Archaeology of Oregon

languages. Some of these sister languages later split again, creating
further linguistic diversity. By the early 19th century, many related
Penutian languages had been formed through this process. The Kalapuyan
family of the Willamette Valley, forexample, made upa continuous chain
ofsmall, closely related languagesina pattem suggesting that Kalapuyan
subgroups gradually drifted apart in their speech over some thousands
of years of stable co-residence in the area. It is clear from such linguistic
evidence that Penutian languages have been spoken in Oregon for a very
long time.

The Northern Paiute language of eastern Oregon, by contrast, is spread
overa vastarea butshows very little internal variation. Itisin facta single
speech, intelligible to peopleacross hundreds of miles. This homogeneity
implies that Northern Paiute speakers have notbeen in Oregon for nearly
as long as the Penutian speakers — though it also must reflect to some
degree the highly nomadic lifeway of the Paiutes, whose continual
movementand social interaction overlong distances would have retarded
the process of linguistic divergence. Evidence from elsewhere in the far
west also supports the idea that the Northern Paiutes expanded their
range into Oregon’s Northern Great Basin in quite recent times, perhaps
within the last few hundred years.

The Salishan and Athabaskan-speakers of western Oregon represent
offshoots of more northerly groups, whose homelands were in western
Washington and Canada. Like the Paiute-speakers, they probably took
upresidencein Oregon long after the Penutian-speakers wereestablished
here. Finally, the Shasta of extreme southwest Oregon speak a Hokan
language. Hokan languages in general differ greatly from one another,
implying that they split apart a very long time ago. The scattered
distribution of Hokan speech communities down the western side of the
continent, deep into Central America, reinforces this conclusion. These
indicators of antiquity make it likely that Hokan-speaking people were
already present in the Oregon-California area before the arrival of the
Penutian-speakers, stemming froma time when Hokans possibly occupied
much of western North America.

Comparing the linguistic (Figure 1.3) and topographic maps (Figure 1.4)
of Oregon shows a striking correspondence between major language
groups and major environmental zones. The Northern Paiute range fits
closely the Great Basin desert territory of southeastern Oregon, though
these people were pushing into the drier edges of Penutian lands by the
19thcentury.Penutian-speaking groups, by contrast, consistently occupied
the better watered country to thenorthand west. Itis notable thatSalishan
and Athabaskan-speaking immigrants, whose homelands were in well-

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dition, and

Language Diversi
Prehistory



Chapter 1

Introduction



Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 1.4. Topographic map of Oregon

Prospect

The subject of this book is the technological, societal, and ecological
traditions that the original people of Oregon developed in adapting to
their land over the immense span of time they have occupied it. Evidence
of those traditionsis gathered by archaeologists, who study the prehistoric
sites that are the irreplaceable record of the Native American past. The

workof natural scientists, especially those who study ancientenvironments
and the changes they have undergone, is also essential to the story

Interpretation of the archaeological and environmental evidence is
crucially informed by the cultural knowledge of historicand contemporary
native Oregonians, who have been describing and explaining traditional
ways of life to chroniclers, cultural anthropologists, and_ linguists for
nearly two centuries (see Buan and Lewis, 1991).

a



Chapter 1 - Introduction

watered country to the north, moved into the moister Penutian territory
rather than into the deserts. These correlations seem to reflect the fact that
over generations people learn the plant, animal, and other resources of
the natural environment which they occupy, and adapt their tools and
behavior—their culture— to that environment. L JItimately, groups tend
to become bound to a particular environmental setting, which their
traditional body of knowledge, learned and passed down over centuries,
has equipped them to inhabit better than any other. Of course individual

people move across natural boundaries

arning different ways of life

and different languages, but it is rare that entire groups do so (see

Jorgensen [1980:51-83] for an excellent, extended discussion of language
culture, and environment in western North America).

gure 1.3 Geographical distribution of Oregon native groups in 1850.



WESTERN
SUB-ARC

TIC

=f

m ¢

a

|PLATE
PLAINS
AREA
REAT

GREATER

SOUTHWEST





Chapter 1

365 = 85

630 + 85
1150 + 100,

j—-—— 2460 + 125)

——— 3285 + 85

j———— 4300 + 125

—— 8850 + 160)

wI——— 9700 + 225;

Figure 1.1 Hypothetical stratifiec r e with projectile points and !4C dated
firehearths.



Time

erspe

Stratigraphic I ivation

Radiocarbon