance in their daily routine.
Ebenezer Bryce, who abandoned Utah for Arizona


Description of Euro-American
Components

A total of 109 Euro-American components is
identified at 107 sites in the project area. These
components reflect historic activities within the
present-day park since the early 1890s and
represent a variety of early grazing, tourist, and
government-related activities. Ten different
Euro-American component types are identified
(Table 6.7), the majority of which are defined by
the presence of features.

Historic inscriptions, represented by aspen
dendroglyphs and a small number of carvings on
other features, are the most common Euro-
American component type (n=70). Artifact
scatters are the next most numerous (n=23);
these include 16 refuse scatters and 7 refuse
dumps. Six campsite components, representing
both long-term, formalized camps and short-
term, single-episode camps are present, as are
three ranching locales that contain spring
developments and water-collection features.
Five other component types, noted at only one
or two sites each, represent a variety of special-
use features and limited-activity areas associated
with early commercial development and
government administration of the park.

Euro-American components are dated by the
presence of temporally diagnostic artifacts and
features as well as information gleaned from
historic records and unpublished and published
literature. The dated inscriptions that are
ubiquitous among the aspen dendroglyphs and
other historic inscriptions contribute the bulk of
historic chronological data. With few exceptions,
the inscription dates appear to represent actual
carving dates and, therefore, provide a certain
marker of the timing of the Euro-American
presence in the area. Many of the aspen
dendroglyph components contain multiple dates,
often decades apart, indicating multiple carving
episodes. For example, Site 42GA5232 contains
15 glyphs that range in date from 1893 to 1946.
Other sites suggest only a single episode of use.

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 67

Table 6.7, Euro-American component types.

Component Type Count
Dendroglyph/other inscription 70
Refuse scatter 16
Refuse dump 7
Campsite 6
Ranching locus 3
Gravel quarry 2
Unknown rock feature 2
Telephone line 1
Improved spring 1
House foundation 1
Total 109

Many small sites lack any dates with which to
temporally place the site. Among the 70
inscription components, legible carving dates
range from 1891 to 1948. One dendroglyph panel
at Site 42KA5782 contains an “89” glyph that
suggests an 1889 date, but due to the condition of
this carving its interpretation is not definitive. An
“1849” date is carved into the side of a watering
trough at Site 42GA5241, but its legitimacy as a
carving date is highly questionable. This
inscription may instead commemorate an event
unrelated to the trough’s use.

Euro-American artifacts with time-sensitive
attributes are also utilized to determine the
temporal range of many components. Certain glass
colors, can sizes, can-opening mechanisms, and
trademark designs that have known manufacturing
dates are the most commonly used temporal
indicators. Date assignments based on artifact
typologies are typically broad, often spanning
several decades. The type and condition of the
analyzed artifacts and the limitations inherent to
in-field inventory procedures commonly prevent
the determination of more definitive date
assignments. Most of the diagnostic artifacts
indicate component date ranges spanning the first
three decades of the twentieth century.





dendrochronological data, 225
dendroglyphs. See aspen dendroglyphs
Denver Service Center Technical Information
Center (NPS), 36
deposition rates of projectile points, 121-22, /2]~
22, 125
Desert Culture, 16
desert ecosystem, 11
Desert Side-notched points, 19-20, 99, 100-101,
107, 112-13
DeVed, L., 153
diagnostic artifacts, 63, 67, 203-5
projectile points, 85-86, 89, 103-5, 111, 116,
119, 125
diagnostic features, 63, 116
Dickinson, Bob, 204
distal shoulder angle (DSA), 84-85
Dixie National Forest (formerly Sevier National
Forest), 7, 26, 34, 201
Dominguez, S.
previous archeological projects in Bryce
Canyon, 30-31
artifact counts, 66
CCC camps, 203
hammerstones, 150
obsidian artifacts, 132
projectile points, 101, 106, 116
test excavations, 35, 220, 223-24
thermal features, 153
Virgin Anasazi ceramics, 19
Dominguez, S., D), Danielson, and K. Kramer
previous archeological projects in Bryce
Canyon, 30
projectile points, 97, 106, 116
Dominguez-Escalante expedition, 19, 22-23
drills, 66, 101, 131, 141
DSA (distal shoulder angle), 84-85
Dutton, Alfred, 199-200
Dutton, Clarence, 24
Dutton, George, 197
Dutton, Leo, 197
Dykmann, J. L., 223

East Creek, 7, 111-13

East Creek Meadow, 7, /0, 111

East Creek Ridge, 2, 7, 165, 167

East Fork Horse and Cattle Association, 198
Eastgate points, 97, 101

ecological restoration programs, 37

INDEX 303

ecosystems, modem, 11-12
Eininger, S., 30
elevation, 7
and land-use patterns, 170-78
Elko series projectile points, 91-94, 97, 105, 111
as chronological markers, 125
Elko Corner-notched, 91, 92, 105, 112
Elko Eared, 91, 93, 101, 105, 112
Elko Side-notched, 91, 93, 94, 105, 112
environment
climate, 11-13
elevation, 7
geology, 9~10
hydrology, 11
life zones, 11, 173
modern ecosystems, 11-12
paleoenvironmental conditions, 12-14
physiographic setting, 5, 7
precipitation, 11-12
soils, 10-11
temperature, 11-12
Eocene Epoch, 9
Escalante-Dominguez expedition, 19, 22-23
Escalante Project, 34
Tract III, 34, 170, 172, 176
Escalante River, 110
as a source of stone materials, 132
ethnographic examples, validity as models, 160,
177-78
Euro-American culture, 220-23
archeological recorders’ bias against, 212
Euro-Americans
conflicts with Native Americans, 19, 23-24
impact on Native American subsistence
practices, 48
exploration and settlement of
southwestern Utah, 19, 23-25, 49, 196, 222

Fairyland Canyon, 7, 111

faunal resources, 12

Fawcett, W. B., 175

features, 40, 57

architecture, 58, 70-71, 76, 153, 175

historic buildings, 204
house foundations, 67
jacal and masonry structures, 18
park ranger's cabins, 70
pithouses, 18
rockshelters, 17


Report Certification

| certify that Bryce Canyon National Park: Archeology of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, edited by

| Chris T. Wenker (2003) has been reviewed against the criteria contained in 43 CFR 7.18(a)(1)
and upon the recommendation of Sarah L. Horton, Zion National Park Archaeologist (in support
of BRCA Cultural Resources), has been classified as Available.

GAC. fF" 9 Dee. 08 :

Superintendent Date

Classification Key Words:

“Available” - Making the report available to the public meets the criteria of 43 CFR 7.18(a)(1).
“Available (deletions)” — Making the report available with selected information on site locations
and/or site characteristics deleted meets the criteria for 43 CFR 7.18(a)(1). A list of pages, maps,
paragraphs, etc., that must be deleted for each report in this category is attached.

“Not available” — Making the report available does not meet the criteria of 43 CFR 7,18(a)(1),



244

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Appendix 6.2. (continued)

IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type

{0 No.

Cultural Affiliation

10 Type

2005

2006
2007

2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019

2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029

2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035

Late Prehistoric

Native American

Archaic

Native American
Euro-American
Native American
Native American
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American

Euro-American

Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Native American
Late Archaic

Native American
and Euro-American

Native American
Native American
Late Prehistoric
Native American
Euro-American

Native American

Unknown side-notched arrow
point
Pressure flaked biface

Lithic scatter, includes 1 Elko
Eared and | unknown corner-
notched dart point

Lithic scatter
Hardware

Pressure flaked biface
Lithic scatter

Wood pile

Pressure flaked biface
Can scatter, food, nonfood
Structure foundation
Campfire

Historic refuse

Bottle

Campfire; Historic refuse,
food, nonfood

Sign
Depression

Pressure flaked biface
Can, tobacco

Can, food

Campfire; Wood pile
Pressure flaked biface
Pressure flaked biface
Gypsum point

Flake and Can scatter, food

Flake

Flake

Desert side-notched point
Flake

Can, food

Flake

2036
2037
2038
2039
2040
2041
2042
2043
2044
2045
2046
2047
2048
2049

2050
2053
2054
2055
2056
2059
2060
2061
2062

2063
2064
2065
2066
2067
2068

2069
2070

Native American
Native American
Native American
Native American
Native American
Euro-American

Euro-American

Native American
Native American
Euro-American

Native American
Native American
Native American

Late Prehistoric

Archaic

Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American

Euro-American

Native American.
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American

Euro-American and
Unknown
affiliation

Euro-American

Euro-American

Flake scatter

Pressure flaked biface
Pressure flaked biface
Lithic scatter

Lithic scatter

Flake scatter

Can, tobacco

Biface

Unknown point
Fence

Flake scatter

Pressure flaked biface
Pressure flaked biface

Unknown corner-notched
arrow point

Unknown dart point
Flake

Dendroglyphs

Cairn

Pressure flaked biface
Pressure flaked biface
Rock piles

Wood pile

Historic refuse, nonfood,
hardware

Flaked stone tool
Can, food

Pressure flaked biface
Wood pile

Can, tobacco

Dendroglyph and Rock pile

Blazed tree

Dendroglyphs



130 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Native American Technology and
Cultural Material

Aspects of Native American technology can be
inferred from the ceramics, stone tools, and
flaked stone manufacturing debris found at
project sites. Although the durable artifacts
that are found in the archeological record
represent a substantially depleted sample of the
items that were actually used at these sites,
important information about raw material
procurement and use, tool production and use,
and curation can be discerned. Once these
assemblage characteristics are sketched out,
some aspects of site function may be inferred.
Finally, temporal changes linked to land-use
strategies may become apparent. These latter
topics are discussed in following sections.

Sources of Flaked and Ground Stone Materials

The types of stone tools employed by the past
Native American residents of Bryce Canyon
National Park required raw materials with
specific characteristics (such as tractability,
durability, etc.). These materials may be
naturally distributed across the landscape in
either discrete or dispersed source areas. The
natural distribution of stone types affects the
processes through which those materials were
obtained. An understanding of procurement
strategies can provide another line of evidence
through which to discern past land-use
patterns.

Brian Head Chert and Other Siliceous
Material

As noted by Irwin (Chapter 7), Brian Head chert
is the most common stone type used to make dart
and arrow points in the park assemblage. Brian
Head chert is a shorthand term describing a range
of highly siliceous, altered crystal vitric tuffs and
porcelanites that occur in the highly variegated,
volcanic Brian Head formation. This formation
has widespread distribution in south-central Utah,

although it does not occur within Bryce Canyon
National Park (Bowers 1991; Doelling 1975).
Stone types included in the Brian Head chert
category encompass a wide range of macroscopic
characteristics. This multicolored chert is often
mottled, and samples may range from transparent
to opaque, from vuggy to homogenous, and from
lustrous and cryptocrystalline to matte and
microcrystalline (see Bakewell 2001). Although
Brian Head chert is not naturally available within
the park, a probable source is reported from Flake
Mountain, roughly 10 km (6 mi) to the north
(Dominguez and Danielson 2000:41; Dykmann
1976). Other sources of this material are suspected
from the gravels of Casto Canyon and the terraces
of the Sevier River, both approximately 24 km (15
mi) north and west of the park. The best-known
Brian Head chert outcrops are found 48-64 km
(30~40 mi) to the west at Panguitch Lake (Marion
Jacklin, personal communication 2000) and
around Cedar Breaks National Monument and
Brian Head Peak on the Markagunt Plateau
(Canaday 2001). All of these source areas except
Flake Mountain were visited by the author during
the survey. In Chapter 7, Irwin distinguishes Brian
Head chert and chalcedony, but this chapter treats
all Brian Head material as a single category.

Artifacts made of Brian Head chert constitute
fully 86 percent of the analyzed sample. Eighty-
nine percent (n=1,502) of the 1,687 analyzed
flakes were made of varieties of Brian Head
chert (Table 8.2). The strong reliance on this
material type emphasizes its popularity to the
region’s prehistoric inhabitants, even though this
stone is not immediately available in the park.
Chert procurement sites at the primary source
area on the Markagunt Plateau cover hundreds of
hectares and represent over 8,000 years of use
(Canaday 2001).

Items in the untyped chert category represent
varieties of siliceous material that exhibit visual
attributes outside the range of Brian Head chert.
These stone types are generally brown, tan, or
gray, and they often trend toward opacity. One
subvariety of the untyped chert is a translucent


265

APPENDIX 7.2 CODED PROJECTILE POINT ANALYSIS DATA

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22 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

In general, they were a kind and peace-
loving people. I associated with them at fairly
frequent intervals over a period of many years
and at no time did I entertain any fear of them.
As with all classes of people, a few of them
would steal if a good opportunity presented
itself. The most of them, however, lived lives of
honesty and integrity. While they chastized [sic]
their children in no uncertain terms when the
need arose, I never did see a parent whip a child
among them. I became acquainted with a
number of their songs after I had learned their
language, and J sang with them when I was a
boy in my teens. As I am now in the seventy-
seventh year of my life and | am able to recall
only one of them to mind:

Pui-chatch, pui-chatch,
Kocha el wino’,
Nu-ne-ish shut-cup Tirai-ki,
Steva nini kuni-ki.
(Mouse, mouse,
You’re no good,
You keep stealing my food;
Now get out of there fore I see you.) . . .

The Paiute Indians of southem Utah used to
have pow-wows at some central gathering
place. On a number of occasions they had these
meetings near enough for me to attend them. I
took a real delight in joining in with their
dances, songs, and confabs. One summer they
were having an especially big pow-wow on East
Fork. Paiutes from as far east as San Juan
County came to participate in the ceremonies.
(Davies n.d.:14-18)

Despite the occasional use of dated or
unflattering colloquialisms, the affection that
Davies felt for his Paiute friends is apparent
throughout the memoir. Davies’ relatively unknown
manuscript is invaluable as a primary source of
historical information recorded by a first-hand
observer. Interested students of Paiute ethnohistory
or early Mormon pioneering lifestyles are referred
to the original document for more complete
information.

Euro-American Use of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau

Its high-elevation setting and dramatic, sometimes
starkly inaccessible topography make Bryce
Canyon National Park a destination for millions of
modern-day visitors. Historically, however, these
characteristics were a deterrent to Euro-American
use and occupation. Early explorers only skirted
Utah’s High Plateau country. During the 1860s,
settlers opted to homestead in the surrounding low-
elevation river valleys that offered arable land and
amore favorable climate. Following the establish-
ment of Euro-American settlements in the 1890s,
local residents stepped up their seasonal ventures
onto the plateaus to exploit the previously untapped
forage, timber, and water resources. Decades later,
in the early twentieth century, another valuable
resource was recognized atop the Paunsaugunt
Plateau—its scenic splendor. The plateau’s natural
beauty was promoted by both commercial and
government interests, and tourism was quickly
established as a viable economic pursuit, in-
fluencing the use and occupation of the plateau in
the decades that followed. Whether viewed as a
formidable barrier, an exploitable resource, or a
place of beauty, the Paunsaugunt Plateau has been
a prominent feature of the region’s history and
development.

Early Expeditions West

The earliest Euro-American presence in south—
western Utah was of a transient nature. In 1776, the
Escalante-Dominguez expedition was searching for
a route between the Spanish missions of New
Mexico and those of California. These travelers
were the first Euro-Americans to gaze upon the
dramatic cliffs and plateaus of Utah’s Grand
Staircase. Journal entries place the expedition
roughly 80 km (50 mi) west and south of Bryce
Canyon. It is likely that during their passage
through what is today northern Arizona, the
voyagers would have had a distant view of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau on the northeastern horizon
(Crampton 1965:6-11; Scrattish 1985:8). Although



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 141

tasks, that use is considered secondary to their
function as a raw material source. Tested cobbles
are nodules showing only one or two flake scars.
Given the number of flaked lithic artifact scatters
in the project area, cores and tested cobbles are
remarkably infrequent in the assemblages (n=24 at
14 sites).

Only four stone types are present in the core
assemblage: local quartzite (n=14), Brian Head
chert (n=5), untyped chert (n=2), and petrified
wood (n=1). The prevalence of cores made of
quartzite pebbles or cobbles reflects the local
availability of this stone type. Three morpho-
logical types of cores are identified: amorphous
(unpatterned flaking using multiple core faces as
platforms, n=13), unidirectional (flakes removed
from a single platform face, n=3), and bidirec-
tional (flakes removed from dual, opposing
platform faces, n=6).

Most quartzite cores are amorphous (n=9);
three are unidirectional and only two show
bidirectional reduction. In contrast, nearly all of
the Brian Head chert cores are bidirectional (n=4)
and only one is amorphous. Two amorphous
tested cobbles of Brian Head chert are also
recorded. The bidirectional chert cores are all
small (less than 7 cm in maximum length and less
than 2.5 cm in thickness), and only one retained
any cortical surface. The intensive, possibly
patterned reduction of chert cores may represent
the purposeful conservation of this imported,
high-quality material. Conversely, the two tested
Brian Head chert nodules, both found at the same
site, are between 6 to 8 cm in length and 3 to 4cm
in thickness and are nearly completely cortical.
The presence of such pebbles is unique to this site,
and their origin and function is not understood,
but they may represent early-stage cores.

Five of the quartzite cores were recorded at a
single-component Numic/Paiute site (42GA5192).
One of these cores had been reused as a
hammerstone. This site also contained a second
unflaked quartzite hammerstone, a quartzite
hard-hammer flake, and a quartzite used flake.

This site’s prevalence of quartzite cores is not
unique in the project area, however. At the only
other two sites that contain multiple cores (one a
multioccupation site [42GA5240] and one a
single-component —_ middle Archaic site
[42KA5798)}), all of the cores are quartzite.

Scrapers and Drills

One drill and five end scrapers are present at the
project sites. Irwin (Chapter 7) notes that a second
drill (originally thought to be a side-notched
arrow point [FS 78]) was collected from Site
42GA5240. Drills are small pressure-flaked tools
characterized by a long narrow projection used for
drilling or perforating. End scrapers are typically
flat, lozenge-shaped tools that often expand
toward the distal, functional end, which is marked
by a retouched face that forms an acute or right-
angled scraping edge. All of the scrapers are made
of Brian Head chert. The nondescript drill
discussed here is made of obsidian; the side-
notched point/drill described in Chapter 7 is made
of Brian Head chert.

Two of the end scrapers are fragmentary and
unmeasurable. One complete specimen measures
36 mm in length and resembles the type of small
end scrapers that are informally called “thumb
scrapers.” Two other broken specimens are much
larger (46 to 76 mm in incomplete length) and
appear to have shallow lateral notches for
hafting. A nearly complete specimen (Figure
8.14a) was found at Site 42GA5218, a possible
late Paleoindian/early Archaic site. No den-
ticulate end scrapers with serrated scraping
edges, such as reported by Geib et al.
(2001:236), are present.

Used Flakes

This tool category includes purposefully shaped or
sharpened flakes that do not conform to the formal
categories of scraper or biface (Figure 8.14b).
This category also includes unshaped flakes that
simply show evidence of use wear (Figure 8.14c).
These tools are relatively common (n=37 at 31



6

Summary of Survey Results

Sue Eininger

This chapter provides a quantitative summary of
the accomplishments and observations of the
Bryce Canyon AIS. The following discussion
outlines the survey coverage and the numbers and
types of archeological resources that were en-
countered. Further analyses and interpretation of
these findings and their relevance to the park’s
culture history are presented in subsequent
chapters.

Survey Coverage and Results

The inventory project examined a total of 4,370 ha
(10,799 acres) of park land (see Figure 5.2). This
area includes 4,148 ha (10,251 acres) covering the
park’s 16 plateau-top FMUs as well as an additional
222 ha (548 acres) outside and immediately adjacent
to the FMUs. Twenty-four percent of the surveyed
area (1,063 ha [2,626 acres]) had been previously
surveyed during a variety of park projects. These
areas were resurveyed during the inventory to ensure
consistent and comprehensive coverage. The
remaining 3,307 ha (8,173 acres, or 76 percent of the
survey area) constitute new survey coverage.

A total of 194 sites was recorded during the
project (Figure 6.1). Twenty-three of these sites
had been previously recorded; the remaining
171 sites represent new discoveries. Site density is
highly variable across the project area. For

53

example, within the Yovimpa 2 FMU in the
southwestern portion of the park (see Figure 5.1),
site density is calculated at 1 site per 131 ha
(326 acres). Given the steeply sloping, forested
terrain that characterizes this area, a low site
density is not unexpected. Conversely, in the
Sunset Campground FMU in the northern portion
of the park, site density is much higher (1 site per
11 ha [27 acres}). Most of the sites in this latter
area are Euro-American and reflect several
decades of commercial and National Park Service
development around the Bryce Canyon Lodge. In
the project area as a whole, the site density is one
site per 23 ha (56 acres). This density represents a
two-fold increase when compared to projections
from previous archeological survey results. This
increase in site frequency can be readily attributed
to the more intensive ground coverage and
recording strategies of the inventory project.

Isolated occurrences (IOs) were also re-
corded in much greater numbers during the
inventory project than during previous surveys.
A total of 4,860 IOs is identified. The vast
majority of these (n=3,909) consist of log-and-
rock checkdams constructed between the 1930s
and 1960s as part of a park-initiated erosion-
control program. All checkdams lie in the
northern portion of the project area, in alluvial
valleys that are crossed by many old, incised
erosional gullies. Some valleys contain as many
as 190 checkdams per hectare.



62 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

42GA5270 \

7m REFUSE
“xX SCATTER

HISTORIC WATER
PIPELINE

“a st -
, y STRUCTURAL PAD

Wooenn nave \o3 !
REFUSE SCATTER

/ Ne

eon onaven

aA,
maa
Aree TRENCH ia

27 T mptonc waren mipcune

—_—— — — ee .
x

jj prewar

|
t

PAVED ROAD

LEGEND Ny
M DRAINAGE
et CHECK DAM
© pOsT
DEPRESSION
DIRT TRAIL
DIRT ROAD ° 25

ROCK ALIGNMENT
~—~t-— CONTOUR LINE /SLOPE

SCALE IN METERS

Figure 6.5. Map of Site 42GA5270, a formal Euro-American campsite.



_ Bryce Canyon National Park

Archeology of the Paunsaugunt Plateau

EDITED BY CHRIS T. WENKER


88 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

A previous park study (Dominguez et al.
1992:Table 9, Figure 16f) also documented what
appears to be a Great Basin Stemmed point from
an isolated context in the vicinity of Shaker
Spring (IF#30; Dominguez and Kramer
1988:Figure 2c). This point (Figure 7.3b) is
morphologically similar to the item collected
during the Bryce Canyon AIS and has a long,
straight stem, a convex base, and sloping
shoulders.

Pinto Shouldered

The stems of Pinto Shouldered points are
generally straight to expanding (Brown 1988).
The straight to expanding stem is reflected by a
PSA greater than or equal to 90° and less than
110° and an NOI greater than 60°.

Five projectile points are classified as Pinto
Shouldered (Figure 7.3c-g). One (FS 17;
Figure 7.3c) appears to have been extensively used
and resharpened, but not more recently reworked.
This gray siltstone point is nearly complete,
although it has a broken tip; it has somewhat
parallel oblique flaking, a serrated blade, and is
basally ground. The point has a concave base and
slightly expanding stem (PSA=95°). This point
weighs 5.3 g and measures 40 mm in length,
21 mm in width, and 5.8 mm in thickness. Another
partial Pinto Shouldered point is made of white
and pink chert (FS 12; Figure 7.3d). This point is
transversely broken but has one convex edge
margin remaining (PSA=92°) and a rounded,
retouched tip displaying a large degree of secondary
modification. This incomplete point weighs 5.0 g
and measures 34 mm in length, 24 mm in width,
and 5.8mm in thickness. Both of these points
resemble some illustrated variants of Pinto
Shouldered points from the region (e.g., Canaday
2001), but these Bryce Canyon points lack the
pronounced bifurcated base that is typically
associated with Pinto Shouldered points (Holmer
1978, 1986; Thomas 1981) and the basal grinding
and flaking patterns are more typical of Paleoindian
point technology than Archaic point technology.

Another of the Pinto Shouldered points (FS
134; Figure 7.3e) is nearly complete, but the
comers of the base exhibit minor breaks that
prevent accurate measurement. This point is
categorized as Pinto Shouldered, but the basal
breakage makes this classification tentative. This
item is manufactured of chert and has a straight to
slightly expanding stem with a slightly concave
base. This point weighs 4.0 g and measures 31 mm
in length, 21 mm in width, and 6.1 mm in thickness.
This point has a heavy patina and the tip is broken
and reworked. A basal fragment of another point
(FS 76) is also classified as Pinto Shouldered
(Figure 7.3f). This point fragment is manufactured
of clear, white, and red chalcedony and is too
fragmentary to measure accurately for size
attributes. It has one sloping shoulder (DSA=210°)
and a straight to slightly expanding stem (PSA=108°)
with a concave base. Finally, another point (FS 14;
Figure 7.3g) may also be a variant of the Pinto type,
but again is not typical of other illustrated examples
of Pinto points. It is a broken, reworked point
manufactured of white and pink chert that shows
heavy patination. This point has a sloping shoulder
(DSA 210°) and slightly expanding stem (PSA
108°) with a straight base. One margin of the blade
is toothed (.e., large serrations) while the other side
is broken and retouched. This partial point weighs
4.2 g and is 31 mm long, 21 mm wide, and 6.1 mm
thick.

Collectively, these three points (FS 14, 76, and
134) are potential Pinto style variants, but they lack
the pronounced bifurcated base that is typical of
this type, as defined by Holmer (1978). Still, these
points do bear similarities to the Pinto points from
Hogup Cave illustrated by Aikens (1970:42) and
Jennings (1978:Figure 51c, g). A Pinto point
previously documented in Bryce Canyon National
Park at Site 42GA1903 (Dominguez and Danielson
2000:Figure 13e) has a slightly expanding stem
with a straight base that is similar to FS 134. Five
other previously collected examples of Pinto points
from this same site (Dominguez and Danielson
2000) exhibit the bifurcated base that is more
typical of this type.



162 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Table 8.8. Characteristics of single-component Numic/Paiute period site types.
Site
t > “Se 2 2 a =
Ra 4 88 a + S %
S real + = a a a
a 4 % a 6 5 6
< < < < <= < <
oe} 9g Qo 1} 9 o 1}
a a a a a a a
+ + + + + + +
Period* Numic/ PH or H Numic/ Numic/ Numic/ Numic/ PH orH
Paiute Numic/ Paiute Paiute Paiute Paiute Numic/
Paiute Paiute
Site Type* PC PC PC PC PC PC PC
Size (m’) 1,306 861 308 623 1,227 858 2
Total Tool Count 10 - 4 15 4 2 -
% Proj. Points/ 60 - 25 7 25 50 -
Pressure Flaked
Bifaces
% Percussion 10 - - 33 25 - -
Bifaces
% Used Flakes - - - 20 25 - -
% Other Tools 20 - - 33 - - -
% Ground Stone 10 - 75 7 25 50 -
Analyzed 36 13 33 29 2 30 -
Flake Count
% Biface 19 8 33 10 - 40 -
Production
Debris
% Pressure/ 6 - 3 3 - 3 -
Notching Debris
% Other Debris 75 92 64 87 100 57 -
Total Ceramic 18 - - 25 7 18 -
Count
Culturally - 2 - - - ~ 1
Modified Trees

Thermal Features

1

*
t

t

PH or H=Protohistoric or Historic period (based on bark-stripped trees).
PC=Processing Camp.

Includes data from Dominguez and Danielson (2000).



Patterns of raw material use support the
directionality of regional cultural influences
indicated by the projectile point typology. The
projectile point typology indicates that groups from
the Great Basin used the Paunsaugunt Plateau.
Likewise, raw material source data suggest that
there is a strong reliance on a resource catchment
area to the north and west, extending many miles to
the obsidian sources in the eastern Great Basin.

Resource and Land Use

The distribution of projectile points also provides a
primary source of data for investigating land and
resource use at Bryce Canyon National Park.
Through an examination of the distribution of
projectile points that are representative of different
time periods, synchronic and diachronic patterns of
land use may be elicited.

The earliest human use of the area, which
occurred during the late Paleoindian or early
Archaic period, is indicated by the Great Basin
Stemmed point found at a site (42GA1903) along
the East Creek headwaters. Additionally, potential
late Paleoindian points, categorized as unclassified
stemmed points, were found at sites in the vicinity
of Rainbow Point (n=1 site) and at the southern end
of Whiteman Bench (n=1 site). Previous researchers
have documented a Great Basin Stemmed point
from an isolated context near a spring on the eastern
flank of Whiteman Bench (Dominguez and Kramer
1988:Figure 2a; Dominguez et al. 1992:Table 9,
Figure 16f), in an area now known to contain
abundant Native American sites of many time
periods. Another possible late Paleoindian lanceo-
late point is also previously documented from Site
42GA1903 (Dominguez and Danielson 2000). This
distributional pattern suggests that the primary
focus of the late Paleoindian occupations may have
been the upland meadows. Resources such as large
game (and possible marshes) would have been
present in these settings, as well as easy access to
transportation corridors leading to lower-elevation
zones.

Early Archaic period use of the park is
indicated by 11 Pinto Shouldered points from six

PROJECTILE POINTS 111

sites. Pinto points are found at sites scattered
throughout East Creek Meadow and along the East
Creek headwaters (n=4 sites, one site alone
contained six points). Other sites lie at the southern
end and eastern edge of Whiteman Bench (n=2).
These locations collectively suggest a potential
upland hunting focus with camps established near
prominent drainages that provided water, meadow
environments, and access to transportation corridors
leading to lower-elevation zones.

Middle Archaic period points from Bryce
Canyon suggest a low intensity use of the park
area, The middle Archaic occupation is indicated
by several Sudden Side-notched, Northern side-
notched, Hawken Side-notched, and Humboldt
points. All of the side-notched points are found
at two sites: one in the East Creek headwaters
and one along Podunk Creek. The isolated
Humboldt point was found in a low-elevation
plateau-top setting in the northern end of the
project area. This distribution suggests a low-
level use of the park area during the middle
Archaic period, with a continued focus on upland
drainages with water, transportation routes, and
meadow resources.

Late Archaic use of the Paunsaugunt Plateau
increased from the proceeding periods. Gatecliff
Contracting Stem/Gypsum and San Rafael Side-
notched points are found at a greater number of
sites and isolated contexts. Late Archaic sites are
found on top of Whiteman Bench (n=3), in the East
Creek drainage (n=2), and along the Pink Cliffs
south of Fairyland Canyon (n=1). The late Archaic
range is further expanded into upland settings by
the presence of isolated points in the Rainbow Point
area. Increased use of the park upland areas for
hunting is suggested by the widespread distribution
of points, but the strong late Archaic presence along
East Creek suggests that water and meadow
resources continued to be important. Further study
of the associated tools and flaking debris at sites of
this age may help resolve the site functions in this
settlement system (Chapter 8).

Interpreting the implications of the distri-
bution of Elko Series points is problematic, and


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU

139

40.00
35.00
a
.
e
30.00 7
wh hia
= rere vr rN a
E 25.00 wwe Ty
i
= ‘a Points
20.00 |
= © Pressure flaked bifaces

00
00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00
Length (mm)
Figure 8.11. Scatterplot comparing lengths and widths of pressure-flaked bifaces and projectile

points at all project sites.

surface of the original tool blank. Stage 3 in the
trajectory represents a transition from marginal
edging to bifacial thinning. Flakes are removed
that extend onto the tool’s face, removing facial
bulk from the tool without excessively reducing
its width. Edge sinuosity is reduced and cortex
is removed, and thinning is often achieved by
using a soft hammerstone or antler percussor.
Stage 4 bifaces represent well-thinned items
with little cortex and highly regularized edges.
Stage 5 bifaces are purposefully shaped into
formal, usable tools. Pressure-flaking tech-
niques occasionally supplement this final
shaping stage.

Sites with bifaces most commonly contain
Stage 4 bifaces (Figure 8.12), tools that have been
extensively thinned but not fully shaped. Stage 3
bifaces, which are partially thinned, are also
relatively common. Few early or late-stage bifaces
are present. As observed in other tool classes,
items made of Brian Head chert are the most

common. The functions of these tools cannot be
directly determined with the present analysis data
(the use-wear analysis was conducted under less
than 10-power magnification). Only two Stage 3
and two Stage 4 bifaces show signs of pressure-
flaked retouch scars, but these pressure flakes may
have been removed as part of the manufacturing
process rather than during resharpening activities.
Three other Stage 4 bifaces show microflaking
scars along their edges, but this wear pattern can-
not be confidently ascribed to either purposeful
use wear or to postdepositional damage.

Twenty biface fragments yielded complete
width and thickness measurements, allowing the
width/thickness ratio of a subset of the assem-
blage to be calculated (Figure 8.13). Over three-
quarters of the measurable bifaces show a
width/thickness ratio greater than 3:1. Callahan
(1979:18) indicates that this ratio is character-
istic of bifaces in reduction Stage 3 or later,
indicating preliminary or advanced thinning




NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 171

Archaic Period Land Use

No permanent Archaic period settlement is
apparent in low-elevation settings of the Glen
Canyon benches region southeast of the
Kaiparowits Plateau (lying at elevations of
roughly 1,200 to 1,400 m [3,936 to 4,592 ft] asl).
Geib (1989:61) views the benches above the
Colorado River as a resource extraction zone
where Archaic period foragers used short-term
temporary residential camps to harvest grass seeds
and opportunistically hunt game. Throughout the
Glen Canyon region, Geib (1996a) notes changes
in Archaic period occupational intensity and
settlement patterns, but these changes are not yet
well understood, so the early, middle, and late
periods are not distinguished here.

On the Kaiparowits Plateau, hunting camps
are the most common Archaic period site type, but
together they only constitute one-third of all the
recorded Archaic period sites. Residential and
processing camps together constitute another one-
third of the sites, and reduction loci and unknown
sites make up most of the rest (Geib et al.
2001:Table 8.3). Geib’s (1989, Geib et al. 2001)
view of Archaic period residential mobility on the
Colorado Plateau posits that foraging, rather than
collecting was the primary mode of subsistence.
Hunter-gatherers engaged in a foraging system
perpetually move their residential bases to new
resource areas, while collectors make use of
logistical camps to procure remote resources and
return them to a more stable base camp (see
Binford 1980).

If a foraging system is presumed for the
Archaic period, the distinction between residential
and processing camps is problematic (e.g., Geib et
al. 2001:332, 367), because processing camps
should not be a discrete, common component of a
foraging system. Instead, Archaic period
processing camps may “simply be scaled-down
residential camps” (Geib et al. 2001:367) that are
not recognizable as such in the current site typology
due to the vagaries of site formation processes or
varying use histories and occupational intensities.

The lower steps of the Kaiparowits Plateau
(including East Clark Bench, Nipple Bench,
Brigham Plains, and Smoky Mountain, which
tange in elevation from roughly 1,334 to 1,646 m
[4,375 to 5,400 ft] asl), lie just northwest of the
lower Glen Canyon benches. These areas contain
few sites, and “limited activity camps and
reduction loci account for a substantial proportion
of the sites for these strata” (Geib et al. 2001:367).
Although, again, the low-elevation processing
camps may actually represent residential camps,
Geib (Geib et al. 2001:367) notes that these lower
plateau benches can yield abundant botanical
resources and, interestingly, proposes here that the
“Archaic foragers exploited the resources on the
lower elevation benches from camps that were
situated in the best areas.”

Roughly 93 percent of all Archaic period sites
in the Kaiparowits Plateau survey area lie on the
highest benches, between 1,829 and 1,981m
(6,000 and 6,500 ft) asl in average elevation.
Archaic period residential camps are best
represented in the higher-elevation steps of the
Kaiparowits Plateau, and a substantially higher
proportion of these residential camps date to the
late Archaic period than to the early or middle
periods. Although site formation processes (such as
the disintegration of sandstone milling implements
at the oldest sites) could account for part of this
apparent difference, environmental change or
increased population density may also have
prompted more intensive use of the upper
Kaiparowits Plateau in the late Archaic period
(Geib et al. 2001:367). Hunting and processing
camps are also much more numerous on the higher
steps of the plateau. The density of hunting camps
rises dramatically at an elevation of about 1,646 m
(5,400 ft) asl, such as in the Smoky Mountain area
(Geib et a]. 2001:Table 4.1). Processing camps are
not common on steps lying below roughly 1,829 m
(6,000 ft) asl in elevation but are frequently found
on the Fourmile Bench and on higher steps up to
the 1,981 m (6,500 ft) asl level.

At slightly higher elevations, the Skutumpah
and Kolob Terraces south and west of Bryce


ngorrh Wark

a

Figure 9.12.

EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY

BMA 0
‘owe “eg

ze IF22

a , eed 42KA5809 F58-5

\3
Cr

42GA5197 F58-01
DETAIL

Examples of aspen dendroglyphs related to livestock. Not to scale.

191


Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum

The stems of Gatecliff Contracting Stem points usually
contract markedly, but straight to slightly expanding
stems also occur in this series (Brown 1988). The
straight to contracting stem is reflected by a PSA less
than or equal to 100° and an NOI greater than 60°
(Thomas 1981:23). Brown (1988:324) found Gatecliff
Contracting Stem points from the Ghost Rock area of
Emery County, Utah to possess a NOI range from 62°
to nearly 180°. Using these classification criteria, 16
Gatecliff Contracting Stemmed/Gypsum points are
identified in the Bryce Canyon AIS assemblage
(Figure 7.4a-p).

The Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum points
from Bryce Canyon have contracting stems, primarily
triangular forms, and well-defined shoulders. These
points are manufactured from a variety of materials
including chert, jasper, and chalcedony. These points
have moderately short, contracting stems (y1[population
mean] =6.1 mm, o [standard deviation] =1.5 mm)
with a PSA range between 61° and 84° (u=70.1°,
6 =7.3°) and a DSA between 150° and 211° (u=177.3°,
6 =23.9°). The NOI ranges between 49° and 147°
(u=97.3°, 6 =30.4°) for these points. Complete and
nearly complete Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum
points range between 39 and 45mm in length
(o=42.5 mm, o=3.5 mm), 17 and 23 mm in width
(u=19.9 mm, o=2.4mm), and 3.6 to 5.9mm in
thickness (1=4.8mm, o=.6mm). Weights for
complete or nearly complete specimens range between
3.5 and 4.5 g (u=3.9 g, o=.43 g). Approximately 56
percent (n=9) of the Gatecliff Contracting
Stem/Gypsum points are serrated.

Gypsum points are common throughout
southwestem Utah and have been previously
documented at sites (e.g., 42GA1903, 42GA1904,
42GA3383) and isolated surface contexts in Bryce
Canyon National Park (Dominguez and Danielson
2000; Dominguez et al. 1992). The Gatecliff
Contracting Stem/Gypsum points collected during the
survey compare favorably with previous examples
found within the park. Previously documented
Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum points all exhibit
a triangular form and a markedly contracting stem
with a convex base.

PROJECTILE POINTS 89

A poorly provenienced, isolated point was infor-
mally collected by park employees several years prior to
the survey on a high ridge southwest of Yovimpa Pass.
This point, stored in the park archive (Cat. #398-3882),
may also be classifiable as a Gatecliff Series type, but it
differs substantially from the Gatecliff Contracting
Stem/Gypsum points collected during the survey
project. This large point (Figure 7.4q) has a triangular to
lanceolate form with a slightly contracting to straight
stem and a straight base. Similar points have been
documented in southeastern and central Utah (Brown
1988; Irwin 2001).

Unclassified Large Stemmed Points

Two projectile points do not fit easily into estab-
lished categories and are, therefore, lumped into an
unclassified large stemmed point category. These
points may represent late Paleoindian forms and
warrant further description.

The two fragments categorized as unclassified
large stemmed points apparently represent broken
lanceolate points. One is an obsidian basal fragment
(FS 59; Figure 7.3h) that exhibits a moderately well-
established parallel-oblique flaking pattern and
heavily ground lateral and basal edges. The second
(FS 135; Figure 7.3i) is made of quartzite and also
exhibits a somewhat parallel flaking pattern and a
heavily ground basal corner. These two point
fragments somewhat resemble Plains Paleoindian
points such as Haskett points (Butler 1978; Russell
1993) or Agate Basin and Hell Gap types (Frison
1978). The presence of basal and lateral grinding is
common among Paleoindian points. Grinding is also
a common technique used to strengthen edges during
biface reduction, and these specimens may instead
reflect bifaces broken and discarded during the
manufacturing process, but there is no direct
evidence to confirm this proposition. These point
fragments are similar to a possible Paleoindian
lanceolate point base that has been previously
documented at Site 42GA1903 within the park
(Dominguez and Danielson 2000:100, Figure 13h).
The previously collected specimen has a lanceolate
form, a weakly developed parallel-oblique flaking
pattern, and a straight, basally thinned base with edge
grinding.



10 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Figure 2.4.

View of East Creek Meadow, facing south toward the headwaters of. ‘East Creek (center).

Whiteman Bench rises to the right. A dismantled 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps
camp (Site 42GA3561) occupies the sparsely forested ridge in the left midground.

conglomerate that contains abundant quartzite,
chert, and limestone pebbles (Bowers 1991).

Formations underlying the Claron limestone are
only exposed in the eastern portion of the park,
below the Pink Cliffs. Cretaceous Period rocks
include, in descending order, the Kaiparowits
Formation, Wahweap Formation, Straight Cliffs
Formation, Tropic Shale, and Dakota Formation.
East of the park, Jurassic Period rocks including the
Entrada Sandstone, Carmel Formation, and Navajo
Sandstone are exposed in descending order along
the Paunsaugunt fault zone (Bowers 1991).

Soil

Plateau-top soils in the park mainly represent the
Pahreah~Syrett-Badland map unit, which includes

soil types that are moderately deep and somewhat
excessively drained, having formed in colluvium
and residuum derived from sedimentary rocks.
Below the Pink Cliffs, the soils in the northern part
of the park (roughly north of Yellow Creek) fall in
the Ruko-Rock Outcrop-Swapps map unit, while
those south of Yellow Creek are part of the
Badland-Rock Outcrop unit. Both of these map
units contain shallow to moderately deep, well-
drained soils with abundant rock outcrops, and both
units are subject to high precipitation runoff and
active erosion (United States Department of
Agriculture/Soil Conservation Service [USDA/
SCS] 1990:13~14).

Many other soils of minor extent exist on the
plateau, including the Kade silt loam found inside
the park along Podunk Creek and in the lower
reaches of East Creek Meadow just outside the
park. Kade silt loam is a deep, poorly drained soil



EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 193

Figure 9.15. An aspen dendroglyph depicting a
bird. Scale is 3 cm long.

Figure 9.16. A unique aspen dendroglyph
depicting a horse’s profile, a man’s
profile, and the four playing-card
suits,



Figure 6.8. Aspen dendroglyphs at Site 42GA5230.

In addition to the numerous dendroglyph in-
scriptions, six other historic inscriptions are identified
within the project area. Three are carved on the exposed
wood of Paiute bark-stripped ponderosa pines, two are
located on the sides of watering troughs, and one is
inscribed on a limestone cliff face in a shallow overhang.
These non-aspen inscriptions also include names,
initials, dates, and simple geometric designs that may
represent livestock brands. The rock inscription at Site
42GA5287, which reads “Joseph W. Thompson / June
23, 1891 / July 4” (Figure 6.7), contains the oldest
definitive date documented in the park. Joe Thompson’s
name also occurs at two dendroglyph sites (42KA5784
and 42KA5782) in association with an 1896 date and a
possible 1889 date, respectively.

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 69

Although it is largely dismantled,
numerous features and artifacts are still
present along the historic telephone line
(Site 42GA5288/42KA5814) that crosses
the park. One hundred sixty-one loci
(including 135 features and 26 artifact
clusters) are recorded along this 9.6-km
(6-mi) long corridor. The loci contain
features such as poles and stubbed posts
(i.e., buried posts serving as pole supports),
trees used as poles, lengths of wire, eye
hooks, brackets, and insulators. Branch
stubs, the result of line-clearing activities,
are also visible along the edges of the
cleared corridor as it crosses through
forested areas. Collapsed poles and stubbed
posts, scattered wire fragments, and insu-
lators mark the route of the line across the
meadows in the northern portion of the
park. None of the poles are standing, and
only one of the support posts is standing; all
others have fallen or were purposely
dismantled after the line was abandoned.

Eight water-contro] features—four spring
improvements, three watering troughs, and a
small checkdam—are recorded at five Euro-
American components. Spring-improvement
features include a concrete spring box at
Shaker Spring (Site 42GA5216), a simple
metal pipe in the spring at Site 42K A5798, a
circular rock alignment at Site 42KA5764,
and a cobble-lined sump at Site 42GA5241.
A small checkdam is also recorded at Shaker
Spring.

The three water troughs are all axe-
hewn from large logs. Two are associated
with the sump at Site 42GA5241 (Figure
6.9). The third is at Trough Spring (Site
42GA1902), and this feature is likely the
spring’s namesake facility. None of these
troughs are presently functional, and all are
suffering extensive deterioration. Dates
inscribed on the sides of the troughs at Site
42GA5241 indicate use during the 1910s
and 1920s.



9

Euro-American Archeology

Sue Eininger

The historic presence of Euro-Americans is well
documented atop the Paunsaugunt Plateau
within the present-day boundaries of Bryce
Canyon National Park. The Bryce Canyon AIS
identified numerous archeological resources
representing late nineteenth- and early twentieth-
century Euro-American activities. A variety of
cultural features including aspen dendroglyphs,
checkdams, spring-development features, camp-
sites, trash dumps, and artifact scatters are
documented at 107 sites and 4,606 IOs. These
resources comprise the physical evidence of
Euro-American land-use patterns both before
and after establishment of the park. Many of the
sites are affiliated with seasonal use by
livestock herders and represent several decades
of livestock grazing on public lands. Some sites
are associated with the development of early
twentieth-century tourist facilities, indicative of
a growing commercial presence on the plateau.
Other sites are affiliated with the establishment
of Bryce Canyon National Park and are the
result of subsequent land management and
administrative actions. The following chapter
presents a discussion of these various Euro-
American pursuits and explores the ways in
which the archeological materials represent past
activities.

179

Archeological Evidence of Livestock
Grazing

Although livestock grazing atop the Paun-
saugunt Plateau is well documented (e.g.,
Ahlstrom 1935; Alexander 1973; Bradley 1999;
Broyles 1969; Condie 1963; Daughters of the
Utah Pioneers 1949; Davies n.d.; Hansen n.d.;
Newell and Talbot 1998; Riggs 1978; Robinson
1970; Rumberg 1956), archeological evidence
of this activity is uncommon. The ranch com-
plexes, permanent structures, established
campsites, and corral areas that characterize
large-scale livestock operations in other parts of
the American west are absent from the park’s
plateau-top resources. In contrast, ranching sites
in the park are more ephemeral. Their un-
obtrusive character is indicative of the small-
scale family and community-run _ herding
operations that characterize Mormon home-
steading traditions. The mobility requirements
of these seasonal herding activities and the
remoteness of the high-elevation plateau pro-
vided little opportunity for the accumulation of
substantial material goods, and as a result, the
physical evidence of these activities is sparse
across the landscape.


64 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

The bark-stripped ponderosa pines are
characterized by broad vertical scars created
by the removal of bark from the tree trunks,
These scars are typically subrectangular in
shape and are oriented parallel to the vertical
axis of the tree (Figure 6.6). Scar sizes are
highly variable, ranging from 43 cm high by
9 cm wide to 271 cm high by 165 cm wide.
The majority of the scars, however, measure
from roughly 100 to 185 cm high and 50 to
100 cm wide. The scar width rarely exceeds
one-third of a tree’s circumference. The bot-
tom of the scar is typically within 50 cm of
the base of the tree. Axe marks, which appear
to be made with steel axes, are noted at all
but one of the stripped trees. As many as 56
individual axe marks are noted on a single
tree.

These peeled trees are probable evidence
of Paiute utilization of the area. The steel axe
marks support either a protohistoric or
historic temporal affiliation. Outer bark
removal would have exposed the cambium
layer of the tree, which would then be
harvested as a food source. Although
cambium and bark products were commonly
used in many parts of northern North
America, among the Southern Paiute
cambium was apparently only used as a
starvation resource (Martorano 1981, 1988;
Schroeder 1965; Swetnam 1984). All of the
bark-stripped trees in the project area lie in
the central portion of the park, at the northern
end of Whiteman Bench. This area lies in
close proximity to the headwaters of Swamp
Canyon, below the Pink Cliffs to the east.
Swamp Canyon contains several permanent
water sources and provides easy access
between the plateau top and the canyons
below the rim.

Fire-cracked rock concentrations at two
components represent thermal features such
as hearths or roasting pits. No charcoal-
stained or ashy soils were observed, although

Figure 6.6. A probable Numic/Paiute bark-stripped
ponderosa pine tree at Site 42GA5242.
Scale (at upper left) is 3-cm long.

subsurface bummed deposits are likely to be present. The
fire-cracked rock concentration recorded at Site
42GA5192 is associated with a Paiute-affiliated lithic
and ceramic scatter. The other feature, at Site
42GA5240, is associated with an early Archaic to late
Prehistoric lithic scatter. Two unknown rock concen-
trations are also recorded at Site 42GA5240; one
consists of 11 small limestone fragments and resembles
a possible hearth. The other, comprised of several small
sandstone fragments, may be the remains of a shattered
grinding slab.



PREVIOUS ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL INVESTIGATIONS
Chris T. Wenker.. .29

Archeological Projects, 1974-1997.
Archeological Sites and Research Results.
Relevant Historical Research

FIELD METHODS AND RESEARCH DESIGN
Chris T. Wenker and Cynthia Herhabtn.........csccecccssessesssssessseesnesssseecressessescessesieersessesnesnenneeneenssneeees 37

Fire Management Units .
Logistics and Methods...
Initial Sampling Strategy...
Survey Schedule and Method:
Recording Archeological Resources
Research Design ..
Preliminary Research Plans.
Revised Research Plan...
Native American Archeological Research Topics.

Late Paleoindian/Early Archaic Period Archeology in South-Central Utah

Middle and Late Archaic Period Archeology in South-Central Utah

Late Prehistoric/Formative Cultures: Fremont and Puebloan Groups on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau.

The Numa and the Southern Paiute on the Paunsaugunt Plateau
Undated/Unaffiliated Native American Sites in Bryce Canyon National

Euro-American Archeological Research Topics
Early Euro-American Economic Use of the Paunsaugunt Plateau
National Park Service Tenure on the Paunsaugunt Plateau..............

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS

Sue Eininger. 53
Survey Coverage and Results 53
Summary of Sites ve 55
Description of Native American Component: .61

Native American Feature:
Native American Artifact Scatters ...
Description of Euro-American Components .
Euro-American Features
Euro-American Artifact Scatters
Description of Isolated Occurrences.
Native American Isolated Occurrences.
Euro-American Isolated Occurrences........
Isolated Occurrence Types of Unknown Affiliation
Checkdams
Conclusion ....c.eccceeeeseees 79



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EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 185

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Figure 9.4, Examples of aspen dendroglyphs with text messages. Not to scale.



34 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

In sum, the archeological surveys from 1974 to
1997 covered roughly 1,702 ha (4,206 acres)
throughout the park. Within the Bryce Canyon AIS
project area, 1,063 ha (2,626 acres) had been
surveyed during these previous projects, covering
roughly 24 percent of the 4,370 ha (10,799 acre)
total project area.

In addition to the sites recorded in the park,
over 100 archeological sites have been recorded on
the Dixie National Forest west and north of the
park, particularly around Johns Valley and the
Sevier Plateau to the north (e.g., Dykmann 1976).
Three surveys were conducted in the Whiteman
Bench area along the park’s western boundary, but
few sites were present (Dixie National Forest
archeological site files, Cedar City, Utah). In 1980
Doug McFadden, Bureau of Land Management
archeologist, examined a proposed borrow area just
outside the eastern park boundary south of the
Yellow Creek drainage but observed no cultural
material (McFadden 1980).

The Escalante Project, a large-scale archeo—
logical sample survey, examined several thousand
acres in three main tracts in south-central Utah
(Kearns 1982). The westernmost, Tract III, covered
part of the easter margin of Johns Valley. The
southern end of Tract III extended to within 1.6 km
(1 mi) of the northern boundary of Bryce Canyon
National Park. The nearest sites recorded in Tract
Til lie roughly 6 km (4 mi) northeast of the park,
and the only substantial site clusters lie at least
9.5 km (6 mi) to the northeast. Most sites in this
comparatively low-elevation plateau-top area are
Archaic period camps and hunting locales. Oddly,
Kearns (1982:420) assigned a series of Garfield
County site numbers (42GA1896 to 42GA1918,
inclusive) to some Tract Ill sites that had also been
assigned to sites in Bryce Canyon National Park in
1979 (Hartley 1980a), some of which are included
in the Bryce Canyon AIS project. Hopefully this
duplication will not impede federal archeologists
from effectively managing the sites on their
respective land.

Finally, in 2000 and 2001, National Park
Service archeologists from the Intermountain

Support Office conducted an intensive, large-scale,
pedestrian archeological inventory survey of most
of the plateau-top portion of the park. The Bryce
Canyon AIS, which is the subject of this report,
ultimately surveyed a 4,370-ha (10,799-acre) area
extending between the western park boundary and
the rim of the Pink Cliffs on the east, and from
Water Canyon on the north to the southern end of
the Pink Cliffs southwest of Yovimpa Pass. All
previously surveyed land within this area was re-
examined during the inventory, and many new sites
were discovered. Overall, 192 archeological sites
were recorded in the project area (two additional
sites outside the project area, north of State Route
12, were also recorded), Wenker and Eininger
(2001) and Wenker and Herhahn (2002) presented
interim reports describing the preliminary survey
results and management recommendations.

Archeological Sites and Research Results

Fifty-three archeological sites were known in
Bryce Canyon National Park prior to the initial
field season of the inventory (Table 4.2; Figure
4.2), but the types, distribution, and condition of
sites throughout the park remained poorly
understood. Forty-four of these previously known
sites contained Native American components
(including one multicomponent site with a historic
camp). All but two of the Native American
components consisted solely of scatters of flaked
lithic artifacts. One lithic scatter also contained
several hearths, and one site contained both lithic
and ceramic artifacts (which proved upon a site re-
visit to be Paiute Brown Ware sherds). The
highest density of Native American sites is found
in the northernmost section of the park, on the
plateau top north of State Route 12. As will be
seen, these northern sites fall outside the boundary
of the inventory, so most were not re-examined
during this project. The Bryce Canyon AIS
relocated and recorded all but one of the 21
previously recorded sites with Native American
components inside the project boundary (Site
42GA1905, a small lithic scatter, could not be
relocated despite repeated searches).


308 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Paunsaugunt Plateau archeological resources
compared to Kaiparowits Plateau sites, 124-26,
147-49, 170, 173, 199
personal names and dates
executed on aspen dendroglyphs, 180, /82-83,
184, 185, 191, 204, 205
Peterson, C. S., 222
petrified wood, 109-10, 131-32, 220
effect of fire on, 215
percussion-flaked bifaces, 140
physiographic setting, 5, 7
pictographs, 57, 65, 65, 69, 151, 153, 155, 194
Pink Cliffs, 1, 2, 5, 7, 9,24
surveys below, 223
Pinto series points, 16, 87, 105
Pinto Shouldered points, 88, 103, 111
pipelines, 77, 202
pithouses, 18
Pleistocene Epoch, 12, 45
Podunk Creek, 7, 11, 47, 111, 112
Pollock family, 197
ponderosa pines, culturally modified (bark-
stripped), 20, 48, 63-64, 64, 128, 151, 153-
54
dendrochronological data, 225
with historic inscriptions, 190
population, decreases in, 17
potlid flakes, 144-46
pottery. See ceramics
Powell, John Wesley, 24
power lines, 77
precipitation, 11-12
Prehistoric period. See late Prehistoric/Formative
periods
prescribed fires, 219
effect on archeological resources, 39, 82, 107,
209, 214-16
pressure flakes, 144-46
processing camp site type, 156~62, 167, 171, 178
projectile points
analysis
coding format and key (appendix), 259-62
data (appendix), 265-70
metric variables, 84-85
nominal variables, 81-84
patination, 82, 107, /08
Archaic period, 16-17, 87, 94, 103~5, 113, 226
associated with ceramics, 106
Basketmaker II, 105

projectile points (continued)
as chronological markers, 85-86, 89, 103~7,
111, 116, 119, 125
classification keys, 83-84
collection of, 66
compared to pressure-flaked bifaces, /39
curation and reuse of, 63, 95, 119
deposition rates, 121-22, 12/-22, 125
fluted points' relationship to stemmed points,
45
Formative period, 105
and land-use patterns, 107-13
large points, 85-97, 98
corner-notched points, 95, 96
side-notched points, 94-95, 96
stemmed projectile points, 85-89
vs. small points, 116
late Paleoindian/early Archaic period, 16, 87,
89, 103, 105, 119
late Prehistoric/Formative periods, 17, 99, 105—
7
Numic/Paiute culture, 19, 99, 100, 107
small points, 97, 99, 100-101, 102
comner-notched points, 101, /02
side-notched points, 100-101, 702
vs. large points, 116
unfluted points, 16
See also bifaces; stone materials
projectile point types
Agate Basin points, 89, 103
Alberta-Cody Complex points, 103
Bajada Complex points, 119
Bull Creek points, 18, 99, 101, 107, 112
associated with Kayenta ceramics, 106
Clovis points, 16
Desert Side-notched points, 19-20, 99, 100-
101, 107, 112-13
Eastgate points, 97, 101
Elko series projectile points, 91-94, 97, 105,
eat
as chronological markers, 125
Elko Corner-notched, 91, 92, 105, 112
Elko Eared, 91, 93, 101, 105, 112
Elko Side-notched, 91, 93, 94, 105, 112
Folsom points, 16
Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum points, 17,
89, 90, 97, 104-5, 111
Great Basin Stemmed points, 16, 85, 87, 88,
103, 111, 119


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 151

Table 8.4, Summary of ceramic artifacts recorded at project sites.

Site Occupation
Site Period Type Form Count Comments
42GA2634 Numic/Paiute Southern Paiute Brown Ware Jar 14

42GA2634 Numic/Paiute — Unidentified black-on-gray; Jar 4 Probably a curated item
Virgin series
42GA5192 Numic/Paiute Southern Paiute Brown Ware Jar 25 Probable pot break
42GA5244 Virgin Anasazi Shinarump Corrugated Jar 2
42GA5245 Numic/Paiute  Shinarump Red Ware Jar 1 Tempered with chert-
bearing sand; possibly
oxidized; probably curated
42GA5245 Numic/Paiute Southern Paiute Brown Ware Jar 6
42GA5262 Numic/Paiute Southern Paiute Brown Ware Jar 18 Probable pot break
42GA5278 Virgin Anasazi Shinarump Gray Unknown 2
42GA5278 Virgin Anasazi Unidentified black-on-gray; Unknown 1
probably St. George B/g
42KA3288 Archaic/Virgin Shinarump Corrugated Jar 1

Anasazi

project area contain solely corrugated sherds, and
Keller (1987) attributes such corrugated ceramics
to a late Pueblo II period occupation (postdating
A.D. 1050), implying that most Puebloan use of
the Paunsaugunt Plateau occurred relatively late
during their tenure. Keller (1987) also notes a
close contemporaneity between the ceramic sites
in the Alton area and sites farther south in
Johnson Canyon, further indicating a southern
origin for the Puebloan groups who used the
plateau.

The Virgin Anasazi sherds found at two of the
Paiute sites probably represent sherds or vessels
that were curated by the Paiute residents (e.g.,
Fowler and Matley 1979:84-85). The probable
southern or eastern provenance of the Anasazi
sherds also indicates that some Paiute groups
using the Paunsaugunt Plateau originated from or

were affiliated in some manner with the Grand
Staircase region.

The consistency in vessel form (over-
whelmingly jars) at all sites suggests a limited
range of storage or cooking functions. Low sherd
or vessel counts indicate short-term use of
ceramic-bearing site components. Small assem-
blage sizes and the limited diversity of ceramic
types at any single site hinder any further
observations.

Native American Feature Types

Two classes of features that can be confidently
ascribed to Native American use are present at
project sites: thermal features and culturally
modified trees. One pictograph panel recorded
outside the project boundary strongly resembles a


BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

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76 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Euro-American Isolated Occurrences

Six hundred ninety-seven Euro-American IOs,
representing a wide variety of artifact and feature
types, are identified (Table 6.11). Unlike the
Native American components, many of the Euro-
American IOs contain isolated features. Three
hundred seventy IOs contain architectural and
nonarchitectural features, and 327 IOs contain
only artifacts.

Refuse scatters, recorded at 166 IOs, are the
most common Euro-American IO type. These
scatters include 96 mixed-refuse scatters, 58 can
scatters, and 12 bottle scatters. Many of the
scatters contain only food-related items, probably
indicative of a single meal by a work party. Other
scatters consist of nonfood containers and
machine parts or hardware, indicating a work site.
Some IO scatters, despite their small assemblage
sizes, contain a wide variety and high density of
artifact types, suggesting the scatters represent
single-episode dump sites. Four small flaked lithic
scatters are also attributed to Euro-American
origins. These scatters lie in the northern portion
of the park, in the immediate vicinity of modern
residential and maintenance buildings. The
locations of these scatters, as well as the
assemblage characteristics and the distribution of
some artifacts on top of pine duff and logs,
suggest the scatters are modern-day flintknapping
stations.

Individual artifacts are recorded at
157 IOs. These IOs typically consist of a can,
bottle, machine part, or piece of hardware.
Their occurrence on the landscape is likely the
result of expedient trash disposal, abandon-
ment, or unintended loss. A wide variety of
historic artifacts including food and nonfood
containers, construction material, machine
parts, and domestic and personal items con-
stitute the IO assemblage. Temporally
diagnostic attributes indicate dates from the
late 1800s through the 1950s, a range that
correlates with the dates represented by the site
assemblages.

IO features include a wide variety of
architectural and nonarchitectural types, materials,
and functions. Landscape features such as road
traces, pipe lines, fence lines, survey benchmarks,
and trails are the most common types. Eighty-five
abandoned historic road segments, indicated by
roadbeds, two-tracks, and linear depressions, are
recorded. Some of these roads may predate the
establishment of the park, while others are
associated with early park activities related to
CCC work areas and National Park Service
facility maintenance. The roads were likely
abandoned due to changing resource-use patterns
within the park. Three abandoned trail segments
are also identified. Ranging from 200 to 620m
(656 to 2034 ft) in length, these features probably
represent National Park Service-built trails that
have subsequently been closed or realigned.

Many of the IO features are associated with
the establishment and marking of the park
boundaries. The entire length of the western park
boundary within the project area exhibits features
such as fence lines, signs, blazed trees, rock
cairns, and steel posts or pipes that are recorded as
IOs. Thirty-five brass benchmarks in the project
area are also recorded as IOs. All but four are
associated with the National Park Service
boundary line. The dates stamped on these
benchmarks indicate installation dates ranging
from 1938 to 1944. In many cases, rock cairns or
piles are associated with the benchmarks. Bearing
or witness trees are noted in the vicinity of seven
benchmarks. These trees exhibit large blazes on
their lower trunk, and inscriptions are commonly
carved on the exposed wood. The inscriptions
include cadastral and other  survey-related
information (e.g., “T36S R4W S36 B2,” “BCNP
B4,”or “S20B7”).

Cairns and blazed trees are recorded in other
parts of the project area as well. For example,
seven cairns mark the route of an abandoned dirt
road crossing a ridge near the Agua Canyon
gravel pit. Other cairns are scattered in isolated
locations across the landscape and may have been
established as informal markers associated with



276

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

REFERENCES

Hughes, Richard E.

1982 Age and Exploitation of Obsidian from the Medicine Lake Highland, California. Journal of
Archaeological Science 9:173-185.

1983 X-ray Fluorescence Characterization of Obsidian. Jn David Hurst Thomas, The Archaeology
of Monitor Valley: 2. Gatecliff Shelter. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of
Natural History 59:401-408.

1984 Obsidian Sourcing Studies in the Great Basin: Problems and Prospects. Jn Richard E.
Hughes (ed.) Obsidian Studies in the Great Basin. Contributions of the University of
California Archaeological Research Facility No. 45:\-19.

1985 Obsidian Source Use at Hidden Cave. Jn David Hurst Thomas, The Archaeology of Hidden
Cave, Nevada. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 61:332-
353.

1986 Diachronic Variability in Obsidian Procurement Patterns in Northeastern California and
Southcentral Oregon. University of California Publications in Anthropology 17.

1988 The Coso Volcanic Field Reexamined: Implications for Obsidian Sourcing and Hydration
Dating Research. Geoarchaeology 3:253-265.

1990 Obsidian Sources at James Creek Shelter, and Trace Element Geochemistry of Some
Northeastern Nevada Volcanic Glasses. Jn Robert G. Elston and Elizabeth E. Budy (eds.),
The Archaeology of James Creek Shelter. University of Utah Anthropological Papers No.
115, pp. 297-305.

1993 Trace Element Geochemistry of Volcanic Glass from the Obsidian Cliffs Flow, Three Sisters
Wilderness, Oregon. Northwest Science 67:199-207.

1994 Intrasource Chemical Variability of Artefact-Quality Obsidians from the Casa Diablo Area,
California. Journal of Archaeological Science 21:263-271.

1998 On Reliability, Validity, and Scale in Obsidian Sourcing Research. Jn Ann F, Ramenofsky
and Anastasia Steffen (eds.), Unit Issues in Archaeology: Measuring Time, Space, and
Material, pp. 103-114. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

2001aEnergy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from the Carson
Desert and Stillwater Mountains. In Robert L. Kelly, Prehistory of the Carson Desert and
Stillwater Mountains. University of Utah Anthropological Papers No. 123, pp. 241-250.

2001b Letter Reports on Cedar Breaks Obsidian Sourcing. In Timothy W. Canaday, High-
Altitude Archeological Investigations at Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah. National
Park Service, Intermountain Region, Cultural Resources Selections No. 17, pp. 145-153.

n.d.a Geochemical Identification of the Sources for Alta Toquima Obsidian Artifacts. Jn David
Hurst Thomas, The Archaeology of Monitor Valley: 4, Alta Toquima and the Mt. Jefferson
Complex. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History. In press.

n.d.b Determination of the Geologic Sources for Obsidian Artifacts from Camels Back Cave, and
Trace Element Analysis of Some Western Utah and Southeastern Nevada Volcanic Glasses,
by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence. /n Dave N. Schmitt and David B. Madsen (eds.),
The Archaeology of Camels Back Cave. Utah Geological Survey. In press.

Geochemical Research Laboratory Letter Report 2001-83



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 165

One pattern in tool functions that emerges
in the Archaic period site types is the
prevalence of used flakes (Table 8.6). Used
flakes are present at 62 percent (10 of 16) of
Archaic period sites identified as hunting
camps. No used flakes are present at Archaic
period processing camps or indeterminate sites.
Similarly, these artifacts are uncommon at late
Prehistoric/Formative and Numic/Paiute sites
and do not appear at all at the later hunting
camps. Two of the Archaic period used flakes
are made of quartzite and are probably local
products. The remaining nine used flakes at
hunting camps are made of Brian Head chert;
all but two are completely noncortical, and all
measure between 4 and 8 cm across. Because no
Archaic period hunting camps contain flake
cores (and cores are rare at Archaic period sites
in general), the blanks for the used flakes may
have been produced prior to the hunting
activities. Conversely, the chert flakes may have
been produced on site from bifacial cores, but
the polythetic flake types of the used flakes are
not recorded, so their probable production
technique is unknown. The common occurrence
of used flakes at hunting sites indicates the
hunters were relying on lightweight, flexible
tool kits that included the projectile points as
well as either the used flakes themselves, or the
cores (presumably bifaces) from which the
flakes were made. A maintainable, adaptable
system such as this is the type that Bleed
(1986:741, 745) posits would be used for
“forage hunting” of ubiquitous but irregularly
available game.

Neither flaked cobble tools (Geib et al.
2001:237-246) nor Cockscomb denticulate tools
(Kearns 1982:179; Keller 1987:53-56) are present
in any time period. Geib et al. (2001:245) observe
that more than half of all residential sites and
processing camps on the Kaiparowits Plateau
contain flaked cobble tools, which occur during
all time periods. The absence of these bulky tool
types further speaks to the generally light weight
and portability of the tool kits used on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau.

Native American Land Use on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau

Several possible associations between landform and
site type are apparent among the Bryce Canyon AIS
sites. The project encompassed only a small portion
of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, so this discussion can-
not speak to the past land use of the entire plateau.
Greater survey coverage and a larger population of
sites would be required to evaluate these observations.

Hunting Locales

The spatial distribution of hunting camps does not
belie their functional interpretation. Although ab-
solute counts are low and no strong patterns emerge,
several clusters of Archaic period hunting camps are
apparent in the project area. Five sites ring the
meadow of East Creek, where modern populations
of pronghorn antelope and elk are abundant. Seven
sites occupy Whiteman Bench, three at the northern
end and four at the southern. These sites are in less
obvious hunting locations, based on modern obser-
vations of wildlife, but elk are certainly present on
the bench. Although bighom sheep no longer live in
the park, their past presence may also have influenced
early hunting practices on the plateau top. Finally,
three sites occupy the Rainbow Point and Podunk
Creek area at the southern end of the plateau, also in
areas where game is not commonly present today.

The distribution of [Os can also illustrate past
hunting practices. For example, one particular land-
form in the park, East Creek Ridge, contains only
one site: a sparse, undated lithic scatter. Nine iso-
lated projectile points were collected from this
ridge, however, including two untyped arrow
points, a Desert Side-notched point, two Elko
points, two untyped dart points, a Gypsum point,
and an unknown point. Furthermore, fifteen ad-
ditional nondiagnostic pressure-flaked biface frag-
ments, which most likely represent broken
projectile points, are also present on this landform.
No other landforms in the project area contain a
similarly high density of points and bifaces
(Figure 8.17), suggesting that this landscape feature
witnessed particularly intensive hunting use.


235

APPENDIX 6.1 SITE SUMMARY

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242

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Appendix 6.2. (continued)

IONo. Cultural Affiliation IO Type IONo. Cultural Affiliation IO Type

255 Euro-American Can scatter, food 1431 Euro-American Can, food

256 Euro-American Can, food 1449 Euro-American Can scatter, food

257 Euro-American Wood pile; Can, nonfood 1482 Euro-American Rock piles

258 Euro-American Sign 1483 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface

259 Euro-American Can, nonfood 1484 Archaic Elko Corner-notched point

260 Euro-American Wood pile 1485 Native American _ Flaked stone tool

261 Euro-American Historic refuse, food, nonfood, 1486 Archaic Elko Corner-notched point
hardware 1487 Euro-American Can, food

262 Euro-American Can scatter, food 1488 Native American Flake

263 Euro-American Wood pile 1489 Native American _Lithic scatter

264 Euro-American Hardware 1490 Euro-American Wood pile; Can, food

265 Euro-American Historie refuse, food 1491 Native American Sandstone scatter

266 Euro-American Historic refuse, food 1492 Native American —_ Sandstone scatter

267 Euro-American Historic refuse, food 1493 Native American Pressure flaked biface

268 Euro-American Can, food 1494 Native American Sandstone scatter

269 Ewro-American Can scatter, food 1495 Native American Pressure flaked biface

337 Euro-American Pipe line 1496 Native American Pressure flaked biface and Can

338 Euro-American, Can scatter, food and Euro-American scatter, nonfood

445 Euro-American Can, food 1497 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface

480 Euro-American Can, nonfood 1498 Archaic Elko Corner-notched point

481 Euro-American Can scatter, food 1499 Native American Flake

773 Euro-American Hardware 1515 Euro-American Hardware

77 Euro-American Can, food 1525 Euro-American Can, food

1108 Late Archaic Gypsum point 1533 Euro-American _ Historic refuse, food

1232 Euro-American Can scatter, food 1534 Native American Flake

1233. Euro-American Can, tobacco 1540 Euro-American Historic refuse, food, hardware

1271 Native American _ Flake scatter and Historic 1559 Unknown. Caim

and Euro-American refuse, food affiliation

1272 Euro-American Can scatter, food 1561 Euro-American Historic refuse, food

1282 Euro-American Can scatter, food, nonfood 1597 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface

1322 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface 1598 Native American Flake

1323. Euro-American Rock piles 1599 Euro-American Can scatter, food

1324 Euro-American Rock pile 1625 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface

1406 Euro-American Can, food 1626 Native American Flake

1407 Euro-American Can scatter, food 1627 Native American Flake scatter



150 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

five small sandstone fragments with smoothing or
battering wear, minimally indicating their use as
milling implements.

Three of these worked sandstone slab
fragments occupy a Paiute site, and probably
represent parts of a single milling implement.
Two others occupy multioccupation sites of
various affiliations. One of the grinding slabs
is present at multioccupation site with great
time depth, one occupies a late Prehistoric/
Formative period site, one is present at an
Anasazi site, two occupy Numic/Paiute sites,
and two are found at undated scatters.

Two manos are present. One small mano,
the only nonflaked item at a complex multi-
occupation site, is part of an unshaped quartzite
pebble. The other, found at an undated site,
consists of two fragments of a shaped, two-
handed, bifacially faceted, granitic mano.
Neither site containing a mano possessed an
accompanying nether stone.

Two quartzite hammerstones are also
recorded in the project assemblage. One is
present at a Numic/Paiute site and one
occupies a multioccupation site. Dominguez
and Danielson (2000) also report several
hammerstones, but given the prevalence of
lithic debris on the plateau sites, the general
paucity of this tool type suggests either that the
knappers used perishable percussive instru-
ments (e.g., antler, wood, etc.) or that
percussors were rarely discarded or lost.

As is evident from this summary, late sites,
particularly Numic/Paiute sites, are most likely
to contain ground stone and other nonflaked
stone artifacts. Geib et al. (2001) posit that
some of the temporal variation in grinding
slab frequency can be attributed to the
deterioration of soft sandstone slabs that may
have once been present at Archaic period sites,
but that proposal cannot be tested with the
present data.

Native American Pottery

The Bryce Canyon AIS identified the first
Puebloan and Paiute ceramic artifacts in Bryce
Canyon National Park. Although pottery-bearing
sites are previously reported from the park
vicinity (e.g., Dominguez 1989a; O’Connell
1984), such sites are exceptionally uncommon,
and the ceramics are often poorly described. For
example, O’Connell (1984) actually first reported
ceramic artifacts in the park at Site 42GA2634,
but he failed to describe or identify the sherds.
This site was only positively identified as a
Numic/Paiute occupation during a site revisit dur-
ing the inventory. Similarly, Dominguez (1989a)
noted a ceramic and lithic artifact scatter adjacent
to park land, but the site is not otherwise
described. Elsewhere, Dixie National Forest
archeological site files indicate a handful of sites
with either Fremont or Paiute ceramics (or both)
along the East Fork of the Sevier River west and
north of the park (e.g., Gillio 1974; Jacklin 1993a;
Snedeker 1982). Keams (1982:264) also reports a
site containing Snake Valley Gray Fremont sherds
and a site with Paiute ceramics in Johns Valley
northeast of the park.

Scattered sherds or concentrated pot breaks
are present at seven project sites. All ceramic
samples collected during the inventory were
analyzed and assigned type identifications by
Doug McFadden, Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument Archeologist. Four sites
contain Southern Paiute Brown Ware sherds.
Five sites (including two of the Paiute sites)
contain decorated and utilitarian Virgin Anasazi
ceramics (Table 8.4; Figure 8.16).

At the three sites representing Puebloan
occupations, the preponderance of Shinarump
varietals may indicate an affiliation with the
Virgin Anasazi groups in the Grand Staircase,
because Keller (1987:35-36) and Christensen et
al. (1983:45) note relatively abundant similar
ceramics in the Alton area, just south of the
park. Two of the three Puebloan sites in the



PROJECT SUMMARY AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR ARCHEOLOGICAL RESEARCH = 221

pattern is evident. The few sites that contain
Virgin Anasazi ceramics are of equivocal
function, but one at least is a processing camp.
Compared with Puebloan sites on the Skutumpah
Terrace immediately below the Pink Cliffs to the
south, the occupation of the plateau top appears
remarkably sporadic and ephemeral. On the lower
terrace, Christensen et al. (1983) and Keller
(1987) report abundant Puebloan sites with
hearths and grinding stones, indicating relatively
intensive use of wild resources. The top of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau does not contain a similarly
rich archeological record of Puebloan use, sug-
gesting that the Pink Cliffs may have marked
nearly the northern boundary and elevational limit
of the Grand Staircase’s Virgin Anasazi catch-
ment area.

Numic or Southern Paiute sites are relatively
common on the plateau. Every single-component
Paiute site in the project area is classified as a
processing camp, which Geib et al. (2001)
propose can also be interpreted as temporary
habitation sites that were occupied by small
groups. If this is true, the Paiute occupancy
represents the most intensive period of
residential use the plateau has ever witnessed. In
most respects, the Paiute sites on the plateau
closely resemble those in surrounding, lower-
elevation areas. This observation suggests that
the Paiute used the plateau not for special-
purpose forays, but as part of their normal trans-
humant rounds. The difference between the
Archaic and Paiute use of the plateau supports a
growing body of evidence that the lifeways of
these Great Basin hunting and gathering peoples
differed dramatically, contrary to many prior
expectations.

Euro-American Archeology

The majority of the park’s Euro-American
archeological sites consist of groves of aspen
dendroglyphs, which are historic inscriptions
carved into tree trunks. These sites each contain
from 2 to 60 or more carved trees. The majority of
inscriptions consist of personal names or initials

and dates. The earliest dates come from glyphs
carved in 1893, 1896, and 1897, but most in-
scriptions with dates were carved between the
1910s and the 1930s. Dendroglyphs showing
human figures, animals, and other drawings (such
as a deck of cards, and a pistol) are occasionally
present. Some of these figures are elegantly drawn
and aesthetically pleasing while others are carved
with a crude hand or are pornographic in nature.
These sites appear to be primarily related to the
use of the plateau’s high meadows, streams, and
springs for sheep and cattle grazing in the 1910s
through 1930s, and most of the names and initials
carved on the trees appear to be those of local
shepherds and cowboys.

Other important historic Euro-American sites
in the park are temporary or seasonal campsite
locations. The best-known of these is an
abandoned CCC camp. Another historic campsite
west of the Bryce Canyon Lodge appears to have
been a “resort camp” where early park visitors
were entertained and housed. This camp site
consists of several leveled and graveled tent plat-
forms connected by gravel pathways, and it
contains several dense refuse scatters that include
many broken pieces of purple glass stemware and
other relatively “expensive” items that would not
be expected at a work camp or a_ herder’s
residential camp. The other historic campsites in
the park are much less substantial and probably
represent work camps. One contains two outhouse
depressions and burned refuse piles, another
contains a large hearth and the structural remains
of a possible outhouse, and the rest consist only of
stone campfire rings and associated sparse refuse
scatters,

Small historic refuse scatters or dumps are
also abundantly scattered throughout the park.
Many consist of food cans and bottles, but many
oil and fuel cans and pieces of hardware or
vehicle parts are also present. Most of these sites
and isolated occurrences probably date to the
1920s through 1940s. During this period, the
park’s forests were logged to provide building
material for park construction projects. The CCC


304. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

features (continued)
architecture (continued)
structure pads, 60
checkdams, 43, 51, 53, 73, 78, 78-79, 222
diagnostic, 63, 116
Euro-American, 68-72, 76-77
Native American, 17, 63-65, 151, 153-55, 220
water-control features, 69-70, 180
water-development features, 67, 194-95
diversion systems, 24-25
domestic water supplies, 208
watering troughs, 49-50, 69, 190, 194, 795
See also aspen dendroglyphs; historic
inscriptions
field methods, 39-40, 42-43, 213
Finch, B. J., 202, 204
Findlay Cattle Company, 198
fire management units, 38, 209
burned and unburned units
comparison of artifact assemblages, 215-17
site visibility in, 209-14
previous archeological survey coverage, 37, 39
fire suppression, 13~14
Firor, J., 148
flaked cobble tools, 165
flaked stone artifacts
effect of prescribed fire on, 214-16
on Kaiparowits Plateau, 105, 147, 149, 165
technology, 137-49
tools, 147
See also projectile points; stone materials
flaked stone debris, 131, 143, 147, 156-57
angular debris, 144-45
biface-reduction flakes, 144, 146
biface-thinning flakes, 144-46
bipolar flakes, 144
freehand reduction flakes, 144-46
notching flakes, 144-45
potlid flakes, 144-46
pressure flakes, 144-46
temporal changes in, 133-36, 146-47
Flake Mountain, 110
as a source of stone materials, 130, 225
floral resources, 11-12
fluted points' relationship to stemmed points, 45
Folsom points, 16
Formative period. See late Prehistoric/Formative
periods
Fowler, D. D., 151

freehand reduction flakes, 144-46

Fremont, John C., 23

Fremont culture, 18, 126, 176
research design topics, 47

future archeological research
dendrochronological data, 225
stone material sources, 224-25
surveys below the Pink Cliffs, 223
test-excavations, 223-24

Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum points, 17,
89, 90, 97, 104-5, 111
Geib, P. R., 105-6, 155, 170-71, 174
Geib, P. R., J. H. Collette, and K. Spurr
Kaiparowits Plateau archeological resources,
132-33, 141, 148, 150, 156, 170, 199
Archaic period, 119, 124~26, 171, 173-74,
177
flaked stone artifacts, 105, 147, 149, 165
Numic/Paiute culture, 128, 176-77, 221
on regional landscapes, 167
on validity of ethnographic examples, 160
Geib, P. R., J. Huffman, and K. Spurr, 105, 107
General Land Office surveys, 24
General Management Plan (NPS), 79
geologic surveys, 24
geology, 9-10
Gilbert, Grove Karl, 5, 24
glass, 42, 55, 76-77, 203-5, 207-8, 221
diagnostic, 67
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area sites, 155
Global position system (GPS) data collection,
42
Grand Canyon National Park, 26
Grand Staircase, 5, 126, 133, 136, 151, 225-26
as a geographic boundary, 226
sites, 175
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, 7,
170
gravel quarries, 67, 72, 202, 222
Great Basin, 5
cultural groups, 105
regional influences, 110-11
Western Pluvial Lake Tradition, 103
interface with Colorado Plateau, 46-47, 226
paleoenvironmental conditions, 12—13
as a source of stone materials, 133
Great Basin Stemmed points, 16, 85, 87, 88, 103,
111, 119


The remaining 951 IOs consist of single
artifacts, isolated features, and sparse artifact
scatters that do not meet the project’s site criteria
(Chapter 5). These IOs most commonly include
projectile points, small nondiagnostic lithic
scatters, single cans or bottles, sparse historic
refuse scatters, dendroglyphs, and a variety of
other isolated artifact and feature types. Within
the project area as a whole, density is calculated at
one IO per 5 ha (11 acres), although, as with site
density, IO density is generally higher in the
northern portion of the project area.

Two of the 194 sites recorded during the
inventory lie outside the survey area proper. One
site (42GA2634), originally recorded by O’Connell
(1984), was re-recorded in 2001 by Bryce Canyon
AIS staff during a nationwide National Park
Service  site-condition assessment project. The
other site (42GA5287), a historic inscription and
pictograph, was known to park staff and local
residents but had never been officially recorded or
included in the park database. The site was
recorded by Bryce Canyon AIS staff at the end of
the 2001 field season after the project-area survey
was complete. Subsequent discussions of project
data will include all 194 sites. A summary list of
the sites, noting cultural affiliation, site type, size,
and observed cultural material, is presented in
Appendix 6.1.

Summary of Sites

As mentioned above, 194 sites were recorded
during the inventory project. Cultural material
representing Native American, Euro-American, and
unknown culture groups is present (Table 6.1). The
majority of sites are single-component sites
representing one culture group or temporal period.
Euro-American sites slightly outnumber Native
American sites. Of the 182 single-component sites,
96 are Euro-American and 86 are Native American.

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 55

Table 6.1. Cultural affiliations of sites.

Cultural Affiliation Count
Euro-American single-component site 96
Native American single-component site 86
Native American and Euro-American
multicomponent site 9
Native American and Unknown affiliation
multicomponent site 1
Euro-American and Unknown affiliation
multicomponent site 1
Native American, Euro-American, and

Unknown affiliation multicomponent site 1
Total 194

Twelve sites containing spatially discrete
material representing combinations of Native
American, Euro-American, or unknown culture
groups are recognized as multicomponent sites.
The components of unknown affiliation lack the
diagnostic attributes with which to definitively
identify either a Native American or Euro-
American affiliation. Most of the multicomponent
sites contain both Native American and Euro-
American material. For example, Site 42GA3560
contains six scatters of Native American flaked
and ground stone artifacts along with a broadly
scattered array of historic Euro-American cans
and glass. Site 42GA5281 is a single Paiute bark-
stripped ponderosa pine tree that also displays a
Euro-American inscription carved into the bark-
stripped area. Site 42KA5798 consists of a fairly
localized Native American lithic scatter, a rock
feature of unknown affiliation, and a Euro-
American spring-improvement feature. Two other
multicomponent sites (42GA1904 and 42GA5242)
contain three components: (1) prehistoric Native
American flaked lithic scatters, (2) probable early
historic Paiute bark-stripped trees, and (3) arrays
of Euro-American features (mostly dendroglyphs)
and artifacts (Figure 6.2).



PRESCRIBED FIRES AND NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 217

burn analyses at archeological sites (or at modern
scatters of experimentally created flaked stone
artifacts) that are known to be crossed by pre-
scribed fires.

Summary

The results of this evaluation are somewhat
surprising and run counter to general
expectations. Newly recorded sites would be
anticipated to be located in FMUs that have
witnessed one or more prescribed fires, due to
the expectation that ground-surface visibility
increases after a fire. A projectwide increase in
site density is apparent, but the increase does not
appreciably vary according to burn status. The
survey results indicate that the increase in site
counts is not linked to the prior entry of
prescribed fire in a burn unit. Unfortunately, this
assessment is entirely based on _ postfire
observations and relies heavily on prior data

from numerous previous surveys. The Bryce
Canyon AIS data, however, could be profitably
used to compare with future research results, if
postfire surveys can be conducted in prescribed
fire areas before new vegetation obscures the
ground surface.

Burned FMUs also contain assemblages that
show identical proportions of _ fire-affected
artifacts as unburned FMUs. The necessity of
viewing the proportion of damaged artifacts at the
level of the entire FMU probably masks
significant site-level changes, however. The con-
clusion that prescribed fires have no effect is also
particularly tentative because this assessment
necessarily assumes that the prefire proportions of
damaged artifacts in burned FMU assemblages
were identical to those in the assemblages of
unburned FMUs. The actual prefire proportion of
fire-damaged artifacts in the burned FMUs can
never be calculated or recreated. Now that base-
line data are available, however, the effects of
future fires may be tracked.


198 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Table 9.1. Frequency of legible inscription dates within the project area.
Date Range
1900- 1910- 1920— 1930- 1940- 1950—
Dated Inscriptions <1900 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959
Isolated Occurrences - 6 - 4 12 - -
Sites 8 23 42 42 42 12 5
Count of Individual Elements 8 49 113 121 121 20 6

The vast majority of dendroglyph dates occur
between 1909 and 1937. This interval coincides
with what appears to have been a period of
intensive livestock use on the Paunsaugunt
Plateau. The establishment of the USFS and the
implementation of a grazing-permit system during
the early 1900s produced little immediate change
in the intensity of grazing atop the plateau. Sevier
National Forest records from 1907 indicate that all
grazing-permit applications were approved at the
same level of use as previously allowed, with the
exception of those involving very large numbers
of cattle and sheep (Daughters of the Utah
Pioneers 1949). The onset of World War I sub-
stantially boosted the local livestock industry, and
increased market demands prompted an expansion
of forest grazing privileges (Rowley 1985:245).
Similar patterns of use are noted in historic winter
tange lands directly east of the park on the
Kaiparowits Plateau. This area also contains a
high frequency of ranching-related sites occupied
between 1910 and 1935, which suggests a similar
period of intensive use during the first three
decades of the twentieth century (Geib et al. 2001;
Kearns 1982).

The establishment of Bryce Canyon National
Monument in 1923, and later the park in 1928,
had no immediate effect on the grazing activities
within the protected area (Rumberg 1956;
Scrattish 1985). Administration of the grazing
permits remained under the jurisdiction of the
USFS through 1929. Existing grazing rights were
allowed to continue, although after the National
Park Service assumed management of the park the

long-term goal was to reduce and eventually
eliminate livestock grazing on all park lands. Any
transfer or sale of grazing rights in the park
required National Park Service approval and was
linked to a mandatory reduction in the allotted
livestock.

The earliest archival documentation regarding
livestock use of the park dates to 1931 (Rumberg
1956). Ten permittees had grazing rights across
plateau-top lands at that time. Only one of the
permittees, the East Fork Horse and Cattle
Association, ran cattle. The other nine permits
allowed sheep grazing. A total of 3,216 sheep and
717 cattle was permitted on National Park Service
plateau-top ranges. This overwhelming focus on
sheep had characterized southwestern Utah’s
grazing industry since the end of the nineteenth
century. The National Park Service sheep-grazing
permits were held by various Riggs and
Henderson family members. Both of these
families are well represented in the dendroglyph
record.

Waterworth (1988, cited in Dominguez et al.
1992) places livestock belonging to the Riggs
family in the park during the 1920s and 1930s.
The Riggs’ tenure on park lands apparently ended
with the 1940 transfer of their grazing permits to
the Findlay Cattle Company. The dendroglyph
record documents the common presence of the
Riggs family between 1909 and 1937, with the
majority of dated glyphs spanning the 1930s.
Riggs family members account for almost 200
carvings and are identified at 40 sites. The



16 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Native American archeological culture areas, but at
the center of none. The archeological cultures
present in the area cover a long time span and
include such units as the Paleoindian, Archaic,
Fremont, and Virgin Anasazi. Historically,
Southern Paiute groups occupied the area. The
cultural history of Bryce Canyon is also intimately
tied to the changing environmental conditions that
have occurred since the close of the Pleistocene
Epoch (see Chapter 2).

Paleoindian Period

The Paleoindian period marks the earliest recognized
human occupation in the general area of Bryce Canyon
National Park. This period is characterized by large
fluted points, such as Clovis (12,000 to 10,000 years
BP.) and Folsom (11,000 to 9000 B.P.), and a variety
of unfluted lanceolate and stemmed dart or spear
points. The unfluted points appear to continue in use
from the late Paleoindian period to the early Archaic
period (starting ca. 9500 B.P.) (Geib 1996a; Holmer
1986; Lindsay and Sargent 1979). Fluted points have
not been found in Bryce Canyon National Park, but
Clovis and Folsom points are known from nearby
locales (e.g., Davis and Brown 1989; Davis et al. 1996;
Gunnerson 1956; Hauck 1979; Tripp 1966, 1967).
Large, unfluted, lanceolate, and stemmed points are
also reported throughout the region (e.g., Christensen
et al. 1983; Dominguez and Danielson 2000; Geib et
al. 2001; Keller 1987; Keller and Hunt 1967; Schroedl
1977). The low frequency of fluted points in the area
is not surprising, given that research throughout the
Great Basin indicates that fluted points, which may
reflect a specialized technology for exploiting large
herbivores, are much more common near pluvial lake
margins (Copeland and Fike 1988; Grayson 1993).
Stemmed points are found in a wider range of
environments, including Pleistocene lake margins as
well as upland and riverine settings (Basgall and Hall
1991; Beck and Jones 1990, 1997). The latter settings
are more characteristic of the Bryce Canyon National
Park area. Two examples of Great Basin Stemmed
points, markers of a terminal Paleoindian or early
Archaic period occupation, are known from the park
(see Chapters 7 and 8) and other stemmed points are
reported from the region (e.g., Christensen et al. 1983;
Kearns 1982). An undescribed multicomponent site

near the Table Cliff Plateau to the northeast is also
reported to contain a Paleoindian component (Kearns
1982:274).

Archaic Period

Archaic period materials are common on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau. The archeological cultures of
this period appear to have developed from
Paleoindian groups through adaptive responses to
changed environmental conditions, most notably
the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna. The
persistence of large stemmed projectile point types
in the Archaic period further indicates that these
tools reflect the use of a flexible technology that
was not restricted to hunting megafauna.

Jennings (1953) proposed the Desert Culture
concept to describe the apparent unity or patterning
that was perceived among Archaic period sites
throughout the Great Basin. Subsequent research in
the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau has revealed
more temporal and spatial variability in Archaic
cultures than was initially apparent (e.g., Heizer and
Napton 1970; cf. Bettinger and Baumhoff 1982;
Kelly 1997). The focus of the current discussion
involves the early, middle, and late Archaic periods
of the eastern Great Basin and western Colorado
Plateau, but references to western Great Basin
developments are also included when relevant.

The early Archaic period in south-central Utah
dates between approximately 9500 and 6500 B.P. and
is characterized by the presence of Great Basin
Stemmed and Pinto Series points (Holmer 1986). The
subsistence strategies of the early Archaic period in the
Great Basin appear to have had much in common with
those of the terminal Paleoindian period (Beck and
Jones 1997), aside from the obvious elimination of
megafauna from the repertoire. Evidence of early
Archaic period occupation of Bryce Canyon National
Park is represented by several examples of Great Basin
Stemmed, Pinto, and other large, untyped stemmed
points. The sites of Sudden Shelter and Cowboy
Cave, which lie within 160 km (100 mi) of the park,
contain well-dated evidence of occupancy during
the early Archaic period (Jennings 1980; Jennings
et al. 1980).



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 161
Table 8.7. Characteristics of single-component late Prehistoric/Formative period site types.
Site
8 8 g g 8 = ge 8
Pal z a a a a a c
a a 6 a & o g o
g < < < < < < <
oO 1} 1) 1} io} o) Lo]
a a a a a a a aq
+ + 7 + T+ + T+ t+
Period* LP/F LP/F LP/F LP/F LP/F Puebloan Puebloan LP/F
Site Type’ PC Ind. HC Ind. Ind. PC Ind. Ind.
Size (m’) 14,746 547 1,011 786 3,434 1,180 80 9
Total Tool Count 6 1 1 1 3 3 - 4
% Proj. Points/
Pressure Flaked
Bifaces - 100 100 100 33 - - 25
% Percussion
Bifaces 33 - - - 33 - - 50
% Used Flakes 33 - - - - 33 - -
% Other Tools 17 - ~ - 34 33 - 25
% Ground Stone 17 - - - - 34 - -
Analyzed
Flake Count 71 8 19 7 13 3 9 17
% Biface
Production
Debris 6 - 16 - 8 67 ll 6
% Pressure/
Notching Debris 9 - ~ - 8 - - -
% Other Debris 85 100 84 100 84 33 89 94
Total Ceramic
Count - - - - - 2 3 -

*
+

LP/F=late Prehistoric/Formative.
HC=Hunting camp, PC=Processing Camp, Ind.=Indeterminate.
Includes data from Dominguez and Danielson (2000).



200 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

herders. Many dates lack the precision that
would be necessary to track an individual’s
movement on a daily or seasonal basis, but
several interesting patterns are evident that hint
at the data potential of these inscriptions.

For example, Les Bolton’s presence is
documented on the plateau on eight separate days
between May 6 and August 11, 1925. Based on
genealogical data (www.familysearch.org), Bolton
would have been 17 years old at the time. His
carvings lie along a 3.2 km (2 mi) section of the
park’s western boundary extending north from
Yovimpa Pass. The distribution of these dates is
sporadic (one day in May, three days in June, and
four days in August), and no conclusions
concerning his travel patterns can be drawn,
although the gaps in the dendroglyph record
suggest that some of his time may have been spent
on nearby USFS land. Assuming Bolton was
herding livestock, the temporal distribution of
dendroglyph dates suggests a focus on shepherding
rather than cattle herding. This interpretation is
based on the premise that cattle, once driven to
their summer pasture, are largely left alone to fend
for themselves, while sheep are actively herded
and require constant care (Roberts 1963:56).

Than Cooper’s name was recorded in
association with eight dates in 1916. Waterworth
(1988, cited in Dominguez et al. 1992) confirms
that Cooper was involved in raising sheep.
Cooper’s ventures on park lands covered at least a
6.4 km (4 mi) stretch along the present-day park
boundary and included several canyons and
adjacent ridgetops in the Podunk Creek vicinity.
Only three of Cooper’s dates indicate a month and
a day. Two of these dates, carved ten days apart
on the same tree, imply either at least a ten-day
stay or a revisit to that particular area. Another
carving, dated one day later, shows that Cooper
had traveled roughly 1.6 km (1 mi) to the north.
Cooper’s daily travel certainly falls within the
range reported by other regional shepherds. In the
Cedar City, Utah area, Palmer (1974:182) noted
that sheep herds ranged from two to three miles a
day and returned to a known water source at night.

Al Dutton’s presence is documented during
six different years: 1926 through 1929 and again
in 1936 and 1937, with two to four carvings
recorded per year. Except for one May 17 date
and two mid-September dates, the remaining
glyphs were carved in July and August. Two 1928
dates spanning a 17-day period are carved 4.8 km
(3 mi) apart. These two glyphs represent the
northernmost and southernmost extent of Dutton’s
travels on park lands. Dutton carved eight
different dates during six separate grazing seasons
at Yovimpa Pass alone. Three of these dates span
a five-week period in 1929. The exceptionally
high density of dendroglyphs carved by Dutton
and others near Yovimpa Pass can be attributed to
the presence of a historic stock trail and the
proximity of several water sources and abundant
forage. The Yovimpa Pass stock driveway, which
predates the establishment of the park, was one of
seven stock trails connecting the lowlands to the
east with the plateau top (Broyles 1969). From
Yovimpa Pass, Podunk Creek provides a likely
access route to the valley of the East Fork of the
Sevier River, 5 km (3 mi) to the northwest.

Due to the limitations noted above, few other
patterns are evident in the dendroglyph data.
Archeologically and historically, these inscrip-
tions represent one of the few primary sources of
information documenting early grazing activities
on the Paunsaugunt Plateau. As with all types of
archeological resources, the dendroglyphs offer a
key to reconstructing patterns of historic use and
to better understanding the people and culture that
supported those activities. Whether viewed as a
medium of communication, a form of art, or as
thoughtless doodles, these inscriptions are a
tangible link to the rural lifestyles and historic
traditions of early Utahns.

The Paunsaugunt Plateau as a Scenic
Resource

Until the second decade of the twentieth century,
the subsistence-based economy of the local home-



28 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Rim Road, which runs the length of the park, was
completed during this period (Madrid 1993:9-13).

Although the Great Depression took a
significant toll on the nation’s economy, the 1930s
marked a major period of growth and development
at Bryce Canyon National Park. The lack of
National Park Service funding was offset by
various federal economic relief programs (e.g.,
Public Works Administration, Works Progress
Administration, etc.) and labor was provided by
the newly organized Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC). In 1934, CCC Company 962, based out of
Zion National Park, established a seasonal camp at
Bryce Canyon National Park. This camp, NP-3,
was in operation until 1941. The camp’s
population numbered around 200 laborers and
supervisors. The seasonal presence of CCC
workers in the park resulted in the construction of
numerous park buildings and structures including
residences, administration buildings, and visitor
facilities. Many miles of fence line, roads, and
trails were built; thousands of erosion-control
check dams were installed; and a variety of insect-
control measures were applied to large tracts of
the park’s forests (Dammann 1993:44-46;
Garfield County News 1987; Madrid 1993:14-15;
Scrattish 1985:151-165). The Great Depression
was actually the first period in the history of the
park that Bryce Canyon National Park
administrators were able to significantly direct the
management of the park’s resources and the
development of its visitor and administrative
facilities.

The trend of ever-increasing visitation at Utah’s
national parks and monuments came to a dramatic
halt during World War II. At Bryce Canyon
National Park, dwindling visitor numbers forced the
closure of the lodge from 1942 to 1946. Park
staffing was drastically reduced due to a lack of
funds and the military draft. Other than general
maintenance, and the continuation of some insect-
control activities and checkdam construction,
project work came to a standstill (Dammann

1993:64-65). Due to the lack of funds and
manpower, the CCC was disbanded in 1942. The
NP-3 camp was dismantled by the park in 1945
(Scrattish 1985:163-165).

During the 1940s Bryce Canyon National
Park’s livestock-use reduction policies produced
gradually decreasing herd numbers. Only four
permittees were using park land in 1940. During the
mid-1940s, the composition of herd populations
changed, and cattle again began to outnumber
sheep. By 1947, sheep grazing was discontinued.
By the mid-1950s, only two permittees were
grazing cattle in the park (Rumberg 1956), and in
1964 grazing was completely eliminated
(Dominguez et al. 1992:18).

The end of World War II triggered a rapid
revival of tourism at Bryce Canyon National Park
and throughout southwestern Utah. Although the
tourist market rebounded quickly, federal funds did
not keep pace, and the park found itself poorly
equipped to handle the growing influx of tourists.
This condition was symptomatic of post-war
conditions throughout the National Park Service
(Dammann 1993:91~-93; Scrattish 1985:121-122).
It was not until the late 1950s that the chance for
renewal presented itself. Motivated by the
upcoming commemoration of its fiftieth anni-
versary, the National Park Service embarked on a
nationwide program of revitalization that was
referred to as “Mission 66.” Funds were funneled
into the parks over a ten-year period to improve
faltering and overtaxed facilities. Administrative
and visitor facilities were upgraded or newly
constructed. Mission 66 also engendered admin-
istrative changes. Bryce Canyon National Park
obtained its independence and became a separate
administrative unit from Zion National Park in
1956. Park staffing was increased and visitor
programs were improved to meet growing inter-
pretation and protection needs (Dammann
1993:113-133; Scrattish 1985:166~172). Mission
66 effectively laid the foundation for Bryce Canyon
National Park’s move into the modem era.



The fourth unclassified side-notched specimen
(FS 62; Figure 7.7p) exhibits narrow (3.5 mm)
horizontal notches, but the broken base prohibits
classification. The remaining portion of the base is
10 mm high, possibly indicating that it had high-on-
the-side notches typical of the Sudden or San Rafael
types.

Unknown Large Points

Unknown large projectile points constitute 9.8
percent (n=12) of the survey point assemblage.
These points are primarily point fragments that are
not sufficiently complete for classification, but
three are nearly complete points that do not fit with
the established type categories. Seven of the points
(Figure 7.8a-g) are midsection fragments with
shoulder remnants that suggest they may be broken
Elko Series points. Of these, FS 3 (Figure 7.8a) has
a convex edge with pronounced serrations and may
have been used as a knife. Another point midsection
with pronounced serrations (FS 15; Figure 7.8h)
appears to be a fragment of a stemmed point and
may represent a Gatecliff Contracting Stem/

Gypsum type.

One nearly complete untyped point (FS 60;
Figure 7.81) is lanceolate with a concave base. It is
made of obsidian and is 31 mm Jong, 11 mm wide,
and 4.3 mm thick. The point has a burinated tip and
one serrated edge. The point exhibits a pronounced
twist in its cross section, suggesting the point was
resharpened while hafted, which may have
produced its narrow width and inconsistent
serration. A second untyped lanceolate point (FS
45; Figure 7.8j) has a broken base. This chert point
has an incomplete length of 54 mm and is 20 mm
wide and 4.9mm thick. The point exhibits a
moderately well-established _parallel-oblique
flaking pattern and moderate patination.

Two of the unknown points appear to be
willow-leaf or lanceolate forms. One (FS 97;
Figure 7.8k) is manufactured of black-and-
mahogany obsidian and has convex, serrated blades,
and a broken base. This item has an incomplete
length of 30 mm and is 14 mm wide and 5.1 mm
thick. The second willow-leaf point (FS 84;

PROJECTILE POINTS 97

Figure 7.81) is made of chert and has a broken base
and tip. This item is 33 mm long, 14 mm wide, and
5.3 mm thick.

Small Projectile Points

Thirty-three small points constitute 28.5 percent
of the survey point assemblage. These points are
typically less than 25 mm in length and represent
the stone tips of arrows. Stemmed, corner-
notched, side-notched, and triangular types are
present in the assemblage.

Rosegate Series Points

Following Thomas (1981) and Holmer (1986),
the small triangular stemmed and corner-notched
points that have been traditionally classified as
Rose Springs and Eastgate types are classified as
Rosegate points. Regional studies of these points
(Holmer 1978; 1986; Thomas 1981) have
demonstrated that substantial morphological and
chronological overlap exists between the Rose
Springs and Eastgate types, suggesting that they
should be combined.

Rosegate Corner-notched

One Rosegate Corner-notched point is identified
in the survey point assemblage (FS 124;
Figure 7.9a). Rosegate Corner-notched points
have an expanding base with a PSA ranging
between 90° and 130° (Thomas 1981:19). The
Rosegate Corner-notched point fragment is made
of petrified wood and weighs 1.6 g. This point
has an incomplete length of 21 mm and is 12 mm
wide and 4.6 mm thick. This item has a PSA of
128°, a DSA of 210°, and an NOI of 72°. This
point is not serrated.

A Rose Springs Corner-notched point was
previously reported in the park at Site 42GA3383
along the Pink Cliffs south of Fairyland Point by
Dominguez et al. (1992:37, 102f), although in that
report it appears more similar to Parowan Basal-
notched points documented in this analysis. The
Rosegate Corner-notched point collected during the
survey has an expanding base, while the previously


PREVIOUS ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL INVESTIGATIONS 33

Sites on NPS land
. outside park boundary,

a a rs : "Park Boundary,

ADR on,

o Previously Recorded
Archeological Site

0 1 2 Kilometers

~~
o 1 2 Miles
—

Figure 4.2. Locations of archeological sites recorded prior to the 2000-2002 Bryce Canyon
Archeological Inventory Survey.



184. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

panels are the result of chronologically separate
events, where subsequent carvers added their
name to a previously carved tree (Figure 9.3, top
and left). Others reflect a single carving episode,
where each person present carved his or her own
name. In some instances individual carvers
included the names of family members, loved
ones, or present companions in their inscriptions
(Figure 9.3, bottom).

Dates are documented at slightly fewer than
half the panels; most are found in association with
names or initials (e.g., Figures 9.2 and 9.3).
Chronological precision varies; the dated glyphs
include various combinations of months, days,
and years. With few exceptions these dates are
interpreted as actual carving dates and are used to
identify the sites’ temporal affiliation. Legible
dates within the project area range from 1893
through 1948. Most, however, mark dates
between 1909 and 1937. More recent dates, many
of which appear to be associated with modern
tourist activity, are present, but due to their post-
1959 time frame they were not recorded as
archeological resources (Chapter 5). In numerous
instances, individual trees with multiple dates
represent several carving episodes spanning broad
time intervals. At Site 42GA5232, five different
dates ranging from 1893 to 1946 are present on a
single panel (Figure 9.3, left). Among the 34
dendroglyphs identified at Site 42KA3287, 27
carved dates representing 16 different years
between 1911 and 1941 are present.

Geographic place names and places of
employment are recorded at 15 sites. These
elements, typically found in association with
personal names and initials, presumably reflect
the carvers’ need to further identify themselves
and their origins, Not surprisingly, place names
noted among the park’s dendroglyphs include
nearby towns of Tropic, Panguitch, Cannonville,
Hatch, and Escalante. More distant locations,
such as “Lake Shore Utah” (280 km [175 mi] to
the north), and “New Mexico” are also repre-
sented in the dendroglyph record. Assuming the
abbreviations “NYC” and “NY” have been

interpreted correctly, there are also two
references to New York, certainly a more distant
destination. Work-related elements suggest, in
some cases, a governmental affiliation for the
carver (such as “USFS,” see Figure 9.3, left).
Other panels mark the presence of CCC workers
(see below).

Brief textual elements that convey
information, report events, or express frustration
constitute a small but interesting part of the
dendroglyph record. Carvings such as “Watts
Agner herding again / July 2 / going home in the -
---” (Figure 9.4, right) or “Lloyd LE-FEVRE
Camped HERE” tell of the comings and goings
atop the plateau. These statements may be a form
of self-declaration or serve as a message to others
concerning one’s whereabouts. “I am going off of
the mountain today / Sept 10 / 1910” (Figure 9.4,
upper left) sounds like the statement of a relieved
shepherd or cowboy. Some statements are more
obscure in intent. The carving “JARiGGS IS THE
BOSS HERE” (Figure 9.4, bottom left) could be a
personal declaration of status, or conversely could
be an underling’s comment on his boss. The
words alone do not convey the full meaning of the
text. Is it an expression of pride or one of
frustration?

Human figures are the most abundant type of
graphic element. Both male and female figures are
depicted. These figures range from full-length
representations to facial profiles, and from simple
stick figures to realistic portrayals (Figures 9.5 to
9.11). Female figures are predominant. Most are
scantily clad. The figures presumably reflect the
male carvers’ longing for female companionship.
Most are carefully executed, with lifelike
proportions and realistic details. Others are
roughly drawn or highly stylized, containing just
enough detail to identify gender. Only a few
appear to be overtly erotic. The few definitively
male figures, presumably self-portraits, are often
identified by their headgear and, in one case, by
an unmistakably erect penis. Other figures lack
the detail or artistry needed to identify specific
gender.



1

18 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 8.1 (continued)
Time Period
& > > g 3 3
Ue 2 5
Ss 2 38 ri E 2 $2 ¢ 3 Site Area
Site ag a S A 8 < Ag a é (m’)
42GA5215 - _ - - x xX x - - 2,457
42GA5218 x - - x xX - - 1,699
42GA5223 - - - - Xx x - - - 5
42GA5235 - - - - x xX - ~ ~ 554
42GA5237 - x - - x x - - ~ 2,128
42GA5240 - x - - - x x - - 1,361
*
42GA5242 - - - - xX x - - x joans!
42GA5244 - - - - - - - x - 1,180
42GA5245 - - - - - - - - x 1,227
42GA5262 - - - - - - ~ x 858
42GA5278 - - - - - - - x - 80
42GA5281 - - - - - - - > x 2
42GA5284 - - - - Xx x - - - 120
42KA1989 - - - - ~ - xX - - 400
42KA3284 x - - x - Xx - - - 272
42KA3288 - - - - xX x - Xx ~ 936
42KA3289 ~ - - - xX xX - - x 320
42KAS756 - - - - ~ - XxX - - 9
42KA5773 - - - - xX xX - - - 294
42KAS798 - - x - - xX - - - 4,050
42KAS813 - - - - x x - - - 392

*

t

Area of lithic scatter component.
Area of bark-stripped tree component.



292. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Ms on file, Bryce Canyon National Park,
Bryce Canyon, Utah.

2000 Task Directive: Bryce Canyon
National Park, Package: Cultural Resources
Preservation Program Archeological
Inventory Survey (BRCA-C-00) FY 2000-
FY 2002. Ms. on file, National Park
Service, Santa Fe.

National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings
1959 The Cattlemen’s Empire. Theme XV
of: Western Expansion and the Extension
of the National Boundaries to the Pacific,
1830-1898. U.S. Department of the
Interior, National Park Service,
Washington, D.C.

Naylor, L. P., I

1994 Archeological Survey of a Proposed
Passing Lane on State Highway 12, Bryce
Canyon National Park, Utah. Rocky
Mountain Region Archeological Project
Report . Ms. on file, National Park
Service, Midwest Archeological Center,
Lincoln.

Newcomer, M. H.
1971 Some Quantitative Experiments in
Handaxe Manufacture. World Archaeology
3:85-96.

Newell, L. K., and V. L. Talbot
1998 A History of Garfield County. Utah
State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.

Nickens, P. R., and K. L. Kvamme
1981 Archaeological Investigations at the

Kanab Site, Kane County, Utah. In
Excavation of Two Anasazi Sites in
Southern Utah, part 2, assembled by
Richard E. Fike and David B. Madsen,.
Cultural Resources Series No. 9, Bureau of
Land Management, Utah State Office, Salt
Lake City.

O'Connell, K. J.

1984 Archeological Surveys: Bryce Canyon
and Capitol Reef National Parks. Ms. on
file, National Park Service, Midwest
Archeological Center, Lincoln.

Orcutt, J. D.

1999 Demography, Settlement, and
Agriculture. In The Bandelier Archeological
Survey: Volume I, edited by Robert P. Powers
and Janet D. Orcutt, pp. 219-308.
Intermountain Cultural Resources
Management Professional Paper No. 57.
Department of the Interior, National Park
Service.

Ott, A.
1996 Natural Spring Inventory at Bryce
Canyon National Park, Utah. Ms. on file,
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

Oviatt, C. G.
1988 Late Pleistocene and Holocene Lake
Fluctuations in the Sevier Lake Basin, Utah,
USA. Journal of Paleolimnology 1:9-21.

Pahlke, L. G.
1977a Bryce Canyon Survey in July 1977.
Trip Report on file, National Park Service,
Midwest Archeological Center, Lincoln.

1977b Letter to Superintendent, Bryce
Canyon National Park, through Chief,
Branch of Lands Management, USFS. Ms.
on file, National Park Service, Midwest
Archeological Center, Lincoln.

Paige, J.C.

1985 The Civilian Conservation Corps and
the National Park Service, 1933-1942: An
Administrative History. Department of the
Interior, National Park Service,
Washington, D.C.

Palmer, W. R.
1974 The Early Sheep Industry in Southem
Utah. Utah Historical Quarterly 42:178-188.



4

Previous Archeological and Historical

Investigations
Chris T. Wenker

Past archeological investigations in Bryce
Canyon National Park mainly included small,
brief reconnaissances and development-related
surveys and test excavations. Prior to the 2000-
2002 Bryce Canyon AIS, the available
archeological information was patchy, much data
was outdated, and recent work was heavily
weighted toward test excavations at plateau-top
sites along the park’s roadways.

Archeological Projects, 1974-1997

The Bryce Canyon National Park Archeological
Overview and Assessment (NPS 1998) presents
a summary of prior archeological investigations
in the park. The following synopsis relies heavily
on that document. Table 4.1 summarizes the
park’s prior archeological projects, all of which
occurred in the closing decades of the twentieth
century. Figure 4.1 illustrates the locations of
these projects. The archeological sites that were
recorded during these prior investigations are
listed in Table 4.2 and their locations are
indicated in Figure 4.2. The sites are not
described in detail here, but Chapter 6
summarizes those that were part of the Bryce
Canyon AIS project. The following discussion
recounts only the more prominent archeological
studies that have been conducted in the park.

29

The first reported archeological work at
Bryce Canyon National Park occurred in 1974,
when National Park Service archeologists F. A.
Calabrese and Adrienne Anderson examined a
sewer-line construction area near the park
headquarters. They observed no archeological
resources (Calabrese 1974a), but they recorded
two lithic scatter sites in the far northwestern
corner of the park (Calabrese 1974b). In 1979,
National Park Service archeologist Ralph Hartley
(1980a) conducted a more intensive survey,
examining 1,226 ha (3,030 acres) in a number of
development areas around the Bryce Canyon
Lodge, Visitors Center, and campgrounds. This
survey also examined corridors along the main
paved roads. Hartley recorded 24 lithic scatter
sites and 21 IOs. In addition, Hartley re-
examined and re-recorded the two sites
documented in 1974.

In 1983 National Park Service archeologist
Kevin O'Connell (1984) surveyed approximately
72 km (45 mi) of boundary fence as well as four
small construction areas. O’Connell recorded 10
lithic scatter sites and one site that included lithic
and ceramic artifacts, but he failed to report the
types of ceramics. In 1988 National Park Service
crews surveyed 460 ha (1,137 acres) at several
overlooks, trails, roads, and prescribed burn areas
throughout the park. Fifteen new sites were
recorded, including lithic scatters and aspen



EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 195

Figure 9.18. Detail of inscriptions on a log water trough. Scale is 3 cm long.

At Shaker Spring, 0.5 km (0.3 mi) north of
Trough Spring, spring-development features
include a concrete-and-rock subterranean spring
box, a small checkdam, a large pit and backdirt
pile, and various lumber and log piles. A cluster
of cut posts, possibly indicating the location of
a corral, occupies the top of a small ridge
immediately west of the spring. Three aspen
dendroglyphs, two with 1920s dates, are also
associated with the spring. Water rights to
Shaker Spring were first claimed by Ruby
Syrett in 1923 and acquired by UPC later that
year (Czarnowski 1991:13, Scrattish 1985:51)
As with Trough Spring, the use of Shaker
Spring for livestock watering probably predates
the water-rights claim and may have continued
concurrently with its domestic use.

These three springs are all accessible from
established stock trails leading up the plateau
from the Paria River valley to the east. Trough
Spring and Shaker Spring lie within roughly
1.6 km (1 mi) of the Sheep Creek stock trail.
The spring at Site 42GA5241 is on a trail that
may have been part of the Willis Creek stock
trail. Both these trails were in use well before

the establishment of the park. The use of the
Willis Creek stock trail was discontinued in the
1920s, but the Sheep Creek stock driveway
was used through 1956 (Broyles 1969). All
three springs would have provided a ready
water source for livestock reaching the rim of
the plateau and would also have been acces-
sible from the grazing areas in East Creek
Meadow and on the northern end of Whiteman
Bench.

Two spring-improvement features are also
known from the meadows along Podunk Creek,
in an area that historically appears to have been
heavily grazed. One feature is a small stone
water catchment placed at a small spring near the
head of Podunk Creek. Seventeen dendroglyphs,
including known ranching names and dates from
1908 to 1932, are recorded in the immediate
vicinity. The Yovimpa Pass stock driveway,
which predates the establishment of the park,
crosses roughly 0.8 km (0.5 mi) to the south. A
more recent spring improvement is noted farther
downstream to the north, where a single metal
pipe protrudes from a spring on a hillside above
the meadow.


Betancourt, J. L.
1990 Late Quaternary Biogeography of the
Colorado Plateau. In Packrat Middens: The
Last 40,000 Years of Biotic Change, edited
by J. L. Betancourt, R. R. Van Devender,
and P, S. Martin, pp. 259-292. University of
Arizona Press, Tucson.

Bettinger, R. L.

1991 Aboriginal Occupation at High
Altitude: Alpine Villages in the White
Mountains of Eastern California. American
Anthropologist 93:656-679.

Bettinger, R. L., and M. A. Baumhoff
1982 The Numic Spread: Great Basin
Cultures in Competition. American
Antiquity 47:485-503.

Billat, S. E.

1988 An Archaeological Inventory of the
SR-12 Tropic Dump Passing Lanes in Bryce
Canyon, Garfield County, Utah. Technical
Series No. 88-25. Brigham Young
University Museum of Peoples and
Cultures, Provo.

1989 An Addendum to the Archaeological
Inventory of the SR-12 Tropic Dump
Passing Lanes in Bryce Canyon, Garfield
County, Utah. Technical Series No. 89-29.
Brigham Young University Museum of
Peoples and Cultures, Provo.

Binford, L. R.

1980 Willow Smoke and Dog’s Tails:
Hunter-Gatherer Settlement Systems and
Archaeological Site Formation. American
Antiquity 45:4-20.

Bladh, J. A.
1992 Horse Trail Loop. Rocky Mountain
Region Archeological Project Report on
file, National Park Service, Midwest
Archeological Center, Lincoln.

1993 Reroute “Connector Trail.” Field
Archeological Survey Report on file,

REFERENCES CITED 281

National Park Service, Midwest
Archeological Center, Lincoln.

Bleed, P.
1986 The Optimal Design of Hunting
Weapons: Maintainability or Reliability.
American Antiquity $2:737~747.

Bowers, W. E.

1991 Geological Map of Bryce Canyon
National Park and Vicinity, Southwestern
Utah. Miscellaneous Investigations Series
Map I-2108. U.S. Geological Survey,
Denver.

Bradley, M. S.
1999 A History of Kane County. Utah State
Historical Society, Salt Lake City.

Brew, J. O.

1946 Archaeology of Alkali Ridge,
Southeastern Utah. Papers of the Peabody
Museum of American Archaeology and
Ethnology, vol. 21. Harvard University,
Cambridge.

Brown, G. M.
1988 Chipped Stone Tools and Implements.
In The Interstate 70 Ghost Rock
Archaeological Project, Emery County,
Utah, edited by W. E. Davis, pp. 304-562.
Abajo Archaeology, Bluff, Utah.

Brown, G. M., J. C. Acklen, P. T. Noyes, R. W.
Lang, M.-E. Walsh-Anduze, J. Gish, C. M.
Stevenson, and R. Holloway
1993 Analytical Results. In Archaeological
Site Testing for the Ojo Line Extension
345kV Transmission Project in the Jemez
Mountains, New Mexico, edited by J.C.
Acklen, pp. 319-444, Mariah Associates,
Inc., Albuquerque.

Broyles, R. P.
1969 Memorandum to Regional Chief of
Resource Management, Southwest
Region, from Acting Superintendent,



Figure 9.10. An aspen dendroglyph depicting a
male figure, possibly representing
a shepherd’s or cowboy’s self-
portrait.

Possible livestock brands are recorded at a
dozen sites. These brand elements include small
geometric shapes such as rectangles, arrows,
and semi-circular designs. Single or paired
letters that are underlined, framed by arced
lines, or are decoratively presented may also
represent brands (Figures 9.12 and 9.13).
Roughly 20 different brand symbols are
identified. At Site 42KA5809, a cattle brand is
represented by a small downward-pointing
arrow (or a vertical “TV”) on a cow’s flank
(Figure 9.12, top). This same motif is
commonly observed at other sites atop the
plateau (Figure 9.13).

EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 189

Utah State brand registers for the years
between 1907 and 1948 were reviewed to
confirm the brand symbols recorded in the
project area and to identify the registrants
(Jewkes 1909; Kelly 1912; Redmond 1920;
Tingley 1907; Utah State Board of Agriculture
1922, 1923, 1927, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1934; Utah
State Department of Agriculture 1941, 1942,
1944, 1946, 1948). Only a few of the
dendroglyph elements matched well with any
registered brands, although many design
elements are at least similar in form to the
registered brands. Some of the registered brands
that match dendroglyphs in Bryce Canyon
National Park were associated with ranchers in
distant parts of the state, however. This
observation suggests that the brands illustrated in
the dendroglyphs may have belonged to other,
presumably unregistered, owners. Conversely,
numerous dendroglyphs contain the names of
local people that were listed as brand registrants
whose brands were not seen among the
dendroglyphs (e.g., WJ Henderson; Sam Pollock;
and the Chynoweth, Dutton, Findlay, Henrie,
Johnson, LeFevre, and Riggs families). Although
their associated brands were not observed in the
field, their listing in the brand registries at least
confirms the association of these families with
the local livestock industry.

Eight animal figures, including cows,
horses, and birds, are present among the
dendroglyphs (Figures 9.12, top, and Figures
9.14 to 9.16). Although sheep were periodically
abundant on the plateau, drawings of sheep are
noticeably absent from the dendroglyph record.
The word “SHEEP” was crudely carved in one
panel at IO 2080 (Figure 9.12, bottom). Mallea-
Olaetxe (2000) observes a similar scarcity of
livestock depictions in Basque shepherd
dendroglyphs. Mallea-Olaetxe’s explanation of
this phenomenon is best expressed by his
musing: “Why would I want to carve the figure
of a sheep when J was sick and tired of the
thousands of real ones?” (Mallea-Olaetxe
2000:83).


Remote Sensing: Photogrammetry in Archeology: The Chaco Mapping Project., by Dwight L.
Drager and Thomas R. Lyons, Supplement No. 10 to Remote Sensing: A Handbook for Archeologists
and Cultural Resource Managers. 49 pages. 1985.

The San Juan Tomorrow: Planning for the Conservation of Cultural Resources in the San Juan
Basin,, edited by Fred Plog and Walter Wait. Published by the National Park Service, Southwest
Region, in cooperation with the School of American Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico. 280 pages. 1982

Amistad National Recreation Area: An Archeological and Cultural Resources Inventory, by J.
Phil Dering, Ph.D. Intermountain Cultural Resources Management Professional Paper No. 68. 2002
(Compact disk)

From Folsom to Fogelson: The Cultural Resources Inventory Survey of Pecos National Historical
Park: Vols. I and II, edited by Genevieve N. Head and Janet D. Orcutt. Intermountain Cultural
Resources Management Professional Paper No. 66. 2002.



196 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

A Glimpse into Historic Herding Activities

The role of the livestock raising and the impor-
tance of public-land grazing to the economic
viability of southwestern Utah has been discussed
or inferred in numerous regional, state, and local
histories (e.g., Beckstead 1991; Crampton 1965;
Daughters of the Utah Pioneers 1949; Davies n.d.;
Palmer 1974; Peterson 1973, 1989; Roberts 1963;
Rowley 1985). These histories are presented from
a variety of perspectives and vary in scope and
detail. Much of the regional historic research
focuses on the initial period of Mormon settle-
ment, the growth of Garfield and Kane County
communities, the evolution of government land-
management policy, and the development of the
local tourist industry. Personal memoirs of local
residents and family histories provide a more
intimate perspective of herding practices, live-
stock holdings, and the events and personalities
who participated in the livestock industry. Despite
these numerous documents, historic accounts of
the activities on the Iand now encompassed by
Bryce Canyon National Park are relatively
uncommon. Due to a lack of primary historical
information, land-use patterns, herd populations,
and the day-to-day lifeways of historic herders in
the park are poorly understood.

The identification of numerous historic
inscriptions, specifically those carved upon the
many aspen trees scattered across the landscape,
help diminish this information shortfall. The
dendroglyphs are, in effect, another form of
primary historical document. Though their
meanings may sometimes be obscure and their
data potential more limited than other forms of
written documentation, the carved words and
drawings represent a first-hand account of
historical herding events atop the plateau.

People on the Plateau

At the very minimum, the dendroglyphs provide a
partial “who’s who” list of the people who
frequented park lands from the late 1800s through
the 1940s. This assemblage of names can hardly

be considered a complete roster of plateau users,
although it presumably constitutes a significant
sample. The sample is certainly biased, because
many of the glyphs are illegible, and the barkless
trunks of numerous dead trees imply that other
glyphs have long since been erased from the
dendroglyph record. Furthermore, probably not all
plateau users had the opportunity or inclination to
inscribe their names upon the nearest tree or
carvable surface.

Of the 100 personal names and 60 surnames
identified in the Bryce Canyon National Park
dendroglyph record, roughly one-half—49
individuals and 37 surnames—are identifiable in
modem documents. Kane and Garfield County
histories, personal memoirs, National Park
Service administrative documents, and genea-
logical and vital records available on the Internet
provided information about these people and the
role they played in the local community. Local
archives or personal interviews would have
provided more information, but these research
tasks were beyond the scope of this project.

Based on the available data, the majority of
recognized names appear to be associated with
communities in the Paria River amphitheater and
Johns Valley, including the towns of Cannonville,
Henrieville, Tropic, and Widstoe. Several stock
trails winding up the eastern flanks of the plateau
provided the lowland communities access to the
high country (Broyles 1969). Tropic is the town
best represented in the dendroglyph record.
Twelve individuals and 15 family names are
documented in association with the community.
Residents of the Panguitch area, 29 km (18 mi)
northwest of the park along the Sevier River,
apparently also utilized the plateau resources.
Fifteen individuals and 10 family names have
Panguitch affiliations. In comparison, residents
from Kane County and the nearby Long Valley
communities west and southwest of the park are
rarely represented. Affiliations with — the
community of Hatch, 19 km (12 mi) west of
the park, are identified for only two individual
and five family names. The proximity and


58 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 6.2. Descriptive site types.

Site Type Count
Native American Single-Component Sites (n= 86)
Lithic scatter 80
Lithic and ceramic scatter 4
Thermal feature with lithic and ceramic scatter 1
Lithic scatter with culturally modified trees 1
Euro-American Single-Component Sites (n=96)
Dendroglyph 65
Refuse scatter 14
Refuse dump 5
Formal campsite 3
Informal campsite 2
Gravel pit 2
Improved spring 2
Refuse scatter / possible structure 1
Structural complex 1
Telephone line 1
Multicomponent Sites (n=12)
Native American lithic scatter / Native American culturally modified trees / Euro-American
dendroglyph 2
Native American culturally modified tree / Euro-American inscription 1
Native American lithic and ceramic scatter / Euro-American building foundation 1
Native American lithic and ceramic scatter / Euro-American refuse scatter 1
Native American lithic scatter / Euro-American dendroglyph 1
Native American lithic scatter / Euro-American formal campsite 1
Native American lithic scatter / Euro-American refuse scatter 1
Native American lithic scatter / Euro-American improved spring 1
Native American thermal feature with lithic scatter / Unknown rock feature* 1
Euro-American rock inscription / Unknown pictograph** 1
Native American lithic scatter / Euro-American improved spring / Unknown rock concentration* 1
Total 194

* probably Euro-American
** probably Native American



284. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

1800s to 1967. Ms on file, Bryce Canyon
National Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

Daughters of the Utah Pioneers
1949 Golden Nuggets of Pioneer Days, A
History of Garfield County. Garfield County
News, Panguitch, Utah.

Davidson, H. M., J. W. Foster, and N. W.
Ackerly
1978 Archaeological Clearance

Investigations, Utah International
Incorporated Kanab Coal Project Bureau of
Land Management, Kanab District, State of
Utah and Private Lands, Kanab County,
Utah. Final Report for Drill Hole and
Access Road Clearances in the Alton
Amphitheater and Skutumpah Terrace.
Western Anasazi Reports 1:143-175.
Originally published 1974, Museum of
Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.

Davies, J. H.
nd. Among My Memories. Ms. on file,
Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce
Canyon, Utah .

Davis, W. E., and G. M. Brown
1989 The Lime Ridge Clovis Site. Utah
Archeology 1989 2(1):66-76.

Davis, W. E., D. Sack, and N. Shearin
1996 The Hell ‘n Moriah Clovis Site. Utah
Archeology 1996 9(1):55-70.

Dean, J. S., R. C. Euler, G. J. Gumerman, F.
Plog, R. H. Hevly, and T. N. V. Karlstrom
1985 Human Behavior, Demography, and
Paleoenvironment on the Colorado Plateaus.
American Antiquity 50:537-554.

DeBloois, E. 1, and D. F. Green
1978 SARG Research on the Elk Ridge
Project Manti-Lasal National Forest, Utah.
In Investigations of the Southwestern
Anthropological Research Group. The
Proceedings of the 1976 Conference, edited
by Robert C. Euler and George J.

Gumerman, pp. 13-23. Museum of
Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.

DeVed, L., and B. Loosle
2001 Culturally Modified Ponderosa Trees
on the Ashley National Forest. Utah
Archaeology 14(1):1-13.

Dill, J. J.
1916 Scenic Wonders of Southern Utah. The
Railroad Redbook. November: 15-16.

Doelling, H. H.

1975 Geology and Mineral Resources of
Garfield County, Utah. Utah Geological and
Mineral Survey, Utah Department of
Natural Resources Bulletin 107. Salt Lake

City.

Dominguez, S.
1989a_ Preliminary Report on 1989 Field
Investigations for Bryce Canyon Road
Widening. Ms. on file, Bryce Canyon
National Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

1989b Archeological Survey of the Sheep
Creek/Swamp Canyon Connecting Trail,
Bryce Canyon National Park. Ms. on file,
Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce
Canyon, Utah.

1990 Preliminary Report on 1990 Field
Investigations for Bryce Canyon Road
Widening. Ms. on file, Bryce Canyon
National Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

1991a Preliminary Report on 1991
Archeological Investigations for Road
Construction in Bryce Canyon National
Park. Ms. on file, Bryce Canyon National
Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

1991b Archeological Survey of Unfenced
Boundaries of Bryce Canyon National Park,
Utah. Ms. on file, Bryce Canyon National
Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

Dominguez, S., and D. Danielson
1993 Final Report on 1989 to 1991 Field
Investigations for Bryce Canyon Road



68 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Archival research also provides useful data to
develop chronologies for specific components.
Local and regional histories and personal memoirs
provide a historic context with which to interpret
some of the Euro-American components. The
Bryce Canyon National Park archives contain
correspondence, maps, and unpublished reports that
help explain the origins of specific features within
the park. Park personnel and long-time local
residents also provided information pertaining to
some of the more recent historic components.

Euro-American Features

A great number (n=1,214) and a wide variety of
Euro-American features are present within the
project area, These features are categorized into 24
feature types (Table 6.8). Aspen dendroglyphs are
the most numerous feature type encountered:
1,000 dendroglyphs are recorded at 72 components.
Features associated with the 9.6-km (6-mi) long
telephone line (Site 42GA5288/ 42KA5814) are
also numerous: 135 telephone pole remnants and trees
with attached wire and insulators were recorded.
Other feature types that represent a wide range of
nonarchitectural and architectural loci occur in much
lower frequencies. These features include camp-
related facilities, historic inscriptions, rock concen-
trations, water-control features, log piles, and trails.

Dendroglyphs, or aspen tree inscriptions, are
the most prevalent Euro-American feature
(Figure 6.8). One thousand glyphs are recorded at
72 of the 109 Euro-American components. Most
of these features lie along the western edge of
Whiteman Bench and in the tributary canyon
bottoms and meadows along upper Podunk Creek.
The dendroglyphs consist of both text and graphic
elements. These glyphs vary in size, complexity,
and style, and range from careful, artistically
rendered inscriptions to hastily cut carvings with
little attention to detail. Names, dates, and initials
are the most prevalent elements, although human
figures, livestock brands, narrative statements,
place names, animals, and unique unidentified
designs are also present. Some panels consist of single
elements, whereas others represent the efforts of

Table 6.8. Euro-American feature types.

Feature Type Count
Dendroglyph 1,000
Telephone pole / tree with insulator 135
Outhouse depression ll
Rock concentration / scatter 10
Firepit / hearth 9

Historic inscription

Log pile / scatter
Depression, unknown
Leveled pad / platform
Spring box / improvement
Trail

Trough

Modified tree

Gravel pit

Driveway / parking area
Construction debris scatter
Cairn

Wall

Rock alignment

Earth mound

Fence

Dam

Benchmark

Sign post

Total 1,214

Be RE RE BEND KHKHNNLREDYAA

several carvers working over multiple carving
episodes. The names of more than 100 individuals and
60 different sumames are documented in the
dendroglyph record. Most of these carvers appear to
be associated with early homesteading and ranching
families from nearby communities. Inscribed dates
range from the early 1890s to the 1950s (none of the
more recent glyphs were recorded), with most
occurring between 1910 and 1940. The cowboys and
shepherds who frequented the high country during
their seasonal grazing rounds carved many of the
glyphs. Others can be attributed to government
workers, CCC personnel, and tourists.



Friars Dominguez and Escalante never succeeded in
finding a route to California, Mexican traders did
eventually establish a trai] in the 1820s. The
Spanish Trail passed approximately 70 km (44 mi)
northwest and west of the park, following the
Sevier River and passing near the present-day
towns of Parowan and Cedar City (Crampton
1965:12-15). This trail guided many travelers
through the region over the following decades.

Early nineteenth-century frontiersmen also
passed through the area en route to California.
Jedidiah Smith’s travels along portions of the
Sevier and Virgin Rivers took him west of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau in 1826. William Wolfskill
and George Yount followed the Sevier River in
1830, passing roughly 30 km (19 mi) northwest of
Bryce Canyon near the present-day town of
Panguitch. Fourteen years later Captain John C.
Fremont followed the Spanish Trail on a
reconnaissance survey from California to Utah.
Though these travelers were focused on more
distant destinations, their observations helped
prepare the next group of Euro-Americans for their
ventures into the region (Crampton 1965:12-16;
Scrattish 1985:8).

Exploration and Settlement of Southwestern
Utah

From the 1850s to the 1870s, the nature of the
Euro-American presence in southwestem Utah
changed dramatically. The days of transient use
were over, and Euro-Americans began to enter the
region as a destination. Motivated by government,
private, and Mormon leadership interests, this
influx was shaped by two related goals: the
establishment of new settlements in previously
uninhabited areas and the exploration and
investigation of regional resources.

Mormon settlement of Utah’s Great Salt Lake
area in the late 1840s was soon followed by a press
to further expand the Mormon frontier. Using
information gathered by travelers of the Spanish
Trail, leaders of the Mormon church looked to
southwestern Utah as a possible zone of future
settlement. Mormon scouts were sent to the region in

CULTURAL HISTORY 23

search of potential townsites. These scouts, like the
westward voyagers before them, traveled along the
river valleys northwest and west of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau, passing near the future site of Panguitch and
presumably within view of the western edge of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau (Crampton 1965:27-30; Newell
and Talbot 1998:45; Scrattish 1985:9),

Soon thereafter, southwestern Utah, as well as
other regions of the Colorado Plateau, Rocky
Mountains, Great Basin, and Pacific Coast
experienced extensive Mormon colonization
(Crampton 1965:45). During the 1850s several
Mormon communities sprang up west of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau along the Sevier and Virgin
River valleys. Other towns were built west of the
Tushar Mountains and the Markagunt Plateau
(Crampton 1965:90, 109). Parowan and Cedar City
were established by 1851 (Crampton 1965:36-37).
Panguitch, one of several communities along the
Sevier River valley, was founded in 1864
(Crampton 1965:111; Newell and Talbot 1998:58).
Communities in high-elevation settings often
struggled to establish a productive agricultural base
due to the short growing season. After much trial
and error, potatoes, grains, alfalfa, and meadow
grass proved to be the most successful crops.
Livestock grazing, however, was well suited to the
higher environs, and this undertaking readily
replaced farming as the dominant economic pursuit.
Self-sufficiency was the key to survival;
homesteaders relied on meat and dairy products,
limited agriculture, and garden produce for their
basic subsistence needs. The few commodities
obtained from outside sources were acquired by
bartering their meager surpluses or services
(Alexander 1973:9; Newell and Talbot 1998).

The influx of settlers and the establishment of
a permanent Euro-American population strained
Native American and Euro-American relations.
Increased friction between the groups culminated in
the Black Hawk War of 1865 to 1868. This period
of conflict saw a series of hostile confrontations
between the settlers and local Ute, Paiute, and
Navajo factions. As a result, many newly settled
Sevier River valley communities were abandoned.
Once the threat of further conflict had diminished in



PROJECTILE POINTS — 109

Table 7.3. Lithic raw materials of projectile points.
Raw Material
2 ze £
2 22 6 | ¢ & ¢ 3
S35 ss 28 g & %& & 8
oe, e2 E22 s g 3 B Z 53
Projectile Point Type mo se © 5 o © a = Total
Elko Corner-notched 10t 2 3 2 2 19
526 105 158 105  ~ 10500 7 ~ 15.4"
Elko Eared 9 3 1 13
69.2 ~ 23.1 1D” ~ 7 ~ 10.6
Elko Side-notched ] 1
100.0 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 8
Gypsum 8 2 3 3 16
50.0 12.5 18.8 188 ~ ~ ~ 13.0
Pinto Shouldered 2 2 1 5
40.0 40.0 ~ ~ ~ ~ 200 7 41
Sudden Side-notched 2 2
~ ~ 100.0 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 1.6
San Rafael Side-notched 1 1
100.0 7 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 8
Unclassified Corner-notched, Dart 8 2 _ 2 12
66.6 16.6 ~ ~ 166 0 ~ ~ 9.8
Unclassified Side-notched, Dart 2 2 4
50.0 ~ ~ ~ 7 50.0 7 ~ 33
Unclassified Stemmed, Dart 1 1 2
~ ~ ~ "50.0 500 ~ ~ 16
Unclassified, Dart 6 1 1 1 3 12
50.0 83 83 83 7 25.00 ~ 98
Northern Side-notched 1 . _ _ 1
100.0 ~ ~ ~ ~ 8
Desert Side-notched 3 2 2 7
42.9 28.6 ~ ~ ~ 28.600 ~ 57
Rosegate Comer-notched 1 1
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 100.0 8
Rosegate Stemmed 3 1 4
78.0 ~ ~ ~ ~ 25.00 — ~ 3.3
Parowan Basal-notched 2 2
~ 100.0 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 16
Unclassified Corner-notched, Arrow 3 2 1 1
428 28.6 14.3 143007 ~ ~ ~
Unclassified Side-notched, Arrow 2 1 1
50.0 25.0 25.0 ~ ~ - ~
Unclassified, Arrow 2 2 1 2
28.6 286 143 ~ 7 286 00 ~
Bull Creek 1
100.0 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Great Basin Stemmed 1
1000 0 ~ - ~ ~ ~ ~
Humboldt 1
100.0 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Total 64 18 15 8 1 1s 1 1
$2.0 14.6 12.2 6.5 812.2 8 8
* Obsidian category includes one item that may be + Row Percentage.
ignimbrite (FS 82). ” Column Percentage

* Count.


e, FS 137 f, FS 24 9, FS 85

Figure 7.6.

PROJECTILE POINTS

m, FS 37 0 1 2

| mFS6

CENTIMETERS

Elko Series projectile points: (a-m) Elko Eared and (n) Elko Side-notched.



Appendix 6.2. (continued)

APPENDIX 6.2 ISOLATED OCCURRENCES = 251

IO No, Cultural Affiliation 10 Type IONo. Cultural Affiliation IO Type

3964 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus 4009 Euro-American Can scatter

3965 Euro-American Telephone/powerline locus 4010 Unknown Cairn

3966 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus afliliation

3967 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus 4011 Archaic Eiko Eared point
3968 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus 4012 Native American Pressure laked biface
3969 Euro-American __Telephone/powerline locus 4013 Archaic Eiko Comer-notched point
3970 Euro-American __Telephone/powerline locus 40rd Uagnown Calm

3980 Euro-American Road 4015 Native American Ground stone tool
3983 Euro-American Trail 4016 Euro-American _Bottle

3984 Euro-American Trail 4017 Euro-American Dendroglyph

3985 Euro-American —_Blazed tree 4018 Euro-American Dendroglyph
3986 Euro-American Benchmark 4019 Euro-American _ Historic refuse
3987 Euro-American Benchmark/Blaze 4020 Euro-American Hardware

3988 Euro-American —_ Benchmark 4021 Euro-American Can scatter

3989 Euro-American Boundary Segment 4022 Euro-American Road

3990 Euro-American Road 4023 Euro-American Road

3991 Euro-American Road 4024 Euro-American Road

3992 Euro-American Road 4025 Euro-American Boundary segment
3993 Euro-American —_ Borrow pit 4026 Euro-American Boundary segment
3994 Euro-American Boundary segment 4027 Euro-American Boundary segment
3995 Euro-American Boundary segment 4028 Euro-American Benchmark

3996 Euro-American Boundary segment 4029 Euro-American Boundary segment
3997 Euro-American Boundary segment 4030 Euro-American Boundary segment
3998 Euro-American Boundary segment 4031 Euro-American Road

3999 Euro-American. Boundary segment 4032 Euro-American Road

4000 Euro-American Hardware 4033 Euro-American Road

4001 Euro-American Road 4034 Euro-American Road

4002 Euro-American Road 4035 Euro-American Road

4003 Euro-American Road 4036 Euro-American Road

4004 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus 4037 Euro-American Benchmark

4005 Euro-American Benchmark 4038 Euro-American Boundary segment
4006 Euro-American Road 4039 Euro-American Boundary segment
4007 Euro-American Foundation 4040 Euro-American Boundary segment
4008 — Euro-American Storage box 4041 Euro-American Boundary segment



102. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

g. FS 65

i, FS 83 j FS 116

k, FS 125

0, FS 56

FS4 n, FS 33

p, FS 101
CENTIMETERS

Figure 7.10. Unclassified or unknown small projectile points: (a-d) side-notched, (e-k) corner-
notched, and (\-r) unknown.


190 | BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

The Moon —>

NS }
42GA5232 F58-11 Ay \

Figure 9.11. A fanciful aspen dendroglyph depicting a human figure. The meaning of the lunar
personification is unknown. Not to scale.

Geometric and abstract designs such as stars,
hearts, tick marks, and curvilinear shapes are
noted at a few sites. Unique elements or panels
include an arrangement of the four playing-card
suits (Figure 9.16). Other elements include a
pistol (Figure 9.17) and a leaf. The dendroglyph
with card suits at Site 42KA5809 (Figure 9.16) is
particularly noteworthy as it is one of the few
dendroglyphs that represents a planned com-
position with multiple elements.

Other Historic Inscriptions

Less abundant than the dendroglyphs, but equally
significant in content, are three other types of
historic inscriptions: those on bark-stripped trees,
water troughs, and rock outcrops. Three sites contain
historic inscriptions carved onto Paiute bark-stripped
ponderosa pine trees. Conifers are not typically used
for dendroglyph carvings in the project area due to
their dark and rough-textured bark, but the smooth,

light-colored scar resulting from earlier Native
American use of these trees (Figure 6.6) provided a
usable carving surface for later Euro-Americans.
Two of the three inscribed bark-stripped trees
occupy sites that also contain aspen dendroglyphs.
Like the dendroglyph carvings, these inscriptions
include names, initials, and dates. One graphic,
representing a possible brand, is also noted.

Site 42GA5241 contains two water troughs
hewn from solid logs (Figure 6.9). Both sides of the
troughs exhibit historic inscriptions (Figure 9.18).
These inscriptions include names, initials, and dates
ranging from 1849 through 1923. The 1849 date is
the earliest date represented among all inscriptions
in Bryce Canyon National Park. In light of the
historic context of early homesteading and grazing
activity in the region, and given the location and
condition of the trough upon which it was carved,
this date seems too early to be interpreted as an
actual carving date.



than 40 mm long. The length of the Bull Creek
point (42mm) collected during the Bryce
Canyon AIS, along with the absence of Kayenta
ceramics in the park, suggests that this point is
probably affiliated with a western (Virgin)
Anasazi rather than a Kayenta Anasazi occu-
pation.

Finally, seven Desert Side-notched points
were collected during the survey. Desert Side-
notched points are indicative of late Prehistoric
to protohistoric or historic period occupations
dating roughly between A.D. 1200 and 1700.
These points are generally associated with
Numic groups in the Great Basin and south-
eastern Utah (Holmer 1986; Holmer and Weder
1980). These points have been previously
documented at Bryce Canyon (Dominguez and
Danielson 2000; Dominguez et al. 1992;
Hartley 1980a), at Cedar Breaks National
Monument (Canaday 2001), and on_ the
Kaiparowits Plateau (Geib et al. 2001).

Patination

Patination of artifacts provides a potential
secondary source of information that can be
used for relative dating of stone tool
assemblages. In the present analysis, the
presence or absence of patination is recorded
for each of the projectile points (Table 7.2).
Approximately one-quarter of the points in the
collection exhibit some degree of patination.
With the exception of a small number of arrow
points, patination is most common among the
dart points. Three-quarters of the potentially
early points in the collection (i.e., the Great
Basin Stemmed and unclassified large stemmed
points) exhibit patination, but approximately
three-quarters of the other dart points lack
patination. It is likely that this pattern of
patination is the result of differing depositional
and erosional contexts rather than strict
temporal patterns. Additionally, the differential
effects of wildfire on patination cannot be
excluded. Geib et al. (1999:5.6) suggest that
fires commonly turn high-quality silicates
milky white in color, hampering an analyst’s

PROJECTILE POINTS — 107

efforts to identify patinated artifacts. These
factors suggest that the degree of patination of
stone projectile points is of limited utility for
evaluating temporal variability at sites in the
project area.

Settlement and Subsistence

Projectile points also provide a source of infor-
mation for examining Native American land-use
patterns on the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Native
American use of the park spans from the late
Paleoindian/early Archaic through the historic
periods, and diachronic changes in the distribution
of sites and IOs with typed points may reveal
temporal changes in the economic use of the
resources on the plateau.

Raw Material Use

Stone artifacts are one of the primary sources of
information available from the project area for
evaluating prehistoric Native American re-
source and land use. Raw materials used in the
manufacture of projectile points provide a key
source of data for investigating prehistoric land
and resource use (Table 7.3). Because the
Paunsaugunt Plateau has few toolstone sources,
most, if not all of the materials were imported.
Determining the sources of stone materials can
reveal information on the regions where the
occupants of Bryce Canyon originated and the
territory they may have exploited. The pre-
ceding typological section suggests that early in
prehistory, groups from the neighboring Great
Basin area utilized the plateau.

During analysis and encoding, 23 variants
of stone were identified. These material types
are combined into potential source-specific
groups for this discussion. Based on an
examination of comparative collections of raw
materials and discussions with Chris Wenker
(personal communication to Irwin, 2002),
these 23 variants are grouped into eight
categories.


PRESCRIBED FIRES AND NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 213

Previously undiscovered sites were newly
recorded during the Bryce Canyon AIS in almost
all FMUs where other Native American sites were
already known. The proportion of the increase in
site counts among all previously bumed FMUs
(from 9 to 17 sites, an 89 percent increase) is
exceeded by the increase in site counts in the
unburned FMUs (from 10 to 25, a 150 percent
increase). Still, a chi-square test of independence
indicates no significant difference between these
site-count increases « = 25; df= 1; p> .6). This
result indicates that the proportion of the increase
in Native American site frequencies in FMUs is
not meaningfully influenced by the prior entry of
prescribed fires.

Furthermore, even within the burned FMUs
themselves, little difference in the amount of
increase is apparent between the units that were
burned nine years before the survey (e.g., Sunset
Campground, which increased from zero to one
site) versus those that were burned as recently as
two years before the survey (e.g., Residential
Area, which increased from zero to three sites).
Further, FMUs that were burned immediately
before the survey (such as East Creek Meadow
and Agua 3) show no increases, but the low
overall site counts and limited prior survey
coverage reduce the usefulness of data from these
individual units.

A subjective evaluation of the locations of
newly recorded Native American artifact scatters
may partially explain why the effects of fire do
not play a significant role in increasing scatter
visibility in the project area. Many of the newly
recorded Native American artifact scatters lie
along the margins of dry sagebrush meadows
rather than in heavily forested areas. Intuitively,
the surface visibility of the meadow sites was
probably not greatly enhanced by fire. Apparently
these sites simply were not discovered during
prior surveys for reasons unrelated to visibility.
Conversely, the inventory recorded many new
artifact scatters in heavily wooded upland areas
(both burned and unburned) that were also
previously surveyed, indicating that vegetation

communities do not consistently influence the
relationship between site visibility and prior
burning. Further, newly sprouted forbs and low
shrubs are common in some of the previously
burned FMUs. This increase in ground cover
(which is a goal of prescribed fires) may actually
decrease site visibility, suggesting that if surveys
are going to occur after a fire, they should occur
relatively soon thereafter.

These conclusions are of course hindered by
the use of the FMUs as the units of analysis.
When a prescribed fire is ignited in a management
unit, not all areas of the unit burn with equal
intensity, and some portions remain unburned.
Prescribed fires are not single-event treatments;
only the repeated ignition of the burn unit over
time achieves the desired goals. Sometimes the
fires are of low intensity and only burn light
ground fuels, while in other cases the fire can
ignite the tree canopy or heavy dead logs.
Unfortunately, in some management units that had
not been burned for several years, the
archeological crews were unable to determine if
past fires had physically crossed particular sites.
Hence, consistent data collection was not possible
across the project area. A more direct approach to
evaluating the effects of prescribed fire on
archeological site visibility might involve an
experimental program that compares the results of
duplicate surveys conducted immediately before
and after a prescribed fire.

In the Bryce Canyon AIS project area, site
frequencies consistently rose in most FMUs.
The prior entry of prescribed fire in a manage-
ment unit, however, does not influence the
proportion of the increase. The factors that
influenced the overall projectwide increase in
site frequency probably include simply (1) the
inventory’s use of a comprehensive, systematic
survey strategy that covered large blocks of
land; (2) the multiyear duration of the survey,
which allowed project staff to use intensive
field methods; and (3) the use of different site-
definition criteria from previous surveys.
Furthermore, the project was conducted with the



202 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Long-term development plans and rapidly
increasing visitor use stimulated the need for
additional park facilities. Primary among these
was a road to provide access to the southern
portions of the park. One of the first major tasks
undertaken by the National Park Service was to
extend the existing USFS road from the Bryce
Canyon Lodge another 26km (16 mi) south to
Rainbow Point. The new road was constructed in
three major segments between 1931 and 1935
(Dammann 1993). Several archeological sites
appear to be associated with these early
construction efforts.

Site 42GA5224 consists of a long-abandoned
gravel pit near the head of East Creek. An
abandoned dirt road connects the pit with the Rim
Road roughly 200 m (656 ft) to the east. Other
features include a blazed tree, two piles of logs
and discarded fence posts, a linear depression or
possible trail, and three dendroglyphs with 1914,
1930 (or 1931), and 1937 dates. The location of
this site coincides with a gravel quarry described
in a contemporary construction report (Finch
1935). The quarry was reported to be in existence
prior to the 1932-1933 phase of rim road
construction, and it may have been originally
excavated during the previous road construction
phase from 1931 to 1932. According to Finch
(1935:10), “operations relative to a crushing and
screening plant were begun” at the quarry in 1932.
The pit was abandoned within one month,
however, and quarrying activities were moved to a
source outside the park (Finch 1935:11).

Despite the 1935 report, little evidence of any
structure is present at this site, although some logs
containing bolts may represent structural debris.
The lack of construction material may indicate
that the crushing plant was never built or it was
disassembled and hauled to the new pit location.
Conversely the processing area may not have been
located at the quarry site. The dendroglyph dates
suggest other occasional use of the area before
and after the pit was in operation. Artifacts are
sparse (n=6) and consist of miscellaneous items
that may postdate the gravel operation.

A second gravel pit is recorded in the
southern portion of the park on a high ridge
between the Rim Road and the Pink Cliffs rim.
This pit represents the Agua Canyon gravel
quarry, which was in use mainly between 1931
and 1943 (NPS 1983). The gravel quarry was
originally mined to provide material for the Rim
Road, and the pit was used occasionally through
the mid-1980s (NPS 1983). The quarry site and
access road were closed and reclaimed in 1995.
No definitive evidence of a processing plant exists
at this site, although Bryant (1997) refers to large
quantities of crushed shale in the pit area.

Two formal campsites also appear to be
associated with 1930s road construction. The area
encompassed by Site 42GA3561, which is
primarily known as the site of a 1934-1942 CCC
camp, was also used as a work camp by the Union
Construction Company in 1931 and 1932 (Madrid
1993:14). Archeological remains attributable to
this earlier occupation were not recognized during
the Bryce Canyon AIS or during previous
investigations (Dominguez and Danielson 2000),
although a water pipeline from the Trough/Shaker
Spring area to the camp may originally date to this
period. The establishment of the CCC camp in
1934 and its subsequent dismantling in 1945
apparently obscured the evidence of the earlier
occupation.

A second possible long-term campsite dating
to the 1920s through 1940s lies at the southern
end of Whiteman Bench. Site 42GA5219 contains
two side-by-side outhouse foundations and an
extensive historic refuse scatter that includes
several burned refuse piles. No structural remains
other than the outhouses are present, although a
wood pile, 10 aspen dendroglyphs, and several
rock piles are noted. This campsite lies 170m
(557 ft) north of the Rim Road, along “Section 1-
B2” which was constructed from 1934 to 1935
(Madrid 1993). The site location and artifact
assemblage supports the interpretation of this site
as a road-construction work camp. Conversely,
the CCC may have used this location as a spur
camp during their tenure, because many CCC


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU

131

Table 8.2. Stone material types of flaked and ground stone tools and debris at all analyzed project
Sites.*
Stone material type
5 3
2 g g 3 1S) Ss 2 2
> . § 9 §s = £2 EB & &
g @ 8 © 88 & SB 5 S38 2 28
Technological Type 3 é 8 3 23 5 E ze Fo = & Total
Flaking debris
Angular debris - - 4 6 - 172 10 1 1 - - 194
Biface thinning = - I - - 113 4 1 - - - 129
Biface reduction - - 14 - - 32 5 - - = = 51
Hard hammer 1 - 38 38 - 1,104 26 5 7 - - 1,219
Pressure - - 8 - - 78 4 - - - - 87
Notching - - - - = 2 - - - _ - 2
Bipolar - = - 1 - = - - - - - 1
Potlid ee 4 = - - ee 4
Cores - - - 14 - S 2 - 1 - - 22
Pressure-flaked bifaces - 1 7 - - 85 6 2 1 - - 102
Projectile points - - 8 - 1 37 4 - 1 1 - 2
Used flakes - 1 3 5 - 24 - 1 3 - - 37
Tested cobbles - - - - - 2 - - - - - 2
Percussion bifaces 1 - - - 1 36 4 - 1 - - 4B
Drills - - 1 - - - - - - - -
Scrapers - - ~ - - 5 - - - - - 5
Hammerstones - - - 2 - -  - - - - - 2
Ground stone, unid. - - - - - = = - = - 5 5
Manuports - - - 1 - - - - - - 16 17
Manos 1 - - 1 - - - - = - = 2
Metates/grinding slabs — - - - - - oe - _ - 7 7
Total 3 2 94 68 2 1,716 65 10 15 1 28 2,004

* Does not include IOs.


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 135

When lithic material proportions of tools and
flaking debris in each time period are compared
separately, no meaningful differences from the
overall site assemblages are apparent. In no time
periods do the raw materials of any specific tool
types or debris categories contribute dispropor-
tionately to the lithic material composition of
overall site assemblages. A close correlation
between the lithic material types of high-main-
tenance tool classes such as projectile points and
the material types of flaking debris (particularly,
pressure flakes) should be expected in a zone such
as the Paunsaugunt Plateau which lacks natural
lithic sources. All items brought on to the plateau
had to be maintained or newly manufactured on
site with imported toolstone instead of local
material. The local production or resharpening of
imported tools or tool blanks should produce

similar frequencies of raw-material types for both
discarded tools and debris, and that expectation is
borne out at plateau-top sites.

No dramatically obvious changes in prefer-
ential raw material use are apparent through time,
but the incidence of sandstone rises during later
periods. This observation may be related to the
deterioration of poorly cemented sandstone
artifacts at early sites, however. Obsidian appears
to decrease consistently from the early Archaic
period (where it constitutes 26.6 percent of the
overall site assemblages) to the Numic/Paiute
occupation (the sites of which contain 0.6 percent
obsidian). Although the Desert Side-notched
points collected during the project are made of
either obsidian or Brian Head chert, another
previously collected Desert Side-notched point

[ 100.0

90.0

80.0

70.0
60.0 Y

Early Archaic |

50.0
40.0

Percent

30.0

EMiddle Archaic
ol mate Archaic

20.0 +Y
10.0 4]

0.0

Obsidian

Quarizite, local !

Brian Head
Chert/Chalcedony

Stone Typ

Chert, untyped

e

Figure 8.8. Proportions of stone material types in
period sitewide assemblages.

single-component early, middle, and late Archaic





United States Department of the Interior
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
INTERMOUNTAIN REGION

Post Office Box 728
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-0728

“CRN

In Reply Refer to:
H26(IMSF-CAR)

July 7, 2005

Memorandum

To: Director, Denver Service Center
Attention: Chief of Operations, Technical Information Center

From: Program Manager, Archeology Program, Intermountain Regional Office
Subject: Report Transmittal

In accordance with the Departmental Manual (481 DM 3b(3)), we are submitting two copies of
the report entitled Bryce Canyon National Park: Archeology of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, edited
by Chris T. Wenker.

A Report Certification for public access is also enclosed.

Ge [roche

Enclosures

ce:
Superintendent, Bryce Canyon National Park, w/o encls.



229

APPENDIX 6.1 SITE SUMMARY

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spouytiy sammyeay (:ttt) aztg adkT, ag uoneysy ON ON SIIS
Tern PIT

Aapmung ang *[°9 xipuaddy



233

APPENDIX 6.1 SITE SUMMARY

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258 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 125

General Archaic Period Sites

Sites and IOs that can be attributed to the
general Archaic period make up the most
common datable site class. These sites contain
only artifacts such as Elko Series or untyped
dart points that minimally indicate an Archaic
period age, but the available data do not allow
the site occupation to be further segregated into
early, middle, or late periods. Twenty-six sites
containing 41 artifacts and an additional 27 IOs
are attributed to the Archaic period in general.
The relative occupational intensity that these
points represent is fairly low (Figure 8.2)
because the long span of time encompassed by
the entire Archaic period balances against the
high count of general Archaic period artifacts.
Of course, these points do not represent a
separate time period, and in all actuality the
contributions of these artifacts to the point-
deposition rates should be distributed among the
early, middle, and late Archaic period calcu-
lations in Figure 8.3. Unfortunately the pro-
portions of points that should be attributed to
each period cannot be determined. Hence, all
early, middle, late, and general Archaic period
sites are also combined in Figure 8.3 to allow
comparisons with later time periods. Overall
Archaic period projectile point deposition rates
are lower than, but comparable to, those of later
periods.

As Geib et al. (2001:324) note, the apparent
increase in late Archaic period occupation on
the Kaiparowits Plateau is “doubtless a spurious
result because of our current inability to use
Elko Series points for assignment to these three
general intervals.” Geib et al. (2001:324)
explain that, regionally, Elko Comer-notched
and Side-notched points are common at early
Archaic period sites (see also Holmer 1980:
Figure 42), so “many early Archaic sites are
likely listed as general Archaic. Elko Series
points are common during the late Archaic as
well, but so too are Gypsum points, so there is
less chance for underrepresentation of late
Archaic sites.”

If the count of general Archaic period
projectile points from Bryce Canyon National
Park is theoretically redistributed equally to the
early, middle, and late phases in Figure 8.3, the
early Archaic period would reflect a point loss
rate of .019/year, the middle Archaic period
would total .008/year, and the late Archaic period
would exceed all other periods prior or hence with
a rate of .020/year. Similarly, in Figure 8.4, the
generalized Archaic period sites contribute
roughly 57 percent (105,000 m_) of the total site
area occupied by all Archaic period sites. If this
proportion of the overall site area is equally
reapportioned to the early, middle, and late
Archaic period totals, the contribution of roughly
35,000 m? to each phase produces occupation
intensity levels equal to or higher than later
periods. Regardless, these data-manipulation exer-
cises can only hint at the true Archaic period
occupation density. The inability to use Elko
Series projectile points as chronological markers
truly inhibits an accurate appraisal of early,
middle, and late Archaic period occupational
intensity with the present survey data.

Late Prehistoric/Formative Period Occupation

Sites containing material that postdates the
Archaic period but that cannot be attributed to a
more specific affiliation are conservatively
categorized as generalized late Prehistoric period
sites. Sites in this broad category could derive
from Fremont, Puebloan, Numic, Paiute, or any
other regional post-Archaic groups. Sites clas-
sified to the Formative period contain material
definitely attributable to Puebloan occupations
(no Fremont material is currently known in
Bryce Canyon National Park). In cases when all
sites of these periods are discussed, a late
Prehistoric/Formative assignation is used. Numic
and Paiute sites are discussed separately in a
later section.

Late Prehistoric Sites

Fourteen sites in the project area contain
generalized late Prehistoric artifactual material


86 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK.

Table 7.1. Projectile point types collected from sites and isolated contexts,
Count Count of

Point Type Date Range Time Period of Sites Isolates Total

Great Basin Stemmed 8000-6000 B.c. Late Paleoindian / 1 0 1
Early Archaic

Unclassified Stemmed, Dart 7850-4200 B.c. Late Paleoindian / 2 0 2
Early Archaic

Pinto Shouldered 6300-4200 B.c. Early Archaic 5 9 5

Sudden Side-notched 4400-2400 B.c. Middle Archaic 1 0 1

Northern Side-notched 5200-2400 B.c. Middle Archaic 1 0 1

Humboldt 5650-4140 B.c. Middle Archaic 0 1 1

Gatecliff Contracting Stem / 2500 B.c.—A.D. 500 Late Archaic 5 10 15

Gypsum

San Rafael Side-notched 2600-400 B.c. Late Archaic 1 0 1

Elko Corner-notched 6000 B.c.-A.D. 1000 Undated (Archaic) 8 10 18

Elko Eared 6000-1400 B.c. Archaic 8 12

Elko Side-notched 6000 B.c~A.D. 1000 Undated (Archaic) 1 1

Unclassified Corner-notched, - Undated (Archaic) 5 12

Dart

Unclassified Side-notched, Dart = — Undated (Archaic) 3 1 4

Unknown, Dart ~ Undated (Archaic) 7 BY 12

Rosegate Corner-notched A.D. 300-925 Late Prehistoric / 1 0 1
Formative

Rosegate Stemmed A.D. 300-925 Late Prehistoric / 2 2 4
Formative

Parowan Basal-notched A.D. 900-1200 Late Prehistoric / 1 I 2
Formative

Bull Creek A.D. 1050-1300 Late Prehistoric / 1 0 1
Formative

Desert Side-notched A.D. 1200-1700 Late Prehistoric to 3 4 7
Protohistoric

Unclassified Comer-notched, - Late Prehistoric / 2 5 7

Arrow Formative

Unclassified Side-notched, - Late Prehistoric / 3 1 4

Arrow Formative

Unknown, Arrow - Late Prehistoric / 3 4 7
Formative

Total* 40* 54* 94*

* Actual count of collection locations (i.e., sites or isolates containing multiple points are counted only once).


BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

272



267

APPENDIX 7.2 CODED PROJECTILE POINT ANALYSIS DATA

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46 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

provides a view from the eastern Great Basin and
the western Colorado Plateau. Much previous
research has focused on the central and far
western Great Basin, leaving the eastern margin
understudied and not well-represented in the
archeological literature. The study of early sites
containing stemmed points can provide data from
a rarely investigated environmental setting. In
addition, analysis of the stemmed points from the
park can contribute to the larger body of data
regarding the morphology of stemmed points.
The significance of the park’s early period sites
lies in their contribution to an overall regional
picture of land use and subsistence strategies
based on distributional and morphological
studies, rather than in the absolute abundance of
stemmed points on a local level.

Middle and Late Archaic Period Archeology in
South-Central Utah

The middle and late Archaic period sites in
Bryce Canyon National Park best relate to two
primary research topics. One research question
studies the processes by which the close
similarities in Archaic period cultural material
of the southeastern Great Basin and the western
Colorado Plateau developed. The second
research topic explores the apparent increased
use of upland areas during the middle Holocene
Epoch and evaluates the possibility that this
land-use change may be related to expanding
diet breadth conditioned by increasing aridity
and decreased availability of large game.

The first research topic concerns the
relationship between middle and late Archaic
period hunter-gatherers of the eastern Great Basin
and western Colorado Plateau. Bryce Canyon
National Park straddles the interface between these
two physiographic provinces, and in this region, the
Great Basin and Southwestern archeological culture
areas are typically ascribed to these respective
physiographic provinces (at least with regard to
post-Archaic cultural groups). However, the strong
affinities between the cultural materials of the
Archaic people of southern Utah and Nevada and
the northem Southwest is a topic of recent

discussion and research (Aikens and Madsen 1986;
Berry and Berry 1986; Huckell 1996; Matson
1991). Generally, the Archaic period points found
on the western Colorado Plateau bear little
similarity to those of the Oshara sequence of the
northern Southwest (Irwin-Williams 1973), but are
quite similar to those from central Utah (Geib
1996b:29; Geib et al. 2001; Irwin 2001).

The continuity in material culture from the
southeastern Great Basin to the western Colorado
Plateau may indicate cultural homogeneity
among the groups inhabiting western, central,
and southern Utah. Alternately, the broad range
of continuity in material culture may not be a
cultural marker. Instead it may be indicative of
flexible technological adaptations that proved
useful in all of the various physiographic
provinces of the eastern Great Basin and western
Colorado Plateau, despite the variable resource
zones (e.g., marsh, desert scrub, woodland,
montane forest) that the technology was required
to accommodate. The sites in Bryce Canyon
National Park can provide additional data to
confirm or refute the presence of a strong Great
Basin influence in the western Colorado Plateau.
The nature of this relationship has broader
implications for the archeological study of
regional material-culture similarities, a topic of
considerable archeological interest worldwide
(e.g., Carr and Neitzel 1995; Conkey and Hastorf
1990; Hodder 1990; Jochim et al. 1999; Sackett
1985, 1990; Wiessner 1983, 1984).

Another important research issue in the Great
Basin/Colorado Plateau interface, particularly for
the middle and late Archaic periods, involves
tracing the development of a Great Basin-oriented
subsistence system that appears to focus on
lacustrine and riverine marsh environments but also
incorporates upland resource procurement zones
such as the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Extensive
archeological research has been conducted on sites
in the marsh environments around relict Pleistocene
lakes in the Great Basin (e.g., Heizer and Napton
1970; Janetski 1986; Kelly 2001; Madsen 1982;
Thomas 1985), but few researchers investigate
nonlacustrine wetlands.


32 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Archeological Site

“ON
N YA Previously
Maa Surveyed Area

im?) 1 2 Miles
———

Figure 4.1. Locations of archeological surveys and test excavation projects in Bryce Canyon
National Park prior to the 2000-2002 Bryce Canyon Archeological Inventory Survey.


Appendix 7.1

Coding Format and Key for Projectile
Point Analysis

257


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 153

Native American style, but a Euro-American
inscription is also present on the rock face and the
panel’s actual affiliation remains undetermined.
Rock piles or cairns with no signs of thermal use
are also present at several Native American sites,
but the actual function or affiliation of these
features remains unknown. Overall, Native
American features of any type are exceedingly
uncommon on the plateau, or at least they are
rarely visible from the modern surface. No signs
of Native American structural or architectural
features are known in the park.

Thermal Features

Only two sites recorded during the inventory
project contain visible signs of buried thermal
features. Dominguez and Danielson (2000) report
the excavation of two probable Numic/Paiute
thermal features at an additional site (42GA905)
north of the project area. These excavated features
were visible on the modern surface, and after
excavation resembled broad, shallow basins (.8-
1m in diameter and 15-20 cm deep) that con-
tained sparse to abundant charcoal, abundant
burned rocks, and few artifacts. Macrobotanical,
pollen, and faunal analyses of the feature contents
provided equivocal results.

One of the two surface-visible features in the
project area is also located at a Numic/Paiute
camp, and the second is present at a multi-
occupation early Archaic to late Prehistoric/
Formative site. Both features are visible as
discrete but irregularly shaped clusters of burned
rock fragments. The Numic/Paiute feature is
relatively large (1-x-3-m across), but the feature at
the multioccupation site is roughly the same size
as the excavated examples at Site 42GA905.
Neither of the features recorded during the in-
ventory were test excavated, and no carbonaceous
staining was observed on the modern surface, so
their identification as thermal features is tentative.
A second scatter of burned rocks also exists at the
multioceupation site, but its dispersed nature
suggests that it could represent a deflated thermal
feature or a midden.

Culturally Modified Trees

No examples of this Native American feature type
were previously recorded in Bryce Canyon
National Park, but four sites containing a total of
16 trees are now known in the project area. These
features are classified as bark-stripped trees (Stryd
1998), from which large rectangular or triangular
sections of bark have been removed, exposing the
underlying heartwood (Figure 6.6).

Most researchers concur that inner bark was
obtained by historic Native American groups for
use as food, but the sap or bark may also have
provided medicine, mastic, or construction
material (Martorano 1981, 1989; Stryd 1998;
Swetnam 1984). Bark-stripped trees are widely
distributed throughout the American west,
especially in the Rocky Mountains, but they are
relatively infrequent in the arid southwest or Great
Basin regions. DeVed and Loosle (2001) report
several clusters of bark-stripped trees in north-
eastern Utah, and Welsh and Olsen (1969) note a
single culturally modified ponderosa pine in
Canyonlands National Park. Several additional
bark-stripped trees are also known on the Dixie
National Forest west of Bryce Canyon National
Park, along the East Fork of the Sevier River and
farther west near Panguitch Lake. Some of the
trees on the Dixie National Forest (called “tanning
trees” by a local archeologist) show scar surfaces
that are heavily textured with axe marks,
suggesting their use as abrading surfaces for hide
de-fleshing activities (Marion Jacklin, personal
communication 2000; cf. Stryd 1998:47, 65).

The 16 features in Bryce Canyon National
Park all appear as rectangular or vertically
tapering scar faces on large ponderosa pine trees
(1-1.5m diameter at chest height). Fourteen
stripped trees contain single large scar faces and
one contains two large scars (typically 50-100 cm
wide and 100-175 cm high). One tree exhibits a
notably small scar face that measures only 43 cm
high by 9 cm across. This feature may represent a
tested tree that was abandoned (Swetnam
1984:180-181).


7

Projectile Points

Donald C. Irwin

The Bryce Canyon AIS project documented Native
American sites and IOs spanning the late
Paleoindian/early Archaic transition to the proto-
historic or historic periods on the Paunsaugunt
Plateau. This chapter reports the analysis of pro-
jectile points collected during the survey and uses
the recorded data to address key questions about
Native American use of the Bryce Canyon area. The
collected projectile points are a primary source of
data for addressing questions about the chronology
and cultural affiliation of project sites. Additionally,
questions concerning prehistoric adaptations,
economies, and culture change are addressed.

This chapter first presents a temporal
evaluation of the park’s sites as indicated by the
types of recovered projectile points. Relevant data
from previous archeological investigations in the
park are also used for this evaluation. A preliminary
temporal framework for the park sites is established
by classifying the projectile points into types that
have been documented in well-dated stratigraphic
contexts elsewhere in the Great Basin and Colorado
Plateau (e.g., Brown 1988; Brown et al. 1993;
Holmer 1978, 1986; Schroed] 1976; Thomas 1981).

Once the preliminary temporal framework for
the park’s occupational periods is established,
several additional questions are preliminarily
addressed. These include questions regarding
resource and land use in the park and how these
aspects of prehistoric settlement and economy
changed through time. Issues such as prehistoric
cultural affiliation and exchange or mobility strate-

81

gies are also addressed using the data generated by
the projectile point analysis.

Analysis Methods

The projectile points analyzed during this study
were collected during the 2000 and 2001 field
seasons of the Bryce Canyon AIS project. During
laboratory analysis, 21 attributes were coded for
each projectile point. The coding format may be
found in Appendix 7.1. The variables are intro-
duced below and all recorded analysis data are
presented in Appendix 7.2.

Nominal Variables

Nominal variables include nine attributes that
categorize the nonmetric aspects of the projectile
points. These include projectile point type, raw
material, portion, presence or absence of thermal
alteration, type of thermal alteration, presence or
absence of patination, blank form, base shape, and
presence or absence of serration.

The projectile point type variable places each
projectile point into a provisional type category
according to an identification key (Figures 7.1 and
7,2). The type analysis employs established
projectile point typologies from the Great Basin and
Colorado Plateau (e.g., Brown 1988; Brown et al.
1993; Holmer 1978, 1986; Irwin 2001; Schroedl
1976; Thomas 1981) to investigate temporal trends


Appendix 6.2

Isolated Occurrences

239


6 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

0

ie)

20 Kilometers

20 Miles |

Figure 2.1. Location of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.



208 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Harriman Blue), can and metal fragments,
concrete and asphalt pieces, window glass, and
wire. This site may represent a main National
Park Service or UPC dump that was used during
the 1920s to 1960s.

Only two sites outside the vicinity of the
Bryce Canyon Lodge are associated with UPC
operations: Shaker Spring (42GA5216) and
Trough Spring (42GA1902). Both of these sites
were also discussed above in relation to livestock
herding activities, but the material at Shaker
Spring is more closely affiliated with its use as a
post-1923 domestic water supply. Ruby Syrett
established water rights to Shaker Spring, and
possibly Trough Spring, in 1923, during the time
UPC was negotiating its lease with the State of
Utah (Farnsworth 1992). When the UPC
purchased the Syretts’ “Tourist Rest” later that
year, the purchase included the water rights to
Shaker Spring. UPC then re-filed for Trough
Spring’s water rights due to legal uncertainties
associated with the Syretts’ original filing. The
UPC constructed concrete boxes at both Trough
and Shaker Springs and built a 3-inch diameter
pipeline to the lodge in 1925 (Union Pacific
Railroad 1944). An earlier pipeline may also have
been constructed by Syrett, however, because a
map of the railroad’s proposed tourist facilities
shows a 4-inch waterline already in existence.

The archeological site at Shaker Spring
contains a concrete-and-rock subterranean spring
box, a large pit and backdirt pile, log and lumber
piles, and a scatter of construction-related arti-

facts. Although there are historical records of a
cast-iron pipe leading from the spring, no pipe
was observed at Shaker Spring during the inven-
tory project. A fence at Trough Spring may be
related to the UPC’s spring development, but no
evidence of a spring box exists at this locale. The
water pipeline leading from Trough Spring to the
lodge can be traced over much of its length,
however.

Conclusion

The Euro-American archeological resources
identified during the inventory provide infor-
mation that can be used together with the
numerous historical research reports and archival
records to develop a better informed, more
thoroughly integrated history of Bryce Canyon
National Park. The information gained from the
identification and study of these Euro-American
sites and IOs complements the abundant written
records and provides a level of detail not available
in written texts. The wide range of data contained
in these diverse archeological resources illu-
minates the general character of people, work
practices, and daily activities that took place atop
the plateau. These archeological resources, in
combination with the written record, provide a
first-hand understanding of historic lifeways,
resource utilization patterns, tourist industry
growth, and park management strategies that have
contributed to the history and development of
Bryce Canyon National Park.



216 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 10.2. Frequency of fire-affected flaked lithic artifacts in burned and unburned fire
management units.
Total Grouped Total Fire- Fire Effect
A blage Si: Affected It
Ssemibiage Size ected Hers Crazing Potlidding Discoloration
Burned FMUs 524 78 58 12 8
1s* 74 16 10"
Unburned FMUs 1,026 149 91 23 35
15* ot ist 24"
Total 1,550 227 149 35 43
15* 66" 1s" 1gt

* Row percent of total grouped assemblage.

+ Row percent of only fire-affected items.

two sites) contains no heat-affected artifacts,.
Eighty-five percent of the overall grouped assem-
blage from burned FMUs shows no macroscopic
evidence of heat effects. Of the remaining 81
heat-affected items, three show only a change in
luster; these are excluded. The 78 damaged
artifacts derive in varying proportions from 24
sites in six different FMUs. The frequency of
damaged artifacts is proportional to each FMU’s
site density. No relationships between the fre-
quency of damaged artifacts, the number of
prescribed burn entries, or the year of the
prescribed fires are evident.

The grouped assemblage of flaked lithic
artifacts in five unburned FMUs includes 1,026
items from 54 sites (Table 10.2). Again, 85
percent of the grouped assemblage shows no heat
effects. Of the 151 heat-affected items, two with
luster changes are excluded from further
consideration. The remaining 149 fire-damaged
artifacts derive in varying proportions from 44
sites in all five FMUs. The frequency of damaged
artifacts again appears proportional to the site
density in each FMU.

Identical proportions of flaked lithic artifacts
from burned and unburned FMUs show evidence
of fire damage. This observation indicates that the
prior entry of prescribed fire in an FMU is not
associated with the proportion of fire-affected

artifacts in the FMU as a whole. The frequencies
of the different types of fire effects (Table 10.2)
do, however, show significant differences be-
tween burned and unburned FMUs (x? = 6.11; df =
2; p = 047). A visual assessment of the damage
types indicates that burned FMUs contain higher-
than-expected frequencies of crazed artifacts but
lower-than-expected counts of discolored arti-
facts. This contradictory observation is not readily
explainable.

The Native American sites in the project area
have probably witnessed centuries of sporadic
wildland fires. The presence of fire damage in the
unburned FMU assemblages can be attributed to
past wildland fires. Because the unburned and
burned FMU assemblages contain identical pro-
portions of damaged artifacts, the natural wildland
fires appear to account for most or all of the
observed damage, regardless of prescribed fire
entry. Modern prescribed fires do not appear to
significantly influence the proportion of fire-
damaged artifacts present in the overall fire-
management areas, although the types of damage
may be influenced.

The limitations of the project data, however,
preclude the analysis of damage occurring at
individual sites. As with the  site-visibility
assessment, a better approach to the study of pre-
scribed fire effects might involve pre- and post-


2 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Figure 1.1.

The Pink Cliffs with hoodoo rock formations in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah,

showing the southwestern face of East Creek Ridge, part of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

View facing to the northeast.

1930s, but the frequency of this site type decreases
thereafter. Instead, sites related to the National Park
Service and associated concessionaires dominate
the post-Great Depression archeological record.

Organization of the Report

The initial chapters of this report describe the set-
ting and history of the park. The survey methods
and results are outlined in later chapters, and
descriptive, analytical, and interpretive chapters
complete the volume.

First, in Chapter 2, Chris Wenker and
Cynthia Herhahn describe the park’s geographic
setting and summarize the geologic, hydrologic,
and climatic characteristics of the park that are
relevant to human occupation. A review of the

region’s paleoclimatic conditions emphasizes the
different ecological circumstances that prevailed
in the past and outlines the changes with which
the occupants of Bryce Canyon National Park
contended.

Chapter 3, compiled by Sue Eininger, Cynthia
Herhahn, and Chris Wenker, uses available
archeological information and historical docu-
mentation to outline the known human history of
the park. Of particular interest are several sections
excerpted from a local cowboy’s unpublished
memoir. These excerpts describe the lifeways of
Paiute groups who lived in the Bryce Canyon area
during the late nineteenth century.

In Chapter 4, Wenker summarizes the
archeological work conducted in Bryce Canyon
National Park during the years leading up to the
present large-scale survey. The number and types of



between the projectile point shoulder margin and an
artificial line perpendicular to the tool’s long axis.
Only shouldered and notched points were meas-
ured. Each base or stem was measured with a
goniometer according to methods established by
Thomas (1981:11-14). PSAs vary between 0 and
270 degrees. DSAs vary between 90 and 270
degrees.

The notch opening index (NOI) variable
measures the angle of the notch opening and
follows definitions outlined by Thomas (1981:14).
The NOI was measured using a goniometer and
recorded in degrees. Only shouldered and notched
points were measured. The notch width variable
measures the width of the notch at its opening. The
notch depth variable measures the depth of the
notch from its opening to its termination. Notch
widths and depths were measured using digital
calipers and recorded in millimeters.

The stem height variable measures the length of
the point’s haft element from the base to the
shoulder. Only shouldered or notched points were
measured. The stem or base width variable
measures the width of the base or stem at the
proximal end of the haft element; only points with
complete bases were measured. The shoulder width
variable measures the width of each point at the
shoulder; only points with complete shoulders were
measured. These measurements were collected
using digital calipers and recorded in millimeters.
The weight measurement records the existing
weight of each point. Weight was measured using
an Ohaus® digital scale and recorded to the nearest
decigram.

Analysis Results

During the survey, 123 projectile points were
collected: 68 from sites and 55 from isolated
contexts. These projectile points are classified into
metric attribute-based types (Figures 7.1 and 7.2) as
outlined in identification keys developed by
Thomas (1981), Brown (Brown et al. 1993), and
Irwin (2001). The goal of this phase of analysis was

PROJECTILE POINTS 85

to classify the points found during the survey into
regionally recognized projectile point types, thereby
establishing a preliminary temporal framework for
sites in the Bryce Canyon AIS project area (Table
7.1). The validity of the temporal framework is
based on the assumption that aspects of point
morphology reflect stylistic or functional variation
that undergoes patterned change through time (e.g.,
Irwin-Williams 1973; Thomas 1981).

Large Projectile Points

Medium-to-large sized points constitute 71.5
percent (n=90) of the collected point assem-
blage. These points, which measure greater than
25 mm in length, are believed to represent the
stone tips of atlat] darts. Of these points, 60 are
classifiable into the established types described
below. Thirty large points are too fragmentary
for classification or do not fit the established
type descriptions and are classified as unknown
points.

Large Stemmed Projectile Points

A variety of large stemmed projectile points
was found during the Bryce Canyon AIS.
Stemmed point types include Great Basin
Stemmed, Pinto Shouldered, Gatecliff Con-
tracting Stem/Gypsum points, and other
unknown stemmed forms that indicate potential
late Paleoindian through late Archaic use of the
project area.

Great Basin Stemmed

One large stemmed point (Field Specimen [FS]
1; Figure 7.3a) is classified as a Great Basin
Stemmed point (e.g., Holmer 1978, 1986). This
point is manufactured of white chert and has a
long (20 mm), straight to contracting stem
(PSA=88°), a convex base, and sloping
shoulders (DSA=152°). This complete but
resharpened point weighs 6.0 g and is 46 mm in
length, 26mm in width, and 5.6mm in
thickness. The entire point shows moderate
patination and does not appear to have been
more recently reworked.


142. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Figure 8.14.

c. 422KA5798.1.84-01.1.10
b. 42GA5245.1.80-01.1.3
0) 1 2

_—_

CENTIMETERS

A scraper and used flakes from project sites:(a) scraper and (b-c) used flakes. Dotted
lines indicate margins with use wear.



Kearns, T. M.

1982 The Escalante Project: A Class I
Cultural Resource Inventory of Preference
Right Coal Lease Tracts in South Central
Utah. ESCA-Tech Corporation,
Albuquerque, New Mexico. Ms. on file,
Bureau of Land Management, Kanab, Utah.

Keller, D. (editor)
1987 Alton Coal Project: Mine Permit
Application, Appendix 9.0, Volume 17, Part
1. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.
Ms. on file, Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument, Kanab, Utah.

Keller, G. N., and J. D. Hunt
1967 Lithic Materials from Escalante
Valley, Utah. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers No. 89,
Miscellaneous Paper No. 17. University of
Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Kelly, I. T.
1934 Southern Paiute Bands. American
Anthropologist 36:548-560.

1964 Southern Paiute Ethnography.
University of Utah Anthropological Papers
No. 69. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake

City.

Kelly L. G.

1912 Marks and Brands for the State of Utah
Embracing All Marks and Brands of Record
to October 1‘ 1912. Ms on file, Utah State
Archives, Salt Lake City.

Kelly, R. L.
1988 The Three Sides of a Biface. American
Antiquity 53:717-734.

1997 Late Holocene Great Basin
Prehistory. Journal of World Prehistory
11(1):1-49.

2001 Prehistory of the Carson Desert and
Stillwater Mountains: Environment,
Mobility, and Subsistence in a Great Basin
Wetland. University of Utah

REFERENCES CITED 289

Anthropological Papers No. 123. University
of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

Kutzbach, J. E., P. J. Guetter, P. J. Behling,
and R. Selin
1993 Simulated Climatic Changes: Results

of the COHMAP Climate-Model
Experiments. In Global Climates Since the
Last Glacial Maximum, edited by H. E.
Wright, J. E. Kutzbach, T. Webb III, W. F.
Ruddiman, F. A. Street-Perrott, and P. J.
Bartlein, pp. 24-93. University of
Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.

Lamb, S.
1958 Linguistic Prehistory in the Great
Basin. International Journal of American
Linguistics 24:95—100.

Lane, R.
1971 Basque Tree Carvings. Northeastern
Nevada Historical Society Quarterly
1(3):1-7.

Larson, D. O., and J. Michaelson
1990 Impacts of Climatic Variability and
Population Growth on Virgin Branch
Anasazi Cultural Developments. American
Antiquity 55:227-249.

Lindsay, L. M. W., J. R. Ambler, M. A. Stein,
and P. M. Hobler
1968 Survey and Excavation North and
East of Navajo Mountain, Utah, 1959-
1962. Museum of Northern Arizona
Bulletin No. 45. Museum of Northern
Arizona, Flagstaff. |

Lindsay, L. M. W., and K. Sargent
1979 Prehistory of the Deep Creek
Mountain Area, Western Utah. Antiquities
Section Selected Papers No. 14. Utah
Division of State History, Salt Lake City.

Luckin, R. W.
1990 Dining on Rails: An Encyclopedia of
Railroad China. RK Publishing, Golden,
Colorado.


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 145

freehand percussion flakes and a higher-than-
expected frequency of biface reduction flakes.

Regardless of raw material type, freehand
percussion flakes, especially those of Brian
Head chert, predominate. Because these flakes
can derive from a variety of reduction
techniques including core reduction, biface
production, or tool sharpening, the dominance
of this flake type cannot be inferred as an
indication of a particular reduction strategy.
Other more technologically diagnostic flake
types such as biface thinning and biface
reduction flakes can be taken as fairly certain
indicators of percussive biface reduction,
however. Pressure flakes represent small tool-
production or tool-sharpening activities, and
notching flakes specifically indicate projectile
point manufacture or maintenance (although
this flake type is exceedingly uncommon).

Angular debris, the proportion of which
remains fairly constant through time, is composed
entirely of chert and quartzite in all time periods.
The presence of this flake type, which can be
produced during any type of reduction activity, is
not technologically diagnostic, but the types of
raw materials constituting this flake class further
emphasizes the focus on reducing quartzite, Brian
Head chert, and other chert at project sites. Other
flake types are much less common. One quartzite
bipolar flake was identified at an undated lithic
scatter site. Four potlid flakes indicate post-
depositional fire damage but are not useful for
behavioral inferences.

No temporal trends in the relationships
between flake size or cortex coverage are evident
among different flake types or raw material
classes at all sites. Nearly every biface thinning or
reduction flake is free of cortex (98 percent), and
the majority (92 percent) are relatively small (less
than 4cm in maximum dimensions). Freehand
reduction flakes at all sites show a similarly con-
sistent pattern of stable flake size and cortex cover
relationships through time, and this pattern does
not differ greatly from the biface-production

assemblage. Ninety-five percent of freehand
reduction flakes are smaller than 4m in maxi-
mum dimension, and of the remaining large flakes
(> 4cm), many are made of locally available
quartzite.

The cortex cover of freehand reduction
flakes does differ slightly from biface
production flakes, however, in that a fairly sub-
stantial proportion of freehand reduction flakes
retain some cortical surface. Three percent of
the freehand reduction assemblage is entirely
cortical, and 90 percent of these cortical flakes
are made of Brian Head chert. Eighty percent of
these cortical frechand reduction flakes are also
smaller than 4m across. Thirteen percent of
the freehand reduction assemblage shows partial
cortex cover, and again, 89 percent of the par-
tially cortical flakes are smaller than 4 cm
across. The remaining 84 percent of the free-
hand reduction assemblage lacks any dorsal
cortex and is, again, mainly (96 percent)
composed of small flakes. Except for the few
exceptionally large, cortical quartzite flakes, the
proportions of quartzite flake sizes and cortex
cover generally correspond with those of Brian
Head chert. These observations suggest that,
although minor shifts in raw material pref-
erences may have occurred through time, the
residents of the Paunsaugunt Plateau conducted
little wasteful lithic reduction, The low inci-
dence of flakes with any amount of cortex indi-
cates that the parent cores or bifaces that were
being flaked also retained little or no cortex,
meaning that the core pieces were tested and
initially prepared elsewhere and brought onto
the plateau. The generally small flake sizes
also speak to a conservative reduction strategy.
Only the largest flakes (including used flakes)
are made of local quartzite material, which
although fairly abundant, is also relatively
intractable. These conservative strategies were
apparently in place during the entire tenure of
Native American occupation on the plateau
(although little can be said about the tech-
niques used specifically by historic-era Paiute
groups with the available data).


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 149

Late Prehistoric/Formative Period Flaked Stone
Technology

Another seeming discrepancy in flaked stone
assemblages of the Paunsaugunt Plateau involves
the late Prehistoric/Formative period sites. Most
of the sites of this age in the park are of unknown
affiliation (some may derive from Fremont or
Numic occupation), but components of Virgin
Anasazi affiliation are known to be present. In the
American Southwest, lithic assemblages at
Formative period Anasazi sites typically contain
low frequencies of formally shaped tools and high
proportions of expedient cores, flake tools, and
bipolar flakes (Geib et al. 2001:380). Fremont
sites often show diverse lithic assemblages that
contain finely retouched projectile points, blades,
and drills, but these assemblages are mostly com-
posed of utilitarian amorphous choppers, scrapers,
cores, and the like (e.g, Adovasio 1970:85;
Marwitt 1968; Talbot et al. 1999). The flaked
stone assemblages at all of the project’s late
Prehistoric/Formative sites contain relatively high
proportions of biface thinning and pressure flakes
as well as projectile points and percussion bifaces
(Figure 8.15). Even both of the single-component
Puebloan sites contain biface-reduction flaking
debris.

The evidence for formal tool use, shaping, or
resharpening activities at these sites contradicts
common observations of expedient Formative
period lithic use (e.g., Nickens and Kvamme
1981; Schwartz et al. 1981). Most interpretations
of Formative period assemblages are based on
assemblages from permanent habitation sites,
however, where sedentism is perceived to drive or
allow core-flake technology (Parry and Kelly
1987). On the Paunsaugunt Plateau, differential
late Prehistoric/Formative period site functions
may be invoked to explain the relatively
sophisticated lithic assemblages, where special-
use sites required portable, multifunctional tool
kits (especially in an area devoid of natural
toolstone). Geib et al. (2001) also report extensive
percussive biface reduction debris at Anasazi
habitation sites on the Kaiparowits Plateau. These

observations suggest that some Formative period
groups in the western Colorado Plateau regularly
used techniques more involved than  straight-
forward core reduction, even at their residential
bases. Hence, instances of biface reduction on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau generally fall in line with the
regional Formative period technology.

Summary of Flaked Stone Technology

The project-wide assemblage contains sufficiently
abundant evidence of bifacial tool use and
maintenance to suggest that percussion bifaces
formed a substantial component of the overall tool
kit of the plateau residents. Pressure flaked
bifaces, projectile points, and pressure and
notching flakes are common, suggesting that the
production of these retouched tools occurred on
the plateau rather than elsewhere. Cores, by
contrast are uncommon, indicating that the flake
blanks for retouched tools derived from biface
reduction flakes. Few special-function tools are
present. Few whole tools are present, indicating
conservation of material (or subsequent
scavenging, which is also an indication of material
conservation). The multifunctionality of the
bifaces and the indications of on-site pressure
flaking suggest an adaptable tool system. The role
that these tool kits play in evaluating site
functions is discussed in a following section.

Nonflaked Stone Artifacts

Ground stone and other nonflaked stone artifacts are
exceptionally uncommon on the plateau. Overall,
only 33 items are inventoried at project sites. Of
these, the majority (n=17) are simple manuports
such as imported sandstone slabs or quartzite
cobbles that show no definite signs of wear or
modification. The unworked sandstone fragments
probably represent small portions of deteriorated
grinding slabs, but tentative functions cannot be
proposed for the unworked quartzite cobbles.

Seven other smoothed sandstone slabs are suffi-
ciently intact to identify as grinding slabs. The
remainder of the identifiable assemblage contains


14 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

public forests. After Bryce Canyon National Park
was fully established in the 1930s, commercial
logging was immediately halted, although
construction timbers were occasionally harvested
and selective felling was conducted for insect
control. Grazing was slowly phased out, although
it did not completely cease until the 1960s. The
philosophy of complete fire suppression in the
park continued to be pursued until the 1980s.
These management practices produced dense,
monotonous stands of trees with thick under-
growth and deep accumulations of deadfall,
litter, and duff. The forests of today probably
bear little resemblance to those present prior to

the late eighteenth century, which were probably
more open with mosaic stands of diverse tree
species (Buchanan 1960, 1981; Roberts, Wight,
and Hallsten 1992).

The preceding summary of the region’s
natural history has sketched out the environmental
constraints and available resources that shaped the
past 12,000 years of human occupation in Bryce
Canyon National Park and on the Paunsaugunt
Plateau. The following chapter outlines our
current perception of the region’s cultural history,
from the earliest Native American occupants to
the park’s residents of the modern period.



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 155

features are located on Native American sites or
are found in obscure, isolated locations and
appear to bear some antiquity based on their
collapsed condition and partial burial under duff
and sediment. The few features matching this
description may represent Native American
constructions, but their affiliation must presently
remain undetermined. Two Native American
camps near springs (one middle Archaic, the
other multioccupational) contain collapsed rock
caims of unknown affiliation that may be related
to the Native American occupation. An
additional five isolated rock cairns or piles of
undetermined affiliation are also present in the
project area. Most contain between 4 and 17
rocks and measure less than 1m in diameter.
Some are found on high prominences along the
Pink Cliffs rim, while others are buried deep in
the forest. Few useful interpretations of these
features can be proffered, except to note their
possible functions as trail markers, shrines,
burial markers, boundary markers, possible
thermal features, or other unknown features.

Rock Paintings

The first possible Native American rock
painting site recorded in Bryce Canyon
National Park lies outside the project area
boundary, but it was visited during the closing
days of the project. This single pictograph
panel (Figure 6.7) occupies a south-facing
slickenside rock face in a slightly overhung
shelter at the foot of a Claron limestone
outcrop at the base of the Pink Cliffs. The
panel consists solely of an array of black and
ted painted vertical lines. Three sets and one
isolated line are painted in red; four sets are in
black. There are also some irregular lines in
black and a few amorphous, poorly preserved
areas of red paint. An adjacent Euro-American
inscription reads "Joseph W. Thompson / June
23 1891 / July 4." The painted marks may be
Euro-American in origin, but they seem to be
more stylistically related to regional Native
American rock paintings.

Native American Site Types and
Functions

Any functional evaluation of past human behavior
that collectively addresses archeological material at
the component, site, or regional level requires that
each component or site first be categorized. Ideally,
the categorization process incorporates analytical
and descriptive data from artifacts, features, and
site attributes to arrive at a site type that accurately
characterizes the activities performed by the
original site residents. Vagaries of site formation
and preservation processes, archeological sam-
pling, and even typology criteria selection often
intercede, however, and archeologists must ac-
knowledge that site types cannot fully capture or
accurately represent historical realities. These
archeological categories in fact impose an artificial
order on any emic classifications that the original
inhabitants may have used.

Framework of Site Types

Geib and Bremer (1996) used a matrix of
coefficients to statistically explore associations
among a sample of sites in Glen Canyon National
Recreation Area, along the Colorado River east of
the park. Although no patterning was presupposed,
the sites fell into two first-order clusters: large sites
that contained high artifact counts, including tools,
and small sites with few artifacts and few tools.
The large-site cluster contained no second-order
clusters with sufficiently distinctive assemblages to
allow further partitioning, however. Despite the
initial impression that the cluster containing large,
artifact-rich sites could represent camps, Geib and
Bremer (1996:144-145, 154) concluded that these
sites were actually the products of complex
histories of multiple reuses. Conversely the cluster
containing small, artifact-poor sites represented a
group of specific limited-activity loci for which
individual functions could be inferred. Overall,
Geib and Bremer (1996:154) found that such a
matrix-based analysis is able to differentiate sites
that have potentially simple and potentially com-



BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

256



PRESCRIBED FIRES AND NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 211

Table 10.1 (continued)
Percent
Total AIS Increase of
Site Count Site Count
Year of Count of in in
Previous Previously Previously Year of Previously Previously
FMU Total FMU = Archeological Surveyed Recorded Prescribed Surveyed Surveyed
Designation Area Surveys Area Sites* Fires Areas* Areas
East Creek 569 ha / 1979, 1988, 36 ha/ 4 2001t 8 100%
Ridge 1405 acres 1990 89 acres
Yovimpa 2 1,581ha/ 1979, 1988, 208ha/ 3 unburned 10 233%
3,907 acres 1989 515 acres
Unnamed; AIS 113 ha/ 1988 19ha/ 2 unburned 2 0%
# 15/ Cougar 279 acres 47 acres
Hollow Ridge
Unnamed; AIS 94ha/ 1979, 1988 22ha/ - unburned 1 Not
Unit 16/Podunk 231 acres. 54 acres calculable
Creek
Subtotal* 2,496 ha/ - 424 ha/ 10 ~- 25 150%
6,166 acres 1,049 acres
Total* 4,148 ha/ - 1,063 ha / 7 - 41 141%
10,251 2,626 acres

acres

Some sites overlap FMU boundaries; these sites are counted once in the row of each FMU that they occupy. To

avoid counting sites twice, the Subtotal rows include all sites within burned or unburned zones as a whole and
may not represent the sum of the FMUs. Some sites overlap burned and unburned FMUs; these are counted
once in each respective Subtotal row if they overlap burned/unburned areas. Only the Total row reflects the true
site count and includes all sites that fall within previous survey areas, regardless of FMU or burned area

boundaries.

* The East Creek Meadow and Agua 3 FMUs were surveyed by the AIS after the prescribed fires of 2000.
The East Creek Ridge FMU was surveyed by the AIS prior to the prescribed fire of 2001.

conducted specifically for the prescribed fires. The
inventory project re-surveyed all previously sur-
veyed blocks and linear corridors within the FMUs.

The inventory documented many new
archeological sites in the FMUs, including
many in areas of previous archeological work.
Due to the nature of archeological survey
techniques, the presence of undiscovered sites
in previously surveyed areas is not unexpected.

For example, even during an “intensive” survey,
only a sample of the landscape can actually be
examined because crew members are generally
spaced at least 10 to 15 m (33 to 49 ft) apart, if
not more, and it is impossible for crew members
to view every area of exposed soil (e.g.,
Wandsnider and Camilli 1992). Changes in
vegetation, duff cover, and erosion patterns can
significantly affect the surface visibility of
archeological material over time.


and 3.3mm wide and has an NOI of 24°. The
horizontal side notch (PSA 158°, DSA 178°) is
positioned high on the blade, reflected by a base
height of 15 mm. No serration is present on the
remnant blade portion of this point.

Other Large Projectile Points

Other large projectile points in the assemblage
include a Humboldt point, unclassified corner-
notched points, unclassified side-notched points,
and unknown point types. Unclassified projectile
points primarily represent broken specimens that
were not sufficiently complete for classification. A
small number of complete points that were not
classifiable into existing types are included in the
unknown category.

Humboldt

One large lanceolate projectile point with a
pronounced concave base is manufactured of
white chert (FS 40; Figure 7.3n). This point is
classified as a Humboldt point (Holmer 1978,
1986; Jennings 1978). This point weighs 7.3 g
and measures 49 mm in length, 22 mm in width,
and 6.7 mm in thickness. This point’s tip is
burinated and resharpened and is rounded from
use in graving or drilling activities. This item is
similar to examples of Black Rock concave base
points from Hogup Cave that are illustrated by
Jennings (1978:Figure 52g-l). This point lacks
serration.

Unclassified Large Corner-notched Points

Unclassified large corner-notched _ points
constitute approximately nine percent of the
survey point assemblage (n=12; Figure 7.7a-]).
These points are manufactured from chert,
chalcedony, and obsidian, These fragmented
points exhibit shoulder, base, and tip fractures
that prohibit accurate measurement and typo-
logical classification. Approximately 46 percent
(n=5) of these points exhibit serrations.

Although these points are broken, most could
be subjectively placed into the Elko Corner-notched

PROJECTILE POINTS 95

type. One nearly complete point (FS 13;
Figure 7.7b) appears to be an Elko point that was
broken and reworked. This point exhibits a
reworked convex blade with a rounded shoulder and
a broad notch on one margin. The opposite margin
has an intact, but reworked, nearly horizontal
shoulder (DSA=177°) and a broad (7 mm wide),
shallow (3.4mm deep) notch that illustrates the
effects of recycling a broken point.

Unclassified Large Side-notched Points

Four large unclassified side-notched points made
of chert and obsidian are present in the survey
assemblage (Figure 7.7m-p). This category
includes one fragment that was not classifiable
into a known type and three complete or nearly
complete points that do not fit the established
type descriptions. None of these points are
serrated.

One of the complete unclassified side-notched
points (FS 82; Figure 7.7m) is lanceolate with
moderately broad (4.3 mm wide), shallow (2 mm
deep) side notches. This ignimbrite point is 39 mm
long, 16mm wide, and 5 mm thick. A second
nearly complete obsidian specimen (FS 105;
Figure 7.7n) is similar, but has narrow (2.8 mm
wide), shallow (1.3mm deep) notches. This
unclassified side-notched point is 30mm long,
13 mm wide, and 5.3 mm thick.

A third unclassified side-notched point (FS
75; Figure 7.70) appears to be expediently
manufactured, but is morphologically similar to
a Rocker Side-notched point. Holmer (1978:54)
describes Rocker Side-notched points as a middle
Archaic point type (4850-3350 B.C.) with a wide
lanceolate form and moderately high horizontal
side notches that form a stem that approaches a
semicircular shape. The edges above and below
the notches form a continuous smooth curve,
broken only by the presence of the notches. FS
75 exhibits a pronounced convex base that is
12 mm high. The notches on this nearly complete
specimen are relatively narrow (3.7 mm) and
moderately shallow (2.2 mm). The PSA measures
165°, the DSA 202°, and the NOI 68°.



APPENDIX 6.2 ISOLATED OCCURRENCES

Appendix 6.2. (continued)

245

IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type JONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type
2071 Native American Pressure flaked biface 2180 Euro-American Can, food
2072 Euro-American Can, nonfood 2249 = Euro-American Can, nonfood
2073 Euro-American Benchmark 2256 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface
2074 Native American Flake 2292 Buro-American Hardware
2075 Native American Pressure flaked biface 2420 Euro-American Can, tobacco
2076 Native American Pressure flaked biface 2426 Native American Pressure flaked biface and
3077 urocAmerican Road and Euro-American Historic refuse, food
2078 Buro-American Hardware 2467 Euro-American Hardware
3079 Furo-American Benchmark 2468 Middle Archaic Humboldt point
2080 Euro-American Dendroglyphs 2469 Euro-American Hardware _
3081 Euro-American Benchmark 2470 Euro-American Wood pi Historie refuse,
2082 Euro-American Benchmark 2471 Euro-American Bottle
2083 Archaic Unknown comer-notched dart 947) Native American Flake
2084 Euro-American Bottle 2473 Euro-American Bottle scatter
2085 Euro-American Can, nonfood 2474 Euro-American _ Historic refuse
2086 Archaic Unknown side-notched dart 2551 Native American Flake

point 2570 Euro-American Can, food
2087 Euro-American Benchmark 2823 Euro-American Can, tobacco
2088 Euro-American Benchmark 2824 Euro-American Bottle
2089 Late Prehistoric _Lithic scatter, incl. | unknown --2825.—-Native American Flake

comer-norched arrow point 2826 Euro-American Can, tobacco
2090 Native American Pressure flaked biface 2827 Euro-American Can, food
2091 Native American Pressure flaked biface 3830 Euro-American Historic refuse
2092 Native American Flake scatter 9889 Native American Flake
2093 Euro-American Sign 2890 Native American Flake scatter
2094 Native American Unknown point 2891 Native American Pressure flaked biface
2095 Archaic Elko Eared point 2892 Euro-American Can, nonfood
2096 Native American Flake 2893 Native American Pressure flaked biface
2097 Euro-American _Dendroglyph 9806 Euro-American Bottle
2098 Euro-American Pipeline 2897 Euro-American _ Historic refuse, food
2099 Native American Flake seatter 2898 Euro-American Cai
2145 Euro-American tebe, refuse, food, nonfood, 2899 Native American BBiface
2163 Euro-American _ Historic refuse, food 3059 Euro-American Can, food

3060 Euro-American Can, nonfood



174. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

The typical sites found in the lowest and
highest elevation settings (e.g., floral resource
processing camps and hunting camps,
respectively) generally lack certain characteristics
indicating intensive, repeated, or long-term use.
The settlement patterns in these areas differ
markedly from that of the mid-elevation settings.
Generally, Geib (e.g. 1989:48; Geib et al.
2001:332, 369) interprets Archaic period hunter-
gatherers as foragers who were constantly or
frequently moving their residential bases to new
resource loci (e.g., Binford 1980). In some cases,
however, Geib makes a case for Archaic period
logistical procurement. In the lower benches of
the Kaiparowits Plateau, Geib (Geib et al.
2001:367) proposes that the Archaic period
exploitation of the abundant floral resources was
conducted by residents who worked out of camps
elsewhere on those same benches, a procurement
approach evocative of a collector’s strategy. From
their bases on the lower Kaiparowits Plateau
benches, these collectors could also have made
use of the Glen Canyon benches as well.

A similar resource procurement pattern
oriented toward faunal exploitation can be
discerned at the opposite end of the elevational
spectrum. The Archaic period sites that are
highest in elevation generally contain portable
tool kits oriented toward projectile points and
bifaces, few if any hearths are present, and little
overall evidence of processing or residential
camps is present. These observations suggest that
the Archaic period use of the montane plateau
tops was limited to specially organized hunting
forays that were conducted out of residential
camps in the adjacent mid-elevation zones.

This postulated land-use strategy could be
used to characterize Archaic period hunter-
gatherers as either collectors or foragers, but the
reality probably lies somewhere in between the
two extremes. The land-use pattern outlined above
could indicate that the residents of this time period
were mainly collectors who restricted their
occasional residential moves to the preferred mid-
elevation zones (and occasionally the low-

elevation zone) and sent logistical camps to the
low or high elevation zones as the opportunity or
need arose. Conversely, Archaic period residents
may have indeed pursued a foraging subsistence
strategy when they were living within their
preferred mid-elevation zones, but when the time
came to obtain resources from the low and high-
elevation zones, it appears that a variant of the
collector strategy was temporarily adopted.
During these procurement trips, a subset of the
residential group may have split off, leaving part
of the group in what was essentially a base camp
in the mid-elevation zone. The specialized work
parties (Binford 1980:8-9) then apparently used
logistical camps in the adjacent elevational zones
until retuming to the mid-elevation zone to
reintegrate with the base group and resume a for-
aging strategy. The past decades of archeological
survey now allow the basic strategies of Archaic
period land use to be sketched out. Still, more
abundant data relevant to artifact and site
functions obviously need to be collected (probably
from excavated contexts on a regional level) to
validate any proposals based solely on survey
data.

Late Prehistoric/Formative Land Use

The present inability to assign cultural affiliations
to many of the late Prehistoric sites on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau diminishes their interpretive
value for understanding settlement patterns. If the
unaffiliated sites are Fremont in origin, for
example, their functional relationship with sites in
other elevational zones would be different than if
the sites are Puebloan in origin, simply by virtue
of the dissimilar lifeways of these two groups.
Further, the possible Numic origin of some of the
unaffiliated late Prehistoric sites cannot presently
be dismissed. A final mitigating factor is the
generally equivocal nature of the late Prehistoric/
Formative artifact assemblages; few of these
sites are given specific functional assignations
(Table 8.7).

Accordingly, only the sites that can be
attributed to a Formative period origin will be


APPENDIX 6.2 ISOLATED OCCURRENCES =. 243

Appendix 6.2. (continued)

JONo. Cultural Affiliation [0 Type

IONo. Cultural Affiliation [0 Type

1628
1629
1630
1631
1632
1633
1634
1635
1638
1686
1687
1688
1689
1690
1691
1692
1693
1694
1695
1696
1697

1698
1740
1749
1772

1854,
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873

Euro-American
Euro-American
Archaic
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Native American
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Native American

Native American
and Euro-American

Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American

Euro-American

Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Native American

Native American
and Euro-American

Can, food

Can scatter, food

Elko Bared point

Can scatter, food, tobacco
Flake

Can scatter, food

Can, food

Can scatter, food

Can, food

Can scatter, food, nonfood
Flake scatter

Historic refuse, food

Can scatter, food

Bottle scatter

Flake

Flake

Can scatter, food

Lithic scatter

Can scatter, food

Flake

Flake and Historic refuse, food

Hardware
Can scatter, food, tobacco
Can, nonfood

Historic refuse, food, nonfood,
hardware

Can scatter, food
Can, tobacco
Can, food

Flake scatter
Can, food

Flake

Flake scatter and Historic
refuse, food

1874
1875
1876

1877
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1924

1925
1926
1927
1928
1929

1951
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004

Native American
Native American

Native American
and Euro-American

Native American
Native American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American,
Archaic

Archaic
Euro-American
Late Archaic
Native American
Native American
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American

Native American
and Euro-American

Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American

Euro-American

Euro-American
Native American
Native American
Native American
Late Prehistoric

Native American

Flake scatter
Flake
Lithic scatter and Bottle

Flake

Flake

Pressure flaked biface
Historic refuse, nonfood
Can scatter, tobacco, nonfood
Elko Comer notched point
Elko Comer notched point
Bottle

Gypsum point

Flake

Flake

Can, food

Flake

Can, food

Historic refuse, food
Flake scatter

Flake and Benchmark

Historic refuse, food
Can, food
Hardware
Can, food

Historic refuse, food, nonfood,
tobacco, hardware

Can scatter, food
Unknown point
Pressure flaked biface
Pressure flaked biface
Unknown arrow point

Flaked stone tool



237

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aUuON sydA|Sospuap pe 094 ydéZoipuoq = urdyowW-oInY LI[-SIV  6LLSWCP
DUON sydA|goupuep pb ydéjsoipusq = uvouioWW-o1NY SII-SIW  8LLSWHTP
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poomaiy ausduieo
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yueay
sue ay ojqeqosd e pur sydA|sospuop p ZEB ydk|Sospuaq = uvoluaury-o1ny 9QI-SIV.  SLLSWHIZP
auo}s punosd ‘soya poye|y QUON 69 JORIS OUT uBOaUIY SANEN SOI-SIV PLLSVATZP
qurod umouyun | pur jutod pays}ou
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| Teaming play

(panuyuo2) °[°9 xipuaddy

BR



252

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Appendix 6.2. (continued)

IONo. Cultural Affiliation IO Type IO No. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type

4042 Euro-American Road. 4076 Euro-American Road; Pipeline

4043. Euro-American Road 4077 Euro-American Road

4044 Euro-American Road 4078 Euro-American Road

4045 Euro-American Road. 4079 Euro-American Road

4046 Euro-American Road 4080 Euro-American Road

4047 Euro-American Road 4081 Euro-American Blazed tree

4048 — Euro-American Road 4082 Euro-American Benchmark

4049 Euro-American Road 4083 Euro-American Blazed tree

4050 Euro-American Road 4084 Euro-American Boundary segment
4051 Euro-American Road 4085 Euro-American Road

4052 Euro-American Road 4089 Euro-American Road

4053 Euro-American Road 4090 Euro-American Boundary segment
4054 Euro-American Pipeline 4091 Euro-American Benchmark

4055 Euro-American Road 4092 Euro-American Boundary segment
4056 Euro-American Road 4093 Euro-American Boundary segment
4057 Euro-American Road 4094 Euro-American Boundary segment
4058 Euro-American Depression 4095 Native American Flake scatter

4059 Euro-American Depression 4096 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface
4060 Euro-American Road 4097 Euro-American Benchmark

4061 Euro-American Pipeline 4098 Euro-American Benchmark

4062 Euro-American Road 4099 Euro-American Benchmark

4063 Euro-American Road 4124 Native American Flake

4064 Euro-American Road 4125 Euro-American Benchmark/Blazed tree
4065 Euro-American Road 4126 Native American _ Flake scatter

4066 Euro-American Road 4127 Euro-American Fence; Historic refuse
4067 Euro-American Road 4128 Euro-American Flake scatter, modern
4068 Euro-American Road 4129 Euro-American Lithic scatter, modern
4069 Euro-American Depression 4130 Euro-American Can scatter

4070 Euro-American Road 4158 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface
4071 Euro-American Road 4159 Euro-American Historic refuse

4072 Euro-American Road 4160 Euro-American Historic refuse

4073 Euro-American Road 4161 Euro-American Historic refuse

4074 Euro-American Road 4162 Euro-American Historic refuse

4075 Euro-American Road 4164 Euro-American Historic refuse



$ Ad ain

1937
BRYCE cee cAMP
Guy
MCNELL

fsCAUNTE YraH

Agust | 19
é SS

DODDS
6a T
‘3,

42KA3287 F58-10 Va

DETAIL

K

Figure 9.19,
Corps. Not to scale.

pots were probably either purchased by tourists or
were used at the camp as serving dishes. The
refuse deposits contain virtually no food cans, and
other refuse from mundane domestic activities is
uncommon. The features and artifact assemblages
suggest this site’s use as a long-term, established
campsite, Based on the formalized layout of the
camp, and the types, diversity, and numbers of
artifacts present, the site appears to represent a
resort camp. The site may have served as an
entertainment center for park visitors who chose
not to reside at the lodge or park campground. No
references to this type of facility are noted in the
park archives, however. Chronologically diag-
nostic artifacts suggest a 1920s to 1930s period of
use, although later artifacts are present. Both the
Syretts and the UPC operated tourist facilities
during this time interval. Due to the abundant
Harriman Blue ceramics, the site is probably
attributable to UPC operations. The “luxury”
items are characteristic of UPC’s approach to park

EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 205

42GA5197 F58-05

Examples of aspen dendroglyphs related to the presence of the Civilian Conservation

recreation, which was designed to attract affluent
tourists (Caywood and Grant 1994:17-18), while
the Syretts were known for their more modest,
home-style hospitality (Scrattish 1985).

Another UPC-related site lies between the
resort camp and the Bryce Canyon Lodge. This
site, 42GA5263, consists of a heavily impacted
historic refuse scatter with several areas of con-
centrated refuse and structural debris such as
concrete, brick, stone, and lumber. Several
hundred artifacts including cans, glass, and
ceramics litter the site. No identifiable foun-
dations or extant structures are present, but the
area has been heavily disturbed by abandoned dirt
toads, water-diversion channels, checkdams, and
modern utility lines. The site location indicates
that these materials represent the ruins of the
UPC's utility area. This locale once contained a
power house, a garage, and a studio, all of which
probably date to UPC’s initial phase of


116 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

than one occupation. Single-component sites are
interpreted as locations that were only occupied
once or that were occupied repeatedly but
during only a single time period.

Of the 98 sites included in this analysis, 19
were previously recorded, surface collected, or
test excavated. Two sites lie outside the project
area proper (one was re-recorded and one was
newly recorded during the inventory). These two
sites are included in the sample because updated,
reliable data are available. No current, usable
information exists for the other previously known
sites outside the project area that were not re-
recorded during the inventory (n=23, see
Table 4.2 and Figure 4.2), and these sites are not
considered further in this discussion. All of the
type assignments for projectile points that were
not collected and analyzed during the inventory
rely on previous determinations or descriptions by
Dominguez and Danielson (2000), Dominguez et
al. (1992), and Hartley (1980a). Using the range
of available information, the following section
outlines the time periods during which the park’s
sites were occupied and explores the trends in
apparent occupational intensity (a relative
measure of the duration and frequency of human
habitation or use).

When projectile points are used as markers of
temporal periods, point types that are associated
with chronometrically dated deposits or features
that provide a discrete range of dates provide the
best resolution. In Chapter 7, Irwin notes that
some named Great Basin and Colorado Plateau
projectile point types are useful for this purpose
and some are not. To make the best use of the data
available from this survey and previous park
projects, this chapter will consider as many
projectile points as possible when estimating
periods of site occupancy. This approach will
require several assumptions, the primary of which
is a distinction between arrow and dart points
(following the criteria outlined in Chapter 7). Dart

points, being larger (>25mm in length), are
associated with the use of the atlatl, which is
commonly regarded as a marker of an Archaic
lifeway. Arrow points are those smaller (<25 mm
long) projectile tips associated with the post-
Archaic use of the bow and arrow. The following
discussion will use the presence of otherwise
unidentified or unknown points in these size
categories to assign sites to generalized Archaic or
post-Archaic time periods. Irwin (Chapter 7) also
discusses the inutility of most Elko Series points
as discrete temporal markers, but for the purposes
of the following discussion, Elko points will be
used as generalized Archaic period markers.

Overall, 49 sites have yielded one or more
varieties of data usable for dating their period
or periods of occupation (Table 8.1). Forty-
one sites contain projectile points that can be
assigned to a temporally diagnostic type or to
a dart/arrow category, as defined above.
Furthermore, seven sites, all recorded during
the inventory, contain ceramic artifacts. Three
of the ceramic-bearing sites also contain pro-
jectile points, which in some cases confirm a
ceramic-period age for the site but in some
cases demonstrate that the site witnessed
multiple occupations. Four of the project sites
also contain temporally diagnostic Native
American features in the form of bark-
stripped pine trees with steel axe marks, indi-
cating a protohistoric or historic period use.
Finally, Dominguez and Danielson (2000)
also present radiocarbon dates for seven sites
in the project area. Although none of the
dated carbon samples were recovered from
cultural deposits, the samples were interpreted
to date forest-fire events that were deposi-
tionally related to the periods of site
occupation. In most cases, the chronometric
dates match well with recovered projectile
point styles, but two of the radiocarbon-dated
sites contain no other temporally diagnostic
cultural material.



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 157

tool design, use, maintenance, and curation.
Andrefsky (1994) proposes that raw material
availability is a primary determinant of techno-
logical organization, overriding other factors such
as mobility or sedentism (cf. Parry and Kelly
1988). Bamforth (1986) and Kelly (1988)
recognize the influence of raw material avail-
ability on stone tool technology but point out that
the degree of logistical or residential mobility
(Binford 1980) can also dictate technological
organization.

Bleed (1986) notes that the availability of a tool
is crucial to conducting an activity and that tools can
be designed to be either reliable or maintainable to
ensure their availability. Reliable systems can be
depended upon to operate in specific tasks when
they are needed, while maintainable systems can be
easily fixed if broken or altered to function in
unanticipated contexts. Each approach has different
costs and benefits, and all technologies incorporate
some aspects of each system, but one of Bleed’s
(1986) main points is that all tool kit design and
manufacturing activities must anticipate the types of
uses to which a tool kit will be put and incorporate
the best methods for ensuring the tools’ availability.
This observation carries powerful interpretive utility
for sites on the Paunsaugunt Plateau, because
residents of all three time periods (Archaic, late
Prehistoric/Formative, Numic) were obligated to
carry virtually all their stone tools on to the plateau
from elsewhere. The types of tools that were
imported can inform about the preparatory activities
the residents conducted prior to venturing on to the
plateau. Further, the imported tool types, as well as
the uses to which these tools were put, can also shed
light on the types of activities that the site residents
expected to conduct or the residential patterns that
they anticipated once on the plateau.

Site Types
In the following section the inventoried sites,

which were categorized in the field with strictly
descriptive terms, are individually assigned to the

functional categories outlined above by intuitively
evaluating their contents, condition, size, and
other characteristics (e.g., Geib and Bremer
1996:153). Table 8.5 summarizes the postfield
assessment results. Hunting camps commonly
contain small proportions of pressure flaking and
biface production debris as well as either whole or
broken projectile points, percussion or pressure-
flaked biface fragments, or both. Processing
camps contain ground stone artifacts associated
with a relatively small flaked stone assemblage of
limited diversity. The contents of other site types
generally conform to those presented above. No
temporary residential camps are identified
because no single-component sites with ground
stone artifacts and large and diverse flaked stone
assemblages are present. Hearths, which are rarely
present on the Paunsaugunt Plateau, play little role
in the functional assignments. The only sites that
may represent residential camp sites are the five
complex multioccupation sites, all of which
apparently represent lengthy and complicated
occupational histories.

Archaic Period Site Types

All single-component Archaic period sites
contain either projectile points or pressure-
flaked bifaces. Sixty-five percent also contain
percussion bifaces, debris from biface reduction
and pressure flaking, or both (Table 8.6). The
focus on projectiles and cutting tools implicates
these sites as hunting loci (“camps” in the
typology), although none contain hearths and
the actual duration of occupation cannot be
evaluated. These sites generally lack bulky
cores, ground stone tools, and the like, although
several sites contain cores and flakes of local
quartzite, which could have been expediently
procured and used as needed. No other time
period witnessed a similarly one-sided focus on
hunting camps; only one other dated single-
component hunting camp is present in the
project area, although there are several undated
hunting camps (Table 8.5).


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SBS 8 & Ey £ ¢ 8 % 2 3 BER B®
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(panunuor) 7‘, xipuaddy



38 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

n a
(AIS Unit 16/
Podunk Creek)’

Mm

op

Monument
4

y unnamed
(AIS Unit 2/Lodge)

oer

ae

= WS NY AY? unnamed
° x (AIS Unit 15/
SJ 4 im Cougar Hollow Ridge)| —_ a

0 1 2 Kilometers

0 1. 2 Miles

Figure 5.1.

Sixteen plateau-top fire management units in Bryce Canyon National Park that define

the archeological inventory project area.


92 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

p, FS 89

Figure 7.5.

CENTIMETERS

Elko Corner-notched projectile points.

1, FS 112

s, FS 115


56 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

42GA5242

LEGEND

ai LITHIC SCATTER
BOUNDARY

° DENDROGLYPH

Se BARK STRIPPED TREE

X PROJECTILE POINT
NL contour Line / SLOPE
—s

° 100

SCALE IN METERS

Figure 6.2. Map of Site 42GA5242, a multicomponent site containing an Archaic period lithic
scatter, several Numic/Paiute bark-stripped trees, and a grove of Euro-American aspen
dendroglyphs.



Parry, W. J., and R. L. Kelly
1987 Expedient Core Technology and
Sedentism. In The Organization of Core
Technology, edited by Jay K. Johnson and
Carol A. Morrow, pp. 285-304. Westview
Press, Boulder.

Peterson, C. S.
1973. Small Holding Land Patterns in Utah
and the Problem of Forest Watershed
Management. Forest History 17:4-14.

1989 Grazing in Utah: A Historical
Perspective. Utah Historical Quarterly
57(4):300-319.

Presnath, C. C
1936 The Legend of Bryce Canyon as Told
to the Park Naturalist by Indian Dick. Zion
and Bryce Nature Notes 8(1):2~3.

Redmond, T.
1920 Marks and Brands for the State of Utah
Embracing All Marks and Brands Recorded
from October 1* 1919 to September 30
1920. Ms on file, Utah State Archives, Salt
Lake City.

Reed, A. D.

1994 The Numic Occupation of Western
Colorado and Eastern Utah during the Late
Prehistoric and Protohistoric Periods. In
Across the West: Human Population
Movement and the Expansion of the Numa,
edited by David B. Madsen and David
Rhode, pp. 188-199. University of Utah
Press, Salt Lake City.

Rhode, D.

1990 Settlement Patterning and Residential
Stability at Walker Lake, Nevada: The
View from Above. In Wetland Adaptations
in the Great Basin, Papers from the 21st
Great Basin Anthropological Conference,
edited by J. Janetski and D. B. Madsen,
pp. 107-120. Museum and Peoples and

REFERENCES CITED =. 293

Cultures Occasional Papers No. 1. Brigham
Young University, Provo.

Rich, M.
1961a Notes taken from a recorded interview
with Mr. Aaron Asay, at his Home in
Monroe, Utah, Sunday July 16, 1961. Ms.
on file, Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce
Canyon, Utah.

1961b Notes taken on an interview held with
Mr. Rob Penney at his Home in Monroe,
Utah, July 17, 1961. Ms. on file, Bryce
Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

Riggs, E. H. B.

1978 History of Hatch, Utah and Associated
Towns Asay and Hillsdale. Hatch Camp
Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Beaver,
Utah.

Roberts, D. W., M. J. Jenkins, and D. W.
Wight
1992 Historical Vegetation, Fuel Loads, and
Integrated Resource Information System for
Bryce Canyon National Park. Final Report
for Control Number 88-264. Department of
Forest Reserves and Ecology Center, Utah
State University, Logan.

Roberts, D. W., D. W. Wight, and G. Hallsten
1992 Plant Community Distribution and
Dynamics in Bryce Canyon National Park.
Final Report for Project PX-1200-7-0966.
Department of Forest Reserves and Ecology
Center, Utah State University, Logan.

Roberts, P. H.

1963 Hoof Prints on Forest Ranges. The
Early Years of National Forest Range
Management. The Naylor Company, San
Antonio.

Robinson, A. F.
1970 History of Kane County. Kane County
Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City.



BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

8

400-foot contour interval,

in feet above

vel.

elevations

mean sea le

2 Kilometers

1

Vicinity map of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

Figure 2.2.


74 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 6.10. Cultural affiliations of isolated

occurrences.
Cultural Affiliation Count
Native American 249
Euro-American 677
Unknown affiliation 5
Native American and Euro-American 7
Euro-American and Unknown affiliation 2

Native American, Euro-American, and
Unknown affiliation 1

Total 951

group. A total of 972 individual IO components is
identified among the 951 recorded IOs. This total
includes 697 Euro-American components, 267
Native American components, and 8 components
of unknown affiliation.

A wide variety of IO component types is
present (Table 6.11). As with the site typology,
the IO typology is based on descriptive rather than
interpretive classifications. Most of the IOs are
represented by artifactual remains (n=593). These
IOs include isolated artifacts such as a single pro-
jectile points, bifaces, flakes, bottles, or cans, as
well as small artifact scatters that do not meet the
minimum site criteria. Features are present at 379
10 components, 21 of which occur in association
with artifacts. These features consist of both
structural and nonstructural remains. Feature-
related IOs are of either Euro-American or un-
known affiliation, and most are associated with
early tourism and park-management activities.

Native American Isolated Occurrences

Native American archeological material is present
at 267 IOs (Table 6.11). These IOs include either
individual isolated artifacts or small, sparse scat-
ters. No isolated features of Native American
affiliation are recorded.

Single lithic artifacts, consisting of individual
tools or items of debitage, are the predominant
Native American IO type (n=194). The debitage
IOs represent all stages of lithic reduction. Lithic
tool IOs (n=136) include 76 bifaces (many of
which are pressure flaked), 47 projectile points, 4
cores, 4 used flakes, 1 end scraper, 1 mano, 1
possible abrader, 1 unifacial cobble tool, and
1 manuport.

Artifact scatters are recorded at 73 IOs.
Thirty-five contain only debitage. Three scatters
contain sandstone fragments; none show any
definitive evidence of use wear and are con-
servatively classified as manuports. Thirty-five
other scatters are distinguished by the presence of
one or more tools in the assemblage. An
additional 12 projectile points, 24 bifaces (mostly
pressure flaked), 6 used flakes, 2 pieces of ground
stone, and 1 core are recorded among the IO
artifact scatters.

Cherts are the best represented raw material
type, although quartzite, obsidian, chalcedony,
and jasper are also present. Fifty-five projectile
points were collected for laboratory analysis
(Chapter 7). Identified point types include
Humboldt, Parowan Basal-notched, Gypsum,
Elko Corner-notched, Elko Eared, Desert Side-
notched, and Rosegate Stemmed. Middle Archaic
through Numic/Paiute culture periods are repre-
sented.



Acknowledgments

When one reminisces at the end of a long project,
it sometimes becomes difficult to believe that so
many helping hands pitched in. My greatest debt
of gratitude goes to Sue Eininger, who, as crew
chief and field assistant, patiently helped me work
through many logistical hurdles during the entire
duration of the survey. After the fieldwork, Sue
worked diligently on all the routine database
tasks, such as site-form production, but most
importantly she contributed substantial portions of
this report. Robert Powers, past Program Manager
of the now-defunct Anthropology Projects pro-
gram at the National Park Service Intermountain
Support Office, originally invited me to take part
in this project and provided wise guidance and
enthusiastic support throughout the years. The
entire contingent of the old Anthropology Projects
staff also contributed too many hours of adminis-
trative, material, logistical, and emotional support
to count.

Fred Fagergren, then-superintendent of Bryce
Canyon National Park, welcomed the Support
Office archeological crews to the park. Rick
Wallen, who was then the Bryce Canyon National
Park Chief of Resource Management, and the
entire Resource Management team, especially
deserve my thanks for their logistical support and
warm comradeship (Rick’s campfire desserts were
especially appreciated). Craig Axtell, present park
superintendent, provided many useful comments
on a draft copy of this report.

Gayle Pollock, Executive Director of the
Bryce Canyon Natural History Association, pro-
vided much administrative support as well as a
wealth of first-hand knowledge about the natural
and cultural history of the park. Doug McFadden,

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Archeologist, freely shared his knowledge of the
region, provided copies of relevant archeological
reports, and also volunteered to analyze the
survey’s ceramic collection. Marion Jacklin, Dixie
National Forest Archeologist, helped us get
oriented, provided access to the forest’s site files,
and took us on a much-appreciated archeological
tour of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

The field crews are commended for their
perseverance and strength. They, of course, are
the people who actually conducted all the hard
work, day in and day out, week after week. In
2000, Shannon Arnold, Chris Bevilacqua, Tiffany
Bustin, and Michael Kohler served as crew
members, and Lisa Meyer was the laboratory
archeologist. Short-term crew members included
Bonnie Bagley-Tainter, Jocelyn DeHaas, Sarah
Payne, and Marianne Tyndall. Amanda Knuteson
and Howard Newman (VIP extraordinaire)
volunteered most of the season, and Trixi
Bubemyre and Kendall Bustin also volunteered
for short periods. The 2001 field season welcomed
Lance Martin, Marianne Tyndall, Ben Vining, and
Sara Wendt as full-time crew members, Lisa
Meyer as crew chief, and Stev Weidlich, who
volunteered most of the season. Short-term
volunteers included Elizabeth Bennett, Katherine
Hauth, Meredith Linn, Howard Newman, Noam
Saxonhouse, and Anne Whitman. Back in the
office, Sandi Copeland spent many hours organ-
izing the voluminous photographic records, and
Julia Wise volunteered to help with file manage-
ment and digital artifact photography.

As will be seen in the following chapters, Sue
Eininger, Cynthia Herhahn, and Donald Irwin

vii



Overall, Native American material is present at
97 sites and Euro-American material is present at
107 sites. To categorize the wide variety of single
and multicomponent sites in the project area, 25
different descriptive site types were assigned
(Table 6.2). These types are based on descriptive
classifications used for preliminary field assess-
ment and sorting, and account for the various
combinations of artifact scatters and features found
within each site. Analysis and interpretation of the
site types in relation to their specific cultural
affiliations are presented in Chapters 7, 8, and 9.

Most sites in the project area (n=105) are
comprised of artifact scatters with no associated
features. Native American lithic scatters (e.g.,
Figure 6.3, top), which predominate, are recorded at
80 sites; lithic and ceramic scatters are noted at
seven. Simple artifact scatters are a less common site
type among Euro-American sites, and features are
much more prevalent. Among the 96  single-
component Euro-American sites, only 14 refuse
scatters and 5 dumps are recorded. Of the 12
multicomponent sites only two contain Native
American and Euro-American artifact scatters with
no associated features. The contents of the park’s
artifact scatters are described in a following section.

Eighty-nine sites are comprised of one or more
features with or without associated artifacts (e.g.,
Figure 6.3, bottom, and Figure 6.4). The sites with
features are largely of Euro-American affiliation and
occur in single-component and multicomponent
settings. Aspen dendroglyph sites are the most
common Euro-American single-component site type
(n=65). Other single-component site _ types,
tepresented by one or two sites each, include formal
and short-term campsites (e.g., Figure 6.5), gravel
pits, spring improvements, telephone lines, and
structural remnants. Multicomponent sites also
contain a variety of Euro-American features.
Examples include Site 42GA5278, a Virgin Anasazi
lithic and ceramic scatter located around the
remnants of a National Park Service cabin
foundation and Site 42GA1902, a Native American
artifact scatter next to a Euro-American water trough
and refuse scatter. Features are exceptionally

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 57

uncommon among the Native American sites. Only
two single-component and four multicomponent
sites contain definite Native American features. The
variety and types of features recorded in the project
area are more fully described in a following section.

Site size is highly variable depending on site
type, location, and duration of use. Site areas range
from 2 m? to over 150,000 m? (Table 6.3). The
smallest sites consist of single features, small
clusters of features, or highly localized artifact
scatters. Larger sites (greater than 10,000 m’) are
typically multicomponent and consist of dispersed
but continuous scatters and features. Examples of
the most expansive sites include Site 42GA3561, a
Native American artifact scatter dispersed among
the remains of a CCC camp; Site 42GA5288/
42KA5814, a 9.6-km (6-mi) long telephone line
corridor extending north-south through the park;
and Site 42GA5242 (Figure 6.2), a multicomponent
site including an extensive Archaic period lithic
scatter, a probable historic Paiute component
consisting of several bark-stripped trees, and an
array of Euro-American aspen dendroglyphs. Most
of the sites (n=109), however, cover less than 1,000
m’ and rarely exceed more than 100 m across.

Because of the numerous multicomponent
sites and the wide range of site types, further
discussion of the site materials will be presented
at the component level. Two hundred nine
individual site components are identified among
the 194 sites. This total includes 99 definite
Native American components, 107 Euro-
American components, and 3 components of
unknown affiliation. Although the unknown
components cannot be definitively assigned to
either Euro-American or Native American cultural
affiliations, based on the available field data, the
unaffiliated rock features at Sites 42GA5240 and
42KA5798 will be discussed as probable Euro-
American components and the unaffiliated
pictograph feature at Site 42GA5287 will be
discussed as a probable Native American
component. Hence, for interpretive purposes, the
project area contains 100 Native American
components and 109 Euro-American components.



Of the 100 Native American components, many
(n=48) lack the types of temporally or culturally
diagnostic artifacts or features needed to identify
specific cultural affiliation or occupation period. The
majority (n=52), however, contain diagnostic fea-
tures and artifacts that allow the identification of
specific Native American affiliations. Forty-one
components were assigned cultural affiliation based
on the presence of diagnostic projectile points, using
both AIS and previously identified points (Domin-
guez and Danielson 2000; Dominguez et al.
1992). Four components were classified based on
ceramics, three based on both ceramics and projec-
tile points, and four based on the presence of Paiute-
associated bark-stripped trees. Radiocarbon dates
from previous test excavations (Dominguez and
Danielson 2000) provided additional infor-
mation used to determine cultural affiliation at
ten of the sites.

Diagnostic artifacts or features indicative of
two or more distinct Native American cultural
periods are identified at 12 components (called
“multioccupation sites” in Chapter 8). These tem-
porally diverse components represent either the
reoccupation of the same locale by subsequent
culture groups or the practice of later Native
Americans curating and reusing the tools of their
predecessors. For example, diagnostic projectile

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 63

point types representing five different culture
periods are identified at Site 42GA1903. This
site’s strategic location in a high meadow, and the
abundance of tool and lithic material types in the
assemblage, further supports the possibility of
repeated occupations over a long period of time.
To capture the range of occupation represented by
this site and others with temporally diverse diag-
nostic material, broad cultural affiliation classifi-
cations are used in Table 6.4. These include late
Paleoindian to late Prehistoric, late Paleoindian to
Archaic, Archaic to late Prehistoric/Formative,
Archaic to Anasazi, and Archaic/Paiute. Subse-
quent research at these sites and identification of
subsurface materials may help either narrow the
all-encompassing time ranges or confirm the
presence of multiple occupations at these
components.

Native American Features

Native American features are rare; only 21
features are identified at seven components. These
features include 16 culturally modified ponderosa
pine trees, 2 fire-cracked rock concentrations, 2
unknown rock features, and 1 pictograph panel
(Table 6.5). Typically only one or two features are
present at a component, but Site 42GA5242 con-
tains a total of nine bark-stripped trees.

Table 6.5. Cultural affiliations of Native American features.
Cultural Affiliation

Early Archaic to

Late Prehistoric/ Native American,
Feature Type Formative Numic/Paiute Unknown Total
Bark-stripped ponderosa pine - 16 - 16
Fire-cracked rock concentration 1 1 - 2
Unknown rock concentration 2 - - 2
Pictograph - - 1 1
Total 3 17 1 21



EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY =. 207

Figure 9.21. A modern view, facing north, of Site 42GA5263, once the Utah Park Company’s utility
area, The relationship of this view to that shown in Figure 9.20 is unknown.

This site contains a leveled, graveled pad that
may mark a structural location in association
with an extensive refuse scatter. Over 900 arti-
facts including bottle, jar, and window glass
shards; cans; ceramics; miscellaneous metal
fragments; asbestos tile; coal chunks; sewer pipe;
and pieces of milled lumber are scattered across
the site. The variety of artifact attributes suggests
a broad date range for the site, although some of
the more time-sensitive artifacts indicate use
during the 1920s. This site may have been part of
the nearby UPC utility area or may have been
used as a dump. The presence of an Eastman
Kodak film can lid at this site suggests a
relationship with the studio that once existed in
the nearby utility area.

Other artifact scatters are abundantly scat-
tered around the lodge. These sites are most
parsimoniously interpreted as UPC dump sites
and special-use areas. Food and beverage
containers are well-represented in the artifact
assemblages, as would be expected for sites
deriving from the food-service industry.
Construction debris and pieces of miscellaneous

hardware are also common, probably indicating
maintenance and remodeling activities.

Site 42GA5286, a small dump site, is in-
terpreted as UPC-affiliated refuse and represents a
typical example of this site type. Fifty artifacts are
noted in a 35-x-7-m (115-x-23-ft) area. These
include Harriman Blue plate and cup sherds,
shards from purple glass stemware and tumblers,
and a variety of food and beverage cans. The arti-
fact assemblage characterizes _ tourist-facility
refuse and contains many artifacts similar to those
found at the resort camp’s scatter. Another site,
42GA5280, is a particularly large and dense arti-
fact scatter, probably a dump, located about 1 km
(.6 mi) west of the Bryce Canyon Lodge along the
historic road to the domestic water wells in East
Creek. Two broad, deep, linear furrows cross
through the site; these depressions may represent
the original dumping pits. Several hundred
artifacts are visible on the surface, and abundant
additional artifacts and charcoal fragments are
visible in the numerous prairie dog burrows at the
site. Artifacts consist of a variety of bottle and jar
fragments, ceramic sherds (some of which are



298 | BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

White, T.
1954 Scarred Trees in Western Montana.
Montana State University Anthropology and
Sociology Papers No. 17, Bozeman, Montana.

White, W. G., and R. L. Orndoff
1999 A Cultural Resources and

Geological Study Pertaining to Four
Selected Petroglyph/Pictograph Sites on
Nellis Air Force Range and Adjacent
Overflight Lands, Lincoln and Nye
Counties, Nevada. HRC Report 1-8-19.
Harry Reid Center for Environmental
Studies, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Wiessner, P.
1983 Style and Social Information in
Kalahari San Projectile Points. American
Antiquity 48:253-278.

1984 Reconsidering the Behavioral
Basis for Style: A Case Study among
the Kalahari San. Journal of
Anthropological Archaeology 3:190-
234,

Woodbury, A. M.
1950 A History of Southern Utah and Its
National Parks. Utah State Historical
Society, Salt Lake City.

Young, G. D.

2000 Biography of John Wesley (Dick)
Young. Posted at:
www.lofthouse.com/USA/Utah.

Ms. on file, National Park Service,
Intermountain Support Office, Santa
Fe.



Foreword

The spectacular formations of Cretaceous age
limestone, sandstone, and shale that form the rug-
ged, eroded landscape preserved as Bryce Canyon
National Park have always aroused strong interest
and opinion. The Southern Paiute believed that the
brilliantly colored cliffs and pinnacles were
petrified supernaturals known as the Legend
People who were punished for their bad behavior
by being instantaneously turned into stone as they
lay or sat, with paint still on their faces—a story
that explains the place name, Angka-ku-wass-a-
wits, red painted faces. Ebenezer Bryce, one of the
early Mormon ranchers in the area, and a man
clearly driven by the practicalities of making a
living, is said to have described the canyon that
would later bear his name as “a helluva place to
lose a cow.” He left soon after, in search of a
climate more suited to his wife’s uncertain health.

By the 1920s, Ebenezer Bryce’s rocky hell
was being described by a Utah college professor
as “nature’s most delicate jewel,” a bit of hyper-
bole that was enthusiastically endorsed by state
politicians, government officials, the Union
Pacific Railroad, and local businessmen who were
already staking their economic future on an
increased flow of tourists to the region. Bryce’s
transformation from hell to paradise was nearly
complete when President Warren G. Harding
proclaimed Bryce a national monument on June 8,
1923, Utah’s Senator Reed Smoot was unsatisfied,
however, arguing that Bryce must be nothing less
than a national park. As part of a shrewd political
campaign orchestrated by Smoot, Louis B.
Cramton, a Michigan congressman and chairman
of the Department of the Interior appropriations
subcommittee, gave a rapturous radio broadcast
later that year describing the proposed park’s

iii

scenic splendors. Likening the Pink Cliff forma-
tions to an ancient, abandoned city, he asked his
listeners to:

Sit with me here near the chasm’s brink as the
sun drops low. Before your fancy presents to
you the city beautiful, the myriad forms left in
the disorder of chance after centuries of
erosion resolve themselves into something
planned. . . . The architecture is all in har-
mony. Great buildings rising hundreds of feet,
passageways, sometimes but a few feet wide,
separating one structure from another, but the
walls erect and accurate, story upon story.
(Scrattish 1985:77)

Despite Congressman Cramton’s overblown
archeological metaphor, Utah National Park was
established by Congress on June 27, 1924 (the
name reverted to Bryce Canyon in 1928). It seems
fair to say that no one, not even Congressman
Cramton, recognized that preservation of Bryce’s
magnificent natural landscape would also save the
material remains of its unique cultural history for
future generations.

Indeed, recognition of Bryce’s scientifically
important, but admittedly unspectacular arche-
ology has been slow in developing. In 1974, when
National Park Service archeologists Francis A.
Calabrese and Adrienne Anderson went to the
park to inspect a sewer line, there was not a single
documented archeological site in the park’s 56
square miles. The sewer line produced no
archeological remains, but Calabrese and Anderson
recorded two lithic scatters in the northwest comer
of the park. Since then, through a series of
federally mandated environmental compliance
investigations, National Park Service archeologists



Index

Note: Page numbers for figures appear in italics.

Agate Basin points, 89, 103
Agner, Watts, 199
agriculture, 23
horticulture, 17-19, 47, 175
livestock raising, 196-200
See also livestock grazing
Agua Canyon gravel quarry, 72, 202
Ahler, S. A., 144
Aikens, C. M., 88, 103
Alberta-~Cody Complex points, 103
Alton, Utah
archeological resources, 119, 132, 151, 170,
172
See also Skutumpah Terrace
"Among My Memories" (Davies), 20-22, 167,
197
Anasazi culture
Kayenta Anasazi, 18-19, 106
Mesa Verde Anasazi, 106
Virgin Anasazi, 18-19, 47, 149, 175
ceramic wares, 63, 65-66, 106, 126, 150-51,
152, 221
Anderson, Adrienne, 29
Andrefsky, W. A., Jr., 157
Andrus, James, 24
Angka-ku-wass-a-wits (red painted faces), 15
angular debris, 144-45
Ankati territory, 20
Antiquities Act, 1906, 26
Aquarius Plateau, 124, 170
Archaic period
flaked stone technology, 148
ground stone tools, 17

Archaic period (continued)
Kaiparowits Plateau archeological resources,
119, 124-26, 171, 173-74, 177, 199
land-use patterns, 111, 171-74, 177-78
lithic scatters, 123, 128
occupation, 119-25
occupational intensity, 723-24, 125
population, 17
projectile points, 16-17, 87, 94, 103-5, 113, 226
deposition rates, /22, 125
research design topics, 45-47
sites, 16, 56, 63, 120, 125, 220
dated sites, 117-18
early Archaic, 121-23
late Archaic, 124
middle Archaic, 123-24
site types, 157-60, 165
stone materials, /35-36
archeological projects, 1974-1997, 29-31, 32, 34,
37, 210-11
bias against Euro-American sites, 212
archeological resources
definitions, 40, 212-13
effect of fire on, 144, 215
effect of prescribed fire on, 39, 82, 107, 209,
214-16
archeological sites, 29-31, 33, 34, 54
component-based recording, 34-35, 42-43, 61—
73
multicomponent sites, 42, 55, 58, 60, 115
single-component sites, 55, 58, 60, 116, 134,
135-36, 158-62, 168-69
cultural affiliation, 44-45, 55, 61, 63, 86, 103-7

299


Elko Series Points

Elko Series points are found throughout the
Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau. Three
variants are recognized: the Elko Corner-
notched, Elko Side-notched, and Elko Eared
types (Holmer 1978). These points have
triangular forms with deep, narrow notches and
blade widths that exceed the width of the base.

Elko Corner-notched

Nineteen projectile points are classified as Elko
Corner-notched points (Figure 7.5). The Elko
Corner-notched type is triangular with straight to
slightly convex blades (Holmer 1978:35).
According to Thomas (1981:20-21), Elko
Corner-notched points have a basal width greater
than 10 mm and a PSA measuring between 110°
and 150°. Brown (Brown et al. 1993:386) notes
that the notches on Elko Corner-notched points
are less than 5 mm wide and are generally 4 mm
or more in depth.

Elko Corner-notched points in the Bryce
Canyon AIS assemblage are manufactured from
a variety of materials including chert, jasper,
chalcedony, and obsidian. These points have
expanding bases with a mean base height of
8 mm (o=1.8 mm), a PSA ranging between 110°
and 144° (1 =123.9°, o=11.1°), and a DSA between
142° and 198° (u=158.9°, 6=13.2°). The NOI
ranges between 26° and 72° (1F45.1°, o=15.1°).
The notches on these points are narrow, ranging
from 3 to Smm (u=3.9mm, o=.9 mm).
Complete and nearly complete Elko Corner-
notched points have a mean weight of 4.0 g
(o=1.7 g) and a length range between 27 mm and
46mm (u=36.6 mm, o=7.8mm). Point width
varies between 16 and 28mm (y=21.9mm,
6 =3.8 mm) and thickness varies between 3.7 and
5.5 mm (4 =4.7 mm, o=.5 mm). Approximately 28
percent (n=5) of the Elko Corner-notched points
have serrated blades.

Elko Corner-notched points have been
previously documented at sites (e.g., 42GA905,
42GA1902, 42GA1903, 42KA3289, and

PROJECTILE POINTS 91

42GA3383) and isolated surface contexts in
Bryce Canyon National Park (Dominguez and
Danielson 2000; Dominguez et al. 1992; Hartley
1980a). The previous examples of this type are
similar to those collected during the survey and
have a medium to large triangular form, narrow
corner-notches, and a straight or convex base.

Elko Eared

Elko Eared points also have a triangular form
and display corner notches but a pronounced
basal concavity or notch typifies these points.
Tangs are rare on Elko Eared points, and the
DSA often approaches 180° (Holmer 1978:38).

Thirteen Elko Eared points manufactured of
chert and chalcedony are present in the survey
assemblage (Figure 7.6a-m). These points have
a PSA ranging between 112° and 145° (1 =128.8°,
6=8.9°) and a DSA of 142° to 199° (1 =160.2°,
6=15.9°). The NOI ranges between 22° and 53°
(1 =34.8°, o=11.7°). Complete Elko Eared points
have a mean weight of 3.2 g (o=1.1 g) anda length
range between 34 and 42 mm (pt =37.7 mm, o=
4.1 mm). Point width varies between 18 and 23 mm
(4 =19.5 mm, o=1.97mm). Thickness ranges
between 3.9 and 6.3 mm (1 =4.6 mm, o=.6 mm).
Approximately 62 percent (n=8) of the Elko
Eared points are serrated.

Three potential Elko Eared points have been
previously documented in the park (Dominguez
and Danielson 2000; Hartley 1980a). These
points are reported from isolated contexts and
sites (e.g., 42GA905 and 42GA1903). The
previous examples of Elko Eared points are
similar to the examples collected during the
survey and exhibit the triangular form and
concave base that is typical of this type.

Elko Side-notched

One Elko Side-notched point is identified in the
Bryce Canyon AIS assemblage. This point type
typically grades into the variability range of Elko
Corner-notched points, and some researchers
(e.g., Holmer 1978, 1986) argue that



Table 6.4.

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 61

Native American component types and cultural affiliations.

Component Type

2 3 .
zB g 5
5 a ex fog
5s 8 3 ef #88
g co) 2 §2 $35
s Z am mg Hea a
a & 3 3= gee &
° 38 a a5 ETE &
2 23 ¢ ff 885 38
Cultural Affiliation 5B Bd a Es EEC  £ Total
Native American, unknown affiliation 48 ~ - - - 48
Archaic 21 ~ - - 21
Late Prehistoric/Formative 7 ~ - - - - 7
Late Paleoindian to Late Prehistoric 1 - - - - - 1
Late Paleoindian to Archaic 2 ~ - - - ~ 2
Archaic to Late Prehistoric/Formative 5 - - 1 - - 6
Virgin Anasazi ~ 2 - - - - 2
Archaic to Anasazi - 1 - - - - 1
Archaic/Paiute 2 - - - - - 2
Numic/Paiute 1 3 4 - 1 - 9
Unknown affiliation, probably Native _ _ _ _ 1 I
American
Total 87 6 4 1 1 1 100

Description of Native American
Components

Archeological material affiliated with Native
American cultures is present at 98 sites. This total
includes 86 single-component sites and 12 multi-
component sites. Overall, 100 Native American
components are identified (Table 6.4). Diagnostic
artifacts and features at these components indicate
late Paleoindian/early Archaic, Archaic, Virgin
Anasazi, late Prehistoric/Formative, and Numic/
Paiute affiliations.

Component types, like site types, are based
on descriptive classifications and reflect the
presence of artifact scatters or features. Native
American component types include lithic
scatters, lithic and ceramic scatters, bark-stripped

trees, thermal features in association with artifact
scatters, and pictographs. _—Artifact-scatter
components with no associated features
overwhelmingly outnumber feature-related com-
ponents. Lithic-scatter components are
predominant (n=87) and lithic and ceramic
components are rare (n=6). This is not an
unexpected proportion, given the high-elevation
setting of the project area and the apparent
absence of long-term residential sites. Even com-
ponents with nonarchitectural features are
exceptionally uncommon (n=7). The latter include
four bark-stripped tree components, two
components with thermal features, and one
probable Native American pictograph component.
Component types represent lithic reduction,
Tesource procurement, and short-term residential
activities, overall suggesting only seasonal use of
the plateau.



168

Figure 8.18.

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Distribution of single-component functional site types and
time periods in the project area.

< a
A\Archaic hunting camp

| O Archaic indeterminate site
| DaArchaic processing camp

A\Late Pre./Formative hunting camp
© Late Pre./Formative indet. site

D Late Pre./Form. processing camp
[2 Numic/Paiute processing camp
©cComplex mutti-occupation site

© Simple multi-occupation site

N

A

1 2 Kilometers

_2 Miles

mutltioccupation sites of all

|
|



PROJECTILE POINTS 87

b c, FS 17

h, FS 59 j, FS 130

FS5 ~
0 1 2
CENTIMETERS
Figure 7.3. Late Paleoindian and Archaic period projectile points: (a-b) Great Basin Stemmed (b
redrawn from Dominguez et al. 1992:Figure 16f), (c-g) Pinto Series, (h-i) unclassified

large stemmed, (j-k) Sudden Side-notched, (1) Northern Side-notched, (m) San Rafael
Side-notched, and (n) Humboldt.


72 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

The log piles may be associated with forest-
clearing activities, raw-material stockpiling, or
fence dismantling. The site with the earthen
mound, located near the Whiteman Bench
construction camp, appears to represent a
buried refuse dump.

Gravel quarry pits constitute two Euro-
American site components. The pit at Site
42GA5224 covers a 95-x-55-m (312-x-180-ft)
area and is bisected by a linear mound that
separates two broad depressions. This quarry is
probably related to the 1930s construction or
historic maintenance of the Rim Road, which
lies several hundred yards to the east. A larger,
more extensively used pit is present at Site
42KA5811. This 144-x-48-m (472-x-158-ft) pit
is cut into the top of a high ridgeline on
Whiteman Bench. Known as the Agua Canyon
gravel pit, this feature was used as a main
source of road-construction material from 1931
to 1943, and it witnessed some periodic use
until 1983. Two other features, consisting of
piles of asphalt, limestone, and construction
debris, are also recorded in the vicinity of this

pit.

Other miscellaneous features at Euro-
American sites in the project area include a
signpost (Site 42GA5269), a land-survey
benchmark (Site 42GA1904), and two modified
trees—one with a blaze mark (Site 42GA5197)
and one with axe marks (Site 42GA1904).
Finally, at Site 42GA1902 (Trough Spring),
four angle-iron posts and a scatter of wooden
posts and barbed wire mark the dismantled
remains of a fence that once surrounded the
spring.

Euro-American Artifact Scatters

In contrast to the high frequencies of Euro-
American features that were encountered,

artifact scatters are less abundant. Seventy-five
artifact scatters (including 71 refuse scatters
and 4 refuse dumps) are recorded at 52 of the
109 Euro-American components (Figure 6.10).
Twelve of these components contain multiple
scatters, each exhibiting two to five spatially
distinct areas of artifact distribution. Euro-
American scatters typically consist of mixed
subsistence refuse including cans, bottles, and
ceramics, whereas miscellaneous debris such
as construction material, machine parts, and
personal gear is generally less common.

The areas covered by Euro-American
artifact scatters are highly variable, ranging
from a few artifacts contained within a single
square meter, to broadly dispersed scatter areas
covering over 150,000 m’. Most of the scatters,
however, cover less than 1,000 m? (n=49).
Artifact density is also highly variable and
ranges from low-density scatters with artifacts
widely dispersed across the landscape, to high-
density concentrations of trash represented by
dump sites and long-term activity areas.
Artifact-assemblage counts range from 1 to
approximately 4,200 artifacts (Table 6.9), al-
though the majority of the assemblages are
typically small, containing less than 250
artifacts (n=65). The site type and length of
occupation significantly influenced the
quantity and diversity of accumulated refuse at
these sites.

Most of the Euro-American artifact scat-
ters date to the early and mid-twentieth
century, although a few scatters include
artifacts that were first mass-produced in the
late 1800s. Many of the scatters are attributed
to CCC and later park maintenance and
construction activities. Others, particularly in
the vicinity of the Bryce Canyon Lodge,
represent refuse associated with commercial
tourist development.



160 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

A single late Archaic period processing camp is
also identified. This site contains a single sand-
stone mano fragment (Dominguez and Danielson
2000:85) and is positioned adjacent to a spring
that was probably a reliable water source. The
remaining three Archaic period sites of indeter-
minate function contain small assemblages that
each include two projectile points or bifaces, but
they lack tool diversity or lack the appropriate
types of flaking debris to qualify as hunting camps
under the typology criteria. These sites could also
easily be considered hunting locales where no
biface reduction took place.

Late Prehistoric/Formative Period Site Types

Single-component sites of this temporal affiliation
show a similarly strong pattern toward a dominant
site type, but in this case the functional type is the
“indeterminate” class (Tables 8.5 and 8.7). These
indeterminate sites share a few common themes:
all are small, and most contain a projectile point
(although one contains a few Virgin Anasazi
sherds instead) but lack other tools. All contain a
small assemblage of freehand percussion (and
some biface production) flakes of various material
types, which may or may not be of the same stone
material as the projectile points.

In the composition of their flaked stone
assemblage, these indeterminate sites are fairly
dissimilar from the contemporary processing
camp assemblages. One of the processing camps
lacks any formal flaked stone tools but contains
ground stone. The second processing camp
contains a diverse assemblage including two Brian
Head chert biface production flakes; a quartzite
percussion flake; a core made of a stream-
tumbled, untyped chert pebble; a large obsidian
retouched used flake; and a sandstone grinding
slab fragment; as well as two Virgin Anasazi
corrugated pot sherds.

The single late Prehistoric/Formative hunting
camp closely resembles those of the Archaic period
in that it contains a projectile point as well as biface
thinning debris. In sum, the indeterminate sites of
this time period do not resemble either processing
or hunting camps. While they appear to represent
locations where flexible, diversified tool kits were
used, the activities that were conducted at these
indeterminate sites cannot be determined using the
current data and site typology.

Numic/Paiute Site Types

All seven single-component Numic/Paiute sites
are classified as processing camps (Tables 8.5 and
8.8). These camps are marked by a constellation
of attributes that distinguish them from earlier
sites. Three contain ground stone fragments as
well as brown ware pottery. Another contains
abundant flaked stone tools, a brown ware pot
break, and a thermal feature. One contains mostly
flaking debris with few tools (but including a
diagnostic point), although ground stone items are
present among the scanty assemblage. One
contains bark-stripped trees and a small flake
scatter but lacks any tools, and another consists of
only a bark-stripped tree.

Although ground stone artifacts are a common
indicator of Numic/Paiute processing camps, only
about one-half of such sites contain this artifact
class. At the remaining sites, the presence of
features or pottery constitutes the diagnostic
characteristic. The observation that single-
component Numic/Paiute site types diverge so
dramatically from those of the Archaic period
supports the proposal by Geib et al. (2001:369—
373) that ethnographic examples of Numic
lifeways may not provide a valid model against
which to evaluate archeological sites of Archaic
period hunter-gatherers. This topic is further
discussed in a later section.



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 163

Multioccupation Sites

The multioccupation sites show roughly similar
counts of sites with either “simple” or “complex”
assemblages. The size and relative diversity of the
assemblages are inferred to represent the intensity
of the sites’ use histories. Splitting the sites into
simple and complex categories provides a simple
binary measure of occupational intensity. Simple
sites may represent locales that were occupied
only twice during separate time periods, and each
component is inferred to represent a relatively
low-intensity occupation (such as a processing or
hunting camp). Complex multioccupation sites
probably represent two or more periods of use or
residency. One or more of the components at the
complex sites are inferred to represent a relatively
intensive occupation, such as a temporary resi-
dential camp. Conversely, these sites could
represent multiple, repeated uses as low-intensity
processing or hunting camps. No discrete artifact
scatters can be attributed to specific time periods
at these sites (cf. Geib et al. 2001). The resulting
overlap of occupational residue from multiple use
periods renders the site functions uninterpretable
with the current survey-based data. No strong
patterns emerge in the temporal periods of site
reoccupation (Tables 8.5 and 8.9), but many late
Prehistoric/Formative and Numic/Paiute sites
overlie Archaic period sites. For the purposes of
the following discussion, the multioccupation sites
are provisionally considered as generalized
residential/processing/hunting camps, but because
their function during a particular time period is
unknown, their interpretive utility is limited.

Discussion of Site Types

Despite low frequencies in some site categories,
some temporal patterns emerge, as described
above. The relationships between site types,
artifact assemblages, and spatial distributions are
explored further in this section.

Artifact Assemblages and Site Types

Although ground stone artifacts are not a unique
indicator of processing camps, the correlation
between Numic/Paiute diagnostic material and
ground stone is strong. If all the multi-occupation
sites with ground stone are considered (n=6) along
with the dated single-component sites with ground
stone (n=6), a total of seven sites with ground
stone also contain Numic/Paiute components. The
remaining five dated sites with ground stone
contain late Prehistoric/Formative components
(three of which also contain Archaic components).
At only one ground stone-bearing site are both
late Prehistoric/Formative and Numic/Paiute
components found together. Four undated
processing camps and one undated indeterminate
site in the project area also contain ground stone.
The relationship between late sites and ground
stone may represent a shift in resource-processing
patterns, but as Geib et al. (2001) point out,
ground stone artifacts made of the Grand
Staircase’s friable sandstone are prone to rapid
disintegration. Hence, some ground stone artifacts
may be absent from early (i.e., Archaic period)
sites, a factor that could significantly affect the
site type determinations. Similarly, the thermal
features and bark-stripped trees at the late-period
processing camps are also fragile, perishable
archeological remains that might not be preserved
at early sites (e.g., Geib et al. 2001). The varying
arrays of tools and flaking debris found at project
sites speak to the validity of the assigned site
types, however. Archaic period sites, which are
overwhelmingly identified as hunting camps,
contain flaked stone assemblage profiles that
dramatically diverge from later sites (Tables 8.6 to
8.8). Even if ground stone implements were added
to the Archaic period assemblages, their profile
would not match well with that of the
Numic/Paiute sites, both in terms of raw material
use (see above) and tool and flaking debris
proportions.



40 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Initial Sampling Strategy

The task directive (NPS 2000) initially antici-
pated that the project would be able to inventory
between 56 and 67 percent of the prescribed fire
management area. The task directive outlined a
strategy to ensure that the survey results would
be representative of the overall project area. The
survey plan involved a multistage approach that
selected a stratified random sample of 80 percent
of the previously burned areas that were not
archeologically surveyed. Once the 80 percent
sample was surveyed, the topographic and
vegetative characteristics of areas that exhibited
high versus low probabilities of containing
archeological sites were to be defined and
selectively surveyed.

Daily survey rates exceeded expectations,
however, and it was soon anticipated that the
entire project area could be inventoried in the
allotted two-year schedule. Hence, the probabil-
istic method was rendered obsolete, and the
sampling plan was eventually abandoned in
preference of a strategy that focused on
surveying the entire prescribed burn area.

Survey Schedule and Methods

During both summers, field operations centered
around a car-accessible base camp at the
southern end of Whiteman Bench. Each field
season saw the use of two four-person survey
crews and a lab archeologist. Each crew was
composed of a crew chief, two professional field
crew members, and a park volunteer. The first
field season began on May 15 and continued
through August 28, 2000. The second field
season began on May 16 and continued through
August 15, 2001. The fieldwork was conducted
during work sessions that consisted of eight
10-hour days followed by six days of leave.
Fifteen work sessions, totaling 120 days, were
spent in the field. Several days at the start of
each field season were spent on crew orientation,

training, and camp set up, and one day at the end
of the season was used to close down the field
camp.

Due to the linear layout of the park, logistical
concerns were relatively minor for a survey of this
size. Paved or dirt roads allowed good access to
most units. Numerous man-made features and
distinctive topographic features provided ready
landmarks for locating individual survey areas.

Survey parcels were investigated by walking
parallel transects with crew members spaced
15 m (50 ft) apart. Using a four-person crew,
each survey sweep covered a corridor roughly
60 m (200 ft) wide. Transect orientation and
spacing was maintained by using temporary flag
lines. As the crew proceeded into the survey
parcel, new flag lines were laid along the inside
edge of each new transect, and those flag lines
then guided subsequent return sweeps. This
procedure was repeated back and forth across the
landscape, regardless of terrain, until the entire
survey parcel was examined.

Recording Archeological Resources

When cultural materials or anomalies in the
natural landscape were noted, crew members
stopped to investigate the area by looking for
additional artifacts or evidence of human use.
Individual artifacts, artifact concentrations, and
features were marked with pin flags to determine
the distribution, extent, and nature of the cultural
items,

All cultural material that could be demon-
strated or estimated to predate 1950 were
recorded as archeological resources. Further,
aspen dendroglyphs with dates through 1959
were also recorded as archeological resources, as
were all undated aspen dendroglyphs that
appeared “old,” based on the degree of bark re-
growth. Only the obviously recent bark carvings
were discounted.



36 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Scrattish’s (1985) historic resource study
provides a comprehensive overview of the park’s
development and places the efforts of the National
Park Service and the UPC at Bryce Canyon in a
regional historic context. As with most other
histories, most attention is lavished on the Bryce
Canyon Lodge and associated infrastructure, but
many references to historic Rim Road construction
and the efforts of the CCC are also included,
providing information relevant to certain historical
archeological resources that are present in the
project area. Dammann’s (1993) unfinished,
unpublished manuscript was written as a draft
administrative history. This document echoes much
of the information provided by Scrattish (1985) and
focuses on the history of the park’s admini-
stration, concessionaire activities, and prominent
personalities.

Regional histories (e.g., Daughters of the Utah
Pioneers 1949; Farnsworth 1992; Newell and
Talbot 1998) often contain useful family histories
that include the names and genealogies of some
local residents who used the Bryce Canyon area
during the historic period. Additional useful
information is found in unpublished manuscripts
and files at the Bryce Canyon National Park library
and archive and at the National Park Service
Denver Service Center Technical Information
Center. These repositories contain many historic
files about road construction, park supervisor’s
reports, CCC records, and even National Park
Service checkdam-construction and erosion-control
records. Much of the relevant unpublished material
from these sources that pertains to the archeological
resources in the inventory area is summarized in
this report.


Chapter 7

7A Classification key for large projectile points collected during the Bryce Canyon
Archeological Inventory Survey project
7.2 Classification key for small projectile points collected during the Bryce Canyon
Archeological Inventory Survey project... .
7.3 Late Paleoindian and Archaic period projectile points 87
74 Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum projectile points 90
75 Elko Corner-notched projectile points 92
7.6 Elko Series projectile points . 93
V7 Unclassified large projectile poin 96
78 Unknown or untyped large projectile points. 98
79 Late Prehistoric/Formative and Numic projectile points
7.10 Unclassified or unknown small projectile points.
Chapter 8
8.1 Locations of all sites containing Archaic period material recorded in the project area .
8.2 Deposition rates of projectile point types at all project sites...
8.3 Overall projectile point deposition rates grouped by time period at all project site:
84 Total area covered by sites of known time periods or affiliations...
8.5 Average area covered by sites of known time periods or affiliation
8.6 Locations of all sites containing late Prehistoric/Formative period material recorded in
the project area.........
8.7 Locations of all sites containing Numic/Paiute period material recorded in the project
area...
8.8 Proportions of stone material types in single-component early, middle, and late Archaic
period sitewide assemblages
8.9 Proportions of stone material types in single-component Archaic, late
Prehistoric/Formative, and Numic/Paiute sitewide assemblages .
8.10  Bifaces from project sites.
8.11 Scatterplot comparing lengths and widths of pressure- flaked bifaces and projectile points
at all project sites ..
8.12 Count of percussion-flaked bifaces by stone material type at all project site:
8.13 Frequencies of percussion-flaked bifaces in rounded width-to-thickness ratio groups at
all project sites .
8.14. A scraper and used flakes from project sites
8.15 Frequency of flaking debris types and flaked stone tool types through time at all single-
component project site:
8.16  Sherds collected from project site:
8.17 Distribution of isolated projectile points and pressure-flaked bifaces in the project are
8.18 Distribution of single-component functional site types and multioccupation sites of all
time periods in the project area.
8.19 Distribution of undated single-component functional site types in the project ar area

Xvi



PRESCRIBED FIRES AND NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY — 215

pretation of past activities. For example, artifacts
may become so badly fragmented or spalled by
heat that they retain few analyzable attributes and
contain little information. The presence of heat-
treated lithic material in an assemblage can also be
obscured by post-depositional heat damage. Further,
the identification of fire-cracked rocks on site
surfaces could also be complicated by past fire
effects. Accordingly, modem fires can affect lithic
assemblages in two ways: through destruction of
important attributes or through the production of
falsely positive data. Hence, the degree to which
modern activities are shaping the archeological
record should be measured.

Burned and Unburned Assemblages in the
Project Area

Ninety Native American sites fall within the
FMU boundaries. Lithic-assemblage data
collected during the inventory are available from
85 of these sites. Two sites that overlap adjacent
bumed and unburned FMU boundaries are
excluded, producing a total of 83 sites from
which valid data can be used. Fifty-four of the
sites occupy FMUs that were unbumed at the
time of the inventory’s flaked stone artifact
analysis. The remaining 29 sites occupy FMUs in
which prescribed fires had been ignited prior to
the survey project.

Due to the patchy nature of prescribed fire
coverage in any particular FMU, field crews
were occasionally unable to determine if specific
sites had been burned during prescribed fires,
particularly if the sites were located in an FMU
that had not been ignited for several years.
Accordingly, this condition assessment must
group the assemblages by FMU for the analysis.
The grouped artifact assemblages from sites in
burned FMUs probably include some individual
site assemblages that have not been burned, but
currently these data cannot be segregated. As in
the site-visibility assessment above, sites are
classified as burned or unburned simply by
virtue of their presence in a burned or unburned
FMU.

This condition assessment can only measure
the effects of modern prescribed fires on site
assemblages. The park also frequently hosts
natural or human-caused wildland fires. No major
wildland fires have occurred in Bryce Canyon
National Park, but at least one fire on the northern
end of East Creek Ridge in the 1960s was large
enough to require mechanical equipment during
suppression efforts. Most wildland fires are small;
many are ignited by lightning and involve one or a
few trees. No significant spatial patterning is
evident in the distribution of past wildland fires,
but human-induced wildland fires are generally
clustered around the park’s developed areas (data
on file, Bryce Canyon National Park, Division of
Resource Management). Wildland fires that
occurred before the park was established are
assumed to have been similarly arrayed in an arbi-
trary pattern. Accordingly, the effects of natural
wildland fires on flaked lithic assemblages can be
assumed to be randomly distributed across all
sites, regardless of their present membership in an
FMU group. Hence, the underlying effects of
natural fires on the assemblages are assumed to be
constant at all sites. Any observed differences
between burned and unburned FMU assemblages
can therefore be attributable to the modern
prescribed fire program.

Only micro- or cryptocrystalline silicates such
as chert, chalcedony, jasper, and petrified wood
are evaluated, because these materials are most
vulnerable to fire effects that are recordable in the
field. During the analysis, all artifacts were
examined for the following classes of heat effect:
crazing, potlidding, discoloration, and “other.”
The presence of any of these effects in an assem-
blage will be taken as a positive sign of a post-
depositional fire effect. Luster changes were also
evaluated in the field, but this class is not con-
sidered a certain sign of fire-induced damage
because purposeful heat treatment could also have
produced this effect.

The grouped assemblage of flaked lithic
artifacts from 29 sites in seven burned FMUs
includes 524 items (Table 10.2). One FMU (with



action was eventually proposed at both the state and
federal levels. In 1919, only four years after
Humphrey’s “discovery” of the canyon, a bill was
introduced in Congress recommending the area be
established as “Utah State National Park” (Scrattish
1985:73-74). Further debate and reworking of the
proposal over the next four years culminated in the
establishment of Bryce Canyon National Monument
by proclamation of President Warren J. Harding on
June 8, 1923. Over 2,833 ha (7,000 acres)
encompassing the Bryce Canyon amphitheater and
the adjacent plateau were withdrawn from USFS
lands for the establishment of the monument.

The Union Pacific Railroad, through its
subsidiary Utah Parks Company (UPC), had already
acted in anticipation of Bryce Canyon’s federal
recognition. In 1923, after lengthy negotiations with
the state of Utah, UPC signed a twenty-five year
lease for the use of a state-owned section of land
along Bryce Canyon’s rim. This was the same
property used by the Syretts for their overnight
tourist accommodations. The UPC also bought out
the Syretts’ water rights. Construction of a new
facility began almost immediately. The Bryce
Canyon Lodge was completed and auto tours were
running by 1925. Over the next two years, five
deluxe cabins, 67 tourist cabins, and several service
structures were constructed; water and sewage
facilities were upgraded; and telephone lines were
installed (Dammann 1993:16-18,; Newell and
Talbot 1998:266; Scrattish 1985:81-85). Large-
scale commercial tourism had firmly established a
foothold at the previously remote plateau rim of
Bryce Canyon.

National Monument and Park Administration

As outlined in the 1923 enabling legislation, Bryce
Canyon National Monument remained under the
administration of the USFS. A lack of federal funds
precluded any major changes, and road im-
provements, trail work, and camp maintenance were
the only types of projects conducted during the
monument’s early years. Improvement and
expansion of the region’s road network contributed
to a swell of visitors. Bryce Canyon’s proximity to
other scenic destinations and its promotion as part

CULTURAL HISTORY 27

of a tourist loop also factored into its growing
popularity. By 1927, the annual visitor count was
estimated at 25,000. Bryce Canyon achieved
national park status in 1928. Its administration was
transferred to the National Park Service under the
administration of Zion National Park (Scrattish
1985:112-113). Park boundaries were enlarged
several times, and by 1931 the park occupied
14,502 ha (35,835 acres), its present-day extent
(NPS 1987:3; Scrattish 1985:101-103). UPC
continued to operate and improve tourist accom-
modations in the park.

The withdrawal of forest lands and estab-
lishment of the monument, and later the park, had
no immediate effect on the number of livestock
permittees operating on federal lands. Commercial
logging within the monument and park was
immediately halted, however. Grazing activities
remained under the jurisdiction of the USFS
through 1929. Existing grazing rights were left
intact when the National Park Service assumed
control, although the elimination of grazing was a
long-term goal. Any transfer of grazing rights
within the new park required National Park
Service approval, and each transfer was accom-
panied by a mandatory 20 percent reduction in
permitted livestock (Scrattish 1985:107-109).
Early grazing records indicate that in 1931, 12
permittees were using park lands, both on the
plateau top and below the rim. Sheep far
outnumbered cattle in that year (5,162 to 717,
respectively), with only one of the 12 permittees
grazing cattle (Rumberg 1956:2).

Development of the Park’s Facilities and
Administration

Park visitation continued to increase during the
1930s, despite the economic impact of the Great
Depression. UPC focused on improving its
overnight visitor facilities as well as
accommodating the growing number of campers
visiting the park. Federal funding levels continued
to be low, although a small number of visitor-
service construction projects were completed
(Dammann 1993:31—32). Road improvements were
the primary National Park Service goal, and the



Appendix 6.2. (continued)

APPENDIX 6.2 ISOLATED OCCURRENCES =. 249

IO No.

Cultural Affiliation 10 Type

IONo. Cultural Affiliation [0 Type

3807
3808
3809
3810
3811
3812
3813
3814
3838
3839
3840
3841
3842
3843
3844
3845
3846
3847
3848
3849
3850
385

3852
3853
3854
3855
3856
3857
3858
3859
3860
386

3862
3863

Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Late Archaic
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Euro-American
‘Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Native American
Native American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American

Euro-American

Cairn

Caim

Cairn

Caim

Cairn

Cairn

Can scatter
Flaked stone tool
Pressure flaked biface
Rock pile
Dendroglyph
Dendroglyph
Rock pile
Road
Gypsum point
Dendroglyph.
Dendroglyph
Dendroglyph
Lithic scatter
Dendroglyph
Flake scatter
Dendroglyph
Benchmark
Dendroglyph
Dendroglyph
Pressure flaked biface
Biface

Flake

Lithic scatter
Dendroglyph
Dendroglyph
Dendroglyph
Inscription

Dendroglyph

3864
3865
3866
3867
3868
3869
3870
3871
3872
3873
3874
3875
3876
3877
3878
3879
3880
3881

3882
3883
3884
3885
3886
3887
3888
3889
3890
3891
3892

3893
3894
3895
3896

Euro-American
Euro-American
‘Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
‘Native American
Native American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Late Prehistoric
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American

Archaic

Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Euro-American
Native American
Native American
Native American
Native American

Native American
and Euro-American

Euro-American,
Late Prehistoric
Euro-American

Native American

Benchmark

Road

Lithic scatter

Caim

Dendroglyph

Rock pile

Pressure flaked biface
Flake scatter

Cairn

Caim

Boundary segment
Can, food

Rosegate Stemmed point
Caim

Caim

Caim

Cairn

Unknown corner-notched dart
point

Can, food
Dendroglyph
Cairn

Caim

Rock alignment
Dendroglyphs
Lithic scatter
Flake scatter
Flake scatter
Flake

Flake scatter and Hardware

Boundary segment
Parowan Basal-notched point
Benchmark

Pressure flaked biface



1932 Utah Brand Book 1932. Ms on file,
Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City.

1933 Utah Brand Book 1933. Ms on file,
Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City.

1934 Utah Brand Book 1934. Ms on file,
Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City.

Utah State Department of Agriculture
1941 Official Brand Book of the State of
Utah, Brands Recorded 1940-41. Ms on
file, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City.

1942 Brand Book Supplement of the State of
Utah, Brands Recorded September 1 1941
to October 31 1941. Utah Bank Note
Company, Salt Lake City.

1944 Brand Book Supplement of the State of
Utah, Brands Recorded January 1 1944 to
December 31 1944. Standard Printing Co.,
Salt Lake City.

1946 Brand Book Supplement of the State of
Utah, Brands Recorded January 1 1946 to
December 31 1946. Standard Printing Co.,
Salt Lake City.

1948 Brand Book Supplement of the State of
Utah, Brands Recorded January 1 1948 to
December 31 1948. Standard Printing Co.,
Salt Lake City

Walker, D. D.
1964 The Cattle Industry of Utah, 1850-
1900: An Historical Profile. Utah Historical
Quarterly 32(3):182-197.

Walling, B.

1985 Lithics-Chipped Stone. In Final
Recapture Wash Archaeological Project,
1981-1983, San Juan County, Utah, edited
by A. S. Nielson, J. C. Janetski, and J. D.
Wilde, pp. 12-1 to 12-64. Technical Series
No. 85-87. Brigham Young University
Museum of Peoples and Cultures.
Submitted to San Juan Water Conservancy
District, Blanding, Utah.

REFERENCES CITED = 297

Waterworth, Robert
1988 Letter to Steve Dominguez dated
October 24, 1988. On file, National Park
Service, Midwest Archeological Center,
Lincoln.

Wandsnider, L., and E. L. Camilli
1992 The Character of Surface
Archaeological Deposits and Its Influence
on Survey Accuracy. Journal of Field
Archaeology 19:169~187

Welsh, S. L., and B. W. Olsen
1969 A Living, Prehistoric Lumber Tree. In

Proceedings of the Utah Academy of
Sciences, Arts, and Letters, edited by Darald
D. Ledingham, Richard Y. Thurman, and
Lawrence W. Platt, pp.149-159. Utah
Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters.
Provo.

Wenker, C. T., and S. Eininger
2001 The Bryce Canyon Archeological
Inventory Survey: Interim Report for the
2000 Field Season. Ms. on file, Bryce
Canyon National Park, Utah, and National
Park Service Intermountain Support Office,
Santa Fe.

Wenker, C. T., and C. Herhahn

2002 Bryce Canyon National Park:
Management Planning Guide and
Monitoring Plan for Archeological
Resources. Ms. on file, Bryce Canyon
National Park, Utah, and National Park
Service Intermountain Support Office,
Santa Fe.

Westfall, D. A., W. E. Davis, and E. Blinman
1987 Green Spring: An Anasazi and
Southern Ute Paiute Encampment in the St.
George Basin of Utah. Cultural Resources
Series No. 21. U.S. Department of the
Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Salt
Lake City.


PREVIOUS ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL INVESTIGATIONS

31

Table 4.2, Summary of archeological sites previously recorded.

Site Type Count Sites Re-recorded during AIS Sites Not Visited during AIS

Lithic scatter 41 42GA1896, 42GA1899, 42GA1900, 42GA906, 42GA1897, 42GA1898,
42GA1901, 42GA1902, 42GA1903, 42GA1905’, 42GA1906, 42GA1907,
42GA1904, 42GA3383, 42GA3384, 42GA1908, 42GA1909, 42GA1910,
42GA3387, 42GA3388, 42GA3488, 42GA1911, 42GA1912, 42GA1913,
42GA3558, 42GA3559, 42GA3560, 42GA1914, 42GA1915, 42GA1916,
42KA1989, 42KA3284, 42KA3288, 42GA1917, 42GA1918, 42GA2635,
42KA3289 42GA2636, 42GA2637, 42GA3773,

42KA3282

Lithic/ceramic scatter 1 42GA2634* -

Lithic scatter with 1 - 42GA905

hearths

Lithic scatter/ historic 1 42GA3561 -

camp

Historic camp 1 - 42GA3379

Dendroglyph grove 7 42K A3287, 42KA3290 42GA3385, 42GA3386, 42KA3283,

42KA3285, 42KA3286
Historic refuse 1 - 42GA3772
Total 53 23 30

* Outside AIS project area.
* In AIS project area, but not relocated.

dendroglyph groves (Dominguez and Kramer 1988;
Dominguez et al. 1989, 1992).

National Park Service archeologist Steve
Dominguez conducted two additional archeological
projects in 1989. The first surveyed corridors for a
proposed Rim Road construction project. Because
much of the proposed road corridor had been
previously surveyed by Hartley (1980a),
Dominguez surveyed only those areas where the
new corridor deviated from the previous survey
route. One new lithic scatter site was found. Five
lithic scatter sites were also test excavated as a part
of this project, and one lithic scatter site was
mapped and surface collected (Dominguez 1989a).
The second project conducted in 1989 involved a
survey of the proposed Sheep Creek/Swamp
Canyon Connecting Trail. One isolated historic
dendroglyph was recorded and two previously

recorded lithic scatter sites were test excavated
(Dominguez 1989b). Dominguez conducted
additional work for the Rim Road widening project
in 1990. Again, the work included surveys along
corridors not previously inventoried by Hartley
(1980a). Five lithic scatter sites to be impacted by
road development were test excavated (Dominguez
1990). In 1991, Dominguez again investigated sites
that would be impacted by road widening,
construction of related facilities, or rehabilitation of
former roads. This time, six previously recorded
lithic scatter sites (Hartley 1980a) were excavated
for data-recovery purposes (Dominguez 1991a;
NPS 1991). Dominguez and Danielson (1993,
2000) later presented a synthetic overview of the
1989 to 1991 field investigations related to the
Bryce Canyon road-widening projects. Subsequent
to Dominguez’s work only a few small surveys
were conducted through the early and mid-1990s.



APPENDIX 6.2 ISOLATED OCCURRENCES = 241

Appendix 6.2. Isolated Occurrences

IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type

2 Native American Flake scatter 35 Native American Flake

3 Native American _Lithic scatter 36 Euro-American Bottle

4 Native American Pressure flaked biface 37 Euro-American Telephone/powerline locus

5 Native American Flaked stone tool 38 Euro-American Can scatter, nonfood

6 Native American —_ Biface 39 Late Archaic Gypsum point

7 Native American Flake scatter 40 Native American Pressure flaked biface

8 Euro-American Benchmark 4l Euro-American Can, nonfood

9 Euro-American Rock alignment 42 Euro-American Can, nonfood

10 Euro-American Historic refuse, food, hardware 61 Archaic Unknown dart point

It Euro-American Can, food 62 Native American Pressure flaked biface

12 Archaic Unknown corner-notched dart 63 Native American Pressure flaked biface
Point 64 Native American Flaked stone tool

13 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface 65 Euro-American Dendroglyph; Can, food

14 Native American _Lithic scatter 66 Late Archaic Gypsum point

15 Native American Flake scatter 67 Native American Flake and Can, food

16 Euro-American Can scatter, food and Euro-American

17 Euro-American Can scatter, nonfood 68 Native American — Flake

18 Euro-American Can scatter, food 69 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface

19 Euro-American Can, nonfood 70 Euro-American Can scatter

21 Euro-American Hardware 71 Euro-American Pipeline; Can, food

22 Native American _Lithic scatter and Historic TR Native American Flake scatter

d Euro-Ai
and Euro-American refuse, food 2B Euro-American Dendroglyph

23 Native American Pressure flaked biface

14 Euro-American Can, tobacco
24 Native American Flaked stone tool 5 Native American Flake
2s ‘Archaic and Buro- Comoe natthed points ake 16 Euro-American fonts Historic refuse,
Cairn food
26 Native American _Lithic scatter 77 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface
27 Native American Biface 78 Euro-American Cairn cluster
28 Late Prehistoric Desert side-notched point 79 Native American Pressure flaked biface
29 Native American Pressure flaked biface 80 Euro-American Can, food
30 Euro-American Trail 90 Euro-American Can, food
31 Euro-American Road 165 Late Prehistoric Unknown arrow point
32 Euro-American Benchmark 229 Euro-American Can scatter, food
33 Euro-American Wood pile 253 Euro-American Can, food
254 Euro-American Historic refuse, nonfood,

34 Native American Flake
hardware



60 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

42GA5277

LEGEND

j DRAINAGE

rt CHECK DAM

<——— PAVED ROAD

TS wasHing MACHINE
= WRINGER

DIRT ROAD (ABANDONED)

—t- conTour LINE / SLOPE

Ny

LEVELED AREA- POSSIBLE
STRUCTURE PAD

~
SITE BOUNDARY
° 50

SCALE IN METERS

Figure 6.4. Map of Site 42GA5277, a Euro-American refuse scatter with a possible architectural
feature.

Table 6.3. Sizes of sites.

Site Type

Single-Component — Single-Component

Native American Euro-American Multicomponent
Site Size Sites Sites Sites Total
2-100 m? 7 12 2 21
101-500 m* 31 19 - 50
501-1,000 m? 17 21 - 38
1,001-2,000 m? 7 14 3 34
2,001-5,000 m* 9 16 3 28
5,001-10,000 m? 4 5 - 9
10,001-100,000 m? 1 9 3 13
>100,000-154,000 m* - - 1 1

Total 86 96 12 194



Christensen, D., S. M. Chandler, S. Kreutzer,
and J. Jennings
1983 Results of the 1982 Class II

Archaeological Survey of the Alton and
Kolob Tracts in Northwestern Kane
County, Utah. Nickens and Associates,
Montrose, Colorado. Ms. on file, Bureau of
Land Management, Kanab Resource Area,
Kanab, Utah.

Chronic, H.
1990 Roadside Geology of Utah. Mountain
Press Publishing, Missoula.

Coats, L. L., B. W. Schubert, and J. I. Mead

1999 A Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
of Paradise Flats Using Packrat Middens,
Cathedral District, Capitol Reef National
Park, in Support of the Capitol Reef
National Park Systemwide Archeological
Inventory Program: 5,000 Years of
Vegetation History in Central Utah,
Quaternary Studies Program, Northern
Arizona University, Flagstaff. Ms. on file,
Division of Resource Management and
Science, Capito] Reef National Park, Utah.

COHMAP
1988 Climate Changes of the Last 18,000
years: Observations and Model Simulations.
Science 241:1043-1052.

Condie, V.

1963 Henrieville History (transcript of
interview with Myron Willis). Ms on file,
Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce
Canyon, Utah.

Conkey, M. W., and C. A. Hastorf (editors)
1990 The Uses of Style in Archaeology.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Cope, M.
1935 Letter to P. P. Patraw, dated
November 11 1935. Ms. on file, Bryce
Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

REFERENCES CITED 283

Copeland, J. M., and R. E. Fike
1988 Fluted Projectile Points in Utah. Utah
Archaeology 1(1):5-28.

Crabtree, D. E.
1972 An Introduction to Flintworking.
Occasional Papers of the Idaho State
University Museum, No. 28. Pocatello.

1977 The Obtuse Angle as a Functional
Edge. In Experimental Archeology, edited
by D. I. Ingersoll, J. E. Yellen, and W.
MacDonald, pp. 38-51. Columbia
University Press, New York.

Crabtree, D. E., and B. R. Butler
1964 Notes on Experiments in Flint
Knapping: 1: Heat Treatment of Silica
Materials. Tebiwa 7(1):1-6.

Crampton, C. G.

1965 Mormon Colonization in Southern
Utah and in Adjacent Parts of Arizona and
Nevada, 1851-1900. NPS Contract No. 14-
10-0333-1050. Department of History,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Ms on
file, Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce
Canyon, Utah.

Culpin, M. S.

1994 The History of the Construction of the
Road System in Yellowstone National Park,
1872-1966, Historic Resource Study
Volume I. Selections from the Division of
Cultural Resources No. 5. Rocky Mountain
Region, National Park Service, Denver.

Czarnowski, K.

1991 Hydrologic Characterization and
Inventory of Water Rights, Uses and
Requirements at Bryce Canyon National
Park. Ms. on file, Bryce Canyon National
Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

Dammann, N.
1993 A Brief History and Miscellaneous
Glimpses of Bryce Canyon National Park,


296 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Thompson, R. S., C. Whitlock, P. J. Bartlein, S.
P. Harrison, and W. G. Spaulding
1993 Climatic Changes in the Western

United States since 18,000 yr B.P. In Global
Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum,
edited by H. E. Wright, J. E. Kutzbach, T.
Webb III, W. F. Ruddiman, F. A. Street-
Perrott, and P. J. Bartlein, pp. 468-513.
University of Minnesota Press,
Minneapolis.

Tingley, C. S.

1907 Marks and Brands for the State of Utah
Embracing All Marks and Brands Recorded
to June 1" 1907. Ms on file, Utah State
Archives, Salt Lake City.

Tipps, B. L. (editor)

1988 The Tar Sands Project: An Inventory
and Predictive Model for Central and
Southern Utah. Cultural Resource Series
No. 22. Bureau of Land Management, Salt
Lake City.

Toulouse, J. H.
1971 Bottle Makers and Their Marks.
Thomas Nelson, New York.

Traylor, D., L. Hubbell, N. Wood, and B.
Fiedler
1990 The 1977 La Mesa Fire Study: An

Investigation of Fire and Fire Suppression
Impact on Cultural Resources in Bandelier
National Monument. Southwest Cultural
Resources Center Professional Papers No.
28. Branch of Cultural Resources
Management, Division of Anthropology,
National Park Service, Santa Fe.

Trembour, F. N.

1990 A Hydration Study of Obsidian
Astifacts, Burnt vs. Unburnt by the La Mesa
Forest Fire. In The 1977 La Mesa Fire
Study: An Investigation of Fire and Fire
Suppression Impact on Cultural Resources
in Bandelier National Monument, by D.
Traylor, D., L. Hubbell, N. Wood, and B.
Fiedler, pp. 174-190. Southwest Cultural

Resources Center Professional Papers No.
28. Branch of Cultural Resources
Management, Division of Anthropology,
National Park Service, Santa Fe.

Tripp, G. W.
1966 A Clovis Point from Central Utah.
American Antiquity 31:435-436.

1967 Bill Mobley Does It Again! Utah
Archaeology 13(1):16.

Turnbow, C. A.

1997 Projectile Points as Chronological
Indicators. In OLE Volume I]: Artifacts,
edited by J. C. Acklen, pp. 161-230. Public
Service Company of New Mexico,
Albuquerque.

Union Pacific Railroad
1944 Report on Southern Utah Parks,
January 1944. Ms on file, Union Pacific
Railroad Archives, Omaha.

Union Pacific System
1929 Zion National Park, Grand Canyon
National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park,
The Cedar Breaks, Kaibab National Forest.
Ms on file, Bryce Canyon National Park,
Bryce Canyon, Utah.

United States Department of Agriculture/Soil
Conservation Service (USDA/SCS)

1990 Soil Survey of Panguitch Area, Utah,
Parts of Garfield, Iron, Kane, and Paiute
Counties. U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C.

Utah State Board of Agriculture
1922 Utah Brand Book 1922. Ms on file,
Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City.

1923 Utah Brand Book 1923. Ms on file,
Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City.

1927 Utah Brand Book 1927. Ms on file,
Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City.

1930 Utah Brand Book 1930. Ms on file,
Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City.



122. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

total number of points divided by the length of the
time interval assigned to the entire period

(Chapter 3).

Figure 8.2 shows that Pinto points were more
commonly used than other early stemmed types. If
the Great Basin Stemmed and other stemmed
points truly represent a late or transitional
Paleoindian occupation, the Paleoindian period
witnessed one of the park’s lowest occupation
intensities. Conversely, all of these stemmed
points overlap in their date ranges and could have
been used contemporaneously during the early
Archaic period. In Figure 8.3, all early stemmed
point types are conservatively treated as early
Archaic period material. This graph further
emphasizes the low occupational intensity of the
early Archaic period despite the prevalence of

Pinto points. Only the following middle Archaic
period shows a lower occupational intensity,
although site burial and scavenging also surely
affect the absolute counts of points from these
early periods.

An alternative approach to quantifying occu-
pational intensity is to determine the total area
covered by all sites in each time period as well as
the average site area. These calculations are
illustrated in Figures 8.4 and 8.5. Multioccupation
sites are included for each time period in which
they were occupied, but because the portions of
the sites that were used during discrete time
periods cannot be determined, the entire site area
is used to calculate each time period’s total area.
The area covered by one multicomponent site that
contains a Paiute bark-stripped tree cluster

0.020
0.018
0.016
8 0.014
B 0.012
=
@ 0.010 |
2
& 0.008 4
&
£ 0.0
& 0.006
0.004 4
0.002 4
0.000 4
~ e
eve o o 2 Sae a
Bec < < < See 3
“82 2 2 z= “ge ¢€
ag 3 4s . 2
=
Time Period

Figure 8.3.

Overail projectile point deposition rates grouped by time period at all project sites.



8

Native American Archeology on the

Paunsaugunt Plateau

Chris T. Wenker

The preceding chapter by Donald Irwin presents
a temporal assessment of projectile points
collected from sites recorded during the Bryce
Canyon AIS project. Using this information, in
conjunction with previously reported projectile
points from the park, Irwin outlines the time
depth of the park’s occupation that is suggested
by these temporally diagnostic tools. This
chapter builds on Irwin’s temporal assessment
by incorporating other lines of evidence from
ceramic analysis, feature descriptions, and
radiocarbon data (available from Dominguez
and Danielson’s [2000] test excavations) to
assign the recorded sites and site components to
their probable period or periods of occupation.
The range of artifact and feature types is out-
lined at a general level, technological aspects of
artifact assemblages are considered, and the
site-assemblage characteristics are then
evaluated to place all sites in a functional
typology. These observations are then used to
reconstruct the patterns of land use during dif-
ferent time periods. Comparisons with dia-
chronic patterns of occupational intensity and
land use in surrounding areas are also presented
to set this portrayal of past lifeways on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau in a regional context.

This chapter generally pursues interpretive
avenues suggested in the project’s research
design (Chapter 5), although no formal, testable
model has been developed. Rather, these

115

analytical sections investigate project data
through exploratory data analysis (e.g., Hartwig
and Dearing 1979), meaning that the project
data are manipulated with various computer
programs and the significance of interesting
patterns is evaluated. The interpretations of
selected data patterns and the integration of the
inventory data with other regional survey
results, are presented below.

Periods of Native American Occupation
and Residential Intensity

Ninety-eight archeological sites recorded during
the inventory project contain Native American
components. Two of these sites are multi-
component sites, each containing two iden-
tifiable Native American components,
producing an overall total of 100 components.
Many of the other sites contain temporally
diagnostic material also suggestive of multiple
occupation periods, but because the presumed
occupations could not be spatially segregated,
these sites were not recorded as multi-
component sites in the field. Instead, in the
following discussion these sites are referred to
as “multioccupation” sites. As with multi-
component sites, the multioccupation sites are
distinguished from the truly single-component
sites, which are those that show no sign of more


PROJECTILE POINTS
Donald C. Irwin

Analysis Methods
Nominal Variables.
Metric Variables

Analysis Results...
Large Projectile Points ....

Large Stemmed Projectile Point
Great Basin Stemmed
Pinto Shouldered
Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum.
Unclassified Large Stemmed Points .

Elko Series Points
Elko Corner-notched .
Elko Eared..........
Elko Side-notched......

Large Side-notched Point:
Sudden Side-notched.
Norther Side-notched .
San Rafael Side-notche

Other Large Projectile Points .
Humboldt.
Unclassified Large Corner-notched Point:
Unclassified Large Side-notched Points
Unknown Large Points.

Small Projectile Points ....

Rosegate Series Points.
Rosegate Corner-notched .
Rosegate Stemmed.....

Small Side-notched Point:
Desert Side-notched ..

Other Small Projectile Points .
Parowan Basal-notched
Bull Creek ...
Unclassified Small Side-notched Points ..
Unclassified Small Corner-notched Point
Unknown Small Points.....

Chronology and Cultural Affiliation
Projectile Point Types .
Patination...........

Settlement and Subsistence.
Raw Material Use.....
Resource and Land Use
Discussion: Settlement and Subsistence .

xi



260 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Raw Material Type

Grouped
Material Code Material Type Material Code Grouped Material Type
100 chert, unknown 2 Other chert
101 chert, white 1 Brian Head chert
102 chert, “strawberry cheesecake” (white/pink) 1 Brian Head chert
103 chert, jasper 3 Jasper
104 chert, gray 2 Other chert
105 chert, white-orange-pink 1 Brian Head chert
106 chert, orange and white, peach 1 Brian Head chert
107 chert, orange 1 Brian Head chert
108 chert, pink and white 1 Brian Head chert
109 chert, tan 2 Other chert
110 chert, white, orange, and gray banded 2 Other chert
200 chalcedony, clear 20 Brian Head chalcedony
201 chalcedony, clear and gray 20 Brian Head chalcedony
202 chalcedony, clear and orange 20 Brian Head chalcedony
203 chalcedony, clear, red, and white 20 Brian Head chalcedony
204 chalcedony, clear, gray, and red 20 Brian Head chalcedony
301 quartzite, orange and white 30 Exogenous quartzite
400 obsidian, Wild Horse Canyon 40 Obsidian
401 obsidian, Panaca Summit 40 Obsidian
402 obsidian, unknown (ignimbrite) 40 Obsidian
500 siltstone, gray 50 Siltstone
600 petrified wood, translucent brown 60 Petrified wood



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 117

Table 8.1. Dated Native American archeological sites.
Time Period

Ee ee ee ee ee eee

&< < 3 < E g as & 2

ge = 3 2 2 < g& 4 3 Site Area
Site Sa a = 43 8 =< Se & é (m)
42GA1896 - - - - x x - - - 4,759
42GA1899 - - - - x x xX - - 5,640
42GA1901 - - - - x x Xx - - 1,600
42GA1902 - - - x XxX x - - - 1,769
42GA1903 x x Xx x Xx x x - - 30,402
42GA1904 - - - x x x x - x 21,704
42GA2634 - - - - - - - - x 1,306
42GA3383 - - - x x x x - - 3,645
42GA3387 - - - - - - - - x 861
42GA3388 - - - x - x - - - 4,199
42GA3488 - - - - - - - ~ x 308
42GA3558 - - - - x x - - - 420
42GA3559 - - - - xX xX - - - 250
32GA3560 - - - - - - x - - 14,746
32GA3561 - - - - xX x - - 9,400
42GA5177 - x - - - x - - - 367
42GAS5182 - x - - - x - - - 1,323
42GA5190 - x - - x x - - - 3,444
42GAS192 - - - - - - - - x 623
42GAS193 - - - - - - x - - 547
42GA5200 - - - - x x - - - 1,348
42GAS201 - - - - xX x - - x $5,432
42GA5202 - - - - - - x - - 1,011
42GA5S203 - - - - - - x - 786
42GA5205 - - - - - - xX - - 3,434
42GA5209 - - - - x x - - - 373
42GA5210 - - - x - x - - - 758
42GA5213 - - - xX Xx x - - - 1,543



PREVIOUS ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL INVESTIGATIONS 35

Two historic campsites were previously known,
one of which consists of the remains of a 1930s
CCC spike camp that was re-recorded during the
inventory. Previous investigations had also
recorded seven historic aspen groves, but only two
were known in the project area on the plateau top.
One small historic refuse scatter that lay below the
Pink Cliffs, outside the project area, was not
revisited,

As noted above, National Park Service
archeologists had conducted exploratory archeo—
logical excavations at 11 of these sites between 1989
and 1991. Most of these sites were investigated
during salvage work prompted by the Rim Road
construction project. Dominguez and Danielson
(2000) report the final results of these excavations,
which at that time represented the most extensive
archeological investigation conducted in the park. All
11 excavated sites contained Native American
components and one also contained the CCC camp.
The Native American components consisted
primarily of flaked lithic debris and tools. Ground
stone artifact counts were generally low, and faunal,
macrobotanical, and pollen remains were excep-
tionally uncommon. No stratified deposits were
encountered, and few sites contained material buried
more than 30 cm (12 inches) in depth. Projectile
point styles recovered from the sites indicated use of
the park from the middle Archaic through the
Protohistoric periods. Radiocarbon assays returned
dates ranging from 4100 to 190 B.P. Obsidian-source
analysis showed a focus on material from Great
Basin sources to the north and west. The analysts
partitioned the sites into two groups: those situated
near passes through the Pink Cliffs and those on the
plateau interior. The lithic artifact assemblages from
these site groups showed dissimilarities. Pass sites
showed greater material diversity, higher counts of
“complex” tools, and generally larger artifact sizes
(except among “complex” tools) than the interior
sites. The analysts took these characteristics as signs
of different, albeit unidentified, land-use strategies.
Lithic assemblage differences between early and late
sites were also noted but not explained (Dominguez
and Danielson 2000:61-62, 152-154).

During the road-widening project, as well as
during other surveys, historic archeological sites
generally received less analysis and interpretation.
Substantial information about the dates of the CCC
camp’s construction and occupancy was already
available in historic records, and the analytical
results of the test excavations at the CCC camp
failed to produce any further significant insight into
camp activities (Dominguez and Danielson 2000).
Conversely, the previously recorded dendroglyph
sites provided useful baseline information about
historic park use. These sites contained dated aspen
carvings ranging in age from 1900 to 1964, with the
bulk falling in the period between 1920 and 1940
(Dominguez et al. 1992).

The above summary encapsulates the
archeological knowledge that existed at the
beginning of the Bryce Canyon AIS. The unsys-
tematic collection of data and the piecemeal nature
of previous investigations prevented any
meaningful assessment of the overall types,
distribution, and condition of archeological sites on
a parkwide basis. Only a rough outline of the park’s
occupational chronology and a general sense of the
types of sites could be projected from existing data.
This lack of information also perpetuated the
assumption that few significant archeological
resources existed within the park.

Relevant Historical Research

Several comprehensive summaries of Bryce
Canyon National Park’s history have been written
(Dammann 1993; Scrattish 1985), but no formal
administrative history has been prepared. The
park’s developmental background is more
commonly treated as part of regional histories (e.g.,
Crampton 1965; Daughters of the Utah Pioneers
1949; Farnsworth 1992; Woodbury 1950) or as part
of specific National Park Service resource studies
(Caywood and Grant 1994; Dominguez and
Danielson 2000; James R. McDonald Architects
1999).





154. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

All but one tree in the park exhibit steel axe
chopping marks on the scar face. The location
and appearance of these axe marks indicate that
they are related to the bark-removal process.
Many of the axe marks are horizontal and are
found at the base of the stripped area, and most
axe marks indicate the blows were directed
perpendicularly against the trunk. These marks
probably represent initial cuts through the outer
bark that also penetrated into the heartwood.
Shallow, elongated axe marks across the face of
some scars indicate that oblique axe blows were
occasionally oriented parallel to the wood grain;
these marks may have been formed when the
bark was stripped from the bole. No trees show
the abundant chopping marks found on the
“tanning trees” reported from the Dixie National
Forest.

The bark-stripped trees in Bryce Canyon
National Park most closely resemble the types of
culturally modified trees that are typically
interpreted as having served as food sources
(e.g., Swetnam 1984). The prevalence of steel
axe marks strongly indicates that these features
date to the protohistoric or historic periods,
during which time the region was occupied by
Southern Paiute groups. Associated artifacts
found at three of the sites lend little support to a
Paiute occupation; only one multicomponent site
with culturally modified trees contains a Desert-
Side notched point (among a variety of Archaic
and late Prehistoric period projectile points).
Regardless, interpreting these trees as Paiute
features is warranted, because, although ponderosa
pines may live for 600 years (Martorano 1981:24),
steel axe marks indicate a post-Euro-American-
contact period of use. Further, the width of the
observed axe marks generally indicates they were
created with standard single-or double-bit axe or
hatchet heads, such as would have been
introduced or traded into the area by nineteenth-
or twentieth-century settlers. Marks made with
earlier Spanish axe heads would have been
narrower than those observed at the trees in the
park (Charles Haecker, National Park Service,
personal communication 2001).

Ethnographic information about Native
American practices of stripping bark from trees and
processing the products is scarce. Relying heavily
on Kutenai ethnographic interviews from Montana
reported by White (1954, cited in Swetnam
1984:179-180), Swetnam (1984) infers that much
bark peeling was carried out in the spring, because
the sap was running in the trees and the bark was
easy to peel. Peeling was the task of women,
assisted by children. Trees were peeled at locations
near camps, and the inner bark was separated from
the outer bark at the peeling location because the
outer bark was too bulky and heavy to transport.
Although special flattened poles and scrapers were
used by Kutenai groups to peel the bark from the
tree and separate the inner and outer bark (White
1954, cited in Swetnam 1984), the oblique axe
marks on the Bryce Canyon National Park bark-
stripped trees indicates that axes, rather than special
poles, were probably used to strip the bark from the
bole. This expedient use of an axe as a bark-
stripping tool may imply that these trees were
opportunistically peeled.

This observation may indicate that the Paiute
peeled these trees during a time of subsistence
stress, when the immediate need for food may have
outweighed the need to manufacture a specialized
tool. Although many native groups in the northern
Rocky Mountains and Pacific coast regularly made
use of bark foodstuffs (Stryd 1998), many native
groups in the American Southwest are believed to
have relied on bark mainly during periods of food
shortage (Martorano 1981, 1989; Swetmam 1984;
ef. DeVed and Loosle 2001). Dendrochronological
analysis of these features could reveal the
synchroneity (or lack thereof) of these features’
peeling episodes, which could further reveal if their
use was casual or intensive.

Rock Piles and Cairns

Many rock piles and cairns are present in the
project area, and most can be attributed to Euro-
American origins; these serve mainly as
boundary markers or are waste piles of con-
struction rock. Some of the remaining rock


178 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

The differences between Archaic period and
Numic/Paiute artifact assemblages from the Paun-
saugunt Plateau have been previously discussed in
this chapter. The most dramatic contrast between
sites of these periods, however, lies in the pro-
portions of functional site types. Virtually all of
the single-component Archaic period sites are
identified as hunting camps, whereas all of the
single-component Numic/Paiute sites (and some
of the multicomponent/multioccupation sites with
Paiute material) are considered processing camps,
which most likely represent small temporary
residential sites, as discussed above. These obser-
vations highlight the greatly different uses to
which the plateau-top resources were put during
the two time periods. The Numic/Paiute land-use
strategy for the plateau-top zone (as interpreted
both from archeological material and from ethno-
historic accounts such as the Davies [n.d.]
memoir) certainly cannot be used directly as a
proxy for the Archaic period use of the Paun-
saugunt Plateau.

The substantial ecological changes that
attended the early-to-middle Holocene Epoch may
underlie the different patterns of hunter-gatherer
land use on the plateau. If this were true, the high-
elevation Numic/Paiute sites should be expected
to resemble lower-elevation early Archaic period
sites, for example, which would have been located
in more mesic, forested settings during their
period of occupation (Chapter 2). The
Numic/Paiute sites on the montane Paunsaugunt
Plateau do not resemble Archaic period sites in
other lower settings, however. Simple environ-
mental differences cannot readily explain the
consistent temporal disparities in land use within
or between elevation zones.

That the differences between Archaic period
and Numic/Paiute land-use strategies are real is
apparent. What these differences mean is less so.
Ethnographic and ethnohistoric accounts of

Southern Paiute groups in southern Utah generally
indicate these groups conform most closely to
what Binford (1980) calls a foraging sub-
sistence-settlement system. Foragers have high
residential mobility and seasonally move their
base camps into different resource areas. Food
is collected daily and returned to the base camp.
Few functionally specific task sites are
necessary.

If Numic/Paiute archeological sites represent
the residue of a known foraging system, and
Archaic period archeological sites are acknowl-
edged to be different from Numic/Paiute sites,
the logical extension of the argument posits that
Archaic period hunter-gatherer groups did not
pursue a strictly foraging subsistence-settlement
system (contra Geib 1989:48; Geib et al.
2001:332, 369), at least not one that is com-
parable to that of the historic-period Paiute. It is
beyond the scope of these concluding remarks to
completely reevaluate the Archaic period sub-
sistence system of southern Utah, but in the
Kaiparowits Plateau region, for example, the
relatively common presence of large, artifact-
tich, Archaic period residential camps, in con-
junction with abundant evidence of special-
function logistical sites such as hunting and
plant-gathering camps, suggests that the Archaic
period residents pursued a strategy that is closer
to Binford’s (1980) collector subsistence-
settlement system. The data from Bryce Canyon
National Park, which indicate a specific focus on
Archaic period logistical hunting camps in the
absence of residential camps, further support this
inference. The collector-forager dichotomy is not
mutually exclusive, however, and the Archaic
period hunter-gatherer groups of Utah’s mesa
and canyon country may have adopted any num-
ber of strategies in the spectrum between these
two extremes. Interpreting these groups as
strictly foragers, however, is not presently sup-
portable with regional survey data.



steaders found little value in the scenery atop the
Paunsaugunt Plateau. A tourist-based industry
quickly flourished once the economic potential of
this previously untapped resource was realized.
Groups interested in both preservation and profit
led the push to establish Bryce Canyon National
Park and to build the numerous visitor and
administrative facilities atop the plateau. The
Euro-American archeological sites associated with
this period of park development, from the early
1920s through the 1940s, represent numerous
government, commercial, and visitor activities.

U.S. Forest Service Archeological Material

Despite more than 20 years of USFS admini-
stration and its pivotal role in the establishment of
Bryce Canyon National Monument, archeological
evidence of the agency’s activities atop the
plateau is minimal. This paucity of cultural
material associated with early USFS management
is not unexpected, however. The vastness of the
land managed by the USFS and the limited
financial resources that were available provided
little opportunity for regular USFS presence on
the plateau during the early days of its admini-
stration. Even with the establishment of Bryce
Canyon National Monument in 1923, the USFS
apparently invested little in the monument’s early
administration and development (Caywood 1994).

Dendroglyph site 42GA5232, near a spring
roughly 190 m (623 ft) from the present western
park boundary line, provides the only definitive
evidence of USFS activities within the project
area. One of the 15 dendroglyphs at this site
reads, in part, “L.C. / W.N.S. / U.S.F.S. / 6-20-
11” (Figure 9.3, left). The first timber survey
conducted on the Sevier National Forest (now
the Dixie National Forest) took place in 1911.
The “LC” initials could correspond with the
name of Lincoln Crowley, who was one of the
crew members who worked on this timber survey
(Daughters of the Utah Pioneers 1949:259).
Although this association can only be inferred,
Crowley may have carved this dendroglyph
during the 1911 work assignment.

EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 201

National Park Service Archeological Material

With the establishment of Bryce Canyon National
Park in 1928, the National Park Service assumed
administrative responsibility for the park. Initially,
the National Park Service presence on the plateau
was minimal, largely because the park was man-
aged remotely from Zion National Park. Early
records show that none of Zion National Park’s
permanent staff served more than 20 percent of
their duty time at Bryce Canyon National Park,
although three seasonal employees were hired to
work at the park during the summer months
(Scrattish 1985:122). Maurice Cope, from nearby
Tropic, was one of the first park rangers to be
hired. His tenure in the park from 1929 to 1943 is
commemorated by a dendroglyph near a trail
leading to Yovimpa Pass that reads “MNCope
May 2 1934.”

The first National Park Service facilities, con-
structed in 1929, included a checking station, two
comfort stations, and a custodian’s residence
(Caywood and Grant 1994:29). The custodian’s
residence (numbered HS-1 in the park’s List of
Classified Structures) is no longer standing,
having bummed to the ground in 1988. The
archeological remains of this feature, however,
were located during the inventory and recorded as
Site 42GA5278. Extant features include a drive-
way, a rock foundation wall with a flight of stairs,
and a footpath. Structural debris and artifacts were
presumably removed from the area during clean-
up efforts. Although there is little at the site to
indicate the cabin’s original appearance,
comparison with other National Park Service resi-
dences provides some insight into its possible
construction. As the first National Park Service
residential structure built on park land, the cus-
todian’s residence was probably used as a proto-
type for subsequent construction. Its original
appearance is probably mimicked by. other nearby
buildings in the original housing district. These
buildings exhibit simple rustic-style architecture
with massive stone foundations and chimneys,
steeply pitched gable roofs, multipane double-
hung windows, and weatherboard siding.


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 143

sites), Most used flakes are made of Brian Head
chert (n=24), but quartzite forms the next most
common used flake material (n=5). Aside from
quartzite cores, used flakes represent the only type
of tool made from this local but coarse and tough
material type.

Twenty-six of the used flakes are noncortical
(including 18 of Brian Head chert), indicating that
the parent core was substantially reduced when
the subject flake was removed. The remaining 11
used flakes are entirely or partially cortical,
including all 5 quartzite flakes. The relationship
between cortex cover and raw material type
further indicates that the Brian Head chert used
flakes were generally made from noncortical cores
(or bifaces) that were probably in advanced stages
of reduction. This characteristic may indicate that
the Brian Head chert used flakes were
manufactured on the plateau instead of having
been manufactured elsewhere and carried in.
Local quartzite was used with little removal of
cortex, and many quartzite used flakes resemble
angular chunks with obtuse or right-angled edges,
which still could be used as functional edges (e.g.,
Crabtree 1977). Conversely, most chert used
flakes resemble classic percussion flakes with
feathered terminations. Quartzite used flakes are
also generally larger (all are 6 to 16 cm across)
than used flakes of Brian Head chert (88 percent
are between 4 and 8cm across). These charac-
teristics indicate possible functional differences
between used flakes made of the two raw material

types.

Fifteen used flakes show signs of purposeful
retouch but lack use wear. The 22 items with use
wear show varying combinations of retouch,
microflake scars, edge rounding, and battering.
Flakes made of Brian Head chert dominate all
use-wear categories, but no relationship between
raw material type and use-wear type is evident.

Technological Aspects of Flaked Stone Debris

Flaking debris is the most common artifact type
observed at nearly all project sites. While the term

debris implies a waste product, some of the flakes
probably served as expedient tools during short-
term cutting or scraping activities. Because the
Bryce Canyon AIS analysis methods did not
employ microscopic examination of every flake,
probably relatively few of these expedient tools
were identified as used flakes.

Still, flakes hold information in their
morphology, raw material type, size, and fre-
quency that can be used to infer the technology
and techniques that were employed in their
creation. Hence, differential patterns of past lithic-
reduction behavior, such as core reduction, biface
production, or pressure flaking, may be inferred
from the flaking debris that was left at these sites,
even if the tools have been removed. Data from
flaking debris can confirm or expand the infor-
mation derived from the flaked stone tool
analysis. The sum of these analyses may
illuminate site functions, and ultimately land-use
patterns,

In a preceding section of this chapter, the
frequencies of raw material types used for tools
were compared to the raw materials found among
the flaking debris, and no proportional differences
were apparent in the overall site assemblages.
This section will return to the issue of lithic
material types to evaluate the technological uses
to which the various materials were put. Even
though similar frequencies of raw material types
are present between the tool and flake assem-
blages, the flaking debris may point out additional
activities not indicated by the tools. A primary
goal of this study is to determine if the types of
flaking debris represent lithic reduction activities
that correspond with or contradict the types of
tools found at these sites.

Flake Type Frequencies

Field analysts used a polythetic hierarchy of
morphological attributes to classify flakes into
mutually exclusive flake types. Many arche-
ologists acknowledge that no direct correlation
between flake type and reduction technology


52 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK



down the length of the plateau. Natural and cultural
landmarks of the eastern Paunsaugunt Plateau that
lie in and near Bryce Canyon National Park are
illustrated in Figure 2.2,

Because Bryce Canyon National Park
includes portions of the eastern plateau top as
well as the canyons and foothills below, the
terrain within the park boundary exhibits a great
degree of topographic relief. The sheer Pink
Cliffs themselves are in places over 90 m (295 ft)
high, and from the rim of the Pink Cliffs to the
canyon bottoms below, the elevation occasionally
drops over 300 m (985 ft) over a horizontal
distance of only 800m (2,625 ft). Overall,
elevations in the park range from 2,006m
(6,580 ft) above sea level (asl) along Yellow
Creek to 2,778 m (9,115 ft) asl at Rainbow
Point. The lowest plateau-top area in the park,
along Utah State Route 12, lies at roughly
2,323 m (7,620 ft) asl.

Near the southern end of the park, Yovimpa
Pass provides one of the few negotiable gaps
through the southern Pink Cliffs. From this
pass, the grassy montane valley of Podunk
Creek drains northward into the plateau interior
to feed the East Fork of the Sevier River.
Northeast of the pass, Rainbow Point occupies
the top of a promontory that juts eastward from
the plateau rim. A high linear ridge extends
north-northwestward from Rainbow Point. The
eastern margin of this ridge is sheared by the
Pink Cliffs, but the western face drops less
steeply into the plateau interior (Figure 2.3).
The northern end of this ridge is marked by a
saddle at the head of east-facing Bridge
Canyon. The relatively flat-topped Whiteman
Bench extends northward from this saddle.

A dissected, narrow mesa, Whiteman Bench
rises between the arms of the East Fork of the
Sevier River on the west and East Creek on the
east. The Pink Cliffs demark much of south-

SETTING AND ENVIRONMENT 7

eastern edge of the bench. The northeastern
portion of Whiteman Bench lies in the interior
of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, and the headwaters
of East Creek derive from several narrow
canyons along the eastern base of the bench.
The southern and eastern branches of East
Creek’s valleys within the park converge in a
series of open meadows collectively referred to
as the East Creek Meadow (Figure 2.4, see also
Figure 5.1).

East of Whiteman Bench, flat-topped East
Creek Ridge juts southeastward from the
plateau rim (see Figure 1.1). Just north of East
Creek Ridge, Bryce Point also protrudes from
the plateau. Most of the plateau-top terrain
north of Whiteman Bench slopes westward to
the plateau interior. This lower-elevation
plateau-top region is studded with low hills and
is crossed by broad, shallow canyons. From the
cliffs below Bryce Point, the broad sweep of the
Bryce Canyon amphitheater extends to the
north. Fairyland Canyon forms another
amphitheater farther north. The Pink Cliffs
continue northward from Fairyland Canyon, but
the escarpment becomes less precipitous and
eventually grades into an area of steep, rugged
badlands.

Bryce Canyon National Park is surrounded
on all sides by large tracts of the Dixie National
Forest. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument also abuts part of the eastern park
boundary, and private lands also lie to the east.
The primary regional highway, Utah State
Route 12, crosses east-west through the
northern portion of the park. The main park
highway, the Rim Road, enters the park from
the north, passes the Bryce Canyon Lodge and
Visitors Center area, and finds its southern end
at Rainbow Point. A cluster of modern hotels
and stores lies along the highway just north of
the park. The nearest town, Tropic, lies below
the park to the east, in the Paria River valley.


50 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

however, a host of internal and external conditions
(including the invasion of Texas cattle and
cowboys, and a dramatic increase in the number of
sheep) imposed some aspects of the western
ranching pattern upon the village-based Mormon
grazing system. Still, the typical pattern of a large
number of small-herd owners characterized Utah’s
ranching well into the middle of the twentieth
century (Palmer 1974; Peterson 1973, 1989).

This uniquely Mormon approach to livestock
management produced an archeological and historic
ranching landscape that is generally unobtrusive in
character. Unlike the grand ranch complexes of the
famed Old West, the sites, buildings, and structures
related to Utah’s historic grazing economy are
rarely preserved and are often barely perceptible.
Some aspects of the history of this economic
pursuit are preserved in state and local archival
records, and published and unpublished histories.
Memoirs provide additional details about this time
period (e.g., Daughters of the Utah Pioneers 1949,
Davies n.d.), but the tangible remains of this
important component of Utah’s rural economy are
rarely encountered today. Most commonly, small
cowboy or shepherd camps, corrals, and other
limited-use sites are found by archeologists (e.g.,
Geib et al. 2001). Generally, few of these
ephemeral site types can be precisely dated or
attributed to use by a specific group or individual,
which limits their interpretive potential.

The ranching and shepherding sites that are
present in Bryce Canyon National Park are indeed
unobtrusive—they consist mainly of aspen
dendroglyphs and water troughs—but unlike most
ephemeral stock-raising sites, the park’s sites can
often be dated and attributed to specific individuals
or groups. The inscriptions at these sites exhibit
numerous personal names, dates, towns and cities,
brands, messages, and drawings. As such, these
sites contain a primary, unique record of everyday
life as recorded directly by the plateau-top laborers
themselves (be they cowboys, shepherds, loggers,
etc.), Essentially, the inscriptions at these sites are
historic diaries, conveying the desires, frustrations,
and personal experiences of the cowboys and

shepherds of the past. Archeologically and
historically, these sites serve as one of the very few
primary sources of information documenting early-
period grazing activities on the Paunsaugunt
Plateau. The movements of some specific indi-
viduals may be tracked by year and month, and a
rough outline of the historic schedule of summer
grazing on the plateau may be created.

Further, many of the inscriptions include
drawings and figures, some of which were drawn
with a crude hand or are pornographic, but others
are elegantly composed and finely executed. These
figures represent a class of vernacular art that also
conveys the personal experiences and, occasionally,
social mores of the plateau-top laborers who,
presumably, were stationed with their herds in
remote locations for long periods of time and took
the time to invest their figures with highly personal
meanings. Mallea-Olaetxe (2000) observes a
paradoxical nature of aspen dendroglyphs: some-
times the inscriptions document highly personal or
private desires, and even though these inscriptions
were publicly displayed, they were never meant
for wholesale public consumption. Certainly, the
aspen inscriptions of guns, gambling, and women
that are present at the Paunsaugunt Plateau sites
were never meant to be viewed by the families of
the artists, many of whom probably had a strict
Mormon upbringing, but these elements provide
tantalizing glimpses of the private mindset of the
young men who ran their herds on the plateau.
Accordingly, the aspen dendroglyphs and other
historic inscriptions in the park find their
interpretive potential through their ability to
provide important information about the timing
and extent of the annual rounds of transient
grazers and through their ability to convey the
identity and psyche of the historic personalities
who worked on the plateau.

National Park Service Tenure on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau

Euro-American sites such as work camps,
residential sites, concessionaire utility sites, and
refuse dumps are related to the development and



126 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

(Table 8.1; Figure 8.6). Eleven sites contain 15
arrow points; five of these sites contain a total of
six arrow points in the Rose Springs, Parowan, or
Bull Creek series, suggesting that these sites
probably relate to Formative period occupations
(as opposed to Numic or Paiute occupations).
Three of these five sites also contain a total of
three other untyped arrow points. The remaining
six sites only contain single untyped arrow points,
suggesting that they may have been occupied at
any point in the post-Archaic era.

Radiocarbon samples from three additional
sites returned dates that also place them in the
general late Prehistoric period. None of these sites
contain temporally diagnostic artifacts, so their
placement in this period relies on the assumption
that the dated natural charcoal was related to the
period of site occupation (Dominguez and
Danielson 2000).

Isolated occurrences in the project area
include 2 Rosegate Stemmed, 1 Parowan Basal-
notched, and 10 untyped arrow points, totaling
28 projectile points attributed to the late
Prehistoric period. Despite the relatively low
count of points, the occupational intensity
represented by these items is exceptionally high
(Figure 8.2) due to the significantly shorter spans
of time covered by these point types. For
example, the lumped assemblage of untyped
arrow points returns one of the highest overall
deposition rates, despite their assignment to the
entire post-Archaic time span. All points from
late Prehistoric and Formative period sites are
combined in Figure 8.3, producing the highest
rate of point deposition witnessed in the project
area. Conversely, the total area covered by late
Prehistoric and Formative period _ sites
(Figure 8.4), calculated either separately or
together, falls far short of that represented by
Archaic period sites. Figure 8.5 illustrates that,
on average, Archaic period sites cover a roughly
equivalent site area, but these sites still contain
proportionally fewer projectile points than late
Prehistoric and Formative period sites. As will be
seen, this relationship holds for the post-

Formative Numic and Paiute sites as well.
Vagaries of site preservation (e.g., erosion, site
scavenging) may account for some of these dis-
parities, but cultural factors such as different site
functions or occupational durations may also have
produced this pattern. Geib et al. (2001:443) note
significant differences between the assemblages of
Archaic period and post-Formative period hunter-
gatherers on the Kaiparowits Plateau, indicating
different settlement and subsistence strategies.
Succeeding sections of this chapter will explore
the Bryce Canyon National Park data to
determine if similar patterns are evident.

Formative Period Sites

Three sites in the project area contain Virgin
Anasazi ceramics, providing the only certain
evidence of a Formative period cultural affiliation
in the park. No Fremont material is known from
the park, although several Fremont ceramic-and-
lithic scatters lie along the East Fork of the Sevier
River just outside the park (one of which may
contain pit houses; Marion Jacklin, Dixie National
Forest, personal communication 2000). The sites
in Bryce Canyon National Park represent some of
the highest-elevation Puebloan sites known in the
Grand Staircase (e.g., McFadden 1996).

One of the sites with Puebloan ceramics is a
multioccupation site that also contains fairly
abundant general Archaic material in the form of
Elko Corner-notched and Elko Eared points. This
site also contains a single untyped arrow point,
which is attributed to the Formative period
occupation. The other two sites are single-
component artifact scatters with no diagnostic
materials other than ceramics. Because few points
were found at these sites, the occupational
intensity measure presented in Figure 8.3 lumps
the Formative period sites with the late Prehistoric
period sites, The total and average site area
(Figures 8.4 and 8.5) covered by the Puebloan
sites is the lowest of all time periods. Although
the size calculations may be skewed by small
sample sizes, the consistently small size of the
Puebloan sites and the trend toward single-


FIELD METHODS AND RESEARCH DESIGN 43

using black-and-white 35-mm print film and
single-lens-reflex cameras. Photographs included
locational views, representative features, and
overviews of the site’s vegetation cover for fire
management purposes. Every recorded aspen
dendroglyph at each site and IO was thoroughly
photographed to record its appearance, extent,
and condition.

Some level of artifact analysis was
conducted at nearly all sites. The sites that did
not receive analysis included only those that had
been previously surface collected to such an
extent that few items remained available for
study. Depending on the assemblage size,
standard strategies were used for conducting
analysis on either the entire assemblage or on a
representative, arbitrarily selected sample (see
below). Artifact-inventory forms collected
artifact-specific attributes pertaining to material,
size, technology, use, and affiliation (see Wenker
and Eininger 2001). All artifact analyses were
conducted on-site as part of standard site-
recording procedures. Temporally diagnostic
artifacts, such as projectile points or ceramics,
were collected for laboratory analysis and
curation.

Flaked lithic artifact analysis sample sizes
were determined based on the overall site artifact
count. At sites containing fewer than 30 items,
all were analyzed. At sites containing between 31
and 500 flaked stone items, at least 30 were
systematically selected for analysis (obtaining a
6 to 97 percent sample). At sites containing over
500 flaked lithics, 60 were selected (obtaining at
most a 12 percent sample).

At sites that contained fewer than 100 items,
all artifacts were flagged and a random number
table was used to select 30 individual flagged
items for analysis. Sites with more than 100
items were subdivided, either by establishing two
or four circular sample areas or by dividing the
site into quarters and selecting two or four
quarters. Artifacts in each of the selected sample
areas were flagged and a random number table

was used to select 15 items from each unit for
analysis.

Recording procedures for IOs were less
detailed than those used for site documentation.
A one-page form captured basic descriptive,
locational, and environmental information
(Wenker and Eininger 2001). To expedite the
process of recording thousands of historic
checkdams, a checkdam-specific recording form
replaced the IO form. IO locations were hand-
plotted on 7.5’ USGS topographic maps and their
locations were GPS-recorded.

Immediately following the completion of
each summer’s fieldwork, the site and IO data
were entered into a Microsoft® Access database.
The database was designed for data storage and
analysis, site form and report preparation, and
future park resource management purposes.
Other post-fieldseason work included processing
GPS data, creating Geographic Information
System (GIS) coverage, and cataloguing field
specimens and photographs.

Research Design

From the outset, the Bryce Canyon AIS followed
the resource-management need to identify the
number, type, and condition of the park’s
archeological resources, but the survey also
presented an opportunity for conducting
archeological research. Basic information about
the chronology and cultural affiliation of
archeological sites forms the foundation of any
plan of research, but as outlined below, broader
archeological questions of regional interest are
also developed for the sites in Bryce Canyon
National Park.

Preliminary Research Plans
In 1991, National Park Service archeologists

developed a project-specific research design for
data-recovery excavations at 11 Native American



312. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

tools, curation and reuse of, 63, 95, 119
tourism, 22, 222
facilities developed for, 26-28, 204-8
trails, 19, 23, 26, 76, 222
stock trails, 31, 195, 200
Transitional life zone, 11
Tropic, Utah, 7, 24, 196
Tropic Ditch, 25
Trough Spring (42GA1902), 31, 57, 69-70, 72,
105, 194, 208
pipeline, 202
tuff, 133
percussion-flaked bifaces, 140
Tushar Mountains, 23

Uintah Side-notched points, 112

unfluted points, 16

Union Construction Company, 202

Union Pacific Railroad, 26, 204

UPC (Utah Parks Company), 27, 51, 205
utility area, 71, 205-6, 206-7

Upper Sonoran life zone, 11

US. Forest Service, 26
archeological materials, 201

used flakes, 141, /42, 143, 146, 165

Utah, southwestern, exploration and settlement of,

19, 23-25, 49, 196, 222

Utah Parks Company (UPC), 27, 51, 205
utility area, 71, 205-6, 206-7

Utah State National Park, 27

Utah State Route 12, 7

Utes, 23

utility areas, 71, 205-7, 206-7

utility lines, 77

vegetation communities, 11-12
Vermilion Cliffs, as a source of stone materials,
132
vernacular art, 49-50
vesicularization of obsidian, 214
Virgin Anasazi culture, 18-19, 47, 149, 175
ceramic wares, 19, 63, 65-66, 126, 150-51, 152, 221

Virgin Anasazi culture (continued)
associated with projectile points, 106
Virgin River, 19, 23

Wahweap Formation, 11
water-control features, 69-70, 180
See also checkdams
water-development features, 67, 194-95
diversion systems, 24-25
domestic water supplies, 208
watering troughs, 49-50, 69, 70, 190, 194
inscriptions, 195
water rights, 194-95
Waterworth, Robert, 198, 200
Weder, D. G., 106
Welsh, S. L., 153
Wenker, C. T., 30, 34, 39, 42, 44
Westfall, D. A., W. E. Davis, and E. Blinman,
148
Wheeler, George C., 24
Wheeler survey, 5, 24
White, T., 154
Whiteman Bench, 7, 34, 111-13, 167
Widstoe, Utah, 196
Wild Horse Canyon, as a source of stone
materials, 132
Willis Creek stock trail, 195
Wolfskill, William, 23
World War I, 198
World War II, effect on Bryce Canyon National
Park, 28

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis of obsidian
artifacts, 110, 132, 273-78

Yellow Creek, 7, 34

Yount, George, 23

Yovimpa Pass, 7, 112
stock trail, 195, 200

Zion jasper, 132
Zion National Park, 26-27, 51, 110

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 2004-673-926



List of Tables

Chapter 4
41 Summary of archeological projects
4.2 Summary of archeological sites previously recorded.

Chapter 5
5.1 Fire management units and previous archeological survey COVETAgE ......-.eseeceereeseeetetreetennteeteenes 39

Chapter 6

6.1 Cultural affiliations of sites,
6.2 Descriptive site type:
6.3 Sizes of sites.........
6.4 Native American component types and cultural affiliations .
6.5 Cultural affiliations of Native American features
6.6 Native American artifact scatter assemblage size:
6.7 Euro-American component types
6.8 Euro-American feature types ....
6.9 Euro-American artifact scatter assemblage sizes .
6.10 Cultural affiliations of isolated occurrences...
6.11 Isolated occurrence types by cultural affiliation

Chapter 7
TA Projectile point types collected from sites and isolated contexts .
72 Patination on projectile points .....
73 Lithic raw materials of projectile points .

Chapter 8
8.1 Dated Native American archeological sites
8.2 Stone material types of flaked and ground stone tools and debris at all analyzed project
site:
8.3 Single-component sites used for temporal analysis of lithic assemblages .
8.4 Summary of ceramic artifacts recorded at project site:
8.5 Site types in the project area.
8.6 Characteristics of single-component Archaic period site types.
8.7 Characteristics of single-component late Prehistoric/Formative period site type
8.8 Characteristics of single-component Numic/Paiute period site types
8.9 Characteristics of simple and complex multioccupation site tyPeS .........scsccssesceeeseesereesseeneens

Chapter 9
9.1 Frequency of legible inscription dates within the project area

Chapter 10
10.1 | Comparison of changes in Native American archeological site frequency in previously

surveyed areas of burned and unburned fire management UMItS............ccescesseseeeseeteeteeteneeseetenees 210
10.2. Frequency of fire-affected flaked lithic artifacts in burned and unburned fire

management units

XViil



The beginning and ending dates of the middle
Archaic period vary across the Great Basin and
Colorado Plateau, but for the Paunsaugunt Plateau
area the dates of 6500 to 4000 B.P. are the most
relevant. The time span of the middle Archaic
period closely corresponds with the duration of the
arid middle Holocene Epoch, which was
characterized by a significant temperature increase
and a decrease in effective moisture (Berry and
Berry 1986; Geib 1996a; Holmer 1986). Notched
projectile points including Sudden and Northern
Side-notched types began to replace stemmed
points (Beck and Jones 1997). An increase in the
frequency of grinding slabs (see Jennings et al.
1980) and other artifacts associated with the use of
plant seeds is also apparent, possibly reflecting a
trend away from hunting and toward an expanded
diet breadth that maximized returns from an arid
environment (Beck and Jones 1997).

During this arid period, there is an apparent
decrease in the occupational intensity of both the
Great Basin and the western Colorado Plateau
(Berry and Berry 1986; Geib 1996a; Grayson
1993), but there was clearly not a_ total
abandonment of either area as previously suggested
(Antevs 1948; Baumhoff and Heizer 1965). Geib
(1996a) notes that this apparent population decrease
may be the result of either a temporary abandon-
ment of the area or a shift to a mobile residential
strategy that decreased the visibility of
archeological sites. There is evidence of continued
occupation in many parts of the Great Basin
(particularly near permanent water sources) (e.g.,
Geib 1996a; Kelly 2001; Madsen 1982; cf. Aikens
and Madsen 1986) as well as the Mojave Desert
(Sutton 1996). The presence of large side-notched
projectile points in Bryce Canyon National Park
(see Chapter 7) and in the region (e.g., Geib et al.
2001) provides evidence of continued middle
Archaic period occupation in south-central Utah.
High-elevation areas, such as the Paunsaugunt
Plateau, may have been better watered than lower-
elevation areas to the south and north, making them
attractive settings (Geib 1996a:34).

Evidence of an increase in occupation is
apparent in the late Archaic period, beginning about

CULTURAL HISTORY 17

4000 B.P, This period coincides with a phase of
wetter and cooler climatic conditions. The
appearance of Gypsum points marks the beginning
of the late Archaic period (Geib 1996a), which lasts
until about 2000 to1500 B.P. The apparent increase
in occupation may reflect just that, or it could
represent changes in land-use and settlement
patterns that created a more visible archeological
record, or the increase may be a combined function
of these or other processes. Upland areas show
increased occupancy, possibly related in some areas
to the collection of pinyon seeds (Aikens and
Madsen 1986). Caves and rockshelters that were
apparently abandoned during the middle Archaic
period were used intensively again during the late
Archaic period. Many rockshelter sites of this age
show evidence of structures and storage facilities
and increased frequencies of grinding stones
(Aikens and Madsen 1986; Grayson 1993; Jennings
1980). South-central Utah witnessed these general
trends, as evidenced by the large number of sites
with Gypsum and San Rafael Side-Notched points
(see Chapter 7; also Davidson et al. 1978;
Dominguez and Danielson 2000; Geib et al. 2001).

The increased evidence for structures, storage
features, and grinding stones during the late
Archaic period suggests an increased reliance on
seed plants. This change presages the early use of
cultigens, which may have been adopted by about
2000 B.P. (50 B.C.). The introduction of cultigens
defines the end of the Archaic period and marks
the beginning of Formative period adaptations in
the Great Basin and western Colorado Plateau
(Huckell 1996).

Late Prehistoric/Formative Periods

Formative period cultures differ from earlier
Archaic period cultures in that they were at least
partially reliant on cultigens and tended to be more
sedentary. These late Prehistoric period cultures in
the Great Basin and western Colorado Plateau
appear to have developed out of earlier indigenous
Archaic period groups. In the Great Basin, one of
the hallmarks of the Formative period is the advent
of the bow and arrow, as indicated by small corner-
and side-notched projectile points. On the Colorado


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 137

Technological and Functional Aspects of
Flaked Stone Tools and Debris

All but two of the 98 Native American sites contain
flaked stone artifacts. Four of the previously test-
excavated sites had been extensively surface-
collected, and insufficient artifact counts at these
sites precluded any in-field analysis during the
inventory. The project analyzed 1,971 flaked stone
artifacts at the 92 remaining sites.

Flaking debris was sampled from each site to
obtain representative data, as described in Chapter 5.
Seventy-five of the analyzed sites contain flaked
stone tools in addition to flaking debris. All tools,
including cores and used flakes, were analyzed. Data
from JOs supports the site data, but the IO in-
formation is not part of the analysis database and is
not systematically used here.

Flaked Stone Tool Technology and Function

All flaked stone artifact classes other than flaking
debris are categorized as tools. The following
sections describe individual artifact categories as
grouped tool classes, combining all analyzed tools
from all sites of all time periods (excluding
projectile points, which are discussed by Irwin in
Chapter 7). Later sections will explore any temporal
changes in tool prevalence, technology, or function.

Pressure-Flaked Bifaces

Small pressure-flaked bifaces are the most common
tool type at project-area sites (n=102 at 50 sites;
Table 8.2; Figure 8.10). By definition, these tools
were manufactured from thin flakes by pressure
flaking the margins to create formally shaped tools
with bifacially sharpened edges. All are frag-
mentary, but many display parallel cutting edges that
taper to a pointed distal end. Most of these probably
tepresent nondiagnostic portions of projectile points,
but at least one shows macroscopic edge-rounding
wear suggesting its use as an unhafted knife.

Metric data from 101 pressure-flaked bifaces
and 123 projectile points (Irwin, Chapter 7)

indicate that length-to-width proportions are
generally consistent (Figure 8.11), even when all
fragmentary specimens are included. The
tendency for pressure-flaked bifaces to possess
smaller dimensions probably derives from their
comminuted condition, which precluded their
identification as projectile points during analysis.
The general correspondence in length-to-width
proportions indicates that most items in these two
tool classes probably shared similar functions as
either projectile points, small hafted knives, or
multi-purpose cutting/projectile tips.

The range of stone materials used to make
pressure-flaked bifaces is also similar to that of
projectile points. Over 83 percent of the pressure
flaked bifaces are made of Brian Head chert.
Obsidian (7 percent) and other chert (6 percent)
constitute the next most common materials.
Basalt, jasper, and petrified wood are also present
in low frequencies.

Percussion-Flaked Bifaces

Large bifaces and biface fragments that show
evidence of reduction and shaping by percussive
means are also a common tool class in the project
area (n=43; Table 8.2; Figure 8.10). Percussion-
flaked bifaces are present at 21 sites. All but two are
fragmentary. Brian Head chert is the most common
material type, and untyped chert is the only other
stone type represented by more than one biface.

During analysis, the morphology of these
tools’ flake scars, edge sinuosity, cortex cover,
and width/thickness ratios were examined to
assess their relative stage of reduction. Bifaces
were assigned to Stages 2 through 5, following
Callahan’s (1979) biface-reduction trajectory.
Stage 2 bifaces are early-stage tools that are thick
relative to their width, with highly sinuous edges
formed by the bifacial removal of edging flakes
that fail to cross onto the tool’s face. A hard
hammerstone is often used in this step, the goal of
which is to create a bifacial edge around the
tool’s margin. These early-stage bifaces retain
much of the original cortex or the unworked



224. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

of their proximity to construction areas (only a
single site outside a construction area was
excavated), Accordingly, the tested sample fails to
represent the range and frequency of Native
American site types distributed throughout the
biotic and abiotic zones that can be defined in the
park (e.g., ecological, geomorphological, etc.).
Further, the excavation strategies were designed
to recover a limited range of data about site con-
dition and data potential, and relatively small
proportions of the sites’ overall surface areas were
actually excavated.

The nature of the buried archeological
record also proved a limiting factor. Except for
one site where thermal features were visible on
the modern surface, no excavated sediments
revealed any intact cultural stratigraphy, even
at sites where surface materials indicated
multiple occupations over long time spans.
Even at apparent single-occupation sites, no
discrete buried cultural deposits were
identifiable, and no concrete stratigraphic
relationships between past forest fire events
and human occupations could be determined.
The apparent conflation of cultural materials
and residues from superimposed human occu-
pations precludes many meaningful synchronic
or diachronic functional interpretations of
these open-air sites.

Despite the paucity of artifacts and the general
absence of buried cultural deposits or features at
most sites, further archeological excavations at
Native American sites on the Paunsaugunt Plateau
may prove fruitful if carefully planned sampling
strategies are implemented. Sites representative of
the various functional types should be selected
from different geomorphic or vegetative zones to
explore possible differences along the plateau’s
elevational gradient. Due to low artifact counts,
excavation procedures should be designed to
maximize artifact and sample-recovery rates.
Areally extensive excavation units and intensive,
close-interval augering or shovel testing may be
necessary to recover adequate artifact sample
sizes and identify cultural strata or buried features.

Detailed geomorphological evaluations of the
formation of the park’s Holocene landscape would
add tremendously to any such research program
by identifying depositional settings that may
contain intact buried archeological material. The
efficacy of these methods remains undetermined,
but future researchers should plan to grapple
mainly with small, shallow, possibly disturbed
sites. Still, additional excavations should produce
data bearing on site function, age, occupational
intensity and seasonality, and cultural affiliation
that would enable testing of many of the interpre-
tations derived from the Bryce Canyon AIS data.

Material-Culture Studies

Obsidian-source analyses of artifacts from
Bryce Canyon National Park consistently show
a focus on source areas in the eastern Great
Basin. All analyzed artifacts from this survey
and a substantial proportion of those analyzed
by Dominguez and Danielson (2000) represent
projectile points and other tools. Source data
from items of flaking debris are lacking, and
this information should be collected to provide
data for comparison to the tool assemblages.
More obsidian from sites of different ages
should be sought for source analysis to allow
any temporal shifts in procurement strategies
to be discerned.

The great variability in the visual attributes
of Brian Head chert and the broad distribution
of Brian Head chert outcrops across the land-
scape presently prevent archeologists from
attributing particular artifacts to specific
source areas. The range of artifact material
types analyzed during the project and the
varieties of natural chert observed by the
author hint that research to create a more fine-
grained typology of chert types on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau may be productive. For
example, the range of cherts present in Casto
Canyon, north of the park, is different from
that observed at either Panguitch Lake or at
Brian Head Peak. The Casto Canyon material
presumably derives from Brian Head formation



5

Field Methods and Research Design

Chris T. Wenker and Cynthia Herhahn

The Bryce Canyon AIS represents the first large-
scale, comprehensive archeological survey con-
ducted in Bryce Canyon National Park. The survey
was primarily implemented to collect archeological
resource-management data for the park’s on-going
ecological restoration programs. The introductory
part of this chapter outlines the project’s history and
development and describes the areas covered by the
survey. Following sections outline the field logistics
and survey methods. The concluding section of the
chapter explicates the research design that guided
the survey and directed the data analysis.

Fire Management Units

The Bryce Canyon AIS was born out of the
park’s need to implement a long-term prescribed
fire program. As defined in the task directive
(NPS 2000), the primary goal of the inventory
project was to discover and document all of the
visible archeological sites within selected sample
units in the park’s plateau-top fire-management
areas. The survey was designed to obtain data on
the significance and condition of each identified
archeological site, to record the effects of
previous fires, and assess potential future fire
impacts, Although driven by the prescribed fire
program’s specific planning and compliance
requirements, the survey also helped fulfill a
general National Park Service goal of completely

37

inventorying archeological resources on land under
its management.

The park’s resource management staff identified
16 separate fire management units (FMUs),
encompassing a total area of 4,148 ha (10,251 acres),
that delineate the zones to be treated with prescribed
fire (Figure 5.1; Table 5.1). Individual FMUs range in
size from 9 to 1,581 ha (23 to 3,907 acres). The FMUs
cover nearly the entire area between the westem park
boundary and the Pink Cliffs escarpment. The northern
end of the FMU area lies along an east-west park
boundary line that crosses the Pink Cliffs rim north of
Fairyland Point. The southern end of the FMU area is
marked by the intersection of a north-south boundary
line and the cliff rim on the long narrow ridge
extending southward from the western side of
Yovimpa Pass. Between 1983 and 2001, park
managers ignited prescribed fires totaling 2,221 ha
(5,490 acres) in 12 of the FMUs.

All of the FMUs had received some level of
archeological survey prior to 2000, but the
proportions of coverage varied. In the entire project
area, 1,063 ha (2,626 acres) had been previously
inventoried, and in the burned FMUs, 638 ha (1,577
acres) had been surveyed. Most of these previous
archeological inventories were restricted to narrow
corridors for trail-maintenance or road-construction
projects (Figure 4.1). All previously surveyed
blocks and linear corridors within the FMUs
were re-surveyed during the inventory.



Oo

PROJECT SUMMARY AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR ARCHEOLOGICAL RESEARCH = 223

some of these sites, but others are known only
from their archeological remains. The wide range
of data contained in these diverse sites illuminate
the general character of work practices, daily
activities, concessionaire-management activities,
and tourist demographics that prevailed during the
historic period of park management and develop-
ment.

Directions for Future Archeological
Research

Survey Data Collection

At the conclusion of the Bryce Canyon AIS, a
total of 4,915 ha (12,146 acres), or 34 percent of
Bryce Canyon National Park has been archeo-
logically inventoried, but the intensively surveyed
areas focus entirely on the densely forested
Paunsaugunt Plateau, which covers only the upper
one-third of the park. Below the Pink Cliffs, the
pinyon/juniper woodlands of the canyons and
foothills zone covers the remaining two-thirds of
the park. Virtually none of this area (only 262 ha
[648 acres], less than 3 percent) has been
surveyed, and only nine sites have been recorded
below the canyon rim. All of the existing surveys
below the rim were conducted for compliance
projects between 1980 and 1997, and all of the
surveys follow narrow road, trail, or fence-line
corridors. As a result, these scattered survey
projects do not provide a representative sample of
the landscape.

Anecdotal reports by park staff and others
indicate that unrecorded Native American
artifact scatters (including abundant ceramics)
and Euro-American dendroglyphs, log cabins,
and corrals are present below the canyon rim, but
no scientifically collected information is
available. Until surveys are performed, the
existence of these sites must remain un-
confirmed. Surveys in the canyons and foothills
will expand the scope and usefulness of the
plateau-top survey results by collecting data from

a completely different environmental and topo-
graphic setting that has not been previously
investigated.

The known plateau-top sites north of the
Bryce Canyon AIS boundary also lack current
data, The shortage of useful information from
these sites precluded their integration into the
interpretive section of this report. Based on their
high frequency and large sizes, these sites appear
to represent an occupational intensity unlike any
observed in the project area, despite the fact that
these sites lie less than 3 km (1.9 mi) from the
northern boundary of the survey. These northern
sites probably reflect an intensive use of lower-
elevation plateau-top settings similar to that
noted by Dykmann (1976) and Kearns (1982) in
the Johns Valley region farther to the north. The
factors contributing to the variable intensity of
use across the plateau remain unknown, but areas
of high- and low-site density at the northern end
of the park may relate to environmental char-
acteristics, For example, a visual examination of
surficial geology maps (Bowers 1991) reveals a
close (but not statistically evaluated) correlation
between low site densities and areas underlain by
the Claron limestone. Conversely, areas such as
East Creek Meadow, and the area north of the
survey, which are underlain by Quaternary
alluvium and colluvium or other non-Claron rock
types, show relatively high site densities. These
associations, and the processes driving them,
remain for future evaluation.

Archeological Excavations

Dominguez and Danielson (2000) summarize a
series of small test-excavation projects at 11 sites,
most of which lie along the Rim Road corridor.
These excavations were primarily intended to
assess the sites’ integrity and information
potential, and the results were used to evaluate the
sites’ eligibility for nomination to the National
Register of Historic Places (NPS 1991). The
usefulness of Dominguez and Danielson’s (2000)
results is limited by several factors. The sites were
arbitrarily selected for excavation solely by virtue


previously recorded sites are summarized, primarily
to provide baseline information that can be
compared to and contrasted against the results of
the 2000-2001 survey.

Herhahn and Wenker then describe the
development and implementation of the Bryce
Canyon AIS in Chapter 5. This chapter describes
the field strategies and methods that were used
during the survey. The research design that guided
the project and directed the data analysis for this
report is also presented, with the hope that future
researchers of the archeology of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau will find it a useful guide for defining
additional research questions.

Chapter 6, prepared by Eininger, summarizes
the results of the fieldwork. This chapter tallies and
describes the range of archeological sites and
isolated occurrences (IOs), as well as the types of
artifacts and features, found in the project area.

Donald Irwin presents the results of a
morphological analysis and a temporal assessment
of the projectile points that were collected from the
Native American sites in Chapter 7, Using
projectile point data from this survey and previous
park projects, Irwin also evaluates aspects of
prehistoric and historic Native American settlement
and subsistence in the project area.

In Chapter 8, Wenker draws on the projectile
point analysis as well as other artifact and site
data to more fully evaluate the Native American
archeology of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Wenker
evaluates and compares the overall flaked stone
artifact assemblages at Archaic, late Prehistoric/
Formative , and Numic/Paiute sites to assess the
park’s relative occupational intensities through
time. Using artifact and feature data as well as
geographic information, Wenker also evaluates
the functions of the plateau-top sites and
compares the apparent temporal changes in the
use of the Paunsaugunt Plateau with regional
trends.

In Chapter 9, Eininger presents a descriptive
summary and interpretive evaluation of the Euro-

INTRODUCTION 3

American archeological material in the project area.
Historic aspen dendroglyphs (bark inscriptions) are
the most common and visible feature type on the
plateau, and Eininger describes the types of
inscriptions and summarizes the range of names and
dates that are carved in the park’s aspen groves.
This chapter also evaluates the historic
archeological materials in their functional roles and
tracks the appearance or disappearance of various
site or feature types through time. For example,
periodic changes in land-management policies, such
as the issuance of livestock-grazing permits, may be
reflected in the distribution of some site and feature

types.

The Bryce Canyon AIS was conducted partly to
facilitate environmental compliance for the park’s
prescribed fire program, and abundant data relevant
to previous fire effects and current on-site fuel
loads were collected at each site. Chapter 10, by
Wenker, presents a brief evaluation of the effects of
recent prescribed fires on the visibility and
condition of Native American archeological sites in
montane meadows and heavily forested areas.
Surprisingly, little effect from modern fire is
reflected in the data.

Chapter 11, also by Wenker, summarizes the
results and interpretations of the project and sug-
gests potential avenues for future research. One
glaring gap in the present data is apparent: the
virtual absence of information about the archeo-
logical record of the foothills and canyons below
the Pink Cliffs.

Several appendixes, numbered according to
their relevant chapters, follow Chapter 11. The
first appendix (6.1) presents a descriptive table
summarizing the 194 archeological sites recorded
during the survey. A list of IOs recorded in the
project area is presented in the second appendix
(6.2). Appendixes 7.1 and 7.2 present a coding
key and analysis data for 123 projectile points
collected during the survey. The final appendix
(7.3) contains a report by Richard Hughes that
describes the results of x-ray fluorescence
analysis of 15 obsidian projectile points collected
from the project area.


124. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Middle Archaic period sites and materials
are infrequently observed throughout much of
the Great Basin, and as indicated in Chapter 3,
this phenomenon has often been interpreted to
either indicate a decline in overall regional
population levels or to indicate an excep-
tionally ephemeral land-use pattern. Interest-
ingly, Geib et al. (2001:Tables 6.2 and 7.3) do
not report a similarly low middle Archaic
period occupation level on the Kaiparowits
Plateau east of the park. Rather, that survey
recorded nearly as many middle Archaic period
sites and projectile points as early Archaic
period sites and points. Similarly, Kearns
(1982:265-266) reports relatively low counts
of early Archaic period sites and substantially
higher counts of middle and late Archaic
period sites in the Kaiparowits and Aquarius
Plateau areas to the east and northeast. The low
frequency of middle Archaic period material

on the Paunsaugunt Plateau presently remains
unexplained.

Late Archaic Period Sites

The late Archaic period witnessed an occu-
pational florescence in Bryce Canyon National
Park, Although only eight sites containing late
Archaic period material are recorded (just two
more than in the early Archaic period), these
sites contain a total of 17 projectile points.
Furthermore, 11 isolated late Archaic period
points have also been found in the project area.
This total of 28 late Archaic period points is
nearly three times greater than the count of early
Archaic points. This increased occupational
intensity is further illustrated by a higher depo-
sition rate (Figures 8.2 and 8.3) as well as by a
similarly proportioned increase in total and
average occupied site area (Figures 8.4 and 8.5).

18000

16000

e 6 z
§ 3 8 8
8 83 3
88 8 8

Average Site Area (nf)
8

8
8

x
8
8
8

e

Late Paleoindian/
Early Archaic

Middle Archaic

Late Archaic

All Archaic
Late Prehistoric!
Formative

Puebloan
Numic/Paiute

Time Period

Figure 8.5.

Average area covered by sites of known time periods or affiliations.


70 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Figure 6.9.
(Site 42GA5241).

Most of the water-control features in the
project area were presumably constructed to
establish a reliable water supply for livestock.
Trough Spring (42GA1902) and Shaker Spring
(42GA5216) were part of Ruby Syrett’s 1923
water-rights claim. These springs were later used
by the National Park Service to provide water for
park and commercial use. The spring box and
related features at Shaker Spring probably reflect
the domestic use of this spring. Although the
Trough Spring site shows no similar development
on-site, a historic pipeline recorded between the
spring and the main lodge area indicates a
domestic use of this spring as well.

The only structural feature recorded during
the project that even approaches the classification
of “standing architecture” is found at the site of a
park ranger’s cabin (Site 42GA5278, referred to
as HS-] in the park's List of Classified Structures).
This ranger cabin was originally constructed in
1929 but it burned to the ground in 1988.
Although the site was cleared of loose debris after
the fire, extant features include a rock foundation
wall, a rock stairway, a leveled structural pad, a

Livestock watering troughs, hewn from single logs, at a spring near Whiteman Bench

small driveway and parking area, a footpath, and
an unknown rock alignment.

The locations of other ephemeral structures-in
the project area are implied by the presence of six
level, graveled platform features at Sites
42GA5270 and 42GA5277. Five of these features,
at Site 42GA5270, appear to be part of a formal,
planned tourist campsite that was repeatedly used
(Figure 6.5). Three of the features at this site,
which range from 6 to 16 m (20 to 52 ft) long and 3
to 6m (10 to 20 ft) wide, appear to be foundation
pads for semipermanent structures. Two other
smaller leveled areas suggest a possible tent
platform and a possible ramada (an unwalled,
roofed structure) once existed. Three trails, the
longest of which extends 22 m (72 ft), connect the
various structure foundations.

The other possible structural feature, at Site
42GA5277 (Figure 6.4), is associated with a
possible concessionaire utility area. This leveled
feature measures about 66-x-7-m (217-x-23-ft)
across and appears to represent the location of a
dismantled structure or structural complex.



300 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

archeological sites (continued)
occupational intensity, 115-29, 123-24, 163
and research results, 34-35
site-definition criteria, 40, 212-13
site density, 53
site maps, 42, 56, 59, 60, 62
site number duplication, 34
site-recording forms, 42
site sizes, 57, 60, 123-24
site summaries, 55, 219-23, 229-38
site types, 57-58, 155-65, 163-64
complex multioccupation, 156
hunting camps, 156-61, 165, 167, 178
indeterminate, 156, 158-61
multioccupation sites, 63, 115, 156, 158,
163-64, 168
processing camps, 156-62, 167, 171, 178
quarries, 67, 72, 156, 202, 222
reduction loci, 156
semipermanent residences, 156
simple multioccupation, 156
storage or cache loci, 156
temporary residential camps, 156
site visibility in bummed and unburned FMUs,
209-14
temporal affiliation, 63, 117-18, 158
See also specific sites
architectural features, 58, 70-71, 76, 153, 175
historic buildings, 204
house foundation, 67
jacal and masonry structures, 18
park ranger's cabins, 70
pithouses, 18
ramadas, 70
rockshelters, 17
structure pad, 60
arrow heads. See small projectile points
artifact collection methods, 43
artifact-inventory forms, 43
artifacts
analysis of, 110, 132, 273-78
on-site, 43
comparison of burned and unburned
assemblages, 215-17
diagnostic, 63, 67, 203-5
projectile points, 85-86, 89, 103-7, 111,
116, 119, 125
See also specific kinds of artifacts
artifact scatters, 57-58, 64-67, 72-73, 73, 76, 179

size of, 128
visibility of, 209-14
See also ceramic scatters; lithic scatters; refuse
scatters
aspen dendroglyphs, 58, 77, 212, 221
dating limited by life span of aspen trees, 197
depictions of
animal figures, 189, 192-93
a bird, /93
four playing-card suits, 190, /93
human figures, 184, 186-90, 193
livestock brands, 189, /9/-92
a pistol, 194
historic inscriptions, 67, 196, 201
personal names and dates, 180, /82-83, 184,
185, 191, 204, 205
locations of, /8/
recording methods, 40, 43
sites, 35, 49-50, 56, 57
unrecorded, 225
See also culturally modified trees
atlatl darts, 85, 116
Avua territory, 20

Badland-Rock Outcrop map unit, 10
Bailey, T. C., 24
description of Bryce Canyon, 15
Bajada Complex points, 119
Bamforth, D. B., 157
basalt, 131, 133
Basketmaker II culture, 18
projectile points, 105
Basketmaker III culture, 106
Basque shepherds, 197
beaver place (Paunsaganti), 5
benchmarks, 76
biface-reduction flakes, 144, 146
bifaces
biface-reduction trajectory, 137, 139
percussion-flaked, 137, 138, 139-40, 140, 148
pressure-flaked, 137, /38
compared to projectile points, /39
distribution of, 166
biface-thinning flakes, 144-46
Billat, S. E., 30
Binford, L. R., 178
bipolar flakes, 144
Black Hawk War, 19, 23-24
Black Mountain, as a source of stone materials, 132



Appendix 7.2

Coded Projectile Point Analysis Data

263


152. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Figure 8.16.

Sherds collected from project sites: (top) selected Virgin Anasazi Shinarump
Corrugated sherds and (bottom) Southern Paiute Brown Ware sherds.



24 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

the early 1870s, the abandoned communities were
rapidly resettled (Crampton 1965:117-125, 201).
During the Black Hawk War the area east of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau, which had always been well
removed from the established trails and settlements,
was first visited by Euro-Americans. In 1866, when
Captain James Andrus was in pursuit of
“marauding Navajos” his party ventured into the
upper Paria River valley below the Pink Cliffs.
His experience provided settlers with descriptions
of the lands and resources east of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau (Crampton 1965:127; Newell and Talbot
1998:67-69).

Exploration of southwestern Utah gained
additional momentum during the 1870s as a
result of a series of federally sponsored recon-
naissance surveys of the American southwest.
Although the expeditions that crossed the
Paunsaugunt Plateau did not gain the same fame
as Major John Wesley Powell’s Colorado River
surveys, significant data were collected from
throughout the region. Lieutenant George C.
Wheeler’s survey team traversed the Paun-
saugunt Plateau in 1872, mapping its geologic
resources. Two members of the Wheeler
expedition, Edwin Howell and Grove Karl
Gilbert, are credited with the first written
description of the spectacular pinnacle-filled
landscape visible from the eastern plateau rim. In
1873, Almon H. Thompson and F. S.
Dellenbaugh of Powell’s survey reportedly
climbed the southern tip of the plateau near
Rainbow Point. Thompson’s investigations also
led him up the Paria River to its headwaters
below the Pink Cliffs immediately east of the
park. Between 1875 and 1877, Captain Clarence
Dutton’s geologic survey of the high plateau
country and T.C. Bailey’s General Land Office
survey also examined portions of the Paun-
saugunt Plateau. Although important data about
the configuration and resources of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau were collected, these
findings were a small portion of much larger
regional studies, and accordingly drew little
immediate public attention.

Settlement East of the Paunsaugunt Plateau

Settlement in the immediate vicinity of Bryce
Canyon did not begin until the mid-1870s, a period
when the Mormon frontier expanded across the
High Plateaus to the upper valleys of the Paria,
Escalante, and Fremont Rivers (Crampton
1965:201). Stockmen were the first to venture east
across the Paunsaugunt Plateau in search of
rangeland for their rapidly growing herds. Others
followed, motivated by reports of a favorable
climate, well-watered lands, and ample grazing and
timber resources (Daughters of the Utah Pioneers
1949:115; Newell and Talbot 1998:127). Clifton
was the first of several communities established
along the Paria River headwaters in 1874.
Numerous homesteads also sprang up below the
Pink Cliffs in the tributary canyons of the Paria
River. Among these early settlers was Ebenezer
Bryce, the namesake of the canyon that later
prompted the establishment of the national park.
Between 1874 and 1892, six closely spaced town
sites were established in the Paria River
amphitheater (Crampton 1965:204). Three of these
communities, Tropic, Cannonville, and Henrieville,
survive to the present day.

The valleys east of the Paunsaugunt Plateau
provided a longer growing season and more
hospitable farming climate than the earlier Sevier
River valley settlements to the west, although the
arable land was more limited. Many homesteaders,
particularly those in the Cannonville and
Henrieville areas, had to battle the effects of
erosional downcutting (Daughters of the Utah
Pioneers 1949:117-121; Newell and Talbot
1998:143-146). Success was largely dependent on
the homesteaders’ ability to tap and control the
limited local water resources.

The success of the town of Tropic can be
attributed in part to the construction of a major water-
diversion system during the early 1890s. Concerns
about the limited availability of irrigation water
stimulated a plan to bring water to the Tropic Valley
from the East Fork of the Sevier River, located atop


The single pictograph panel recorded at Site
42GA5287 consists of a series of 47 red and black
lines (resembling tick marks), small amorphous
areas of red pigment, and irregular black lines
(Figure 6.7). The tick marks occur in clusters of 4
to 12. A 1891 Euro-American inscription is also
present on this panel, which occupies a sloping
limestone face at the base of the Pink Cliffs. As
previously discussed, this site lies outside the
project area but, because it is the first rock
painting recorded in the park, the site warranted a
special visit. Although the pictograph was
recorded as being of “Unknown” affiliation, a
Native American affiliation is likely considering
the painting’s stylistic similarity to other regional
Native American pictographs and petroglyphs
(Barnes 1982; White and Orndoff 1999).

Native American Artifact Scatters

One hundred nine artifact scatters are recorded
among 96 Native American components. Seven
components contain multiple scatters, with as

KEY
GY wistoRIC INSCRIPTION
neo\, PICTOGRAPH, RED IN COLOR
(BLACK PICTOGRAPH, BLACK IN COLOR
<?  TRACE PAINT
7 NATURAL CRACKING

D7 AREA OF LOSS THROUGH NATURAL

SPALLING
sac,
>
{-
s ;
“4 %
eN
puacx
o 10 20

CENTIMETERS

Figure 6.7.

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 65

many as six distinct scatter areas defined within a
component’s boundaries. Lithic scatters are the
predominant scatter type (n=102). With few
exceptions, these consist solely of flaked lithic
artifacts (i., flaked stone tools and manu-
facturing debris). Nonflaked and ground stone
artifacts are recorded at only 14 lithic scatters
and are few in absolute number. Ceramic
artifacts are rarer still, being documented at
seven scatters, each containing between | and 25
sherds. Southern Paiute utility wares and Virgin
Anasazi gray wares, red wares, and corrugated
wares are identified in the project assemblage.
Several artifact scatters contain fragments of
mammal bone, but the association of these faunal
remains with the artifacts is unknown.

Native American scatter size is highly
variable. Components range from fairly extensive,
broadly dispersed scatters covering up to 46,300 m?
to small clusters of artifacts concentrated within a
4-m? area. Artifact counts range from 4 to 532
items. The majority of the assemblages are

Illustration of Site 42GA5287, a probable Native American pictograph painted in red

and black pigment adjacent to a Euro-American inscription.



BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

234

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Black Mountain, as a source of stone materials, 132
Bladh, J. A., 30
blazed trees, 76-77, 222
Bleed, P., 157, 165
Blinman, E. See Westfall, D. A., W. E. Davis, and
E. Blinman
Blue Fly Creek, 25
Bolton, Les, 199-200
Boulder jasper, 132
bow and arrows, 17, 116
Bremer, J. M., 155
Brian Head chalcedony, 109-10, 130, 135-36
Brian Head chert, 109-10, 130-31, 133, 135-36,
144, 224-25
outcrops, 173, 220
percussion-flaked bifaces, 140
Brian Head Peak, as a source of stone materials,
130, 224
Bridge Canyon, 7
Brown, G. M., 85, 89, 91, 94, 100, 104-5
Brown's Bench, as a source of stone materials, 132
Bryant, R., 202
Bryce, Ebenezer, 24-26
Bryce Canyon
Bailey's description of, 15
creation of (Paiute version), 15
scenic splendor of, 25-28, 200-201 (See also
tourism)
Bryce Canyon Archeological Inventory Survey
(AIS), 219
surveyed area, 1, 34, 39, 4/, 53
Bryce Canyon Lodge, 7, 27, 36, 71, 112, 222
Bryce Canyon National Monument, establishment
of, 27, 198, 201, 219
Bryce Canyon National Park, 1, 6, &
archeological materials, 201-3, 222
establishment of, 24, 27, 198, 201
geology, 9-10
Great Depression development of, 28
historic context, 35-36, 68
List of Classified Structures, 201
physiographic setting, 5, 7
during World War I, 28
Bryce Canyon National Park Archeological
Overview and Assessment (NPS), 29,
219
Bryce Canyon Visitors Center, 7
Bryce Point, 7, 112
as a source of stone materials, 133

INDEX 301

Bull Creek points, 18, 99, 101, 107, 112
associated with Kayenta ceramics, 106

cabins, park ranger's, 70
cairns, 71, 76-77, 153-55, 222
Calabrese, F. A., 29-30
Callahan, E. C., 137, 139
campfire locations, 77
campsites, 58, 67, 70, 202-5
Canaday, T. W., 104, 170, 173
Canadian life zone, 11
Cannonville, Utah, 24, 196
cans, 55, 76-77, 203, 205, 207-8, 221
diagnostic, 67
Casto Canyon, 110
as a source of stone materials, 130, 224-25
cattle grazing, 25, 27-28, 198
CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), 28, 35, 71,
78, 203, 221-22
aspen dendroglyphs, 204, 205
checkdams, 51
Cedar Breaks National Monument, 12-13, 26, 110
archeological survey results, 132, 170, 173, 177
Cedar City, Utah, 23
ceramic and lithic scatters, 57-58, 64
ceramics, 18-19, 48, 150-51, 152, 220
associated with projectile points, 106
Numic/Paiute, 63, 66
as temporal markers, 116
ceramic scatters, 57-58, 64
ceramic wares
Harriman Blue earthenware, 204-5, 207-8
Hopi Yellow Ware, 204
Numic/Paiute, 63, 66, 151
Shinarump Corrugated Ware, 66, 151, /52
Shinarump Gray Ware, 66, 151
Shinarump Red Ware, 66, 151
Snake Valley Gray Ware, 150
Southem Paiute Brown Ware, 48, 128, 150-51, [52
Southern Paiute utility wares, 65
St. George Black-on-Gray, 66
Virgin Anasazi, 19, 63, 65-66, 126, 150-51,
152, 221
chalcedony, effect of fire on, 215
Chandler, S. M. See Christensen, D., S. M.
Chandler, S. Kreutzer, and J. Jennings
checkdams, 43, 51, 53, 73, 78, 78-79, 222
recording procedures, 43
See also water-contro] features


264 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK



156 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

plex use histories better than it can differentiate
functional site types.

Accordingly, when Geib et al. (2001) later
surveyed on the Kaiparowits Plateau, sites were
categorized intuitively rather than statistically. By
modifying a pre-existing typology used by Kearns
(1982), Geib et al. (2001:325) identify semi-
permanent residences, temporary residential
camps, processing camps, hunting camps,
reduction loci, storage or cache loci, and quarries,
as well as indeterminate and unknown/other site
types, on the Kaiparowits Plateau. To allow the
Bryce Canyon AIS results to be comparable with
regional work, this typology is also adopted in the
following discussion. Geib et al. (2001:325-341)
do not explicate criteria for each site type, but the
following attributes are apparent. Semipermanent
residences evince extended occupancy, perhaps of
a full year’s cycle, and contain architectural
remains, middens, or both. At temporary
residential camps the important attributes include
an abundant and diverse set of stone artifacts,
including grinding tools, often co-occurring with
hearths and, occasionally, middens. Processing
camps are temporary resting places and staging
points for special-purpose task groups who are
believed to have emphasized plant gathering tasks
(but not to the exclusion of faunal resources).
Artifact diversity is more limited than at
residential camps, and certain tool types are
dominant, depending on the resource being
collected. Hearths may be present but other
facilities are lacking. Hunting camps are identified
principally by the presence of debris from late-
stage biface reduction and projectile point bases
and other fragments. These sites lack heavy
cobble choppers, pounders, or grinding tools.
Hearths and burned bone may be present.
Reduction loci contain debris from nodules or
from tool fabrication or production, resharpening,
or modification. In cases where the debris derives
from tool resharpening, a hunting camp function
may be alternately inferred. Storage or cache loci
may consist of discrete artifact clusters that may
be hidden, implying storage, or structural features
such as cists. Quarries are places where raw

materials for stone tool production were procured
and initially reduced. Indeterminate or unknown
site types can include rock art sites or small
artifact scatters of no apparent unifying theme
(Geib et al.’s [2001:341] “tool-kit-guy” sites).

To this list of site types are added two
categories that are more descriptive than
functionally diagnostic: complex multioccupation
and simple multioccupation sites. Complex
multioccupation sites are large sites that show
evidence of use during two or more time periods
and that contain diverse assemblages. Simple
multioccupation sites are smaller and contain less
diverse material from only two different
occupations. These classes are necessary because
it was generally not possible to distinguish and
date discrete component areas at the Bryce
Canyon National Park multioccupation sites (cf.
Geib et al. 2001:348-353),

The multioccupation sites in the project area
probably represent palimpsests of multiple
temporary residential camps, processing camps,
hunting camps, or reduction loci, but the
functional history of these sites cannot presently
be determined with survey data. The complex
sites probably represent favored locales, and as
such they probably served domiciliary functions
(and hence may be provisionally viewed as
temporary residential camps), while the simple
sites may represent serendipitous or purposeful
reoccupations that could have served any range of
functions. The addition of these two site types
acknowledges multiple occupations while ex-
cluding these presently uninterpretable sites from
the following functional typology calculations.

The Functional Role of Flaked Stone
Assemblages

Due to an absence of local toolstone sources, the
Paunsaugunt Plateau provides an_ interesting
backdrop on which to evaluate some aspects of
the flaked stone technological organization of past
Native American residents. Raw material avail-
ability can significantly affect aspects of stone



192 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Figure 9.13. Possible livestock brands executed
as aspen dendroglyphs, Note scale.

Figure 9.14. An aspen dendroglyph depicting
portraits of two horses.



182. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

42KA5S782 F58-15 DETAIL

x

On ef
- 2.

We es

FLY ¢ a

fa Shans
Ay é

JB a%

iv
(YEAR UNKNOWN)

=
TO
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——_o)
ee
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42KA5791 F58-3 DETAIL

42GA5788 F58-32

Figure 9.2.

“hy , 42K A3287 F58- 21

( $04 ripe.)

\ / VF 4

oo Co
eae Dl

42KA5772 F58-29 DETAIL

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42KAS772 F58-21 DETAIL

42KA5796 F58-2 DETAIL i

é

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Examples of personal names carved at aspen dendroglyph sites. Not to scale.



42 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Depending on the abundance of material,
these resources were then classified as either
sites or isolated occurrences (IOs). As a general
rule, artifact scatters constituted sites if they
contained six or more Native American artifacts
or 16 or more Euro-American artifacts within a
15-m diameter area. Archeological resources not
meeting these minimum criteria were recorded as
IOs. Isolated occurrences included single
artifacts, small artifact scatters not meeting the
required site density, features of questionable
cultural origin, and isolated features lacking any
associated artifacts. Multiple features or features
with artifacts typically qualified as sites. These
definitions were flexible, however, and crew
chiefs wielded considerable discretion in
determining the appropriate field-recording
approach. For example, some small Native
American artifact scatters that contained fewer
than six items but that displayed high proportions
of tools or imported lithic materials, were
recorded as sites. Some Euro-American IOs
consist of refuse scatters with more than 15
individual items, but these qualified as IOs
because they consisted of many small broken
shards or fragments of a few (<15) large glass,
ceramic, or metal artifacts. Other spatially
extensive Euro-American refuse scatters that
contained more than 15 items also constituted
IOs because the density of material within any
given 15-m diameter area did not meet the
minimum criterion of a site.

Site documentation followed a component-
based recording system—a component being an
array of temporally and culturally related
archeological remains that could be spatially
segregated within the bounds of a site. Site
boundaries were determined based on the extent
of features or artifacts across the landscape. Sites
with features or artifact scatters that appeared to
be the result of a single occupation or use period
represented single-component sites. This
approach was used for the majority of the sites
where no spatially discrete evidence of multiple
occupations by different cultural groups could be
discerned. Sites that contained evidence of

multiple occupations that could not be spatially
segregated (such as a single lithic scatter
containing a mix of early and late projectile point
styles) were also treated as single-component
sites during recording (but are analyzed as
multioccupation sites; Chapter 8). Multi-
component sites were designated as such only
when it was possible to spatially define material
from two or more distinct occupations or cultural
periods (e.g., a lithic scatter adjacent to a
historic-era refuse scatter).

Each recorded archeological resource was
assigned a sequential, project-specific field
number (prefaced with “AIS” for sites and “IO”
for isolated occurrences). All forms, maps,
photos, field specimen logs, mapping records,
and related documentation were cross-referenced
using the field number. Sites were recorded on
project-specific data forms that captured basic
descriptive, locational, environmental, and
management information as well as data per-
taining to cultural and temporal affiliation,
feature and assemblage characteristics, artifact
technologies, susceptibility to fire, and future
management recommendations. Supplementary
data fields were also recorded to address park-
specific research and management issues. To
adequately record the numerous dendroglyphs
and telephone-line features, additional forms
were created during the survey to capture the
unique attributes of these site types. Copies of
the 2000 site-recording forms and manuals are
presented by Wenker and Eininger (2001). Hand-
drawn, scaled site maps that show the location of
the site datum and boundaries, the location and
extent of artifact scatters, features, or collected
artifacts, and the site topography or other
relevant physical features were created on ruled
graph paper using hand-held orienteering
compasses and metric tapes or pacing to measure
distances. Global positioning system (GPS) data
were collected for site datum and boundary
locations using Trimble GeoExplorer® I and II
data collectors. Site locations were also hand-
plotted on U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5’
topographic maps. Sites were photographed



APPENDIX 6.2 ISOLATED OCCURRENCES = 255

Appendix 6.2. (continued)

IONo. Cultural Affiliation IO Type IONo. Cultural Affiliation IO Type

4366 © Euro-American Pipeline feature 4632 Unknown Flake scatter and Historic
4367 Euro-American Historic refuse afiiaton and refuse

4438 Euro-American Bottle 4633 Euro-American Historic refuse

4526 Euro-American Historic refuse 4644 Euro-American Historic refuse, hardware
4527 Euro-American Historic refuse 4845 Euro-American Can scatter

4528 Euro-American Can scatter 4846 Late Prehistoric. Unknown arrow point
4529 Euro-American Road 4847 Euro-American Road

4530 Euro-American Campfire 4848 Euro-American Fence

4531 Euro-American Modified tree 4849 Euro-American Fence

4532 Euro-American Historic refuse 4850 Euro-American Fence

4533 Euro-American Historie refuse 4851 Euro-American Fence

4534 Euro-American Historie refuse 4863 Furo-American Road

4539 Buro-American Can scatter 4864 Euro-American Road

4540 Euro-American —_Blazed tree 4865 Euro-American Can scatter

4541 Euro-American Historic refuse 4866 Euro-American Historic refuse

4542 Euro-American Historic refuse 4868 Euro-American Benchmark

4543 Euro-American Can, food 4869 Euro-American _Dendroglyph

4544 Euro-American Blazed tree 4870 Native American _Lithic scatter

4545 Euro-American _Bottle scatter

Checkdam Numbers (n=3909) : 1, 20, 43-60, 81-89, 91-164, 166-228, 230-252, 270-336, 339-444, 446-479, 482-
772, 774-776, 778-1107,1 109-1231, 1234-1270, 1273-1281, 1283-1321, 1325-1405, 1408-1430, 1432-1448, 1450-
1481, 1500-1514, 1516-1524,1526-1532, 1535-1539, 1541-1558, 1560, 1562-1596, 1600-1624, 1636-1637, 1639-
1685, 1699-1739, 1741-1748, 1750-1771, 1773-1853, 1855-1867, 1878-1884, 1900-1923, 1930-1950, 1952-1999,
2051-2052, 2057-2058, 2100-2144, 2146-2162, 2164-2179, 2181-2248, 2250-2255, 2257-2291, 2293-2419, 2421-
2425, 2427-2466, 2475-2550, 2552-2569, 2571-2822, 2828-2829, 2831-2888, 2894-2895, 2900-3058, 3061-3064,
3066-3092, 3100-3192, 3194-3196, 3200-3224, 3226-3241, 3290-3353, 3355-3381, 3392-3431, 3433-3457, 3483-
3499, 3546-3556, 3565-3628, 3630-3639, 3644-3657, 3683, 3685-3787, 3789-3799, 3815-3837, 3981-3982, 4086-
4088, 4100-4123, 4131-4157, 4163, 4171-4172, 4177-4179, 4202-4209, 4211-4224, 4238-4241, 4278, 4283-4298,
4310-4327, 4368-4437, 4439-4525, 4535-4538, 4546-4631, 4634-4643, 4645-4844, 4852-4862, 4867

Numbers not assigned (n=10): 3971-3979, 4354



66 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 6.6. Native American artifact scatter assemblage sizes.
Assemblage Size (Total Artifact Count)
Scatter Type 1-10 11-25 26-100 101-200 201-350 >350 Total
Lithic scatter 39 23 32 3 2 3 102
Lithic and ceramic scatter 1 3 1 1 1 - 7
Total 40 26 33 4 3 3 109

small, however, containing fewer than 100
artifacts. This trend generally coincides with the
observations of earlier archeological work in the
park, except at a few sites where Dominguez and
Danielson (2000) had overestimated sitewide
artifact counts by several orders of magnitude.
Table 6.6 summarizes Native American artifact
scatter assemblage sizes based on both the Bryce
Canyon AIS data and information gleaned from
previous site-documentation work.

Artifact density is also highly variable,
ranging from sporadic, sparsely distributed artifact
scatters to localized, high-density concentrations.
Density varies from 1 to 25 artifacts per square
meter, although | to 3 artifacts per square meter is
most common (n=66).

The lithic analysis identified 17 different raw
material types. Multicolored cherts and chal-
cedonys are the most common. Coarse quartzites,
obsidian, petrified wood, jasper, and sandstone
items are also noted but in much lower
frequencies. Lithic scatters typically contain one
to three different lithic raw material types,
although nine different types are present at one
scatter.

Over the course of the inventory more than
2,000 lithic artifacts were field-analyzed. These
include 1,687 pieces of debitage, 147 bifaces, 72
projectile points, 37 used flakes, and 22 cores.
Scrapers, manuports, manos, metates, drills, and
hammerstones are also noted but are few in
number. Sixty-eight projectile points were

collected from 40 sites for laboratory analysis.
Twenty-one point types are identified (Chapter 7).
These include late Paleoindian/ early Archaic,
Archaic, late Prehistoric, and Numic point types.
The flaked lithic assemblages at the site com-
ponents typically contain one to four different
technological types. Hard-hammer reduction
flakes, angular debris, biface-thinning flakes, and
pressure flakes are the most common. At Site
42GA1904, however, ten artifact classes are in-
yentoried, including projectile points, bifaces,
scrapers, manuports, a hammerstone, and a variety
of debitage types.

Ceramic artifacts constitute a very small
proportion of the project area’s overall artifact
assemblage. Given the high-elevation setting and
lack of habitation sites, the scarcity of ceramics is
not unexpected. On-site inventories identified 74
ceramic items at seven artifact scatters. Six
ceramic types are present among the 13 sherds
that were collected for laboratory analysis. Paiute
utility ware and Virgin Anasazi wares including
Shinarump Gray Ware, Shinarump Red Ware,
Shinarump Corrugated Ware, possible St. George
Black-on-Gray, and an unidentified Virgin
Anasazi black-on-gray are present (Chapter 8).
The vast majority of ceramics are Paiute utility
wares (n=63). Two possible Paiute utility ware
pot drops, represented by small, dense clusters of
sherds, are present at Sites 42GA5192 and
42GA5262. These clusters account for most of
the recorded sherds. Virgin Anasazi ceramics are
uncommon (n=11), with only one to four sherds
noted per scatter.



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302 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

chert, 77-78, 109-10, 130-32, 135-36, 144
effect of fire on, 215
percussion-flaked bifaces, 140
Chinle Formation, as a source of stone materials, 132
Christensen, D., S. M. Chandler, S. Kreutzer, and
J. Jennings
archeological resources near Alton, 132, 150,
170
archeological resources near Kolob Terrace and
Alton, 119, 172
Puebloan sites, 175, 221
chronology
historic chronological data, 67-68, 201
projectile points as chronological markers, 85~
86, 89, 103-7, 111, 116, 119, 125
research design topics, 44-45
See also dating
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. See
Mormons
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 28, 35, 71,
78, 203, 221-22
aspen dendroglyphs, 204, 205
checkdams, 51
Claron Formation, 9
as a source of stone materials, 132
Clifton, Utah, 24
climate, 11-13
Clovis points, 16
Collette, J. H. See Geib, P. R., J. H. Collette, and
K. Spurr
Colorado Plateau, 5
interface with Great Basin, 46-47, 226
paleoenvironmental conditions, 12-13
Colorado Plateau Archaic culture, 105
Castle Valley phase, 103
Green River phase, 103
Colorado River, 5
surveys, 24
complex multioccupation site type, 156
Cooper, Than, 199-200
Cope, Maurice, 201
cores/tested cobbles, 140-41, 146
Cowboy Cave site, 16, 104, 106
Crabtree, D. E., 144
Cretaceous Period rocks, 10
Crowley, Lincoln, 201
cultigens
early use of, 17-18
maize horticulture, 19

cultural affiliation
of isolated occurrences, 74-75
of sites, 44-45, 55, 61, 63, 86, 103-7
culturally modified trees
bark-stripped, 20, 48, 63-64, 64, 128, 151,
153-54
dendrochronological data, 225
with historic inscriptions, 190
blazed, 76-77, 222
See also aspen dendroglyphs
curation and reuse of tools, 63, 95, 119

Dammann, N., 36
Danielson, D.
previous archeological projects in Bryce
Canyon, 30-31
artifact counts, 66
CCC camps, 203
hammerstones, 150
obsidian artifacts, 132
projectile points, 101, 106, 116
test excavations, 35, 220, 223—24
thermal features, 153
Virgin Anasazi ceramics, 19
See also Dominguez, S., D. Danielson, and K.
Kramer
database, 43
data forms
artifact-inventary forms, 43
site-recording forms, 42
data-recovery excavations, 31
dating, 197-99
of archeological sites, 117-18
with aspen dendroglyph dates, 180, 782-83,
184, 185, 191, 204, 205 (See also
chronology; historic inscriptions)
limited by life span of aspen trees, 197
diagnostic artifacts, 63, 67, 203-5
projectile points, 85-86, 89, 103-5, 111,
116, 119, 125
of Euro-American occupation, 1, 67, 184
of Native American occupation, 1
radiocarbon dates, 35, 116, 119, 126, 128
Davies, J. H., "Among My Memories," 20-22,
167, 197
Davis, W. E. See Westfall, D. A., W. E. Davis,
and E. Blinman
debris. See flaked stone debris
Dellenbaugh, F. S., 24



42GA3383, but it was typed as Rose Springs Corner-
notched (Dominguez et al. 1992:Figure 10c). This
previously documented point has a small, slightly
contracting stem and pronounced tangs. It is
morphologically similar to the examples of
Parowan Basal-notched points collected during
the survey.

Bull Creek

One projectile point, made of chert, is classified
as a Bull Creek point (FS 119; Figure 7.90).
Bull Creek points are small triangular points
with a pronounced concave base (Holmer and
Weder 1980). Their length is generally at least
twice their width, giving them an elongated
triangular form.

This nearly complete point weighs 2.1 g and
is 42 mm long, 15 mm wide, and 4.2 mm thick.
A small break is present on one corner. This
point exhibits the elongated triangular form and
pronounced concave base typical of this type.
This point is not serrated.

Dominguez and Danielson (1993) have
previously documented a Bull Creek point from
Site 42GA1904. It is similar to the Bull Creek
point collected during the survey, with an
elongated triangular form and a concave base.

Unclassified Small Side-notched Points

Four broken points are categorized as un-
classified side-notched arrow points. These
points are manufactured from chert and
chalcedony. Three of these points lack
serrations; one has a serrated blade. One (FS
35; Figure 7.10a) is a midsection fragment with
an elongated triangular form, fine serrations,
and a shallow (1 mm) side notch. Another (FS
78; Figure 7.10b) is triangular with shallow
(1.1mm) side notches and an expanding,
concave base (PSA 139°). This tool’s thick

PROJECTILE POINTS 101

(4.8 mm) and roughly diamond-shaped cross-
section suggests that it may be a drill rather
than a projectile tip. The third point (FS 10;
Figure 7.10c) is a small triangular point with a
narrow (1.5 mm) horizontal side notch (PSA
166°, DSA 180°) and corner fractures that
removed most of the base. This point is similar
to the Desert Side-notched points in the survey
collection, but the base fracture removed the
diagnostic attributes that would indicate this
type. Another of these points (FS 42;
Figure 7.10d) is a midsection fragment with an
irregular outline, a shallow (1.8 mm) side notch,
and a PSA of 156°.

Unclassified Small Corner-notched Points

Seven points are categorized as unclassified
small corner-notched points; all exhibit
fractures that prevent accurate classification.
These points are made of chert and chalcedony.
Two of these points are well made and probably
represent broken Rosegate Corner-notched
points (Figure 7.10e-f). The remaining five
have pronounced shoulder barbs that resemble
the Parowan Basal-notched points in the survey
collection (Figure 7.10g-k).

Unknown Small Points

Seven points, made of chert, chalcedony, and
obsidian, are categorized as unknown arrow
points (Figure 7.10)-r). All but one are mid-
section fragments that cannot be accurately
typed. Only one of these points exhibits
serration. The single complete unknown point
(FS 4; Figure 7.101) is triangular with an
expanding concave base (PSA 122°) and
shallow (2.1 mm), wide (6.0 mm) notches. This
point weighs 1.2 g and is 26 mm long, 12 mm
wide, and 3.7 mm thick. This point is similar to
Elko Eared points, but its size suggests that it is
an arrow point, possibly of the Eastgate Split
Stem type.


NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 175

evaluated here. These three sites, containing
assemblages with Virgin Anasazi artifacts, are
interpreted to represent occupation by Puebloan
groups. One of these sites also contains Archaic
period material, so its site function cannot be
determined. As noted in previous sections, the two
single-component Puebloan sites in the project
area represent a processing camp and a site of
unknown function. No habitation sites are evident
in the survey area.

The Puebloan groups who occupied the
Virgin Anasazi culture area of southwestern Utah
pursued a horticultural lifeway. This subsistence
focus is reflected “in the occurrence of permanent
architecture accompanied by extensive storage
facilities, ceramic production, horticultural imple-
ments, ... and grinding implements” (Altschul and
Fairley 1989:101). In the Grand Staircase, sites
with structures generally lie between 1,525 and
2,135 m (5,000 and 7,000 ft) asl in elevation
(Lyneis 1995). These limits mark the range of
possible horticulture: the lower end is constrained
by insufficient precipitation and the upper by frost
(Fawcett and Latady 1998).

The degree to which these Puebloan groups
specialized in horticulture or relied on a mix of
horticulture, hunting, and gathering is presently
debated (e.g., Fawcett and Latady 1998; Larson
and Michaelson 1990; McFadden 1996; Martin
1998). Some who approach the resolution of this
question hang the interpretation of specialization
versus diversity on the presence or absence of
special-activity sites.

If the local [Virgin] Anasazi practiced a mixed
economy, we should expect to find temporary
camps and limited activity sites throughout
the...area, with a higher concentration at
higher elevations where dryland agriculture
was not possible. If [the Virgin Anasazi
pursued an] almost exclusive focus upon
agriculture, then temporary camps and limited
activity sites should be relatively rare, and
settlement should be concentrated at lower
elevations around agricultural (structural)
sites. (Fawcett and Latady 1998:45)

Such an approach assumes, however, that
upland temporary camps or limited activity sites
were dedicated to food procurement. This
perspective also fails to acknowledge that high-
elevation, nonresidential sites are not infrequent in
other contemporary Anasazi culture areas (e.g.,
DeBloois and Green 1978; Orcutt 1999), where a
strong reliance on horticulture is generally
acknowledged (Martin 1998). Virgin Anasazi diet
breadth must be measured with more than a single
line of evidence (cf. Fawcett and Latady 1998).
Regardless, the common presence of nonstructural
sites at high-elevation locales throughout the
Grand Staircase indicates that local Puebloan
groups either used logistical camps during forays
away from their architectural home bases, or they
occasionally took up a full-time foraging lifeway
(which seems to be the crux of the debate; see
Lyneis 1995:226-227 for a review).

South and west of Bryce Canyon National
Park, Christensen et al. (1983) report a single
Anasazi habitation/village site in the southern,
lower end of the Kolob Terrace survey parcel, and
note that the southern margins of both the Kolob
and Skutumpah Terrace (ie., Alton) parcels
appear to lie just within the northernmost, highest
reaches of the range of Anasazi architectural sites.
In this area, architectural sites appear to be limited
to settings lying below roughly 1,920 m (6,300 ft)
asl in elevation. Christensen et al. (1983)
conversely note that small, limited-activity
Anasazi sites are present across the entire extent
of both the Kolob and Skutumpah Terrace survey
areas, at a density exceeding all preceding or
subsequent time periods. Keller (1987:41)
supports this observation in the Alton area. The
observed site types consistently indicate seasonal
exploitation of local resources.

The types of Puebloan limited-use sites
recorded on the Paunsaugunt Plateau are not
unexpected, but they do contain exceptionally
depauperate artifact assemblages, even when
compared to the material at the temporary camps
on the Skutumpah Terrace, which is the step
immediately below the southern Pink Cliffs. The



104. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

(Geib et al. 2001:196; Moore and Brown 2002)
suggest that there is morphological overlap between
stemmed Oshara Tradition points (i.e., San Jose)
and Pinto points. In spite of the similarity between
the two Bryce Canyon Pinto points and the Oshara
Tradition types, it is unlikely that the Bryce Canyon
points are affiliated with the Oshara Tradition.
Although San Jose points have been documented in
southeastern Utah east of the Colorado River (Mohr
and Sample 1959), little evidence supports the use
of south-central Utah by Oshara groups.

Middle Archaic occupation of the project area
is indicated by Sudden Side-notched and Northern
Side-notched points, a Humboldt point, a previously
recorded Hawken point (Dominguez and Danielson
2000), and a possible Rocker Side-notched point.
Sudden Side-notched points are found throughout
southern and central Utah (Brown 1988; Irwin
2001; Jennings 1978; Schroedl 1976; Tipps 1988).
Holmer (1986:104) indicates that Sudden Side-
notched points date from approximately 4400 to
2400 B.C. and that Northern Side-notched points
date from approximately 5200 to 2400 B.C. Sudden
and Northern Side-notched points have not been
previously documented at Bryce Canyon, but these
points have been reported from neighboring regions
such as the Kaiparowits Plateau (Geib et al. 2001).
Humboldt points found in the region also suggest a
potential middle Archaic date between 5650 to
4140 B.c., although in the central and western Great
Basin they occur between 3050 and 1850 B.C.
(Holmer 1978:67). Rocker Side-notched points
were recovered along with Sudden Side-notched
points in strata at Sudden Shelter dated between
4850 and 3350 B.C. (Holmer 1978:68). Schroedl
(1976) indicates that Rocker Side-notched, Sudden
Side-notched, and Hawken Side-notched points
typify the Castle Valley phase of the northern
Colorado Plateau Archaic (dating between 4250 and
2550 B.C.), but by approximately 3050 B.C. these
point types decrease in frequency in favor of
Humboldt Series and lanceolate point forms
(Schroed! 1976:64). Previous researchers identified
a Hawken Side-notched point at Site 42GA1903
(Dominguez and Danielson 2000) that dates to the
middle Archaic period and is roughly contem-

poraneous with Sudden Side-notched points
(Holmer 1986:104).

Late Archaic period occupation of the project
area is indicated by a San Rafael Side-notched point
and numerous Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum
points. Schroed] (1976:66) indicates that San Rafael
Side-notched points appear along with Gypsum
points (i.e., Gatecliff Contracting Stem) during the
early portion of the Green River phase (2550 to
1350 B.C.) of the Colorado Plateau Archaic period
at Cowboy Cave. At Sudden Shelter, Sudden Side-
notched points are replaced by San Rafael Side-
notched points by 2400 B.c. (Holmer 1986:104),
but regionally these points are found in contexts
that date between 2600 and 400 B.c. (Holmer
1978). In central and southeastern Utah, San Rafael
Side-notched points have been found at Sudden
Shelter (Holmer 1978; Schroedl 1976), Natural
Bridges National Monument (Irwin 2001), near
Canyonlands (Tipps 1988), Ghost Rock (Brown
1988), and on the Kaiparowits Plateau (Geib et al.
2001). Canaday (2001:76) illustrates a Northern
Side-notched point from nearby Cedar Breaks
National Monument, although this point appears
more typical of San Rafael Side-notched forms.

Gatecliff Series (Gypsum) points occur
throughout the western Colorado Plateau and Great
Basin, where they are indicative of late Archaic
occupations dating between 3000 and 1300 B.C. in
the Great Basin and 2500 B.c. and A.D. 500 on the
western and northern Colorado Plateau (Brown
1988; Holmer 1986; Schroedl 1976; Thomas 1981).
The Gypsum point style, subsumed by Thomas
(1981), Holmer (1986), and Brown (1988) into the
Gatecliff Series, occurs at Sudden Shelter and
Cowboy Cave in well-dated late Archaic contexts
(Holmer 1986; Schroedl 1976). Gypsum points are
common throughout southwestern Utah and have
been previously documented at sites (eg.,
42GA1903, 42GA1904, 42GA3383) and isolated
surface contexts in Bryce Canyon National Park
(Dominguez and Danielson 2000; Dominguez et al.
1992), at Cedar Breaks National Monument
(Canaday 2001:70-71), and on the Kaiparowits
Plateau (Geib et al. 2001).



formed in alluvium derived from limestone, sand-
stone, and shale (USDA/SCS 1990:54). This soil
may be noteworthy because it can support wet
meadow environments, and it may be an indicator
of extinct marshy ecosystems on the plateau.

Climate

Climatic data recorded at the park headquarters
between 1916 and 1984 indicate a yearly average
rainfall of 41 cm (16 in) and a yearly average
snowfall of 241 cm (95 in). January temperatures
average —6°C (22°F) and July temperatures
average 17°C (63°F) (USDA/SCS 1990:198).
Most summer precipitation arrives as thunderstorms
that form when moist air from the Gulf of Mexico
moves across the area from the south and southeast.
Winter precipitation in southwestern Utah is
deposited by frontal storms approaching from the
west. The Paunsaugunt Plateau lies in a rain shadow
formed by the Markagunt Plateau to the west and
Tushar Mountains to the northwest and, hence,
receives less precipitation than those higher
landforms (USDA/SCS 1990:3-4, 112).

Hydrology

As previously noted, the eastern scarp of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau (the area occupied by the
park) forms a drainage divide between the water-
sheds of the Paria River to the east and the Sevier
River to the west. The 11 main watercourses that
intermittently flow eastward toward the Paria
River commonly head in the erosional amphi-
theaters immediately below the Pink Cliffs,
although some runoff from the plateau top also
feeds these drainages. To the west, the East Fork
of the Sevier River collects nearly all runoff
from the interior slopes of the plateau and flows
northward off the mesa. Runoff from the park
feeds this river through one perennial stream
(Podunk Creek) and eight other intermittently
flowing drainages.

SETTING AND ENVIRONMENT il

Springs are commonly encountered on both the
plateau top and below the Pink Cliffs rim. Springs
on the plateau originate from saturated alluvial
deposits or from water spreading along
impermeable layers in the base of the Claron
limestone. These springs are often only seasonally
available due to the shallow depth of the aquifer
deposits and the limited surface area available for
recharge. Beneath the rim, many of the springs exist
where saturated, permeable layers of the Wahweap
and Straight Cliffs formations emerge. Larger
recharge areas and storage aquifers lend more
stability and permanence to these springs (Marine
1963; Ott 1996).

Modern Ecosystems: Floral and Faunal
Resources

Due to the park’s great topographic variability,
ecosystems representative of the Upper Sonoran,
Transitional, and Canadian life zones are present in
a restricted area. Along the breaks of the Pink
Cliffs, a mosaic of microenvironments often
juxtaposes montane and desert ecosystems (Bowers
1991:1).

As the plateau drops in elevation from south to
north (from over 2,743 m [9,000 ft] asl to about
2,316 m [7,600 ft] asl), vegetation communities
change from dense groves of aspen and mixed
conifers (including white fir, blue spruce, and
Douglas-fir) to ponderosa pine forests and open, dry
meadows of sedge and sagebrush. Manzanita,
antelopebrush, and other low shrubs are common
throughout the lower forested areas. In the moist,
sheltered canyons immediately below the Pink
Cliffs, ponderosa pine, Gambel oak, and manzanita
dominate. The lower-elevation canyons and
foothills are blanketed with pinyon pine, Utah
juniper, and sagebrush (Buchanan 1960; Roberts,
Wight, and Hallsten 1992). A century or more of
fire suppression has resulted in densely forested
areas in the park uplands that show low species
diversity and contain heavy understory accumu-
lations of deadfall and duff. Many meadow





136 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

(Hartley 1980a:48) curated at the park is made of
petrified wood or other chert. Despite the common
use of Brian Head chert for projectile points,
Numic/Paiute lithic assemblages contain the lowest
overall proportion of Brian Head chert and the
highest proportion of other chert (although Brian
Head chert still dominates; Figure 8.9). This
correlation may indicate that Paiute groups who
used the Paunsaugunt Plateau had stronger
connections with areas outside the Brian Head
chert source area (which lies to the west) than did
groups of the preceding periods. The presence of
recycled Anasazi ceramics at Paiute sites (see
below) further implies an eastern or southern focus
toward the Grand Staircase, rather than to the west.

An assessment of the raw materials of
temporally diagnostic projectile points from
the survey collection provides little additional
insight (Appendix 7.2). Brian Head chert
forms the most commonly used material in all
time periods, and other chert and obsidian
make up the bulk of the remaining points. No
trends divergent from the site-assemblage
data are apparent in the projectile point
assemblage. Among obsidian artifacts, no
temporal changes in source-area preference
are apparent, which may be due to the small
number of items that have been analyzed and
the overwhelming reliance on the Mineral
Mountains source.

100.0
90.0
80.0 a
ZAIl Archaic
_ 70.0
c
8 es ELate Prehistoric/
oO . Formative
qa 40.0 . .
30.0 mNumic/Paiute
20.0
10.0 +4
0.0 a
§ 8 > Bg 8
5 8 328 §& g
@ o =z @
3s ¢ 38 € 3
° = Is 3 5
2 cS “4 a
cf B&O i}
3 o cot 6
g 2
1o)
Stone Type
Figure 8.9. Proportions of stone material types in single-component Archaic, late

Prehistoric/Formative, and Numic/Paiute sitewide assemblages.



159

NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU

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that may have helped convince Ebenezer Bryce
to pursue ranching elsewhere, remains almost
completely unsurveyed. Once intimately known
by the Southern Paiute and Mormon pioneers like
Bryce, this portion of the park remains
undeveloped and largely unvisited today. Archeo-

Robert P. Powers
Supervisory Archeologist
Archeology Program
February 2003

logical exploration here will be fundamental to
developing a balanced understanding of the human
history of the region, and future archeologists who
investigate this portion of the park will have the
pleasure of revealing another piece of Bryce’s
tich history.


|
|
186 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
|
|
|

42KA5809 F58-22 \ /
it /

42KA5805 F58-6

Figure 9.5. Examples of aspen dendroglyphs depicting female figures. Not to scale.



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 119

Archaic Period Occupation

Sites containing Archaic period material sig-
nificantly outnumber all other datable sites
(Table 8.1; Figure 8.1). Thirty-three sites contain
Archaic-style projectile points, although only 15
of these sites can be attributed to the early,
middle, or late Archaic periods. Three of these
sites have also yielded radiocarbon dates that
correspond with their projectile point styles. The
remaining 18 sites are assigned to the general
Archaic period based on the presence of Elko
Series points or large untyped dart points.

Twenty-two of these sites contain only
Archaic material; the remaining 11 also possess
artifacts or radiocarbon samples indicative of a
post-Archaic occupation. Of the 15 sites for
which occupation during either the early, middle,
or late Archaic period can be determined, 13
represent single-period sites and 2 represent
multiple Archaic period occupations. One single-
period site dates to the late Paleoindian/early
Archaic period transition, five date to the early
Archaic period, one dates to the middle Archaic
period, and six date to the late Archaic period. Of
the multioccupation sites, one contains materials
from all Archaic periods, from the Paleoindian/
early Archaic period transition to the late
Archaic period (as well as late Prehistoric/
Formative material, see below). The other multi-
occupation site contains a Paleoindian/early
Archaic period point and a late Archaic period
point.

Late Paleoindian/Early Archaic Period Sites

Three sites recorded during the project and one
previously recorded IO (Dominguez et al. 1992)
document the use of the park during this early
period. The higher frequency of strictly early
Archaic period material, discussed below, sug-
gests that these Paleoindian-style stemmed
points may actually represent use during the
early Archaic period rather than during the late
Paleoindian period. At two of these sites, a

fragment of a large, untyped stemmed projectile
point with basal grinding was found among
other generalized dart points. The assignment of
these sites to the Paleoindian period is
provisional. The third site contains a Great
Basin Stemmed point, a certain marker of this
time period (Beck and Jones 1997). This site
(42GA1903, located at the head of East Creek)
also contains abundant material from the early
Archaic period through the late Prehistoric/
Formative periods, suggesting that later in-
habitants could have introduced this early
stemmed point to the site as a curated item
(although it shows no later reworking). Another
probable Great Basin Stemmed point was
previously found nearby in an isolated context
on a ridge above East Creek (Dominguez and
Danielson 2000), strongly suggesting that this
area of the park did in fact witness use during
this late Paleoindian/early Archaic period
transitional period.

Notably, several other regional surveys also
report similar early stemmed projectile points,
further indicating that a generalized low-level
use of the region may have occurred during the
terminal Paleoindian period. For example,
Christensen et al. (1983:51) report two “Bajada
Complex” points from isolated locations in the
Kolob-Alton area, just south and southwest of
Bryce Canyon National Park. These points
(Christensen et al.1983:Figure 14E, F) appear
remarkably similar to the Great Basin Stemmed
point collected during the Bryce Canyon project,
and they probably represent Great Basin points
rather than points of the Oshara Tradition. Keller
(1987:77-78; Figure llc-e) also reports five
Silver Lake stemmed points from the Alton area
but attributes them to an early or middle Archaic
occupation. All of the points from south of the
park are substantially smaller than the Great
Basin Stemmed point collected during the Bryce
Canyon inventory. Kearns (1982:193) also re-
ports a large stemmed point resembling a Jay or
Lake Mohave point from the Kaiparowits Plateau
area.



APPENDIX 7.3 XRF ANALYSIS OF OBSIDIAN ARTIFACTS — 273
Geochemical Research Laboratory Letter Report 2001-83
October 9, 2001

Mr. Chris Wenker, Archeologist
National Park Service
Intermountain Support Office

P.O. Box 728

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-0728

Dear Mr. Wenker:

Enclosed with this letter you will find a table presenting x-ray fluorescence (xrf) data generated
from the analysis of 15 obsidian artifacts from various archaeological sites and isolates within
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. This research was conducted pursuant to your letter request
of October 1, 2001 under terms of National Park Service purchase order P7485210038.

Analyses of obsidian are performed at my laboratory on a SpectraceTM 5000 (Tracor X-ray)
energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer equipped with a rhodium (Rh) x-ray tube, a 50
kV x-ray generator, with microprocessor controlled pulse processor (amplifier) and
bias/protection module, a 100 mHz analog to digital converter (ADC) with automated energy
calibration, and a Si (Li) solid state detector with 160 eV resolution (FWHM) at 5.9 keV in a 30
mm? area. The x-ray tube is operated at 34.0 kV, .26 mA, using a .127 mm Rh primary beam
filter in an air path to generate x-ray intensity data for elements zinc (Zn Ka), gallium (Ga Ka),
rubidium (Rb Ka), strontium (Sr Ka), yttrium (Y Ka), zirconium (Zr Ka), and niobium (Nb Ka).
Barium (Ba Ka) intensities are generated by operating the x-ray tube at 50.0 kV, .35 mA, with a
-63 mm copper (Cu) filter, while those for titanium (Ti Ka), manganese (Mn Ka) and total iron
(Fe,0,") are generated by operating the x-ray tube at 15.0 kV, .30 mA with a .127 mm aluminum
(Al) filter. Iron vs. manganese (Fe Ko/Mn Ka) ratios are computed from data generated by
operating the x-ray tube at 15.0 kV, .30 mA, with a .127 mm aluminum (Al) filter. Deadtime-
corrected analysis time for each sample appears in the data table.

X-ray spectra are acquired and elemental intensities extracted for each peak region of interest,
then matrix correction algorithms are applied to specific regions of the x-ray energy spectrum to
compensate for inter-element absorption and enhancement effects. After these corrections are
made, intensities are converted to concentration estimates by employing a least-squares
calibration line established for each element from analysis of up to 30 international rock
standards certified by the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and
Technology, the Geological Survey of Japan, the Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et
Geochimiques (France), and the South African Bureau of Standards. Further details pertaining to
x-ray tube operating conditions and calibration appear in Hughes (1988, 1994). Extremely
small/thin specimens are analyzed using a .25 mm? primary beam collimator, and resulting data
normalized using a sample mass correction algorithm. Deadtime-corrected analysis time is
greatly extended in all instances when primary beam collimation is employed.



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 127
“et
56 | 7

5 S aie
<t ant ony "Park Bounda

a) a met

N Late Prehistoric/
© Formative Period ,
Site |

0 1 2 Kilometers

ae
0 1 2 Miles

Figure 8.6. Locations of all sites containing late Prehistoric/Formative period material recorded in
the project area.


PROJECT SUMMARY AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR ARCHEOLOGICAL RESEARCH = 225

outcrops at the canyon head, but it could derive
from other non-Brian Head deposits mid-
canyon; details such as this require
clarification. Little information is available
about the chert sources at Flake Mountain
(Dominguez and Danielson 2000) or about the
chert-bearing alluvial lag gravels along the
Sevier River. The Casto Canyon, Flake
Mountain, and Sevier River source areas need
to be compared and contrasted. Petrographic
analyses (Bakewell 2001) could help dif-
ferentiate material from these sources.

Further, the nature of the — lithic-
procurement archeological sites scattered along
the foothills of the Sevier Plateau near Flake
Mountain (Dykmann 1976) should be
examined more thoroughly. The intensity of
lithic procurement should be measured and
compared to better-known source areas such as
Cedar Breaks National Monument (Canaday
2001). If a major chert procurement area were
to be identified immediately north of Bryce
Canyon National Park, the archeological
picture of regional Native American land use
would require reevaluation. Quantities of
natural chert are also reported below the Pink
Cliffs in the park (Gayle Pollock, personal
communication 2001), and the abundance of
those sources and their possible influence on
the artifact assemblages of the plateau-top sites
require further clarification as well.

Wooden Archeological Features and Data
Collection

Bryce Canyon National Park contains at least 16
standing ponderosa pine trees that were used by
protohistoric or historic Paiute people. The
dendrochronological data that these trees contain
(Stryd 1998) can provide information about not
only the period of site occupation, but possibly
even about the seasonality of feature use. The
dates of bark-stripping events can also be used to
measure the periodicity of the creation of these
features, which can be used to infer subsistence
stress (Martorano 1981). Core samples or cross

sections should be recovered from these trees to
prevent the loss of chronometric information from
these fragile, perishable, and flammable features.

Finally, aspen dendroglyphs constitute a
substantial proportion of the archeological record
in the park. Due to the relatively short life spans
of most aspen trees, these historic dendroglyphs
are disappearing yearly. This loss of information
makes the recordation of bark carvings a matter
of some urgency. Additional unrecorded dendro-
glyph groves are known to exist below the
canyon rim. Information from many of those
trees is expected to duplicate that found on the
plateau top, but the expansion of the database
may reveal additional patterns in the seasonality
or use of discrete grazing areas. Adjoining areas
of the Dixie National Forest also surely contain
an immense quantity of aspen dendroglyph data.
Future dendroglyph recording projects in the
forests of the Paunsaugunt Plateau will also
surely be rewarded with abundant and illu-
minating results.

Conclusion

Bryce Canyon National Park occupies the
highest step of southern Utah’s Grand Staircase.
The lifeways of all past residents of this province
were structured by the different types of biotic
and abiotic resources available on the staircase’s
stepped terraces. Archeological investigations in
this elevationally partitioned landscape can not
only view past occupational strategies on indi-
vidual steps of the staircase but can compare and
contrast the strategies that were used on nearby
steps containing different resources. Information
from recent, large-scale surveys covering each of
the steps of the Grand Staircase now allows the
Native American and Euro-American culture
history of the entire province to be sketched out.
Nonetheless, a general lack of excavation data
from well-preserved contexts throughout the
staircase presently hinders detailed interpretation
of past lifeways. Archeological excavations are


294 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Rowley, W. D.
1985 U.S. Forest Service Grazing and

Rangelands. Texas A & M University Press,

College Station.

Rumberg, J. C., Jr.
1956 Memorandum to the Superintendent,
Zion and Bryce Canyon, from Supervisory
Park Ranger. Subject: Grazing History,
Bryce Canyon National Park. Memorandum
dated January 27, 1956 on file, Bryce

Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

Ruscavage-Barz, S. M. (editor)
1999 Fire in the Hole: The Effects of Fire on
Subsurface Archaeological Materials. Draft
Ms. on file, Bandelier National Monument,
New Mexico.

Russell, D. J.
1993 Running Antelope: A Paleoindian Site
in Northern Utah. Utah Archaeology 1993
6(1):79-85.

Sackett, J.
1985 Style and Ethnicity in the Kalahari: A
Reply to Wiessner, American Antiquity
50:154-159.

1990 Style and Ethnicity in Archaeology:
The Case for Isochrestism. In Uses of Style
in Archaeology, edited by M. W. Conkey
and C. A. Hastorf, pp. 32-43. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.

Salmond, J. A.
1967 The Civilian Conservation Corps,
1933-1942: A New Deal Case Study. Duke
University Press, Durham.

Sayler, R. D., R. W. Seabloom, and S. A. Ahler
1989 Impacts of Prescribed Burning on
Archeological and Biological Resources
of the Knife River Indian Villages NHS. A
report submitted in partial fulfillment of
requirements of Contract No. PX 1200-8-
0833, a cooperative agreement between

the U.S. National Park Service and the
University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

Schindler, D. L., J. W. Hatch, C. A. Hay, and
R. C. Bradt
1982 Aboriginal Thermal Alteration of a
Central Pennsylvania Jasper: Analytical and
Behavioral Implications. American
Antiquity 47:527-544.

Schroeder, A. H.
1965 A Brief History of the Southern Utes.
Southwestern Lore 30(4):53-78.

Schroedl, R.

1976 The Archaic of the Northern Colorado
Plateau. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
Department of Anthropology, University of
Utah, Salt Lake City.

1977 The Paleo-Indian Period on the
Colorado Plateau. Southwestern Lore
43(3):1-9.

Schwartz, D. W., J. Kepp, and R. C. Chapman
1981 Archaeology of the Grand Canyon:
The Wathalla Plateau. Grand Canyon
Archaeological Series, Vol. 3. School of

American Research Press, Santa Fe.

Scrattish, N.
1985 Historic Resource Study, Bryce
Canyon National Park. Ms. on file, National
Park Service, Rocky Mountain Regional
Office, Denver.

Smiley, F. E.
1995 Lithic Assemblage Structure and
Variation, Animas-La Plata Archaeological
Project 1992-1993 Investigations in Ridges
Basin, Colorado. Animas—La Plata Project
Research Papers No. 2. Northern Arizona
University, Flagstaff.

Smith, M. L.
2001 The Archaeology of a “Destroyed”
Site: Surface Survey and Historical



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 133

Quartzite

Flakes made of local quartzite constitute the third
most common general material class (Table 8.2).
Pebbles and cobbles of coarse quartzite are
naturally present throughout the park as sparse lag
deposits. These pebbles and cobbles probably
derive from the unnamed sandstone conglomerate
that unconformably overlies Bryce Point (Chapter
2). This sandstone contains abundant quartzite,
chert, and limestone gravels and pebbles (Bowers
1991) that could provide a source of coarse, low-
quality toolstone. Quartzite cobbles are unevenly
distributed across the plateau top; areas of
relatively dense deposition include the hills
northwest of Fairyland Canyon, the rim of the
Pink Cliffs north of Bryce Point, the broad upland
ridge extending west from Bryce Point, and some
of the eastern tributary canyons of Podunk Creek.
As will be seen in the following technological
discussion, no formal flaked stone tools are made
of this material, probably due to its low trac-
tability, but several used flakes and ground stone
items were observed in addition to the flaking
debris.

Exogenous quartzite was identified based on
its fine-grained texture and different coloration.
One of the projectile points is made of this
material and may derive from a source near
Kanab, Utah, south of the park (Marion Jacklin,
personal communication 2000).

Miscellaneous Stone Types

Igneous material other than obsidian is uncommon
at project-area sites. One flake and one mano
fragment were made of an unidentified igneous
stone, and one percussion-flaked biface was made
of a stone that appeared to be welded tuff. These
stone types are probably present locally, possibly
as lag gravels in the park. Two tools (a pressure-
flaked biface and a used flake) were made of fine-
grained basalt. This material is also probably
locally available; a quarry is known on the Sevier
Plateau to the north (Marion Jacklin, personal
communication 2000).

Items of sandstone are relatively common, but
most appeared as small slabs or spalls with no
identifiable use wear. Few metates or grinding
slabs were confidently identified, and all were
fragmentary. Unidentified worked fragments also
probably represent nether stone fragments. The
unworked manuports, which are objects that were
evidently brought to the sites by past occupants,
also probably represent fragments of badly
degraded grinding implements (e.g., Geib et al.
2001:Figure 7.8). All of the sandstone fragments
at project-area sites are made of relatively soft,
friable stone types, but the geological strata from
which they derive is unknown.

Finally, a single projectile point of gray,
fined-grained siltstone was recorded. Geib et al.
(2001:183) report that a variety of gray silicified
siltstone outcrops around Smoky Mountain on the
Kaiparowits Plateau, which could represent the
source area for this artifact.

The preceding discussion highlights the strong
tendency for past Native American occupants of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau to use lithic materials deriving
from areas north and west of the plateau. Stone types
such as Brian Head chert are available from
locations within relatively short distances, but all
obsidian artifacts in the park are made of stone from
far-distant Great Basin sources. The procurement of
obsidian would have required either lengthy
journeys to the source areas or access through
exchange partners. Minute proportions of stone
types that may derive from the east or south suggest
use of the plateau by people living in the Grand
Staircase, but the overall pattem of lithic material
types suggests a Great Basin focus.

Lithic Material Use Through Time

Changes in frequencies of stone materials through
time may be indicative of a variety of circum-
stances including changes in the method of pro-
curement, changes in affiliations of regional
cultural interaction, or changes in technological
approaches to land use. The lithic assemblages
from the Paunsaugunt Plateau provide an excellent


Michaelson, J., 19
Mineral Mountains, as a source of stone materials,
132
Mission 66 (NPS park revitalization
program), 28
modem ecosystems, 11-12
Moffit, K., 148
montane ecosystem, 11
Mormons, 222
livestock management, 49-50, 179, 197
settlement of Utah, 19, 23-24, 49, 196
Muddy River, 19
multicomponent sites, 42, 55, 58, 60, 115
multioccupation sites, 63, 115, 156, 158, 163-64,
168

National Park Service (NPS), 30, 201-3
Bryce Canyon National Park Archeological
Overview and Assessment, 29, 219
Denver Service Center Technical Information
Center, 36
General Management Plan, 79
Mission 66 (park revitalization program), 28
research design topics, 50-51
National Park Service Organic Act, 1916, 26
Native American cultural history, 15-22
Native Americans
conflicts with Euro-Americans, 19, 23-24
subsistence practices impacted by Euro-
Americans, 48
Navajos, 23
Naylor, L. P., II, 30
Newcomer, M. H., 144
NOI (notch opening index), 85
Northern Side-notched points, 17, 87, 94, 103,
105, 111
notching flakes, 144-45 -
notch opening index (NOI), 85
Numie/Paiute culture, 19-23
ceramics, 63, 66, 151
dated sites, 117-18
features, 153-54
flaked stone technology, 148
Kaiparowits Plateau archeological resources,
128, 176-77, 221
land-use patterns, 112-13, 176-78
lithic scatters, 160
occupational intensity, /23-24, 128

INDEX 307

Numic/Paiute culture (continued)
Paiute version of the creation of Bryce Canyon, 15
projectile points, 19, 99, 100, 107
deposition rates, /22
research design topics, 48
sites, 56, 63, 128, 129, 221
site types, 158, 160, 162
stone materials, /36
Numic-speaking people, 19

obsidian, 131, 133, 135-36, 144, 148, 220

source analysis, 35, 224

vesicularization, 214

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, 110, 132, 273-78
occupational intensity, 115-29, 123-24, 163
O'Connell, K. J., 29-30, 150
Olsen, B. W., 153
Oshara Tradition, 46, 103-4, 119
outhouse depressions, 68, 71, 202-4, 221

Pahlke, L. G., 30
Pahreah-Syrett-Badland map unit, 10
Paiute culture. See Numic/Paiute culture
paleoenvironmental conditions, 12-14
Palmer, W. R., 200
Panaca Summit/Modena, as a source of stone
materials, 132
Panaca Summit (Nevada), 110
Panguitch, Utah, 23, 196
Panguitch Lake, 110
as a source of stone materials, 130, 224
Panguitch Paiute band, 20
Paria River, 7, 9, 11, 19-20, 24-25
park ranger's cabins, 70
Parowan, Utah, 23
Parowan Basal-notched points, 18, 97, 99, 100—
101, 106, 112-13
associated with ceramics, 106
Parowan Fremont culture, 18
Paunsaganti (beaver place), 5
Paunsaugunt fault, 9
Paunsaugunt Plateau, 9
East Creek Ridge, 2
hydrology, 11
physiographic setting, 5, 7
rain shadow, 11
as a scenic resource, 25—28, 200-201 (See also
tourism)


26 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

in 1880, apocryphally described the canyon as “a
hell of a place to lose a cow” (Barnett 1965:32;
Scrattish 1985:12). During the early twentieth
century a new interest group learned of Bryce
Canyon’s scenery and recreational opportunities. A
combination of factors—the dissemination of
information gathered by the early federal land
surveys, the establishment of federal land
management agencies to oversee public lands, the
increased accessibility of once-remote areas via
road and rail, the growing appreciation for the
preservation of the nation’s natural and cultural
heritage, and a continued quest for economic
viability—all contributed to the next period of
development on the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

With the establishment in the early 1900s of
federal forest reserves and, later, the U.S. Forest
Service (USFS), the public lands atop the
Paunsaugunt Plateau were placed under the
jurisdiction of the Sevier National Forest (today the
Dixie National Forest). Forest Supervisor J. W.
Humphrey was the first to recognize the potential of
the scenic vistas of Bryce Canyon and the
Paunsaugunt Plateau. Humphrey became a self-
appointed advocate, encouraging locals and out-of-
state visitors alike to visit Bryce Canyon. As a
result of his efforts, the nation was introduced to the
scenic wonders of the canyon through articles and
photographs in several national publications (e.g.,
Dill 1916; Grimes 1918; Jeffers 1918; Stevens
1917). A road was constructed across USFS land to
provide automobile access to the canyon rim, trails
were constructed along and below the rim, and the
USFS conducted numerous tours to Bryce Canyon
in an attempt to raise private and government
interest in the area’s scenic value (Dammann
1993:4-8; Daughters of the Utah Pioneers

1949:292-294; Humphrey n.d.; Madrid 1993:3—4; -

Scrattish 1985:15-18).

Local residents Ruby and Clara Syrett, having
recently purchased homestead land on the plateau
top near the Bryce Canyon rim, were also drawn to
the beauty of the place. Like Humphrey, they
promoted the area, but on a more personal level.
Their property was within riding distance of the

canyon rim, and the Syretts made numerous trips
with family and friends to view the spectacular
landscape. As word of Bryce Canyon spread and
promotional efforts reached a wider audience, the
Syretts began entertaining visitors on a commercial
basis. In 1919 they established an impromptu tent
camp near the rim to accommodate the increased
number of visitors. By the next year the Syretts had
constructed a permanent lodge and several tent
cabins near the rim (Dammann 1993:11-14;
Farnsworth 1992; Scrattish 1985:18-23). In 1922,
annual visitation to the Syretts’ “Tourist’s Rest”
exceeded 3,100 persons (Dammann 1993:13).
Automobile tours originating at the railhead in
Marysvale, Utah, more than 80 km (50 mi) to the
north, steadily brought in visitors despite the
primitive roads (Madrid 1993:4—5).

The economic potential of commercial tourism
at Bryce Canyon was quickly recognized by a larger
outside interest—the Union Pacific Railroad. Bryce
Canyon was one of several scenic destinations on
the Colorado Plateau that, along with Zion National
Park, the North Rim of Grand Canyon National
Park, and Cedar Breaks National Monument, were
coming into the limelight. In the early 1920s, the
railroad initiated an aggressive campaign to obtain
“the right to build or contract every conceivable
lawful service for tourists” along this southwestern
Utah loop (Markoff 1980:69). Union Pacific
developed a multi-day scenic loop including Zion,
Cedar Breaks, Grand Canyon, and Bryce Canyon,
and established hotel and food services along the
route (Madrid 1993:5-7; Markoff 1980:69-83;
Scrattish 1985:32-48; Union Pacific System 1929;
Woodbury 1950:194—208).

The recognition of the scenic value of Bryce
Canyon did not result solely in commercial
ventures, however. Congress’s passage of the
Antiquities Act in 1906 and the National Park
Service Organic Act in 1916 reflected a growing
interest in preserving the nation’s natural and
cultural heritage. Although there was little
disagreement over the need to protect the scenic
resources of Bryce Canyon, the nature of this
stewardship produced much discussion. Legislative



Appendix 6.1

Site Summary

227


188. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Figure 9.8. An aspen dendroglyph depicting a
pregnant female.

Figure 9.9. An aspen dendroglyph probably
depicting a mother and child. Note
scale,



206 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

construction in 1925. A realignment of the Rim
Road in 1957 necessitated that the utility area be
dismantled. Some of the buildings are known to
have been moved to other areas of the park
(Caywood and Grant 1994), but others were
apparently destroyed. The layout of the utility area
is known from a variety of blueprints and
construction plans, but its general appearance is
not well reported. A photograph taken in 1961,
one day before demolition, shows several gable-
roofed, warehouse-like, frame buildings with
corrugated steel siding hung horizontally behind
external studs, brick chimneys, and multipane
(probably casement) windows and bay doors

(Figure 9.20). Since the site was dismantled in
1961, the structures and the roads that led to the
utility area have been obliterated (Figure 9.21).
The degree to which this once-substantial site has
been erased from the landscape speaks to
thoroughness of the National Park Service’s
meadow-rehabilitation efforts, but it also high-
lights the difficulties that archeologists can
encounter when interpreting purposefully
destroyed sites (e.g., Smith 2001).

Another example of a concessionaire-related
site lies roughly 300 m (984 ft) north of the Bryce
Canyon Lodge at Site 42GA5277 (Figure 6.4).

Figure 9.20, A 1961 view of the Utah Park Company’s utility area, now recorded as Site 42GA5263.
View direction and photographer unknown. Unaccessioned photograph on file, Bryce

Canyon National Park.


have gradually pieced together more and more of
the park’s prehistory and history. When the Bryce
Canyon Archeological Inventory Survey, described
in this volume, was initiated in 2000, a total of
4,206 acres had been surveyed, and 53
archeological sites were known.

This volume, edited by Chris T. Wenker, with
contributions by Wenker, Sue Eininger, Cynthia
Herhahn, and Donald Irwin, reports on the
archeological remains found within a 10,799 acre
inventory survey conducted between 2000 and
2002 by the Anthropology Program of the National
Park Service’s Intermountain Support Office. The
survey, which identified a total of 194 sites, was
performed primarily to document and protect
archeological sites within the densely wooded areas
of the Paunsaugunt Plateau slated for prescribed
burning. After nearly a century of strict fire
suppression, most areas of the Paunsaugunt, which
caps the Pink Cliffs, are heavily timbered, with
deep accumulations of deadfall and duff. Because
any fire will destroy perishable structures and
artifacts and because most fires, even tightly
controlled ones, generate temperatures capable of
permanently altering stone, ceramic, glass, and
metal artifacts, identifying archeological sites
within burn areas is a necessary prerequisite to
reestablishing a healthy forest ecosystem.

Because of the longstanding perception that
Bryce has few archeological resources, it is fortu-
nate that fire management provided the impetus for
the present study. Had it not, it seems likely that
misperceptions about the park’s archeology would
have continued unchecked. But, as readers of this
monograph will lear, Bryce does have a
substantial number of significant archeological
sites. They span much of the human career in the
New World, including late Paleoindian, Archaic,
Puebloan, Paiute, and Historic Euro-American
materials. Moreover, many have the potential to
provide highly significant scientific data about
human behavior and adaptation in this moist,
highland environment.

The Bryce Canyon Archeological Inventory
Survey was directed in its entirety by Chris
Wenker. Chris’s leadership, hard work, and
enthusiasm for the park’s archeology have resulted

in the timely completion of a large and complex
project in a professional manner that has exceeded
everyone’s expectations. In addition to a number
of in-house survey products, Chris and his team
have produced several companion reports to this
volume. Chris and Cynthia Herhahn are the co-
authors of Bryce Canyon National Park:
Management Planning Guide and Monitoring
Plan for Archeological Resources, a detailed
guide to management of the park’s archeological
resources. The manual provides detailed guidance
needed by park managers to eliminate or mini-
mize fire impacts at archeological sites during
future prescribed burns and wildfires. Un-
fortunately, because of the detailed proprietary
information included in the report, it is not avail-
able to the public.

A third report, Bryce Canyon National Park:
Historic Aspen Dendroglyph Documentation
Project, is co-authored by Sue Eininger and Chris
Wenker. It provides detailed documentation on
1,075 historic inscriptions found carved on park
aspens. These inscriptions or dendroglyphs range
in date from 1893 to 1948 and record the names,
dates, and musings of three generations of local
ranchers and sheepherders. In addition to being
Bryce’s most numerous and most fragile cultural
resource, the inscriptions were also its most un-
expected. Although some dendroglyphs were
known prior to the survey, the large numbers of
carvings encountered during the first season of
work prompted Chris to request funding from the
Utah Division of State History to support detailed
recording and photography of the glyphs. The
funding was granted, and with the kind assistance
of Gayle Pollock, Executive Director of the Bryce
Canyon Natural History Association, the funding
has been used for this purpose. The Bryce Canyon
Natural History Association hopes to produce a
compact disk, for sale in the Bryce Visitors
Center, illustrating the more decipherable and
artistic glyphs.

Although over 12,000 acres, or about one-
third of Bryce’s land area has now been investi-
gated, and 233 archeological sites are known,
much remains to be learned about Bryce’s human
past. The immeasurably rugged two-thirds of the
park below the Pink Cliffs, the very same terrain



220 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

culturally modified ponderosa pine trees recorded
in the park. Although no permanent habitation
sites are present, the park’s archeological
resources are important for their potential to
reveal changes in Native American seasonal use
of high-elevation forest and meadow resources
over the past 10,000 years.

Historic Euro-American sites generally
consist of small and unobtrusive aspen dendro-
glyphs, campsites, or refuse scatters. These sites
are also important for their potential to provide
information about historic period changes in the
economic use of the plateau before and after the
national park was established, as well as historic
developments in the park’s infrastructure.

Native American Archeology

The Native American archeological sites in Bryce
Canyon National Park represent a wide range of
temporal and cultural affiliations extending from
the late Paleoindian/early Archaic period tran-
sition (ca. 9500 B.P.) to the protohistoric or
historic period (late 1800s). The archeological
cultures represented in the park include possible
late Paleoindian; Great Basin early, middle, and
late Archaic; Virgin Anasazi; generalized late
Prehistoric; and Numic/Southern Paiute. No
above-ground architectural features have been
identified at any sites in the park. This
phenomenon is not unexpected, because almost all
work in the park has focused on the high-elevation
settings of the plateau top, where permanent
habitation is unlikely. Architectural features might
be anticipated along the lower watercourses east
of the park, however, and some potential for rock
shelters or cliff dwellings might be present in the
steep-walled eastern canyons as well.

The most common sites found in the park are
artifact scatters, and most of these consist entirely
of flaked stone tools and manufacturing debris.
The vast majority of the flaked stone artifacts are
made of multicolored chert, which probably
represents material obtained from Brian Head
formation outcrops found in nearby locations out-

side the park. Coarse quartzite is available as lag
gravel deposits within the park, and some artifacts
are made of this material. Obsidian is present in
low frequencies at many sites, but jasper, petrified
wood, and other imported materials are less
common. Few sites contain ground stone items on
the surface, and fewer yet contain ceramic
artifacts. Dominguez and Danielson (2000) report
that some faunal material, as well as low
frequencies of burned macrobotanical material,
were recovered from their test excavations, so
these artifact classes may also be expected at
some of the sites recorded by the survey. Several
sites may contain subsurface features such as
hearths or roasting pits, but these features are
exceptionally uncommon. Isolated artifacts found
on the plateau top also generally consist of single
flakes, sparse lithic scatters, or isolated tools such
as used flakes, pressure-flaked biface fragments,
or projectile points. Several isolated ground stone
artifacts were also recorded, but these mostly
include sandstone slabs or quartzite cobble
manuports that were probably carried in from
elsewhere.

Functionally, Archaic period sites over-
whelmingly represent hunting locales. An abun-
dance of broken bifacial tools including projectile
points, as well as the common presence of flaking
debris from biface reduction and pressure flaking,
indicate that the Archaic period residents of the
plateau used lightweight, portable tool kits that
were well-suited to the pursuit of game. A single
late Archaic period site contains a grinding stone,
and that site is tentatively identified as a processing
camp. Compared with regional patterns of land use,
the Archaic period land-use strategy of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau appears relatively ephemeral.
Sites of this period in lower-elevation settings
commonly exhibit hearths, ground stone tools, and
more diverse tool kits. The high-elevation forests
on the plateau were probably used during logistical
forays away from the more settled base camps in
lower-elevation zones.

Late Prehistoric or Formative period sites
represent a variety of functions, but no clear



20 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

The Paunsaugunt Plateau lay in a nebulous
frontier area used by several historic Paiute bands,
including the Kaibab band to the south, the
Kaiparowits band to the east, and the Panguitch
band to the north and west. Within these band
territories, the areas claimed by individual groups
were typically defined by the locations of springs
and other water sources “owned” by select group
members (Kelly 1964).

Kelly (1964) maps the territories of two
different groups of the Kaibab and Kaiparowits
bands in the Bryce Canyon vicinity. The district
known as Ankat?, which was territory of the Kaibab
band, extended southeastward from the southern
Paunsaugunt Plateau along “Kaibab Gulch”
(probably Kitchen Corral Wash) to the Paria River.
The “fringes of the Paunsaugunt [Plateau] . . . were
virtually devoid of established camps. They
functioned as communal lands, exploited by the
Kaibab at large” (Kelly 1964:23).

The Avua territory of the Kaiparowits Paiute
covered the upper Paria River valley east of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau and extended south along the
east bank to Cottonwood Wash. People of the Avua
region occasionally joined the Panguitch Paiute in
the latter’s territory on the Paunsaugunt Plateau
itself. During the winter, the people living in Avua
occupied “winter camps located at the base of [the]
red cliffs bounding [the Paria River] valley to the
west, or on top of [the] cliffs, because of [the] fuel
supply” (Kelly 1964:149-150, 175).

By this measure, the top of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau appears to have fallen mainly in the
territory of the Panguitch Paiute. A Panguitch
informant stated, however, that Bryce Canyon and
the eastern flank of the Paunsaugunt Plateau fell
within the Avua region of the Kaiparowits band
(Kelly 1964:175). Kelly (1964:145) further notes
that a Kaiparowits Paiute informant claimed that the
Bryce Canyon area was the property of her father-
in-law, who was of the Koosharem. The Koosharem
people, who occupied Grass Valley along the East
Fork of the Sevier River north of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau, are variously described as being either
Paiute, Ute, “Utes affiliated with the Paiute, ” or

even “Ute, but not ‘real’ Ute” (Kelly 1964:34-35,
145). Based on this contradictory evidence, Kelly
(1964:175) suggested that “Bryce [Canyon] must
not have attracted a hunting and gathering people
and probably was unoccupied.”

In actuality, relatively abundant evidence of
prehistoric Numic or protohistoric/historic Paiute
use of Bryce Canyon National Park is present at
several archeological sites containing brown ware
ceramics; Desert Side-notched projectile points; or
axe-marked, bark-stripped ponderosa pine trees.
The memoir of John H. Davies, a local rancher, also
places Paiute groups on and around the
Paunsaugunt Plateau in the late nineteenth century
(Davies n.d.).

Excerpts from the Davies Memoir

Between 1874 and 1879, Davies worked for the
Kanarra Cattle Company as a cowboy on and
around the Paunsaugunt Plateau. In later years he
supervised the company. Davies (n.d.:14) reports
that no matter how “interesting was the cowboy
life, perhaps of even greater interest was [sic] the
experiences I had with the Indians.”

Davies’ undated memoir, titled "Among My
Memories," was apparently written in or after 1937.
The document was posthumously transcribed and
self-published by his relatives. Because the memoir
is not widely available, several sections that
describe his observations of a local Paiute group
(possibly from the Avua area) are excerpted,
verbatim, below.

There were numerous Paiutes living on the
same range over which our cattle roamed. There
was a tribe of about 250 living in the section
south and east of Bryce Canyon. I came to be
well acquainted with their culture. As they were
living in a semi-arid climate they had to resrot
[sic] to much hard work and cunning to provide
themselves with food. I have seen them come
upon the East Fork (of the Sevier River] hunting
for ground dogs. Sometimes they would hide
about ten feet from a burrow and when the little
animal came up to do his customary barking



306 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Kearns, T. M. (continued)
Johns Valley archeological resources, 150, 177,
223
Kaiparowits Plateau archeological resources,
119, 124
site number duplication, 34
Keller, D., 119, 150, 170, 172, 175, 197
Kelly, I. T., 20, 167
Kelly, R. L., 13, 157
Kolob Terrace, 119, 171-72, 175-76
Koosharem people, 20
Kramer, K.
previous archeological projects in Bryce Canyon, 30
See also Dominguez, S., D. Danielson, and K.
Kramer
Kreutzer, S. See Christensen, D., S. M. Chandler,
S. Kreutzer, and J. Jennings

Lake Mohave points, 119
land-use patterns
Archaic period, 111, 171-74, 177-78
and elevation, 170-78
in hunting locales, 165, 167
and isolated occurrences, 165
late Prehistoric/Formative periods, 111-13, 174-76
Numic/Paiute culture, 112-13, 176-78
processing camps, 167
and projectile points, 107-13
public-lands grazing, 25, 27-28, 196, 198-
99
regional patterns, 167, 170-78
research design topics, 44-45
and resource procurement, 47, 172, 175
seasonal grazing patterns, 44-45, 199-200
large projectile points, 85-97, 98
classification key, 83
comer-notched points, 95, 96
side-notched points, 94-95, 96
stemmed projectile points, 85-89
vs. small points, 116
Larson, D. O., 19
Latady, W. R., 175
late Paleoindian/early Archaic period
occupational intensity, 723-24
projectile points, 16, 87, 89, 103, 105, 119
deposition rates, /22
tesearch design topics, 45-46
sites, 16, 119, 125-26
site types, 158

late Prehistoric/Formative periods
dated sites, 117-18
flaked stone technology, 149
land-use patterns, 111-13, 174-76
lithic scatters, 126
occupation, 125-28
occupational intensity, 123-24
pottery, 18
projectile points, 17, 99, 105-7
deposition rates, 122
research design topics, 47
sites, 63, 126, 27, 128, 220
site types, 158, 160-61
stone materials, 736
use of cultigens, 18
life zones, 11, 173
lithic and ceramic scatters, 57-58, 64
lithic materials. See stone materials
lithic scatters, 34, 57-58, 62, 64-66, 75, 220
Archaic period, 123, 128
late Prehistoric/Formative periods, 126
Numic/Paiute culture, 160
previously recorded, 29, 31, 35
undated, 163, 165
livestock brands executed as aspen dendroglyphs,
189, 191-92
livestock grazing, 13-14, 23-25, 27-28, 49-50,
197
archeological evidence of, 179-200
seasonal grazing patterns, 44-45, 199-200
Lloyd, Robert, 199
logging, 25, 49
Loosle, B., 153
luxury artifacts, 204

maize horticulture, 19
Mallea-Olaetxe, J., 50, 180, 189
manos, 66, 74, 131, 133, 150, 160
manuports, 66, 74, 131

Markagunt Plateau, 12-13, 23, 173
marshes, 12-13, 46-47, 112
Marysvale, Utah, 26

Mathew, K., 30

Matley, J. F., 151

McFadden, D. A., 34, 150
MeNelly, Guy, 204

metal artifacts, 42

metates, 66, 131

methodology, field methods, 39-40, 42-43



100 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

documented point has a small, slightly contracting
stem and pronounced tangs.

Rosegate Stemmed

Four Rosegate Stemmed points are present in the
assemblage; all of these points exhibit either
broken tips or bases (Figure 7.9b-e). The Rosegate
Stemmed points are manufactured of chert and
obsidian and have a PSA between 80° and 88°
(ut =85°, 6 =3.5°), a DSA between 154° and 198°
(u =179°, 6 =19.4°), and an NOI between 50° and
63° (uu =58.3°, o =7.2°). These fragmentary points
have a mean weight of .9 g (o=.14 g). Length and
width measurements are not summarized for these
fragmentary points, but thicknesses range between
2.7 and 3.3mm (uy =3.1 mm, o=.3 mm). Fifty
percent (n=2) of the Rosegate Stemmed points are
serrated.

Small Side-notched Points

Seven side-notched arrow points were collected
during the Bryce Canyon AIS. These points are
typed as Desert Side-notched points, a type that
is commonly associated with Numic occupation
in the region.

Desert Side-notched

Small triangular side-notched points with
concave or notched bases are commonly
classified as Desert Side-notched points
(Holmer 1986; Holmer and Weder 1980; Irwin
2001; Thomas 1981). Thomas (1981) suggests
these points have a PSA of 130°; Brown (Brown
et al. 1993) suggests these points have a PSA
greater than or equal to 130° and typically have
a stem height greater than or equal to 8 mm.

Seven Desert Side-notched points were
found in sites and isolated contexts at Bryce
Canyon (Figure 7.9f-1). These points are
manufactured from chert, chalcedony, and
obsidian. All are broken, and their thickness
ranges between 2.1 and 3.5 mm (p =2.5 mm,
o=.45 mm). Desert Side-notched points have a
PSA between 158° and 175° (yu =161.7°,

o=5.9°), a DSA between 178° and 190°
(yp =185.8°, o =4.9°), and an NOI between 20°
and 29° (1 =23.6°, o =3.6°). The base height of
these points ranges between 6.5 and 10.2 mm,
with a mean base height of 8 mm (o=1.4 mm).
One point exhibits a serrated blade.

Desert Side-notched points have been previ-
ously documented at Bryce Canyon at Sites
42GA905 and 42KA3289 (Dominguez and
Danielson 2000; Dominguez et al. 1992; Hartley
1980a). The Desert Side-notched points collected
during the survey are similar to the previously
reported specimens, which have triangular forms,
shallow side-notches, and a basal notch.

Other Small Projectile Points

Two of the arrow points are classified as Parowan
Basal-notched points and one is classified as a Bull
Creek point. The remaining small projectile points
are unclassified or unknown point types. These
points are described below.

Parowan Basal-notched

Two Parowan Basal-notched points were
collected during the Bryce Canyon AIS.
Parowan Basal-notched points are small tri-
angular points with a narrow contracting stem
formed by two shallow basal notches (Holmer
1986; Holmer and Weder 1980).

Both of the Parowan Basal-notched points are
manufactured from chalcedony. One of the Parowan
Basal-notched points (FS 111; Figure 7.9m) is
complete and has serrated margins. This point weighs
1.6 g and measures 24 mm in length, 16 mm in
width, and 4.2 mm in thickness. This item has a
PSA of 79°, a DSA of 128°, and an NOI of 49°. The
second point (FS 44; Figure7.9n) has an
incomplete length of 20 mm, an incomplete width
of 16 mm, and is 3.3 mm thick. This point weighs
1.2 g and has a PSA of 83°, a DSA of 139°, and an
NOI of 59°.

As noted above, a possible Parowan Basal-
notched point has been previously found at Site



194 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Figure 9.17. An aspen dendroglyph depicting a
pistol. Note scale.

One historic rock inscription is present at a
pictograph panel at Site 42GA5287 (Figure 6.7).
This inscription is singular in the project area by
virtue of both its medium and its contents. The
inscription, “Joseph W. Thompson / June 23, 1891
/ July 4” represents the oldest definitive carving
date recorded by the project. Its authenticity as an
actual carving date is supported by the presence of
two dendroglyphs elsewhere in the park. One
dendroglyph contains a “Jos W Thompson” and
an 1896 date; the other reads “Joe Thompson”
and exhibits a possible 1889 date. Archival
research identifies a Joseph Wallace Thompson
who lived in Henrieville from 1872 to 1953
(http://history.utah.org). A history of Garfield
County written by the Daughters of the Utah
Pioneers (1949) refers to a Joseph Thompson who
lived in Cannonville during the 1870s.

Water-Development Features
Water-development features constitute the second

class of livestock-related archeological remains.
Features including log watering troughs, stone

catchments, and water-flow devices are identified
at four sites in the vicinity of natural springs. Two
sites lie along the eastern edge of Whiteman
Bench near the Pink Cliffs rim, and two occupy
the plateau top along the western park boundary.

One badly decomposed log trough was
observed at Trough Spring, near Whiteman
Bench. This spring was dry during the inventory
project, but a dismantled fence immediately
upslope suggests that the trough was adjacent to
the spring’s old location. Trough Spring’s water
rights were held by the UPC from 1923 through
1972, at which time they were donated to the
National Park Service (Czarnowski 1991:13;
Scrattish 1985:137). Although these water
rights were filed to support UPC’s tourist
facilities, the presence of the trough implies
livestock use. Presumably the agricultural use
of the spring predates establishment of UPC’s
water rights and may have continued after the
UPC’s claim.

As noted above, two troughs are recorded at
Site 42GA5241 (Figure 6.9), also at a spring near
Whiteman Bench. The troughs are hewn from
single logs, each 5-6 m (16-20 ft) long and are
situated to allow runoff from the upper trough to
fill the lower trough. A cobble-lined sump hole
lies directly above the troughs and immediately
below the spring. As previously mentioned, both
sides of the troughs exhibit historic inscriptions
dating to 1918, 1921, and 1923. An aspen
dendroglyph with a 1937 date is nearby.

Similar trough features have been recorded at
nearby sites in the Dixie National Forest (Jacklin
1993b, Kearns 1982). One such site, 42GA3903,
lies a few miles west of the park and consists of a
series of log water troughs laid out in a zigzag
pattern. Like the two troughs at Site 42GA5241,
their placement allowed flow from the upper
troughs to fill the lower troughs. Local informants
suggested the troughs were constructed by
shepherds in the early 1900s. Nearby dendroglyphs
containing dates ranging from 1910 to 1957
suggested a much broader period of use (Jacklin
1993b, Kearns 1982).



Chapter 9

9.1
9.2
9.3
9.4
9.5
9.6

917

9.19

9.20
9.21

Locations of all aspen dendroglyphs and other inscriptions in the project area... 181
Examples of personal names carved at aspen dendroglyph sites.
Examples of complex aspen dendroglyphs with personal names and dates
Examples of aspen dendroglyphs with text messages
Examples of aspen dendroglyphs depicting female figures
An aspen dendroglyph of an elegant female nude
A comparatively crude aspen dendroglyph depicting a female figure .
An aspen dendroglyph depicting a pregnant female
An aspen dendroglyph probably depicting a mother and child.
An aspen dendroglyph depicting a male figure, possibly representing a shepherd’s or
cowboy’s self-portrait
A fanciful aspen dendroglyph depicting a human figure.
Examples of aspen dendroglyphs related to livestock.
Possible livestock brands executed as aspen dendroglyphs.
An aspen dendroglyph depicting portraits of two horses
An aspen dendroglyph depicting a bird
A unique aspen dendroglyph depicting a horse’s profile, a man’s profile, and the four
playing-card suits
An aspen dendroglyph depicting a pistol
Detail of inscriptions on a log water trough ..
Examples of aspen dendroglyphs related to the presence of the
Corps
A 1961 view of the Utah Park Company’s utility ar area, now recorded as Site 42GA526:
A modern view, facing north, of Site 42GA5263, once the Utah Park Company’s utility

‘ivilian Conservation

xvii



8.

NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU
Chris T. Wenker

Periods of Native American Occupation and Residential Intensity
Archaic Period Occupation
Late Paleoindian/Early Archaic Period Site:
Early Archaic Period Sites..
Middle Archaic Period Site:
Late Archaic Period Sites ...
General Archaic Period Sites
Late Prehistoric/Formative Period Occupation.
Late Prehistoric Sites
Formative Period Sites.
Numic and Paiute Occupation
Native American Technology and Cultural Materia!
Sources of Flaked and Ground Stone Materials.
Brian Head Chert and Other Siliceous Material.
Obsidian
Quartzite .
Miscellaneous Stone Types
Lithic Material Use Through Time
Technological and Functional Aspects of Flaked Stone Tools and Debris
Flaked Stone Tool Technology and Function.
Pressure-Flaked Bifaces...
Percussion-Flaked Bifaces
Cores/Tested Cobbles.
Scrapers and Drills .
Used Flakes
Technological Aspects of Flaked Stone Debris
Flake Type Frequencies «0.0.0.0...
Temporal Changes in Flake Types and Raw Material
Implications of Flaked Stone Technology
Archaic and Numic/Paiute Flaked Stone Technology
Late Prehistoric/Formative Period Flaked Stone Technology ..
Summary of Flaked Stone Technology.
Nonflaked Stone Artifacts
Native American Pottery.
Native American Feature Types.
Thermal Features...........
Culturally Modified Trees
Rock Piles and Cairns...
Rock Paintings
Native American Site Types and Functions
Framework of Site Types...
The Functional Role of Flaked Stone Assemblage:
Site Types...
Archaic Period Site Types
Late Prehistoric/Formative Period Site Types.
Numic/Paiute Site Types ve

xii


Intermountain Cultural Resources Management
Professional Paper No. 69

Bryce Canyon National Park

Archeology of the Paunsaugunt Plateau

Edited by
Chris T. Wenker

With Contributions by
Sue Eininger
Cynthia Herhahn
Donald Irwin
Chris T. Wenker

Archeology Program
Cultural Resources Management
Intermountain Region
National Park Service

Department of the Interior

2004



112. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

additional chronometric data are required to fill
in the Archaic period settlement pattern. Elko
Corner-notched points and the sole Elko Side-
notched point are found in a variety of contexts
including upland and meadow settings. Elko
Corner-notched points are found at sites at
Yovimpa Pass (n=2), on an upland ridge over-
looking Podunk Creek (n=1), on Whiteman
Bench (n=3), along the East Creek headwaters
(n=3), and in low-elevation settings at the
northern end of the park (n=3). Elko Eared points
may be more reliable indicators of Archaic
occupations than the corner or side-notched
varieties, but they also fail to provide sufficient
temporal resolution for placing sites in specific
Archaic periods (e.g. Holmer 1986). Elko Eared
points are found at sites on top of Whiteman
Bench (n=3), at Yovimpa Pass (n=1), in the East
Creek drainage (n=1), and near Bryce Point
(n=1). This broadly distributed pattern of land
use is reinforced when the Elko points recorded
in isolated contexts are considered. The
distribution of Elko Series points suggests a
focus on upland hunting with a secondary
emphasis on access to drainage transportation
routes and potentially the use of upland meadow
resources. This pattern is most similar to late
Archaic period use of the park, but unfortunately,
these points provide little temporal resolution
and only indicate a generalized pattern of broad
spectrum use by Archaic hunting and gathering
groups.

Late Prehistoric/Formative period use of the
park is widespread. Use of the area during this
period is indicated by Rosegate Series, Bull
Creek, Parowan Basal-notched, and possible
Uintah Side-notched points, as well as a variety
of unclassified arrow points. These points are
found at sites near Yovimpa Pass (n=1), on
Whiteman Bench (n=1), and in the East Creek
drainage (n=3), but many of these sites are
clustered in low-elevation settings at the northern
end of the park (n=4). In general, a low-elevation
plateau-top hunting focus is implied by the
distribution of these points, although a secondary
focus on the use of meadow resources in the East
Creek drainage is also implied.

The distribution of Desert Side-notched points,
indicative of Numic occupation, suggests an upland
hunting focus with a secondary focus oriented
toward the exploitation of meadows, water sources,
and transportation corridors. These points are found
at sites near Yovimpa Pass (n=1), high on
Whiteman Bench (n=1), in the East Creek drainage
(n=1), and in northern, low-elevation plateau-top
settings (n=2). When isolated points are considered,
the low-elevation hunting pattern is strengthened
and expanded to include the hills around the Bryce
Canyon Lodge, on East Creek Ridge, and near
Bridge Canyon.

Discussion: Settlement and Subsistence

The distributional patterns described above indicate
that the principal focus of prehistoric groups using
the Bryce Canyon area was the exploitation of
montane resources, presumably large game species
such as ungulates. This focus may partially explain
the high percentage of serrated points (approxi-
mately 30 percent) present in the survey
assemblage. Approximately 33 percent of the dart
points and 20 percent of the arrow points have
serrated edges. Serrations may help the points lodge
when they strike large game, they may facilitate
bleeding, or they may indicate multifunction points
that were also used to dress and process carcasses
from large game.

A long history of use is also represented at
sites in the East Creek drainage and near other
intermittent waterways in the park’s meadows. It
is possible that the riverine or meadow areas may
have contained marshy environments and
available water. These factors would have made
the meadows of East Creek a prime occupation
area and transportation corridor for prehistoric
occupants.

The earliest use of the park appears to have
concentrated along East Creek and other areas
with access to transportation corridors to lower-
elevation settings, while the following occupations
are principally, though not exclusively, oriented
toward upland settings. It is clear, though, that
the sites in the East Creek drainage were used


June 30, 2005

Dear Professional Paper Recipient:

Tf your address has changed or if you would like to receive any of our backlisted
publications, please return this sheet to me, or contact me by e.mail.

Bob Powers

Archeology Program

National Park Service

P.O. Box 728

Santa Fe, NM 87504-0728

e.mail = bob_powers@nps.gov (with an underscore between bob and powers)

My current address is:

My e.mail is:

I would like to receive the following:
Backlist

Ceramics, Lithics and Ornaments of Chaco Canyon, Vols, I-III, edited by F. Joan Mathien,
Publications in Archeology 186, Chaco Canyon Studies. 1997.

The Bandelier Archeological Survey, Vols. I and II, edited by Robert P. Powers and Janet D.
Orcutt, Intermountain Cultural Resources Management, Professional Paper No. 57. 1999.

Remote Sensing: Multispectral Analyses of Cultural Resources: Chaco Canyon and Bandelier
National Monument, by Stanley A. Morain, Thomas K. Budge, Amelia Komarek, Charles Nelson, and Mike
E. White. Supplement No. 5 to Remote Sensing: A Handbook for Archeologists and Cultural Resource
Managers. 67 pages. 1981

Remote Sensing: Archeological Applications of Remote Sensing in the North Central Lowlands,
by Craig Baker and George J. Gumerman. Supplement No. 6 to Remote Sensing: A Handbook for
Archeologists and Cultural Resource Managers. 61 pages. 1981

Remote Sensing: Aerial and Terrestrial Photography for Archeologists, by Thomas Eugene
Avery and Thomas R. Lyons, Supplement No. 7 to Remote Sensing: A Handbook for Archeologists and
Cultural Resource Managers. 55 pages. 1981



274 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Geochemical Research Laboratory Letter Report 2001-83

Trace element measurements on the xrf data tables (except Fe/Mn ratios) are expressed in
quantitative units (i.e. parts per million [ppm] and weight percent composition), and matches
between unknowns and known obsidian chemical groups were made on the basis of
correspondences (at the 2-sigma level) in diagnostic trace element concentration values (in this
case, ppm values for Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb and, when necessary, Ba, Ti, Mn and Fe,O,") that appear
in Hughes (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 2001a, n.d.a-b), Macdonald et al. (1992), Nelson
(1984), and Nelson and Holmes (1979). Artifact-to-obsidian source (geochemical type, sensu
Hughes 1998) correspondences were considered reliable if diagnostic mean measurements for
artifacts fell within 2 standard deviations of mean values for source standards. I use the term
"diagnostic" to specify those trace elements that are well-measured by x-ray fluorescence, and
whose concentrations show low intra-source variability and marked variability across sources. In
short, diagnostic elements are those concentration values allowing one to draw the clearest
geochemical distinctions between sources (Hughes 1990, 1993). Although Zn, Ga and Nb ppm
concentrations also were measured and reported for each specimen, they are not considered
"diagnostic" because they don't usually vary significantly across obsidian sources (see Hughes
1982, 1984). This is particularly true of Ga, which occurs in concentrations between 10-30 ppm
in nearly all parent obsidians in the study area. Zn ppm values are infrequently diagnostic; they
are always high in Zr-rich, Sr-poor peralkaline volcanic glasses, but otherwise they do not vary
significantly between sources in the study area.

Composition measurements are reported to the nearest ppm (or, for Fe,O,", to nearest hundredth
wt. %) to reflect calibration-imposed resolution capabilities of non-destructive energy dispersive
x-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The resolution limits of the present x-ray fluorescence
instrument for the determination of Zn is about 3 ppm; Ga about 2 ppm; for Rb about 4 ppm; for
Sr about 3 ppm; Y about 3 ppm; Zr about 4 ppm; and Nb about 3 ppm (see Hughes [1988, 1994]
for other elements). When counting and fitting error uncertainty estimates (the "+" value in the
table) for a sample are greater than element-specific resolution limits given above, the larger
number is a more conservative indicator of composition variation and measurement error arising
from differences in sample size, surface and x-ray reflection geometry.

The artifact-to-source attribution for each specimen appears in the data table, and the location of
the source type identified appears in Nelson and Holmes (1979:Figure 5) and Nelson
(1984:Figure 1). As was the case at nearby Cedar Breaks National Monument (Hughes 2001b),
the majority of artifacts in this Bryce Canyon sample (13 of 15; 87% of the sample total) were
fashioned from obsidian from the Wild Horse Canyon chemical type (cf. Nelson 1984:Table 4,
source # 2; Hughes n.d.b:Table 2) in the Mineral Mountain Range, while one artifact (7% of the
sample total) matches the chemical profile of obsidian of the Panaca Summit chemical type,
nodules of which occur over 160 km to the west of Bryce Canyon. I use the term Panaca Summit
in concert with Nelson's (1984) 'Modena area’ because my own reference collections made from
geologic occurrences in the Panaca Summit area (east of Panaca, Nevada) document that glass of
this chemical type occurs in geologic contexts beyond the immediate vicinity of Modena.



90 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

a,FS2

b, FS 11

0, FS 107 p,FS 110

n, FS 100

Figure 7.4.

Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum projectile points: (a-p) from Bryce Canyon

Archeological Inventory Survey project; (q) from park collection (Cat. #398-3882).



FIELD METHODS AND RESEARCH DESIGN 49

survey methods and probably partly due to different
site-definition criteria. Regardless, the density of
sites now recorded within the park reflects a Native
American occupational intensity that was pre-
viously unsuspected, which enhances the
significance of all of the sites.

Euro-American Archeological
Research Topics

Archeological evidence for the Euro-American use
and occupation of Bryce Canyon National Park
extends from 1891 to the 1950s, and historical
records suggest that settlers were using the plateau
top as early as the 1870s. Again, most of the
archeological sites are known mainly from their
surface remains, but one campsite has been test
excavated.

The aspen dendroglyph sites and the watering
troughs provide the only concrete evidence of
occupation and use of the area by local ranchers and
shepherds during the prepark period. Because these
sites contain primary, unique evidence about the
earliest period of economic exploitation on the
plateau top, these features can inform such topics as
grazing practices and vernacular art with data that
is not available in written records or archives. Other
Euro-American sites, such as work camps, resi-
dential sites, concessionaire utility sites, and refuse
dumps, are related to the development and
operation of the national park. All park-related
Euro-American historic archeological sites are
unique to Bryce Canyon National Park, hence their
primary significance lies in their ability to convey
specific information about various periods in the
park’s development.

Early Euro-American Economic Use of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau.

The earliest settlers who homesteaded the area
around the Paunsaugunt Plateau mainly pursued a
subsistence economy. After a few decades, by the
1890s, a regional economy had emerged that
included cooperative grazing associations, saw-
mills, and irrigation works, but most individuals
still pursued a self-sufficient lifestyle. The plateau-

top areas were among the last to be exploited due to
their inaccessibility, short growing season, and the
presence of range and timber in low-elevation
settings around the plateau. Among the first to take
full advantage of the high-elevation plateau
resources were the ranchers and grazers who made
up the cooperative Kanarra Cattle Company, but
independent grazers also surely made use of the
plateau’s pastures soon thereafter. Loggers also
entered the plateau-top forests during this period,
but no certain evidence of their presence in the park
is available. The only concrete evidence of
occupation and use during the prepark period is
found at the aspen dendroglyph sites and the
watering troughs. These properties provide evi-
dence of use mainly by the ranchers and shepherds
of the 1910s to the 1940s, although some of the
historic dendroglyphs can be related to National
Park Service employees, park visitors, CCC
laborers, USFS rangers, and the like.

Throughout the American West, the sites of
large historic ranches (such as Grant-Kohrs Ranch
in Montana and the J A [Goodnight] Ranch in
Texas) are commonly preserved and interpreted as
being the most exceptionally significant examples
of this early period of western ranching (National
Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings 1959), but
these sites fail to represent the full range of the
western livestock industry in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. Thousands of small, inde-
pendent ranchers also ran their stock across the
western states, including Utah (Beckstead 1991).
The history of grazing in Utah is recognizably
different from that of other western states, however,
and this historic phenomenon has left lasting social
imprints on the state’s modern residents. By the late
1870s, a distinctive type of Mormon livestock
management (based on Eastern and Midwestern
American practices) had developed in Utah. This
system blurred the difference between farm stock
and range stock. Utah’s grazing practices were
shaped by the Mormon penchant for cooperation
and group life. Most Mormons lived in towns, from
which they worked their small nearby farms, and
almost all kept a few head of livestock that usually
grazed in pooled town or cooperative herds when
they were not penned at the farm. After 1880,


Figure 9.6. An aspen dendroglyph of an
elegant female nude.

EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY

Figure 9.7. A comparatively crude aspen
dendroglyph depicting a female
figure. Note scale.

187



4 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU

and an Archaic period lithic scatter was
subdivided by time period for this graph. The
significant positive skew introduced to Figure 8.4
by the large multioccupation site 42GA1903
(©30,000 m’) is offset by the fact that this site’s
area is included in the sums for all time periods
from the late Paleoindian/early Archaic through
the late Prehistoric/Formative.

As in Figure 8.3, Figures 8.4 and 8.5 com-
bine the sites with late Paleoindian and early
Archaic period materials. These charts further
emphasize the low level of occupation in Bryce
Canyon National Park during the early Archaic
period. In fact, similar patterns of occupational
intensity throughout the Archaic period are
apparent in both Figures 8.3 and 8.4. Significant
differences between these two measures of occu-
pational intensity only become apparent when
Archaic and post-Archaic sites are compared.

123

Those observations will be discussed in a later
section.

Middle Archaic Period Sites

Middle Archaic period sites are exceptionally
uncommon in Bryce Canyon National Park.
Only two sites, each with two points, and one
IO are known. Their spatial distribution pro-
vides little insight into occupational pref-
erences, and all measures consistently show this
period with a low level of occupational in-
tensity. The total site area occupied during this
time (Figure 8.4) is inflated by the large
multiple-occupation site 42GA1903, which also
vastly skews the average in Figure 8.5. If this
large site were excluded, the area of the single
remaining site of this period (4,050 m’) would
be comparable to the overall Archaic period
average.

200000
480000
160000
<> 140000
a.
@ 120000
€
g 100000
2 sooo
£
o
F eno}
40000
20000
os 2
° ©
Be 3 3 3 3. § 2
ef $ 5 6 BZ 3 <
66 < & Z 23 g 3
® oO
gc 2 g = SE a €
cz 5 3S < as 5
ra 3 s ge 2
su = 5
Time Period

Figure 8.4.

Total area covered by sites of known time periods or affiliations.


11

Project Summary and Future Directions
for Archeological Research

Chris T. Wenker

Bryce Canyon National Park was originally
established as a national monument by presi-
dential proclamation on June 8, 1923 to preserve
its spectacular geologic and geomorphologic
phenomena for the enjoyment and education of
the American public. This goal has been
admirably achieved.

Conversely, 75 years later, when the park’s
first Archeological Overview and Assessment was
written (NPS 1998), the state of Bryce Canyon
National Park’s archeological information was
still extremely limited. Archeological survey
coverage was patchy, much information was out-
dated, and most of the recent work was heavily
weighted toward the plateau-top highway corri-
dors. Test excavations at a small number of road-
side sites provided little additional data. Overall,
the types, distribution, and condition of archeo-
logical sites in the park remained poorly under-
stood. This lack of information perpetuated the
assumption that few significant archeological
resources existed in the park.

Park managers, archeologists, and the public
are now presented with an opportunity to view the
park’s archeological record at a scale never before
available. This opportunity arises as a result of the
recent Bryce Canyon AIS. This inventory, which
was conducted over two field seasons (2000—
2001), was the first large-scale, intensive
archeological survey conducted in the park. The

219

survey results provide a comprehensive and
detailed view of the archeological resources in
nearly 11,000 acres on the Paunsaugunt Plateau.
The inventory was born out of the park’s need to
implement a hazard-fuel reduction and ecosystem-
restoration program that relies heavily on the use
of prescribed fire. Although driven by the specific
planning and compliance requirements of the
prescribed fire program, the project also provides
abundant information and suggests new avenues
of research into past Native American and Euro-
American lifeways on the plateau.

Bryce Canyon Archeological Inventory
Survey Summary

Two hundred twenty-three archeological sites are
currently recorded in Bryce Canyon National
Park; 192 of these lie within the 4,370 ha (10,799
acre) plateau-top project area. Only a few sites are
known below the Pink Cliffs, primarily due to a
lack of survey coverage. The Native American
archeological resources recorded during the
survey generally consist of scatters of flaked stone
artifacts dating to the Archaic or late Prehistoric
periods, but the park’s first Anasazi and Paiute
sites and a possible late Paleoindian site were also
recorded. The Anasazi and Paiute sites also
contain the park’s first prehistoric ceramics, and
four additional Paiute sites contain the first


conducted substantial background research and
broke new ground during the creation of the
chapters that constitute this report. Phil Geib,
Jonathon Horm, Alan Reed, and National Park
Service reviewers provided insightful and useful
comments on draft versions of this report, but the
final contents are entirely the responsibility of the
project staff. Nancy Lamm skillfully drafted the
illustrations of artifacts, features, and sites. Nancy
Ford applied her technical editing, formatting, and
indexing skills to the final manuscript. Susan
Eubank of the Grand Canyon National Park
library provided the cover illustration. Lex New-
comb of the Glen Canyon National Recreation
Area and Dan Yarborough of the Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monument helped me find the
GIS shaded relief maps used in this report.

The staff of the Utah Division of State
History provided much useful guidance on

Chris T. Wenker
February 2003

viii

various aspects of the fieldwork strategy,
compliance report, and National Register
nomination. In particular, the division saw fit to
provide ancillary funding through a project grant
that allowed us to conduct detailed aspen
dendroglyph recording and to properly curate the
thousands of resulting photographs. With the
assistance of the Bryce Canyon Natural History
Association, these funds proved essential to the
successful completion of this segment of the
project. Copies of all dendroglyph photographs
and records are archived at the Division of State
History office.

Many others helped in many ways over the
years, and I thank them all. Despite the short time
frame allotted for the creation of this volume, I
hope the results of the survey prove useful to
students of western American archeology and
anthropology.



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 121

Early Archaic Period Sites

The early Archaic period occupation of Bryce
Canyon National Park is evidenced by six sites
containing a total of 11 Pinto projectile points.
Site 42GA1903 alone contains six Pinto points
as well as the Great Basin Stemmed point
mentioned above. Further, this site contains
evidence of use throughout the entire Archaic
period as well as later periods, discussed
below. Two of the other early Archaic period
sites contain only Pinto points, two contain
Pinto points with other generalized untyped
dart points, and one contains a Pinto point as
well as a late Prehistoric/Formative period
point.

The spatial distribution and density of
projectile points at early Archaic period sites
increases dramatically over that of the preceding
time period. The occupational intensity of these
time periods can be evaluated by comparing the
tates of projectile point loss and deposition (e.g.,
Rhode 1990:Figure 6). This calculation plots the
count of projectile point types recovered in the
project area (including IOs) against the length of
the time interval during which each point type was
in use (Chapter 7). The overall deposition rate for
each projectile point type is presented in
Figure 8.2, which shows older point types on the
left and more recent types on the right. Figure 8.3
illustrates the overall deposition rates of all
projectile points in each time period, using the

Projectile Points/Year
$ssgssee2ess8
2888 822 2 2

& Bees —E ZB: BR x zg
BER? BESS 528 BEBES FREEBRE 8B
Eo 3B S228 ag s§ es SESS E 8
E328 S38 — 8 S63 cof 6B sfeecs 3
2 3 ; 22 oe eget g = fF S58 &
o — 2 64 & =~ 6 §& gag &
E arr 2 3 aa
2 §& @ aD 3 & Be 2 o@ § = 3
528 QO a 5 aS 53 8 = a
ao: 5 & 3 3 g 8 Be 2 5
eee 32 $ g a 2 8 8
2 BE i g ro 8
2% 5 5 isa a x a

5
Oo 8 o2 c 3 5
g S g o
3] oO ge
5 ae

Projectile Point Type

Figure 8.2.
of point type production).

Deposition rates of projectile point types at all project sites (see Figure 7.1 for periods


$

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saved by the American people so that all may
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164. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 8. Characteristics of simple and complex multioccupation site types.
Site
o + as +e
g Ss Ss Es 8 3 2 g g & & &
B & & & a & a a a a a a
z s s 2 Ba 8 gS 3 § 8 3 8
< < = < < < < < < < < <
S g 9 S g io} ie) co) so} ¥ Z ¥
a 1 a & a a a a a 4 a S
$ ¢ ¢ 3 $ $ ¢ 3 3 $ $ $
>
3 33 8 S 88 g S83 a
= Se a £eé =
E ESE ¢ 6 E of g E
. 25 e565 Ses 2 &5 e 28 28 » < #38 2
Period So Be Ese 2 ge g Ee 3s 2 o Se 2g
e2 22 S02 2 22 25 22 62 23 SB S28 28
os eS ses §& 25 ef oS 25 of 2 eS of
82 $2 £23 2 <3 $2 82 $2 822 5 #82 82
$5 62 255 2 26 BE SE FE 28 F B85 85
4£ 46 S2f 8S §£ 42 ¢€£ Sf <2 G8 <f& <2
Site Type CM SM CM CM SM SM. SM CM CM SM SM — SM
Size (m’) 5,640 1,600 30,402. 21,704 1361 71,581 272 936 320
Total Tool Count 8 2 102 55 2 u4 10 a
% Proj. Points/ 8 50 26 33 50 2 100 67 6475 80 20
Pressure Flaked
Bifaces
% Percussion - - 49 25 - - - - - 25 - 60
Bifaces
% Used Flakes - - 9 10 50 4 - 8 - 1020
% Other Tools - 50 16 u - - - 17 - - 10 -
% Ground Stone 25 - 2 21 ~ 14 - 8 36 - - -
Analyzed Flake 27 26 39? 28d 6a 35.26 28 40
Count
% Biface 4 - - 22 4 13 - 4 6 - _ 8
Production
Debris
% Pressure/ 1s - 5 u - 4 - - 6 15 u 3
Notching Debris
% Other Debris 81 100 95 or 96 83100 96 88 85 8989
‘otal Ceramic - - - - - - - - - - 1 -
Count
Culturally ~ - - 4 - - - ~ 9 - . _
Modified Trees

Thermal Features

t

CM=Complex multioccupation, SM=Simple multioccupation.
Includes data from Dominguez and Danielson (2000).



projectile point types (continued)
Haskett points, 103
Hawken Side-notched points, 103, 111
Hell Gap points, 89, 103
Humboldt points, 87, 95, 103, 111
Jay points, 103, 119
Lake Mohave points, 119
Northern Side-notched points, 17, 87, 94, 103,
105, 111

Parowan Basal-notched points, 18, 97, 99, 100-

101, 106, 112-13
associated with ceramics, 106
Pinto series points, 16, 87, 105
Pinto Shouldered points, 88, 103, 111
Rocker Side-notched points, 95, 103
Rosegate series projectile points, 97, 100, 105,
112-13
Rosegate Corner-notched, 97, 99, 101, 106
Rosegate Stemmed, 99, 100, 106
Rose Springs Corner-notched points, 97, 106
San Jose points, 103
San Rafael Side-notched points, 17, 87, 94-95,
104, 111
Silver Lake stemmed points, 119
Sudden Side-notched points, 17, 87, 94, 103,
lit
Uintah Side-notched points, 112
proximal shoulder angle (PSA), 84-85
public land
federal administration and development of,
201-4
grazing on, 25, 27-28, 196, 198-99
Puebloan culture, 175-76
Pueblo I, 106
Pueblo I, 106
Pueblo III, 106
research design topics, 47
sites, 117-18, 126, 150, 221
See also Anasazi culture
Pumice Hole, as a source of stone materials, 132

quarry site type, 67, 72, 156, 202, 222
quartzite, 109-10, 131, 133, 135-36, 144, 220
percussion-flaked bifaces, 140

radiocarbon dates, 35, 116, 119, 126, 128
Rainbow Point, 7, 111

ramadas, 70

ranching locales, 67

INDEX 309

red painted faces (Angka-ku-wass-a-wits), 15
reduction loci site type, 156
Reed, A. D., 128
refuse dumps, 51, 57-58, 67, 72, 207
visibility of, 212
refuse scatters, 35, 55, 57-58, 67, 202-5, 207,
220-22
recorded as IOs, 42, 75-77
visibility of, 212
See also utility areas
regional landscapes, 167
research design
archeological research topics, 45-51
chronology, 4445
cultural affiliation, 44-45
land-use patterns, 44-45
future archeological research
dendrochronological data, 225
stone material sources, 224-25
surveys below the Pink Cliffs, 223
test-excavations, 223~24
preliminary research plans, 43-44
revised research plan, 44-49
resource procurement
and land-use patterns, 47, 172, 175
Riggs, Austin, 199
Rim Road, 7, 28, 31, 35, 36, 72, 202
road construction, 202
road segments, 26, 76
Roberts, P. H., 199
Rocker Side-notched points, 95, 103
rock piles, 71, 154-55, 222
rockshelters, 17
Rosegate series projectile points, 97, 100, 105,
112-13
Rosegate Corner-notched, 97, 99, 101, 106
Rosegate Stemmed, 99, 100, 106
Rose Springs Corner-notched points, 97, 106
Ruko-Rock Outcrop-Swapps map unit, 10

sandstone, 131, 133, /36

San Jose points, 103

San Juan Basin, 105

San Rafael Fremont culture, 18

San Rafael Side-notched points, 17, 87, 94-95,

104, 111

sawmills, 25

scenic splendor of Bryce Canyon, 25-28, 200-201
See also tourism



SETTING AND ENVIRONMENT 9

Figure 2.3.

View of part of the Paunsaugunt Plateau from the southern end of Whiteman Bench,

facing south. The Pink Cliffs lie on the left, the Rim Road is visible in the center, and
the interior slopes of the plateau descend to the right.

Geology

The eastern and western margins of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau crustal block are marked by the Paunsaugunt
and Sevier faults, respectively. The block
immediately east of the Paunsaugunt Plateau once
rose up to 425 m (1,395 ft) above the Paunsaugunt
Plateau block, but the exposed rocks were sofier and
were more rapidly eroded. Hence, although the east-
facing escarpment of the Paunsaugunt Plateau
represents the down-thrust side of the fault, the
plateau now stands over 300 m (985 ft) above the
eroded Paria River basin to the east (Bowers 1991).

The Pink Cliffs are composed of the red, pink, and
white beds of the Claron Formation, which dates to the
early-to-middle Eocene Epoch. This formation
consists mostly of interbedded, very fine-grained

limestone and mudstone with small sedimentary
clastic inclusions. A basal conglomerate of sandstone
or sandy mudstone occasionally contains well-rounded
pebbles and cobbles of quartzite, chert, and limestone.
The Claron Formation, representing one of the
youngest and most prevalent rock types in the park, is
divided into two informal members. The upper white
member (up to 90 m [295 ft] thick) is present only
across the highest elevations in the park, including
much of Whiteman Bench, Rainbow Point, East Creek.
Ridge, and Bryce Point. The underlying pink member
(120-210 m [395-690 ft] in thickness) forms the
capstone across most of the rest of the plateau. Rapid
weathering and erosion along vertical joints and
horizontal bedding planes in the Claron Formation
produced the stone pillars and hoodoos for which
Bryce Canyon National Park is renowned. At Bryce
Point, the Claron Formation is uncomformably
overlain by an unnamed, undated sandstone


146 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Overall, the flake assemblages on the
plateau generally reflect a high level of chert
and obsidian bifacial tool production or main-
tenance as well as sharpening or fine shaping
tasks. The interpretation of these activities from
the flaking debris corresponds well with the
inferences from tool analysis. The plateau
residents, who were without immediate recourse
to a source of fine-grained knappable stone,
created and maintained flexible, portable,
bifacial tool kits made of exogenous materials
and supplemented those imported tool kits with
simple expedient flake tools made of local,
coarse-grained quartzite and occasionally with
flake blanks made from imported chert cores or
bifaces.

Temporal Changes in Flake Types and Raw
Material

Although the flake types indicate that Brian
Head and other chert materials were evidently
used for manufacturing bifaces, proportionally,
obsidian was used much more commonly for
this task. Further, nearly all of this obsidian
reduction was conducted during the early
Archaic period. Obsidian flaking debris is
virtually absent from all other single-component
sites in the project area (only one obsidian flake
was analyzed at a late Prehistoric/Formative
period site).

The temporal distribution and types of
obsidian tools at the sites do not bear out the
flaking debris observations, however. Obsidian
tools generally consist of pressure-flaked
bifaces or projectile points and are present in
low frequencies in nearly all time periods. No
large percussion-flaked obsidian biface frag-
ments are present at any dated or undated sites.
Still, the flaking debris indicates that these
tools were present. Large obsidian bifaces
were apparently favored by the plateau’s
earliest Archaic period residents, who did not
shy away from shaping or sharpening these
tools or using them to produce usable flake
blanks. The bifaces themselves, however, were

not left on the sites. Later plateau residents
also possessed obsidian artifacts, but little or
no maintenance was conducted. This obser-
vation may indicate that obsidian procurement
was more difficult for later residents, who may
have responded with more conservative flaking
of their obsidian tools (c.f, Geib et al.
2001:369-370).

Although the overall proportions of biface
thinning flakes remain fairly constant through
the Archaic, late Prehistoric, and Numic occu-
pations (Figure 8.15), a sharp increase in chert
biface reduction flakes at the Numic sites (as
opposed to biface thinning flakes) suggests an
increase in large biface production in this
terminal Native American period. Large Stage
3 and 4 percussion bifaces made of chert
become increasingly common at late Pre-
historic and Numic sites as well. Despite the
prevalence of biface-reduction flakes at Numic
sites, a correspondingly high number of early-
stage bifaces is not present, however,
suggesting that these flakes instead derived
from late-stage bifaces.

Conversely, pressure flakes consistently
become less common through time. This trend
is not reflected in the frequencies of pressure
flaked bifaces or projectile points, however,
which remain roughly even through time
(although the complete absence of pressure
flaked bifaces at late Prehistoric/Formative sites
is anomalous). The proportion of used flakes
showing purposeful retouch also decreases
slightly through time, but no causal relationship
between counts of retouched used flakes and
pressure flakes can be proposed with the
available data.

A similarly equivocal trend is apparent
among freehand reduction flakes. This flake
type constitutes the highest assemblage pro-
portions in all time periods, but these flakes
are most common at late Prehistoric/Formative
period sites and are somewhat less common at
Numic sites. A similar trend among cores is


254

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Appendix 6.2. (continued)

IONo. Cultural Affiliation IO Type IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type

4262 Euro-American Can, nonfood 4331 Euro-American Road

4263 Euro-American Historic Refuse 4332 Euro-American Blazed tree; Historic refuse
4264 Euro-American Bottle 4333 Euro-American Bottle

4265 Euro-American Rock pile 4334 Euro-American Bottle scatter

4266 Euro-American Can, nonfood 4335 Euro-American Historic refuse

4267 Euro-American Fence 4336 © Euro-American Hardware

4268 Euro-American Can, food 4337 Euro-American Concrete structure
4269 Native American Flake 4338 Euro-American Historic refuse

4270 Euro-American Bottle scatter 4339 Euro-American Bottle

4271 Euro-American Historic refuse 4340 Euro-American Bottle

4272 Euro-American Borrow Pit 4341 Euro-American Bottle scatter

4273 Euro-American Can, food 4342 Euro-American Can, tobacco

4274 Euro-American Bottle scatter 4343 Euro-American Pipeline feature

4275 Euro-American Can, food 4344 Native American _ Flake scatter

4276 Native American Flake 4345 Euro-American Historic refuse

4277 Euro-American Can scatter 4346 Euro-American Historic refuse

4279 Euro-American Bottle scatter 4347 Euro-American Historic refuse

4280 Euro-American Hardware 4348 Euro-American Historic refuse

4281 Euro-American Road 4349 Euro-American Campfire

4282 Euro-American Leveled area 4350 Euro-American Bottle

4299 Euro-American Road 4351 Euro-American Campfire; Historic refuse
4300 Euro-American Road 4352 Euro-American Hardware:

4301 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface 4353 Euro-American Historic refuse

4302 Euro-American Bottle 4355 Euro-American Road

4303 Euro-American Bottle 4356 Euro-American Road

4304 Euro-American Benchmark; Historic refuse 4357 Euro-American Road

4305 Euro-American Historic refuse 4358 Euro-American Road

4306 Euro-American Wood pile 4359 Euro-American Can, food

4307 Euro-American Historic refuse 4360 Euro-American Wood pile; Can, food
4308 Euro-American Historic refuse 4361 Euro-American Historic refuse

4309 Euro-American Historic refuse 4362 Euro-American Historic refuse, hardware
4328 Native American Pressure flaked biface 4363 Euro-American Historic refuse

4329 Euro-American Historic refuse 4364 Euro-American Bottle scatter

4330 Euro-American Telephone/powerline locus 4365 Euro-American Historic refuse



166 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Park Boundal

N a |solated
Projectile Point
«4 'solated Pressure-
* Flaked Biface

1 2 Kilometers

— Miles

Figure 8.17. Distribution of isolated projectile points and pressure-flaked bifaces in the project area.



250 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Appendix 6.2. (continued)

JONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type
3897 Late Archaic Lithie scatter, includes | 3930 Euro-American Road

Gypsum point 3931 Euro-American Bottle
3898 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface 3932 Euro-American Road
3899 Euro-American Bottle 3933 Euro-American Dendroglyph
3900 Native American _Lithic scatter 3934 Euro-American Dendroglyph
3901 Euro-American. Can scatter 3935 Euro-American Dendroglyphs
3902 Euro-American Can, food 3936 Euro-American _Dendroglyph
3903 Euro-American Can, food 3937 Euro-American Dendroglyph
3904 Euro-American Dendroglyphs 3938 Euro-American Road
3905 Euro-American _Dendroglyph 3939 Euro-American Rock quay
3906 Buro-American— Dendroglyph 3940 Euro-American Rock quarry
3907 Native American = Manuport 3941 Euro-American Road
3908 Euro-American Bottle 3942 Euro-American Road
3909 Native American _Lithic scatter 3943 Euro-American Historic refuse
3910 Euro-American Dendroglyph 3944 Euro-American __Telephone/powerline locus
3911 Euro-American Boundary segment 3945 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3912 Euro-American Dendroglyph 3946 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3913, Euro-American Benchmark 3947 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3914 Euro-American Dendroglyph 3948 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3915 Euro-American Can, food 3949 Euro-American Telephone/powerline locus
3916 Euro-American Can, nonfood 3950 Native American Flake scatter
3917 Euro-American Hardware 3051 Native American Flake
3918 Euro-American Benchmark 3952 Native American Flake
3919 Euro-American Road 3953 Native American Flake
3920 Euro-American Boundary segment 3954 Euro-American __Telephone/powerline locus
3921 Native American Biface 3955 Buro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3922 Late Prehistoric pi scatters Te at 3956 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3923 Euro-American _Dendroglyph 3957 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3024 Euro-American Road 3958 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3025 Euro-American Log pile 3959 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3026 Euro-American Road 3960 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus
3927 Euro-American Historie Refuse 3961 Euro-American __Telephone/powerline locus
3928 Native American __Lithic scatter 3962 Euro-American Telephone/powerline locus

3963 Euro-American _Telephone/powerline locus

3929 Native American

Flake



APPENDIX 6.2 ISOLATED OCCURRENCES = 247
Appendix 6.2. (continued)
IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type IONo. Cultural Affiliation 10 Type
3385 Late Archaic Gypsum point 3481 Native American _ Pressure flaked biface
3386 Euro-American —_Dendroglyphs 3482 Buro-American Fence
3387 Euro-American Dendroglyphs 3500. Euro-American Campfire
3388 Archaic Unknown corner-notched dart 3501 Euro-American Dendroglyph
Point 3502 Native American Pressure flaked biface and
3389 Native American Pressure flaked biface and Euro-American Rock piles
3390 Native American Unknown point 3503 Buro-American Can scatter, nonfood
3391 Native American _Lithic scatter 3504 Euro-American Historie refuse, food
3432 Euro-American Can, food. 3505 Euro-American Can, food
3458 Euro-American Campfire; Can scatter, food, 3506 Euro-American Can, nonfood
nonfood 3507 Euro-American _Rock pile
3459 Euro-American Can, food 3508 Native American Flaked stone tool
3460 Euro-American Campfire 3509 Euro-American Hardware
3461 Late Archaic Gypsum point 3510 Euro-American Can, nonfood
3462 Native American Pressure flaked biface 3511 Euro-American _ Rock pile; Historic refuse,
3463 Euro-American _Dendroglyph food, nonfood
3464 Euro-American Dendroglyph 3512 Buro-American Can, food
3465 Euro-American Can, tobacco 3513. Native American —_ Flake and Bottle and Cairn
3466 Euro-American Can, food and Unknown
3467 Euro-American Rock pile 3514 Native American Flake scatter
3468 Euro-American Rock pile; Can, food 3515 Euro-American Cairn
3469 Native American Flake scatter 3516 Euro-American Rock pile
3470 Native American Pressure flaked biface 3517 Native American Flake scatter
3471 Euro-American Dendroglyph 3518 Euro-American _Dendroglyph; Rock pile
3472 Native American Pressure flaked biface 3519 Native American _Lithic scatter
3473 Notive American Lithic scatter 3520 Archaic Elko Comer-notehed point
3474 Euro-American Dendroglyph 3521 Native American Flake
3475 Euro-American Can scatter, food 3522. Euro-American Can, nonfood
3476 Euro-American Dendroglyph 3523 Native American Flake
3477 Notive American Lithie seater 3524 Native American Flaked stone tool
3478 Native American Flake 3525 Euro-American Can, tobacco
3479 Native American Pressure flaked biface; 3526 Euro-American = Road
and Euro-American Historic refuse, food, nonfood, 3527 Native American Flake
hardware 3528 Late Prehistoric Unknown comer-notched
3480 Native American _Lithic scatter and Can scatter, arrow point

and Euro-American

food.



78 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

area with the road gravel. Two other IOs, consisting
of unmodified chert cobbles, are also of questionable
origin. No cultural modification of the cobbles is
apparent, but their presence in an area lacking any
other chert indicates they are introduced items. Both
of these IOs lie in areas of historic and recent
development and probably represent recent
manuports.

Checkdams

Checkdams represent an IO type that is present in
overwhelming numbers (n=3,909). These features
dot nearly every plateau-top meadow north of
Whiteman Bench. Most checkdams lie in the
meadows along East Creek, and nearly all dams
are associated with the fine quaternary alluvial
soils that fill the broad plateau-top valleys.

Checkdams are constructed of logs and stone,
typically with several saw-cut logs stacked in the
bottom of the erosion channel, perpendicular to

the direction of stream flow (Figure 6.11). The
topmost log often exhibits a notched central
spillway that channels water onto an apron of
rocks piled below the notch. Steel spikes
frequently anchor the logs to the ground or to
adjacent logs, and rocks are sometimes piled
against the log ends.

Many of the checkdams occupy natural
erosional gullies, but most were built along
erosional channels created by abandoned road
alignments or pipeline depressions. Historic
records indicate that the CCC built the earliest
checkdams in the late 1930s as part of a park-wide
erosion control program. After the CCC was
disbanded the park developed a Soil & Moisture
Control (SMC) program to continue the work.
Extensive historic park records and photographs
from the late 1930s through the 1960s document
that the park’s staff repaired the CCC’s
checkdams and built thousands of new dams
during this period, in addition to reseeding, gully

Figure 6.11. _ A series of erosion-control checkdams filling a gully in southern East Creek Meadow.
Checkdam IO 233 is in the lower right corner.


120 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

. 8
| ON
co Archaic Period
Site

Kilometers

gO
i-
in

0 1 2 Miles

Figure 8.1. Locations of all sites containing Archaic period material recorded in the project area.



Appendix 7.3

X-ray Fluorescence Analysis
of Obsidian Artifacts

271


Eleven outhouse depressions are also present
at four of the Euro-American components. These
privies suggest the presence of long-term,
established residential areas. The CCC camp
(Site 42GA3561) contains a cluster of seven
large depressions surrounded by scattered lumber
and logs. Site 42GA5270, the probable tourist
camp mentioned above, contains a_ single
depression far from the residential area. Two
adjacent privy depressions, framed by wood
foundations, are recorded at Site 42GA5219, a
possible CCC or road-construction work camp
on Whiteman Bench. Site 42GA5257, near the
UPC utility area, also contains a scatter of milled
lumber around a depression that may also
represent an outhouse. This site also contains a
fire hearth made of logs and may represent a
temporary work camp.

Numerous historic buildings lie within the
project area. Other previous projects (e.g.,
Caywood and Grant 1994; James R. McDonald
Architects 1999; Scrattish 1985) focused on
documenting the numerous standing structures
around the Bryce Canyon Lodge and other
tourist and administrative facilities. Most of
these historic buildings date to the 1920s and
1930s and are associated with early tourist
development and National Park Service
administration. These structures are used and
maintained as present-day facilities; no
archeological deposits or features were ob-
served, and they therefore are not recorded as
archeological resources. In areas where his-
toric structures have been dismantled and
reclaimed, however, almost all above-ground
evidence of the destroyed structures has been
erased from the landscape. The UPC utility
area site (42GA5263) is an example of a locale
that once contained three or more buildings,
but which no longer contains any obvious
intact structural remains. The site currently
consists only of a widespread scatter of
construction debris and residential refuse.

Nine fire hearths are identified at five
Euro-American components, four of which

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 71

appear to be short-term or single-episode
campsites. One is found at the temporary work
camp at Site 42GA5257. Most of these hearths
consist of circular rock rings or concentrations
of rock piled one to two courses high, but the
hearth at Site 42GA5257 was framed by logs.
Two piled or stacked rock cairns, consisting of
seven stones each, are identified at two sites.
Unlike the numerous cairns recorded as [Os
along the park boundary segments (see below),
the purposes of these cairns are not readily
apparent, nor is their size substantial enough to
suggest long-term use.

Ten Euro-American features consist of rock
concentrations of unknown function. Five rock
piles are recorded at Site 42GA5219, a possible
road-construction campsite on Whiteman Bench.
Each pile contains approximately 300 pieces of
limestone and occupies a 2-x-3-m (6.5-x-9.8-ft)
area and is 30 cm (12 in) high. The function of
these piles is unknown, although they may be
associated with historic campsite-clearing activities.
Another rock concentration of unknown function is
recorded at Site 42KA5798, a multicomponent
Native American and Euro-American site. This
concentration consists of 35 large sandstone slabs
in a somewhat oval configuration measuring 1.6-
x-1.3-m (5-x-4-ft) across. Only a few rocks are
located in the center of the concentration. The
feature appears to be partly buried and may
contain some subsurface deposits. Because both
Native American and Euro-American material
occurs in the vicinity, the rock concentration’s
affiliation as well as its function is unknown.
Given its resemblance to a campfire ring, a Euro-
American affiliation seems likely.

Three depressions of unknown function are
recorded at four sites. One circular depression
at the CCC camp contains a partially buried oil
drum and may represent a buried trash pit. A
linear depression at a _ gravel pit site
(42GA5224) suggests use as an abandoned trail
or a drainage ditch. Other features in the
project area that are of unknown function
include six log piles and an earthen mound.



Documents at the Civilian Conservation
Corps Camp, Bandelier National
Monument, New Mexico. Historical
Archaeology 35(2):31-40,

Snedeker, R. J.

1982 Cultural Resource Survey of the
Proposed East Fork Timber Sale, Dixie
National Forest, Powell Ranger District.
Report Number DX-82-163. Ms. on file,
Dixie National Forest, Cedar City, Utah.

Stevens, A. W.
1917. Scenic Marvels of Sevier Forest.
American Forestry 8:11-14.

Steward, J. H.

1938  Basin-Plateau Aboriginal Sociopolitical
Groups. Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 120. United States Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

Stryd, A. H.

1998 Culturally Modified Trees of British
Columbia: A Handbook for the
Identification and Recording of Culturally
Modified Trees. British Columbia Ministry
of Forests. Crown Publications, Victoria,
British Columbia.

Sullivan, A. P., and K. C. Rozen
1985  Debitage Analysis and Archaeological
Interpretation. American Antiquity 50:755—
779.

Sundstrom, L.

1993 A Simple Mathematical Procedure for
Estimating the Adequacy of Site Survey
Strategies. Journal of Field Archeology
20:91~95.

Sutton, M. Q.

1996 The Current Status of Archaeological
Research in the Mojave Desert. Journal of
California and Great Basin Anthropology
18:221-257.

REFERENCES CITED =. 295

Swetnam, T. W.

1984 Peeled Ponderosa Pine Trees: A
Record of Inner Bark Utilization by Native
Americans. Journal of Ethnobiology
4(2):177-190.

Talbot, R. K., L. D. Richens, J. D. Wilde, J. C.
Janetski, and D. E. Newman
1999 Excavations at Icicle Bench, Radford
Roost, and Lott’s Farm, Clear Creek
Canyon, Central Utah. Occasional Papers
No. 4. Museum of Peoples and Cultures,
Brigham Young University, Provo.

Thiessen, T. D.

1983 Archeological Work-ZION PR/IP and
BRCA RP/IP #G60. Memorandum to
Assistant Regional Director, Planning and
Resource Preservation, Rocky Mountain
Region. Ms. on file, National Park Service,
Midwest Archeological Center, Lincoln.

Thomas, D. H.

1973 An Empirical Test for Steward’s
Model of Great Basin Settlement
Patterns. American Antiquity 38:155—
176.

1981 How to Classify the Projectile Points
from Monitor Valley, Nevada. Journal of
California and Great Basin Anthropology
3:7-43.

1985 The Archaeology of Hidden Cave,
Nevada. Anthropological Papers of the
American Museum of Natural History No.
61. New York.

Thompson, R. S.

1990 Late Quaternary Vegetation and
Climate in the Great Basin. In Packrat
Middens: The Last 40,000 Years of Biotic
Change, edited by J. L. Betancourt, R. R.
Van Devender, and P. S. Martin,
pp. 200-239. University of Arizona
Press, Tucson.


family’s penchant for carving dendroglyphs
certainly factors into the high frequency of
dendroglyphs dating to this period.

The dramatic drop in  dendroglyph
frequency during the 1940s and early 1950s,
and the disappearance of many of the early
ranching-related names, reflect the continued
reduction and eventual elimination of livestock
grazing on park lands. Changes among the
permittees and implementation of various
livestock-reduction programs resulted in major
decreases in livestock use. By 1940, only three
permittees (two for cattle and one for sheep)
held grazing rights on plateau lands in the park.
Sheep numbers were dramatically reduced, and
the grazing season continued to be shortened
throughout the 1940s. By 1946, permitted live-
stock included 845 cattle and 628 sheep. Dete-
riorating range conditions, changing markets,
and USFS grazing policies once again favored
cattle. The sale of the last sheep permit, in
1947, completely eliminated sheep grazing from
the park. In 1964, cattle grazing was also elimi-
nated, ending over seven decades of livestock
use on park lands.

The frequency of dendroglyph dates appears
to parallel local livestock industry trends of
growth and decline (Table 9.1). Similarly, the
monthly distribution of dated dendroglyphs can
be used to study the seasonality of public-land
grazing. Roughly 300 dated carvings include
references to specific months, all of which date
between May and mid-October. The vast
majority mark the months of July and August,
which is not an unexpected pattern given the
short growing season on the plateau. In contrast,
ranching-related inscriptions found on the
Kaiparowits Plateau date between November
and May (Geib et al. 2001), indicating winter
use of the area. As Roberts (1963:102) explains,
“under long custom, cattle in southern Utah in
the spring had followed green grass up the
mountain slopes as fast as it appeared below
retreating snow lines; and with the breath of
winter they drifted back to winter lowlands.”

EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 199

The seasonal fluctuations in dendroglyph date
frequencies coincide with and confirm estab-
lished seasonal grazing patterns. For example,
one herder documented his departure from the
Paunsaugunt Plateau on an aspen near East
Creek Meadow. This glyph reads “I am going
off of the mountain today / Sept 10 / 1910”
(Figure 9.4, upper left). This date coincides
closely with the permitted grazing season,
which in 1931 ran from May 21 to September
30 (Rumberg 1956).

Tracking Land Use on the Plateau

The names and dates in the dendroglyph record
contain some discernible spatial patterns possibly
indicative of intra-park herding dynamics and
land-use patterns. Dendroglyphs in the south-
western portion of the park provide the most
extensive data with which to explore these
patterns. The usefulness of this data, however, is
hampered by the park’s proximity to USFS
lands. Although these administrative boundaries
did not affect land use during much of the
livestock-grazing period, the survey—and the
area from which dendroglyph data have been
collected—is limited to the park, even though the
herders were not. Given the extensive grazing
potential of adjacent USFS lands, it is likely that
the dendroglyphs in Bryce Canyon National Park
constitute a small sample of those created by the
herders throughout the entire livestock range.
With such a small and spatially restricted sample
of grazing-activity locations, only tentative
inferences can be drawn about herding practices
and livestock ranges.

Despite these limitations, six of the most
common dendroglyph names were selected for
analysis. Robert Lloyd is the best represented
herder, having left his name or initials on 91
trees at 20 different sites. Other commonly noted
individuals include Watts Agner, Austin Riggs,
Les Bolton, Than Cooper, and Alfred Dutton,
who are each represented at 16 to 76 dendro-
glyph panels. Chronological information is
sporadically associated with the names of these



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU _ 173

Archaic component cannot be functionally inter-
preted). Low site counts in any period preclude
the observation of any temporal patterning in the
site types. Fire hearths or other features are
entirely lacking at these sites, so Kearns’s (1982)
temporary camps could conversely represent
processing camps in the Bryce Canyon typology.
Regardless, the proportional increase in hunting
camps and the decline in temporary or processing
camps (marked especially by the complete
absence of thermal features) indicate a substantial
change from lower-elevation settings.

Atop the Paunsaugunt Plateau proper, Archaic
period sites are almost entirely dedicated to
hunting. A single late Archaic period processing
camp containing a single piece of ground stone is
present. The fact that this site is late Archaic in
age perfectly reflects the temporal increase in late
Archaic period processing camps also seen on the
Kaiparowits Plateau (Geib et al. 2001). Hearths
are entirely absent from  single-component
Archaic period sites in Bryce Canyon National
Park, and only one multiple-occupation site with
an Archaic period component contains a possible
hearth. The paucity of processing or temporary
residential camps on the Paunsaugunt Plateau
cannot be entirely attributed to the natural dete-
rioration of ground stone implements (cf. Geib et
al. 2001), because the preponderance of flaked
stone artifact types indicates that light, portable
tool kits were the norm. Few bulky cores or
cobble tools are present at any sites of this period.
At this elevation, the processing camps of the
lower Skutumpah Terrace, with their relatively
abundant hearths and ground stone implements,
appear to have been left behind.

Farther west, the western margin of the
Markagunt Plateau occupies a nearly alpine
setting at elevations of 3,078 to 3,438 m (10,100
to 11,278 ft) asl. Extensive surveys in Cedar
Breaks National Monument (Canaday 2001)
document abundant Archaic period sites, but
virtually no thermal features or ground stone
artifacts are present at sites of any period.
Granted, the archeological record of the western

rim of the Markagunt Plateau is skewed by the
presence of extensive Brian Head chert outcrops,
which undoubtedly attracted regional inhabitants
for thousands of years. The presence of this
extensive chert source probably dictates, to a large
extent, the types of sites found in this region,
because many visits to the plateau were probably
oriented toward toolstone procurement. Tools
such as scrapers, choppers, and used flakes are
also occasionally present, however, and Canaday
(2001:108-109) proposes that hunting was also
conducted on the plateau, although on an oppor-
tunistic level. Aside from the stone-procurement
activities, the Archaic period focus on hunting
activities on the montane Paunsaugunt and
Markagunt Plateaus appears remarkably similar.

The three main environmental zones covered
by the canyon and mesa country of southern Utah
(desertscrub, pinyon/juniper woodland, and
montane forests) appear to generally coincide with
three zones of different types of Archaic period
land use. The low-elevation benches of Glen
Canyon presently support abundant grass
resources, and the types of sites found there
indicate a focus on the collection and processing
of botanical foodstuffs, probably grass seeds. The
mid-elevation woodlands of the Kaiparowits
Plateau and the White and Gray Cliffs step of the
Grand Staircase support a wide range of floral and
faunal resources, and this zone appears to have
supported the vast majority of temporary resi-
dential camps, as well as many processing and
hunting camps. The high valleys flanking the
High Plateaus (such as Johns Valley) appear to
represent transitional zones, and in the highest-
elevation forests atop the plateaus, hunting camps
become dominant, almost to the exclusion of other
site types. Obviously the modern biotic environ-
ments are not representative of the environmental
conditions that prevailed during the period of
human occupation in the early Holocene Epoch
(Chapter 2), but the elevational gradient formed
by the topography of southern Utah probably
provided a similarly diverse and _ vertically
Partitioned set of environmental zones during the
Paleoindian and early and middle Archaic periods.


Contents

FOREWORD ..

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......esscsesssssssssssssssossessnecssessssensueeessecsussssnersueessessussanesssseessessessssecsnsessnerssenivasesesee Vii
LIST OF FIGURES......eccsessscssssessseessseesseesesiesssseesnessnssssseeesvessuesessseessessisesseeesecssneeassenseesseeensenneeeneeessessnneesee xv
LIST OF TABLES .....cccecsssesssccsssessssecsseeessescsseessesssessserecsnessiesenseseeessessarecanecsienarsesenesacesanessnessisensaessenee xviii

1. INTRODUCTION

Chris T. Wenker oe... cccececsseecssesesseesstecsseessseessseessecsssensnecsunsssacessesssessssesssecsussssscassessecssssensessssseesnerenests 1
An Archeological Survey in Bryce Canyon National Park .......0..cccscssssssecsessseenecseesesserseesseeseees 1
Organization of the Report .......:cssssccsscssesssesssesseesseessssssiessecsesseiaessssssnerssesrtisssesssneceseesieseseseess 2

2, | SETTING AND ENVIRONMENT
Chris T. Wenker and Cynthia Herhahn...

Physiographic Setting...

Local Landmarks.
Geology
Soil..
Climate...
Hydrolog:
Modern Ecosystems: Floral and Faunal Resource:
Paleoenvironmental Conditions

3. CULTURAL HISTORY
Sue Eininger, Cynthia Herhahn, and Chris T. Wenker

Native American Cultural History on the Paunsaugunt Plateau.
Paleoindian Period.

Archaic Period... 16
Late Prehistoric/Formative Period: 17
Fremont 18

Puebloan Groups: Virgin and Kayenta Anasazi.
Numic/Southern Paiute Groups.
Excerpts from the Davies Memoit....
Euro-American Use of the Paunsaugunt Plateau
Early Expeditions West
Exploration and Settlement of Southwestern Utah
Settlement East of the Paunsaugunt Plateau ...
Early Economic Use of the Paunsaugunt Platea
Popularizing Bryce Canyon’s Scenic Splendor .
National Monument and Park Administration
Development of the Park’s Facilities and Administration

ix


early government, grazing, or tourist activities.
One IO consists of a cluster of 17 cairns arranged
in a grid-like pattern; this cluster may be of fairly
recent origin and may represent some type of
National Park Service study plot. Elsewhere,
28 blazed trees line the side of another abandoned
dirt road on Whiteman Bench, and other blaze
marks are scattered throughout the park.

Aspen dendroglyphs, numerous among the
Euro-American sites, are also well represented as
IO features. Dendroglyph IOs typically consist of
one or two carved trees (clusters of up to three
trees were considered IOs if no definitive historic
dates were present). Fifty-seven dendroglyph IOs
containing 75 carved trees are identified. As with
the dendroglyph panels at sites, carvings on the
IOs include initials, names, dates, and graphic
elements. Many of the names and initials are the
same as those represented at dendroglyph sites.
Carved dates range from 1900 to 1937.

Sixteen campfire locations of historic or
unknown age are noted in various locations
throughout the project area. Some campfire areas
are represented by solitary rock rings; others are
represented by groupings of two or three rock
rings along with sparse refuse scatters and wood
piles. Hole-in-cap cans and sun-colored purple
glass at two of these IOs suggest late nineteenth-
or early twentieth-century ages. At other IOs, the
surficial nature of the fire rings and the types of
artifacts present suggest more recent (mid-
twentieth century) use.

Many of the IO features are associated with
early park development and facility construction.
A variety of telephone and power line features are
recorded in the northern portion of the park. These
loci include fallen poles, sawed-off pole stubs,
trees with mounted insulators or intact wire, loose
wire segments, and scattered insulators. These
utility-line features do not appear to be associated
with the main telephone line identified as Site
42GA5288/42KA5814. This distinction is based
on feature locations, different insulator types, and
archival information indicating that power and
telephone lines were once common in the area of

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 77

the lodge, which lies well away from the main
north-south line recorded as a site.

Eleven pipeline features, indicated by linear
depressions, vault boxes, intact pipes, and wooden
and concrete pipe-support pylons, are also
identified as IOs. One of the historic pipelines at
the southern end of the park still supplies water to
the comfort station at Rainbow Point. The other
pipeline features that cross the northern portion of
the park (around Trough Spring and in East Creek
Meadow) were originally installed in the 1920s to
supply water to the tourist and lodge facilities and
the CCC camp. Other water-system features re-
corded as IOs include a concrete trench (possibly
related to the UPC sewer system) and a large
earthen dam and diversion ditch associated with
the Rim Road.

IO features of unknown function include rock
piles, wood piles, depressions, and rock align-
ments. Most of the rock piles appear to be the
result of construction clearing or stockpiling
activities. Wood piles typically consist of stacks
of cut logs, and may represent log stockpiles for
checkdam construction (see below).

Isolated Occurrence Types of Unknown
Affiliation

Eight IO components are classified as being of
unknown affiliation due to a lack of culturally or
temporally diagnostic attributes. Four rock cairns
and one pile of limestone and dirt are classified as
“unknown,” because either a Native American or
Euro-American affiliation seems possible. These
features differ from the numerous Euro-American
tock caims and piles in that their collapsed
condition and the accumulation of sediment
around the rocks suggest the possibility of
prehistoric origins.

A small artifact scatter consisting of three chert
flakes is also classified as being of unknown
affiliation. This scatter occupies a disturbed area
modified by leveling and gravel dumping. The
characteristics of the flakes and their location
suggest that they may have been brought into the



NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY ON THE PAUNSAUGUNT PLATEAU 167

The account of Paiute deer hunting related by
John H. Davies (Chapter 3) may further suggest
that East Creek Ridge was a favored Paiute deer-
hunting area. For example, Davies (n.d.:14)
mentions a “narrow ridge” “near Sheep Creek”
that was “walled in both the eastern and western
sides and ending in a perpindicular [sic] cliff at its
southern extremity.” Davies’ characterization
matches well with the topography of East Creek
Ridge (Figures 1.1 and 8.17). Further, Sheep
Creek has its headwaters at the base of the cliffs
immediately southwest of East Creek Ridge
(Figure 2.2), suggesting that this is indeed the
landform in question.

The density of projectile points on this land-
form (including a Desert Side-notched point)
further implies that this ridge is the same as that
reported by Davies. At its crest, East Creek Ridge
is roughly 800 m (2624 ft) wide. A hunting party
with members stationed "along the ridge, about
fifty yards [46 m] apart" (Davies n.d.:14) would
require about 18 hunters to close off the end of the
ridge and another “two or three” to chase the deer
back. A similar Paiute approach to cooperative
deer hunting is reported by Kelly (1964:48-49),
although the size of the hunting party is not noted.
During rabbit drives, however, Kelly (1964:50)
notes that “10 to 20” drivers and “3-5” net tenders
might be involved, providing a head count that is
roughly similar in size to the postulated hunting
party on East Creek Ridge. Finally, the time depth
indicated by the variety of projectile points on
East Creek Ridge suggests that hunting drives
have long been conducted on this high landform.

Processing Camps

Somewhat surprisingly, a substantial number of
the Archaic period and Numic/Paiute processing
camps are also located on the relatively high-
elevation Whiteman Bench. All others lie north of
the bench in lower-elevation settings (none lie to
the south at the highest end of the plateau). If
complex multioccupation sites are also con-

sidered, the count of multifunctional sites on the
bench increases further yet, and additional
processing camps and complex multioccupation
sites lie adjacent to Whiteman Bench along East
Creek Meadow (Figure 8.18). The locations of
undated functionally diagnostic sites further
supports the general distributional patterns of
hunting and processing camp sites (Figure 8.19).
Much of Whiteman Bench supports a dense
modern stand of spruce and fir that differs signifi-
cantly from the ponderosa pine forests of the
lower-elevation plateau-top areas just to the north
(Roberts, Wight, and Hallsten 1992). The bench is
also relatively flat and easily accessed and
traversed, as opposed to the rugged high ridges to
the south that have a similar spruce/fir forest
cover. The processing camps on the bench appear
to be strategically located on this landform for
ease of access and may have been oriented toward
the procurement of a specific suite of high-
elevation botanical resources.

Native American Land Use in Utah’s Grand
Staircase/High Plateaus

Ultimately, outlining the distribution of indi-
vidual sites or artifacts across a landform is less
illuminating than a temporal evaluation of land
use across a range of possible habitable
landscapes. Geib et al. (2001:4) note that a
“regional landscape is viewed as a composite of
opportunity zones that are thought to have con-
ditioned the general placement of sites in both
frequency and type.” The relatively small
portion of the Paunsaugunt Plateau that was
examined during the inventory project does not
in itself provide an adequate sample of
sufficient scale to conduct a regional com-
parison, and the environmental variation does
not adequately encompass the available re-
source procurement zones that can be found in
the Grand Staircase/High Plateau region.
Accordingly, the Bryce Canyon AIS project
area must be established as a sample area in a
regional context.



82 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

and other characteristics of the Bryce Canyon
projectile point assemblage.

The raw material variable categorizes the type
of stone used to manufacture each of the projectile
points. Raw materials were initially encoded during
laboratory analysis according to variations in
texture and color. Chert materials included a variety
of color variations and were coded separately from
chalcedonys. Varieties of quartzite, obsidian,
siltstone, and petrified wood were also encoded
separately, During the data analysis phase these
materials were grouped according to potential
source areas.

The portion variable distinguishes the
condition and portion of the analyzed projectile
point. Categories include complete, base, tip, mid-
section, and nearly complete. These states can
occur alone or in combination, and they
characterize the nature and degree of breakage for
each point. During the analysis phase this variable
was grouped into a condition variable that
summarized point condition into complete, nearly
complete, and broken forms.

The thermal alteration variable identifies the
presence or absence of thermal alteration for
each of the projectile points. It does not
distinguish among intentional heat treatment, the
effects of forest fires, or the potential effects of
freezing. The thermal alteration type attribute
documents the kinds of thermal alteration
observed. Thermal alteration types include
crazing, waxy luster, color change, and pot-lid
fractures, These thermal alteration types are not
mutually exclusive. Crazing describes minute
surface cracks, often cross-hatched, caused by
either rapid heating or cooling. Waxy luster
refers to changes in the surface reflectivity
resulting from thermal alteration. Waxy luster
resulting from heat treatment is difficult to
discern from the natural luster of some siliceous
materials, and this attribute was used con-
servatively and principally on specimens where
luster differences between facets was visible.

Color change refers to changes in the color of
materials resulting from heating. Lithic materials
containing certain trace elements, such as iron,
will change color when oxidized. For example,
forms of jasper frequently turn from yellow-
brown to red when heated. Pot-lid fractures are
concave flake scars on a lithic item caused by the
removal of plano-convex flakes. These flakes
result from rapid heating or freezing that causes
moisture within the material to vaporize or
crystallize and explode outward. Any of these
attributes may indicate either intentional heat
treatment of raw materials during the manu-
facturing process or natural processes, such as
wildfire, that affected the artifacts after they
were deposited at sites.

The patination variable identifies the
presence or absence of patination and its degree
of development. Four states are characterized:
none, minimal, moderate, and heavy. Patina can
be segregated into three general groups: desert
varnish, gloss, and white discoloration (Geib et
al. 1999:5.4). Only the white discoloration form
of patina was noted on the Bryce Canyon
specimens. This form of patina generally appears
on high-quality silicates, such as chert or
chalcedony, and generally forms during desilici-
fication, when silica near the surface is dissolved
by aqueous solutions (Geib et al. 1999:5.4). The
desilicification process is indicative of surface
exposure and may provide a relative chrono-
logical indicator at surface lithic sites.

The blank form variable categorizes the overall
form of each projectile point blank. Three forms are
identified: triangular, lanceolate, and willow-leaf
shaped. Forms that were not distinguishable are
coded as unknown. Identifying the initial blank
form can aid the classification of points into types.
For example, Elko Corner-notched points can be
distinguished from White Dog Basketmaker II
points because the former points were manu-
factured from a blank with an isosceles triangular
form while the latter employed a lanceolate blank
form.



projects would have brought work crews into the
southern portion of the park. Due to the close
contemporaneity and similar cultural background
of road crews and the CCC, distinguishing
between these two work groups is not possible
using the available survey data. No archival
records mention this camp’s origin. Two
dendroglyph dates, 1900 and 1923, and two sun-
colored purple glass shards suggest a pre-Great
Depression-era occupation at this site, but this use
may be associated with livestock-grazing
activities. Other time-sensitive attributes in the
artifact assemblage (e.g., church-key opened cans,
Owens-Illinois trademarks, clear glass shards) are
indicative of a later, post-1930 occupation.
Several hundred meters north of this campsite, a
small historic refuse scatter surrounds a low
earthen mound (Site 42GA5222). This discrete
feature may represent a buried dump associated
with the campsite. An Owens-Illinois bottle
trademark in this scatter dates from 1929 to 1954
(Toulouse 1971:403).

Telephone-line construction also brought
workers into the southern portion of the park
during the mid-1930s. Telephone service had been
extended to the Bryce Canyon Lodge by 1927
(Scrattish 1985:84), and the rapid expansion of
visitor facilities in the southern portion of the park
required more extensive communication facilities.
A telephone line running the length of the park to
Rainbow Point was completed in 1935 (Dammann
1993:43) and was extended to Yovimpa Pass in
1944. The archeological remains of this line were
recorded as Site 42GA5288/42KA5814. Dis-
continuous segments of the telephone line corridor
are marked by the presence of collapsed or dis-
mantled pole fragments, pieces of hardware, glass
and ceramic insulators, wire fragments, trees with
wire and insulators attached, and linear clearings
through the forest. It is unclear when the line was
abandoned, but it appears to have been purposely
dismantled. The absence of wire and poles from
most of the line suggests that the material was
salvaged, and fallen poles from the northern
portion of the line were later used to construct
checkdams (see below).

EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 203

The Civilian Conservation Corps in Bryce
Canyon National Park

Scrattish (1985) and Dominguez and Danielson
(2000) report extensively on the CCC’s activities
in the park. This section summarizes that work
and highlights new discoveries of the inventory
project.

The most substantial and best-known historic
campsite in the park is the CCC spike camp at Site
42GA3561, located along the southern margin of
East Creek Meadow (Figure 2.4). Bryce Canyon
National Park’s camp was built and occupied by
CCC Company 962, which was based at Zion
National Park. The seasonal spur camp at Bryce
Canyon National Park, designated NP-3, was in
use from 1934 through 1941, and it was
systematically dismantled in 1945.

The present-day site consists of a wide dis-
tribution of artifacts and features scattered across a
560-x-505-m (1837-x-1657-ft) area. Remaining
features include a gravel-capped water pipeline
corridor, a refuse pit, several dirt roads, and a series
of seven outhouse depressions with associated
structural timbers. Despite the general lack of above-
ground structural remains, the appearance of the
camp can be inferred by reviewing a combination of
written records (Baldridge 1971; Paige 1985; Salmond
1967; Scrattish 1985), photographs (Scrattish 1985),
and archeological materials (Dominguez and
Danielson 2000). Characteristic of CCC camps
throughout the western United States, NP-3 contained
high-peaked canvas tents with wood frames and central
roof-support poles (Scrattish 1985:188). Several
wooden buildings, including a mess hall, maintenance
shop, and recreation building, were also erected at the
site (Scrattish 1985:153). Archeological investigations
conducted in 1990 and 1991 identified various
locations of the camp’s permanent and temporary
facilities as well as several dump locations
(Dominguez and Danielson 2000).

When operating at full capacity, 200 CCC
workers lived and worked in the park. Their
seasonal presence resulted in the construction of


290 | BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Lyneis, M. M.

1994a East and onto the Plateaus? An
Archaeological Examination of the
Numic Expansion in Southern Nevada,
Northern Arizona, and Southern Utah. In
Across the West: Human Population
Movement and the Expansion of the
Numa, edited by D. B. Madsen and D.
Rhode, pp. 141-149. University of Utah
Press, Salt Lake City.

1994b Ceramics Recovered along the Utah
Portion of the Kern River Gas Transmission
Line. Utah Division of State History, Salt
Lake City.

1995 The Virgin Anasazi, Far Western
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McFadden, D. A.

1980 Sheep Creek Building Stone Site.
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Lincoln.

1996 Virgin Anasazi Settlement and
Adaptation on the Grand Staircase. Utah
Archaeology 9(1):1-34.

Madrid, C.

1993 Bryce Canyon National Park Rim
Road. Historic American Engineering
Record HAER No. UT-71. Ms. on file,
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D.C.

Madsen, D. B.
1975 Dating Paiute-Shoshoni Expansion in the
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1982 Get It Where the Gettin's Good: A
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O'Connell, pp. 207-226. Society for

American Archaeology Papers, Vol. 2.
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Madsen, D. B., and D. R. Currey
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Wojciki

2001 Appendix E: Exploratory Paleoecology

on the Markagunt Plateau: A Progress
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Monument, Utah, edited by T. W. Canaday,
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Madsen, D. B., and S. R. Simms
1998 The Fremont Complex: A Behavioral
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Mallea-Olaetxe, J.
2000 Speaking through the Aspens: Basque
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1973 A Consideration of the Thermal
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Anthropologist 18:177-202.

Marine, I. W.

1963 Ground-Water Resources of the Bryce
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Markoff, D. S.

1980 The Dudes Are Always Right. The
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280 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Altschul, J. H., and H. C. Fairley
1989 Man, Models, and Management: An
Overview of the Archaeology of the
Arizona Strip and the Management of its
Cultural Resources. Ms on file, Bureau of
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Ambler, J. R., and M. Q. Sutton
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Juan Drainage and the Numic Expansion.
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Anderson, R. S., J. Hasbargen, P. A. Koehler,
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US.A. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine
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Andrefsky, W. A., Jr.
1994 Raw-Material Availability and the
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Antevs, E.

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Bakewell, E. F.

2001 Petrographic Analysis of Brian Head
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National Park Service Cultural Resources
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Baldridge, K. W.
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Bamforth, D. B.
1986 Technological Efficiency and Tool
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Barnes, F. A.
1982 Canyon Country Prehistoric Rock Art.
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Barnett, J.

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Bartlett, R. A.
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Basgall, M. E., and M. C. Hall
1991 — Relationships between Fluted and
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Berry, C. F., and M. S. Berry

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of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.



EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 181
oa — _ F ¥RY ut
fn)

ay

&

§

: »
= nS iy Voy Park Bout
ape

ro an

 Dendroglyph |

Sites/lOs
A g Other |
inscriptions
0 1 2 Kilometers
~e

0 1 2 Miles

Figure 9.1. Locations of all aspen dendroglyphs and other inscriptions in the project area.



172. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Canyon National Park, respectively, range from
roughly 1,707 to 2,560 m (5,600 to 8,400 ft asl)
(Christensen et al. 1983:11; Keller 1987:6).
Hence, the lower elevation and vegetation zones
of the Alton (i-e., Skutumpah) and Kolob survey
areas overlap the higher zones of the Kaiparowits
Plateau survey areas, providing environmental
continuity between sample frames. Further, the
Skutumpah Terrace lies immediately below the
Pink Cliffs of Bryce Canyon National Park,
providing spatial continuity. Christensen et al.
(1983:31-35) divide their study area into zones of
high, medium, and low site density. In the Kolob
area, most sites are present below 2,134m
(7,000 ft) asl in elevation. Similarly, the eastern
Alton area “exhibited major clusters of
archaeological sites from 7,000 to 7,200 feet
[2,134 to 2,195 m] asl on fairly uniform terrain”
(Christensen et al. 1983:34). Keller (1987:93)
notes that most sites are found between 6,500 and
7,200 ft (1,981 and 2,195 m) asl in elevation in
the Alton area, which matches well with
Christensen et al.’s (1983) average Alton site
elevation of 6,909 ft (2,106 m) asl. Few sites lie
above 2,195 m (7,200 ft) asl in the Skutumpah
Terrace area.

Over 90 percent of recorded sites in the joint
Kolob-Alton survey area consist of simple lithic
scatters or temporary camp sites that frequently
contain hearths. No single-component Archaic
period sites were identified during the Kolob-
Alton survey, so “it is very difficult . . . to
definitely state just what Archaic settlement and
subsistence patterns were in the area other than to
say that they were extensive and apparent across
the entire project area” (Christensen et al.
1983:39). The general prehistoric settlement
pattern (which presumably applies to the Archaic
period sites) is interpreted as one of seasonal
resource exploitation (Christensen et al. 1983:85).
Keller (1987:106-107) notes that, although 50 to
70 percent of the Archaic period sites contain
hearths, sites of later periods contain even higher
frequencies of thermal features. Keller (1987:47)
attributes this observation either to the erosion of
the earlier hearths or to larger populations during

later periods. Over two-thirds of all the sites
recorded by Keller (1987:48-51) also contain
ground stone artifacts, indicating a strong reliance
on wild plant resources. Overall, Keller
(1987:156) notes that the “sites exhibit a relatively
restricted range of characteristics and probable
functions in comparison with the range of sites in
the region” and observes that “from the early or
middle Archaic . . . to historic times, generally
similar subsistence activities have been employed
by local aboriginal groups, that is, seasonal
occupation based in significant part on local wild
plant resources” (Keller 1987:51-53). The
frequencies of thermal features and milling tools
indicate that many of the Archaic period sites on
the Skutumpah Terrace may be classifiable as
temporary residential or processing camps.

Closer to the Bryce Canyon AIS, the western
parcel of the Escalante Project’s Tract Ill area
(Kearns 1982) occupies the eastern margin of Johns
Valley, which grades gradually into the northern end
of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Only Tract [I’s western
parcel is considered here because of its proximity
and similarity to the lower valleys of Bryce Canyon
National Park; the discontiguous eastern parcels are
excluded because they cover a much greater
elevational gradient and represent overly diverse
environmental settings. The surveyed blocks of the
western Tract III area lie at elevations between
roughly 2,073 and 2,438 m (6,800 to 8,000 ft) asl,
providing a good sample of elevational settings
overlapping with and intermediate to the Bryce
Canyon AIS and Skutumpah Terrace areas.

The western Tract III parcel contains 18 sites
with Archaic period components (1 early, 3
middle, 5 late, and 9 general Archaic). Most (n=9)
represent hunting locales that contain flake scat-
ters with bifaces or projectile points and
occasionally cobble unifaces, used flakes, drills,
or other tools. The nine other sites contain ground
stone artifacts (most commonly hand stones) in
addition to other tools. Five of these are inter~
preted as short- or long-term camp sites, and three
are indeterminate hunting/camp sites (the
remaining site is multioccupational and the



98 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

e,FS94

£, FS 122

Figure 7.8.

Unknown or untyped large projectile points.

g, FS 134

k, FS 97

0 1 2

CENTIMETERS,

FS 84



FIELD METHODS AND RESEARCH DESIGN 45

the project area. Meaningful appraisals of these
subjects rely heavily on accurate chronological
evaluations, and in the absence of such temporal
control, only broad patterns may be discerned.
Finally, the cultural affiliation research domain
attempts to discern the cultural patrimony of groups
who occupied the area. Rarely can the actual
affiliation of the Native American occupants of an
archeological site be identified. In the absence of
written records, determinations of affiliation with
an archeologically defined cultural unit rely on
diagnostic items of material culture such as pottery
types, projectile points, and architectural styles, or,
more rarely, perishable items such as basketry,
footwear, or textiles. Frequently, only broad
generalizations of affiliation with regional tra-
ditions can be made. Euro-American cultural
affiliations may be determined through historic
records or by the identification of ethnically
diagnostic features such as inscriptions, styles of
habitations, or artifacts.

Once the bare framework of the chronology,
land use, and cultural affiliation of the park’s
archeological sites is sketched out, data classes
that may be open to productive avenues of
investigation become apparent. Below, more
refined research questions are developed and
draped over the framework. Subsequent report
chapters will investigate these questions to
illuminate selected aspects of the park’s human
history.

Native American Archeological Research
Topics

The Native American use and occupation of
Bryce Canyon National Park extends from the
late Paleoindian-early Archaic period transition
(ca. 9500 B.P.) to the historic period (A.D. 1880s
to 1900s). The park’s sites are known mainly
from their surface remains, although several
have been previously test excavated. The
inventory project documented the first late
Paleoindian/early Archaic, Puebloan, and Paiute
sites in the park. Although no_ habitation
structures are known, the sites of all time
periods can be interpreted as temporary camp

sites or locales of seasonal resource procure-
ment or processing. Some research topics that
can be studied with data from these sites
include cultural-history reconstruction, environ-
mental adaptation, economic and technological
change or stability, seasonal transhumance, and
issues of regional or cultural affiliation. Sites in
the park are uniquely poised to address these
questions for several reasons, including: (1) the
Paunsaugunt Plateau’s location at the con-
fluence of multiple archeological culture areas,
(2) the long span of occupation in the park, (3)
a paucity of comprehensive archeological
survey coverage in lands adjacent to the park,
and (4) a dearth of regional research conducted
in comparable high-elevation settings.

Late Paleoindian/Early Archaic Period
Archeology in South-Central Utah

As discussed in Chapters 2 and 3, the envi-
ronmental changes of the last 12,000 years
affected cultural developments in south-central
Utah in fundamental ways. This is abundantly
clear in the Paleoindian/Archaic cultural
transition, which spans the late Pleistocene/
early Holocene Epoch transition. The sites that
contain late Paleoindian/early Archaic period
components in Bryce Canyon National Park
lend themselves to two closely aligned research
topics concerning the relationship between
stemmed and fluted points, one of the long-
standing research issues in the Great Basin. One
research question investigates the environ-
mental contexts in which large stemmed
projectile points were used during the late
Paleoindian and early Archaic periods. A
second related question studies the possible
subsistence strategies that may be indicated by
the continued use of these points after the end
of the Pleistocene Epoch.

Several sites in Bryce Canyon National Park
that contain Western Stemmed, Pinto, and other
untyped stemmed projectile points contain
information that can contribute data useful for
studying some of these research questions. In
particular, the geographic setting of the park


222. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

also conducted forest-thinning work to control
insect infestations. Extensive road construction
and pipeline installation projects were also
undertaken during this period. Historic photo-
graphs show that heavy trucks were used to haul
lumber and rocks into the meadows for checkdam
construction, and most of the drivable areas on the
plateau top probably experienced heavy vehicular
use during logging and checkdam installation. The
archeological manifestation of this use is now
visible in the common small refuse scatters left by
the loggers and construction crews, as well as in
the numerous abandoned dirt roads that cross the
plateau-top. Conversely, refuse scatters and
dumps around the Bryce Canyon Lodge probably
indicate work sites or disposal areas created by the
park concessionaire.

The most common historic archeological
features in the park are log-and-rock checkdams;
nearly four thousand small checkdams were
recorded. Historic records indicate that the CCC
started building an  erosion-control system
consisting of hundreds of checkdams in the late
1930s. After the CCC disbanded, the park
developed a Soil and Moisture Control program to
continue the work. Other Euro-American archeo-
logical resources include gravel pits (probably
related to Rim Road construction) and rock
quarries (probably related to the construction of
park buildings). Several improved springs are
known, some of which include axe-hewn logs
used for livestock troughs. A historic telephone
line crosses the park, as do several historic water
pipelines. Many trail segments, blazed trees, rock
piles, rock cairns, and stone alignments are also
present, as are a variety of fence lines, park
boundary markers, inscriptions on rock outcrops
and on pine trees, wood piles, depressions, and
miscellaneous small concrete features.

Although many historians have written about
the Bryce Canyon area, these studies generally
cover only a few standard themes such as the
initial Mormon settlement of the area, the early
tourist days at Ruby Syrett’s lodge, and the de-
velopment of Bryce Canyon National Park. The

everyday lives of local shepherds, ranchers, and
loggers are rarely, if ever, described, even though
the economic livelihood of the region has always
relied on the resources of the Paunsaugunt
Plateau. The history of this important facet of
pioneering life has not been adequately described
or interpreted, mainly due to a lack of primary
historical documentation. Although the infor-
mation that can be gleaned from the aspen
dendroglyph inscriptions is often obscure, these
sites provide a unique and alternative glimpse into
the daily lives of the early settlers who worked on
the plateau.

These sites are also important as works of
vernacular art and for their ability to connect
directly with modern descendants who carry on a
similar rural lifestyle. During the homesteading
period, Utah’s Mormons developed a distinctive
village-based strategy for herding livestock that
differed from that of the sprawling ranches of the
stereotypical American west. Utah’s modern
population

has a surprisingly deep but unfortunately
largely uninformed affinity for the traditions
that livestock enterprises bequeathed the state.
There is great danger of Utah’s particular
cultural past being consumed by the mythic
memory of the larger frontier past. Thus, in
terms of the lessons it teaches for quality of
life as well as for what it tells us about the
technicalities of resource utilization, the
different past of one state is important.
(Peterson 1989:319)

In the general absence of large, centralized
ranches or other grazing facilities, the small-scale
archeological remains of Utah’s pioneering
ranchers and shepherds constitute some of the
only remaining tangible links to this historic
tradition.

Sites created during National Park Service
activities are directly related to the development
of Bryce Canyon National Park’s infrastructure
and, hence, are unique to the park. Some docu-
mentary or archival information is available for



FIELD METHODS AND RESEARCH DESIGN St

operation of Bryce Canyon National Park. These
sites represent activities that were conducted
either directly by the National Park Service or by
its concessionaire, the UPC, in the period
between 1928 and the 1960s. No sites related to
the USFS 1923-1928 period of management are
known in the park.

Temporary Euro-American campsites such as
those in the park often appear inconsequential at
first, but as Smith (2001:31) points out, “the
archaeology of temporary shelter[s] seeks to
reconstruct cultural activities from the barest of
physical remains. . . . The challenge of interpreting
these ephemeral archaeological remains is often
increased by the active process of site dismantling
and reuse associated with later occupation. When
both historical and archaeological data are available
for a camp, inferences drawn from archaeological
remains can be compared with written documents,
providing models that can be used in the inter-
pretation of sites that lack an historical tradition.”
For example, among the nation’s CCC camps,
seasonal and regional differences in the camps’
locations and configurations developed as the work
program evolved (Paige 1985). The study of the
archeological remains of work camps (both CCC
and others) can illuminate changes in camp
structure and function through time that may not be
recorded in archived records. Other aspects of
personal life that are generally downplayed in
administrative histories such as ethnicity,
subsistence, or recreational pursuits (e.g., alcohol
consumption) may also be discerned in the
archeological materials (Smith 2001:37).

The primary interpretive potential of the
historic National Park Service sites lies in their
ability to reveal various activities that occurred

during the park’s development, such as periods
of road and building construction. At another
interpretive level, these sites can also provide
information about the general development of
western national parks that may be comparable to
similar sites in other parks (e.g., Culpin
[1994:503-514] discusses early twentieth-
century work camps in Yellowstone National
Park).

Sites that were created by other entities such
as the CCC or UPC represent distinct activities
conducted by outside interests working under the
purview of National Park Service management.
Hence, while these sites also contain elements
unique to the park, their association with similar
sites in other locations can be drawn more easily.
For example, Bryce Canyon National Park’s
CCC camp actually represents a spike camp from
the CCC base in Zion National Park, so the
structure, content, and functions of this camp can
be compared to similar camps at Zion National
Park and across the rest of the country. Similarly,
the UPC was also active in Zion National Park,
and the UPC sites with structural remains and
refuse deposits in Bryce Canyon National Park
can be compared and contrasted with those in
Zion National Park, as well as with other tourist
facilities at national and state parks across the
country to examine topics such as concessionaire
management activities and tourist demographics.
Limited documentary or archival information is
available for some of these sites, but others are
known only from their archeological remains.
The wide range of data contained in these diverse
sites can illuminate the general character of work
practices and daily activities that were
undertaken during the historic period of park
management and development.



180 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Two types of archeological resources in the
project area are associated with ranching
activities: historic inscriptions and water-
impoundment sites. Although they represent
limited-activity areas and are largely devoid of
associated artifacts, these sites can be dated and
affiliated with specific individuals or groups
(unlike many ephemeral stock-raising sites). The
data collected from these archeological remains,
together with the vast array of written records
detailing local history, provide a unique
opportunity to explore the lifeways of historic
herders atop the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

Historic Inscriptions

Historic inscriptions represent the most abundant
and visible Euro-American resource identified
during the survey. A total of 1,081 inscriptions
was recorded at 74 sites and 57 IOs (Figure 9.1).
This total includes 1,075 aspen dendroglyphs, 3
inscribed bark-stripped trees, 2 water troughs, and
1 rock inscription. Although not all of the
inscriptions are attributed to livestock-herding
activities, the vast majority appear to be asso-
ciated with late nineteenth- and early twentieth-
century herding atop the plateau.

Dendroglyphs

Nearly every aspen grove across the park’s
plateau top contains evidence of dendroglyph
carvings. These groves are scattered throughout
the southern two-thirds of the project area,
extending from Yovimpa Pass at the southern end
of the park to East Creek Meadow in the north-
central portion (Figure 9.1). This distribution
coincides with north-to-south changes in elevation
and topography that define the extent of aspen
habitat across the landscape. Most of the dendro-
glyphs lie in canyon bottoms along the western
edge of Whiteman Bench. Others are concentrated
in groves along the edges of high-elevation
meadows. Some occur as IOs, where only one or
two carvings exist in an aspen stand. Others occur
in dense clusters, with as many as 65 dendro-

glyphs recorded at a single site. At most of the
sites, the dendroglyphs are the primary, if not only
feature type observed. In only a few instances was
historic refuse noted at a dendroglyph grove.

Dendroglyphs range from carefully rendered
inscriptions to crude carvings with little detail. For
the most part, they appear to have required little
time investment and no particular artistic talents.
Text elements are predominant and consist of
personal names, dates, place names, initials, and
comments or exclamations. Script styles are as
varied as the carvers who produced them. Block
letters, cursive, decorative flourishes, and varying
combinations of lower and upper-case letters
create a wide range of presentations (Figure 9.2).
Graphic imagery is even more varied in style and
artistry. Drawings range from — simplistic
depictions to detailed, realistic representations.
Most stand alone as single elements. Elaborate
compositions comprised of multiple elements are
rare,

Names and initials, identified at 887 of the
1,075 dendroglyph panels, are by far the most
common element type. Mallea-Olaetxe (2000:29),
in his study of Basque shepherd dendroglyphs in
the western United States, concludes that “the
sheepherder’s primary purpose and ambition
when approaching an aspen with his knife was to
carve his name and date.” The need to identify
oneself and assert one’s presence in the world is
aptly demonstrated by the numerous names repre-
sented among the dendroglyph panels in Bryce
Canyon National Park. First names, surnames, and
initials were observed in various combinations
with or without associated dates. More than 100
individual’s names, 60 surnames, and 200 combi-
nations of initials are identified. Many of the
names recur frequently within the project area
(Figure 9.2). One person’s name might be carved
several times on a single tree, found on different
trees within a site, or seen at various site locations
across the landscape. Commonly, two to four
different names or initials are seen on a single
dendroglyph tree. Some of the multiname


Widening. Ms. on file, National Park
Service, Midwest Archeological Center,
Lincoln.

2000 Final Report on 1989-1991 Field
Investigations for Bryce Canyon Road
Widening. Midwest Archeological Center
Technical Report No. 65. National Park
Service, Lincoln.

Dominguez, S., and K. Kramer
1988 Rocky Mountain Region
Archeological Report, Archeological
Survey of Trail Maintenance, Revegetation,
and Prescribed Burn Areas in Bryce Canyon
National Park. Ms. on file, Bryce Canyon
National Park, Bryce Canyon, Utah.

Dominguez, S., D. Danielson, and K. Kramer
1989 Archeological Survey of Trail
Maintenance, Revegetation, and Prescribed
Burn Areas in Bryce Canyon National Park.
Ms. on file, National Park Service, Midwest
Archeological Center, Lincoln.

1992 Archeological Survey of Trail
Maintenance, Revegetation, and Prescribed
Burn Areas in Bryce Canyon N P. Midwest
Archeological Center Technical Report No
18. National Park Service, Lincoln.

Dykmann, J. L.

1976 Cultural Resource Clearance
Inventory, Pines Timber Sale, Dixie
National Forest, Powell Ranger District.
Report Number DX-76-55. Ms. on file
Dixie National Forest, Cedar City, Utah.

Eininger, S., and C. T. Wenker
2002 Bryce Canyon National Park Historic
Aspen Dendroglyph Documentation Project.
Ms. on file, Bryce Canyon National Park,
Bryce Canyon, Utah

Euler, R. C.
1966 Southern Paiute Ethnohistory.
University of Utah Anthropological Papers
No. 78. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake
City.

REFERENCES CITED — 285

Farnsworth, A. S.
1992 The Legacy of Ruby’s Inn, Gateway to
Bryce Canyon. Parish Publishing, Utah.

Fawcett, W. B., and W. R. Latady
1998 Investigating Human Land Use within

the Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument: The Roles of Archaeological
Surveys. In Learning from the Land-Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Science Symposium Proceedings, edited by
L. Hill, pp. 43-52. Southern Utah
University, Cedar City, Utah.

Finch, B. J.
1935 Final Construction Report on Bryce
Canyon—Rim Road Route No. 1 Section 1-
B1 Grading and Surfacing 1932-1933. Ms
on file, Bryce Canyon National Park, Bryce
Canyon, Utah.

Firor, J.

1994 Excavation of Two Prehistoric
Southern Paiute Sites near Kanab, Utah.
Alpine Archaeological Consultants,
Montrose, Colorado. Ms. on file, Bureau of
Land Management, Kanab Resource
District, Kanab, Utah.

Fowler, D. D., D. B. Madsen, and E. M. Hattori
1973 Prehistory of Southeastern Nevada.
University of Nevada Publications in the
Social Sciences No. 6. Reno.

Fowler, D. D., and J. F. Matley
1979 Material Culture of the Numa: The
John Wesley Powell Collection 1867-1880.
Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology
No. 26. Smithsonian Institution Press,
Washington, D.C.

Frison, G. C.
1978 Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains.
Academic Press, New York.

Garfield County News (Tropic, Utah)
1987 CCC Veterans Meet for Bryce
Reunion. 20 August.


Site 42GA5811, 72
Site 42GA5216 (Shaker Spring), 69-70, 195, 208
pipeline, 202
Site 42GA1902 (Trough Spring), 31, 57, 69-70,
72, 105, 194, 208
pipeline, 202
Site 42KA1989, 31
Site 42KA3284, 31
Site 42KA3287, 31
chronological data, 184
Site 42KA3288, 31
Site 42KA3289, 31
Site 42KA3290, 31
Site 42KA5764, 69
Site 42K A5782, chronological data, 67-68
Site 42K A5784, chronological data, 68
Site 42KA5798, 69
cores, 141
projectile points, 94
Site 42KA5809, 189-90
Site 42KA5814. See Site 42GA5288/42KA5814
sites. See archeological sites
Skutumpah Terrace, 171-72, 175, 177, 221
slave trade, 19
small projectile points, 97, 100-101, /02
classification key, 84
corner-notched points, 101, /02
side-notched points, 100-101, /02
vs. large points, 116
SMC (Soil & Moisture Control) program, 78-79,
222
Smith, Jedidiah, 23
Smith, M. L., 51
Smoky Mountain, as a source of stone materials,
133
Snake Valley Gray Ware, 150
Soil & Moisture Control (SMC) program, 78-79,
222
soils, 10-11
Southern Paiute Brown Ware, 48, 128, 150-51,
152
Southern Paiutes, 16, 128
Southern Paiute utility wares, 65
Spanish Trail, 19, 23
springs, 11, 58, 67, 69, 155, 194-95, 222
See also Shaker Spring (42GA5216); Trough
Spring (42GA1902)
Spurr, K. See Geib, P. R., J. H. Collette, and K.
Spurr; Geib, P. R., J. Huffman, and K. Spurr

INDEX 311

St. George Black-on-Gray, 66
steel axes, 20, 48, 64, 72, 116, 128, 154
axe-hewn logs, 69, 222
stemmed points, 16, 46
relationship to fluted points, 45
stock trails, 31, 195, 200
stone materials, 66, 77-78, 82, 109-10, 135-36
sources, 35, 107, 110-11, 130-33, 156-57,
224-25
temporal changes in usage of sources, 133-36,
146-47
storage features, 17
storage or cache locus site type, 156
Straight Cliffs Formation, 11
structure pad, 60
structures, See architectural features
subsistence strategies, 17-19
collecting, 174, 178
foraging, 171, 174, 178
gathering, 18, 21, 47
horticulture, 17-19, 47, 175
hunting, 18, 111-13
impacted by Euro-Americans, 48
in marsh environments, 46-47
in nonlacustrine wetlands, 46
seasonal resource exploitation, 47, 172, 175
starvation resources, 64, 154
Sudden Shelter site, 16, 103
Sudden Side-notched points, 17, 87, 94, 103, 111
surveys, federally sponsored, 24
Swamp Canyon, 64
Swetnam, T. W., 154
Syrett, Clara, 26-27
Syrett, Ruby, 26-27, 70, 195, 208, 222

Table Cliff Plateau site, 16

tanning trees, 153-54

telephone lines, 58, 67-69, 77, 203, 222

temperature, 11-12

temporal affiliation of archeological sites, 63,
117-18, 158

temporary residential camp site type, 156

tent platforms, 70

test-excavations, 31, 35, 220, 223-24

thermal features, 58, 151, 153

Thiessen, T. D., 30

Thomas, D. H., 85, 91, 97, 100, 103-4

Thompson, Almon H., 24

Thompson, Joseph W., 69, 155, 194



11, PROJECT SUMMARY AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR ARCHEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(continued)

Directions for Future Archeological Research
Survey Data Collection ...
Archeological Excavations.
Material-Culture Studies
Wooden Archeological Features an

Conclusion

APPENDIX 6.1

Site SUMIMATY oo... eseeestesnessssnesseesneaetsssesnesseesseseesenesussueeasssecseesiecsssneteeanseueeesesenseentesncenese 227
APPENDIX 6.2

Tsolated Occurrences .......cccciessssssetssesessesessecssessesssesssusssnsesnessuscaneesueersisssucsssersueesssssnersnerssessaneess® 239
APPENDIX 7.1

Coding Format and Key for Projectile Point AnalySis .........ssssesssessssesiesseeesessnressecssenesnerssneeseneese 257
APPENDIX 7.2

Coded Projectile Point Analysis Data........sssessessssseceessesesseesssssenncsecnesseesessssueanesuseareansaneeanenseenee 263
APPENDIX 7.3

X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts ....c..ccssessssessessesnesseenseseecssasenesseeseerseenseneesneses 271
REFERENCES CITED wo... .secssesseestessesstesesssestecseesecsssssecnsesuessecsnensecsussassnsssscasssssnensssuecrseseessaaeesscansaneenensee 279
INDEX o..sssecsssssesssseseesseeecsseesssssesssvieesssiseessseeassseeesssuseessssessssuserssueecessnssssvessssuseessscesssunessnvecssuersassseeensseeeees 299

xiv



140 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

25

Stage 2

Count

10

; |
|

wStage 3
Stage 4

mStage 5

quartzite

Tuff Exogenous Brian Head Chert, Petrified

Stone Type

untyped Wood

Figure 8.12. Count of percussion-flaked bifaces by stone material type at all project sites.

Count

440240 3:4 44 S464 71 81
Width/Thickness Ratio

Figure 8.13. Frequencies of percussion-flaked
bifaces in rounded width-to-
thickness ratio groups at all project
sites.

and edge regularization. The prevalence of
bifaces in the middle stages of thinning and the
paucity of early-stage bifaces indicates that
these tools were brought on to the Paunsaugunt
Plateau in a partially reduced state. The near
absence of shaped, late-stage bifacial tools
supports the inference that the goal of biface
reduction on the plateau was not the creation of
finished tools but was instead the maintenance
of a portable tool kit (Bleed 1986). These large
mid-stage bifaces may have served as
multipurpose tools that provided not only coarse
cutting edges but also served as lightweight
cores that could be reduced through bifacial
thinning to produce usable flake blanks (Kelly
1988).

Cores/Tested Cobbles

The primary function of flaked stone cores is to
simply serve as a nucleus of raw material from
which flakes are removed for subsequent use.
While cores themselves can be used for other



212. BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Changing perceptions of site significance also
influence the types of archeological resources that
are recorded as sites. For example, it appears that
some previous surveys in Bryce Canyon National
Park either entirely declined to consider Euro-
American material as being of archeological
interest or only recorded the remains cursorily.
The Bryce Canyon AIS thoroughly recorded all
archeological material identified or estimated to
be greater than SO years in age (Chapter 5).
Different site-definition criteria can also affect the
counts of sites recorded during follow-up surveys
as well. These procedural] differences alone appear
to account for much of the increase in overall site
counts in many of the park’s FMUs. For example,
aspen dendroglyphs represent the single most
common feature type at project-area sites, and
these features have consistently been visible to all
surveyors, but they were not consistently recorded
as sites during most prior investigations. During
the inventory, a substantial proportion of the
dendroglyph groves were recorded as sites rather
than IOs (Chapter 5), and this practice probably
contributes greatly to the project’s overall two-
fold increase in site density (Chapter 6). Similarly,
a substantial number of highly visible sites
containing Euro-American above-ground refuse
scatters and dumps (consisting mainly of cans and
glass) are presently recorded around the Bryce
Canyon Lodge. The survey reported by Hartley
(1980a) covered precisely the same area in which
these scatters and dumps are now recorded, but
none had been previously noted. These two
examples mainly illustrate the effects that
different archeological field practices and site
definitions can have on site frequency and density,
because the visibility of these sites to
archeological surveyors almost certainly remains
unchanged from past projects.

The rest of this discussion focuses on possible
changes in the frequencies and densities of
nonobtrusive site types such as Native American
flaked lithic artifact scatters. Because these sites lack
virtually any objects that project more than one or two
centimeters above the ground surface, they do not
arrest the attention of archeological surveyors from a

distance. Instead, the small artifacts at these sites lie
on or are embedded in the ground surface, and in a
forested environment the artifacts can often be
covered by pine duff or obscured by vegetation. Crew
members are generally obliged to walk onto these
types of sites and locate exposed artifacts in areas
where soil is visible through the duff and leaf litter.

All previous investigators who worked in
the park probably carefully sought to locate and
record Native American sites (in contrast to the
conscious or unconscious bias against Euro-
American sites noted above). Hence, any
increases in Native American site densities in
previously surveyed parcels cannot be attributed
to changes in archeological field practices or
site definitions. The most parsimonious
explanation is that the sites themselves became
more visible during the interval since the last
survey occurred.

In the montane forests that cover the
Paunsaugunt Plateau, changes in vegetation, duff
cover, and erosion patterns are the most likely
factors producing changes in site visibility. In
Bryce Canyon National Park, prescribed fire is the
primary modern environmental process that can
rapidly influence conditions of vegetation, duff
cover, and erosion. Hence, prescribed fires should
be expected to correlate with changes in site
visibility; presumably this correlation is a positive
one.

Site Visibility in Fire Management Units

To evaluate the effects of prescribed fires on
Native American site visibility, Table 10.1
presents a comparison of site frequencies before
and after the inventory project. The data used in
this comparison derive only from areas that were
previously surveyed. The FMUs that were burned
prior to the inventory provide the data to evaluate
the effects of prescribed fires on site visibility.
The unburned FMUs provide the control sample
that measures the success of the inventory in
locating new sites in previously surveyed areas
without the influence of prescribed fires.



backfilling, and other tasks. Two extensive log
scatters in East Creek Meadow contain many
partially built checkdam remnants. These scatters
probably represent centralized dam-construction
work stations.

The SMC operated through at least 1969,
although by about 1957 the project began to
focus on erosion problems below the Pink
Cliffs. Bryce Canyon National Park’s General
Management Plan (NPS 1987:27) also notes
that several checkdams were built as recently
as 1980 and 1981. Many dams are presently
functional, and although extreme erosion is no
longer a threat, the checkdams still act to
stabilize the fragile meadows in which they
are built.

SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 79

Conclusion

The Bryce Canyon AIS documented a great
number and variety of archeological sites,
features, scatters, and artifacts. Although the areas
identified as “sites” will constitute the focus of
many of the remaining discussions and interpre-
tations presented in this report, the isolated
artifacts and features scattered throughout the park
constitute an important and much more numerous
type of archeological resource. The Bryce Canyon
AIS project staff documented all visible archeo-
logical material in the survey area, regardless of
perceived significance, to create an enduring
record of the past human influences on the
landscape of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.


Introduction

Chris T. Wenker

Bryce Canyon National Park encompasses 14,502
ha (35,835 acres) on the eastern edge of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau, in Garfield and Kane counties
in western south-central Utah. The park is inter-
nationally renowned for its unique erosional
landscape, where brilliantly colored stone pillars
and hoodoos descend from the eastern rim of the
plateau and fill the precipitous canyons below the
Pink Cliffs (Figure 1.1). The Bryce Canyon
Archeological Inventory Survey (AIS) represents
the first large-scale, comprehensive archeological
survey conducted in the park.

An Archeological Survey in Bryce
Canyon National Park

This volume summarizes the archeological data and
presents the interpretations resulting from a
comprehensive survey of most of the park land that
lies on the top of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The area
surveyed covers 4,370 ha (10,799 acres). This effort
began in 2000 with the creation of a research plan
and sampling strategy. The fieldwork was
conducted during the summers of 2600 and 2001,
and the data processing, analysis, and research that
resulted in this report were accomplished in 2002.

This project was conceived and conducted
primarily to collect archeological site-location and
condition data for park planning and management

purposes (Wenker and Herhahn 2002). Nonetheless,
it is hoped that the inventory project will contribute
substantially to archeological research in the
American West by providing new information
about the park’s heretofore poorly known
archeological record (e.g., Eininger and Wenker
2002). This information fleshes out our compre-
hension of the human history of southwestern Utah
from nearly 10,000 years ago up to the advent of
the modem era,

Bryce Canyon National Park contains evidence
of human occupation and use dating from the late
Paleoindian/early Archaic period transition through
the middle and late Archaic periods. Sites and
artifacts of post-Archaic archeological cultures in
the park are affiliated with generalized Formative/
late Prehistoric groups, with the Virgin Anasazi,
and with Numic or Paiute groups. No signs of
permanent Native American habitation (in the
form of architectural features) exist in the park.
Most sites represent short-term residential locales
or special-use areas, such as hunting or gathering
sites.

Euro-American archeological sites are just as
numerous but are more diverse in their character.
Although the Paunsaugunt Plateau was certainly
used by settlers as early as the 1870s, the oldest
known site or feature in the park is an inscription
that dates to 1891. Many other ranching or shep-
herding sites with inscriptions date to the 1920s and


30 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 4.1. Summary of archeological projects.

Count Count of
of Isolated
Year Project Type Report Project Size Sites} Occurrences
1974 Survey Calabrese 1974a, 1974b NR* 2 -
1977 Survey Pahlke 1977a, 1977b ~.8 ha (~2 acres) - -
1979 Survey Hartley 1980a ~1,226 ha (~3,030 acres) 26 21
1980 Construction, Hartley 1980b NR 1 -
monitoring
1983 Survey Thiessen 1983 NR - -
1983 Survey O'Connell 1984 NR 1
1983 Survey Johnson 1983 NR - -
1988 Survey Dominguez and Kramer 460 ha (1,137 acres) 15 44
1988; Dominguez et al. 1989,
1992
1988 Survey Billat 1988 ~2 ha (~5 acres)* us Me
1989 Survey Billat 1989 ~1 ha (~3 acres)’ a +
1989 Survey/Test Dominguez 1989a; ~32 ha (~79 acres) 5 5
excavation Dominguez and Danielson
1993, 2000
1989 Survey/Test Dominguez 1989b; ~4 ha (~9 acres) 2 1
excavation Dominguez and Danielson
1993, 2000
1990 Survey/Test Dominguez 1990; ~70 ha (~172 acres) 7 1
excavation Dominguez and Danielson
1993, 2000; NPS 1991
1991 Data-recovery Dominguez 1991a; NR 6 -
excavation Dominguez and Danielson
1993, 2000
1991 Survey Dominguez 1991b ~87 ha (~215 acres) - 5
1992 Survey Bladh 1992 ~14 ha (~34 acres) - -
1993 Survey Bladh 1993 NR - -
1994 Survey Naylor 1994 NR 2 2
1997 Survey Mathew 1997 NR 1 -
2000- Survey Wenker and Eininger 2001; 4,370 ha (10,799 acres) 194 4,860
2002 Wenker and Herhahn 2002;
Eininger and Wenker 2002;

this volume

* NR=Not reported.
+ Within park boundary.
! Some sites were repeatedly visited during subsequent projects.


SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS

75

Table 6.11. Isolated occurrence types by cultural affiliation.
Cultural Affiliation

10 Type Native American Euro-American Unknown Total
Euro-American refuse scatter - 166 - 166
Euro-American artifact - 157 - 157
Lithic tool 136 ~ - 136
Road segment - 85 - 85
Lithic scatter 7B 4 1 78
Flake / debitage 58 - 2 60
Dendroglyph(s) - 57 - 57
Benchmark - 35 - 35
Telephone / power line locus - 30 - 30
Boundary segment - 30 - 30
Cairn(s) - 25 4 29
Rock pile - 15 1 16
Fence - 13 ~ 13
Blazed tree - 10 - 10
Pipeline - 1] - 11
Wood pile - 14 - 4
Campfire - 16 - 16
Depression, unknown - 5 - 5
Sign - s - 5
Borrow pit / rock quarry - 4 - 4
Rock alignment - 4 - 4
Foundation pad - 4 - 4
Trail - 3 - 3
Modified tree - 2 - 2
Earthen dam - 1 - 1

Concrete channel

Total

267 697 8 972



BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

218



studies at nearby Cedar Breaks National
Monument on the Markagunt Plateau (Anderson
et al. 1999; Madsen et al. 2001), which occupies
an environmental setting similar to that of Bryce
Canyon National Park, the high plateau-top areas
of southern Utah would have been dominated by
spruce and fir species from about 12,000 to
8500 B.P.

The middle Holocene Epoch (ca. 8000-
4000 B.P.) is generally characterized as a period of
increased temperatures and decreased effective
precipitation throughout the American west.
Paleoclimatic data suggest that the increasing
aridity of the middle Holocene Epoch significantly
desiccated some lakes and many of the attendant
marsh resources (Grayson 1993; Kelly 1997,
2001; Madsen and Currey 1979), although many
lakes did not altogether disappear. In fact, Kelly
(1997) argues that while some lakes such as Great
Salt Lake suffered shoreline contractions, this
effect actually produced larger marshy areas,
because as lakes receded and occupied less area in
their valleys, their peripheral marsh resource
zones expanded into the previously flooded areas
(Grayson 1993; Kelly 1997, 2001). Middle
Holocene Epoch data from the Sevier Lake basin
are somewhat inconclusive regarding the
proportion of lake-to-marsh areas, but because the
Sevier Lake basin followed the same pattern of
fluctuations as the Great Salt Lake basin, it is
possible that marsh resources became more areally
extensive (Oviatt 1988). It is also possible that the
lake levels became so low that there was only a
saline playa at Sevier Lake during the driest times
of the middle Holocene Epoch.

In addition to the overall diminution of
pluvial lakes, the middle Holocene Epoch saw an
elevational retreat of plant communities in many
areas (Betancourt 1990). Data from Cedar Breaks
National Monument show that ponderosa pine
and Douglas-fir were invading from lower
elevations (Anderson et al. 1999; Madsen et al.
2001). Even in the warm, arid, middle Holocene
Epoch, pinyon pine was probably absent from the
immediate area of Bryce Canyon National Park,
although this species did colonize the eastern

SETTING AND ENVIRONMENT 13

Great Basin from the adjacent Colorado Plateau
near the end of the middle Holocene Epoch, by
about 6000 B.P. (Grayson 1993).

The late Holocene Epoch (about 5000-
4500 B.P. to present) is the period in which
climatic conditions across the Great Basin and
Colorado Plateau appear to have more or less
reached their modern state. There is much
episodic and annual variation in the climate
during this time, but this variability is one of the
defining features of the late Holocene Epoch
(Dean et al. 1985; cf. Coats et al. 1999), Overall,
effective moisture increased and temperatures
decreased from those of the middle Holocene
Epoch. Many of the desiccated lakes and marshes
were partially reestablished (Grayson 1993), and
vegetation communities shifted to lower
elevational ranges (Grayson 1993; Thompson et
al. 1993), Data from Cedar Breaks National
Monument reflect these general trends. Plant
macrofossils and pollen data suggest that
ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir had shifted
downward in elevation by 3000 B.P. in response
to cooler temperatures at higher elevations
(Anderson et al. 1999; Madsen et al. 2001).
Given the similarities in elevation and climate
between the Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon
areas, it is reasonable to infer similar changes for
the latter.

Significant environmental changes have also
occurred during the historic period. Initially,
Euro-American use of the Paunsaugunt Plateau’s
natural resources (timber, forage, etc.) was
virtually uncontrolled. Limited supervision was
imposed early in the twentieth century with the
creation of federal forest reserves. By then,
decades of intensive economic use of the plateau
top had disrupted its natural ecosystem. The
distributions and densities of plant species in the
forests and meadows were significantly altered,
producing attendant changes in animal species
distributions as well as increased soil-erosion
rates in alluvial valleys.

The effects of these factors were com-
pounded by complete suppression of all fires in


148 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Archaic and Numic/Paiute Flaked Stone
Technology

Geib et al. (2001:369-373) characterize Archaic
period sites on the Kaiparowits Plateau as having
greater proportions of imported raw material types
than post-Formative sites. Obsidian represents the
exception to this trend, however, because this
material is common at post-Formative sites in the
form of used and unused flakes, while few
obsidian flakes are present at Archaic sites on the
Kaiparowits Plateau. The  single-component
Archaic and Numic sites on the Paunsaugunt
Plateau do not conform to these observations.
Instead, obsidian flaking debris is almost entirely
restricted to early Archaic period sites, and Numic
sites completely lack obsidian debris, although
tools and projectile points are present. The
obsidian flakes at Archaic period Bryce Canyon
National Park sites strongly indicate biface pro-
duction, which is consistent with Geib et al.’s
(2001) general observations about Archaic period
lithic technology.

While Archaic period sites on the Paunsaugunt
Plateau show a strong overall focus on biface pro-
duction, expedient tools such as used flakes are
also relatively common. After percussion and
pressure-flaked bifaces (including _ projectile
points), used flakes are the next most common
Archaic period tool type. Further, the proportion of
used flakes remains relatively constant from the
Archaic period through the late Prehistoric and
Numic occupations. This observation stands in
contrast with the general technological approach
observed at Archaic period Kaiparowits Plateau
sites. There, Archaic period sites show two main
foci of flaked stone tool use: percussive bifaces and
heavy-duty flaked cobble tools. Despite a relative
abundance of flaked quartzite cobbles at
Paunsaugunt Plateau sites, none were identified as
choppers or scraper planes (cf. Geib et al.
2001:370). Used flakes apparently take the place of
cobble tools at Paunsaugunt Plateau sites.

The technology of Numic sites on the
Paunsaugunt Plateau shows an even greater de-

parture from that of (presumably) contemporary
sites on the Kaiparowits Plateau, where Geib et al.
(2001:370) characterize the post-Formative
strategy as a core-flake technology that included
the use of much obsidian. Although the proportion
of biface production flakes was not quantified
during the Kaiparowits Plateau survey, Geib et al.
(2001:370) anticipate “that Post-Formative sites
contain far less percussion biface thinning debris
than Archaic sites.” The incidence of cores at
Numic sites on the Paunsaugunt Plateau is in fact
higher than at Archaic period sites, but the
majority of these cores are made of quartzite and
represent particularly expedient items of limited
utility, as opposed to the intensive obsidian core
reduction seen at the Kaiparowits Plateau sites
(Geib et al. 2001:188, 370).

Further, in direct contrast to the Kaiparowits
Plateau sites, Numic sites on the Paunsaugunt
Plateau show a strong reliance on percussive biface
reduction strategies, higher, in fact, than observed
at the Archaic period sites. One-half of the single-
component Numic sites contain chert bifaces (3 of
6, with one site alone containing five Stage 3 and 4
bifaces), and over 83 percent of sites contain chert
flaking debris representing biface production
(representing nearly one-quarter of all Numic site
flaking debris). Conversely, only 20 percent of
single-component Archaic period sites (4 of 20)
contain percussive bifaces (one site contains four
Stage 2 and 3 bifaces), and 50 percent of sites
contain flaking debris from biface production.

The strong evidence of percussive biface use at
Numic sites on the Paunsaugunt Plateau supports
observations at other regional Numic or Paiute
sites, aside from those on the Kaiparowits Plateau.
Bifaces are frequently reported by Moffit (1978)
and Westfall et al. (1987) at sites with Numic or
Paiute components, and Firor (1994) reports that
both bifaces and biface-reduction flaking debris is
common at two prehistoric Paiute sites near Kanab,
Utah. The Kanab sites also contain flake cores,
used flakes, and obsidian flaking debris, indicating
lithic assemblages of similar diversity as the Bryce
Canyon National Park sites.



repeatedly, spanning the time from the late
Paleoindian/early Archaic to the protohistoric or
historic periods. Middle Archaic use of Bryce
Canyon is sparse and primarily focused on
upland drainages with water, transportation
routes, and meadow resources. Late Archaic
settlement and subsistence reflects an intensified
use of the park area and an increasingly diverse
economy based on upland hunting in addition to
the exploitation of meadows and use of
transportation corridors. Late Archaic points are
four times as common as middle Archaic points.
The number of points found across Whiteman
Bench, at Rainbow Point, and in the northern
portion of the park suggests that the late Archaic
occupants’ range expanded greatly over the
preceding periods.

The late Prehistoric/Formative period also
witnessed widespread use of the park in a diverse
range of settings. While the upland drainage
settings continued to be of importance to the late
Prehistoric/Formative land-use system, use of
low-elevation plateau-top settings became more
important for hunting during this period. This is
suggested by the distribution of late Prehistoric/
Formative sites and isolates that appear to be
clustered in low-elevation settings at the northern
end of the park. Late Prehistoric/Formative point
types as a group are fairly numerous, but if the
points are divided into early and middle/late
types, early-period components may be distin-
guished by the presence of Rosegate Series
points and middle/late components are indicated
by Parowan and Bull Creek points. When con-
sidered in this light, it is apparent that the late
Prehistoric/Formative period use of the park
decreased from the preceding late Archaic
period. However, throughout the entire late
Prehistoric/Formative period, this low-intensity
use of the park appears to have remained
constant.

Finally, the protohistoric/historic period
Numic occupation exhibits a similar focus as the
preceding period, though the frequency of sites
with Desert Side-notched points is lower than in
the preceding period. These points are found on

PROJECTILE POINTS = 113

Whiteman Bench and in low-elevation settings in
the northern areas of the park, suggesting a
widespread, but low-intensity use of the entire
plateau. Desert Side-notched points are also
found along East Creek, reinforcing the con-
tinued use of this area.

Summary

This analysis of 123 projectile points from sites and
isolated contexts in Bryce Canyon National Park
has contributed to our understanding of aspects of
cultural affiliation, chronology, settlement, and
subsistence. The temporal analysis of projectile
points in the project area indicates a greater time
depth of human use than was previously reported
for the Bryce Canyon area. Great Basin Stemmed
and other potential late Paleoindian points (cate-
gorized as unclassified stemmed points) suggest
that human use of the plateau may have been
initiated during the late Paleoindian period. Early
Archaic use of the area is suggested by the presence
of Pinto points and possible Pinto variants. Clearly,
additional regional research is needed to understand
the range of variability for early stemmed dart point
morphology and to improve the existing typologies
available to researchers working in southern Utah.
Middle Archaic period components are few, but are
indicated by Sudden Side-notched, Northern Side-
notched, and Humboldt point types. Late Archaic
points are well represented. Late Archaic points are
primarily Gatecliff Contracting Stem/Gypsum style
points, but one San Rafael Side-notched point is
also present in the survey assemblage. Late
Prehistoric/Formative points include Rosegate
Corner-notched and Stemmed varieties, Parowan
Basal-notched, and a Bull Creek point. Finally,
Desert Side-notched points, indicative of late
Prehistoric or protohistoric/historic period use of
the area, are well-represented.

The late Paleoindian use of the area appears
to have focused on exploitation of upland
drainage areas with access to meadow resources,
water, and transportation corridors. Archaic
projectile point styles suggest a continued use of


List of Figures

Chapter 1
1. The Pink Cliffs with hoodoo rock formations in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah,
showing the southwestern face of East Creek Ridge, part of the Paunsaugunt Plateau... 2

Chapter 2

2.1 Location of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah...

2.2 Vicinity map of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

2.3 View of part of the Paunsaugunt Plateau from the southern end of Whiteman Bench,
facing south

24 View of East Creek Meadow, facing south toward the headwaters of East Creek

Chapter 4
41 Locations of archeological surveys and test excavation projects in Bryce Canyon
National Park prior to the 2000-2002 Bryce Canyon Archeological Inventory Survey... 32

42 Locations of archeological sites recorded prior to the 2000-2002 Bryce Canyon
Archeological Inventory Survey

Chapter 5
5.1 Sixteen plateau-top fire management units in Bryce Canyon National Park that define the
archeological inventory project area ........ccssecssesseesesseessecseetesseeserssecseesesseesessesesssseeesssatersesaseseessess 38
5.2 Area surveyed during the 2000-2001 field seasons of the Bryce Canyon Archeological
Inventory Survey .....csccsccsesssesssestesseccesseeseecssssessessusssecsssassssessearesseeseceresueaseesecareaueaseesesseeseeeneenaes 41
Chapter 6

6.1 Locations of archeological sites recorded during the Bryce Canyon Archeological
Inventory Survey project.
6.2 Map of Site 42GA5242, a multicomponent site containing an Archaic period lithic
scatter, several Numic/Paiute bark-stripped trees, and a grove of Euro-American aspen
dendroglyphs
63 Maps of representative Native American sites in Bryce Canyon National Park
6.4 Map of Site 42GA5277, a Euro-American refuse scatter with a possible architectural
feature..
65 Map of Site 42GA5270, a formal Euro-American campsite
6.6 A probable Numic/Paiute bark-stripped ponderosa pine tree at Site 42GA5242
6.7 Illustration of Site 42GA5287, a probable Native American pictograph painted in red and
black pigment adjacent to a Euro-American inscription .
6.8 Aspen dendroglyphs at Site 42GA5230
6.9 Livestock watering troughs, hewn from single logs, at a spring near Whiteman Bench
(Site 42GA5241)
6.10 A Euro-American artifact scatter at Site 42GA5265
6.11 A series of erosion-control checkdams filling a gully in southern East Creek Meado

XV



APPENDIX 7.3 XRF ANALYSIS OF OBSIDIAN ARTIFACTS — 275

Finally, one specimen (FS # 82) has a trace element composition profile unlike any of the
geologic obsidian standards currently in my regional comparative database.

I hope this information will help in your analysis of these site materials. Please contact me at my
laboratory ([650] 851-1410; e-mail: rehughes@silcon.com) if ] can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,
[Signed original]

Richard E. Hughes, Ph.D.
Director, Geochemical Research Laboratory

encl.

Geochemical Research Laboratory Letter Report 2001-83



FIELD METHODS AND RESEARCH DESIGN 4l

Figure 5.2.

Area surveyed during the 2000-2001 field seasons of the Bryce Canyon Archeological
Inventory Survey.



accessibility of other high-elevation resources
closer to Long Valley may have been a factor in
their less intensive use along the eastern edge of
the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

A review of the names represented in the
dendroglyph record also provides some insight
into the economic and social dynamics of early
livestock-raising communities. It is unlikely,
given the demands of early homesteading, that the
heads of these families were able to spend much
time atop the plateau watching over their herds.
Other family members are likely to have shared in
the responsibility, or in the case of larger livestock
holders, local residents may have been hired to
work for wages or trade. For example, John
Davies (n.d.) recounts several episodes of
employment with the Kanarra Cattle Company,
and Davies himself reports hiring several local
cowboys. In another example, two Dutton
brothers, Leo and George, were hired by the
Henderson family to watch over their herds
(Young 2000).

Unlike other regions in the intermountain west,
there is no evidence of Basque shepherds (Lane
1971; Mallea-Olaetxe 2000) or other ethnic groups
herding on the plateau, although Keller (1987:113)
reports that some herd owners in the Alton area had
hired Mexican immigrants as shepherds. With few
exceptions, the 100 personal names and 60
surnames identified by the dendroglyph text can be
traced to local Mormon families. In only a few
instances (n=19) is a family name not identifiable
in the local histories of nearby Garfield or Kane
County communities. Henderson, Riggs, and
Pollock are the three family names that are best
represented on the plateau. All three of these
families were considered major livestock operators
in the area (Daughters of the Utah Pioneers 1949)
(Gayle Pollock, personal communication 2002) and
all held permits within park lands atop the plateau
during the early twentieth century (Rumberg 1956).

EURO-AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 197

Periods of Use

Dates, when they occur, can provide a temporal
context with which to interpret the names and
associated land-use patterns. The range and fre-
quency of legible dates are presented in Table 9.1.
As previously mentioned, dated dendroglyphs
range from 1893 to 1948. An earlier 1891 date
associated with a rock inscription represents the
earliest definitive inscribed date recorded during
the inventory project.

The low frequency of late nineteenth- and
early twentieth-century dendroglyphs and their
complete absence prior to 1893 cannot be in-
terpreted as a direct measure of the Euro-
American presence on the plateau. Local
grazing patterns, including the intensive, un-
fettered summer use of the high-plateau areas
by anyone who desired, were well established
by the end of the nineteenth century (Buchanan
1960:7; Crampton 1965:204; Davies n.d.:13;
Peterson 1973; Roberts 1963; Rowley 1985;
Walker 1964). Use of the Paunsaugunt Plateau
for livestock range is documented as early as
the 1870s, and the intensity of use increased
during the following decades (Crampton 1965;
Daughters of Utah Pioneer 1949; Davies n.d.).
The low frequency of dendroglyph inscriptions
dating to this period is more likely a function of
tree-deterioration rates than an indication of
grazing-activity levels. The life span of an
aspen tree typically ranges from 60 to 80 years,
although some live considerably longer (up to
200 years) depending on environmental con-
ditions (Harlow and Harrar 1958:256; Mallea-
Olaetxe 2000:33). Recognizing that the death of
a tree is synonymous with the loss of the
dendroglyph, the likelihood of finding pre-1900
dendroglyphs is low. Even if long-lived trees
are present, the recognition and legibility of the
dendroglyph elements is further diminished by
age-roughened bark.



110 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Table 7.3 illustrates that the principal raw
material used for the manufacture of points is
chert, specifically Brian Head chert. Brian Head
chert constitutes approximately 64 percent of the
assemblage, while Brian Head chalcedony (a
transparent variant of the chert) constitutes
roughly 15 percent. Brian Head chert occurs
naturally in a widespread distribution in south-
central Utah, although this formation does not
occur within Bryce Canyon National Park itself.
Brian Head chert encompasses a wide range of
variability from transparent to opaque, from
vuggy to homogenous, and from lustrous and
cryptocrystalline to somewhat coarse and
microcrystalline. It includes clear, white, pink,
red, yellow, black, tan, brown, and gray-blue
colors. Although Brian Head chert is not
naturally available within the park, probable
sources are reported from as close as 10 km
(6 mi), near Flake Mountain to the northwest
(Dominguez and Danielson 2000:41). Other
sources of this material are known from Casto
Canyon and the terraces of the Sevier River,
approximately 24 km (15 mi) from the park to
the north and west, and 48-64 km (30-40 mi)
west at Panguitch Lake and Cedar Breaks
National Monument. Materials classified as
“Other chert” constitute 12 percent of the
assemblage. This “Other chert” category includes
tan, gray, and other colors of chert that may
derive from the Brian Head formation or from
other unidentified sources.

Obsidian constitutes approximately 12
percent of the assemblage. The X-ray
fluorescence (XRF) analysis of 15 obsidian
points (Appendix 7.3) provides source-specific
information for these materials. The XRF
analysis reveals that all but two of the obsidian
artifacts derive from Wild Horse Canyon in the
Mineral Mountains, which lie approximately
112 km (70 mi) northwest of Bryce Canyon
National Park. One item was sourced to Panaca
Summit, located roughly 192 km (119 mi) to the
west in Nevada. One specimen included in the
obsidian XRF analysis could not be correlated
with a known source. It is possible that this

unsourced specimen is actually ignimbrite from
one of the regional Brian Head outcrops
(Doelling 1975). Although there is a known
obsidian source 104 km (65 mi) to the north
along the Sevier River valley near Marysvale
(Chronic 1990), there is no evidence that
prehistoric groups from Bryce Canyon utilized
the Marysvale source. Instead, obsidian was
brought in from two distant sources to the west
and northwest, suggesting the occupants of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau ranged far to the west into
Nevada, or at least interacted with groups living
in the eastern Great Basin.

Jasper is another material that is represented
in the assemblage. Jasper constitutes 6.5 percent
of the collection; all of the specimens are
Archaic or undated dart points. Although the
source for this material is unknown, it is
probable this material derives from nearby
locations east or west of the park. A variety
known as Boulder jasper is reported from the
Escalante River drainage to the east (Geib et al.
2001) and Zion jasper derives from the area
south of Zion National Park to the west (Matt
Betenson, Zion National Park, personal
communication to Chris Wenker, 2002).

Quartzite constitutes only .8 percent of the
projectile point materials, with only one fine-
grained orange-and-white specimen noted.
Coarse quartzite can be found within the park,
but the appearance and quality of the single
projectile point indicates that it is not made of
locally available material. Marion Jacklin of the
Dixie National Forest reports that a fine-grained
quartzite source is present to the south near
Kanab, Utah (Chris Wenker, personal
communication to Irwin, 2002), but it is not
currently possible to confidently identify the
material source for this specimen.

Finally, one gray siltstone and one petrified
wood specimen are noted in the assemblage. The
sources of these materials are not known, but they
probably derive from the myriad sedimentary beds
that outcrop near the park.



94 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

they represent the same type. The maximum stem
width is approximately equal to the maximum blade
width, tangs are rare, and the distal notch angle
frequently approaches 180°, lending a shouldered
appearance to the blade. Brown (Brown et al.
1993:386) notes that Elko Side-notched points have
narrow side notches (<5 mm) and a PSA greater
than 150°.

The Elko Side-notched point from the Bryce
Canyon AIS (FS 6; Figure 7.6n) is manu-
factured of chert and exhibits an NOI of 23°, a
PSA of 164°, and a DSA of 186°; the base width
is 19 mm and the base height is 10 mm. This
point is incomplete, but measures 28 mm in
length, 20mm in width, and 4.8mm _ in
thickness.

Three potential Elko Side-notched points
have been previously documented in the park
(Dominguez and Danielson 2000; Dominguez et
al. 1992). These points were collected from
Sites 42GA1903 and 42GA3383 and are similar
to the example collected during the survey.
They exhibit triangular forms and straight
bases.

Large Side-notched Points

Large side-notched projectile points with horizontal
notches positioned moderately high on the blade,
such as Northern, Sudden, and Rocker Side-notched
points, are typical of the middle Archaic period on
the western and northern Colorado Plateau (Holmer
1978, 1986; Schroedl 1976). San Rafael Side-
notched points appear during the late Archaic
period after 2400 B.c.

Sudden Side-notched

Two broken Sudden Side-notched points were
collected from the same site (42K A5798) during the
survey. Sudden Side-notched points have narrow,
horizontal notches placed moderately high on the
side of the point (Holmer 1978). Brown (Brown et
al. 1993) notes that these points have a PSA greater
than 150° and a stem height greater than or equal to
10 mm.

Both Sudden Side-notched points are made of
chert. One of the Sudden Side-notched points (FS
130; Figure 7.3j) is a base and midsection fragment
with a shallow (2.3 mm), moderately wide (4.6 mm),
horizontal notch (PSA 153°, DSA 200°) placed high
on the blade (base height = 15 mm). The second
Sudden Side-notched point (FS 129; Figure 7.3k) is
a basal fragment with moderately shallow and wide
notches measuring 4.5 mm wide and 2.2 mm deep.
The horizontal notch (PSA 162°, DSA 204°) is
placed high on the blade (base height = 15 mm).
Neither of the Sudden Side-notched points is
serrated.

Northern Side-notched

One broken Northern Side-notched point is iden-
tified in the survey assemblage (FS 5; Figure 7.31).
Northem Side-notched points have a concave base
and narrow, horizontal notches located moderately
high on the side of the point (Holmer 1978).

The Northern Side-notched point is a basal
fragment, made of chert, with a moderately
deep (3.9 mm) and wide (4.2 mm) horizontal
notch (PSA 156°, DSA 185°). The notch is not
placed particularly high on the blade (base
height = 8.6 mm), but the point does have a
concave base typical of this point style. The
maximum width of the point is equal to the base
width; both measure 23 mm. This point lacks
serration.

San Rafael Side-notched

One San Rafael Side-notched point, made of
chert, was collected from the project area (FS
121; Figure 7.3m). San Rafael Side-notched
points are triangular with high horizontal
notches that form a parallel-sided, concave-
based stem that is equal in width to the blade
(Holmer 1978). Brown et al. (1993) note these
points have a PSA greater than 150° and the
stem height is greater than or equal to 10 mm.

The San Rafael Side-notched point is a basal
fragment with a straight-sided, concave base and a
high side notch. One intact notch is 2.5 mm deep



BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

240


APPENDIX 7.1 CODING FORMAT AND KEY FOR PROJECTILE POINT ANALYSIS — 261

Thermal Alteration
0 absent
1 present

Therma] Alteration Type (used alone or in combination)
0 none

1 crazing

2 color change

3 luster

4 pot-lid fracture

Patination
0 none

1 minimal
2 moderate
3 heavy

Portion (used alone or in combination)
0 unknown

1 complete

2 base

3 midsection

4tip

5 nearly complete, missing tip

6 base break

7 shoulder break

8 lateral portion (shoulder)

9 nearly complete, shoulder break
10 nearly complete, base break

Blank form
0 unknown
1 triangular
2 lanceolate
3 leaf shaped

Base Shape
0 unknown
1 straight
2 concave
3 convex

4 notched



96 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Figure 7.7.

1, FS 114

n, FS 105

CENTIMETERS

Unclassified large projectile points: (a-}) corner-notched and (m-p) side-notched.



APPENDIX 7.1 CODING FORMAT AND KEY FOR PROJECTILE POINT ANALYSIS

Projectile Point Type

259

Code Type

1 Elko Comer-notched

2 Elko Eared

3 Elko Side-notched

4 Gypsum

5 Pinto

6 Sudden Side-notched

7 San Rafael Side-notched

9 Unknown Corner-notched, Dart
10 Unknown Side-notched, Dart
i Unknown Stemmed, Dart

12 Unknown, Dart

13 Northern Side-notched

16 Desert Side-notched

17 Rosegate Corner-notched

19 Rosegate Stemmed
20 Parowan Basal-notched

21 Unknown Corner-notched, Arrow
22 Unknown Side-notched, Arrow
23 Unknown, Arrow
24 Bull Creek

31 Great Basin Stemmed

Humboldt



228

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK


Harlow, W. M., and E. S. Harrar
1958 Textbook of Dendrochronology.
McGraw-Hill, New York.

Hartley, R. J.
1980a Cultural Resource Inventory of
Specified Areas, Bryce Canyon National
Park, 1979. Ms. on file, National Park
Service, Midwest Archeological Center,
Lincoln.

1980b Trip Report, Bryce Canyon and Capital
Reef National Parks, June 3-7, 1980. Ms.
on file, National Park Service, Midwest
Archeological Center, Lincoln.

Hartwig, F., and B. E. Dearing
1979 Exploratory Data Analysis. Sage
University Series: Quantitative Applications
in the Social Sciences, Paper 16. Sage
Publications, Beverly Hills.

Hauck, F. R.
1979 Cultural Resource Evaluation in South
Central Utah, 1977-1978. Utah Bureau of
Land Management Cultural Resource Series
No. 4. U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C.

Heizer, R. F., and L. K. Napton
1970 Archaeology and the Prehistoric Great
Basin Lacustrine Subsistence Regime as
Seen from Lovelock Cave, Nevada.
Contributions of the University of
California Archaeological Research Facility
No. 10. University of California, Berkeley.

Hodder, I.

1990 Style as Historical Quality. In The
Uses of Style in Archaeology, edited by M.
Conkey and C. Hastorf, pp. 44-51.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Holmer, R. N.

1978 A Mathematical Typology for Archaic
Projectile Points of the Eastern Great Basin.
Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University
of Utah. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.

REFERENCES CITED =. 287

1980 Projectile Points. In Sudden Shelter,
edited by J. D. Jennings, A. R. Schroedl,
and R. N. Holmer, pp.63~83. University of
Utah Anthropological Papers No. 103.
University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

1986 Common Projectile Points of the
Intermountain West. In Anthropology of the
Desert West: Essays in Honor of Jesse D.
Jennings, edited by C. J. Condie and D. D.
Fowler, pp. 89-115. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers. No. 110.
University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

1994 Jn Search of the Ancestral Northern
Shoshone. In Across the West: Human
Population Movement and the Expansion of
the Numa, edited by D. B. Madsen and D.
Rhode, pp. 179-187. University of Utah
Press, Salt Lake City.

Holmer, R. N., and D. G. Weder
1980 Common Post-Archaic Projectile
Points of the Fremont Area, In Fremont
Perspectives, edited by D. B. Madsen,
pp. 55-68. Antiquities Section Selected
Papers 7(16). Utah State Historical Society,
Salt Lake City.

Holt, R. L.

1992 Beneath These Red Cliffs: An
Ethnohistory of the Utah Paiutes.
University of New Mexico Press,
Albuquerque.

Hostetler, S. W., F. Giorgi, G. T. Bates, and P.
J. Bartlein
1994 Lake-Atmosphere Feedbacks
Associated with Paleolakes Bonneville and
Lahontan. Science 263:665~668.

Huckell, B. B.
1996 The Archaic Prehistory of the North
American Southwest. Journal of World
Prehistory 10(3):305-373.

Hughes, R. E.
2000 Obsidian Sourcing. In Final Report on
1989-1991 Field Investigations for Bryce




SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS 73

Figure 6.10. A Euro-American artifact scatter at Site 42GA5265.

Table 6.9.

Euro-American artifact scatter assemblage sizes.

Assemblage Size (Total Artifact Count)

101~ 251- S01-—-1,001-
250 500 1,000 1,500 >1,500 ~~‘ Total

Scatter Type 1-10 11-25 26-50 100
Refuse scatter 20 9 9 11
Refuse dump 1 - 2 1
Total 21 9 11 12

12 5 2 2 71
- - - ~ - 4
12 5 2 2 1 15

* CCC camp assemblage size of 4,200 artifacts is based on previous artifact inventories (Dominguez and

Danielson 2000:129)

Description of Isolated Occurrences

Overall, 4,860 IOs are recorded in the project
area. The IOs include 3,909 erosion-control
checkdams and 951 other isolated features and
artifact occurrences. In the following discussion,
the term “isolated occurrence” refers to the latter
types of cultural loci, and checkdams are
discussed separately. As previously described in
the methodological discussion (Chapter 5), IOs

typically include single artifacts, isolated features
lacking associated artifacts, sparse artifact
scatters, and features of uncertain cultural origin.
A summary list of the IOs is presented in
Appendix 6.2.

The vast majority of IOs are Euro-American
in origin (n=677), but 249 are Native American
and 5 are of unknown affiliation (Table 6.10). In
addition, 20 IOs are multicomponent, representing
isolated artifacts or features of more than one culture



18 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Plateau, dart points remained in use alongside the
bow and arrow until a slightly later date, despite the
adoption of cultigens (Madsen and Simms 1998).

After the advent of pottery production around
A.D. 500, it becomes easier to archeologically
distinguish Formative period cultures, such as the
Fremont and the Virgin Anasazi, although these
pottery-using cultures clearly had antecedents that
are in part identifiable through other material traits,
such as basketry, sandals, and moccasins (Aikens
and Madsen 1986; Geib 1996b; Huckell 1996).
Despite the use of pottery and domesticated plants,
hunting and gathering remained part of the
subsistence routine of many Great Basin and
western Colorado Plateau people. In some cases,
reliance on cultigens and use of pottery were
significant (e.g., among Puebloan groups), while in
others, cultivation and use of pottery were
tangentially incorporated into an economically
viable hunting and gathering lifeway (e.g., among
some Fremont groups).

Fremont

Many difficulties are encountered when developing
a cultural history of the Fremont due to the great
variability in the material traits of this archeological
culture. Fremont groups appear to have developed
from indigenous Archaic groups in the western
Colorado Plateau and the eastern Great Basin
approximately 2,000 to 1,500 years ago (Madsen
and Simms 1998). Until the initial production of
pottery around A.D. 450, the nascent Fremont
followed a subsistence strategy similar to that of the
contemporaneous Basketmaker II groups of the
Colorado Plateau to the southeast, while
maintaining a distinctly different material culture
(Geib 1996b; Lindsay et al. 1968; Madsen and
Simms 1998; Matson 1991; Matson et al. 1988).
Following the adoption of pottery, the core
characteristics of the Fremont culture included
pithouses, above-ground jacal and masonry
structures, plain and painted pottery, anthro-
pomorphic clay figurines, and distinctive rock art
motifs. This period is marked by a subsistence
system based on cultigens bolstered by hunting and
gathering wild resources. Distinct pottery traditions,

along with variations in domestic architecture,
allow the division of the Fremont into regional
variants (Madsen and Simms 1998; Marwitt 1970).
The two variants relevant to Bryce Canyon National
Park are the Parowan Fremont to the west and the
San Rafael Fremont to the east. Bryce Canyon
National Park lies roughly along a nebulous
dividing line between these two areas.

After A.D. 1250, Fremont subsistence strategies
apparently switched, and foraging appears to
dominate over farming. Evidence for large settled
agricultural villages decreases. The reasons pro-
posed for this shift range from climate change to the
influx of Numic speakers (Bettinger 1991;
Bettinger and Baumhoff 1982; Lamb 1958; Lyneis
1994a; Madsen 1975). Although total replacement
of the Fremont population by Numic groups is an
unlikely explanation for the demise of the Fremont
culture, competition among indigenous Fremont
farmers, indigenous Fremont hunter-gatherers, and
immigrant Numic hunter-gatherers almost certainly
played a major factor (Ambler and Sutton 1989;
Madsen and Simms 1998).

No Fremont sites are presently identified in
Bryce Canyon National Park. Evidence of use by
Fremont groups is known from areas immediately
surrounding the park, however. Several sites
recorded on the Dixie National Forest along the
nearby East Fork of the Sevier River contain either
possible structures, Fremont ceramics, or small
projectile points including Parowan Basal-notched
and Bull Creek points (Dixie National Forest
archeological site files, Cedar City, Utah; see also
Kearns 1982). Several sites in Bryce Canyon
National Park also contain late Prehistoric arrow
points that could date to the Fremont occupation
(see Chapters 7 and 8), but a Puebloan affiliation
may also apply to these sites.

Puebloan Groups: Virgin and Kayenta Anasazi

Contemporary with the Fremont, the Virgin
Anasazi archeological culture extends over portions
of southern Nevada, northwestern Arizona, and
southern Utah. This culture area encompasses a
broad range of physiographic and environmental



138 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Cyl

d. 42KA5798.1.84-01.00.5

mo

@. 42KA5771.1.84-01.1.1 f. 42GA2634,1.82-01.00.7

Figure 8.10. Bifaces from project sites: (a-c) percussion-flaked bifaces and (d-f) pressure-flaked
bifaces.



Elko Series points constitute approximately
one-quarter of the points collected during the
survey. These types have also been previously
documented at sites (e.g., 42GA905, 42GA1902,
42GA1903, 42GA3383, and 42KA3289) and
isolated surface contexts in Bryce Canyon National
Park (Dominguez and Danielson 2000; Dominguez
et al. 1992), at Cedar Breaks National Monument
(Canaday 2001:70-71), and on the Kaiparowits
Plateau (Geib et al. 2001). Elko Series points are
among the most plentiful and least diagnostic of
point types, occurring across a broad area of the
Colorado Plateau and Great Basin in contexts
ranging in age from 6000 B.C. to A.D. 1000 (Holmer
1978, 1986). The 7,000-year duration of Elko Series
points does not appear to be continuous, however,
and Holmer’s (1986:101) analysis indicates three
periods of florescence punctuated by two hiatuses
occurring between 4200 and 3000 B.c. and 1400
B.C. and A.D, 200. The earliest florescence
corresponds to the early to middle Archaic period,
dating to the period roughly between 6000 and
4200 B.c. During this florescence, Pinto points
dominate the early part of the period while Elko
Series points and Northern Side-notched points
dominate the latter portion of the florescence. The
second period of florescence corresponds to the
period from 3000 to 1400 B.C. During this period,
Elko Series points tend to occur along with
Gatecliff Series points early in the period, but Elko
Series points drop out of use during the later portion
of the period. Jt is noteworthy that at Hogup and
Cowboy Caves, Elko Eared points fell out of use by
approximately 1400 B.C., suggesting this type may
be a more reliable indicator of Archaic occupations
than Elko Corner-notched and Side-notched types
(Holmer 1986:102). The final period of florescence
dates roughly between A.D. 200 and 1000 and
corresponds to the Basketmaker II or early
Formative period. During the earliest portion of this
period, Elko Corner-notched points dominate, but
later they co-occur with Rosegate Series points.
Irwin (2001), Brown (Brown et al. 1993), and Geib
(Geib 1996b; Geib et al. 2001) have discussed the
morphological similarities between Basketmaker II
projectile points and Elko Series points. The Elko
Series encompasses the range of variability

PROJECTILE POINTS —105

represented by the Basketmaker II point types,
creating regional analytical and interpretive diffi-
culties when assigning points to these types (e.g.,
Matson 1991; Morris and Burgh 1954). Geib (Geib
et al. 1999:5.34) describes four possible specimens
from the Kaiparowits Plateau that bear similarity to
White Dog Basketmaker II points, but Geib notes
that these points are not “unequivocal good
candidates” for early agricultural-period points.
Similarly, no points in the Bryce Canyon AIS
collection are definite Basketmaker II forms;
however, four of the points (FS 8, 47, 72, 89
(Figure 7.Sa, g, 1, and p]) approach the form of
White Dog Basketmaker II points and are similar to
those described by Geib (Geib et al. 2001).
Considering the morphological overlap between
Elko Series and Basketmaker II points, it is difficult
to ascertain if the park was utilized by early
agriculturalists, although this seem unlikely given
the plateau’s elevation. Given the difficulties in
interpreting the temporal significance of Elko
Series points, they are interpreted as a general
Archaic period indicator at Bryce Canyon sites.

Based on this typological analysis, it appears
that dart points dating from the late Paleoindian
through the Archaic periods are affiliated with
Great Basin-affiliated groups who used the upland
plateaus of south-central Utah. Bryce Canyon
National Park occupies a transitional area between
the Great Basin and the American Southwest
archeological culture areas, but it appears that early
Native Americans from the desert Southwest did
not range as far north or west as Bryce Canyon. In
fact, little evidence of Archaic traditions belonging
to the hunting and gathering people of the San Juan
Basin has been documented anywhere in south-
central or southeastern Utah (Canaday 2001; Geib
et al. 1999, 2001; Irwin 2001). Early lifeways on
the western Colorado Plateau had more in common
with the Great Basin than the Southwest, despite the
fact that this area is ecologically dissimilar to many
other Great Basin settings (in that it lacks lacustrine
marshes, etc., see Chapter 2).

A generalized late Prehistoric or Formative
period occupation of the park is indicated by



262 BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Serration

0 absent

1 serrated, fine
2 serrated, large
3 unknown

Measured Variables (see Chapter 6 text)
Proximal shoulder angle
Distal shoulder angle
Notch opening index
Notch width

Notch depth.

Stem/base height
Shoulder width
Base/stem width

Length

Width

Thickness

Weight



80

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK


there would be the swish of an arrow and the
ground dogs [sic] life would be at an end. On
other ocassions [sic] the Indians would provide
themselves with long sticks with a little fork at
one end. They would hold the forked end over
a hole and when the ground dog made his
appearance the hunter would swiftly pin him to
the earth with the stick. They also were able to
catch mice with a forked stick.

Thave seen a fairly large group of Indian
boys deploy themselves in a large circle to hunt
rabbits. Once the circle was complete the young
hunters would begin to close in and any bunny
that was scared up within the circle would
usually run wildly about within the human
enclosure until a number of arrows had brought
his life to a close. It was a rare thing for a rabbit
to escape such a trap.

The Paiutes that I know also used the same
method to kill chipmunks and other small game.
They even used it in a modified form to kill
deer down on a ridge near Sheep Creek. There
is a narrow ridge there, walled in both the
eastern and western sides and ending in a
perpindicular [sic] cliff at its southern
extremity. Hence, the only way a deer could
leave this ridge would be on its northern end.
Whenever they could the Indians would chase
a deer south on to that ridge. Then they would
begin to station themselves along the ridge,
about fifty yards apart. Once this was done two
or three of them would go to the southern end
of the ridge to scare the deer back. Like the
charge of the light brigade he would have to run
past the line of hunters. Before he had reached
the last one he would usually be so perforated
with arrows that death would be a sweet relief
from his pains. Each Indian would likely to be
able to get from two to three shots at the poor
creature.

Having killed the deer they would proceed
to pull all the arrows out of it and would then
have a roast. The portion of the meat that they
were not able to consume before it spoiled they
would cut into strips and dry in the sun. Salt, of

CULTURAL HISTORY

course, was was [sic] unknown to them. The
smaller animals were usually barbacued [sic].
As soon as possible after ground dogs, rabbits,
and chipmunks were killed the unskinned body
would be buried in hot coals. After a time it
would be taken out and the skin which still
remained on would be peeled off and the meal
would commence. Everything but the bones
was eaten. When a very young animal was
cooked in this manner little balls of milk would
usually be found partially solidified by the heat.
These were looked upon as rare delicasies [sic]
and were given to very young children as their
portion.

During the late summer and early fall
months the squaws made it a practice to gather
grass seeds. They would make a kind of apron
into which they would knock the seeds from the
grass. To prepare the flour for eating they
would generally mix it with water into a dough
and bake the cake on a flat rock placed on the
fire. Sometimes, however, they would wrap
strips of dough around a stick and roast it in that
fashion. . . .

[Once] I was riding over in the mouth of a
canyon called Wild Cat, east of Cannonville.
While looking toward the west I saw the tribe
coming out of another canyon called Indian
Hollow. Viewing them from a distance it was a
rather picturesque sight. They had no
domesticated animals. The squaws were
plodding single file along a narrow trail. Most
of them were fat and short in stature. Each of
them carried on her back a large bag con-
taining all her family belongings; and some of
them were even carrying babies as well. In
order to carry their burdens as comfortably as
possible they walked with a stooped posture.
As I gazed at them from a distance I must
confess that they scarcely looked like human
beings. The papooses who were old enough to
walk were straggling along near their mothers
and older sisters. The men and the older boys
were scattered out on either side of the squaws
and children hunting rabbits and other small
game... .

21