BLM LIBRARY

88030298

Kfa=re"HH uuCK,

by:

C Melvin Aikens

j^SMiJ

^y^H
About the Author: C. Melvin Aikens is a

Professor of Anthropology at the University

of Oregon, where he has taught and pursued

research in Archaeology for some 25 years.

BLM/OR/WA/ST-93/16+8100

Cover Photo: Archaeological work at the Dietz Site, Lake County, Oregon

(photo courtesy of John L. Fagan).
bio

ASH

Archaeology ijBg

of Oregon

by:

C Melvin Aikens «» ^

BLM LIBRARY

SC-653, BLDG. 50

R

DENVER FEDERAL CENTER

n A RflM 95047

1993

DENvfe'do 130225-0047

U.S. Department of the Interior

Bureau of Land Management

Oregon State Office

1300 N.E. 44th Avenu

Portland, Oregon 97213

Archaeology of Oregon

Forward

The Bureau of Land Management State Office is proud to present Archaeology of Oregon by Dr. C. Melvin Aikens. This

volume presents a synthesis of the information available

concerning the prehistory of Oregon. Dr. Aikens, through

analysis of the archaeological and anthropological data, has

added the insights and conclusions that have come to him

through twenty years of concentrated study of the subject

area. The Bureau of Land Management publishes this study

as a part of its "Adventures in the Past" public outreach effort

and in recognition of its responsibility to make information

gained through its Cultural Resources ManagementProgram

available to scholars and to the general public.

State Director

Oregon/Washington Bureau of Land Management —i
Archaeology of Oregon

—11
Archaeology of Oregon

Preface

The Northern Great Basin, the Columbia Plateau, the Pacific

Coast and Lower Columbia, the Willamette Valley, the

Southwestern Mountains: these Oregon environments have

been explored and their resources used by various peoples for

at least the last 12,000 years. The evidence of that use has been

painstakingly collected by archaeologists and historians, and

their descriptions of past lifestyles based upon that evidence

and considerable information provided bypresent daynative

Americans have been published in hundreds of different

articles, monographs and books. Anyone wishing to learn

about the prehistory and/or history of any particular area withintheStatecanfindatleastsomeoftherelevantinformation

without the expenditure of a very great amount of time and

energy.

The present work was written to provide the reader a broad

vista of the various major cultures of Oregon in a single

volume. Readers who are sufficiently intrigued can fill in the

details for any area from the more specific publications listed

in the bibliography.

in
Archaeology of Oregon

Several perspectives on Oregon prehistory may be offered.

Certainly one of the most valuable is by native Americans

themselves. Descriptions of Oregon's traditional cultures

provided by direct descendants are now gaining increased

availability to the public in today's literature, such as The First

Oregonians recently published by the Oregon Council for the

Humanities. As is apparent, this book is predominantly

derived from scientific investigations of the archaeological

record conducted over the past 60 years. Interpretations

providedbyethnohistories, ethnographies, and archaeological

studies each add to preserving the richness and diversity of our region's cultural traditions.

A major goal in archaeology is to document the differing

adaptations that groups have made to the various

environments over a lengthy time period. To this goal, each

chapteris organized utilizing the same themes. Thus attention

is drawn, for example, to the reliance on salmon in the

Columbia Gorge versus the use of roots, seeds, and small

game in the Northern Great Basin. Such differences must not

obscure,however, the fact that there is a fundamental similarity

in the broad utilization of available resources and in the

resulting annual movement from lowland to upland and

return. It is useful to observe that the same broad organizing

principle is found to some degree in all non-horticultural

groups to the extent that they are free from certain constraints.

Inferences are also drawn, whenever possible, about the

changes in lifestyles that occurred through time. The lack of

major, clearly defined changes within narrow time spans is a hallmark ofGreatBasin, westernOregon, andPlateau cultures

and represents only one of a few cases where both culture and

environment have remained stable over a period of several

thousand years. Such stability in culture has and will continue

to evoke considerable scientific interest.

Richard C. Hanes

IV
Archaeology of Oregon

Acknowledgements

I thank Y. T. (Jack) Witherspoon for his sense of mission and

for generating the ongoing support of the Bureau of Land

Management Cultural Resources Program that led originally

to the writing of Archaeology of Oregon. I thank Richard C

Hanes, Jack's successor as director of this program, for his

continuing encouragement and support in the completion of

this third edition. Many other BLM staffers deserve thanks as

well. Phil Carroll and Don Smurthwaite made all but a few of

the original photographs, new photographs for the second

edition were made by Gary Haase, who was responsible for

graphic design and art direction. Haase also directed the

production of this third edition. Wyndeth Moisen and Steve

Hurst each contributed several illustrations and Kathy Helms

meticulouslyreviewedanearlydraft. MichaelHamel provided

considerable computer expertise in the typesetting of this

edition.

4 Most of the archaeological specimens illustrated in the book

come from the collections of the Oregon State Museum of

Anthropology, on the University of Oregon campus. Don E. Dumond, OSMA Director, gave permission to photograph
Archaeology of Oregon

the specimens and made available the facilities of the museum

for the project. Martha Frankel and Pamela Endzweig pulled

the manyspecimens together for photographing, and returned

them to safekeeping when the job was done. Richard E. Ross

and David R. Brauner of Oregon State University made

available for photography the specimens illustrated in figures

6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, and 6.6. William G. Loy, University of Oregon

Department of Geography, generously permitted and

collaborated in the adaption of figures 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 3.1,4.1,5.1,

and 6.1 from maps originally published under his editorship

in the Atlas of Oregon. The contributors of other illustrations are acknowledged in text captions. The University of Oregon

made it possible for me to undertake the writing of this book

as part of its overall teaching and research mission, through

the continuing support of its Department of Anthropology

and Museum of Natural History.

C. Melvin Aikens

VI
Archaeology of Oregon

Table of Contents

Foreword i Preface iii Acknowledgements v

Table of Contents vii

List of Figures xii List of Tables xvii

Chapter 1 - Introduction 1 Time Perspective 2

Stratigraphic Excavation 2

Radiocarbon Dating 2

Typological Cross-Dating 5

Reasoning from the Present to the Past 6

Archaeological Places and Culture Areas 7

Language Diversity, Cultural Tradition,

and Prehistory 9

Prospect 12

Chapter 2 - Northern Great Basin 13

Ethnographic Life Way 13

Landscape and Climate 17

Time and Environmental Change 18

Cultural Chronology and Time Markers 20

DietzSite 23

Fort Rock Cave 26

Fossil Lake 29

Buffalo Hat 29

Connley Caves 30

BigMSite 31

Carlon Village 33

Boulder Village 33

Seven Mile Ridge Cave 35

Far View Butte 35 —vii —
Archaeology of Oregon

Continuing Investigations in the Fort Rock Basin 36

Paisley Five-Mile Point Cave 38

LakeAbert 38

Warner Valley 40

Catlow and Roaring Springs Caves 42

Skull Creek Dunes 47

Malheur Lake 53

Wildhorse and Fish Lakes 57

Diamond Pond 57

Headquarters 60

Squaw Pit Site 61

Blitzen Marsh and Hogwallow Spring 61

Dunn Site 62

McCoy Creek Site 63

Lost Dune Site 65

Stinkingwater Mountain 66

Steens Mountain 67

Alvord Desert and Trout Creek Mountains 70

Dirty Shame Rockshelter 71

Artistic and Symbolic Forms 78

Future Research 81

Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau 85

Ethnographic Life Way 87

Landscape and Natural Resources 92

Time and Environmental Change 93

Cultural Chronology and Time Markers 95

The Dalles Roadcut Site 96

Wildcat Canyon 101

Umatilla Rapids 114

Deschutes and John Day Rivers 117

John Day Narrows 117

Lower John Day Canyon 118

Pine Creek 118

Mitchell Cave ! 119

Hall Creek 120

Pilcher Creek 121

Stockhoff and Marshmeadow 121 —viii —
Archaeology of Oregon

Lower Deschutes River 122

Mack Canyon 122

Sherar's Bridge 123

Round Butte 124

Lava Island Rockshelter 124

Lava Butte 125

Wickiup Dam and Odell Lake 125

Kawumkan Springs 125

Bezuksewas Village and Williamson River Bridge 127

Lost River and the Peninsula Site 128

Nightfire Island 129

Artistic and Symbolic Forms 132

Future Research 134

Chapter 4 - Pacific Coast and Lower Columbia River ...137

Ethnographic Life Way 139

Natural Landscape 142

Time and Environmental Change 143

Cultural Chronology and Time Markers 144

Tahkenitch Landing 145

Umpqua-Eden Site 149

Lone Ranch Creek 153

Pistol River 155

YaquinaHead 156

Whale Cove 162

Seal Rock 163

Palmrose, Avenue Q, and Par-Tee 164

TiUamookSite 167

Fishing Rocks 169

Lower Columbia River 170

Eddy Point and Ivy Station 170

Merrybell Site 171

CholickSite 172

Meier Site 173

Resources of the Sauvie Island Vicinity 174

House Types of the Lower Columbia 177

Artistic and Symbolic Forms .. ., 178

Future Research 180 —ix —
Archaeology of Oregon

Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley 183

Ethnographic Life Way 185

Landscape and Natural Resources 188

Time and Environmental Change 190

Cultural Chronology and Time Markers 191

Mohawk River, Templeton, Cottage Grove 1 92

Hannavan Creek Site 193

Perkins Park Site 195

Upper Long Tom River Sites 196

Kirk Park 196

Inman Creek 197

Flanagan Site 198

Benjamin Sites 199

HurdSite 200

Hager's Grove 203

Fuller and Fanning Mounds 206

CascadiaCave 210

Baby Rock Shelter 212

Rigdon's Horse Pasture Cave 212

Western Cascades Uplands 213

Artistic and Symbolic Forms 218

Future Research 219

Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains 221

Ethnographic Life Way 223

.Landscape and Natural Resources 225

Time and Environmental Change 226

Cultural Chronology and Time Markers 227

Applegate River Sites 228

MarialSite 229

Tlegetlinten and Blossom Bar 234

Gold Hill 236

Saltsgaver Site 242

Ritsch and Marthaller 242

Far Hills Ranch 243

Elk Creek Sites 243

Hinterland Sites 250

Border Village 251
Archaeology of Oregon

North Umpqua Narrows 254

Limpy Rock Shelter 256

South Umpqua River Sites 257

Standley Site 261

Artistic and Symbolic Forms 263

Future Research 265

Chapter 7 - Oregon Cultures in Perspective 267

The Peopling of the North and the Peopling of America

267

Postglacial Readaptation: Archaic Hunter-Fisher-Gatherers 270

Connections and Convergences 273

Future Research 275

References Cited 277

XI
Archaeology of Oregon

List of Figures

1.1 Hypothetical stratified archaeological site with

projectile points and 14C dated firehearths 3

1.2 Culture areas of western North America 8

1.3 Geographical distribution of Oregon native

groups in 1850 11

1.4 Topographic map of Oregon 12

2.1 Map showing site locations in the Northern Great

Basin region of Oregon 14

2.2 Harney Valley Paiute seasonal round 16

2.3 Clovis fluted points from the Dietz Site,

central Oregon 21

2.4 Projectile points from the Early period,

Northern Great Basin, Oregon 22

2.5 Projectile points from the Middle period,

Northern Great Basin, Oregon 24

2.6 Projectile points from the Late period,

Northern Great Basin, Oregon 25

2.7 Paleo-Indian stone tools from the Dietz Site 27

2.8 Early assemblage from above lake gravels

at Fort Rock Cave 28

2.9 Schematic model of prehistoric subsistence and

settlement in the Warner Valley 41

2.10 Chronological distribution of projectile point types

from far western sites 43

2.11 Generalized stratigraphic cross-section of the Skull

Creek Dunes Site 45

2.12 Woven sandals 45

2.13 Fragment of tule matting bound together with fiber

cordage, from Roaring Springs Cave 46

2.14 Large tule fiber bag from Chewaucan Cave 47

2.15 Large twined basketry tray from Chewaucan Cave. ...48 2.16 Skin bag from Chewaucan Cave 49

2.17 Badger-head bag from Chewaucan Cave 50

2.18 Small carrying net from Roaring Springs Cave 51

Xll
Archaeology of Oregon

2.19 Large rabbit net made of plant fibers, from Chewaucan

Cave 52

2.20 Atlatl from Roaring Springs Cave 53

2.21 Bow fragment and parts of arrows from Roaring

Springs Cave 54

2.22 Wooden snares from Chewaucan Cave 55

2.23 Sagebrush/grass pollen ratios for Fish and Wildhorse

lakes, Steens Mountain 58

2.24 Late prehistoric wickiup floor from McCoy Creek 64

2.25 Dirty Shame Rockshelter, Malheur County,

Oregon 71

2.26 Projectile points from Dirty Shame Rockshelter 72

2.27 Stone drills and gravers from Dirty Shame

Rockshelter 73

2.28 Flaked stone knives from Dirty Shame Rockshelter. ... 74

2.29 Hafts for stone knives from Catlow Cave 75

2.30 Reconstruction drawing of pole-and-thatch

wickiup from Dirty Shame Rockshelter,

based on data from excavation 76

2.31 Long Lake Carved Abstract rock art panel

at Long Lake, Oregon 80

2.32 Petroglyphs of Great Basin Curvilinear, Rectilinear,

and Representational styles from Long Lake,

Oregon 81

2.33 Father of Oregon Archaeology 83

3.1 Map of the Columbia Plateau region of Oregon

showing site locations 86

3.2 Selected aspects of the Plateau trading

system centered on The Dalles 92

3.3 Projectile points of the Early period from the

Columbia Plateau region of Oregon 96

3.4 Projectile points of the Early Middle period

from the Columbia Plateau region of Oregon 97

3.5 Projectile points of the Late Middle period

from the Columbia Plateau region of Oregon 98

3.6 Projectile points of the Late period from the

Columbia Plateau region of Oregon 99 —xiii —
Archaeology of Oregon

3.7 The Long Narrows at The Dalles of the

Columbia River 101

3.8 Salmon vertebrae from the Roadcut Site at The Dalles 102

3.9 Edge-ground cobbles of the Full Early period

rom The Dalles 102

3.10 Grooved pebbles from The Dalles 104

3.11 Handled maul and grooved maul head from

The Dalles 105

3.12 Notched and girdled stones from The Dalles and

Wildcat Canyon 106

3.13 Biconically perforated stones from The Dalles .107

3.14 Fish effigy of ground stone from The Dalles 108

3.15 Anthropomorphic stone pipe bowl from

The Dalles 108

3.16 Stone club from The Dalles 109

3.17 Polished jadeite celt from The Dalles 110

3.18 Tubular copper beads from the Middle Columbia

(historic) Ill

3.19 Upper, shell disc beads; middle, glass trade beads;

lower, aboriginal Dentalium and glass trade

beads; lower right, abalone pendent 112

3.20 Historic metal artifacts from The Dalles. Left,

phoenix buttons; center, Chinese coin; right,

military uniform buttons 112

3.21 Large biface knives from Wildcat Canyon 113

3.22 Historic fishing at Celilo Falls represents

culmination of Plateau fishning pattern 113

3.23 Single-bitted graver, double-bitted graver, and scraper

of the Philippi Phase from Wildcat Canyon 114

3.24 Bone harpoon heads of the Harder Phase from

Wildcat Canyon 115

3.25 Bone gaming pieces fromthe Middle Columbia

Alderdale Site 115

3.26 Tsagaglal, "she who watches," on an outcrop

overlooking the Long Narrows of the Columbia. ... 133 —XIV
Archaeology of Oregon

3.27 Rock art motifs from sites near The Dalles of the

Columbia 135

4.1 Map of the Pacific Coast and Lower Columbia

River region showing site locations 138

4.2 Projectile points from the Lower Columbia

region (Portland Basin) 146

4.3 Late projectile points from the Umpqua-Eden Site. ... 152

4.4 Historic Lower Umpqua house shown in

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1858 153

4.5 Bone fish hooks from the Umpqua-Eden Site 1 54

4.6 Projectile points from the southern Oregon Coast 157

4.7 Bifacially flaked stone knives from the southern

Oregon Coast 157

4.8 Scrapers from the southern Oregon Coast 1 59

4.9 Bone points, probably of composite harpoon

heads, from the southern Oregon Coast 1 60

4.10 Elk antler and whalebone splitting wedges

from the southern Oregon Coast 160

4.11 Distribution of natural resource zones in the Sauvie

Island catchment sphere 176

5.1 Map of the Willamette Valley region of Oregon

showing site locations 184

5.2 Distribution of Kalapuya group territories east and west of the Willamette River; Molala

territory in the Western Cascades 186

5.3 Projectile points from the Willamette Valley,

Oregon 193

5.4 Basalt bifaces from the Lynch Site 202

55 Heavy pointed tools from the Hurd Site 202

5.6 Heavy uniface chopping tools from the

Hurd Site 203

5.7 Uniface chopper and shaped pestle from the

Hurd Site 203

5.8 Stone bowl from the Willamette Valley 204

5.9 Charred camas bulbs from an earth oven 205

5.10 Necklace from Fuller Mound made up of Olivella and

butter clam shells from the Oregon coast,

sheet copper bangles, and a brass button 208

XV —
Archaeology of Oregon

5.11 Bone artifacts from Fuller Mound 209

5.12 Whalebone club from Fuller Mound 210

5.13 Bone wand and antler digging stick handle from

Fuller Mound 211

5.14 Projectile points from Rigdon's Horse

Pasture Cave 214

5.15 Basketry fragments from Rigdon's Horse

Pasture Cave 215

6.1 Map of the Southwestern Mountains region

of Oregon showing site locations 222

6.2 Early projectile points from Site JA53,

Rogue-Applegate area 230

6.3 Projectile points of the Middle period from the

Rogue-Applegate Area 231

6.4 Projectile points of the Late period from the

Rogue-Applegate area 232

6.5 Stone tool from the Rogue-Applegate area 233

6.6 Grooved stone object from Site JA52,

Rogue-Applegate area 233

6.7 Idealized stratigraphic sequence at Marial,

showing depositional layers, occupation zones,

radiocarbon dates, and point type distributions. ...235

6.8 Projectile points from the Gold Hill Site 238

6.9 Stone bowl or mortar from the Gold Hill Site 239

6.10 Obsidian blades from the Gold Hill Site 240

6.11 Tubular steatite pipes from the Gold Hill Site 241

6.12 Bone whistle or hair ornament (?) from the

Gold HiU Site 241

6.13 Projectile points from the Middle Klamath

River area 253

6.14 Fragments of Siskiyou Utility Ware pottery

from the middle Klamath River 255

xvi —
Archaeology of Oregon

List of Tables

2.1 The Lake Abert-Chewaucan Marsh cultural

chronology 39

2.2 Pollen and Macrobotanical Record from Diamond

Pond, showing environmental changes of the last 6000 years 59

2.3 Relationships between site frequency and ste size over

time in the Catlow Uplands 69

3.1 Items traded among Plateau peoples of the 19th

century 91

4.1 Seasons during which various available food

resources were most likely to be exploited

in the Sauvie Island catchment sphere 175

6.1 Economic use and seasonality of plant remains from

Elk Creek site 248

XVll
Archaeology of Oregon

xvm
Chapter 1 - Introduction

Chapter 1

Introduction

Archaeology creates a view of the cultural past by studying the objects

people have made, and by plotting the occurrence of specific artifact types across spaceand through time. Weknowfromeveryday experience

that members of various social groups or nations make things according

to distinctive stylistic patterns. These patterns reflect shared ideas about

what is efficient, or attractive, or sacred. Ideas about what constitutes

proper form of course vary from group to group, and they change over

time. Traditional clothing styles, for example, differ from country to country, and everywhere fashions come and go. Stylistic change is reflected in many common tools and objects of everyday use. Thus

archaeology, through the comparative study of ancient artifacts from

many different places, can map out the regions or culture areas once

occupied by prehistoric peoples of different traditions. Changes in the

artifact styles of such regions over time allow the definition of cultural periods, or phases. Functional artifacts such as projectile points, milling

stones, fish hooks, and carrying baskets reflect the day-to-day activities of a people. So do cultural features like firehearths, house pits, and earth ovens. Habitation residues, such as the charred bones, shells, seeds, or

roots that might be sieved from a firehearth or trash pit, give evidence of

a people's diet and insight into their hunting and gathering practices.

Some of these same residues, and other evidence such as buried pollen or — 1 —
Archaeology of Oregon

various kinds of geological phenomena, tell of biotic and climatic

conditions of past times. As the archaeological inventory of a region

becomes ever more fully known through systematic survey and

excavation, so do the lifeways of the people who left the specimens

behind.

Time Perspective

Many techniques are available to the archaeologist for determining the

sequence of cultural developments over time, and for estimating the age

of cultural events. Three fundamental approaches—stratigraphic

excavation, typological cross-dating, and radiocarbon dating—havebeen

of most importance to the study of Oregon prehistory (Figure 1.1). Of

these techniques, stratigraphic excavation is the most basic. It has been in use almost as long as there has been a science of archaeology. Typological

cross-dating is another long-established and basic technique, still extremely important in archaeological research. Radiocarbon dating was

developed during the early 1950s, and has since become the principal means for measuring the age of archaeological sites.

Stratigraphic Excavation

Stratigraphic excavation relies on the elementary fact that in a series of

earth layers or strata, laid down on a given spot over a period of time, the

sequential order of strata from bottom to top of a deposit shows the

relative ages of any objects contained in them (Figure 1.1). Much of the

legendary care that archaeologists devote to excavation is spent on

precisely determining stratigraphic sequence, because recoveringartifact assemblages from successive time periods is essential to the analysis of

cultural change. Even without other dating techniques, this method

allows an archaeologist to define cultural periods and establish cultural continuity or change over time. By itself, however, stratigraphic excavation

cannot establish the actual age of archaeological finds. It can place artifact assemblages in proper time sequence relative to one another, but other

techniques are needed to determine ages in years. The most important

and widely used technique is radiocarbon dating.

Radiocarbon Dating

Radiocarbon dating begins from the fact that Carbon-14 (hereafter

abbreviated 14C), an unstable radioactive isotope of carbon, is ever
Chapter 1 - Introduction

365 ± 85

630 ±85

1150 ± 100

2460 ± 125

3285 ± 85

4300 ± 125

6600 ± 100

8850 ± 160

9700 ±225

Figure 1.1 Hypothetical stratified archaeological site with projectile points and 14C dated

firehearths.
Archaeology of Oregon

present in the earth's atmosphere, and is absorbed into the tissues of all living organisms as part of the life process. The 14C, being inherently

unstable, is subject to radioactive decay over time; release of a beta

particle converts it to the stable element Nitrogen-14 (14N). This decay

process goes on continuously. But living organisms are always taking in fresh 14C, so the amount of it they contain remains at the same level as in the atmosphere. When an organism dies, however, it ceases to take in fresh 14C. After the death of an organism, therefore, the amount of 14C

contained in its remains decreases steadily, at a rate which is expressed

as its half-life. A half-life of 5568 years was determined for 14C in the early days of

radiocarbon dating, and is still used today . Simply, after 5568 years a

piece of dead organic matter will contain half as much 14C as it did when

living; after another 5568 years, it will contain half the previous amount;

and so on. The amount of 14C in dead organic matter continually

decreases until the quantity left is too small to be measured accurately.

The practical limit of radiocarbon dating is about 40,000 years, although

with special equipment, special techniques, and favorable circumstances,

it is possible to push this limit to approximately 70,000 years in some

cases. Specimens of wood, bone, shell, or plant fiber—anything organic—can be dated by the 14C method. The amount of 14C remaining in a dating

sample from an archaeological site can be measured in the laboratory

,

and from this quantity the age of the specimen — in radiocarbon years

before present (hereafter BP) —can be calculated mathematically.

Radiocarbon dates are reported by laboratories in terms of a mean and a standard deviation. The mean is the calculated age in radiocarbon years. The standard deviation expresses the effect ofnormal random fluctuations

in the measured radioactive decay rate. For a date reported as 5000 +/

- 100 BP (that is, 5000 years before present, with a standard deviation of

plus or minus 100 years), the odds are 2 to 1 that the actual age lies somewhere within 100 years on either side of 5000 BP. If the standard

deviation is doubled, in this example to 200 years, the statistical odds

become 1 9 to 1 that the true date lies within 200 years on either side of 5000

BP (thatis, somewherebetween4800and 5200 BP). Laboratorycalculations are always reported with standard deviations, but in this book the

deviations have been dropped for the sake of brevity.

All dates in the following text are expressed as years BP, or years ago, except in the rare cases where written historical documents are cited. —4
Chapter 1 - Introduction

Virtually all archaeological dates are directly or indirectly determined by

the radiocarbon method, so it is important to note that radiocarbon years

are not precisely the same length as conventional calendar years. It is now

known that the true half-life of 14C is about 3% longer than the originally

derived value, whichis still conventionally used in calculatingradiocarbon

ages. Because so many dates were established before the new half-life was determined, and because the difference in ages calculated by the two

measurements is not large, the original half-life remains the international

standard.

A second factor affecting the length of radiocarbon years is that the

amount of UC in the Earth's atmosphere rises and falls slightly over long

intervals of time. Correction factors for this effect have been developed

by running 14C dates on growth-ring segments of known calendric age

from bristlecone pine. This tree is extremely long-lived, and ages can be

precisely determined by counting its annual growth rings. With the

difference knownbetween tree-ring (calendric) and radiocarbon ages for a sample, a correction factor canbe calculated for that point in time. Many

samples have now been dated by this dual method, and past fluctuations

in the UC curve plotted. However, since the bristlecone pine record only

goes back continuously for the last 7000 years, no correction factors are established beyond that range. Where longer ranges of time are involved,

as in this book, the use of corrected ages before 7000 years ago and

uncorrected ages after that point would create misleading chronological

disparities of hundreds of years. A system that converted ages to the

Christiancalendar, using BC/ADdates, would add further complications.

As a practical matter it is better to have a somewhat less exact, but

consistent, system for reckoning time, than to have a mixed system that

creates anomalies in the record. For the sake of clarity, therefore,

uncorrected 14C dates BP are used in the present text. For a fuller account

of the radiocarbon dating method, including ramifications and

complications not described here, see Taylor (1987).

Typological Cross-Dating

Typological cross-datingis another fundamental archaeological technique.

It has long been used in conjunction with stratigraphic sequencing, and more recently with radiocarbon dating. Carefully shaped artifacts such

as projectile points, or intricately crafted materials such as basketry, are

often of highly distinctive types, made only in certain areas over certain

spans of time. When distinctive or diagnostic types are found in stratigraphic sequence at an excavated site, their time of occurrence

relative to one another is established; thereafter it is possible to infer, —5 —
Archaeology of Oregon

when the same diagnostic types are found elsewhere, the relative time of

occupation of those sites. Where radiocarbon dates have been obtained

for sites containing diagnostic types, the actual periods of time over which such types were made can be directly dated. Subsequently, when

diagnostic artifacts are found on other sites, an archaeologist can approximate the time of site occupation based on artifact typology alone

(Figure 1.1). Reasoning From the Present to the Past

Interpretation of prehistoric artifacts, and definition of past societies,

depends heavily upon analogies drawn from living groups. Traditional

customs, languages, and technology have been recorded in recent times

from the testimony of people who still lived or still remembered the old

ways of life. This is the substance of ethnography, which guides the

cultural interpretation of archaeological evidence. Ancient flaked stone arrow points, knives, scrapers, and drills, or more perishable objects such

as antler digging stick handles, sheep horn wrenches, fish traps, and

harpoons, can be identified because their counterparts were still made

and used in recent times by descendants of America's original people. Of

course, some objects made in the past have no obvious modern

counterparts. These leave some puzzlement or ambiguity in

interpretations, but in fact the probable function of most commonly

recovered artifacts can be identified with a good deal of assurance. Notonly the tools but the traditional activities and movements of historic peoples are guides to understanding the past. In taking subsistence from

their natural environment and pursuing their lives, hunting-gathering

peoples like the original Oregonians gathered a wide variety of plant

foods, medicines, and raw materials for household manufactures; hunted

and fished for many kinds of animals; and gathered together for social

activities, religious observances, trade, and the negotiation of marriages.

Thedistribution over the landscapeof natural resources, and the changing

seasons, determined the locations and times of many human activities. Root crops bloomed in rocky uplands, fish spawned in rivers and lakes,

marmots came out of hibernation among rimrocks and ledges, seeds

ripened in grassy flats, deer were driven down from the mountains by

snow. Ethnographic accounts show how traditional groups scheduled

their activities and movements to fit environmental and ecological facts, and these accounts guide the interpretation of archaeological evidence.

Of course it is probable —indeed in matters of detail it is certain — that past ways of life were not identical to those known in historic times. But
Chapter 1 - Introduction

generally similar ecological factors shaped the lives of both historic and

prehistoric occupants of any given landscape, and this validates the use

ofethnographic analogies asa key step toward interpretingarchaeological

evidence. The archaeological facts, in turn, can show how past human

activities may have differed from those indicated in the ethnographic

models. Because of this intimate relationship between ethnography and

archaeology, each of the following regional chapters begins with a sketch

of the traditional lifewayas remembered and described by recent cultural descendants. Because climatic changescan alter the resource productivity

of a region and thus affect human adaptations, each chapter also contains

discussions of landscape and climate, and of time and environmental

change.

Archaeological Places and Culture Areas

The archaeology of place —that is, of individual sites and specific places — is stressed in the following chapters. This follows directly from the

culture-ecological orientation to prehistory. Each site was a place from

which certain human activities were staged, and it occupied a position

within some larger set of places where people carried out the many and

varied activities of their lives. The sites described in this book exemplify

various aspects of prehistoric cultural systems, but much research is still needed before a comprehensive account of Oregon's various regional

systems, and their changes through time, can be written.

Traditional cultures were closely adapted to the landscapes in which they

grew, andtherewasa strongcongruencebetweenculture andenvironment

(Kroeber 1939). In western North America, the largest cultural and

natural areas were the Northwest Coast, running from the Gulf of Alaska

to about Cape Mendocino in northern California; the Plateau, extending

from the Cascades to the Rockies, and north from the Columbia River

drainage to well beyond the international border with Canada; the Great

Basin, stretching from east-central Oregon southward to the Colorado

River; and California, defined approximately by the state's modern

political borders west of the Sierra-Cascades (Figure 1.2).

All of the named cultural and natural areas touch within Oregon's

presentboundaries. Northern Great Basin and Plateau cultures are wellattested eastof the Cascades. Northwest Coast culture reached its highest

elaboration far to the north, in British Columbia and Alaska, but native

peoples of the Columbia River estuary and Oregon Coast pursued a very

similar way of life. Oregon's Willamette Valley, a distinctive oakgrassland savanna, was geographically and culturally intermediate
Archaeology of Oregon

WESTERN

SUB-ARCTIC

GREATER

SOUTHWEST

Fig. 1.2. Culture areas of western North America. —8 —
Chapter 1 - Introduction

between the Plateau and California. The California area extended into

Oregon's Southwestern Mountains. Because of these geographical

circumstances, an account of Oregon's prehistory can serve to introduce

the general features of traditional native culture over much of the far west. Language Diversity, Cultural Tradition, and

Prehistory

A map of Oregon groups as they were distributed in 1850 shows great

cultural diversity (Figure 1 .3). Thirteen different families of languages are represented, the highest degree of linguistic diversity being west of the

Cascades. Nine of these families belong to the great Penutian phylum of

languages, which has representatives in Oregon, Washington, and

California, and possible connections as distant as Mexico and Central

America. Penutian languages dominate the western and northern parts

of the state. The Northern Paiute language of east-central and southern

Oregon represents the Aztec-Tanoan phylum. Aztec-Tanoan languages

have an extremely broad distribution in the far west, extending from

eastern Oregon to central Mexico. Much of Oregon's northwestern coast was occupied by speakers of Salishan languages, a family widespread

farther north in Washington and British Columbia. Languages of the

Athabaskan family were spoken in a small area of extreme northwestern

Oregon, and a larger area in southwestern Oregon, extending inland

from the coast along the Rogue River. The main body of Athabaskanspeaking peoples lives far to the north, in western Canada and Alaska.

Finally, the Shasta, a mostly Californian people whose range extended a

short distance into southwestern Oregon, used a speech belonging to the

Hokan linguistic phylum. Hokan languages are spoken widely in California and Mexico, and as far south as Central America.

These distributions place the native languages of Oregon in continental

perspective. They demonstrate forcefully the ethnic diversity of western

North America in general, and Oregon in particular. The fact that related

languages were spread over so vast an area indicates a long and complex

history of migrations and dispersals, in which aboriginal Oregonians

participated. The temporal scale implied is as vast'as the spatial one, with

a time depth spanning the period of human occupation.

The linguistic map also has more specific implications for Oregon

prehistory. Long ago, people speaking an ancestral Penutian language

spread widely in the Oregoncountry. Through normal linguistic change,

this original speech community gradually split up into local sister —9 —
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, for example, made up a continuous chain

of small, closely related languages in a pattern 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

over a vast area but shows very little internal variation. It is in fact a single

speech, intelligible to people across 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 over longdistances 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

upresidence in Oregonlongafter 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, stemmingfroma time whenHokanspossiblyoccupied

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

1 9th century. Penutian-speakinggroups, bycontrast, consistently occupied

the better watered country to the north and west. It is notable that Salishan

and Athabaskan-speaking immigrants, whose homelands were in well- — 10 —
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. Ultimately, groups tend

to become bound to a particular environmental setting, which their traditional body of knowledge, learned and passed downover centuries,

has equipped them to inhabit better than any other. Of course individual

people move across natural boundaries, learning 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).

3- -M

.y

<GlAu-tQuuia»

Chemtlunnt. 5 Chelie.hin. 6 Taltuthtuntedt {Goiter) Source Stephen Dow Beckham

LEGEND

1 | Penutian Phylum

t:::v;j Aztec-Tanoan Phylum H Hokan Phylum

I 1 Athapaskan-Eyak

'

' Language Group | Salishan Family Isolate Figure 1.3 Geographical distribution of Oregon native groups in 1850. — 11 —
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 traditions is gathered byarchaeologists, who study the prehistoric

sites that are the irreplaceable record of the Native American past. The

workofnatural scientists, especially those who studyancientenvironments

and the changes they have undergone, is also essential to the story.

Interpretation of the archaeological and environmental evidence is crucially informed bythe cultural knowledgeofhistoric and 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). — 12 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Chapter 2

Northern Great Basin

The study of Oregon prehistory was pioneered by archaeological

researches in the Northern Great Basin. Beginning in the mid-1930s,

work by Professor Luther S. Cressman of the University of Oregon

demonstrated the high antiquity of a desert culture now known not only

fromOregonbutthroughouttheintermontane west (Cressman, Williams,

and Krieger 1940; Cressman et al. 1942). This history, and the fact that some of the oldest sites known in the state are found here, make the

Northern Great Basin a fitting place to begin the narrative of Oregon's

past (Figure 2.1). Ethnographic Life Way

The native people of the Great Basin, who practiced the ancestral lifeway

well into the 19th century, were heirs to an extremely ancient cultural

tradition. Comparison of archaeological and ethnographic evidence

shows that prehistoric and historic peoples made tools, gathered plants,

and hunted animals of similar if not identical kinds. The similarity is not

exact, or complete: in thousands of years there were inevitably changes.

Nevertheless, the life of the historic peoples is a guide to understanding

the ancient cultures attested by archaeological evidence, and historic and

13
Archaeology of Oregon

Key to Sites

1 - Fort Rock Cave

2 - Fossil Lake, Buffalo Flat 3 - Connley Caves

4 - Far View Butte. Big M. Boulder Village. Seven Mile Ridge

5 - Carlon Village 6 - Dietz Site

7 - Paisley 5-Mile Point Caves

8 - Lake Abert 9 - Warner Valley 10 - Long Lake

1

1

- Stinkingwater Mountain

12 - Squaw Pit Site 13 - Malheur Lake

14 - Headquarters Site, Lost Dune, Blitzen Marsh. Hogwallow Spring

15 - Diamond Pond, McCoy Creek, Dunn Site 16 - Steens Mountain. Wildhorse Lake. Fish Lake

17 - Roaring Springs Cave

18 - Skull Creek Dunes

19 - Cat low Cave

20 - Alvord Desert

21 - Trout Creek Mountains 22 - Dirty Shame Rockshelter

Figure 2.1 Map showing site locations in the Northern Great Basin region of Oregon.

prehistoric maybeinterwoven to detail some of the more timeless aspects

of the desert culture. Hunting-gatheringpeople, dependentonthe free-livingbounty ofnature

for their sustenance, perforce track the natural patterns and cycles of their — 14 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

environment. The annual round of eastern Oregon's historic Harney

Valley Paiutes was broadly typical of many Great Basin groups (Figure

2.2). March was the spring month when the groundhog first appeared. People were at this time still living in their winter encampments near Malheur

Lake and the modern town of Burns, eating primarily stored foods and

such gameas could be obtained. April was the month when the first green

shoots appeared through the snow; by late April or early May, the Indianpotato month had begun. This brought the first major economic and

social event of the new year, the spring trek to the root camp. The root camp of the Harney Valley people was actually not a single locality but

a vast area in the barren (to the eyes of the uninformed) hills around

Stinkingwater Pass, on the northeastern rim of the Great Basin. There

'Indian potatoes"—bitterroot, biscuitroot, yampa, wild onion and other

species—grew in inexhaustible quantity. People congregated in large

groups, some coming even from 50 or 100 miles away to participate in the

harvest. Some remained at the root camp as long as a month or so, building up stores for the following winter and enjoying the company of

friends and relatives from miles around. The gathering was intertribal,

with non-Paiute groups from the Columbia Plateau region across the

mountains also participating. Archaeological remainsfromStinkingwater

Pass suggest that this pattern probably dates back to at least 4000 BP

(Pettigrew 1979).

While the root camp was still in full swing, groups of men moved on to the headwaters of the Malheur River. A tributary to the Columbia, this river carried spawning salmon. Women joined in the fishing as they

concluded their work at the root camp, and the task of catching and

drying salmon for winter stores continued for several weeks. The time by

now was late May-early June, the salmon month.

About this time, vast fields of bluecamas lilies bloomedbetween Malheur

Lake and the surrounding foothills. Their starchy white bulbs were

harvested in great quantity and baked in large earth ovens for winter

stores. Marmots werealso "ripe" at this time, and special trips were made

to collect them in the rocky foothills. People moving back toward the

Harney Valley from root and salmon camps in the mountains conducted

these harvests, and stored the proceeds in caches to be retrieved for winter

use.

July was the month whenthe grass grew high. Crickets thrived, and were

collected to be dried, pounded, and stored as a protein-rich food. The

relatively rainy and cool spring gave way to the hot, dry summer. During — 15 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Cold SNOW

Indian-potatoY May

month '

HOT, DRY

Grass grows

high month

Seasonal round. Many and varied local resources were utilized, including seeds, roots,

berries, fish and game. The general pattern was one of intensive exploitation by small family-based groups, as among the Owens Valley Paiute (Steward 1 933) and the Surprise

Valley Paiute (Kelly 1932). Larger groups came together regularly at the root camp,

salmon fishery and wada (seed-gathering) sites. Traditional lunar month names translate into brief descriptions of characteristic activities or seasonal conditions for each period.

The annual cycle of movement was driven by seasonality and the correct time for gathering various species.

* Species collected include: Calochortus macrocarpus, Lewisia rediviva, Camassia

qiiamash, Lomathim cous, L. canbyi, L. gormanii, L. hendersoni, L. nudicaule, Perideridin

bolanderi, P. gairdneri, Allium madidum, A. acuminatum, A. macrum, Fritillaria pudica, Trifolium macrocephalum, Mentha arvensis, Achillea millefolium, and Penstemon speciosus.

** Species collected include: Wyethia amplexicaulis, Balsamorhiza hookeri, Sisymbrium altissimum, Atriplex species, Elymus cinereus, Suaeda depressa, S. intermedia, and

Oryzopsis hymenoides.

Figure 2.2 Harney Valley Paiute seasonal round. Based on Couture (1978); Couture, Housley, and Ricks (1982); Whiting (1950); see also Fowler (1986), and Fowler and

Liljeblad(1986). — 16 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

July and early August, people dispersed in small groups, roving where

they could hunt elk and small game, catch fish, and gather the first currants and huckleberries of the season.

In late August and September, the seeds and berries of many plants were

ready for harvest. The Harney Valley Paiute were called the Wadatika, or "Wada-eaters," being so named for a low-growing plant extremely

common at places around the shore of Malheur Lake and other desert

lakes. The wada plant yielded a seed that was tiny but available in great

quantity. The Wadatika congregated in large groups to collect it as well

as the seeds of goosefoot, Indian Ricegrass, Great Basin Wild Rye, muleear, and other desert plants. At suitable locations buckberries,

huckleberries, and chokecherries were also harvested, and elk were

hunted.

October-November, the rutting season for deer and antelope, was the

time for deer hunts, antelope drives, and rabbit drives. Seeds of shooting

star and ponderosa pine were collected. Winter encampments were

established at traditional places which were near water and not too far from previously established food caches.

The cold months of the year, from December through April, were spent

in winter encampments. People ranged out for fishing, waterfowling,

and hunting, but the stores of dried food built up during the preceding

months constituted the primary food resource at this season. The day-to-day tasks and annual cycle exemplified by the Harney Valley

Paiuteyear are well-represented in the archaeological sites of the Northern

Great Basin. Gathering activities are attested by digging sticks, carrying

baskets, and milling stones; hunting is represented by the atlatl and dart,

the bow and arrow, stone projectile points, and stone knives and scrapers;

and extensive travel is symbolized by the rich finds of sagebrush-bark

sandals from Fort Rock Cave and other sites. Among the thousands of known sites are winter villages and special activity camps of various

kinds. Although the match between prehistoric lifeways and that of the

historic Paiute people is surely not complete or exact, this evidence leaves no doubt of their basic similarity.

Landscape and Climate

Those characteristics of the natural landscape most critical to human

settlement are topography, flora, and fauna. The three are closely related,

with variations in topography —elevation, degree of slope, direction of — 17 —
Archaeology of Oregon

exposure, stream courses, springs—controlling effective moisture and

the distribution and abundance of both plants and animals in any given

locality. In general, areas that are topographically diverse, including both

lowland and highland terrain, are also biotically diverse. They offer greater possibilities for human exploitation than do relatively more

uniform landscapes. The preceding sketch of the Paiute seasonal round

shows clearly the importance of environmental variation to hunting and

gathering people.

The natural setting to which Oregon's Great Basin peoples were adapted was a rich one, extreme and demanding yet generous to those who knew

it well. The region is high plateau, with a general elevation of about 3500

to 4000 feet. In the north, the High Lava Plains is an extensive tableland,

given relief by scattered volcanic buttes and cinder cones. Toward the

southitmerges with the Basin and Range province, which is characterized

by long north-south fault block plateaus or mountain ranges with broad

open valleys between. This province extends south well beyond the

boundaries of Oregon, across Nevada and Arizona into northern Mexico.

In extreme southeastern Oregon is the Owyhee Upland, a rough, uneven

plateau that is ancient and much eroded. It is deeply cut by the canyons

of the Owyhee River and its tributaries. In general, topographic relief is considerable throughout Oregon's Great Basin region, with differences

of up to 5000 feet between mountain peak and valley basin.

Over all this country temperature fluctuations are extreme. Freezing,

snowy winters and hot, dry summers are the rule. A large variance

between daytime and nighttime temperature is also usual, especially in summer, when the temperature of a given place might be as high as 100°

F. during the day, and as lowas 50° F.atnight. Wateravailability is greatly

affected by altitude, with cool highlands collecting the most water and

holding it the longest. In the lowlands less moisture falls, evaporation is rapid, and aridity is the general condition. Many valleys nevertheless

contain lakes or marshes, fed by runoff. Such wetlands fluctuate greatly

from year to year, and even from season to season; they are most persistent

where upland moisture catchments are large, and most ephemeral where

these catchments are small. Springs may be found in virtually any locality, their occurrence determined by various circumstances of geomorphology,

lithic and sedimentary bedding, and faulting.

Time and Environmental Change

The first Oregonians known to archaeology lived near the end of the

Pleistocene, when world climate was in transition from the cold of the — 18 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

glacial age to the warmth of the postglacial. Glaciers in the Cascades,

Steens, and Blue mountains dwindled and disappeared. Modern

Malheur, Harney, Summer, Abert, and WarnerValley lakes are shrunken

remnants of great Pleistocene water bodies. Many pluvial lakes have

vanished completely, as in the Catlow Valley, leaving only broad, level plains. Highon hills around valley basins, three or four or more old beach

terraces can often be seen, running for miles. In some parts of eastern Oregon, beach lines occur as much as 350 feet above the basin floors; the

lakes that made these beaches were not only of vast extent, but deep.

Animals that went extinct at the end of the glacial age included giant

ground sloth, giant bison, camel, and horse. Species that survived to the

present include antelope, deer, mountain sheep, and bear; migratory and

upland birds; rabbits and other small mammals; various fishes; and

predators such as cougar, bobcat, and coyote. Plant species of late glacial

times wereessentially those seen today in the region, butboreal trees such

as whitebark pine, spruce, and fir were more abundant. Timberlines

stood lower, and alpine species were thus more broadly distributed . The

sagebrush-grassland communities of lower elevations were probably

richer in grass cover and more diverse than they are today.

Pollen evidence shows that by about 9000 BP, cold-tolerant trees were

colonizing high terrain previously covered only by arctic tundra

vegetation. Sagebrush, juniper, and other species followed these trees upslope as temperatures continued to rise. From about 7000 to 4500 years

ago there was general aridity, and many Great Basin lakes dried

completely. This aridity is commemorated by extensive dune fields along modern shorelines, formed as prevailing winds carried fine sediments off dried lakebeds exposed by evaporation. A Neopluvial

rebirth of the lakes was well under way by 4500 years ago, related to global cooling that also brought traces of Neoglaciation in the Cascades

and elsewhere. This somewhat cooler, moister regime has continued to the present time.

A now-classic interpretation of postglacial climate summarizes these

intervals as Anathermal (cooler, moister than today) 9000-7000 BP;

Altithermal (warmer, dryer than today) 7000-4500 BP; and Medithermal

(conditions as today) 4500 BP to present (Antevs 1948, 1955). Detailed

paleoclimatic evidence shows, however, that temperature and moisture

fluctuated quite extremely even within these periods; in the midst of

generally dry times there were marked wet phases, and just as markedly

there were dry phases during generally wetter times (Mehringer 1977;

1986).

19
*'•&:&.

Archaeology of Oregon

The degree to which large-scale climatic changes may affect the local occurrence of particular plants and animals is of direct importance to human use of a landscape. The topographic and biotic diversity of an area

are critical variables. Global or regional shifts in temperature are less likely to wreak major changes in species availability within a

topographically diverse area than in more uniform terrain. Precipitation

and evaporation of moisture are greatly affected by temperature, which

varies directly with altitude. A rise in temperature, that throughincreased

drying could eliminate important plants and animals from a flatland

biotic community over a large area, might affect species distribution

much less dramatically in an altitudinally varied landscape. There a given plant species might have to shift its range only a few hundred feet up slope to stay in a setting of sufficient moisture, and the animals that fed on it could readily follow. Thus, the extent to which climatically induced

environmental change over time might affect the long-term human

settlement pattern—the placement of hunting, gathering, and dwelling

sites over a landscape—depends critically on specific local topographic

variables. Environmentand its changesare manifestly ofgreat importance

to humanecology, and someofthe waysin which they affected prehistoric

Great Basin communities will appear below.

Cultural Chronology and Time Markers

The passage of time is reflected in the tools and other objects people make.

Theearliestknownoccupantsof theGreat Basin fashioned large lanceolate

and leaf-shaped points of flaked stone, which seem to have been used

primarily as tips for heavy thrusting spears. Clovis fluted points,

representing the earliest well-defined and widespread artifact type

knownin North America, havebeen found at several localities in Oregon.

At the Dietz Site, in the Northern Great Basin, a number of fluted points

and the stone flaking debris from their manufacture constitute the most

important Clovis discovery yet made in the region (Figure 2.3). Such

points have not yet been 14C dated in Oregon, but many dates from the

Clovis, Lehner, Murray Springs, and other sites in New Mexico and

Arizona show that Clovis fluted points were in widespread use between

about 1 1,500 and 10,600 BP (Haynes 1980). Closer at hand, Clovis points

from the East Wenatchee Site in Washington have been dated to approximately 1 1,250 BP by their direct association with a volcanic ash of known age (Mehringer 1988; Mehringer and Foit 1990).

The Western Stemmed point complex directly follows Clovis. It has been

1 K: dated between about 1 0,800 and 7500 BPat manysites throughout the

intermontane west, with scattered indications that it might go slightly —20 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Figure 2.3 Clovis fluted points from the Dietz Site, central Oregon.

farther back in time (Willig and Aikens 1988: Table 3). The Windust type,

which belongs to this complex, has been found widely in eastern Oregon.

In size, form and basic technology it appears closely related to the Clovis

type. Remarkably, a point found at Glass Butte in central Oregon appears

to be a perfect example of the Clovis type when viewed from one face, but an excellent example of the Windust type when viewed from the other

face (Mack 1975). The technological similarity, as well as the overlap in —21 —
Archaeology of Oregon

time between the two types, indicates a continuity of cultural tradition

between them (Figure 2.4). Also part of the Western Stemmed complex

is the Lake Mojave type, while some large leaf-shaped points appear to be comparably early.

Figure 2.4 Projectile points from the Early period, Northern Great Basin, Oregon. At

upper left is shown the fluted face and unfluted obverse face of a point from Glass Butte. Note the similarity between the unfluted face of this point and the accompanying

stemmed Windust points. Large leaf-shaped points appear at lower right. —22 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Another series of types marks the period 8000-3000 BP. These points are

smaller, used to tip light javelins or darts that were hurled with the aid of an atlatl, or spear-thrower (Figure 2.5). The Cascade and Northern Sidenotched types often occur together, though the Cascade point first appeared before the Northern Side-notched type. These two types are common throughout the Northwest, but reach their southerly limits approximately at the latitude of the Oregon-Nevada border. Points of the

Elko and Pinto series occupy essentially the same time span. They co- occur in Oregon with the Northern Side-notched and Cascade types, but

continue far to the south as well, being common throughout the deserts

of Nevada and Utah, and extending into southern California.

Small points made for the bow and arrow mark the last 3000 years of

prehistoric time (Figure 2.6). Widespread throughout the western deserts are the Rose Spring, Eastgate, and Desert Side-notched types. Most

commonin eastern Oregon are the Rose Spring and Eastgate types. These

are closely related and grade together, the inclusive category being

termed Rosegate. These types date from approximately 3000 BP down to

historic times. The relatively less common Desert Side-notched type was

probably made from about 1000 BP onward in some parts of the Great

Basin. In Oregon, Desert Side-notched points seem to be very late, and

arrows dating to the historic period are commonly tipped with them.

While other projectile points were also made, the types named here are

the best-defined and most readily recognizable, as well as being the ones

dated with the highest degree of confidence. Since the time spans over which they were made have been established, these types afford the

archaeologist a means of roughly dating human occupation at any

location where they occur. In cases where organic matter datable by the

14C method is absent, they often provide the only evidence for assessing

the age of prehistoric remains. For this reason projectile points are

particularly valuable as archaeological evidence.

Dietz Site

Clovis Paleo-Indian occupation is particularly well-attested at the Dietz

Site, near Wagontire in central Oregon. This is an extensive scatter of

flaked stone artifacts and lithic debris found along the edge of a small dry

lake, in a sub-basin of now-vanished Pluvial Lake Alkali. The artifacts lay

exposed on the surface, though geomorphic research suggests that buried specimens may occur in places. Studies yielded 61 complete and —23 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 2.5 Projectile points from the Middle period, Northern Great Basin, Oregon. Top

row: Cascade willowleaf (2), Black Rock Concave-base (3); Middle row: Humboldt

Lanceolate (2); Northern Side-notched (3); Bottom row: Elko Eared (3), Pinto Indented

base (2).

fragmentary fluted points, 25 blanks, and 25 fluting flakes that are

identifiable with the Govis lithic tradition. Also found were 31 large

stemmed and shouldered Windust-like points, assignable to the somewhat

younger Western Stemmed tradition. Grinding stones were found near some of these latter specimens. Someof the obsidian toolstone came from

Horse Mountain, less than a mile away; the rest was fromyet unidentified —24 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Figure 2.6 Projectile points from the Late period, Northern Great Basin, Oregon. Toprow: Rose Spring (3), Desert Side-notched (2); Middle row: Rose Spring; Bottom row; Eastgate Expanding stem.

sources farther afield. No14Cdates could be obtained at the Dietz Site, but

its early occupation is thought to be as old as 11,500 BP, based on dates

elsewhere for the Clovis culture. The later occupation is dated between

about 10,800 and 7500 BP, based on 14C dates for Western Stemmed

artifacts found at other sites (Fagan 1988; Willig 1988). —25 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Five areas of the Dietz Site were Clovis concentrations, with fluted points,

flute flakes, and biface projectile point blanks broken during fluting

attempts. No stemmed points were found in these places. Twoareas, one

at a slightly higher elevation along the base of the ridge west of the site, and one at the north end of the site, yielded only large stemmed points

and associated flaking debris. Asdescribed by Fagan (1 988:397) "The Clovis tool kit used at the Dietz site included large and small fluted points; biface blanks, knives or preforms;

end scrapers; side scrapers; flute flakes; multiple-tip gravers; single tip gravers, some of which were made from broken points; percussionproduced blade-like flakes and flake tools; possible wedges;

hammerstones; and abrasive stones. In addition, based on the debitage

it is suspected that batons of wood, antler, bone, or ivory were used for percussion flaking." The tool kit of the Western Stemmed tradition

shared bifacial blanks, preforms, knives, and biface thinning flakes with

Clovis, butalso included manos, metates, gravers, spokeshaves, scrapers, and crescents, which were not found associated with Clovis artifacts at the Dietz Site.

In sum, the Clovis and Western Stemmed assemblages from the Dietz site are very similar but not identical (Figure 2.7). Evidence from other Great

Basin sites suggests that the Clovis culture probably gave rise to the later Western Stemmed pattern, although some controversy remains on the

point. Fagan (1988) believes that two different groups of people are represented, the Clovis folk being more narrowly focused on a hunting

lifeway than were the Western Stemmed folk. Willig(1988) on the other

hand stresses continuity between the Clovis and Western Stemmed

cultures, believing that together they represent sequent stages of a developing broad-spectrum hunting-gathering "Paleo-Archaic"

adaptation that was the basis of later Great Basin desert culture. Fort Rock Cave

A pioneering glimpse of this Great Basin culture came from 1938

excavations in Fort Rock Cave, located some 50 miles west of the Dietz

Site (Cressman, Williams, and Krieger 1940; Cressman et al. 1942). Fort Rock Cave is important in the history of archaeology because, in yielding a large trove of well-preserved sagebrush-bark sandals from beneath an

ancient layer of volcanic ash, it indicated the high antiquity of Great Basin

culture. Later research confirmed that this ash was chemically identical

to that thrown into the atmosphere 7000 years ago by the cataclysmic

outburst of Mount Mazama. This hugeeruption formed the great caldera — 26 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Figure 2.7 Paleo-Indian stone tools from the Dietz Site. now known as Crater Lake in the southern Oregon Cascades. Settling to earth over a vast area of the Northwest, Mazama ash was preserved in many geological deposits as an easily-recognized bed of clean, white

sediment. It is widely used by archaeologists today as a time horizon

marker, when they find it in prehistoric sites.

In 1951, shortly after the development of the 14C dating technique, a sandal of Fort Rock type was directly dated at 9000 BP. Further work at Fort Rock Cave in 1966 and 1967 produced yet earlier dates. Deposits not

reached during the previous excavations, because they lay beneath large

rocks fallen from the cave ceiling, yielded four 14Cdates whichgrew in age

with increasing depth: 4450, 8550, 10,200, and 13,200 years BP (Bedwell

1973). The earliest date was assayed on flecks of charcoal from blackstained earth thought to represent an ancient firehearth. This earth lay on

top of gravels rounded by the wave action of now-vanished Pluvial Lake

Fort Rock, which near the end of Pleistocene times stood at the elevation —27 —
Archaeology of Oregon

of the cave. At or near the level of the oldest ,4C date were found two

projectile points, a fragment of a milling stone, and a handful of small

chipped stone cutting and scraping tools (Figure 2.8). Direct association

between the artifacts and dated charcoal is not fully documented, but at the least it seems clear that the specimens are bracketed between 13,200

Figure 2.8 Early assemblage from above lake gravels at Fort Rock Cave. The projectile point at top right appears to be a much-resharpened Lake Mohave specimen. —28 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

and 10,200 BP. One of the points, a Lake Mohave-like specimen, is broadly assignable to the Western Stemmed complex mentioned above,

elsewhere dated by many UC determinations to the interval 10,800-7500 BP. Fossil Lake

Skeletal remains of a camel found at Fossil Lake, east of Fort Rock, may

represent an early Paleo-Indian kill site. A stone flake, a biface fragment,

and the broken pieces of a large projectile point were found very near the

bones. A 14C date on camel bone was 9965 BP. Because the finds were all fromthe surface, it is not certain that the bones and artifacts are of the same

age, but the typology of the projectile point—a large lanceolate—is congruent with such an age assignment (Minor and Spencer 1977).

Buffalo Flat

Two early sites on Buffalo Flat, south of Fossil Lake, tell a surprising tale with remarkable clarity. Excavations at 35LK1881 revealed a shallow pit

roughly 6 by 10 feet across, which contained abundant charcoal of

sagebrush and shadscale. Among some 14,000 bones or fragments,

nearly 1 0,000 wereidentifiable to somelevel of specificity. Mostspecimens were of jackrabbit, a few were of cottontail, and the bulk of the less specifically identifiable fragments were assignable to the Leporidae,

which includes both jackrabbits and cottontails. A few lithic flakes and

the base of a stemmed point accompanied the bones. Four 14C dates were

9,120, 8950, 8800, and 8080 BP. Less than a half mile away, at 35LK2076, was found a group of four

smaller but otherwise similar beds of rabbit bone. With these were

associated three Great Basin Stemmed points, a broad-necked point, and

a number of flakes. An age very close to that of LK1881 was obtained,

based on 14C dates of 8,870 and 8780 BP. The association of rabbit bones

with points conventionally thought—because of their large size—to have

been used for large game is striking. Undoubtedly the large points were

used as butchering tools rather than projectile tips on this occasion.

The superabundance of bones and charcoal at these sites makes it clear that the rabbits were taken en masse in drives, and processed on the spot.

Drive hunting was the pre-eminent method by which Great Basin people

took rabbits in ethnohistoric times, and the evidence from Buffalo Flat demonstrates unambiguously that rabbit drives were already an

established practice by about 9000 years ago (Oetting 1993). —29 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Connley Caves

A quite detailed record of early and later postglacial occupation came

from the Connley Caves, about 10 miles south of Fort Rock (Bedwell

1973). Excavations in a series of small rockshelters along the base of a bluff found artifacts both above and below a thick layer of volcanic ash. This

ash was identified by petrographic and geochemical methodsas identical

to that found at Crater Lake, the site of the original Mount Mazama

eruption (Randle, Goles, and Kittleman 1970; Kittleman 1973). A series of 14C dates—21 in all—ranged from 11,200 BP to 3140 BP, coming from

levels both below and above the Mazama ash bed.

The local environment changed significantly over the time that people

visited the Connley Caves. Charred wood from campfires built between

11,000 BP and the time of the 7000 BP Mazama ashfall was identified as

pine. Today, the trees that stand before the Connley Caves are juniper, a

species of warmer and drier habitat, while pines occur only at higher

elevations. This vegetative difference is clear evidence that the climate

prior to 7000 BP was somewhat cooler and moister than it is now. Small

mammal and bird remains from the caves reinforce this interpretation.

Bones of the pika, or rock rabbit, which today inhabits the higher, cooler

mountains, were found in the pre-7000 BP levels at the Connley Caves,

but not in later levels. Also consistent with these observations is the fact that the bones of waterbirds were common in the pre-7000 BP deposits,

but missing from later strata. Paulina Marsh, a mile or so south of the

Connley Caves, must have been quite extensive prior to 7000 BP and

probably dryed significantly after that time (Grayson 1979). A long

period of relative aridity ensued, until the area freshened again about

5000 years ago with the increased effective moisture of the Neopluvial.

Stratigraphic analysis of the archaeological specimens showed that

humanoccupationof the Connley Caves was affected by the surrounding

environment. The abundance of specimens beneath the Mazama ash

layer suggests a relatively intense occupation during the cooler, moister

period before 7000 BP. Below the ash layer was found a rich assemblage

of projectile points, knives, scrapers, gravers, and drills of chipped stone. Milling slabs of ground stone, food bonerefuse, and other specimens also

occurred. Similar but fewer specimens indicate lighter occupation above

the ash layer until some time after 5000 BP, when there was again an

increase in the density ofcultural remains. The light occupation, followed

bya later resurgence, seems to match the mid-postglacial period ofaridity

followed byimproved Neopluvial conditions. The latest 14Cdate from the

Connley Caves is 3140 BP; occupation probably continued after this time, —30 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

but precise dates could not be determined because the uppermost

deposits at the site had been mined and stirred up by artifact collectors. Nevertheless, RoseSpringand Eastgate projectile points from the disturbed

deposits show that people continued' to visit the site down to late prehistoric times.

Although the archaeological studies at Connley Caves told little of midHoloceneand later times, subsequentresearch hasrevealed muchevidence

of more recenthumanactivity in the Fort Rock Basin, especially following

the onset of Neopluvial conditions about 5000 years ago. At the time of

writinga multi-yearresearch projectof the University ofOregon continues

in the area, studying the long-term pattern of human activity and

settlementin relation to environmental variation and change ( Aikensand

Jenkins 1993). An interim report of the work is offered below.

BigM

The Big M Site lies southeast of the Connley Caves along a channel now

dry, part of a meandering system that in wetter times carried overflow

from Silver Lake on the south, across a stretch of flats and dunes, into

Thorn Lake on the north. When precipitation and runoff were high, the same drainage system created streams and wetlands in Fort Rock Valley,

still farther north (Jenkins 1993a, 1993b). Abundant stone artifacts and

camp rock exposed by wind erosion show that the Big M Site was muchoccupied prehistorically. A sharp boundary along the edge of a small

basin between where artifacts are abundant and where they are absent

shows clearly that the site was occupied at times of high water. Toads,

freshwater snails, water snakes, and fish, attested among the faunal

remains from the site, are further indicators of nearby water at times in the

past. Concentrations of flaked stone and fire-broken rock show the

locations of individual encampments, and excavations in two such places

revealed living floors, firehearths, and other indications of dwelling

structures. The total number of structures once present at the site has not

been determined, but surface indications suggest that there may have

been many. Charcoal from adjacent or superposed living floors yielded

14C dates of 4910, 4905, 4880, 4755, 4550, and 3530 BP. Big M thus gives

strong evidence of occupation during a time of Neopluvial freshening

that is recognized from a number of Great Basin localities.

Fish bones are very well-attested in the archaeological collections from

Big M (Greenspan 1993). Most of the bones are of tui chub, small fishes easily taken during the spring and early summer when they congregate

in shallow, weedywaters. Somebones of sucker werealso identified, and —31 —
Archaeology of Oregon

some of salmonids, most probably trout. The latter specimens were

identified, however, exclusively from distinctive blackened bones that may be fossils from reworked ancient sediments, and not related to the

human occupation. Four pointed fish gorges indicate one of the means

by which fish were taken. Flat, slightly notched stones, probably net

sinkers, suggest another means. The faunal assemblage also yielded

bones of deer-sized and smaller mammals, and some birds. Atlatl dart

points of Northern Side-notched and Elko types no doubt served in taking at least the larger animals.

Another important activity at Big M was the collecting and processing of

seeds (and possibly roots), its prevalence shown by numerous grinding

stone fragments. Indian ricegrass and Great Basin wild rye, which grow

today on the sandy soils around the site, may have done so in the past

(Housley 1993). But a series of soil samples from occupation surfaces,

submitted to flotation analysis, regrettably produced little beyond traces ofjuniper and sagebrush charcoal. The poor survival of organic material

at the site is probably due to its exposed character and considerable age

(Stenholm 1993).

Much flaked obsidian debris, and artifacts including scrapers, knives,

drills, large choppers, and hammerstones, show that tool-making and

other kinds of processing were also important activities. Bone spatulas,

fragments of fired clay smoking pipes, and Olivella shell beads suggest

cultural affinities or exchange relationships with the Klamath country to the west and south. The finding of Olivella shells nearly 200 miles inland

from their Pacific Coast source is a definite clue to long-distance contacts from that direction.

Together, the location and archaeological indicators suggest that the Big

M area was most productive in the summertime, when fish availability

and the ripening of seed plants overlapped. Eggshells from soil flotation samples also suggest springtime food-collecting. It is less clear, however,

whether the site's occupation was limited only to the warm part of the

year, since Great Basin people surely relied heavily on stored foods

collected during the summer to see them through the winter. Even in the

less productive winter season, wetlands settings typically provide the

broadest range of subsistence items available within a relatively small

compass, making them desirable places for winter settlement. Big M

could well have been such a place.

—32 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Carlon Village

A large and apparently quite stable settlement not far from the Big MSite wasCarlonVillage, on the shoreofSilver Lake (Jenkins 1993b). Devastated

by artifact hunters, this site has been little investigated archaeologically.

Nevertheless, surface artifacts and a number of house circles outlined by

large boulders show that Carlon Village was a focal point of human

occupation. Large notched atlatl dart points and small arrowpoints

scattered on the site surface imply repeated visitations over the last 5000

years. Limited test excavations of apparent living floors discovered in erosional cutbanks yielded lfC dates of 2040,1890, and 1780 BP. Lithic

artifacts and charcoal were found on the occupied surfaces.

Flotation analysis of a soil sample from the living floor of latest date

yielded traces of fish bone, mountain mahogany, and sagebrush, along

with charred wood of ponderosa pine. Also recovered were many small,

charred seeds, the identifiable specimens including saltsage, goosefoot,

chenopod, suaeda {wada), grass, sedge, knotweed, and juniper (Stenholm

1993:Table3). Thesebotanical elements reflect the nearby wooded slopes

and immediately adjacent lakebed, and most represent species that were

important native food plants (Housley 1993).

Boulder Village

A surprising find was a very extensive array of approximately 100 stone house rings and many small pits that were probably food caches, located

in upland terrain east of the Big M and Carlon Village sites (Jenkins and

Brashear 1993). Constructed in and along the base of an extensive basalt

flow, the site is called Boulder Village. It is adjacent to a large perennial

pond, and overlooks a vast rocky flat that in spring and early summer

produces a natural crop of sego lily and biscuitroot (Housley 1993). The

area is also primeantelope and deer range. These plants and animals were no doubt the dependable (and highly nutritious) foods that attracted people to the place, and made it worth their while to invest much heavy

labor in building the many house features at the site. Surface collections and limited excavations have produced flaked stone

points ofmostly RoseSpringtypes, suggestinglate prehistoric occupation.

These indications are borne outby 14C dates of 1510, 1300, 1260, 1 170, 900

and 780 BP. Dates of 500, 410, 350, 220, 200, and 190 BP, and one

determination of "modern" age, also suggest a very late prehistoric/

early historic occupation. The latter is supported by the finding of Desert Side-notched points, 40 glass trade beads, an iron knife blade, and a brass —33 —
Archaeology of Oregon

button. Some fragments of Western Stemmed points represent an

extremely old type, but these surely were ancient specimens found

elsewhere and brought to the site by its more recent occupants.

Twokinds of structures are attested at Boulder Village: large house circles madeof heavy boulders, and smaller, less prominent living areas marked

by few or no stones The large boulder circles were numerous, but a

precise count is rendered difficult by the fact that the sitelies in a large lava

flow, boulders from which were used in the constructions; many

indisputable structures were recognizable, but more ambiguous rock

alignments were also present. The less well-marked living areas, which

were much fewer, were indicated primarily by surface concentrations of

lithic flakes and fragments of fire-cracked rock and milling stones. Boulder Village was devastated by artifact collectors, who dug out

essentially all of the clearly identifiable large rock circles. That these were

substantial house structures is shown unambiguously by the black, rich

earth thrown out of them, and by the abundance of lithic flakes, charcoal,

bone fragments, and other debris littering the dirt piles. Because of the

devastation however, it was not possible to date them, or interpret them

further. Tests in a few undisturbed or partially undisturbed structures produced the 14C dates cited above, as well as lithic flakes, projectile

points, knives, scrapers, and other indications of occupation.

Botanical remains in soil samples taken from undisturbed deposits at Boulder Village are highly significant. Rotation samples from a late structure thatisdated by historic tradebeads were rich in seeds, including

saltsage, suaeda, chenopodium, andjuniper. Fragmentsofroots, probably

yampa or biscuitroot, were also present. Samples from this and/or other

structures included much charcoal of juniper, mountain mahogany,

bitterbrush, and sagebrush, all of which grow on the site today. Calcined

mammal and fish bone traces, as well as many charred and uncharred

eggshell fragments, add to the diversity of the flotation assemblage. The

fish were undoubtedly transported rather than caught near the site, considering the fact that the nearby pond is the sink of a small upland

drainage system not connected to regional fish-bearing waters. Both

human diet and the immediate natural setting are graphically reflected

in these finds, which indicate that the occupation took place under biotic conditions indistinguishable from those of today (Stenholm 1993).

Despite the great damage done to Boulder Village, the evidence it gives

of many structures and heavy occupation in an unexpected location is extremely important to broadening the picture of prehistoric land use and settlement pattern in the Fort Rock Basin. Projectile points collected — 34 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

by sampling surveys in the Boulder Village Upland show traces of

occupation from the period 1 1,000-7500 BP onward, with intensified use during the last 3000 to 4000 years. Architectural associations appear,

however, only in quite late prehistoric times. Further research in the

uplands will elucidate these trends, and relate them to developments

within the broader region (Byram 1993; Brashear 1993).

Seven Mile Ridge Cave

Another kind of occupation, probably short-term and intermittent, is known from a small cave on nearby Seven Mile Ridge (Marchesini 1993).

Two 14C dates of 2250 BP and 1060 BP bracket the main culture-bearing

deposits, putting the occupation there within the general time range of

Boulder Village and other sites in the surrounding uplands. Flaked stone

projectile points, scrapers, and drills, and ground stone mano fragments,

gave evidence of hunting and gathering activities at the site. This little cave is of particular importance because its dry deposits preserved

fragments of basketry, sandals, and cordage showing that the Northern

Great Basin textile tradition, previously known in the Fort Rock Basin

only from much earlier deposits at the Fort Rock and Connley Caves,

continued into late prehistoric times as well (cf. Andrews, Adovasio, and

Carlisle 1986).

Far View Butte

A prominent and special place within the Fort Rock Basin is Far View

Butte, which is roughly central to the Fort Rock and Connley caves to the

north, Carlon Village to the south, and the Big Mand Boulder village sites to the east (Paul-Mann 1993). A small, flat-topped butte that rises some

1500 feet above the surrounding terrain, it commands a fine view of the

entire basin and the Cascades beyond — including Mount Scott, a remnant subsidiary cone of prehistoric Mount Mazama, which now

marks the eastern rim of Crater Lake.

Surface survey on Far View Butte recovered projectile points that represent

most of postglacial time. Most numerous were points of the Great Basin

Stemmed type, made between about 11,000 and 7500 BP. Cascade,

Northern Side-notched, and Elko types represent the period roughly

7500-2000 BP, and Rosegates the last 2000 years. The number of points

found was quite small, perhaps because the butte has been a favored

artifact-collecting locality for decades. Those remaining nevertheless

indicate hunting there. The mostlikely game would have been mountain

sheep, which flee to high ground when startled. Wild sheep were —35 —
Archaeology of Oregon

formerly common in the vicinity, and a number of ethnohistoric accounts

from the western United States tell of archers taking up posts on high

ridges or peaks to shoot animals driven up by groups of men, women,

and children combing the slopes below. Such a method would have

worked ideally on Far View Butte. Another evident prehistoric function of Far View Butte is indicated by more than 250 piled stone cairns widely distributed across its top. Thereis unfortunately no way to date these cairns, but heavy lichen growth on

the outer surfaces of the stones indicates that they have been in position

for a long time. A number of small stacked cairns near the southern and

eastern edges of the butte were so placed that they might have served as

visual barriers to the escape of hunted animals. The many larger cairns,

however, which exhibited no alignments suggesting such a mechanical

function, were probably created by young people on spirit quests.

Among most Northwest tribes, children were traditionally sent out to remote places to establish contact with a spirit that would help them in

later life. Some, destined to become doctors or shamans, went on

repeated quests. Before going, they received instruction by their elders in disciplines which would prepare them to receive a spirit helper.

Commonly these disciplines involved fasting and the piling up of stones,

and over time many stone cairns would accumulate in favored localities. Far View Butte was clearly one such place. Far View Butte may also have been a plant-collecting site. In April and

Maythe shallow rocky soil onits top produces anabundanceofbitterroot,

which was an important traditional food of Great Basin and Plateau

peoples (Housley 1993). Native gatherers of the ethnographic period

cleaned the roots they dug up by scraping them with a thumbnail, a knife, or a small stone flake. Many obsidian flakes lie scattered across the top

of the butte, quite possibly because they had been used to scrape the dirty

skin from newly-dug bitterroot, and discarded when the task was done

(Paul-Mann 1993).

Continuing Investigations In the Fort Rock Basin

Much remains to be learned about Fort Rock Basin prehistory. The above

sites, and others yet to be fully investigated, indicate that people were moreor less continuously presentthere—at varyinglevels ofpopulation

over more than 1 1,000 years. More importantly, site-specific evidence is beginning to show concretely how people adapted to environmental

changes over time, by shifting their places of residence and their exploitation of local resources as the distribution of plants and animals was affected by changing climate.

An important realization stemming from recent research is that fishing,

and exploitation of wetlands resources generally, was practiced in the

lowlands of the Fort Rock Basin over thousands of years (Greenspan —36 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

1990a, 1993; Jenkins 1993a, 1993b). Though fishing does not leap to mind

as a major activity of people living in a desert land, in fact it is becoming

clear that fishing was important throughoutthe Great Basin in prehistoric as well as historic times (Greenspan 1985; Janetski and Madsen 1990). To

summarize very briefly the local situation, the bones of tui chubs are known from the Connley Caves in levels 14C-dated between 9800 and

7240 BP, and between 4350 and 3720 BP. Dates for the Big M Site place

fishing there between 4910 and 3530 BP. An occupation feature at Carlon

Village, on the shore of Silver Lake, revealed traces of fish bone associated

with a UC date of 1780 BP. At a site in the Silver Lake Narrows an abundance of bones was found in a firehearth dated to 1400 BP. Fish

bones were also recovered from the Zane Church Site, less than a mile

fromBigM, where 14Cdates of 1290, 1210,and 700 BP havebeen obtained.

Finally, fish remains are also knownfrom upland sites, whichmustreflect transport of preserved fishes from lower elevation waters. Bones from

the Ratz Nest, on an upland slope near Silver Lake, have been 14C-dated

by determinations of 500 and 1 10 BP; and traces from Boulder Village are

of comparable age. Emergingevidence, including thatjust cited, indicates that the Neopluvial return of favorable moisture conditions after about 5000 BP fostered the

growth of an extensive wetlands adaptation in the lower elevations of the Fort Rock Basin. In addition to fishing, the exploitation of waterside

plants and animals became increasingly important. Resources were

sufficiently abundant and concentrated in certain locales to support little villages of substantial houses, as at the Big M Site and Carlon Village.

Uplands settings were occupied only on occasion, as people camped

briefly while hunting and harvesting roots and other natural crops. By

about 1500 years ago, with fluctuating wet and dry cycles bringing

adversity to the low wetlands settings, substantial houses were being

built in the uplands. Boulder Village became a major focus of settlement

at this time, as people concentrated on the opportunities there for digging

and storing roots in quantity. They continued, of course, to exploit the

natural resources of the lowlands at opportunity. This model, proposed on the basis of current data, will be tested and improved by future

research in the area (Jenkins 1993a).

Also important to continuing investigations is the fact that the Fort Rock

Basin lies along a major physiographic and ecological boundary between

the wooded foothills of the Cascades and the sagebrush-grasslands of the

Great Basin. In the 19th century this biogeographic line was also an ethnic

boundary, dividing the Klamath on the west from the Yahooskin Band of Paiutes on the east. Linguistic and ethnohistoric evidence suggests that Paiute people were relatively recent arrivals in this region, and may have

been in competition with the Klamath for land. The movement and

interaction of human groups across this environmental tension zone in prehistory, and how people might have been influenced by climatic

change as lakes and marshes alternately freshened and dried, will be of —37 —
Archaeology of Oregon

much interest to future research (Aikens and Witherspoon 1986; Aikens

and Jenkins 1993).

Paisley Five-Mile Point Caves

Several small caves at Paisley Five-Mile Point, overlooking the eastern shore of Summer Lake, were excavated in the pioneering research

program that included the early discoveries at Fort Rock Cave (Cressman

et al. 1940, 1942). The Paisley caves yielded comparable evidence. Most

importantly, in Cave No. 3, a small excavation revealed a thick layer ofair- deposited Mount Mazama volcanic ash. Beneath it were found a series of

thin strata containing flaked stone artifacts, traces of firehearths, and

faunal remains that included the bones of both horse and camel. Since

horse and camel went extinct at the end of Pleistocene times, the finds

suggest that people were here at a very early date. Regrettably, however,

the reported evidence is not sufficiently detailed to rule out the possibility that these bones were simply leavings in a cardvore den that was later pre- empted by human campers. Further research at the Paisley Caves might

resolve this uncertainty, though prospects for success are dimmed if not

wholly eliminated by the fact that the sites have been dug over for many

years by artifact collectors. Lake Abert

A series of sites near Lake Abert, some 50 miles southeast of the Fort Rock

Basin, also lies along the biogeographic / ethnic divide just discussed. The

local biotic setting is a rich one. West and south of Lake Abert, extensive

bulrush-cattail marshes were supported by the Chewaucan River, which

flows out of the Cascades foothills, through the upper and lower

Chewaucan marshes, and into the closed basin of the lake. The impressive

numberand substantial character ofsitesnear Lake Abert werediscovered

by archaeological studies done in anticipation of a highway construction

project:

Altogether, in the 12 miles of eastern Lake Abert shoreline, there are so far recorded 32 prehistoric sites. Twenty-one of these are village

sites with housepits, five show cultural debris on the surface but

have no visible housepits, and the remaining six are clusters of

petroglyphs [rock engravings] with no visible house depressions.

The number of housepits in the area has reached a staggering 371. Another regularly encountered feature is the stonewalled circular

house, of which there have been counted 51. We have counted 92

boulders with petroglyphs on them, and several with pictographs

[rock paintings] as well (Pettigrew 1980a). In the decade since these original studies, some 280 additional sites of

various kinds have been recorded near Lake Abert. Their chronology

spans the last 11,000 years (Oetting 1989, 1990). A seriation of projectile — 38 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

point assemblages from many sites identified six periods of occupation.

The ages of these periods were determined by 14C dates for projectile

points of the same types at a number of far western sites, including some

around Lake Abert. The resulting chronology, from the Initial Archaic

beginning about 1 1 ,000 BP to the Late Archaic II, ending with the historic period, is portrayed in Table 2.1.

Period Associated Projectile Point Types Age

Late Archaic

(I and II)

II

I Rosegate Series 2000 BP-Historic Rosegate and Elko Series Middle Archaic

(I and II)

II

I Elko Series 4000 BP- 2000 BPElko Series /Gatecliff Split Stem

Early Archaic Northern Side-notched 7000 BP4000 BP

Initial Archaic Great Basin Stemmed 11,000 BP-7000 BP

Table 2.1 The Lake Abert-Chewaucan Marsh cultural chronology (Oetting 1990: Table 3).

In addition to many surface scatters of flaked stone, often associated with

fragmentary grinding stones, over 580 apparent pithouse depressions

and more than 70 rock rings have been recorded in the vicinity of Lake

Abert. Test excavations in some depressions showearthen embankments

around the perimeters and floors with central firehearths. These features

define substantial pithouses closely similar to structures made by the

ethnographic (and prehistoric) Klamath. The observed site pattern is one

of small village aggregations of pithouses in close proximity to marsh,

lake, river, or spring. These are surrounded by a broader, more diffuse array of small, short-term activity sites marked by lithic flake scatters and

ground stone manos, metates, mortars, and pestles.

Initial and Early Archaic sites were very few, and consisted principally of

small lithic scatters. Pithouse villages appeared during the Middle

Archaic, beginning about 4000 BP, butbecamenumerous only during the Late Archaic II, after about 1150 BP. A series of remarkable artifiacts preserved in nearby Chewaucan Cave (Figures 2.14-2.17, 2.19, 2.22) are probably of Late Archaic age, but the site, dug by private collectors, has

not been dated. No historic artifacts were found, but the latest 14C

determinations obtained from the Lake Abert research are 170 and 110

BP, which reach into the 19th century.

Today Lake Abert is an aquatic desert, with mineral-rich waters that support only tiny brine shrimp, fairy shrimp, water fleas, and algae.

However, the abundant archaeological evidence suggests the lake was

moreproductive in the past. It hasbeen speculated thatby late prehistoric

times, the waters had dropped so low as to concentrate toxic minerals at disastrously high levels. With this, the lake biota which had supported

the human population vanished, and people were forced to abandon the —39 —
Archaeology of Oregon

area (Pettigrew 1985). Acompeting idea is that the human abandonment

of Lake Abert in late prehistoric times was not due to environmental

deterioration—springs and the Chewaucan River would in anycase have

given potable water—but rather to aggression by in-migrating Paiute

peoples who drove previous Klamath inhabitants away from the desert

lake and back into their higher, wooded heartland to the west (Oetting

1990).

Aother intriguing possibility is raised by the observation that with severe

desiccation and shrinkage of the lake in the late summer of 1992, aquatic

vegetation and waterbirds not previously commonat Lake Abert quickly

appeared around newly exposed fresh-water springs that normally are drownedby the briny lake (WilliamJ. Cannon, personal communication).

Perhaps the truly productiveperiods fostering humanoccupationaround

Lake Abert were, counter to commonsense intuition, not those times

when lake levels were high, but when they were extremely low!

Here at Lake Abert the question previously raised of how ethnic and

biogeographic boundaries maybe related, appearsin a somewhatdifferent

form. Further study is needed to resolve the problem. On the one hand

the history of Lake Abert, its chemical composition, and its fringing biota,

must be studied in sufficient detail to advance the discussion about

environmental and cultural change from reasonable speculation to demonstrated fact. On the other hand, "aggressiveness" on the part of

Paiute immigrants cannot simply be taken as a given psychological trait, and consideration of more general factors that might have stimulated

territorial expansion is required.

Warner Valley

Warner Valley, east and south of Lake Abert, was another major theater

of prehistoric human activity in the Northern Great Basin. Well-watered

by runoff from the high Warner Mountains to the west, the valley is filled with a chain of lakes and wetlands. In wet years an extensive series of

potholes and sloughs forms among the sand dunes toward its northern

end. On the east rises the abrupt vertical fault scarp of Hart Mountain, a

table land some 3000 feet above the valley floor. Research in this area has

attended closely to the ecological context in establishing an account of

subsistenceand settlement patterns over thousands ofyears (Weide 1974;

Fowler, Hattori and Creger 1989; Cannon et al. 1990).

Onthe floor ofWarnerValley havebeen found deep, rich village deposits,

marsh-edge processing sites, dune field camps, and rock art displays. In

the uplands, rock rings on high overlooks appear to represent both house

circles and hunting blinds; grinding stones and pithouse depressions

near small seasonal lakes mark plant-gathering areas; and lithic scatters and isolated artifacts suggest hunting activities. Rock art is also common;

indeed Hart Mountain is the place of some particularly interesting and —40 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

important rock art research cited in a following section. Regrettably,

heavy pillaging of archaeological sites by private collectors has destroyed

muchof the area's prehistoric data base. In spi te of this damage, however,

it has been possible to suggest a far-reaching interpretive model of

wetlandsand upland occupation that will guide future research. Depicted

graphically in Figure 2.9, this model proposes that: The populations which wintered in the lowland areas surrounding

Warner Lake during the past 7,000 years were using a tethered

subsistence strategy, with the lowland lake basin as the primary

focus of subsistence activity.... A substantial portion of the period

between April and August was spent in the uplands, harvesting

and processing plant materials such as bitterroot (Lomatiwn spp.),

wild onion (Allium spp.) sego lily (Calochortus macrocarpus), camas

(Camassia quamash), wild carrot (Perideridia spp.), ponderosa pine

(Pinus ponderosa), chokecherry (Primus virginiana), wild currant

(Ribes aureum and Ribes cerum), and huckleberry (Vaccinium

mernbranacewn). While in the uplands they also hunted, procured

lithic materials and gathered wood. Recent Harney Valley Paiute,

according to informants (Couture et al. 1986), met with members of neighboring groups in large upland gatherings, where activities included gambling, trading, arranging of marriages, and general

socializing. We would suggest that this pattern may be of long

standing, and thatarchaeological investigation of the sites identified as major upland occupation sites will show additional evidence of these activities (Ricks and Cannon 1989:7, cited in Fowler, Hattori

and Creger 1989; Cannon et al. 1990:179).

Figure 2. 9 Schematic model of prehistoric subsistence and settlement in the Warner

Valley. From Cannon et al. (1990: Figure 2). —41 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Ongoing research in the Warner Valley, including systematic survey,

paleoenvironmental studies, and other work is expected to further

explore and develop the basis of this general model (Fowler, Hattori, and

Creger 1989).

Catlow and Roaring Springs Caves

Eastward beyond the Hart Mountain upland is Catlow Valley, where

Catlow and Roaring Springs caves yielded important inventories that

have long defined the desert culture of the Northern Great Basin.

Excavated in 1937 and 1938, the caves are of central importance to the

history of scientific archaeological investigation in Oregon (Cressman,

Williams, and Krieger 1940; Cressman et ah 1942; also Wilde 1985). Both

are located west of Steens Mountain, about 30 miles apart along the eastern edge of the Catlow Valley. Catlow Cave stands on the highest

beach line of Pluvial Lake Catlow, which occupied the valley during

Pleistocene times. Roaring Springs Cave, named for the rushing flow of

nearby artesian springs, is similarly situated. Both command broad

views of the ancient Iakebed, now sagebrush-grassland spotted here and

there with patches of marsh and small shallow ephemeral lakes or ponds.

The age of human occupation at Catlow and Roaring Springs caves was

never directly established, since they were excavated before the

development of 14C dating. Their ages have since been approximated,

however, by comparing their artifacts to those from other 14C-dated sites. Sandals of sagebrush bark from Catlow Cave include specimens of the Fort Rock type, 14C-dated at Dirty ShameRockshelter (seebelow) between

9500 and 5850 BP. Other sandals compare to specimens dated between

6200 and 2750 BP at Dirty Shame. Some of the basketry is comparable to

textiles that extend into late prehistoric times at Dirty Shame, including

traces of Northern Paiute coiled basketry. A few sherds of Northern

Paiute/Shoshoni pottery were also found on the surface at Catlow Cave.

Most of the same artifact types were found at Roaring Springs Cave,

implying the same period of occupation. But since the earliest sandals

there were of a type dated around 6200 BP at Dirty Shame, a somewhat

later beginning is suggested.

A more specific chronology is provided by a restudy of projectile point

types ana their distributions at the two Catlow Valley caves (Wilde 1985).

Both sites contain the same types, in very similar though not identical

percentages. GreatBasin Stemmed points, very few in number, represent an ancient type, but Northern Side-notched, Elko Eared, Humboldt

Concave Base A, Gatecliff Split stem, and Elko Corner-notched points

place the main earlier occupation between about 7000 and 3000 BP. Later types—Rosegateand Desert Side-notched—were even more numerous. The predominance of Rosegate points suggests that the heaviest

occupations were between about 3000 and 1000 BP, but a number of Desert Side-notched specimens indicate continued visitations up to perhaps 200 BP (Figure 2.10).

42
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

"CYrBP DSN CT RG ELKO GSS HUM NSN GBS

0-200 200-400 •••

400-600 600-800 • 800-1000 • • •••••• ••

1000-1200

1200-1400 ••••

1400-1600 •• •• • 1600-1800

1800-2000 ••

2000-2200 ••••

2200-2400

2400-2600

2600-2800 2800-3000

3000-3200 ••• • • 3200-3400

3600-3800 3800-4000 • •• • 4000-4200

4200-4400

4400-4600

4600-4800 ••

4800-5000 5000-5200

5200-5400 • •• • 5400-5600 • 5600-5800

5800-6000 • • 6000-6200 6200-6400 •• •••

6400-6600

6600-6800

6800-7000 • • •• • 7000-7200 • • 7200-7400

7400-7600 • • 7600-7800 7800-8000 8000-8200 • 8200-8400

8400-8600 • 8600-8800

8800-9000

9000-9200

9200-9400 9400-9600

9600-9800

9800-10,000 > 10,000 •••

DSN= Desert Side-notched; CT= Cottonwood Triangular; RG= Rosegate; ELKO=Elko

Corner-notched, Elko Eared; GSS= Gatecliff Split stem; HUM=Humboldt Concavebase; NSN= Northern Side-notched; GBS= Great Basin Stemmed.

Figure 2.10 Radiocarbon dates on projectile points from far western sites. Based on Wilde

(1985: Figure 4 and Table 22). Each equals one 14C date. —43 —
Archaeology of Oregon

The importance of the cultural remains from the Catlow Valley caves is indicated in the following quotation:

The rich haul of artifacts from the sheltered, dry sites of the

Northern Great Basin, especially Catlow and Roarine Springs

caves, provides one of the clearest reflections yet available of the

ancient DesertCulture lifeway. Items ofclothing included sagebrush

bark sandals and rabbitskin robes. Footwear must have been very

important to a people who were obliged to travel far and often, and

it is the most abundantly attested form of personal clothing. For

gathering, fetching, and carrying there were a variety of twined

baskets, soft bags, and nets. Digging sticks of mountain mahogany

for taking roots and shoots, and manos and metates for breaking

and grinding seeds, were well represented. Atlatls and darts, bows

and arrows, and stone projectile points to arm them, all occur in the

collections, as do numerous cutting and scraping tools of chipped

stone. The hunt provided not only food, but furs, sinews, and bones

used in making clothing, in the hafting of stone tools, in the

fashioning of bow strings, and in the making of awls and other

manufacturing tools. Flaked stone drills and abrading tools of

rough scoriatic basalt further attest the manufacture of wooden

objects such as atlatls, bows and associated gear.

Neither was the assemblage unrelievedly utilitarian. Many of the

baskets from Roaring Springs Cave had been ornamented in geometric patternsbyinlaying fibers of different colors; manyof the

dart shafts and arrow shafts had been painted with rings of red and

blue; a pair of tiny baby's sandals had been given a soft inner lining

of rabbit fur; a piece ofcane had been cutand perforated as a musical

flute; and a perforated Olivella shell from the Pacific coast had

perhaps been strung as a bead. The collection illustrated, in short, not only the day-to-day tasks of the desert lifeway, but also some of

its pleasures (Aikens 1982:147).

The series ofphotos in Figs. 2.1 2-2.22, from variousOregon sites, illustrate the richness of the desert culture inventory.

Locally available game food resources changed over the time Catlow

Cave was occupied, as documented by the faunal assemblage. The bones

of water birds, including pintail, teal, lesser scaup, goose, coot, and avocet were largely limited to the deepest level of the cave deposit. Conversely,

the bones of land mammals, including mountain sheep, bison, and

rodents, were predominantly from the higher levels. This pattern indicates

the local availability of wetland habitat for aquatic animals earlier in the

history of the site, and its diminution as time wenton. Other game species — 44 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

E y^^<ry]

rXTTTTTTTTTrry

p2 J

-1850 BP Tephra / -* D

V^T>>_^ -3250 BP

1 1 meters /

/?... Tephra ///

>£'/ C y

,i / Dikaka Sands J-^">-^ '* / ^ Mazaroa

F

" *= _E-'' D/ Midden tephra ^--"

;_^r^", '~

B

B B*

Deposits of Pluvial Lake Catlow A Figure 2.11 Generalized stratigraphic cross-section of the Skull Creek Dunes Site (Mehringer and Wigand 1986: Figure 5).

Figure 2.12 Woven sandals. Left, specimen of sagebrush bark from Fort Rock Cave; right, specimen of rule from Paisley Five Mile Point Cave. —45 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 2.13 Fragment of tule matting bound together with fiber cordage, from Roaring

Springs Cave.

attested in the faunal assemblage were muledeer, marmot, pika,jackrabbit,

and sagehen. Predators, including coyote, fox, lynx, and owl were also

represented. Except for the pika, a creature of cooler, moister habitats, all these animals are to be found in the Catlow Valley today. Surprising is the absence of pronghorn antelope from the faunal collections, in view of

its present abundance in the region.

46 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

0**

mm

**>'.*. w iff

Figure 2.14 Large rule fiber bag from Chewaucan Cave.

Skull Creek Dunes

Roughly midway between Catlow Cave at the south end of the valley,

and Roaring Springs Cave at the north, are the Skull Creek Dunes (Figure

2.11). Here a large sand sheet formed during middle Holocene times on

the margin of then-dry pluvial Lake Catlow. Excavations showed that a

soil formed after the drying of Lake Catlow, and that dune sand blown

off the exposed lakebed to the west had just begun to accumulate over this

soil when the first known human occupants arrived on the scene. Their —47 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 2.15 Large twined basketry tray from Chewaucan Cave.

encampment left an abundance of obsidian flakes, along with charcoal,

bone fragments, and artifacts that included milling stone fragments,

hammerstones, and cutting/ scraping tools. Projectile points included

Windust, Elko Eared, Elko Corner-notched, Elko Side-notched, and

Humboldt Concave Base A types. Volcanic ash from the eruption of

Mount Mazama fell during the time people were using the site, as shown

by cultural material below, within, and slightly above the ash layer. The

Mazama ash supplies a date for this occupation of about 7000 BP (Wilde

1985; Mehringer and Wigand 1985). —48
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Figure 2.16 Skin bag from Chewaucan Cave.

Sand continued to accumulate, burying this early occupation to a depth

of more than 10 feet before the dune was stabilized during a period of

weathering that formed a distinct soil horizon. A few fragments of Northern Side-notched points and flaked bifaces were found on the

weathered surface. A foot or so higher, in sands accumulated above this

soil, was found a hard-packed living floor on which four firehearths lay

scattered. Charcoal from one of these hearths gave closely congruent 14C

dates of 3315 and 3170 BP. Gatecliff Split stem points were found

associated with the living floor, as were hammerstones and milling stone —49 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 2.17 Badger-head bag from Chewaucan Cave.

fragments. Sand continued to accumulate, burying this occupation as it had the two previous ones, until a weathering episode again stabilized

the dune beneath a strongly developed red soil that caps the Skull Creek

sand sheet today. Within this uppermost soil was found a firehearth that

contained charcoal, obsidian flakes, bone fragments, and carbonized

animal fat. Biotic remains from the hearth included inkweed or wada

seeds, mountain sheep bone, and remains of small mammals, birds, and

fish. Two 14C dates on the hearth were 1900 and 1815 BP. A large surface

site on a sand-covered flat a few hundred feet to the east probably

represents the most recent occupation of the area. —50 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Figure 2.18 Small carrying net from Roaring Springs Cave. The three sites just described—Catlow Cave, Roaring Springs Cave, and

Skull Creek Dunes—are prominentrepresentatives of a hunting-gathering

lifeway practiced in the Catlow Valley over millennia. Catlow and

Roaring Springs caves perhaps served as fall and winter bases for small

groups which at other seasons ranged out to exploit the resources of the

surrounding region. Inethnohistoric times someNorthern Paiute groups

wintered in the valley, and one of the remembered settlements was at Roaring Springs (Blyth 1938). The shelter and adjacency to wetlands

resourcesafforded byCatlow and RoaringSpringscaves might have long

made them attractive for wintertime use, whether by Paiute or earlier —51 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 2.19 Large rabbit net made of plant fibers, from Chewaucan Cave.

peoples. The Skull Creek Dunes were more probably the scene of seasonal hunting and gathering forays, when people came to obtain fish from Skull Creek, zvada seeds from the margin of the old lakebed, and

perhaps the seeds of Indian ricegrass, which flourishes in sandy soils. All of the sites, being near water, would also havebeen favorable localities for stalking large game, and catching or trapping birds and small mammals.

—52 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Figure 2.20 Atlatl from Roaring Springs Cave. Malheur Lake

The region around Malheur Lake, immediately north of Catlow Valley,

has been another major focal point of human activity in the Northern

Great Basin. Occupation there dates to the end of the glacial age, and

ethnohistorically the Malheur region was the home range of the.Wadatika

Northern Paiute. These are the people whose seasonal round was

presented at the beginning of this chapter to exemplify the general Great

Basin hunting-gathering lifeway. Malheur, Mud, and Harney lakes form —53 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 2.21 Bow fragment and parts of arrows from Roaring Springs Cave. Note notched and sinew-wrapped end for attachment of bowstring.

an interconnected system of marsh and open water within a large

structural depression surrounded by the Wagontire Mountains on the

west, the Blue Mountains on the north, and Steens Mountain to the east and south. These upper elevations capture precipitation that is fed into

the lakes via Silver Creek and the Sil vies and Blitzen rivers. The resulting

wetlands have for much of prehistory comprised the biotically richest

locality—and most attractive human habitat—to be found in the region.

The waters have, however, risen and fallen many times with climatic

54
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Figure 2.22 Wooden snares from Chewaucan Cave. These snare parts were originally

found in a skin bag.

vicissitudes, causing habitat changes that undoubtedly affected people's

lifeways.

In fact, high lake levels during the mid-1980s, and the erosion that followed as lake waters receded, exposed many human burials and

thousands of artifacts on the shorelines and islands of the Malheur Lake

system. The archaeological significance of this event is still being

assessed. The human skeletons were systematically reburied, but a great —55 —
Archaeology of Oregon

wealth of archaeological information was lost as artifact seekers swept

into the area and illegally carried away the prehistoric evidence for personal collections or for sale. Reconnaissance surveys have disclosed

a large number of sites, with projectile points, large biface blades, manos,

metates, pestles, mortars, choppers, notched stone net weights, and other

specimens lying exposed on the surface. Housepit depressions were also

observed, as well as human skeletons that were documented and reburied

in place. Projectile points collected for study ranged from Western

Stemmed specimens of the earliest period to Desert Side-notched points

of the latest period. The types found in greatest numbers indicate an

intensification of occupation around the lake beginning about 4000 BP,

and reaching a plateau after about 2000 BP (Oetting 1991). These

revelations assure that future research will add much to the emerging

picture sketched below.

The earliest human occupation so far known for the Malheur region is attested by large stemmed lanceolate points from several locations

around Harney Lake. Specimens of the Windust type have been found

both on modem playa surfaces and at higher elevation on a ridge quite

distant from the lake (Fagan and Sage 1974). A lithic complex that included a point of Lind Coulee type, leaf-shaped points, a flaked stone

crescent, and lithic flakes, has been identified from eroded contexts near an old beach line 14C-dated to 8680 BP (Gehr 1 980). Both the Windust and

Lind Coulee types belong to the general Western Stemmed complex that

is widespread in the intermontane west, and dated between 10,800 and

7,500 BP by some 75 14C dates from various localities (Willig and Aikens

1988: Table 3).

Archaeological survey has identified manylater sites arou nd Harneyand

Malheur lakes, along the Blitzen River, and elsewhere in the region. The

artifacts found include arrowpoints and dart points for hunting, and

milling stones for seed-grinding. Bones from excavated sites show that

prehistoric people hunted land animals as small as rabbits and as large as

bison. They also caught waterbirds and fishes. In all, the accumulating

data suggest more and more that a winter-sedentary/ summer-mobile

way of life like that of the historic Wadatika occupants has existed in the

region for at least the last 4000 years. Brief accounts of several sites will show thestateof our currentknowledge,butfirstitisimportantto outline

the excellent paleoenvironmental record for the region, which makes it possible to explore ecological relationships between human groups and

their natural environment.—56 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Wildhorse and Fish Lakes

Dramatic U-shaped canyons cut by glaciers on Steens Mountain, a few

miles south and east of Malheur Lake, give evidence of ice-age cold in the

region. By 13,000 BP the glaciers were melting back; a

14C-dated sediment

core from Wildhorse Lake, near the mountain crest, shows that the upper

elevations were ice-free by9500BP. Pollen cores fromWildhorse and Fish

lakes show cool, moist early Holocene conditions, followed by a long

span of mid-Holocene time that was on average significantly more arid

than the present. Relatively greater effective moisture returned during

the late Holocene (Mehringer 1985). The period of decreased effective moisture is dated in the upper-elevation Wildhorse Lake core between

about 7000 and 4000 BP, and in the middle-elevation Fish Lake core between roughly 8000 and 5500 BP (Figure 2.23). The two records

strongly reinforce one another, their somewhat differing dates reflecting

the complex relationships amongprecipitation, elevation, and temperature

that jointly determine effective moisture.

Diamond Pond

A record of the last 6000 years at lower elevations is provided by an

unusually detailed sequence from the deep sediments of Diamond Pond,

at the base of Steens Mountain a few miles from Malheur Lake. The

Diamond Pond core shows clearly how general climatic fluctuations

caused local vegetation changes. Even more importantly, it documents

the striking rapidity with which effective moisture levels fluctuated

between wet and dry.

Sedimentary, pollen, and plant macrofossil evidence shows severe aridity

from the beginning of the Diamond Pond record about 6000 years ago

until about 5400 years ago. Then, for a long period between about 5500

and 2000 BP, marshland seems to have generally persisted in the area. A

series of 14C dates for juniper bark, twigs, and seeds from nearby fossil woodrat middens cluster between about 3400 and 2000 BP, documenting

a downward expansion ofjuniper woodland during this interval. Pollen

evidence dated about 2850 years ago shows that even during this generally moist period, however, the climate dried severely enough to replace marshlands with desert greasewood for some years. Quite

possibly briefer droughts occurred as well, too short in duration to have

left readable traces in the Diamond Pond sediments. This is suggested

because a pollen record of unprecedented quality for the time after 2000

years ago at Diamond Pond shows that mereoccurred in quick succession

a dry period, a moist period, a dry period, and a moist period (Table 2.2). —57 —
Archaeology of Oregon

SdV3A dVQNBHVO

O QUO

8 <r 8

o o O o o

O o o o C) o o o o o

CM rO ^r m <X>

o o o

o o o o q. q. — co ro da SdV3A Noauvooiavu

Figure 2.23 Sagebrush /grass pollen ratios for Fish and Wildhorse lakes, Steens Mountain (Mehringer 1985). The prevalence of sagebrush between about 8000 and 4000 BP indicates relative aridity; the prevalence of grasses before and after this interval indicates relatively greater effective moisture. The peaks and valleys in the diagram

reflect short-term climatic fluctuations.

Each of these periods was very short in terms of geological time, but they

certainly would have affected people, for they were of significant length

as compared with an individual human life span. Within the 150 years

or so since the end of the pollen record at Diamond Pond, Malheur Lake

has fluctuated at least three times from high stands to conditions when

the lakebed was almost entirely dry (Wigand 1987; Mehringer and

Wigand 1990).

58 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

300-150 BP GREATER EFFECTIVE Abundant juniper and grass pollen

MOISTURE reflects moister conditions. Numerous

Ceratophyllum fruits indicate deeper, freshened water. Increased Scirpus macrofossils indicate shallower water. 500-300 BP DROUGHT Increased greasewood and saltbush pollen

indicate drought; Ruppia seeds and pollen

and the mollusk Musculium indicate shallow brackish water. 1400-900 BP GREATER EFFECTIVE More numerous grass pollen indicates MOISTURE greater moisture, abundant Potamogeton

indicates deeper water. 2000-1400 BP REDUCED EFFECTIVE Increased sagebrush pollen indicates MOISTURE reduced moisture and re-expanding

sagebrush steppe. More abundant Scirpus

and Rumex macrofossils indicate shallow pond.

4000-2000 BP GREATER EFFECTIVE Abundant juniper and grass pollen, and

MOISTURE juniper seeds reflect extensive juniper

grasslands. Diamond Pond at deepest level 3700 BP. 5400-4000 BP INCREASING EFFECTIVE

MOISTURE

Increasing sagebrush pollen indicates sagebrush expansion into shadscale desert.

Scirpus, Rumex, Ceratophyllum,

Polygonum indicate perennial pond.

6000-5400 BP DROUGHT Greasewood and saltbush pollen

dominant, indicating shadscale desert. Alternating silts and sands lacking aquatic

plant macrofossils and pollen reflect periods of ephemeral ponds. Diamond

Pond water level -17 meters. Table 2.2 Pollen and macrobotanical record from Diamond Pond, showing environmental changes of the last 6000 years (Wigand 1987: 427). The paleoenvironmental evidence shows clearly that prehistoric people

of the Malheur Lake region had to cope time and again with major

changes in their local surroundings. Under such circumstances, the

inherent mobility of a hunting-gathering lifeway was a highly adaptive

characteristic. Whena given locality was hard-hit bydrought, or perhaps

by flooding, a group could simply shift its course of movement through

the annual cycle, going to alternative places where food and water

remained available. Nonew knowledgeor technology would necessarily

have been required to make such adjustments. Given the altitudinal and

geographical variety of the Northern Great Basin environment, there

would always have been productive locations somewhere that could be

exploited according to established ways. Current understanding of the —59 —
Archaeologi/ of Oregon

region's humanecology thus suggests that climatic vicissitudes primarily

affected the settlement pattern rather than the material culture of the

people. Cycles of occupation, abandonment, and re-occupation of various localities must have been commonplace, and indeed alternating

periods of light and heavyusedo seem to be reflected in the evidence from

various archaeological sites. Headquarters Site

The Headquarters Site, which lies on the southern edge of Malheur Lake

beneath the modern administrative complex of the Malheur National

Wildlife Refuge, has produced projectile points of types that span the last 7000 years. The most abundant specimens, however, are of types dated

after about 4000 BP, and probably the site's most intensive occupation has

been since that time. The unusually favorable circumstances of its location

made the Headquarters Site attractive to human occupation over a long

period. Being near the lakeshore yet on the edge of higher ground, and

close to the mouth of the Blitzen River where it entered Malheur Lake, the

site was not only safe from flooding, but placed people at the juncture

between lake-marsh, riverine, and sagebrush-grassland zones and their characteristic resources. A high-volume spring also provided potable

water in quantity (Aikens and Greenspan 1988).

Archaeological studies at the Headquarters Site have been limited to small-scale testing and the monitoring of excavations for recent

construction. The locality is very incompletely known. Although stone

artifacts and the bones of food animals suggest quite intensive occupation,

house structures have not been identified at the site. The fact that a number of human burials were exposed by early construction activities suggests, however, that the site was probably a village center. The bones of tui chubs, suckers, muskrats, and jackrabbits heavily

dominate the faunal assemblages that have been studied. The fish and

muskrats strongly indicate the dietary importance of the lacustrine zone, while the jackrabbits suggest drive hunting in the adjacent sagebrushgrassland. Surprisingly, given the site's location, birds were not common.

Arrow points and other flaked stone tools give evidence of hunting, but no fish hooks or other identifiable fishing tools were found. Nets or

baskets, such as used for fishing in ethnographic times, would not of course have survived in the unprotected site deposits. The processing of

wild seeds, bulbs, and tubers from local plants is indicated by the occurrence of millingstones, handstones, mortars, and pestles.

60 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Squaw Pit Site

On the north shore of Malheur Lake is the Squaw Pit Site, located on

slightly elevated ground near the mouthofa large stream. This important

site has been gravely damaged and looted by artifact collectors, whose

careless digging has effectively destroyed it. Limited archaeological tests have, however, revealed a house floor in one of the circular depressions

that gave the site its name. Apparently this was once a fairly substantial

village settlement. Abundant flaked obsidian, milling stone fragments,

and broken animal bones discarded by the looters show that the site was

intensively occupied. Being in a very favorable location, it was probably

occupied repeatedly over a long span of time. Small arrowpoints place

its period of use roughly within the last 3000 years (Goddard 1974).

Blitzen Marsh and Hogwallow Spring

The Blitzen Marsh Site, on the Blitzen River a few miles south of Malheur

Lake, also exhibited apparent housepit depressions on its surface, and

test excavations gave evidence of floors there as well (Fagan 1974). Nine

14C dates spread between 2350 and 1 70 BP clearly demonstrate repetitive

occupation throughout the late prehistoric period, while the projectile

point assemblage includes types that imply visitations possibly as early as 7000 BP.

Plant food processing at Blitzen Marsh is indicated by the finding of

manos, metates, mortars, and pestles. Manybones of small and mediumsized animals such as muskrats, hares, and birds were recovered from the

excavations. Large animals such as deer were less well-attested. Fish

bones, shellfish remains, and eggshells were also recovered. Projectile

points, knives, scrapers, and other flaked stone tools associated with

hunting and processing were well represented. In all, the combined

evidence of residential architecture and a diverse food supply suggests

quite definitely that the Blitzen Marsh Site was a village during at least its late prehistoric occupation.

The Hogwallow Spring Site, very near by, may have been a nonresidential satellite of the village at Blitzen Marsh. No house remains were found, but a heavy emphasis on fishing and the hunting of small to medium-sized mammalsis attested by the faunal assemblage (Greenspan

1990a). Indeed the unusually high proportion of fish bones at Hogwallow

Spring has fostered the suggestion that it may have been a specialized

seasonal fish camp, like those common among the historic Klamath. Tui

chubs and suckers, the two fishes most commonly found at Hogwallow —61 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Spring and other sites, both spawn in the shallow waters oflake edgesand

streams. During spring and summer they school in great numbers,

making them an important food resource easily taken. Ethnographic

Northern Paiute peoples of Oregon used a variety of equipment in

fishing, including nets, v/eirs, baskets, traps, harpoons, arrows, and

hooks. Poison was also used to stupefy fish, which could thenbe scooped

from the surface. Clear archaeological evidence of such a perishable

fishing technology was not found at Hogwallow Spring, but even in the

absence of fishing tackle the bones tell the essential story.

Dunn Site

Several miles east of Blitzen Marsh, on the northeastern edge of Diamond

Swamp, is the remnant of another prehistoric village (Musil 1990, 1992).

Excavations at the DunnSite revealed a semisubterranean house roughly

13 feet in diameter that exhibited a central firehearth, a shallow storage

pit dug into the floor, and indications of postholes around the edges.

Charcoal from the floor gave a

14C date of 3255 BP. Inconclusive traces nearby suggest the former presence of one more structure, and it is possible that others weredestroyed by road construction which removed

the western portion of the site. A much earlier occupation is suggested

by one Western Stemmed projectile point found beneath the house floor. A later occupation is poorly attested above a layer of cinders, which fell on the site from an eruption at nearby Diamond Craters sometime after 3200BP. These earlier and later finds, though not particularly informative,

do indicate that the site was intermittently attractive to people over a long

period of time.

Artifacts from the housepit included a series of Elko Eared projectile

points; flaked stone bifaces, drills, and scrapers; and fragments of manos,

metates, and pestles. Beads and polished fragments of bone were also

found, as well as shell disk beads. The fill of the storage pit was subjected

to flotation analysis, and found to contain charcoal of pine and sagebrush,

grass stems, juniper seeds, and fish bone fragments, as well as lithic flakes. The hearth fill contained similar materials, and further included eight

seeds of the goosefoot family and one mustard seed; both species were of

dietary importance to ethnographic peoples (Stenholm 1990).

Over 5000 bone specimens, most highly fragmented and some charred, were recovered from the Dunn Site excavations. The remains of

artiodactyls (possibly including deer, elk, antelope, sheep, bison) were mostcommon, followed bybonesofleporids(jackrabbits and cottontails),

small rodents, fish (tui chubs, suckers), and muskrats. Overall, the —62 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

assemblage suggests a generalized hunting pattern, exploiting species of

both aquatic and terrestrial habitats in the site vicinity. Notably, however,

the most numerous specimens also represent the largest kinds of animals,

indicating a first-rank importance for big game hunting. In this respect

the Dunn Site differs from other marshland sites of the area, where fish and smaller animals were relatively better-attested (Greenspan 1990b).

McCoy Creek Site

The nearby McCoy Creek Site affords a final and well-documented

example of sedentary village occupation (Musil 1991, 1992). Located at the narrows between Diamond Swamp and Diamond Valley to the east, the site is quite near the base of Steens Mountain. Excavations in a deep,

rich cultural deposit revealed a complex of two firehearths, two storage

pits, clusters of flaked and ground stone tools, and thin patches of clay.

These features represent two sequent and overlapping house floors, the

edges of which were indistinct. A

14C determination of 1900 BP comes

frombeneath this complex, and features associated with the house floors were dated at 1480, 1340, 1270, 1140, and 990 BP. Another house was discovered close by at a slightly higher level within

the site (Figure 2.24). Its floor was shallow and roughly circular, 12 feet in diameter, defined by dark-stained earth and some small-diameter

burnt posts at places around its edges. Near the center of the floor was a

large firehearth, and shallow pits had been dug toward the walls on either

side. Charred poles and some fragments of grass thatch lay on the floor,

along with scattered flaked and ground stone artifacts. These suggest

that the structure burned while in use. This dwelling closely resembles

in its details the typical winter house of the ethnographic Wadatika

Northern Paiute. A 14C date of 480 BP on charcoal from the floor places

it in very late prehistoric times, congruent with such an identification. Excavations turned up traces of an earlier floor beneath this structure,

and trench profiles elsewhere in the site indicated two additional house

structures. Thus it is evident that McCoy Creek was a site of some

importance in the area, occupied ondifferentoccasionsoveraconsiderable

period.

The artifact assemblage from McCoy Creek was large and diverse. The

main classes included flaked stone projectile points, preforms, drills, scrapers, and cores, as well as ground stone manos, metates, hopper

mortars, and pestles. A ground stone pipe bowl, bonebeads, and a single

bead of dentalium shell were also found. Projectile points were numerous, —63 —
Archaeology of Oregon

«&&>

mjmz

Figure 2.24 Late prehistoric wickiup floor from McCoy Creek (Musil 1992). with 140 classifiable specimens. Most of those associated with the earlier house floors were of the Rosegate category, but a few Elko and Gatecliff

points were also recovered. Associated with the later house were Desert

Side-notched, Cottonwood Triangular, and small pin-stemcorner-notched

points that are reminiscent of types common along the Columbia River.

An unusually rich and varied vertebrate faunal assemblage from McCoy

Creek included nearly 47,000 specimens, of which 18,000 were analyzed

in detail (Greenspan 1991). Bones from the early pre-architectural

occupation were relatively few, but those associated with the earlier and

later house occupations were highly informative. Aquatic animals

included mink, muskrat, ducks, grebes, coot, fishes, and spotted frog. Terrestrial animals included artiodactyls, canids, bobcat, rabbit, hare,

marmot, a variety of small rodents, sage grouse, various perching birds,

and some reptiles. The fauna shows that the people of McCoy Creek —64 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

exploited all the major habitats in their vicinity—marsh, lake, stream,

upland—in obtaining a wide range of animals that provided food as well as skins and bone for household manufactures. Numerous eggshell

fragments indicate that people were at the site in late spring and early

summer, but evidence for other seasons of occupation is not definitive.

It is notable that fish and fur-bearing mammals are most strongly

represented in the occupation dated between about 1500 and 1000 BP,

while large game animals were best-represented in the occupation dated

around 500 BP. This corresponds strikingly with paleoclimatic evidence

from nearby Diamond Pond, which shows that the earlier period was one

ofgenerally greater effective moisture in the area, while the later time was

one of marked drought.

A diverse botanical assemblage was derived by flotation analysis of soil samples from hearths and storage pits in the McCoy Creek house

structures (Stenholm 1991). Charred sagebrush, willow/poplar wood,

andbunchgrass were common, with seeds of goosefootand other species

also well-represented. The firehearth dated to 1270 BP yielded 12 plant

taxa; the bulk of the material was charcoal of sagebrush, with willow/

poplar and grass also represented . Nearly 1 00 charred seeds were mostly

of goosefoot and various grasses, but knotweed, dogbane, and possibly

fleabane were present in trace amounts. A few sweet clover or alfalfa seedsare01dWorldsp>eciesmatmusthavebeenintrudedbybioturbation.

The chenopod seeds were popped open by parching, and the enclosing

glumes of the grass seeds had been removed by threshing. All these seeds

ripen in late summer, and could have been collected in the site vicinity.

The botanist's interpretation of these data is direct and concise:

In sum, the assemblage contains plants useful as fuel (big sage),

construction material (willow, poplar, and mock orange), flooring

and structural material (bluebunch wheatgrass and other

bunchgrasses), cordage (dogbane), and edible material including

the seeds and fruits ofgoosefoot,juniper,bunchgrass, and knotweed

(Stenholm 1991:142).

Lost Dune Site

Perhaps one of the latest documented occupations in the Malheur Lake

vicinity is that from the Lost Dune Site, not far north of Diamond Swamp

(Thomas, Loring, and Goheen 1983). Nearly 200 fragments of Paiute/

Shoshoni pottery were collected from a surface blowout in a sand dune

field. This is a very large collection for the Northern Great Basin, where —65 —
Archaeology of Oregon

pottery is extremely rare. A number of Desert Side-notched arrowpoints,

also comparatively rare in the area, were collected in the same place.

These artifacts suggest a very recent date, probably within the last several

hundred years. Desert Side-notched points and pottery are considerably more prevalent at sites farther south in the Great Basin, and their appearance in Oregon suggests the arrival of Northern Paiute peoples

from that direction in late prehistoric times.

Stinkingwater Mountain

Sites in more distant upland settings are also pertinent to understanding

human occupation patterns in the Malheur region. Archaeological

surveys have documented many small lithic scatters, often with milling stone fragments, in the surrounding mountains. One special locality is Stinkingwater Mountain, northeast of Malheur Lake. Shallow rocky soils extend over many miles there, providing optimum habitat for a variety

of plants with edible roots. In ethnographic times this was an important

root ground for the Wadatika and other Northern Paiute groups, and

modern Paiutes from Burns, WarmSprings, and other places still go there

to dig sego lily, bitterroot, yampa, wild onion, and biscuitroot. A number

of archaeological sites have been recorded, and projectile points and

other artifacts observable on the surface suggest widespread occupation over the last 4500 years or more.

Excavations at Indian GradeSpring, on the western slope ofStinkingwater

Mountain, recovered lithicassemblagesthatindicate generalized huntinggathering and tool-making activities: projectile points, bifaces, scrapers,

drills, knives, spokeshaves, cores, choppers, manos, and metates (Jenkins

and Connolly 1990). Charcoal from several small firehearths and a large

rock-filled roasting pit gave 14C dates of 2840, 2000, 1670, 1440, 1410, 1150,

and 530 BP, suggesting repeated visitations over a long period. No

evidence specifically definitive of root harvesting was found, but stone

tools that suggest woodworking could have been used in making the

digging sticks of tough wood (such as mountain mahogany) that are

essential to root collecting (Kiigemagi 1989). Beyond these indications,

the best clue that Indian Grade Spring may have been a root camp comes

simply from its location in a prime root-digging area. It and many other

sites imply that the rootground onStinkingwater Mountain has continued

to be exploited over thousands of years.

—66
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Steens Mountain

East and south of MalheurLake lies Steens Mountain, already mentioned

in the preceding discussions. An extensive survey project assayed the

archaeology of this dominating highland physiographic feature within

a frame of reference that included the Catlow Valley on the west, Steens

Mountain in the center, and the Alvord Basin on the east (Aikens,

Grayson, and Mehringer 1982). Most previous studies in the Northern

Great Basin had focused on major sites that were apparently long-term

encampments, but archaeological information on lesser but more

numerous short-term occupation sites had not been systematically

developed. A central goal of the Steens Mountain prehistory project was

to locate and study a large sample of human activity sites within the

region as a whole. The hope was to assess how such sites might have

functioned in the annual round of their ancient occupants, and how site use patterns mighthavechanged over time inconcert with environmental

change. Steens project excavations at Skull Creek Dunes, and related data

from Catlow and Roaring Springs caves, have already been described.

Here the survey-based study of land use patterns is the focus of attention.

The paleoenvironmental data discussed earlier from Wildhorse Lake,

Fish Lake, Diamond Pond, and Skull Creek Dunes were also gathered in the context of this Steens program (Figure 2.23, Table 2.2). At the outset

of the Steens project it was speculated that drier conditions may have

fostered a general shift of human populations toward higher, cooler

elevations, and a clustering of settlements around a relatively limited

number of stable and dependable water sources. Conversely, it mayhave

been that during periods of cooler /moister climate, people might have

occupied a greater variety of places, in a more dispersed pattern. More

subtle changes might also have taken place.

Three summers of systematic survey mapped and documented surface

materials in Catlow Valley, on Steens Mountain, and in the Alvord

Desert. Occupied locales ranged from desert marshes on the valley floors

at about4000 feet elevation to upland stopping-places at almost 9,000 feet on Steens Mountain. From sample tracts covering approximately 5% of the total project area, 133 sites were recorded; 106 of these were mapped

and collected, yielding some 146,000 artifacts. Sites consisted of dense

artifact scatters. Many finds were, however, so diffusely scattered as to demand that they not be recorded as sites, but as individual or "off-site" items; nearly 13,000 "off-site" artifacts were individually mapped and

collected. Of the 159,000 artifacts tlius obtained, approximately95% were

unretouched lithic flakes. These flakes, classified into a number of

technological and functional types, included both lithic manufacturing — 67 —
Archaeology of Oregon

debris and use-worn expedient tools. Among the small percentage of

retouched and formally shaped artifacts were nearly 1300 projectile

points, which were used to seriate the observed occupations in terms of

six periods from 10,000 BP to historic times (Beck 1984; Jones 1984).

Statistical analysis showed that no significant change over time could be

documented in the technological and functional types making up the

voluminous flake artifact collection. The important finding was, rather, that effectively all analyzed types persisted in the region throughout the

period of record, essentially the last 10,000 years.

Further analysis, aimed at determining individual site function through

study of the kinds of artifacts found at various locations, led instead to an

initially unwelcome but in fact crucial and far-reaching methodological

realization—that differences in the variety of artifact types seen in individual site collections were due merely to sample size variation.

Detailed quantitative study showedoverwhelminglythat small collections

consistently yielded few artifact types (and those the most common

ones), while progressively larger collections yielded progressively more

types. This of course reflects nothing more than the simple statistical fact that rare types naturally tend to show up mostoften in large samples, and

seldom in small ones. This realization prevented the drawing of what

might otherwise have seemed an obvious conclusion, that small sites with few artifact types were temporary camps or special function sites, while larger sites with more types were general-purpose base camps. In

fact, it became clear that both kinds of sites could have served the same

functions; those with the larger and more diverse artifact assemblages

may simply have been more favorably situated and therefore attracted more visitors (who discarded more artifacts) over the long run (Jones,

Grayson, and Beck 1983).

A special study of one part of the Steens area — the Catlow Uplands,

where the best data were available— resolved the question in part. It showed that the dense concentrations designated as sites were largely

composed of lithic manufacturing debris. They also contained, however,

significant numbers of use-worn flake artifacts of various types. These

observations indicated that lithic flakes were made at the sites for use as

tools, and that some were actually used and discarded there. The more

sparsely scattered "off-site" specimens were, by contrast, predominantly

use-worn tools rather than flaking debris; these areas were clearly zones

of artifact use and discard rather than manufacture (Jones, Beck, and

Grayson 1989).

68 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Further analysis may yet suggest some additional differentiation of

functions among the various site concentrations, but so far it seems clear that in general, sites in the Catlow Uplands were places where activities were both staged (that is, tools were prepared), and carried out (that is, tools were put to use), while off-site areas were places where activities were carried out only. Precisely how the Catlow Uplands may have been

utilized in the annual round of its occupants over the years remains

difficult to specify, because the simple, generalized tools that make up the

archaeological record could have been used for a variety of hunting,

gathering, andprocessing tasks. Whateverthese tasks were, the uniformity

of tool types across all periods suggests that activities did not vary greatly over time. Broadly speaking, the lack of evidence for substantial

architecture at any period implies that occupation was always quite

ephemeral, and probably limited to the warmer seasons of the year. One

dimension along which occupation does seem to have varied, however,

is intensity, as discussed further below.

Changes through time in site frequency and size of site area indicate clear temporal shifts in the aggregation of human populations in the Steens

Mountain region generally (Table 2.3). These shifts may be related to environmental fluctuations in somewhatthe wayoriginally hypothesized.

Site frequencies were low at 10,000-6000 BP, rose at 6000-4000 BP, peaked

at 4000-3000 BP, declined at 3000-2500 BP, and rose again after 2500 BP.

Site area showed contrasting trends. Sites were large at 10,000-6000 BP,

smaller at 6000-4000 BP, larger at 4000-3000 BP, larger still at 3000-2500

BP, and smaller after 2500 BP. The meaningof these changes is not wholly

clear, and there are some minor variations from area to area that are also

difficult to understand, but some speculations may be advanced.

10,000- 6000- 4000- 3000- After 6000 BP 4000 BP 3000 BP 2500 BP 2500 BP

Site Frequencies Low Rose Peaked Declined Rose

Site Sizes Large Smaller Larger Larger Still Smaller Table 2.3 Relationships between site frequency and site size over time in the Catlow

Uplands (Beck 1984: Figure 125). The site location data show quite definitely that between about 10,00 and

6000 BP, people occupied the uplands very little, but returned again and

again to lowland settings associated with lakes, marshes, streams, and

dunes. Thus, sites in such places gradually came to cover large areas. Within this interval, climatic data suggest a relatively moist regime

between about 10,000 and 7500 years ago but a markedly drier regime

thereafter. The reason people were attracted to moist lowlands in the —69 —
Archaeology of Oregon

early period is easy to fathom, but why would they persist in coming to the old sites once drought set in after 7500 BP? On reflection, this is no

mystery either, because even under conditions of general drought,

lowland streams and marshes—the ultimate collection points of runoff

from cooler, moister upland catchments—would tend to remain the best- watered localities available within any given drainage system.

Site distributions show that between about 6000 and 3000 BP, people

ranged out to a greater number of localities. With many more occupied

locations during this period, any given site was used less frequently and

therefore sites in general did not grow as large as they had during the

preceding period. Notably, many of these smaller sites were in upland

settings that had been little occupied earlier. This increasing dispersion

of the human population may reflect an improving moisture regime,

which became quite markedly better after about 5000 years ago. Some

general growth in the regional population may be suggested as well, by

the fact that both site numbers and site areas were relatively large around

3000 BP. The interval 3000-2500 BP was characterized by fewer but larger sites. This is a pattern reminiscent of that seen between 10,000 and 6000 BP,

when people were particularly attracted to moist lowland sites. It is important to observe that this is also the time when villages reflecting

semi-sedentaryoccupation appeared around MalheurLake, immediately

to the north. Following 2500 BP, sites were again more numerous but

smaller. This is a pattern like that of the 6000-3000 BP interval of generally

improving effective moisture. After 2500 BP the climate was fluctuating

at short intervals between increased and decreased effective moisture,

butperhaps the averageeffect of these up-and-down fluctuations wasnot

dissimilar to the average effect of gradual improvement from lower to higher effective moisture during the earlier period. Further analysis will be needed to render a fully satisfying account of these phenomena, but

the Steens data do make it clear in the broadest sense that human patterns

of aggregation and dispersal were affected by climatic fluctuations

throughout Holocene times.

Alvord Desert and Trout Creek Mountains

Other land-use studies have been conducted east of Steens Mountain, in the Alvord Desert and the Trout Creek Mountains beyond (Pettigrew

1984; Pettigrew and Lebow 1989). An interpretation based on this work

suggests an early Paleo-Indian/Pluvial Lakes period (12,000-7000 BP)

during which people clustered largely around the margins of lowland — 70 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

lakesand marshes. ATransitional Archaic period (7000-5000 BP) followed,

during which lakes and marshes dried, human population diminished,

and settlements clustered around limited water sources; during this time

intensive use of the uplands began, and the collecting of seeds and roots became essential to human subsistence. During the Full Archaic (5000

BP-historic times), populations expanded dramatically in both lowlands

and uplands, with the period 4000-2000 BP being one of particularly

favorable environment and successful humanadaptation. This scenario,

though presented within a slightly differing chronological framework,

sketches broad trends quite congruent with those seen in the neighboring

Steens Mountain region.

Dirty Shame Rockshelter

In the Owyhee uplands of extreme southeastern Oregon, Dirty Shame

Rockshelter (Figure 2.25) provides a long record of human occupation

that broadly parallels those from the Connley and Catlow Valley caves, but yields as well a variety of more detailed information ( Aikens, Cole,

and Stuckenrath 1977). There excavations penetrated to a depth of over

15 feet, recovering rich cultural remains from the uppermost six feet or so of dry deposit, and

limited evidencebelow

that level. Twenty-two

14C dates span a period

from 9500 to 365 BP,

but a gap in the dates

between 5850 and 2750

BPindicates thatthe site saw little or no human

occupation during that

3000-year interval. An

occupation reminiscent

of the Windust phase

in the Columbia

Plateau was evidenced

in the earliest levels, but by shortly after 8000 BP

the culture of Dirty

Shame was definitely

ofGreatBasin character

(Hanes 1988).

Fig. 2.25. Dirty Shame

Rockshelter, Malheur

County, Oregon.

^te *>, r.^f

1

1

b ...;-\ 71
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 2.26 Projectile points from Dirty Shame Rockshelter. The specimens are arranged

with earliest types at the bottom, and the latest on top.

Perhaps the most arresting conclusion to come from the Dirty Shame

study is that the general way of life of its occupants, and much of their technology, changed scarcely at all over the entire period of record

(Figures 2.26-2.30). Milling stones for seed processing, and projectile

points, knives and scrapers used in the hunt, were well represented in all occupation levels. Projectile point styles changed over time, and there were minor shifts in the frequency of certain other types, but the same

functional classes of tools were present throughout (Hanes 1988). The

animal bones left in the rockshelter indicate that the occupant/s diet was — 72 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Figure 2.27 Stone drills and gravers from Dirty Shame Rockshelter.

also much the same throughout the site's history. Jackrabbits and

cottontails, marmots, antelope, mule deer, and bighorn sheep were

substantially represented in virtually every level. The plant and animal

remains found in desiccated humanfeces, or coprolites, add to the picture

of a diet composed of locally available species:

The coprolites from Zones I, II, and IV at Dirty Shame Rockshelter

reflect a well balanced vegetable and animal dietary composed

largely of species preferring riverine and riparian habitats. The —73 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 2.28 Flaked stone knives from Dirty Shame Rockshelter.

meatdietof small mammals, antelope, freshwater crayfish, shellfish,

fish, and insects wascomplemented by plant foods which included

sunflower and goosefoot seeds, pricklypear, sego lily, wild onion,

and fruits of the wild rose and cherry. The greater portion was

exploited in the locally restricted moist canyon bottoms while the more extensive dry upland probably contributed pricklypear,

antelope, and lagomorphs (Hall 1977:10).

74
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Figure 2.29 Hafts for stone knives from Catlow Cave. The mountain sheep horn (above)

is hollowed at the broad end for insertion of a stone blade. The two wooden specimens

(below) probably once had fiber or sinew lashings to hold stone blades in the notches.

A quantitative study of plant remains indicates that between roughly

9500 and 7500 years ago, vegetal food harvesting was concentrated on

plants which ripen in the late spring and early summer. Thereafter,

species whichbecome available at various times from late spring through

fall were collected, with some short term fluctuations in emphasis on one

or another part of the gathering season (Sanford 1983: Figure 6). In

general, the implication is that after about 7500 BP people spent the better part of a long summer season harvesting plant foods around Dirty Shame

Rockshelter.

Change over time in the local biotic environment was apparently small,

yet significant. Analysis of plant parts and pollen from the site indicates

that there have been no vegetational changes of ecological significance near the rockshelter since the inception of the record. The plant remains

also suggest that moisture patterns like those of the present

autumn\winter\spring precipitation with occasional summer

thunderstorms—have prevailed throughout (Sanford 1983). On the

other hand, analysis of the site's mammalian fauna indicates a small but

significant shift in local conditions that roughly correlates in time with

climatic trends documented from many other localities all over the west

(Grayson 1977).

75
Archaeology of Oregon

20 40 80 100 cm

A. Frontal view of willow lashings and horizontal supports.

B. Expanded sectional view to show detail of construction.

Figure 2.30 Reconstruction drawing of pole-and-thatch wickiup from Dirty Shame

Rockshelter, based on data from excavation (Willig 1982).

In levels dated before about8000 BP the bones of mammals which occupy

relatively moist habitats, and those of mammals which occupy relatively

dry habitats, were present in roughly equal abundance. After that time,

there was an uneven but cumulatively significant decrease in the

percentage of bones from creatures of moister habitats, and an increase

in the bones of creatures of drier habitats. As noted above, the site provides no record for the period 5850-2750 BP. In levels occupied after 2750 BP an apparent reversal of the previous drying trend appeared, but

76
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

the relative abundances of the two types of mammals never returned to pre-8000 BP levels; the record ends at about 400 BP with the animal

indicators still suggesting a climatic regime drier than that in evidence

prior to 8000 BP. Human occupation at Dirty Shame Rockshelter was clearly affected by

the climatic fluctuations noted. The break in occupation beginning about

5850 BP came at a time of decreasing effective moisture. Apparently, as

the landscape dried, the abundance of natural food resources in the area shrank to a level that made travel there unprofitable. Regular use of the

site resumed after 2750 BP, probably because better environmental

conditions had raised the local food resources to a level of abundance that made the harvest worth coming for. The activities that took place at Dirty Shame Rockshelter before and after the time of abandonment were closely similar, but not identical. Stone

drills, gravers, uniface scrapers, and use-chipped flakes were more commonin the later deposits, suggesting that more woodworking, boneworking, and hide-working chores were carried out at the site than had

been the case earlier. Most importantly, a series of small conical or domed

house structures framed with poles and thatched with native rye grass were attested in the later levels (Figure 2.30). These suggest that people

lived at the site for extended periods during the later occupation. The

plant and animal remains from both the earlier and later periods suggest

that people were at the site for the late summer-early fall harvest. The

houses and other evidence of increased domestic activity during the later period suggest that during this time the site might have served also as a winter encampment. The Owyhee uplands are cold and snowy in the

winter, but the setting of Dirty Shame Rockshelter, in a deep canyon out

of the wind, with a broad southern exposure to catch the winter sun and

ahighrhyolitic cliff to store warmth, makes this a plausible interpretation.

The other change of note at Dirty Shame was the appearance in the post2750 BP levels of small projectile points for use with the bow and arrow.

Points found in the earlier occupation were larger types, for use with the

atlatl and dart, and perhapswith the thrusting spear. Dartpointscontinued

to occur after the break in occupation, suggesting that the atlatl and dart

continued in use to some extenteven after the introduction of the bowand

arrow. In addition to the projectile points themselves, these hunting

weapons were represented at Dirty Shame by wooden dart foreshafts notched for the insertion of a stone point, by arrow shafts and split

feathers for fletching them, and by a fragment of a wooden bow. — 77 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Normally perishable artifacts preserved in the dryness of the rockshelter

deposits included basketry, sandals, and much cordage made of plant

fiber. The textile industry included both soft mats and bags, and more

rigid containers. Sandals of the famous Fort Rock type, as well as other

varieties, were represented by 116 more or less intact specimens and 60

fragments. The cordage was probably used in a variety of ways: in

lashings and ties, carrying and hunting nets, and snares. The broad

importance of textile artifacts to the way of life practiced over thousands

of years at Dirty Shame Rockshelter is concisely summed up by those

who made a detailed analysis of the assemblage:

Indeed, perishables were probably the principal medium for the

transportation of most foodstuffs and other items consumed or used at the site.. ..If one considers the locally available resources, the

general environmental setting, and the pattern of plant /animal

exploitation reflected in the deposits, one must conclude that life at

this site in a very real sense revolved around certain key elements

in perishables technology, notably sandals, baskets, and cordage

(Andrews, Adovasio, and Carlisle 1986: 212).

Continuity in textile manufacturingtechnique is traceable over thousands

of years at Dirty Shame, from the earliest levels where perishables were

found until the end of the prehistoric occupation. This continuity is particularly notable in the twined basketry assemblage, but attested in other elements as well. It clearly places the site within the long-lived

Northern Great Basin textile tradition. During the latest period of

occupation, however, some time after about 1500 BP, there appeared a few specimens made by a distinctive coiling technique of quite different

origins. This late basketry was probably brought by Northern Paiute

peoples, who (as noted above) arebelieved on linguistic andethnohistoric

grounds to haveentered Oregon's Northern GreatBasin region very near

the end of prehistoric times.

Artistic and Symbolic Forms

Petroglyph figures, pecked or incised into the desert varnish on rock

outcrops and boulders, occur by the many thousands in the Northern

Great Basin. Pictograph figures drawn on stones with natural pigments

are also widespread but far fewer, perhaps owing to their perishability.

These rock art forms have been most intensively recorded in Warner

Valley and on the great HartMountainupland to the east; the petroglyphs

that are abundant there span thousands of years and illustrate all the

78
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

major styles knownfor the Great Basin as a whole (Cressman 1937; Loring

and Loring 1983; Cannon and Ricks 1986).

Long Lake is an especially important locality. A distinctive and powerful

style comprised of deeply carved concentric circles, straight and curved

parallel lines, and dots, all tightly integrated into large compositions, is unique to this site (Figure 2.31). An extensive panel of these elements

barely showed above ground because they were located along the base

of an outcrop against which earth had accumulated. Excavation revealed

that some three feet down was an ash-rich layer several inches thick. The

petroglyph panel extended from slightly above the modern ground

surface to slightly below this ashy layer, continuing a few inches more

into underlying clay. Electron microprobe analysis of the ash showed

it to be volcanic ejecta from the 7000 BP eruption of Mount Mazama.

Because the deepest ash was quite pure, only partially reworked and

mixed with earth by erosion, it must have come to rest against the

petroglyph panel soon after it fell, perhaps almost immediately upon

falling.

That this rock art panel at Long Lake is at least as old as the eruption of

Mount Mazama is quite evident. It is perhaps significantly older, since

the lowest carvings were buried in clay that had already accumulated

against the rock before the volcanic ash was laid down. The find is further

remarkable in revealing at this early date a style hitherto unrecognized in the Great Basin. This style, termed Long Lake Carved Abstract, probably

stands at the beginning of an already-established sequence of Great Basin

rock art styles that continues into historic times (Cannon and Ricks 1986).

Other places at Long Lake display numerouspetroglyphs of typical Great

Basin styles, that were made over a long period by many generations of

artists. Some elements were pecked out or incised so long ago that the

lines defining them have weathered to completely match the surface

varnish of the stones on which they were made. Others show much lesser degrees of patination, and some appear quite fresh. In a number of cases, petroglyphs are superimposed over one another.

Petroglyphs mat are moderately to heavily weathered are mostly parallel

lines, grids, meanders, circles, and dots. These belong to the Great Basin

Curvilinear Abstract and Rectilinear Abstract styles that are widely

known in Oregon, Nevada, California, and Utah. These styles are believed to date very roughly between 3000 and 500 BP, but the dates

must be recognized as highly speculative (Heizer and Baumhoff 1962).

Given the demonstrably great age of the Long Lake Carved Abstract style — 79 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 2. 31. Long Lake Carved Abstract rock art panel at Long Lake, Oregon (Cannon

and Ricks 1986).

in Oregon, it would seem that these possibly derivative forms could

extend a good deal farther back in time than previously thought.

The least weathered elements at LongLakecorrespond to the Great Basin

Representational style, including figures of humans, sheep, deer, and

lizards. Some figures certainly created in historic times show people

riding horses. Although it hasbeen said that rock art was not madeby the

late prehistoric and historic Paiute-Shoshoni and their relatives (Heizer

and Baumhoff 1962), numerous horse-and-rider depictions from the

Northern Great Basin show unequivocally that petroglyphs in the

representational style were still being made in historical times, when

Paiute peoples dominated the area (Figure 2.32). —80 —
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

*** *

X $

•#• i

Fig. 2.32. Petroglyphs of Great Basin Curvilinear, Rectilinear, and Representational

styles from Long Lake, Oregon (Cressman 1937: Figs. 26, 27).

Future Research

The above account reflects the current state of archaeological knowledge.

The amountof information nowavailable on the prehistoric cultures is far less than could be desired, and many questions remain. It is easier, on

scant evidence, to describe the similarities between ancient and recent lifeways than to describe the differences. In the sphere of plant and

animal resources, and in the sphere of tools and artifacts used to exploit

those resources, the evidence now in hand is quite eloquent. It speaks of

strong continuity over time in ancient traditions of hunting, gathering,

and manufacturing. Basic tools and tasks did not change greatly in nearly

10,000 years, as concrete artifacts and biotic remains directly attest (Aikens 1978). Less can be said with the same conviction about societal arrangements.

But conclusions are beginning to emerge about social groups, the

distribution of their settlements over the landscape, their relative degree

of sedentism or mobility, and possible changes in these dimensions over

time as environments changed. Current evidence offers important

vignettes: long periods of abandonment at both the Connley Caves and

Dirty Shame Rockshelter were correlated with intervals ofaridity; evidence

of fishing in the Fort Rock, Lake Abert, and Malheur Lake basins

appeared with the Neopluvial freshening of lakes and streams; pithouse —81 —
Archaeology of Oregon

villages emerged at about the same time; and occupation patterns in the

Steens Mountain and other areas fluctuated with time and environmental

change. But much further research will be needed before anything

approaching a full picture of prehistoric human ecology is developed.

The culture-historical question of when Northern Paiute peoples arrived

in theNorthern Great Basin will continue to excite archaeological interest. As alluded to above (see also Chapter 1), linguistic evidence has been

taken to suggest that speakers of Northern Paiute (and the closely related

Shoshoni and Ute languages) expanded their range in late prehistoric

times froma homeland muchfarther south. There are competing theories

about how and why this may have happened, but few doubt that major

displacements did occur. The movement has variously been attributed

to a more effective food-processing strategy on the part of the emigrants

(Bettinger and Baumhoff 1982), to their aggressive, warlike character

(Sutton 1986), and to environmental deterioration that helped these

desert-adapted people to claim territory fromafflicted wetlands-adapted

neighbors ( Aikens and Witherspoon 1986). In the Northern Great Basin,

various archaeological clues point to a long prehistoric occupation of

such wetlands as the Fort Rock, Lake Abert, Warner Valley, and Malheur

Lake basins by people whose lifeway greatly resembled that of the

Klamath. The Northern Paiute, who were in possession at the time of the

first 19th-century historical accounts, seem to have replaced these people

only within the last few hundred years. Future research will add to these

indications or find another explanation of them, and perhapsaliowa clear choice to be made among competing interpretations.

Rock art research is also progressing importantly in the Northern Great

Basin, with an intense focus developing in the Warner Valley - Hart

Mountain area. Although geochemical research has suggested ages in excess of 1 1 ,500 years for rock art of Great Basin type in the MohaveDesert

(Whitley and Dorn 1987), large uncertainties in the analytical method

undermine confidence in the dates. The findings at Long Lake, however,

which place rock art there at least 7000 years ago, are much more secure. Additional work in this area is also likely to bring further insight into the

functions and associations of Great Basin rock art.

Finally, in the Northern Great Basin region as elsewhere, there will be

simple, sheer discovery: further work will unquestionably bring to light

new and provocative facts, that will pose questions not yet conceived.

82
Chapter 2 - Great Basin

Figure 2.33 Father of Oregon Archaeology. Professor Luther S. Cressman (University of Oregon), shown here at Fort Rock in 1970 leading a band of students and colleagues from

the Great Basin Anthropological Conference, initiated the study of Oregon archaeology

in the middle 1930s. Although his most famous work was in the Northern Great Basin, Professor Cressman carried out pioneering research all over Oregon, laying the foundations

of our current understanding during a long and unusually fruitful archaeological career. —83 —
Archaeology of Oregon

—84 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau Chapter 3

Columbia Plateau

Aboriginal life in the Columbia Plateau was shaped by the great river

system that gives the region its name (Figure 3.1). Excavations at The

Dalles of the Columbia River have shown that salmon fishing was

already flourishing there nearly 10,000 years ago; some elements, at least, of the historic way of life were even then in place. The Columbia River

forms the northern boundary of Oregon, except in the farthest northeast. East of the Cascade Range, the Oregon side of the river was occupied by

the Wasco,Tenino, TyghValley, Umatilla, Cayuse, and Nez Perce, whose

salmon-fishing, root-gathering, and hunting way of life typified that of

the Plateau as a whole. Plateau culture also extended deep into central and northeastern Oregon, up the drainages of the Deschutes and John

Day rivers. The lower John Day drainage was used variously by Tenino,

Tygh Valley, Umatilla, Cayuse, and Nez Perce. The lower Deschutes was

used primarily by Tenino and Tygh Valley people. The Molala and

Klamath, whosehomelandslay southalongthe upperDeschutesdrainage

and beyond, spoke languages clearly though distantly related to those of

the Columbia River people, and their river and lake-oriented cultures

shared much with the Plateau. The Northern Paiute peoples who moved

into the Deschutes and upperJohn Dayriver areas during late prehistoric —85
Archaeology of Oregon

Key to Sites

1 - The Dalles. Roadcut Site 2 - Wildcat Canyon, John Day Narrows

3 - Umatilla Rapids 4 - Lower John Day Canyon

5 - Pine Creek

6 - Mitchell Cave

7 - Hall Creek

8 - Pilcher Creek

9 - Stockhoff. Marshmeadow

10 - Lower Deschutes River. Mack Canyon

11 - Sherar's Bridge

12 - Round Butte

13 - Lava Island Rockshelter, Lava Butte

14 - Wickiup Dam. Odell Lake

15 - Bezuksewas Village, Williamson River Bridge

16 - Kawumkan Springs

17 - Pininsula Site 18 - Nightfire Island

Figure 3.1 Map showing site locations in the Columbia Plateau region of Oregon.

and early historic times represent a distinct language and culture that grew out of the Great Basin to the south, and is treated in the previous

chapter. —86 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Ethnographic Life Way

The native occupants of the vast Columbia River system had access to incalculable numbers of salmon, which annually ran up the main stem to spawn in numerous tributary rivers and their feeder streams. The region

around The Dalles, immediately east of the Cascades, was particularly

favored as a fishing ground. There the salmon appeared earliest in the

spring, and the runs included the greatest variety of species. The fish intercepted there, in the first 150 miles or so of spawning runs that carried some of them into headwaters a thousand river miles upstream from the

Pacific, were at their plumpest and most delicious. The Chinook salmon

run has three peaks, in April, July, and September. Sockeye salmon run

in August, and Coho mostly in October. The early runs were welcomed

for immediate consumption and short-term storage. The fall fish were

leaner and less oily, making them the best to dry and preserve for winter

stores (Schalk 1977).

Although the salmon harvest varied in abundance from time to time it never failed, and the wealth it supplied to the native peoples is lyrically

described by the early anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan:

But the crowning advantage of this favored area was found in the

inexhaustible salmon fisheries of the Columbia River, which, at stated seasons, filled the land with super-abundance of food. If the current representations with reference to these fisheries may be

credited, they are unequaled in any part of the earth, in the quantity

and quality of fish annually supplied. They enter this river in

myriads, and penetrate its several branches, even into the mountain

elevations (Morgan 1871: 241-242).

To participate in the salmon harvest, and to obtain the best fish, people came to The Dalles from all over the Plateau. It musthave been a fine sight,

and a scene of great excitement, when diverse people speaking many

languagesgathered thereat theendoflongjourneys filled withanticipation

of the event. When Alexander Ross passed The Dalles during the fall salmon run of 181 1, he saw an estimated 3000 people congregated there. The big river, at The Dalles or other fisheries, was the dominant focus of

economic efforts during spring and summer. Besides salmon there were

lamprey eels, sturgeon, trout, suckers, squawfish, chiselmouth, shiners,

and daces to be had from the rivers. For people whose home territory lay

along the river, the runs gave opportunity not only to accumulate winter

stores, but also to develop wealth through catching and processing

surpluses for trade. Individuals or small family groups from the —87 —
Archaeology of Oregon

hinterlands would come out seasonally to fish for themselves, relying on

the hospitality of relatives married into river communities.

Dip nets and pronged spears were used along narrows and places where

fish ran close to shore; bag nets were set in eddies; gill nets were used with

wooden floats and notched stone sinkers to hold them vertically in open

water; and willow fences or weirs were placed across smaller tributaries

to channel fish into funnel-shaped basketry traps. Farther into the

interior, where streams were smaller, people might use the hookand line,

shoot fish with the bow and arrow, or wade into streams to catch fish by

hand. Where a stream could be dammed, fish might be stupefied by

throwing crushed leaves and roots of a certain toxic wild parsley into the

water, then gathered by hand as they rose to the surface. A labor that went on continuously with the catching was splitting the fish open down the

back and drying them on racks; in this way 25 pounds of fresh fish might

be reduced to three or four pounds for transport and storage. For trade, as Lewisand Clark observed at The Dalles in 1 805, the air-dried fish might

be pounded into a powder using large wooden mortarsand stone pestles,

then packed into large baskets (Lebow et al. 1990: 24-27).

Another central focus in the Columbia Plateau was the gathering of vegetable foods (Hunn 1990). A comprehensive listing of native food

plants from the Plateau portion of north-central Oregon includes nearly

100 varieties, which variously yielded roots, seeds, berries, and herbs

(Lebow et al. 1990: Table 3.3). Plant harvesting was an activity primarily

of women, although men often came along to hunt deer, elk, or other

animals in the same settings. Native crops such as biscuitroot and

bitterroot became available in early spring, and between April and June

parties split off from the riverine fishing camps to dig these "Indian

potatoes" in the often extensive patches of shallow, rocky soil where they

thrive. Roots were obtained with crutch-handled digging sticks of hard

wood, collected in woven bags or baskets, peeled with stone knives, and

sun-dried for winter stores. Camas, yampa, and hyacinth bulbs were dug

somewhat later in the season, from wet meadows at higher elevations.

Camas wasbaked in earth ovens. These were large pits where quantities

of the onion-like bulbs were spread over heated stones, then covered with

earth to cook for two or three days. Baking not only prepared the bulbs

for eating, but greatly reduced their weight and bulk for transport and

storage. Large numbers of people gathered annually at some of the more

favored camas grounds, where collecting parties might remain for several weeks. By September, gathering groups were in the highest

mountain meadows for the huckleberry harvest. With the berries dried

and packed, people descended to the riverine villages for the winter. —88 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Hunting was done primarily in the fall, though to some extent it went on

throughout the year. Along the Columbia, where the fall salmon runs

kept people occupied during the most favorable season for taking large

game, hunting was of lesser significance. Deeper in the hinterlands,

farther from the best salmon streams, the fall hunting season was more

important. Elk, deer, and bear were taken in the wooded Cascades and

Blue Mountains, while antelope and desert sheep were sought in the

lower-lying, more open country between. Small game included

jackrabbits, cottontails, ground squirrels, grouse, and quail, taken at opportunity. Far to the south, waterfowl were of great importance in the

upland lakes and marshes of the Klamath country. Carnivores such as

fox, raccoon, and badger were valued for both meat and furs. A

tabulation of mammals used for food in north-central Oregon includes 5

kinds of lagomorphs, 1 1 kinds of rodents, 7 kinds of carnivores, and 5

kinds of hoofed animals (Lebow et al. 1990:Table 3.4). Thebow and arrow was the principal hunting weapon, used to take game

carefully stalked and shot at close range. Antelope were taken in some

numbers by driving the animals into corrals or surrounds made ofbrush,

then dispatching them with arrows. Jackrabbits were driven into funnelshaped enclosures formed by long nets woven of plant fiber. With the

rabbits inside, the mouth of the funnel was closed off and the trapped

animals killed with wooden clubs. Nets were also strung low across the

water to enmesh waterfowl skimming along the surface of a lake or

stream. Squirrels and other rodents were caught with string snares or

deadfalls. Harvesting and hunting perforce slowed greatly during the winter

season, but did not entirely cease. Winter was a time when people stayed

close to their main settlements, occupied with domestic tasks and the

repair and manufacture of clothing and equipment. It was also a season

for ceremonies and dances, though some went on at other times of the

year as well. Residence patterns throughout the Plateau centered on villages of

substantial houses. Here group members congregated in winter, and

here they stayed between the comings and goings of a more mobile

period from spring through fall. These winter villages were almost

invariably sited along the rivers, both the main stem of the Columbia and

larger tributaries such as the Deschutes and John Day (Ray 1939). In the

Klamath country to the south, villages might be placed on marsh edges

as well as river courses.

89
Archaeology of Oregon

Large gabled cedar-plank longhousesof Northwest Coast type were seen up the Columbia as far as The Dalles during the 19th century. These

buildings housed large communal families. Farther upstream, the

Umatilla and Nez Perce made large communal pole-framed lodges

covered with woven mats. Smaller pithouses sheltering usually two

nuclear families were also made along the Columbia, and throughout the

Plateau as a whole. They were the more ancient form in this region,

traceable deep into prehistoric times. Among the Tenino of the lower

Deschutes andJohn Dayrivers, each family had both a pithouse and a mat

lodge at its winter village. The pithouse was used for sleeping, and the

mat lodge for cooking and everyday matters. In summer the Tenino

dismantled the winter earth lodge and removed themselves to a summer

village, where light mat structures doubled for both residence and the

drying of salmon (Murdock 1980). Among the Klamath farther south,

lightly built mat-covered lodges were made for summer use, while the more substantial pithouses were partially dismantled and left to dry out

after the soggy winter season (Spier 1930). Klamath pithouses were very

similar in architecture to those of the Columbia region (Southard 1970).

During the warm part of the year many families would remain at riverside villages to catch and dry salmon, while others ranged out to root grounds, berrying localities, hunting camps, toolstone quarries, and

sources of tule to be collected for matting. These special-purpose camps,

visited seasonally by small task groups, were returned to year after year, though often a group's destination was a general area rather than a

certain spot. At such places simple lean-tos or small mat-covered tipis

might be erected, or perhaps no structures at all if the stay were to be very

brief. The Blue Mountains and other like regions drew occupation mostly

of this kind. Such hinterlands served as joint-use areas for a number of

different seasonally mobile groups (Zilverberg 1983).

The basic features of Plateau social organization were widely shared.

Communities varied considerably in size, from several hundred people

along the Columbia down to 50 or so in more remote areas. Local groups were everywhere autonomous. In the larger settlements around The

Dalles, social distinctions between a chiefly class, commoners, and slaves wererecognized; elsewhere statusdifferences werenot so sharply drawn.

Throughout the area, kinship was reckoned equally from both mother's

and father's sides. A prohibition on marriage between blood relatives led

people to seek mates from often quite distant localities, and in this way

kinship networks were extended over broad regions.

90
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Trade was extremely important in the Plateau (Wood 1972). During the

annual congregations of hundreds or even thousands of people at the

great fisheries, people bartered local products and manufactures from all over the Plateau, and beyond (Figure 3.2). In pre-horse days, overland

exchange ofbulky items—such as the 90-pound "bricks" of pounded and

dried salmon that Lewis and Clark saw stockpiled at The Dalles in 1805

must have been uncommon. The same is no doubt true of the traffic in bison hides, which in the 19th century were brought back from the Plains

by mounted Plateau peoples. Nevertheless, the far-reaching exchange

network seen historically can hardly have sprung into being during the

few decades between the time that Columbia Plateau peoples acquired

the horse, and the time of Lewis and Clark's observations. Prehistoric

antecedents are clearly implied, as trade would have been a natural

concomitant of people's regular trips to and from the salmon fisheries. A compelling account of intergroup relations between southern Plateau

peoples during the period 1805-1855 is provided by Anastasio (1972).

Though the high degree of interaction that he documents was surely

brought to its peak by the historic adoption of the horse, the discussion

has important implications for prehistory as well. A partial listing of

items exchanged during the 19th century is given in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Items traded among Plateau peoples of the 19th century. (Anastasio 1 972: 120,

136). Source area Items Upper Columbia Camas roots, hazel nuts, huckleberries, beargrass fibers, and western basketry, rule mats, dried berries, hemp, stone artifacts, Plateau freshwater shell ornaments, hemp twine Middle Columbia- Salmon, camas, baskets, hats, Lower Snake freshwater shells Northwest Coast Marine shells, dried salmon, salmon oil, deerskins, wapato

root Great Basin Edible roots, skin lodges, elk and buffalo meat

Klamath River Wocas lily seeds, elk skins, beads, shells, bows

Great Plains Catlinite and catlinite pipes, buffalo skin tents, painted buffalo hide bags, pemmican, buffalo horn and robes, parfleches, dressed moose skins, buffalo bone beads, feather headdresses

—91 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Nespelem j • Columbia/

/I

Spokan ' \

Kalispel \

t:S:r:D Major Trade Center

Minor Trade Center

Figure 3.2 Selected aspects of the Plateau trading system centered on The Dalles. (Wood 1972: Figure 1).

Landscape and Natural Resources

The Plateau way of life was intimately linked to the natural environment.

This provided the resource base for the human population, and thereby

shaped people's daily and yearly cycles of activity. Climatic change, by

affecting precipitation and runoff, also altered the shape of the landscape

and the flora and fauna that could live in a given place.

• —92 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

The Columbia River generally flows in a deep canyon, incised several

hundred feet into the vast lava flows that form the surrounding upland

plains. The canyonisbroad, over a mile wide in places. Humansettlement

is now, and was in the past, concentrated on alluvial terraces or benches

along its sides. These are the remnants of an ancient floodplain, through

which the river has cut to reach its modem level. South of the big river is the Deschutes-Umatilla Plateau. This is a nearly

flat landscape that slopes gradually upward from an elevation of about

300 feet along the Columbia to about 3000 feet along the southern plateau

edge 50 miles or so inland. Much of this is natural grassland, now

converted to domestic cultivation. The Blue Mountains lie behind the

Deschutes-Umatilla Plateau to the south and east. Topographically, this

is the most diverse region in Oregon; elevations range from 300 to over

9000 feet, and landforms include rugged mountains, alluvial basins, deep

canyons, and dissected plateaus. Most of the area is wooded, but large

upland meadows are also common. From east to west the area is drained

by the Umatilla, John Day, and Deschutes rivers, all of which flow into the

Columbia. On the west the Deschutes River drainage links the Columbia

valley to the forested Cascades.

Local climates vary markedly over the Oregon portion of the Columbia

Plateau. Along the Columbia River itself, where elevations do not exceed

a few hundred feet, summers are hot, winters are cold, and precipitation

is very limited the year around. The Deschutes-Umatilla Plateau is also

subject to hot summers and cold winters, but the extremes are not as great

as along the Columbia; precipitation is higher, though the region remains

a dry one. The altitudinally varied Blue Mountains province has

correspondingly varied temperature and moisture regimes. Lower

elevations are moreor less comparable to the Deschutes-Umatilla Plateau,

buthigher elevations are significantly cooler and moister the year around

.

During winter, extensive snow packs accumulate in the mountainous

highlands. The Klamath country is generally an upland plateau, with

warm but not hot summers, and cold, snowy winters.

Time and Environmental Change

The Columbia River and its upper tributaries drain the vast winter snowfields of the Northern Rocky Mountains. During the late glacial age, catastrophic floodsof scarcely conceivable magnitude repeatedlyboomed

down the Columbia. As Lake Missoula in the Montana Rockies

periodically rose high enough to breach the dam of glacial ice which

contained it, it would suddenly release up to 500 cubic miles of water. —93 —
Archaeology of Oregon

These incredible floods eroded the channelled scablands of northeastern

Washington; they backed water up the Snake River for miles above its confluence with the Columbia; and they carried boulders of Rocky

Mountain granite, rafted in chunks of glacial ice, almost to Eugene on a huge surge of water that was driven up the Willamette River from the

Columbia's main channel at Portland (Baldwin 1976).

These events have been variously called the Spokane Flood, the Missoula

Flood, and the Scabland Floods. It is now known that there was not just one event, as some of the popular terms imply, but several. The last such

flood is now dated to some time after 13,000 BP (Hammatt 1977). Silt and

sand deposits perched 500 feet above the historic level of the Snake River

contain cobbles with fresh glacial striations, showing their origin in the

glaciated Rockies. Two 14C dates, one of 14,000 BP and one of 13,000 BP, were obtained from beneath the flood deposits.

These floods have important implications for our understanding of

Plateau prehistory. First, if people lived along the Columbia before 13,000

years ago, their archaeological traces surely have been swept away. And

catastrophic erosion of the river valley left a raw alluvial topography that would have taken centuries to recover as a productive human habitat. A geological sequence for the Lower Snake River in Idaho shows that

sands and silts began accumulating on the old flood surfaces after about

10,000 BP. A period of geological stability followed, between about 8000

BP and 5000 BP. During this interval, volcanic ash from the 7000 BP

eruption of MountMazama fell and was preserved in places as part of the

geological record. Between 5000 and 4000 BP came another erosional

episode, minor in comparison with the late glacial floods, but certainly

significant. This was followed by renewed deposition and then another

period of relative geological stability that began about 2500 BP and has

lasted until the present. Evidence from the Rocky Reach of the Upper

Columbia River suggests a similar sequence of alluvial episodes there,

during which the base level of the river rose and fell (Mierendorf 1983).

Comparable research has not been done along the Oregon stretch of the

Columbia, but geological events there surely paralleled those known

upstream.

Climatic history in the Plateau duringthis sameperiod generally paralleled

the sequence previouslyoutlined for theNorthern Great Basin. Postglacial

warming and drying reached a peak between about 7000 and 4000 BP,

and a moderate reversal of this trend established a climate roughly like that of the present after about 4000 BP.

94
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Cultural Chronology and lime Markers

Differentprojectile point typesmarksequentperiodsin Plateau prehistory.

The diagnostic types and their dates are closely similar to those reported

in the previous chapter for the Northern Great Basin. In some cases the

types are identical, and the same names are used. In other cases, regional

specialists have given different names to highly similar if not completely

identical types; where this has happened, both names are mentioned.

Clovis fluted spear points found near The Dalles (Strong 1969) indicate

human presence about 11,500 BP. Subsequent cultural phases, though

defined for the Lower Snake River region, are broadly applicable to the

Columbia Plateau as a whole (Leonhardy and Rice 1970; Leonhardy

1975). The Windust Phase, 10,000-8,000 BP, is marked by the Windust

point type, and by large lanceolate points. The Cascade Phase, 8,000-4,500

BP, is markedbyCascadeandNorthernSide-notched types. TheTucannon

Phase, 4500-2500 BP, is marked by triangular points with contracting

stems, and triangular points with side notches or corner notches; these

correspond roughly to the Pinto and Elko types of the Great Basin

sequence. Theearlier partofthe Harder Phase, 2500-700 BP, is characterized

by Snake River Corner-notched points, large basal-notched points, and

small basal-notched points. These correspond respectively to the Elko,

Eastgate, and Rose Spring series of the Great Basin sequence. The end of

the sequence is represented by the later part of the Harder Phase, 700-1 00

BP. This period is marked by Columbia Valley Corner-notched and

Wallula Rectangular Stemmed types, which are reminiscent of the Rose

Spring series of the Great Basin. Representative specimens are illustrated in Figures 3.3-3.6. As elsewhere, the sequence of point types for the Columbia Plateau

reflects the history of projectile weapons in the region. The large Clovis

and Windust points were probably used to tip thrusting spears. The

somewhat smaller Cascade, Northern Side-notched, and Snake River

Corner-notched types were used on small, lightjavelinsor darts that were

hurled with the aid of a spear-thrower or atlatl. Very small projectile

points, used with the bowand arrow, are latest in the sequence. They first appeared while dart points were still common, thenbecamethe dominant

form when the atlatl and dart passed out of use.

95 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 3.3 Projectile points of the Early period from the Columbia Plateau region of Oregon. Top row: Windust points; Bottom row: Windust point (left), Cascade

Willowleaf (center); lanceolate (right).

The Dalles Roadcut Site

The Roadcut Site records nearly 10,000 years of human occupation in a

locality that was, by early historic times, the greatest fishery and trading

center in the Northwest. The reach of the Middle Columbia River that —96 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.4 Projectile points of the Early Middle period from the Columbia Plateau

region of Oregon. Top row: Northern Side-notched; Bottom row: Cascade Willowleaf.

was called The Dalles by early French-Canadian voyagers includes the

low, horseshoe-shaped Celilo Falls; a chute of white water below it that Lewis and Clark named the Long Narrows; and the Big Eddy at the

downstream end of the chute. The Roadcut Site is at the head of the Long

Narrows, about five miles upstream from the modern town of The Dalles,

Oregon. The narrows and falls concentrated salmon by the millions, and

offered places from which they could be taken in quantity (Figure 3.7). —97 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 3.5 Projectile points of the Late Middle Period from the Columbia Plateau

region of Oregon. Top row: basal-notched; Middle row: corner-notched; Bottom row:

side-notched and stemmed.

Construction of The Dalles Damduring the 1 950s fostered archaeological

study in the reservoir area (Cressman et al. 1960). Excavations into the

side of a cutbank along the edge of U.S. Highway 30 sampled a deep

deposit rich in cultural remains. The Initial Early specimens fromthebase

of the deposit included a few large lamellar blades of flaked stone, some

flaked stone scrapers, and a few worked bone pieces. —98 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.6 Projectile points of the Late period from the Columbia Plateau region of Oregon.

The Full Early period, UC dated between about 9800 and 7900 BP, is known from a muchgreater array ofevidence. Mostimportantis the great

quantity of salmon vertebrae found (Figure 3.8). Some 125,000 individual

bones werecounted, whichrepresented roughlyhalf theamountobserved

during excavation. A study critically examining whether these bones

actually indicate human fishing, or may have been only a natural

accumulation, leaves little doubt that the collection resulted from human —99 —
Archaeology of Oregon

agency (Butler 1990). Bones of rabbit, beaver, otter, muskrat, marmot,

and badger were also recovered, as well as remains of fox and raptorial

birds. Projectile points included the Windust type and large leaf-shaped

forms. Heavy choppers made on large flakes, ovate biface knives, stone graving tools or burins, pebble net sinkers girdled by incised grooves,

edge-ground cobbles, and worked bone and antler pieces were also part

of the cultural inventory (Figures 3.9, 3.10). The Full Early period at The

Dalles corresponds to the Windust Phase, dated between 10,000 and

8,000 BP. The record of occupation at the Roadcut Site between 7900 and 6100 BP

is scanty, perhaps because this time was represented in the stratigraphic

sequence by tough, cemented earth which made artifact recovery

extremely difficult (D.L. Cole., personal communication). Somechoppers

and scrapers and a few projectile points were retrieved. In deposits 14C

dated after 61 00 BP were projectile points of the Cascade phase, 8000-4500

BP; the Tucannon phase, 4500-2500 BP; and the Harder phase, 2500-100

BP. The specimens collected indicate that human use of the Roadcut Site was more or less continuous throughout the last ten millennia, though the

intensity of occupation may have varied over time (Figures 3.11-3.14).

The record for the last 2500 years was quite rich, with artistic and craft items added to the inventory of utilitarian specimens. Small stone

sculptures, mortars and pestles with carved ornamental designs, carved

bone, nicely shaped charm stones, and ornamental beads of bone and

stone, together illustrate growing social and ceremonial concerns during

the later occupation (Figures 3.15-3.17).

Copper and glass beads, iron knives, hatchets, fish hooks, firearms, and

gunflints from the Roadcut Site signalize the Euro-American incursion.

(Figures 3.18-3.20). The outside contacts were at first indirect. When

Lewis and Clark landed in the October of 1 805 at Wakemap Village—just across the river from the Roadcut Site—they saw in use Euro-American

goods that had previously entered the region via native trade routes. These items had come from sources farther east and farther west; EuroAmerican traders had long been established east of the Rockies, while

Spanish, English, and American sailing ships had been trading along the

Northwest Coast for some time. Foreign objects from these sources

traveled inland through native networks before Euro-Americans were

ever seen in the interior.

— 100
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.7 The Long Narrows at The Dalles of the Columbia River. Wildcat Canyon

A cultural sequence of comparable length was discovered at Wildcat

Canyon, about 30 miles upstream from the Roadcut Site. The site is on the

south bank of the Columbia, several miles above the mouth of the John

Day River. It lies on a terrace at the base of high basalt cliffs, overlooking

the river. Traces of occupation were found over an area several hundred

feet across, and excavations were initiated at several promising spots

(Cole 1968; Dumond and Minor 1983).— 101 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 3.8 Salmon vertebrae from the Roadcut Site at The Dalles. The earliest cultural remains at Wildcat Canyon are of the Philippi Phase,

9000-7500 BP. This phase is cognate with the Full Early period at The

Dalles, and the Windust Phase of the lower Snake. Large lanceolate, leaf- shaped and stemmed points, and large scrapers and knives, indicate

hunting. Occasional milling stones and manos indicate the grinding of

vegetal foods. A few living surfaces have been discovered, but no

structures. The sparse remains suggest that, at this period, Wildcat

Canyon saw only occasional brief visits.

102
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.9 Edge-ground cobbles of the Full Early period from The Dalles. Note

flattened upper edges.

After an apparent hiatus of about 1000 years, the site was again occupied

during the Canyon Phase, 6500-5000 BP. The diagnostic artifacts—most

notably Cascade and Northern Side-notched projectile points

demonstrate an equivalency with the Cascade Phase of the Lower Snake

River sequence. Eight deep, narrow shafts dug into the site by its users were the most interesting features of this occupation. Upon re-excavation

by archaeologists, the shafts filled with water. Perhaps they represent — 103 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 3.10 Grooved pebbles from The Dalles. Possibly used as bolas weights (as shown), but more probably as net sinkers.

ancient wells, originally dug as the flow of nearby Wildcat Creek

diminished with the growing aridity of mid-Holocene times.

After a long period of non-occupation, the heaviest use of the site occurred during the Wildcat Phase. Dated 2500-1000 BP, this is generally

cognate with the Harder Phase. Large corner-notched dart points

dominated early, with smaller arrowpoints appearing later and ultimately

becoming predominant. Clearly it was during this phase that the bow — 104 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.11 Handled maul and grooved maul head from The Dalles. and arrow replaced the more ancient atlatl and dart. Other artifacts include mortars and pestles, milling stones, mauls, flaked stone bifaces,

knives, scrapers, choppers, drills, gravers, and net sinkers. Bone awls and

toggling harpoon heads of both one-piece and composite types were also

represented. In short, the specimens comprise a domestic inventory of

household tools for a variety of tasks. Some relate to food-getting and

preparation, others to the manufacture of leather, wood, and textile items

which were not themselves preserved in the moist deposits of the site (Figures 3.21-3.25). Exotic and artistic items included beads of Dentalium — 105 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 3.12 Notched and girdled stones from The Dalles and Wildcat Canyon.

shell broughtin from the Pacific coast, boneand shell beads and pendants,

and ochre or other pigment stones. People of the Wildcat Phase enjoyed a diverse diet. Fish bones give

evidence of chinook salmon, steelhead trout, bridgelip sucker, largescale

sucker, mountain sucker, chiselmouth, northern squawfish, and

peamouth. This variety suggests that people were exploiting all major

habitats of the river by various angling methods. Freshwater mussel was — 106 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.13 Biconically perforated stones from The Dalles.

collected as well. Deer and bighorn sheep were best represented among

the larger animals, but elk, goat, and bison were also present. Jackrabbit was predominant among the smaller forms, which also included a miscellany ofsmall rodentsandbirds. Vegetal remains were notrecovered,

but the artifact assemblage, as noted above, included a significant number

of pestles and hopper mortars, of types which were used in historic times

to pound the roots of camas and other plants into meal. The traditional

107
Archaeologi/ of Oregon

Figure 3.14 Fish effigy of ground stone from The Dalles.

Figure 3.15 Anthropomorphic stone pipe bowl from The Dalles.

Plateau diet of fish, roots, and game was well established by the time of the Wildcat Phase.

Living floors, charred timbers, and other indicators show that people of

the Wildcat Phase lived in roughly circular houses. These had floors scooped outofthe earth, and timbered superstructures that wereprobably

covered with mats, or with brush and earth. Two housepits had pit walls

lined with basalt slabs. Inside, hearths that were either encircled by stones — 108 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.16 Stone club from The Dalles.

or simply laid on the floor provided heatand light. Pits dug into the floors apparently served as footings for posts supporting the house

superstructure. A reasonably complete floor outline of one such building

suggests that these dwellings were roughly 20 to 25 feet in diameter. The more substantial of these were no doubt semisubterranean earth lodges, or pithouses, of a type which historically served as winter dwellings.

Indications of more lightly built lodges, perhaps of tipi-like construction,

suggest that summer habitations were also made at the site. — 109 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 3.17 Polished jadeite celt from The Dalles.

The remains suggest that year-round village occupation may have been

established at the site during the Wildcat Phase, especially if the remains

are taken to suggest that people moved out of winter earthlodges into

lighter, more airy structures during summer, as was done historically. It is not clear how many households may have comprised the settlement at any one time. But it is evident, from the overlapping of structural remains

in excavated portions of the site, that houses were built and rebuilt in — 110 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.18 Tubular copper beads from the Middle Columbia (historic).

essentially the same places over a considerable period. From a separate

cemetery nearby wererecorded over 80 humanburials,anotherindication

of long-continued occupation.

The Quinton Phase, 1000 BP to historic times, is represented by a shallow,

disturbed component which seems to lack semisubterranean winter

houses; at this period, the site may have been a summer encampment

only. Further, the predominance of a distinctive pin-stem projectile point — 111 —
Archaeology of Oregon

mininullum n< Jfc

•'"'•«?**•** -rs

•-^-*>«

,cr

* n: v v

Figure 3.19 Upper, shell disc beads; middle, glass trade beads; lower, aboriginal

Detitalium and glass trade beads; lower right, abalone pendant.

Figure 3.20 Historic metal artifacts from The Dalles. Left, phoenix buttons; center, Chinese coin; right, military uniform buttons.

— 112 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.21 Large biface knives from Wildcat Canyon.

I

Figure 3.22 Historic fishing at Celilo Falls represents a culmination of the Plateau

fishing pattern (courtesy of Oregon Historical Sociey, #ORH 165990). — 113 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 3.23 Single-bitted graver, double-bitted graver, and scraper of the Philippi Phase from Wildcat Canyon.

type suggests that during this interval the main contacts of the site's occupants seem to have shifted downriver, towards the west, whereas in

all earlier periods they had been oriented upriver, to the east and north.

Umatilla Rapids

At Umatilla Rapids, about 60 miles up the Columbia from the mouth of the John Day, was another long-occupied site. A village with "a great — 114 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.24 Bone harpoon heads of the Harder Phase from Wildcat Canyon. Top,

composite harpoon with valves and armature. Bottom, toggling harpoon; in use it would be armed with a stone point.

Figure 3.25 Bone gaming pieces from the Middle Columbia Alderdale Site.

number of lodges" was noted on the Washington shore of the Columbia

below the two mile-long rapids whenLewis and Garkpassed downstream

in the fall of 1805. When the expedition returned upriver in the spring of

1806, an even larger aggregation, comprising some 50 lodges and an

estimated 700 people, was there awaiting the spring salmon run. A

historic village on the Oregon side, where the Umatilla River enters the

Columbia, preceded the modern town of Umatilla. The modern town is — 115 —
Archaeology of Oregon

the latest in a series of occupations that are traceable deep into prehistoric

times (Schalk 1980).

Archaeological remains occur on both sides of the Umatilla River mouth,

extending along the shore of the Columbia for over a mile, and inland for about a quarter-mile. Deposits containing artifacts, bones, and other

occupational remains, sometimes in dense concentrations, reach depths

of 5 to 10 feet in places. The earliest of these remains were found beneath

a layer of volcanic ash from MountMazama,establishing human presence

there before 7000 BP. But 14C dates place the major occupation between

3600 and 200 BP. Most of these dates come from a deposit in which many

house floors wereidentified, showing that a stable village wasestablished

there. The remains of over 30 houses—surely a fraction of the total contained in the site—havebeen identified. Theearliest structures werepredominantly

circular, with deeply excavated floors and raised benches encircling the

base of the housepit wall. Firehearths were present, and interior storage

pits were common. Houses found stratigraphically above units of this type were also circular, but had floors only shallowly excavated into the

earth, and lacked benches and storage pits. A small rectangular structure from nearby 35UM35, 14C-dated at 2420 BP, shows that this historicallyknown Plateau style house was also quite early in the area. In addition to these house finds were numerous firehearths and storage pits. These

could not be positively related to well-defined house structures, but

nevertheless contribute to an impression of intensive occupation over a long period of time. More deeply buried deposits, which have not been

dated, contain artifacts but apparently no dwelling structures. This

suggests that perhaps the earliest use of the locality was ephemeral, less sedentary than later occupations became.

A cemetery area, from which over 230 burials were identified by the MidColumbia Archaeological Society and the University of Idaho, occurred

not far from the mouth of the Umatilla River. Projectile point types

associated with the burials suggest that this cemetery dates between

about 2500 and 250 BP, making it essentially the same age as the dwelling

remains, and giving additional evidence of the relatively permanent,

sedentary character of the occupation.

The technology of the Umatilla Site inhabitants cannot yet be described

in detail. Excavations by the Mid-Columbia Archaeological Society are

said to have recovered some 36,000 prehistoric items, and other research

has produced additional specimens. Detailed accounts of this wealth of

116
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

material will be of great interest when they appear. At present it can only

be said that the specimens generally resemble those from the later levels of the Roadcut and Wildcat Canyon sites, giving evidence of various

hunting, gathering, food processing, and manufacturing tasks, and

indicating a significant level of aesthetic and ceremonial activity.

Animal bones from the Umatilla Site show that people drew their food

fromboth the river and its hinterlands. Salmon vertebrae attest the fishery

at Umatilla Rapids. Jackrabbitand cottontail could havebeen taken in the near vicinity as well. The bones of deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and antelope

indicate huntingin the uplandsbehind the site. Thisevidenceis illuminated

by ethnographic accounts telling that the Umatilla, as well as their Nez

Perce and Cayuse neighbors, regularly hunted south into the Blue

Mountains, where elk, antelope, and deer were abundant (Ray 1936:150).

Deschutes and John Day Rivers

In addition to the villages along the big river, many important sites are known from the Columbia's major tributaries. The Deschutes River

enters the Columbia immediately above Celilo Falls, and the John Day

comes in only 15 miles farther up. Ascension of the John Day River leads

first south across the Deschutes-Umatilla Plateau, then far to the east into

the rugged Blue Mountains. Ascension of the Deschutes River leads

directly south along the flanksof the CascadeRange, into upperheadwaters

in Crescent and Odell lakes, less man 40 miles from Klamath Marsh.

Prehistoric sites with housepit depressions and other evidence of stable occupation occur at a number of places along the lower reaches of both

rivers, suggesting a pattern of life generally comparable to that on the

Columbia. The upper reaches of both rivers were high-elevation

hinterlands where small and scattered sites are the rule, probably the

hunting and gathering camps of small groups ranging out from village

centers. John Day Narrows

The Narrows of the John Day River, only several miles up this main

tributary from the Columbia confluence, was a prime fishing locality

before water backed up by the John Day Dam drowned the rapids there. Archaeological studies have identified a series of sites along both sides of

the river that are believed to have served as spring/ summer residential

bases, field camps, and activity locations. The Wildcat Canyon site, not

far downstream, probably was one of the winter villages relating to this

117
Archaeology of Oregon

complex. Projectile points found are of types that span a long period, but

the bulk of the occupation is assignable to the time of the Wildcat Phase

and later, that is after 2500 BP (Wilde et al. 1983).

Excavations at the Morris Site, on a terrace just below the Narrows,

yielded no firm evidence of house structures, but hearths and living floors were detected. The economic purposes of the site —probably typical of

others in the vicinity as well—were revealed by much fish bone, many

pestles and fragments of grinding stones, traces of edible roots, and a fragment of charred cake probably madeofbiscuitroot. A 14C date of4935

BP was obtained for the earlier occupation of the site, and a date of 3100

BP wasobtained on the rootcakejust mentioned. Other evidence suggests

occupation until some time after 2000 BP (Schalk 1987).

Lower John Day Canyon

A cultural resource inventory survey of a 160 mile stretch of the lower

John Day River canyon above the Narrows recorded 76 prehistoric sites (Polk 1976). Non-residential locations included rock art panels, rock

alignments, and a number of small pits and cairns found in talus slopes.

It wasspeculated that these talus pits and cairns representburials, though

it is not clear why the pits would be found open if they were burial spots.

Habitation sites included 47 at which housepit depressions were noted,

as well as some rockshelters and open sites. Amongthe major habitation

sites were observed 230 depressions thought to represent pithouses. The

number of probable dwellings identified varied from 1 to 1 7 per site, most

locations having between three and six. These sites await further study,

but the surface evidence clearly indicates a pattern like that along the

Columbia, with stable pithouse villages and a variety of associated

subsidiary activity sites. Pine Creek

Sampling surveys along Pine Creek, which flows into the John Day some

80 miles above its confluence with the Columbia, have recorded 68 sites and a number of isolated finds. Housepit sites were again common. Also

found were various activity loci of other kinds, including rockshelters,

lithic flake scatters, isolated finds of projectile points and grinding stones,

talus pits, cairns, pictographs, and toolstone quarries. Pithouse structures excavated but not yet fully reported have given evidence of living floors and firehearths, and 14C dates between 2500 and 300 BP. A few projectile

points of early type show human presence more than 7500 years ago, but — 118 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

the bulk of the evidence apparently dates to middle and late prehistoric

times (Atherton and Houck 1976; Endzweig 1991).

Indian Canyon 2, on a small tributary to Pine Creek, was a special plant

processing site. Excavations in a culture-bearing deposit about three feet deep collected specimens and fragments of some 110 flat stones with

battered circular facets that were probably hopper mortarbases, and over 50 pestles and manos. In the deepest levels of the excavation, where a UC

date of 1460 BP was obtained, clusters of such milling stones were the

dominant feature. Higher up, in addition to more milling stones, were many clusters of blackened and fire-cracked rocks and charcoal. These

are believed to represent earth ovens. They lay for the most part above the

level from which a

14C date of 1020 BP was obtained, and continued to the

top of the deposit, where a

14C date of 335 BP and the finding of a glass

trade bead indicate late prehistoric and historic period occupation. Plant

food remains werenotrecovered from the excavations, butthe processing

of root crops is indicated by the hopper mortar bases and earth ovens which dominate the site (Mazany 1980).

Pine Creek, with its pithouse sites and various associated activity loci, enters the John Day just at the southern edge of the Deschutes-Umatilla

Plateau. As noted, few sites have been excavated and reported in detail along the lower John Day. Nevertheless, such data as are available show

that a pattern of riverine life, centered on pithouse residential sites, extended upstream from the Columbia about as far as Pine Creek.

Beyond this point, however, as the John Day crosses from the DeschutesUmatilla Plateau into the Blue Mountains, pithouse settlements dwindle

abruptly. It appears that in prehistoric times as now, the highermountains were a hinterland, exploited in brief forays by people whose main

settlements were elsewhere.

Mitchell Cave

One such hinterland site is Mitchell Cave, a small rockshelter on a minor

tributary of the John Day a few miles above Pine Creek. It lies at about

4000 feet elevation on the northern flank of the Ochoco Mountains, in the

transition zone between juniper woodland and ponderosa pine forest. The main intervals of human use are indicated by 14C dates of 1430, 1020,

280, and 140 BP. The principal artifacts were small arrowpoints, point

fragments, and point preforms, along with flakes and informal tools. Some larger, broad-necked points were also recovered. The dominant

activity wasclearly hunting and the processing of meatand hides, though

a mano, a metate, and a pestle suggest some vegetable food processing as — 119 —
Archaeology of Oregon

well. Faunal remains were varied. A number of small creatures including

mice, voles, pocket gophers and squirrels were probably brought in by

coyotes or other predators, but the bonesofartiodactyls such as mule deer

and elk surely represent the quarry of human hunters.

Of particular interest in suggesting the diverse areas from which people came to Mitchell Cave is a geochemical analysis of obsidian artifacts that

identified raw materials from possibly 20 different geologic sources. The

locations of most of these sources remain to be discovered through future

research, but several artifacts were identified with known obsidian flows

50 to 80 or more miles away. Two pieces of obsidian came from

Whitewater Spring to the northeast, in the headwaters of the Sil vies River.

Two came from Glass Mountain, and one from Glass Buttes, both sources

to the south. Finally there was one specimen each from two different sources in the Cascades, to the west and south. Although the known

obsidian flows all lie south of Mitchell Cave, it would be premature to conclude that the site's users came principally from that direction, given

the many unknown sources and the relative lack of obsidian research in the region generally. Further, many small pin stem arrowpoints from the

site suggest contacts to the north, where such points are common.

Further research is clearly needed; for the present, the important and

supportable conclusion is that Mitchell Cave attracted visitors from

manydifferent and quite distant places (Connolly, Jenkins, and Benjamin

1993).

Hall Creek

Farther up the John Day drainage, many small sites have been recorded

in the higher elevations of the Silvies Plateau, which lies along the ragged

divide between Plateau and Great Basin watersheds. These are sparse

lithic scatters that attest only occasional, ephemeral occupation (Reid et

al. 1989). The Hall Creek Site provides a good example. It is a thin, patchy

scatter of flaked stone artifacts thatextends broadly along the flanks of the

stream for well over a half-mile. Test excavations showed the deposit to be generally shallow, but in one locality a cut well over a meter in depth

exposed a stratum of volcanic ash deposited by the 7000 BP eruption of

Mount Mazama, and flaked stone artifacts beneath it. Stone tools found from bottom to top of the excavation at Hall Creek

suggest recurring human occupation from the pre-Mazama period up to

historic times. Dart points and arrowpoints from the site are of types that span the same time range. A detailed analysis of the obsidian cobbles,

cores, flakes, bifacial blanks, and broken projectile points found at Hall — 120 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Creek showed that the site was primarily a quarry/ workshop. Stone

from the local stream gravels was used to refurbish hunting gear, the

hunters replacing their broken or exhausted points with new ones made

on the spot (Reid et al. 1989:146). There was little to indicate any other

kind of activity at the site, except for the finding of a single mortar and

pestle.

Other sites in the vicinity of Hall Creek that were test-excavated or studied from surface remains did not differ greatly in character. Owen's

Spring yielded another quarry /workshop assemblage, and a Pinto point

suggesting occupation as early as 5000 years ago. A locality near Craddock Meadow yielded a similar array of specimens, made from

locally available obsidian cobbles and pebbles. Projectile points collected on the surface were of Great Basin Stemmed, Pinto /Gatecliff, and Rose

Spring/ Eastgate types, which taken together represent mostof postglacial

time.

Pilcher Creek

Beyond the easternmost reach of the John Day watershed, on the edge of

the Grand Ronde valley, Pilcher Creek gives evidence of very early

upland occupation. Excavations there revealed an ancient soil containing

large stemmed and shouldered Windust points and large leaf-shaped

points assignable to the Windust Phase. One of the shouldered points was found with volcanic ash identified as coming from the eruption of

Glacier Peak (in the Washington Cascades) 11,200 years ago. A diverse

assemblageofbifacial knives, scrapers, drills, cores, flakes, hammerstones,

edge-ground cobbles, and soapstone pendants also belonged to this lower component. An upper component contained most of the same

kinds of tools, but large stemmed points were rare; Cascade points were

dominant, and a few corner-notched points werepresent. These artifacts,

and bones of deer- and elk-sized animals, were found in earth that contained mixed volcanic ash from the MountMazama eruption of about

7000 BP (Brauner et al. 1985).

Stockhoff and Marshmeadow

Another important site is the Stockhoff Quarry, in the Grand Ronde

valley near modern LaGrande. Here fine-grained basalt suitable for tool- making is abundant. In addition to great quantities of stone-flaking

debris, the site has yielded specimens broken at various stages of manufacture, from cores and initial rough-outs to nearly finished

artifacts. The quarry saw its greatest use between about 8000 and 4000 — 121 —
Archaeology of Oregon

years ago, as shown by the finding of specimens there beneath volcanic

ash from the Mount Mazama eruption, by 14C dates of 7660 BP and 5750

BP, and by large lanceolate and side-notched projectile points. Other

traces indicate continuing activity since then. The adjacent MarshmeadowSite has 14Cdates of 1 0,700 BP, 6100 BP, 3410

BP, 2260 BP, 690 BP, and 480 BP, along with artifacts of types that together

span all of Holocene time. The meadow near the site currently supports camas lilies in abundance. The artifacts from the site give evidence of tool manufacturing and the repair and discard of damaged hunting tools. Milling stones and pestles indicate vegetal food processing. Fire-cracked

rock and charred bulbs dated after about 3400 BP indicate camas

processing, and the bones of mountain sheep, pronghorn, and bison

directly document hunting during this time (Womack 1977; McPherson

etal.1981).

Lower Deschutes River

Back on the lower reaches of the Deschutes River, the archaeological

evidence is quite similar to that from the lower John Day. An inventory

survey of the 100 miles or so of riverbank between Warm Springs Bridge

and the Columbia located 135 prehistoric sites. Among them were rock

art panels, rock piles, and excavated pits in talus slopes (Hibbs et al . 1 976)

.

The investigators suggest that the talus pits may have been hunting

blinds, since they tended to be near the junctures of major game trails. Midden concentrations made up of freshwater mussel shell were found

at a number of locations. Lithic quarry and workshop sites, rockshelters,

open surface scatters of artifacts, and village sites with well-marked

housepit depressions were also found. Two villages showed some 30

housepit depressions each; 25 other sites contained from one to six definite depressions, and 10 more sites were identified as probable

pithouse villages. The best-known among all these sites is that at Mack

Canyon.

Mack Canyon

About 20 miles above the Deschutes' confluence with the Columbia is the

Mack Canyon Site, where 29 housepit depressions have been mapped

along an alluvial terrace overlooking the stream (Cole 1967, 1969).

Excavations in three of these depressions suggest the nature and age of

occupation there. House pits 1 and 3, most extensively dug, represented

shallow circular pithouses essentially identical to those known along the

Columbia. The housepit floors measured roughly 20 feet and 15 feet in — 122 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

diameter respectively, and were made with a more deeply excavated

central area, encircled by a less deeply excavated bench. In the depressed

central area were found the remains of fires, and such domestic tools as hopper mortars, pestles, milling stones, pounding stones, flaked stone

cutting and scraping tools, and projectile points. Some artifacts were also

found scattered on the upper benches. No doubt these concentrations

reflect use of the central portion of the floor as the main domestic activity area, while the raised bench around it probably served for sleeping and

storage.

Over 1000 pieces of bone were excavated at Mack Canyon. Most were so broken up that the species represented could not be determined, but the

identifiable specimens were of deer, elk, bighorn sheep, jackrabbit,

cottontail, beaver, coyote, and bobcat. Rare fish bones and fragments of

freshwater mussel shell also indicated the taking of aquatic fauna.

The artifact inventory from Mack Canyon was quite large and varied.

Projectile points belonged to the Snake River Corner-notched, Columbia

ValleyCorner-notched, and Wallula RectangularStemmed types defined

for the late HarderPhaseof the southern Plateau region. Correspondingly,

they closely resemble those of the Wildcat Phase from the mouth of the

John Day. Other flaked stone specimens were scrapers, knives, drills, and

gravers. Food-grinding implements included hopper mortars, pestles,

and milling slabs. Bone awls, bone beads, and a fragment of a composite

harpoon were also recovered. A 14Cdetermination of 1900 BP on charcoal

from the floor of House Pit 1 , and a date of 700 BP from the floor of House

Pit 3, are congruent with the Harder Phase age indicated by the projectile

point types.

Sherar's Bridge

Upstream from Mack Canyon is Sherar's Bridge, which crosses a stretch of the Deschutes River where the stream rapidly descends a long, rocky

chute that evokes in miniature The Dalles of the Columbia. This is currently an important summer fishing area for native people, where

platforms are erected along the edges of the channel just as they were at The Dalles before the damwasbuilt there. Several archaeological sites are known in the vicinity of Sherar's Bridge, manifested by surface scatters of lithic flakes, cores, choppers, and the shell of river mussels. In the

absence of detailed archaeological study, the antiquity and character of

these sites is uncertain; they surely contain, however, valuable records

that carry the contemporary use of this important fishing stationback into

prehistoric times. — 123 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Round Butte

Farther up the Deschutes, occupation beginning in quite early times is documented at rockshelter sites near Round Butte. A

14C date of 7990 BP

was obtained from beneath a layer of volcanic ash in Three Sheep Shelter,

where leaf-shaped projectile points and other flaked stone artifacts were

recovered . Another rockshelter (35JE1 ) produced a

14C date of 2675 BP in association with flakes and projectile point fragments. A third (35JE2)

yielded a

14C date of 2650 BP in association with lithic cores and flakes, a hand grinding stone, and bone tools including a needle, some awls, and

six fish hooks. From overlying levels came dart points, small arrow

points, and an arrowshaft, amongother specimens. Hopper mortarbases

and pestles, fresh-water mussel shell, and fish bones are also reported

from these and other sites in the vicinity. The finds are sufficient to establish long human use of the riverine setting, but much research is still needed to give a fuller picture of cultural patterns there (Ross 1963).

Lava Island Rockshelter

Near the modern city of Bend, Lava Island Rockshelter yielded a cache

of projectile points made of obsidian that trace element analysis shows to have come from nearby Newberry Crater (Minor and Toepel 1984, 1989).

Lanceolate points were mostcommon, but small notched dart and arrow

points were also recovered. Much flaking debris in the site indicates that tool-making was a major activity of its occupants. Deer bone, a fish bone,

and river mussel shell also give evidenceofhunting, fishing, and gathering.

Charcoal from Lava Island Rockshelter gave 14Cdates of2150 BP, 1420 BP,

and 140 BP. The excavators suggest, however, based on the typology of

the lanceolate points, that the site mayhavebeen occupied as early as 7000

to 10,500 BP. Others, however, contend that very thin obsidian hydration

rinds on points from the cache indicate a relatively limited age. They

suggest that the lanceolate specimens are not projectile points of early

type, but rather generic tool blanks manufactured for trade in much more

recent times. These same authors note the discovery in the general area

of other, similar caches, which they interpret in the same way (Scott,

Davis, and Flenniken 1986). However the dating question is resolved,

Lava Island Rockshelter is significant as an example of a stone tool manufactury,based on theabundantNewberryCrater obsidian obtainable

a few miles to the south.

Another rockshelter site on the Deschutes River near Bend is Peninsula

1, where a bone fish hook, a harpoon fragment, and mussel shell traces indicate use of riverine resources. The site was used over a long period, — 124 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

as indicated by 14C dates of 4080 BP and 2980 BP, and by dart and arrow

points of types made between about 4500 BP and late prehistoric times

(Stuemke 1989).

Lava Butte

Also near Bend is Lava Butte, an open site that produced an abundance

of flaked stone projectile points and other hunting tools, as well as many

metates, hopper mortar bases, and pestles (Ice 1962). Occupation

apparently began after the eruption of nearby Lava Butte about 6200 BP;

dart points of generally Elko type, and arrowpoints of Rosegate and

Desert Side-notched types, suggest that the site was visited thereafter down to late prehistoric times. A relative abundance of projectile points

indicates hunting, and it is notable that contemporary deer herds moving

between a summer range in the Paulina Mountains and a winter range in the Fort Rock Valley are drawn to the site area by a break nearby in the

extensive lava flows that otherwise obstruct their passage between the

two ranges. The large number of milling stones indicates that plant food

processing was also important in the Lava Butte vicinity (Davis and Scott

n.d.). Wickiup Dam and Odell Lake

In the uppermost reaches of the Deschutes River drainage are the

Wickiup Dam and Odell Lake sites, where large leaf-shaped and

shouldered points, corner-notched points, and other flaked stone specimens were discovered under volcanic ash deposited by the 7000 BP

eruption of Mount Mazama. The specimens from these sites are few, but

they nevertheless documentclearly the presenceofpeople in the Cascades

lake country in early Holocene times (Cressman 1948). In historic times

this zone was the homeland of the Molala, whose range extended to the

north, and the Klamath, who occupied the country to the south (Spier 1930; Stern 1966). In one influential interpretation, Klamath culture is traced back to pre-Mazama times, as an early adaptation to upland lakes,

marshes, and rivers that has persisted for thousands of years (Cressman

1956).

Kawumkan Springs

Excavations at Kawumkan Springs Midden, on the Sprague River in the

heart of Klamath territory, show that a hunting/ fishing/ gathering

lifeway like that of the historic Klamath people is ancient there. Projectile — 125 —
Archaeology of Oregon

points like those found beneath Mazama pumice at Odell Lake suggest

that accumulation of the midden might have begun more than 7000 years

ago. No Mazama pumice was detected, however, in the excavations at Kawumkan Springs (Cressman 1956). More conservatively, obsidian

hydration measurements on projectile points from the site suggest an

initial occupation about 5000 BP, and occupation thereafter down to late prehistoric times (Aikens and Minor 1978). Recent Klamath occupation

at Kawumkan Springs is also documented. The Lalos, a native family,

built a house of Euro-American type at the site in 1915, and people

continue to live there today.

The site is named for a large spring, and numerous smaller ones, that well

up in an open flat adjacent to the Sprague River. The springs feed a considerable pool that drains a very short distance into the river. The

waters, said to maintain a constant 52° temperature year around, have

never been known to freeze over. The warm spring discharge also keeps

the river open at that point, even in hard winters. This suggests that Kawumkan Springs was a good wintering location, and the fact that 21 apparent housepits were visible as depressions in the midden's surface

indicates that it was once a village of considerable importance.

Excavations in five of these housepits showed them all to be roughly

circular, one to two feet in depth. The largest measured nearly 30 feet across, the smallest about 8 feet across, and intermediate examples were

about 20 feet across. Two had well-defined benches around part or all of

the interior circumference. All contained small notched and stemmed

arrowpoints that probably date to the last 1000 to 1500 years, while four

contained a few metal artifacts that were apparently intrusive refuse from

modern occupation of the site. The ages of the unexcavated structures are not known.

Fish bones were present throughout the 4 to 5 feet of midden deposit at Kawumkan Springs, and more abundant in upper levels. The bones of birds and large mammals, and shells of river mussels, also occurred

consistently. No plant remains were preserved, but many milling stones,

mortars, and pestles give evidence for the processing of seeds and roots. Technology remained essentially stable throughout the life of the site. Of

15 kinds of artifacts used in hunting, hide working, fishing, and root or seed grinding, 12 were represented from the bottom to the top of the

archaeological deposit. Manifestly, the wayoflife practiced at Kawumkan

Springs changed little over millennia, in terms of either dietary economy

or basic technology. Effectively the samepatterns have been described for the ethnographic period of traditional Klamath culture (Cressman 1956). — 126 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Bezuksewas Village and Williamson River Bridge

BezuksewasVillage is an ethnographically described Klamath settlement

situated just below the confluence of the Sprague and Williamson rivers, a few miles west of Kawumkan Springs. It is shown by archaeological

excavations to have been occupied throughout much of the last 2000

years. The Williamson River Bridge Site, about three miles downstream

from Bezuksewas, was a major fishing station occupied during the same

period. From mid-March through mid-June, several species of suckers

from Klamath Lake migrate one after another to spawning grounds up

the Williamson and Sprague rivers, passing these sites in the thousands.

In ethnohistoric times, a damwas madein the river opposite Bezuksewas

to catch the fish of the spring migration. In the vicinity of Williamson

River Bridge, a shallow rapids about a quarter-mile longaffords excellent fishing opportunities (Cheatham 1991).

Excavations at Bezuksewas Village recovered a rich and diverse

archaeological assemblage. It included projectile points and various tools of flaked stone; mortars, pestles, grinding slabs, and net weights of ground stone; and fish hooks, awls, and beads of bone. Concentrations

of stone, bones, and tools indicate domestic activities, and fish, shellfish,

bird, and mammal remains demonstrate a diversified subsistence base. A dozen 14C dates span a range from 1960 BP to 200 BP. Many historic Euro-Americanitemsofthe late 19th centurywerealso found—including

a U.S. ten-cent piece dated 1892—bringing the occupation up to very

recent times. No housepits were excavated, but probable housepit

depressions were observed in the vicinity.

At the Williamson River Bridge Site, digging exposed a considerable

midden deposit of freshwater mussel shell, a fire hearth, and several

concentrations of fire-cracked rock. One of these latter was 14C dated to 1810 BP, the shell midden to 1600 BP, and another fire-cracked rock

feature to 70 BP. Other dates, as well as historic artifacts, suggest two

major periods of occupation—one between about 1800 and 1000 BP, the

other about 100 years ago. Three wooden posts or stakes found near a

large hearth may represent racks for drying fish. Artifacts included small arrow points, larger dart points, bifaces, scrapers, ground stone net

weights, large bone points probably used to tip fish spears, and small

bone points like those used by ethnographic Klamath to make composite

fish hooks.

Of nearly 14,000 excavated bones identified to taxonomic class from the

Williamson River Bridge Site, 84% are of fish, 15% of mammals, and 1%

of birds. Of the fish bones identified to the genus level, 96% were of — 127 —
Archaeologi/ of Oregon

suckers. A number of tui chub bones and a few of salmon or trout were

also identified. Excluding some 900 bones of pocket gophers that probably lived and died in the site independent of human agency, the

mostcommon mammals were ground squirrels and domestic dog. Only

five deerbones werefound, indicating that large game were no significant

part of the human diet at this site. Shells of freshwater mussel were

recovered in some quantity, an estimated 4500 individuals being

represented by theexcavated remains. Analysis of shell growthincrements

shows that the season of death for all specimens studied was between

mid-April and mid-June. This period corresponds closely to the time of

the annual sucker spawning runs. Lost River and the Peninsula Site

Archaeological investigations in the uplands overlooking Lost River,

southeast of the Klamath heartland near the California border, carry the

account into Modoc territory. The Klamath and Modoc languages are

closely related, and the traditional lifeway of the two peoples was very

similar. Like the Klamath, the Modoc relied heavily on river and marsh

for their subsistence. But they tended to hunt and gather plant foods

rather more, and to fish rather less, occupying as they did a more

diversified habitat that reached into montanewoodlandsbutencompassed

much lower-elevation sagebrush steppe as well. Historically, Modoc

winter villages were placed on lowland streams and marshes, and

upland exploitation was mainly a summer activity. In terms of

comparativeethnography, the Klamath/Modoc wayoflife is intermediate

between Plateau culture to the north and Californian culture to the south,

with Klamath diverging more toward the Plateau, and Modoc more

toward California (Ray 1963; Stem 1966). In the present book, this cultural bridging is reflected by the fact that Klamath culture also comes

into the discussion of Californian relationships in Chapter 6, where the

focus is on southwest Oregon.

The Peninsula Site, on an upland plateau that drains southwest into the Lost River, displays some 28 boulder- outlined house circles. These are

scattered along a ridge that once bordered a marshy meadow, now

beneath the waters of Gerber Reservoir (Silvermoon 1989). The boulder

circles, mostly about 14 feet in diameter, apparently served as bases

against which to foot pole frameworks for perishable superstructures.

They are founded on a shelving rocky surface with very shallow soil, that would not have allowed excavation for the construction of more typical

pithouses. Outside the house circles, pecked or ground into the boulders

and bedrock of the site surface, were 26 hopper mortar depressions, 9 — 128 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

deep mortar pits, and 6 grinding slicks. A number of natural rock

depressions also showed some signs of grinding. A few stone pestles and

manos, and numerous fist-sized pounding and abrading stones, lay

scattered on the site surface among these features. In the same area, several petroglyph motifs were pecked into a boulder and a low rocky

ledge.

The artifact assemblage, recovered from the surface and excavations in areas of shallow soil, included an abundance of flakes that had been used

for cutting and scraping. A striking characteristic of this assemblage was

the predominance of small flake tools with multiple use-faceting,

suggesting that stone tool material was "used and reused, worked and

reworked, until individual piecesbecame so small thatthey werediscarded

(Silvermoon 1989: 111)." A few obsidian cores represent the sources of these flakes. The projectile point collection included predominantly

small Desert Side-notched and Rosegate arrowpoints, with some larger

specimens that may have been dart points. Three UC dates, one of 1080

BP, one of 540 BP, and one modem, are quite congruent with the

established ages of the arrowpoint types. Some dart points could indicate

earlier occupation as well, but they were so few as to leave the issue in doubt.

ThePeninsula Site wasprobablyoccupied duringthebiotically productive

warm half of the year, when the wet meadow and rocky soils nearby

would have provided a variety of grasses and sedges, and root crops such

as camas and ipos. Plant food processing is clearly indicated by the site's bedrockgrindingfeatures, and huntingbythe projectile pointassemblage.

Local residents say that waterfowl in some numbers once frequented the

marshy area where the reservoir now lies. Larger game such as deer and

antelope are regularly seen around Gerber Reservoir today, and the

Oregon-California interstate deer herd moves through the area each

spring and fall. During the season of cold and snow, better locations for residence were available in nearby lowland settings, and it is known that the Modoc of historic times preferred to winter in such places (Bumside

1987).

Nightfire Island

On the western edge of Lower Klamath Lake just below the OregonCalifornia state line is Nightfire Island, a lowland site in the heart of

traditional Modoc territory. An extensive series of 14C dates, 27 in all, demonstrates occupation there between about 6000 and 1000 BP. The

dates show that people returned to the spot consistently over millennia, — 129 —
Archaeology of Oregon

although occasional gaps of a few hundred years suggest intervals of abandonment when lake waters may have been too high, or too low

(Sampson 1985).

The history of occupation at Nightfire Island reflects changing uses of the

locality by its human visitors. Lower Klamath Lake, shown by high

shorelines and diatomaceous clays to have once been considerably larger

and deeper, had shrunk to approximately its historic size by shortly after 7000 years ago. This is seen in the fact that the basal clay layer at the site, which was deposited in a swampy shoreline setting, contained a lens of

volcanic ash from the Mount Mazama eruption. Artifacts and stone rubble began to accumulate above this layer, along with food refuse that

included thebonesof manyspecies. During its initial period ofoccupation

the site wasapparently a seasonal hunting, gathering, and fishing station. As the Nightfire Island deposits continued to thicken, there grew a little platform of rubble-rich earth that helped stabilize and elevate the marshy

ground. This platform was greatly enlarged and solidified about 4400 BP

by quantities of stone that were brought into the site from nearby sources. Between about 4000 and 2000 BP substantial pithouses were built at the

site, as indicated by clay-lined floors and post holes. Charcoal from a

hearth in one of these floors yielded a

14C date of 4030 BP, and a charred

timber from the floor of a house destroyed by fire gave a date of 2220 BP. During the period of house construction, the platform continued to be

augmented with stone rubble. The site at this time probably functioned

as a sedentary winter village and year-around base of operations. Two

cemetery areas, with the remains of 45 individuals cremated according to

historic Modoc custom, apparently came into use toward the end of this period. Arrowpoints found among some remains suggest that deaths

due to violent raids occurred late in the site's history. Only lightly-built structures seem to have been made during the final period of occupation,

and apparently the site served once again as primarily a warm season

fishing/hunting/gathering camp until it passed out of use about 1000

years ago. The bones of coots, grebes, scaups, mallards, mergansers, and geese were

varyingly common throughout the accumulated deposits. Marked

fluctuations in the ratio between ducks that feed by diving in deep water,

and those that dabble in shallow marshy settings, suggest a complex

history ofchanges in the local environment. Commonmammalsincluded

elk, deer, antelope, mountain sheep, jackrabbit, cottontail, mink, otter, coyote, and dog. Bison occurred during the middle period of occupation.

Fish bones were found in some abundance, virtually all of the identified

130
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

sample being of the cyprinid or minnow family. Fish bones were best

represented in the later part of the occupation, though some traces go

back to early times. A broad range of additional bird and mammalian

species was represented by limited numbers of recovered specimens. In general the faunal remains are of animals that can be found even today

in the immediate or near vicinity of Nightfire Island. The artifact assemblage from Nightfire Island was extensive. Plant food

processing is attested by numerous ground stone mortarsand pestles, flat milling slabs and handstones, and hopper mortar bases. Hunting

technology included an older complex of atlatl dart points identified to Northern Side-notched, Humboldt, Pinto, Elko, and Gold Hill types; and

a younger complex of small arrow points belonging to the Rose Spring,

Gunther, and Siskiyou or Desert Side-notched types. Fishing technology

included grooved stones that were probably sinkers or net weights, and

bone prongs for fish spears. Numerous cores and abundant flakes of

obsidian, along with pebble hammerstones, gave evidence of a well- developed stone working industry. Stone mauls, antler wedges, stone

drills, and serrated cutting tools, along with such products as handlesand

bevelled bone points, attest the making of wood, bone, and antler

artifacts. Eyed needles and bone awls, along with stone flake scrapers and knives, tell of hides being worked and sewn. An X-ray fluorescence analysis of some 300 projectile points showed that the Nightfire Island people used obsidian from sources 20 to 35 miles

south in the Medicine Lake Highland, 35 to 85 miles northeast in the

region of Sycan Marsh and Tucker Hill, and 110 to 120 miles east- northeast in the Warner Mountains and at Quartz Mountain (Hughes

1985). Some 80% of the Northern Side-notched points, generally the

earliest type in the sample, were of southern obsidian from the nearby

Medicine Lake Highland. The somewhat younger Elko points also

included many specimens of Medicine Lake Highland obsidian, but 37%

were made of stone from more distant sources to the north and east. The

youngest specimens, arrowpoints of the Gunther series, showed a return

to the pattern of the Northern Side-notched specimens, with 81% made

of nearby southern obsidian from the Medicine Lake Highland. This

evidence of shifting obsidianprocurementclearly indicates greater contact by Nightfire Islanders with areas to the north and east during the middle

period, prior to the time the bow and arrow were introduced. Among

possible reasons for this shift, it has been suggested that competitive

relationships among local groups mayat times have facilitated Nightfire

Islanders' access to the Medicine Lake Highland sources, but at other

times limited it, forcing them to seek elsewhere for toolstone. — 131 —
Archaeology of Oregon

During the final centuries of occupation, when the Nightfire Islanders were once againdepending heavily on Medicine Lake Highland obsidian,

they also became notably involved in the exchange of seashells and finely

crafted stone pipes from the west and south. This development presages

the extensive trading network maintained by the Modoc and Klamath in early historic times, when it reached as far west as the Pacific coast, and

as far north as the great summer rendezvous at The Dalles of the

Columbia River.

Artistic and Symbolic Forms

Tsagaglalal, "she who watches" in the Wishram language, is a large,

dramatic imagepecked into a basalt ledge overlooking the LongNarrows

of the Columbia (Figure 3.26). AWishram tale describes her as an ancient

chief who was turned to stone by Coyote, that she might stay and watch

over the people of that place. The image, representing a face or mask with

large round eyes and small ears high on the head, closely resembles the

bear figures of carved wooden masks made historically along the British Columbia coast. More generally, the Tsagaglalal petroglyph shares

artistic details with petroglyphic and other representations that extend

from The Dalles of the Columbia down to the Pacific coast, and north

along the coast as far as Alaska. Some elements are traceable even farther,

into coastal Siberia. In many representations human and animal merge,

often to a degree that anthropomorph and zoomorph cannot be

distinguished (Hann 1989).

Archaeological excavations near The Dalles have yielded

anthropomorphic bone and antler carvings that share motifs with this striking image, and the age of these sites suggests that the petroglyph

probably dates from late prehistoric times, after about 1000 years ago. Other motifs, 14Cdated at sites on the British Columbia coast, indicate that the basic style is probably 3000 to 4000 years old (Lundy 1976).

In addition to anthropomorphic /zoomorphic beings with stylized faces,

the Columbia River region displays an abundance of naturalistic animal

figures, including sheep, deer, birds, and lizards. Simple anthropomorphie

figures without facial features also occur. Abstract elements such as

simple, concentric, and rayed circles, zigzags, rakes, and reticulated

patterns are also common. A few examples consist only of pits pecked

into a stone, or of pits connected by grooves. These various petroglyphs

are allied in motif and style with a tradition that is widespread in the

intermontane region, from the Plateau in the north to the Great Basin in the south (Steward 1927, 1929; Cressman 1937). In the Great Basin, where — 132 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau

Figure 3.26 Tsagaglalal, "she who watches/' on an outcrop overlooking the Long

Narrows of the Columbia (courtesy of Jerry Magee).

— 133 —
Archaeology of Oregon

efforts to date these elements have been most extensive, pit and groove

petroglyphs are thought to date as early as 7000 BP. The abstract style

probably dates from about 4000 BP, and the animal figures from about

2000 BP (Heizer and Baumhoff 1962).

Portable art in stone, bone, antler, and even wood is also a notable

characteristic of Plateau culture sites around The Dalles. Besides the

above-mentioned bone and antler anthropomorphic carvings, there are such items as stone fish effigies, full-figure human effigies, human faces and heads, stone mauls ornamented with carvings of anthropomorphic

heads, bird figures, and lizards. So distinctive are many of the human

representations that it has been suggested they represent a special ritual pattern for the area (Butler 1957; Strong 1943).

Southward up the Deschutes River, petroglyphs near Sherar's Bridge

include simple anthropomorphs, deer, sheep, rayed concentric circles,

and other motifs. Rock art along Jones Creek included simple

anthropomorphs, birds, sheep, and rayed circles, as well as nonrepresentational curvilinear designs. A number of sites farther south,

around the modern city of Bend, display simple anthropomorphic

figures, rayed circles, sheep, and various curvilinear and rectilinear abstract designs. Sites along the lower John Day display abstract designs,

circles, zoomorphs, and anthropomorphs. Picture Gorge, on the upper

reaches of the John Day River, includes simple anthropomorphs, lizards,

rayed circles, and various curvilinear and rectilinear designs. Farther

south still, rock art around Klamath Marsh includes pitted boulders,

simple anthropomorphs, circles, and abstract curvilinear and rectilinear designs. At sites on the Sprague River, concentric circles with dots at the

center are quite common (Loring and Loring 1982).

It is notable that the rock art seen along the Columbia, especially near The

Dalles, includes elements shared over a vast area of the Northwest Coast

and intermontane west. In general the stylized faces and elaborate

zoomorphs seen along the Columbia do not occur much to the south or

east of the big river, but the other forms noted for the region of The Dalles

are found farther afield (Figure 3.27). The rock art thus shows that The

Dalles region had ties over millennia of prehistory both to the Northwest

Coast and the interior Plateau hinterlands.

Future Research

This chapter has shown that the Plateau way of life common to much of

northern and central Oregon east of the Cascades has a clear culture- — 134 —
Chapter 3 - Columbia Plateau Mtf&*

BUS t pS^.iffip££&iJr _ o

Figure 3.27 Rock art motifs from various sites near The Dalles of the Columbia. Redrawn

from McClure (1984) and Loring and Loring (1982). Variable scale.

historical unity. The Columbia River and its tributaries were sources of

sustenance, and passages for human movement that linked together an

ecologically diverse region ranging from riverside habitat through open

steppe and grassland into wooded montane foothills and uplands. The

area around The Dalles was especially rich in natural resources, and was — 135 —
Archaeology of Oregon

correspondingly a focus of human activity. It drew together people from

all over the Plateau, and in later prehistory people from the Northwest

Coast culture sphere as well. The origins of this cultural phenomenon are under continuing

investigation. One influential interpretation, which hews closely to evidence currently available, suggests that the earliest people of the

Plateau must have been primarily terrestrial hunters and gatherers who

foraged widely, moved frequently, and used riverine resources

comparatively little—and then only in exceptionally favored places like The Dalles. According to this theory it was probably during the relative warmth and dryness of mid-postglacial time, around 5000 BP, that Plateau groups came to establish relatively sedentary lifeways in optimal

locations where hunting, rootcollecting, and fishingcould all be profitably

accomplished within a small radius of travel. Once this more settled way

of life was established, based on intensive harvest collecting and food

storage, it led to population growth and eventually to the widespread

establishment of settled villages with permanent houses after about 4000

BP (Ames and Marshall 1981; Schalk 1987).

A competing interpretation argues that early people, entering a region

with some of the richest salmon runs in the world, would have come

quickly to rely upon fishing rather than going into it gradually over thousands of years. Evidence from The Dalles does indeed show an

association of salmon bones and human artifacts that indicate fishing soon after 10,000 BP. In this view, the extremely limited evidence of

occupation along the Columbia between about 8000 and 4000 BP may be

due simply to flood destruction of the river terraces that existed during

this period. Asbriefly noted at the beginning of this chapter, an erosional

episode is known to have occurred along the Lower Snake River between

5000 and 4000 BP, with renewed deposition thereafter and relative geological stability after about 2500 BP. Perhaps these same conditions

would have pertained downstream on the Columbia as well. Pithouse

settlements occupied by salmon fishers along the rivers may have been

present in much earlier times, but remained unknown to us because

flooding destroyed the river terraces they were built on. The sudden

"appearance" of houses and villages between 4,000 and 2500 BP might

thus be understood as more apparent than real, simply reflecting an end

to major flooding episodes that destroyed earlier archaeological traces. Future archaeological work in the region will ultimately resolve this question, and surely introduce new questions as well. As knowledge

increases it should also prove possible to address questions of group

organization and interaction that have not been archaeologically treated

in the present account at all, except by reference to the far-flung trading

and exchange system of the 19th century, which implies a prehistoric

evolutionary sequence leading up to it. — 136 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast Chapter 4

Pacific Coast and

Lower Columbia River

Nativecultures of the OregonCoastand LowerColumbia Riverbelonged

to the greater Northwest Coast area, which extends from Yakutat Bay,

Alaska, on the north to Cape Mendocino, California, on the south (Figure

4.1). The Pacific Coast and Lower Columbia River, though at first glance

quite different environmental settings, share many plant and animal

species that were important to human subsistence and industry.

Correspondingly, the traditional cultures which grew in these two

settings exhibit many common characteristics and a shared history.

The Lower Columbia was occupied by Chinookan people. All speaking

closely related languages, the Chinook, Clatsop, Cathlamet, Skiloot,

Multnomah, Clackamas, Cascades, and Wasco extended from the river's mouth upstream as far as The Dalles, where the Northwest Coast and

Columbia Plateau culture areas touched. TheClatsoprangealso extended

for some miles south along the coast, from the river mouth as far as Tillamook Head. Beyond them lived the Nehalem, Tillamook, Nestucca,

Salmon River, and Siletz people, all speaking languages of the Salishan

phylum. Farther south were the Yaquina and Alsea, andbeyond them the

Siuslaw and Lower Umpqua. Adjacent to the Lower Umpqua people werethe Hanisand Miluk. All of these people spoke languagesbelonging — 137 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Key to Sites

1 - Meier

2 - Sauvie Island. Cholick, Merrybell 3 - Eddy Point. Ivy Station 4 - Fishing Rocks

5 - Palmrose. Avenue Q, Par-Tee

6 - Tillamook

7 - Yaquina Head

8 - Seal Rock, Whale Cove

9 - Tahkenitch Landing

10 - Umpqua-Eden

1

1

- Lone Ranch Creek

12 - Pistol River

Figure 4.1 Map showing site locations in the Pacific Coast and Lower Columbia River

region.

138 —
Chapter 4 - Lozver Columbia and Coast

to the great Penutian phylum. Beyond them the UpperCoquille, Kwatami,

Tututni, Chetco, and Tolowa, all speaking closely related Athabaskan

languages, extended into northern California. Thehighdegreeoflinguistic

diversity in this cultural area is striking.

Northwest Coast culture was most elaborated in the north, where the

deeply fjorded coasts and numerous offshore islands of British Columbia

and southern Alaska created a sheltered natural setting of extraordinary

biotic richness. The natural abundance, readily harvested in the protected

waters of the region, supported a considerable human population that

gathered in large settlements. Along the straight, open Oregon Coast,

directly exposed to the energy of the north Pacific, protected bays and

estuaries were far fewer; correspondingly, both the relative richness of

the natural harvest, and human population density, were much less. The

Lower Columbia River Valley was, however, an important exception to the general Oregon pattern. Its protected and highly productive inland

waters supported a dense population in numerous villages. These

extended from the river mouth upstream through the Portland Basin and

Columbia Gorge as far as The Dalles, just east of the Cascades.

All groups shared a broadly similar way of life, though local variations

definitely existed. The roots of this marine/riverine culture can currently

be traced about 8000 years into the past, but the earliest evidence is very

thin, and much remains to be learned through further investigation.

Ethnographic Life Way

Ethnohistoric accounts of the coastal and river people show that their annual round was much the same throughout the region. South of the

Coquille River mouth, a broad coastal plain and warmer climate contrast with the drowned coastline and cooler climate of the north. But people

depended on the same range of plants and animals, and the seasons for exploiting individual species wereabout the sameeverywhere, governed

by the rhythms of nature. The Alsea, dwellers of the north-central coast, obtained their subsistence in ways common throughout the region:

Chinooksalmon entered the coastal rivers in midsummer, followed

by coho and dog salmon in the early fall. The steelhead trout, which

is often grouped with salmon, wasan additional sea-run fish prized

for its flesh that was taken in the late fall through winter months.

Smelt, herring, flounder, perch, and lampreyeels werealso harvested

as available throughout the year. Clams, mussels, crabs, and sea anemones were collected by the women from estuaries, tide pools,

and bays. — 139 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Sea mammal hunting was apparently confined to offshore rocks

where seals and sea lions congregated; there they were clubbed or harpooned. Whale hunting was considered too dangerous,

according to informants interviewed by Drucker (1943), although

the occasional beached whale washighly prized for the oil rendered

from its blubber.

Although their land was rich in game, the Alsea did not extensively

exploit this source of food. Hunting was considered "an

adventuresome way of augmenting the fish diet (Drucker 1943:

83)", and was not pursued with the same vigor as fishing. Deer and

elk were stalked along trails or at small forest clearings, especially

during the summer when the animals were in fine flesh. Dogs were

occasionally used in the hunt to hold an animal at bay until the

hunter was within bowshot. Pitfalls were sometimes excavated to capture elk, a prized game animal, but the time required for preparation of the pits limited their use considerably. Less attention was given to other game, although it is reported that beaver were dug out of dens and clubbed, and that small fur-bearing mammals

were shot with the bow. Quail and grouse were caught in basket

traps, and waterfowl were shot. Children used a slip noose to catch

seagulls, and seagull and cormorant ("shag") eggs were collected as a food resource. A wide range of plant foods including roots, greens, berries, fruits,

seeds, and nuts gave additional variety to the diet. Camas was dug

in great quantities from summer through fall, with the surplus

being prepared for winter storage. Roots of plants such as skunk

cabbage and ferns were harvested in the spring. Salmonberries,

blackberries, huckleberries, and strawberries, which grew in

profusion along the coast, were important food supplements. Each was collected in its proper season, along with various greens. Acorns were also harvested in small quantities back from the coast. Tobacco was grown at sheltered plots away from the village; it was

mixed with dried kinnikkinnik leaves for smoking. (Minor et al. 1980: 86). Broadly speaking, a bi-seasonal subsistence cycle was practiced by all NorthwestCoastcultures. Fromearly spring through fall, village members

would disperse into small temporary camps near resource areas, living on what they obtained and processing stores for winter. There were of coursecomingsand goingsbetween the village and its satellite camps; the

main village was probably never wholly abandoned, but its population

must have been much depleted at busy times. In late fall through winter, — 140 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

the whole populace reassembled in the main village. This was

predominantly a time of repairing and manufacturing equipment, with somefishing, hunting, and collecting ofshellfish to supplementdwindling

winter stores.

Dwellings, very similar in type throughout the region, were large houses

of wooden planks built over excavated pits. Size varied according to the

number of people in a group, with multiple-family occupation the rule. An early description of Chinook long houses by Franchere provides a

graphic accountofthis regional house type, thoughit mustberemembered

that the unusual population density and wealth of the Chinooks fostered

the construction of larger buildings than were common elsewhere in the

coastal zone of Oregon:

Their houses, constructed of cedar, are remarkable for their form

and size: some of them are one hundred feet in length by thirty or

forty feet in width. They are constructed as follows: an oblong

square of the intended size of the building is dug out to the depth

of two or three feet; a double row of cedar posts is driven into the

earth about ten feet apart; between these the planks are laid,

overlapping each other to the requisite height. The roof is formed

by a ridgepole laid on taller posts, notched to receive it, and is constructed withrafters and plankslaid clapboard-wise, and secured

by cords for want of nails. When the house is designed for several

families, there is a door for each, and a separate fireplace; the smoke

escapes through an aperture formed by removingone of the boards

of the roof. The door is low, of an oval shape, and is provided with

a ladder, cut out of a log, to descend into the lodge. The entrance is generally effected stern foremost (Franchere 1967:247-248).

Historic accounts all agree that the native settlements practiced a high

degree of local autonomy. Each major village, with its satellites, was

politically independentof all others; while there wasnaturally intercourse

betweensettlements, there wasno overarching organization ofauthority

.

Relations between villages essentially were maintained as relations

between separate nations. Common interests were served, and alliances

formed, through trade relationships and marriage.

Far-reaching similarities in material artifacts link historic and prehistoric

cultures. A large inventory of tools and equipment was in use, including

many items of perishable material not often found archaeologically.

Hunting tools, fishing tools, woodworking tools, and objects of

ornamentation and ceremony all attest strong continuity between past

and present. — 141 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Natural Landscape

The Oregon Coast and Lower Columbia Valley form a natural unit in many respects. They share the same cool, mild climate, with abundant

rain and a narrow temperature range, and much the same spectrum of plant and animal species. Wooded hills are dominated by the Douglasfir, which occurs both in vast unmixed stands, and in mature forest mixed

with western hemlock, western red cedar, and other coniferous species.

Sitka spruce is common in the coastal fog belt. Along streams the

deciduous red alder, bigleaf maple, and Oregon ash are common.

Various ferns, salal, huckleberry, salmonberry, and other low-growing

plants constitute the dense understory vegetation of the region. Terrestrial fauna includes elk, deer, bear, jackrabbit, brush rabbit, beaver, various

squirrels and other rodents, raccoon, otter, and various members of the

weasel family. Many kinds of waterbirds and inland species are to be

found there as well, the region being in the heart of the Pacific Migratory

Flyway.

Fishes wereof course abundant throughout the area, and present in great

variety. Salmon were of primary importance to both coastal and riverine

peoples, but many other anadromous species, including steelhead trout,

eel, and sturgeon were also prized. Strictly marine fishes, such as ling cod,

halibut, flounder, and various small rockfish were taken as well. Sea

mammals, especially seals, were available both along the coast and in the

interior rivers during the salmon season, when they followed migrating

fish upstream. Finally, shellfish of both fresh and marine waters were

abundant and could be gathered in quantity at many places.

These similarities in the natural resource base no doubt account for the

general sharing of a common fishing, hunting, and gathering technology

among the native peoples of both river and seashore. Broadly speaking,

NorthwestCoastculture in generalisan adaptation to thisbiota, available

in varyingabundance fromCape Mendocino in California to Yakutat Bay

in Alaska. Local geography has great effect, however, on the relative abundance and accessibility of key resources in different areas. A major

contrast is evident in the general richness of the Lower Columbia Valley

as compared to the Oregon Coast. The 170 miles or so of the Lower Columbia River, from The Dalles to Clatsop Spit on the Pacific, is particularly rich in fish. Five species of

anadromous salmon funnel into the river from early spring to early fall, headed for spawning grounds throughout thousands of miles of streams

in the vast Columbia drainage. Smelt and eels similarly run upriver. — 142 —
Chapter 4 - Lozuer Columbia and Coast

Being newly derived from the sea, the fish of the lower river are in the

finest condition. Additionally, various freshwater fishes are available on

the Lower Columbia the year around. The open coast, by contrast, is swept by strong seas and has few large estuaries and protected bays that concentrate aquatic species in the way the Lower Columbia does. The

coastal rivers flowing into the Pacific are short, with tributary systems

and spawning grounds of comparatively limited extent. Their salmon

harvest—though potentially rich—simply does not compare with that available along the Lower Columbia. These factors had their effect on the

relative wealth and numbersof the humanpopulation, which was at least several times as densely concentrated along the Lower Columbia as along the Pacific shore. It has been estimated that some 22,000 people

lived along the Lower Columbia in early historic times, as compared with

only half that number along the entire Oregon Coast (Kroeber 1939:133,

136).

Time and Environmental Change

The present relationship between land and sea, with its corresponding

local patterns of plant and animal distribution, seems to have been

established about 3000 years ago. River valleys drowned by the sea to form long, deep estuaries are a dominant feature of the modern

environment. Thenative cultures strongly reflected this setting, dependent

as they were on its particular food and industrial resources. To trace the

development of these cultures it is therefore necessary to explore not only

the archaeology, butalso the dynamic history of the natural environment.

During the glacial period, when much of the earth's water was locked up

in great ice sheets on the land, worldwide sea levels were lower than they

are now. The Oregon coastline then lay farther westward than it does at present. With postglacial warming, which was well underway by 11,000

BP and reached a peak between 8000 and 4000 BP, water stored as ice on

the continents melted back into the oceans. This resulted in a worldwide

rise in sea level of 300 to 400 feet. The date at which Oregon's Pacific coastline became stabilized near its modern level is becoming more closely known through paleoenvironmental research. Logically, sea-level stabilization should date from

the time when a climatic regime comparable to today's was finally

established. According to pollen studies over a broad area of the

Northwest, this transition took place some time around 4000 BP (Hansen

1947; Heusser 1960; Flint 1971). Geological evidence adds to this picture.

For example, sediment cores and other evidence from Alsea Bay show — 143 —
Archaeology of Oregon

that before about 7500 years ago the present Alsea River estuary was

occupied by a high gradient stream. By5000 years ago, rising sea le vel had

drowned the channel, forming a deep-water estuary. Since that time the

present shallow-water environment has formed as sedimentborne down

the rivers was dropped in the slow waters of the estuary (Peterson et al. 1984).

The history of sea-level rise goes far to explain the scarcity of evidence for very early human occupation along the Oregon Coast. Sites that might

have existed along the shoreline in early postglacial times would have

been surf-beaten and destroyed by the sea as it rose to its present level. A

similar fate would have befallen any early sites too near the mouth of the

Columbia River, as its waters rose in concert with the level of the sea. Even

since the time of sea-level stabilization, archaeological sites have surely

been destroyed or hiddenbyongoingerosion ofheadlandsand shorelines,

shifting of sandspits, and local subsidences. Butenvironmental dynamics

did not affect only the archaeological record, they also affected the lives of prehistoric human residents directly, as evidence to be recounted

below will demonstrate.

Cultural Chronology and lime Markers

Earliest human occupation in the region probably dates back to the Clovis Paleo-Indian period, or fluted point horizon, of about 1 1,500 BP. Thebase

of a Clovis fluted point found on the surface at Siltcoos Lake on the central Oregon Coast, and several other fluted points found in far western

Oregon and Washington, show that these early people occupied the

coastal zone. Human presence after this period is demonstrated by the

Youngs River Complex, known by surface finds made near the mouth of the Columbia. Characterized by large lanceolate, leaf-shaped, and

stemmed projectile points, this complex is estimated to date between

about 10,000 and 5500 BP. The time range is suggested on the basis of

dates from the Plateau for similar specimens, which there span the early

Windust, Cascade, and Tucannon phases. On the southern Oregon Coast

a "Bluff Site" complex, including comparable types as well as other

specimens, probably spans a similar period, and may have persisted

longer (Minor 1989a: 4-6). A more finely divided cultural sequence spanning the last 2500 years has

been developed for the Lower Columbia Valley, based on 14C-dated

excavations at sites near Portland (Pettigrew 1981). Diagnostic point

types from the Portland Basin are very similar to specimens from the

Oregon Coast, allowing the same chronology to be used in both areas. — 144 —
Chapter 4 - Lozver Columbia and Coast

The Merrybell Phase, 2500-1750 BP, is marked by side-notched, corner- notched, and lanceolate points of medium size, with broad stems. These were probably used as atlatl dart points. The Multnomah I sub-phase,

1 750-700 BP, is marked by small, triangular corner-notched points having narrow stems; these are clearly arrowpoints. The Multnomah II subphase, 700-200 BP, is marked by small, side-notched projectile points of a distinctive type recognized throughout the westas DesertSide-notched

.

Small, unnotched, triangular points also accompany this type. The

Multnomah III sub-phase, 200-100 BP, is recognized by the appearance of

Euro-American trade goods in aboriginal assemblages.

These projectile point types are illustrated in Figure 4.2. The fact that they were shared so widely along the Columbia River and Pacific Coast of

Oregon reflects the continued interaction and sharing of mutually usable

information and ideas that would be expected among people relying on

the same kinds of natural resources and practicing the same kinds of

economic activities. For example, in ethnographic times the Tillamook of

the north coastarranged marriages with their Clatsop and Alsea neighbors,

so that kinship networks spanned considerable distances, even crossing

language barriers. Historically, too, Tillamook parties raided southward

down the coast to capture slaves, who were traded to Clatsop, Chinook,

and Chehalis peoples along the Lower Columbia (Beckham 1977).

Tahkenitch Landing

AboutmidwaybetweenthetownsofRorenceandReedsrx)rtisTahkenitch

Landing, which gives evidence of human occupation on the central Oregon Coast going back some 8000 years (Minor and Toepel 1986). Its discovery was a major breakthrough, for prior to that the earliest datable

evidence for the coastal zone was only about 3000 years old. The locality

is now a canoe landing within the U.S. Forest Service campground at Tahkenitch Lake, in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Government Land Office surveyor's notes from 1858 record a native canoe landing in the sameplace, and a village on the opposite shore of the

lake. This section of the coast is the traditional territory of the Lower

Umpqua, a Penutian-speaking group.

Tahkenitch Lake now fills the old estuary of a small river flowing out of

the steep, rugged CoastRange. The Tahkenitch Landing site occursalong

the base of a small sandstone knob slightly elevated with respect to the

adjacent flats. A shell midden containing artifacts is about 150 feet wide — 145 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 4.2 Projectile points from the Lower Columbia region (Portland Basin). Upper

rows, Multnomah phase; bottom rows, Merrybell phase.

and 500 feet long. The abundant marine shells show unequivocally that

the current fresh-water lake did not exist at the time the archaeological

deposit was formed; the estuary was then directly open to the sea. The

coastline now lies about a mile west of the site, and in early postglacial

times, when meltwater from the world's icecaps had not yet brought the

global ocean to its present level, the Pacific shore would have been more

distant yet. — 146 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

The archaeological deposits at Tahkenitch Landing reached to a depth of

six feet in the main trench. Thelowermostartifact-bearinglayer contained no shellfish remains, but was followed by layers containing much shell and manyartifacts. These in turn werecappedbya thickbed ofdune sand

that wasdevoid of both artifacts and shell. The earliest occupation, called Component I, is dated by 14C determinations of 7960 BP and 6880 BP. The

bonesofsculpin, tomcod, hake, and flatfish indicate fishinginan estuarine

environment. A 14C determination of 5100 BP for Component II dates a continuation of fishing, and the inception of intensive collecting of bay

clams and bay mussels in what was still an estuarine setting. Six 14Cdates

ranging between 3160 and 3040 BP place in time the Component III deposits, which contained the greatest bulk of shell, bone, and artifacts. All 14C dates were obtained on charcoal. Tahkenitch Lake subsequently formed as the estuary was dammed by

windborne sand . The immense Oregon Dunes stretch for miles along the

coast between the Umpqua River mouth and Heceta Head. They grew

as the rising postglacial sea cut into ancient stabilized sediments and

released vast quantities of sand to be moved and piled up by the

prevailing wind. The disappearance of marine shells from Tahkenitch

Landing about 3000 years ago indicates that this process had by then

created Tahkenitch Lake, turning the locality into a freshwater

environment (McDowell 1986). This change led to abandonment of the

Tahkenitch Landing site, the uppermost layer of which is clean dune

sand, devoid of any but trace indications of human visitation. The artifacts from the major Component III occupation at Tahkenitch

Landing, dating around 3100 BP indicate a range of activities. Several

projectile points and a number of quite large knives, scrapers, and other

items of flaked stone were probably hunting and butchering tools. More

numerous were cobble hammerstones and sandstone abrading tools,

probably used in fashioning associated wedges, awls, tube beads, disc

beads, and a whistle made from a section of bird bone. A number of

unshaped or spheroidal clay objects, and several fragments of steatite smoking pipes, were also found. A few cutting, pounding, and abrading

tools associated with the earliest dates from the site did not differ notably

from those found associated with the later dates. The less utilitarian bone,

antler, and shell artifacts were not, however, found in early context. Cultural features were found only in Component II; they included a concentration of whale bones, a cluster ofbonesand rocks associated with

a piece of a wooden post, and a cluster of rocks associated with large sea mammal bones. — 147
Archaeology of Oregon

No evidence of dwellings was found at Tahkenitch Landing, but very

substantial human activity there is implied by the various artifacts, and

by abundant marine shells and animal bones from the midden (see

below). Structural remains could well exist in some other part of this extensive site, much of which remains unexplored. At CU62, on the

southern OregonCoastnear the mouthofPistol River, limited excavations

in an area nearly destroyed by highway construction uncovered part of a packed clay floor in an apparent pithouse depression. A 14C date of 3000

BP from an associated charred beam shows that substantial architecture

did in fact exist along the coast within the time range of the later Tahkenitch Landing occupation (Cressman 1977:194-195).

Quantitative analysis of bulk midden samples from Tahkenitch Landing

showed that clams (horse clam, bent-nose clam, littleneck clam) were by

far the mostabundant species represented there, foliowedbybay mussels.

Other species represented in small amounts included acorn barnacles,

horse barnacles, razor clams, limpets, and crabs. The bulk of the remains

identified are of marine bay species, and their enormous volume at the

site is a measure of the shellfish harvest/s great importance to its occupants

(Barner 1986).

The huge quantity of vertebrate faunal remains excavated at Tahkenitch

Landing was studied using a sampling procedure to reduce the bulk to manageable proportions. Even with this measure taken, some 28,000

specimens offish, birds, and mammalswere identified (Greenspan 1986).

Fish remains dominated the assemblage overwhelmingly, comprising

over 95% of the total identified specimens. Birds were next in abundance,

nearly 3%; and mammals included slightly less than 2%. The lowest

levels of the excavation yielded relatively more birds and mammals than

did the later levels, but fish were still heavily preponderant. In order of

abundance the dominant fishes in the midden as a whole were sculpins,

tomcod, herring, surfperches, flounders, and hake. But while these

species account for the great bulk of the identified specimens, salmon,

greenlings, lingcod, and sturgeon were also represented. The most numerous birds, in order of abundance, were ducks, cormorants, loons,

shearwaters, grebes, murres, and gulls. A few other forms were also

represented. The best-represented mammals were cetaceans (whales,

dolphins, and porpoises), seals, and deer. The whale bones represented

either sperm whale or a kind of baleen whale.

Thevertebrate fauna reinforces shell middenevidence that the Tahkenitch

Landing people concentrated their fishing and hunting in the immediate

vicinity. All the species found could be obtained in an estuarine — 148 —
Chapter 4 - Lozver Columbia and Coast

environment, except that the few bones of large whales most probably

represent scavenging of animalsbeached along the Pacific shoreline. The

considerable representation of hake in the assemblage could be taken to suggest, however, that people may have fished to someextent in the open

ocean as well; hake rarely enter estuarine environments, morecommonly

schooling near the ocean bottom.

Manifestly, fisharethemostimportantanimalsintheTahkenitch Landing

assemblage, and beyond a doubt the major harvestof the site' s occupants.

It is particularly interesting therefore that the artifact assemblage yielded no fish hooks, gorges, or spears. Commentingon this situation, Greenspan

(1986: 71) observes that: The quantities of fish remains, as well as the range of sizes and

heavy emphasis on small fish, suggest an indiscriminate fishing

technique, such as small-gauge nets or stone tidal traps. Stone traps were a widespread and highly effective fishing technique all along

the Northwest Coast. Stone-walled structures were built in the

intertidal zone in bays or inlets or at the mouths of rivers. As the tide

rose, fish would be carried towards the shore and swimover the top

of the traps. The fish would become trapped behind the stone walls

as the tide receded (Stewart 1977: 118-123).

This suggestion has the further appeal of rendering explicable the sheer

quantity of fish remains found at Tahkenitch Landing, by identifying a

plausible means through which fish could be taken in mass quantities.

This important site provides an essential key to the culture history of the

Oregon Coast. The ancient shoreline is long gone. But Tahkenitch

Landing carries evidence of a coastal lifeway far back in time, and

identifies one kind of natural setting in which further evidence of early

human activity can be found.

Umpqua-Eden Site

Evidence of coastal occupation is comparatively abundant from 3000 BP

onward. With relative stabilization of the coastal environment after this time, loci of human activity are better preserved and more readily found.

The finds from these sites overlap with the Tahkenitch evidence, and

display the basic cultural pattern out of which grew the ethnohistorically

knowncultures of the coast. The Umpqua-EdenSite, south ofTahkenitch,

and other sites both south and north along the coast, illustrate the nature and further growth of this basic pattern.— 149 —
Archaeology of Oregon

The Umpqua-Eden Site, near the mouth of the Umpqua River, has given

evidence of an occupation that began quite early and continued down to the historic period (Rossand Snyder 1979, 1986; Lyman 1991: 102-174). A

14C date of 2960 BP from the base of the shell midden establishes

contemporaneity with the major period of activity atTahkenitch Landing

around 3000 years ago. Additional 14Cdeterminations of 1 970 BP, 870 BP,

620 BP, 440 BP 350 BP, and 240 BP date later occupations (Lyman 1991:

107, 111). Euro-American use of the site, perhaps related to historic Fort Umpqua across the river, is represented by nails, hinges, window glass

and other household goods. Mostof the artifacts and faunal remains date

betweenabout 2000years ago and historic times, but both earlier and later occupations seem to be of generally similar character. The stratigraphic

complexity of the site, and the probability of some degree of mixing

within the deposit, precludes any detailed exploration for subtle changes

over time in the character of the occupation (Lyman 1991: 171-174).

Umpqua-Eden is situated on a high river terrace that overlooks, at low

tide, extensive mud flats offering a variety of shellfish. The site midden

was made up of mollusk shells, most commonly bay mussel, horse

mussel, bent-nose clam, butter clam, and cockle. Present in lesser quantities were little neck clam, gaper clam, and horse clam. The midden

also yielded a very large collection of fish bones; species recognized

include flounder, greenling, surf perch, herring, sculpin, salmon, and

sturgeon. Birds were also heavily represented. Ducks of various kinds were most common, with herons, cranes, swans, gulls, and murres also

indicated. All arebirds of watery habitats. Numeroussea mammalbones

from the collection were predominantly those ofharbor seal, with sea lion

and fur seal also represented . Manyfragmentsofthe distinctive cancellous

bone common to seals, sea lions, and whales were identified as whale

bone because of the robustness of the pieces. The bones of deer and elk heavily dominated the collection of terrestrial mammal remains, both

animals being about equally represented. Other terrestrial species

identified were grizzly and black bear, cougar, lynx, dog, raccoon, sea

otter, mink, fisher, muskrat, beaver, and several kinds of small rodents

(Ross and Snyder 1986; Lyman 1991: 126-171).

The varied and abundant fauna from Umpqua-Eden reflects the

environmental diversity and rich productivity of the immediate vicinity.

It implies that a broad range of hunting, fishing, gathering, and foodprocessing activities were mounted from the site, which served as a focal point of residence and industry. Lyman (1991: 135-170) analyzes in detail the extensive butchering and processing of large terrestrial and sea mammals that was carried out at the site. A small river island nearby,

where seals still haul out in numbers, was no doubt a continuing source — 150 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

of these animals. Salmon may also have been obtainable in the very near

vicinity. In a quite similar estuarine situation on the LowerCoquille River

to the south of Umpqua-Eden, a long pole-and-willow fence was built across the river as a fish weir. This weir obstructed the passage of salmon

and guided them through narrow openings where they could be netted or speared, or taken in large openwork basketry traps (Draper 1988).

Such weirs were commonly used on the west coast (Stewart 1977), and it would not be surprising if future research turned one up near the

Umpqua-Eden Site. The artifact assemblage from Umpqua-Eden is varied and interesting

(Figures 4.3, 4.5). Hunting and fishing pursuits are attested by flaked stone projectile points, bone fishhooks, harpoon points, barbs from

fishing spears, and notched or grooved stone net weights. Flaked stone knives and scrapers suggest butchering and hide working, while bone

awls and pins, and stone scrapers, suggest hide tailoring. Bone and antler wedges and chisels indicate woodworking. Cobble hammerstones

would have served in various tasks, from butchering to lithic tool manufacture and thedrivingof antler wood-splitting wedges. A siltstone pipe and fired clay pipes are suggestive of tobacco smoking. Incised and

ornamented seal and elk teeth give evidence of personal artistry and

ornamentation.

Thehard-packed earthen floors of two quite small houses wereuncovered

at the site. Both of the smaller structures were rectangular, one measuring

about 10 by 12 feet across, the other slightly less. The first-mentioned

house had postholes and grooves around the periphery of its clay floor,

suggesting that planks were set on edge against vertical supports to form

walls. A firehearth outlined by vertically-set stones occurred near the

center of the floor. The date of this structure is not known. The smaller

structure exhibited a large pit in the center, and numerous smaller

postholes placed irregularly around it, some distance from the walls. The

posthole patterns do not readily suggest the nature of this unir/s

superstructure. A 14C date from the floor was 620 BP. The small size of

both these units indicates they were single-family dwellings. Also

present at Umpqua-Eden, but only partially excavated and very briefly

reported, were traces of a much larger semisubterranean long house of

plank-walled construction. Its creation marked the very end of the site's prehibtoric occupation, as shownby stratigraphic evidence. This structure, roughly 25 feet wide and 90 feet long, probably resembled quite closely

the large communal houseof the Lower Umpqua Indians shown in a 1858

edition of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (Figure 4.4) (Ross and

Snyder 1986; Beckham 1977: 65). — 151 —
Archaeology of Oregon

The evidence from Umpqua-Eden helps to establish continuity in the

coastal lifeway over some 3000 years of time. It picks up from earlier evidence at Tahkenitch Landing that shows intensive reliance on the

estuarine zone as far back as 8000 years ago. The faunal, artifactual, and

dwelling remains from Urnpqua-Eden clearly indicate that it was an

important sedentary village community. But interpretation is limited by

the extensive later damage done to the site, as well as by incomplete

reporting of the archaeology done there. Later sites along the southern

Figure 4.3 Late projectile points from the Umpqua-Eden Site. — 152 —
Chapter 4 - Lozver Columbia and Coast

WIKTER^LODGE OF THE^UMPQUA INDIANS.

Figure 4.4 Historic Lower Umpqua house shown in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1858 (courtesy of Oregon Historical Society, #ORH 176450). coast show in considerably more detail the mature pattern of large village

settlements that is only hinted at by the little-investigated late remains at Umpqua-Eden.

Lone Ranch Creek

On the far south coast is the Lone Ranch Creek site, a shell midden that was up to 10 feet deep in places (Berreman 1 944). Excavated long ago, the

site was never 14C dated, but projectile points offer clues to its age. Points

from the lowest levels were all of leaf-shaped types that may date to 3000

BPor earlier. Higher in the midden weresmall stemmed arrowpoints like some known from the later Multnomah subphases of the Portland Basin,

which suggest an age range for the major occupation of perhaps 1000 to 500 BP. Since no objects of Euro-American manufacture were found at Lone Ranch Creek, it is evident that the site was abandoned some time

before contact around 200 years ago. — 153 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Four houses were

identified in the

excavations. They had

packed clay floors and well

defined firepits, the floors having been excavated to a depth of about two feet below ground surface. The

charred remainsof vertical plank walls indicated

substantial wooden

houses of basically the

historically-known type.

These houses indicate the

permanence of the

settlement, as do the 32

human burials

encountered at various

places during the

excavations.

Hunting technology

included flaked stone

projectile points and

scrapers. Fishing and sea mammal hunting is suggested by fishhooks,

harpoon points, and spear

points of bone, and by net

sinkers of ground stone. Grinding slabs attested the milling of seeds or nuts.

Figure 4.5 Bone fish hooks from the Umpqua-Eden

Site. Approximately 2 times actual size.

Manufacturing at Lone Ranch Creek was indicated by several kinds of specimens. Bone awls and needles suggest hide tailoring. Stone mauls,

adzes, drills, and arrowshaft straighteners, along with bone gouges,

suggest woodworking activities. A few fragments of baked clay, which

appear to represent pieces of ceramic pipes, indicate either limited

pottery manufacture or trade from a ceramic-producing region.

Ornamental objects of shell were fairly numerous. Beads and pendants of

olivella shell, and other ornaments made of abalone and dentalium, were

recovered in the excavations. Since the natural habitat of dentalium is restricted to the coast of British Columbia, these specimens apparently

indicate long-distance trade.

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Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

Faunal remains from Lone Ranch Creek included the bones of deer, elk,

seal, sea lion, and whale, as well as unidentified fishes. There were also

huge quantities of mollusk shells, which largely composed the midden

itself. Over 50 species of marine shellfish were identified. It is not known

that the historic people of the south coast actively hunted whales, but

creatures occasionally beached or washed up on shore were exploited for the wealth of meat, oil, and whalebone they provided. Possibly the

archaeological specimens had a similar origin.

Pistol River

The historic Tututni Athabaskan village of Chetlessentan, not far from

Lone Ranch Creek, sat on a bluff high above the ocean at the mouth of the

Pistol River. Excavated on a large scale, the site gives a quite full picture

of its inhabitants' lifeway, overlapping the transition between prehistoric

and historic times. The historic village wasburned and destroyed in 1856

during the Rogue River War. Its remains are underlain by shell deposits

that contain artifacts to a depth of over seven feet in some places. Small

triangular arrowpoints found throughout the midden suggest that its occupation probably corresponds to some or all of the Multnomah

subphases of the Lower Columbia sequence, a time range of about 1750-

100 BP. Over 30 house depressions were observable at the Pistol River Site, as the

archaeological manifestation of Chetlessentan is called (Heflin 1966).

Archaeological work in some of them is concisely summarized in a recent

synthesis:

As described by Heflin, the aboriginal houses at the Pistol River Site were built around rectangular depressions ranging from 2 to 4 feet in depth, and averaging about 12.5 feet by 15 feet in size. The corner

posts and vertical wall planking of these structures were made of

cedar. Most of the houses probably had gabled roofs of cedar, bark, or thatch. Floors within these houses consisted of hard-packed clay,

gravel, or beach sand. Stone encircled fire pits were located near the

center of the rear of these houses (Beckham and Minor 1980: 30-31 ). The character of this village as a stable and long established settlement is also indicated by the fact that over 20 human burials were found in the

excavations. Some were encountered beneath the floors of houses, others

within the midden itself. Artifacts found with the human remains

included such traditional items as pine nut beads, stone beads, and — 155
Archaeologi/ of Oregon

dentalium shells, and such Euro-American trade specimens as glass beads

and brass buttons.

A wide range of artifacts from the site attests diverse activities by its occupants (Figures 4.6-4.10). Raked stone arrow points and knives, bone

spearpoints, and harpoon foreshafts indicate hunting of terrestrial and

marine species. Bone fishhooks, bipointed fish gorges, and an abundance

of notched net sinkers madefrom river cobblesand pebbles give evidence

of fishing. Plant food processing is indicated by ground stone pestles,

hopper mortar bases, and bowls. Manufacturing activities are reflected by mauls, cobble chopping tools, adze handles, elk antler splitting

wedges, flaked stone drills, scrapers, gravers, and actual craft products

themselves: bone head-scratchers, hairpins, nose and ear pins (these

identified from historical analogues), whalebone clubs, a stool and a bowl

made from whale vertebrae, and a bear figurine and numerous tubular

pipes of fired clay.

Contact with Euro-American traders and settlers is shown by a series of

items. Glass trade beads and brass uniform buttons were found with

burials. From the house depressions and midden deposits came such

items as the lock from a muzzle-loading rifle, an iron knife, iron and

copper bars, square nails, copper pendants, a ceramic trade pipe, and a

single Chinese coin. The vegetal component of the villagers' diet, which surely must have

been extensive, is now attested only by the processing tools mentioned

above. But bones and shells show more directly the animal species

involved. Land mammals included deer, elk, and the predatory bobcat;

sea mammals included sea lion and whale; fish vertebrae and bird bones were present, but not identified to species. In addition, some 20 kinds of

mollusks were represented among the myriads of shells that made up the

site midden; most prominent were marine mussels, which could be easily

obtained nearby.

On the central and northern coast, native cultures developed in parallel

withthose farther south,similarlygrowingoutofthebasicearly substratum

represented at Tahkenitch Landing. Considerable research activity in the

north has produced rich and informative records from several sites. Yaquina Head

Roughly 100 miles up the central Oregon Coast from Tahkenitch is Yaquina Head, a major promontory located a short distance north of — 156 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

Figure 4.6 Projectile points from the southern Oregon Coast. Top and middle rows, Late

period; Bottom row, Early and Middle periods.

Yaquina Bay and the city of Newport. An archaeological site near the tip ofthe high, mile-long headland is bounded on three sidesbya sea cliff mat

drops 70 or 80 feet to the beach below. At present, access from the site to the seashore is made very difficult and dangerous by the steepness of the

cliff. Butgeological evidence suggests that at the timeofthe archaeological

occupation, a climbing sand dune built up from the beach against the

headland probably afforded more ready access. A small dune atop the

headland appears to be a remnantof this earlier feature. Excavations that — 157 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 4.7 Bifacially flaked stone knives from the southern Oregon Coast.

sampled a broad area revealed buried artifacts, sea shell, and animal

bones to a depth of five feet or more. Over a dozen 14C dates associated

with cultural remains show that human occupation began at the tip of Yaquina Head by 4000 years ago, was relatively intense between about

3700 and 2600 years ago, and ceased by about 2000 years ago. This

occupationoverlaps significantly in time with thatofTahkenitch Landing

(Minor, Toepel, and Greenspan 1987; Minor 1989b, 1991).

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Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

Figure 4.8 Scrapers from the southern Oregon Coast.

The artifact assemblage represents a wide range of activities, including

food procurement, food processing, and tool maintenance and

manufacturing. Raked stone projectile points, fragmentsofboneharpoon

heads, and a possible fish gorge suggest land hunting, sea-mammal

hunting, and fishing. Probable food processing tools included flaked stone knives, cobble choppers, and a grinding stone. Tool manufacture

and maintenance is particularly well-attested. The making and

refurbishing of stone tools is indicated by numerous lithic cores and — 159 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 4.9 Bone points, probably of composite harpoon heads, from the southern Oregon

Coast.

Figure 4.10 Elk antler and whalebone splitting wedges from the southern Oregon Coast.

abundantflaking debris. Stone knivesand scrapers suggesthideworking.

Woodworking is implied by wedges and chisels of bone and antler, as

well as hammerstones perhaps used to drive the wedges. The making of

basketry, and sewing of hides, is indicated by bone awls and needles. A

small tool made of antler may be a shuttle used in net-making. The

manufacture of such bone and antler tools is suggested by gravers, many

sandstone abraders, and hammerstones, which could have served in

breaking up the bones used as raw material. Personal items and — 160 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

adornments were also found, including a figurine made of antler, a bone

pendant, a piece of carved whale bone, numerous bone and shell beads,

and two whistles made of bird bone.

The abundance and variety of specimens found, several human burials,

and the large extent and considerable depth of the deposits, all suggest

that the site was a quite stable settlement. It was perhaps a village,

occupied as a base of operations the year around. One housepit outline was seen in the profile of an eroding bank at the edge of the sea cliff, but

the structure could not be documented in detail. In another place an

extensive layer of dark, compactearth—littered with numerous artifacts,

bones, charcoal, and fire-cracked rocks—was initially thought to be a house floor. But continued excavations failed to find any distinct boundaries that might indicate walls. Lacking more definite evidence,

the feature was finally labelled as an activity area rather than a house

floor. Large areas of shell midden at Yaquina Head show that shellfish were

exploited throughout the life of the site. The rocky intertidal zone at the

base of the sea cliff is ideal habitat for sea mussels, the shells of which

largely made up the midden. Because the byssal threads by which

mussels attach themselves to rocks also tie the mussels themselves

together, these shellfish are readily collectable in quantity. Barnacles were also common in the midden, while cockles, piddocks, clams, and

other kinds of shellfish were identified in small quantities.

Vertebrate faunal remains were also abundant in the Yaquina Head site. Over 22,000 specimens were recovered from the excavations. Fish bones were by far the most abundant, followed by those of birds, marine

mammals, and terrestrial mammals. Among 18 species of fish, the most

common were hake, greenlings, sculpins, herring, and tomcod. Among

24 species of birds, most common were shearwaters, various kinds of ducks, and fulmars. Among 10 kinds of marine mammals, seals and sea

lions were heavily dominant, with dolphins and larger whales also

represented. Within the terrestrial mammal assemblage, deer and elk greatly predominated; also present were rabbits, beavers and other small

creatures. The impressive diversity of the shellfish and vertebrate faunas

shows that the Yaquina Head people had a very broadly based food

economy, and thus one that should have been generally stable despite

vicissitudes that might affect various individual species from time to time. As summed up by Greenspan and Wigen (1987: 65-66):

Fish were obtained from the nearshore rocky intertidal zone, from

the nearshore rocky reefs, and probably from habitats farther from — 161 —
Archaeology of Oregon

shore. Birds were obtained from terrestrial, shoreline, and marine

habitats, including, evidently, the outer coastal zone. Marine

mammals were obtained both on shore and from offshore rocks,

and possibly from open, outer coastal waters as well. The presence

in the cultural deposits of the remains of sea mammals, offshore

birds, and fish commonly found on offshore reefs, suggests that seagoing watercraft were most likely employed in the subsistence

activities carried out from this site. The vertebrate faunal remains

from Yaquina Head contain many indicators of the season of

occupation; these data strongly suggest that the site was inhabited

throughout the year. About 2000 years ago the people of Yaquina Head left this highly

favorable site, and it was never occupied again in any significant way.

Most probably the abandonment was due to erosional destruction of the route or routes that gave access from the high headland to the productive

shore. Without access to a suitable living area, the richness of the locality

would have availed people little. It has been hypothesized that access between beach and headland was originally afforded by a climbing sand

dune, and that erosion of the base of this dune by the sea ultimately led

to its destruction. Although this hypothesis remains to be fully

demonstrated, the plausibility of the suggested process is shown by the

fact that elsewhere on the Oregon Coast today, climbing dunes in analogous situations exhibit marine erosion of their bases, and in general

unconsolidated sediments along the shoreline are being eroded back at a significant rate. At Cape Perpetua a current erosion rate of four to five inches per year is documented, and at the Houser site in the Oregon

Dunes National Recreation Area, dune movement between 2500 and

3000 years ago caused the rerouting of a creek. Whale Cove

Several miles north along the coast from Yaquina Head, Whale Cove was

occupied in partat the same time as the Yaquina site, with later occupation

near the end of historic times. The earliest deposits at Whale Cove were

layers of burned and unbumed marine shell, which yielded 14C dates of

3010 and 2830 BP. A following layer of dark earth devoid of shells was

dated at 610 BP, and an upper shell layer was dated to 330 BP (Lyman

1991: 244). Clues observed in a trench profile after excavation suggest

that a semisubterranean house floor may have been present in the later deposits, but this was not further investigated. A small assemblage of flaked stone artifacts included projectile points, cutting/scraping tools,

and the cores and flakes related to their manufacture and maintenance. — 162 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

Cobble choppers, hammerstones, abrading stones, manos, and grinding

slabs also occurred. Pointed bone specimens, eyed needles, and awls were relatively numerous, suggesting that sewing and perhaps basketweaving were important at the site. Bone and antler wedges and chisels, also comparatively numerous, imply a certain prevalence of woodworking activity as well. Whistles and beads of bone, some incised with

ornamental markings, also occurred.

Some 20 species of shellfish made up the bulk of the midden deposits. All the common kinds mentioned in preceding accounts were identified

from Whale Cove, but their relative proportions were not analyzed

quantitatively. Fish remains were also recovered, but not identified or

quantified. Terrestrial and marine mammals were, however, studied in

detail. The fauna included several species of rodents in addition to bear, raccoon, deer, elk, whale, sea otter, seals, and sea lions. Among these,

deer, elk, and harbor seal were predominant. In the earliest levels of the

site, deer and elk predominated heavily over sea mammals; in later levels

this pattern was reversed, with harbor seals being much more common.

Other terrestrial and marine mammals participated in the same pattern.

Lyman (1991: 277) suggested possible social and environmental factors

that mighthavebeen responsible for this change, but no definite conclusion

could be reached.

Seal Rock

Very near WhaleCove, Seal Rockadds to the documentation of long-term

cultural continuity on the Oregon Coast. This site, a large shell midden

on a dune near present-day Seal Rock State Park, was described by

Dorsey (1890: 229) as the northernmost historically-occupied settlement

of the Alsea tribe. The archaeological deposits have yielded 14C dates of

375 and 160 BP, and the remains of a small plank house built mere in the

1850s show the site to overlap the transition from prehistoric to historic times. These facts support Dorsey7 s identification (Snyder 1978; Clark

1991 : 178). From the abundance of pinniped bones in the archaeological

deposits, and a substantial assemblage of bone harpoon points, Snyder

(1978) identified the site as a major center for exploiting the sea lion

rookery at nearby Seal Rock, a prominent feature of the central Oregon

Coast. Further analysis of the collection by Lyman (1991: 214-237)

strongly supports this interpretation. His study of the sea lion skeletons

indicates intensive butchering of the carcasses, and even the breaking of

holes in the skull for extraction of the brain.

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Archaeology of Oregon

In addition to their special focus on the sea lion rookery, the occupants of

Seal Rockexploited a wide variety of other resources, as shownby marine

shells, bird bones, fish bones, and the bones of mammals ranging from

hares and rabbits to deer and elk. Projectile points, knives, and scrapers, as well as grinding stones, give evidence of food processing.

Hammerstones, adzes, bone and antler wedges, drills, gravers, and

abrading stones suggest various kinds of tool making. In short, the

evidence indicates the by-now familiar range of hunting, gathering,

fishing, food processing, and manufacturingattested over some thousands

of years at various sites along the coast, here continuing well into the

historic period.

Palmrose, Avenue Q, and Par-Tee

Onthe far northern coast, the Palmrose, Avenue Q, and Par-Tee sites have

given evidence of occupation spanning a longperiod between about3850

and 850 years ago. These sites are at the southern edge of the sandy

Clatsop Plains, whichextend from the mouthof the Columbia southward

to Tillamook Head. Geomorphic studies show that these plains, made up

of sediment carried down by the Columbia River, have been actively

growing and extending the edge of the land seaward since the Pacific began to stabilize near its current level about4000 years ago (Rankin 1983; Peterson et al. 1984).

Palmrose is a large, deep shell midden roughly a half-mile inland from

the present shore near the town of Seaside. Excavations there revealed

part of a large rectangular semi-subterranean structure much like the

wooden long houses seen by Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia in

1 805-1 806. Evidence of at least three floors within this structure indicated

repeated rebuilding, and a series of 21 14C dates clustered in three

periods—roughly 2600-2400 BP, 2200-2100 BP, and 1850-1650 BP. These

dates show that the historic house type, or something very close to it, has

long been used on the Oregon Coast. An isolated date of 3840 BP, not

associated with the structure, maydate the first human use of the location

(Phebus and Drucker 1973, 1977; Connolly 1992).

The Avenue Q Site, close by in modem Seaside, is another large, deep

shell midden. Excavations there have been extremely limited, but

nevertheless demonstrate a long period of human occupation. A

14C date

of 3280 BP was obtained at the bottom of the midden, and 10 other dates

suggest occupational episodes at roughly 2550-2350 BP, 1700-1500 BP,

and 1 350-850 BP. The Par-Tee Site, another middennot far fromPalmrose, — 164
Chapter 4 - Lozver Columbia and Coast

has been 14C dated between about 1700 and 1050 BP. Houses there are

said to have been circular, semi-subterranean structures. These three sites produced similar cultural inventories. Although they

have not been reported in detail, characteristic items were medium to large stemmed and notched projectile points, atlatl weights, stone mortars,

hand mauls, antler digging stick handles, abrading stones of pumice,

antler splitting wedges, composite bone harpoon points,shark-tooth

pendants, and many pieces of worked and decorated bone or antler. This

array of specimens, combined with the large size of the sites themselves,

suggests that most probably all three were substantial villages. No house

remains were detected at Avenue Q, but the excavations were far too

limited to rule out their presence. Of great interest, a number of carved bone and antler artifacts from

Palmrose and Avenue Q show motifs closely similar to those of the

Marpole Phase of Northwest Coast culture in southern British Columbia.

These similarities show clearly that close contacts were being maintained

over great distances up and down the coast by about 2500 years ago. These contacts presage the historic situation, when Chinookan peoples were famed traders who routinely canoed as far north as the Gulf of Georgia, and as far east as The Dalles of the Columbia River (Connolly

1992).

A detailed analysis of mollusk shells from the Palmrose and Avenue Q

middens shows that the occupants of these sites harvested almost

exclusively horse clam, butter clam, and littleneck clam. These are all species that live in the sheltered waters of bays and estuaries, which is of

interest because such habitats no longer occur near these sites. This and

other evidence suggests that quiet marine backwaters once present

nearby were ultimately filled and eliminated by the sand dunes that dominate the vicinity today. Also of interest is that analysis of the growth

rings of the mollusk shells show the season of death—that is, the season when the shellfish were collected—was primarily during the late winter

to early spring months. The shellfish were largely harvested during the

leanest season of the year, when winter stores were most likely to be

depleted (Bamer 1992).

Over 15,000 bones and bone fragments from limited excavations at Palmrose and Avenue Q represent terrestrial animals (Greenspan and

and Crockford 1992). The faunal assemblage is highly diverse, including

25 species of birds, 23 species of fishes, and 14 species of mammals. In order of abundance, the most common fishes were skates, greenlings, — 165 —
Archaeology of Oregon

surf perches, hake, salmon, rockfish, flatfish, and sturgeons. The most

abundant birds were murres, shearwaters, ducks, geese, and swans. Sea

mammals included cetaceans, sea otter, sea lions, and fur seals. The

dominant land mammals were deer and elk. Notably, animals of both

marine and freshwater habitats were common at the Palmrose site, with

most of the freshwater specimens being salmon. At Avenue Q, marine

animals were heavily predominant, with specimens from fresh water a much smaller percentage. The animal remains show that the two sites, though separated by no great distance, had rather different economic

specializations traceable to local habitat differences.

At Avenue Q, increasing freshwater animal remains in later levels suggest some degree of change in the local habitat during the time the site wasoccupied. This is congruentwith the evidence previously mentioned,

of quiet-water marine mollusks abundant in sites where no marine

embayments exist today. Also, the earlier deposits were dominated by

fishes of nearshore rocky reef habitats, such as surf perches, greenlings,

and sculpins. In later levels, hake and skate increased considerably,

suggesting an increase in offshore fishing.

The range and variety of species found at both Palmrose and Avenue Q

indicates that terrestrial, freshwater, nearshore, and offshore habitats were all exploited. Further, the seasons of availability of various species

span the annual round. The long-continued occupation of this area is, thus, easily understood as based in the economic security that such a

diversified portfolio of subsistence resources provided. The observed

cycles of occupation/non-occupation, and eventual abandonment of the

archaeological sites late in prehistory, are just as clearly rooted in geologically-based phenomena that affected the productivity of their immediate local environments.

Geomorphic studies have given evidence of cyclical earthquakes and

tidal waves (tsunamis) along the Oregon Coast in prehistory, caused by

large-scale tectonic processes. The underlying mechanism is concisely

summarized by Connolly (1992: 9): The Oregon Coast parallels the central portion of the Cascadia

Subduction Zone, which lies a short distance offshore. Along this zone, theJuandeFuca Plate is subducting under the North American

Plate. Frictional coupling at the plate margins accumulates strain; as the edge of the North American plate is dragged downward at the subduction zone, a corresponding uplift occurs landward of the

plate's edge. When the strain is released the result is uplift at the

plate's edge and subsidence landward of the edge. The abrupt — 166 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

vertical displacement of the sea floor produces tsunamis in

conjunction with subsidence at the coastal margin.

Darienzo and Peterson (1990; also Peterson et al. 1988) have

documented cyclic episodes of tectonic subsidence along the

northern Oregon Coast. They report a series of buried salt marsh

deposits in cores from Netarts Bay which exhibit sharp upper

boundaries with overlying sand layers (tsunami-deposited

sediment) on tidal mud flat deposits. Atwater (1987) reports similar

evidence from Willapa Bay on the southern coast of Washington.

Buried peat layers separated by sand lenses at Netarts Bay demonstrate

upto nine major and minorcases wherecoastal salt marsh vegetation was

buried under sand carried in by tidal waves. A series of eight 14C dates

from these marsh deposits span the period 3300-370 BP (Connolly 1992: Table 2-1). These findings show the inherently dynamic nature of the

coastal environment, and the continuingchallenge it offered its prehistoric

occupants.

Tillamook Site

Final prehistoric /early historic occupation on the northern coast is best

represented at the Tillamook Site, located on the Netarts sand spit about

seven miles southwest of the town of Tillamook (Newman 1959). The

sand spit on which the site is located extends northward from Cape

Lookout for approximately six miles. It completely protects the broad,

shallow Netarts Bay from the sea except for a narrow channel at its northern end. The bay is noted as a producer of clams, crabs, perch, and

flounder; seals are often observed there as well. Atlow tide, vast mudflats

are exposed, and the archaeological site on the northern end of the spit is ideally situated to take advantage of the shellfishing opportunities.

Prior to excavation, a number of depressions, encircled by low rings of

raised elevation, could be observed at the site. Complete excavation of three of these depressions, and partial excavation of two others, showed

all five to contain the remains of semisubterranean dwellings. The low

elevations surrounding the house pits proved to be accumulations of

midden debris, principally discarded marine shells. Thebest preserved and most informative structure wasa long, rectangular

house that had been built in a large shallow pit. The floor area, which was

outlined by the rotted but still visible stumps of vertically set posts,

measured 52 by 15 feet. Around its edges were found the remains of split — 167 —
Archaeologij of Oregon

cedar planks, some of them up to 15 feet long. These had been set on edge

against the roof support posts to form the structure's walls. Because there were no evident gable support posts at the ends of the building, and

because of its relatively narrow width, it is inferred that the house had a shed roof rather than a gabled one. Both types are known among historic houses of the Northwest Coast. Clustered toward either end of the floor were manyash-and charcoal-stained firehearths, 1 8 in all . These occurred

close together in groups, and clearly would not all have been used at the same time; many were only casually constructed and obviously not used on a routine basis. A number of postmolds found near the middle of the

house were apparently not main structural members, but probably

erected to support partitions within the building. One other house

structure at the site was similar to this one in size as well as mode of

construction, while the remaining three were considerably smaller but

otherwise generally comparable.

The age of the Tillamook Site is established by three 14C determinations,

and by the occurrence of historic artifacts. From the lowest occupation

level a

14C date of 550 BP was obtained, and a date of 280 BP came from

one of the firepits just described. The excavator rejected a third date of 1 50

BP as improbably recent, but in fact such a date fits very well with the

finding of some nearly decomposed iron fragments, a copper pendant,

and nearly 100 sherds of Chinese porcelain. These artifacts show that the

prehistoric occupation continued into the era of Euro-American trade,

which was well begun along the coast by the 1790s. Aboriginal artifacts from the Tillamook site included small arrowpoints

like those of the late Multnomah subphases on the LowerColumbia; bone

barbs for a composite harpoon; flaked stone scrapers and gravers; and

digging stick handles, wedges, awls, and needles made from the long

bones or antlers of deer and elk. Some fragmentary objects of whalebone

were also found. No faunal remains are reported, beyond the shells of

which the midden was composed. Most of the mollusks were blue clam

and cockle, with butter clam and bent-nose clam represented in negligible

amounts.

A sophisticated restudy of the Chinese porcelains from Tillamook has

shed interesting new light on their implications. Several lines of technical

evidence suggest that the porcelains were of Chinese Ming or Ch'ing

(Qing) Dynasty manufacture, made sometime between AD 1573 and

1722. This is well before the era of intensive Euro-American trade along

the Oregon Coast, and the authors suggest that the specimens might

actually have been salvaged by the Tillamook people from the wreckage

of an early European merchant vessel. A likely candidate would be one — 168 —
Chapter 4 - Lozver Columbia and Coast

of the Spanish galleons on the regular Acapulco-Manila run, which was made annually across the Pacific for 250 years, from 1565 to 1815. The

route of the Manila Galleon passed along the Northwest Coast, and the

San Antonio, lost in 1604, or the San Francisco Xavier, lost in either 1705

or 1707 (accounts differ) with "a quantity of porcelain" on board, are two

possible sources of the Tillamook porcelains (Beals and Steele 1981).

Large blocks and candles of beeswax, found in amazing quantity along

the Tillamook shore, are further evidence oflate prehistoric /early historic shipwrecks. As summarized by Woodward (1986), large quantities of

beeswax from the north coast of Oregon were documented as early as

1813. One 1908 report estimated the quantity found there at about twelve

tons, and said that some six tons had been shipped to Hawaii around

1 847. Woodward also describes other finds of Chinese porcelain from the

coast, including flaked projectile points and other tools made by local natives from porcelain fragments. Two 14C dates on a sample of the wax

were 280 BP and 300 BP, putting it in the same general time range as the

porcelains. Possible sources of these exotic materials, other than the

Manila Galleons, could have been Japaneseor Portuguese trading vessels

disabled in typhoons along the Asian shore, and carried to the west coast

of North America by the Japanese Current. Many examples of such

inadvertentdrift voyagesare documented for the 1 9th century. Continuing

research may be expected to further illuminate this earliest Oregon

contact with Old World cultures. Fishing Rocks

At the farthest end of Oregon's northern coast is Fishing Rocks, actually on the Washington State side of the Columbia River mouth. This site is dated by 14C determinations of 970 BP, 640 BP, and 520 BP, spanning the

late prehistoric period. One date of 50 BP indicates recent historic use. The rich but small midden revealed no house remains. A number of pits

and clusters of fire-cracked rock gave evidence of repeated campfires.

Excavations yielded abundant marine shell and other faunal remains.

Bentnose clam, razor clam, and blue mussel were the most abundant

shellfish, with a dozen other typical coastal species also represented.

Perch and rockfish were the most common fishes, with dogfish, salmon,

and sturgeon also present. Predominant sea mammals were the sea otter, harbor seal, and Steller sea lion. Elk, deer, and beaver dominated the

collection of land mammals. Birds were represented by some 14 species,

with Cassin auklet accounting for the greatbulk of the remains. The array

of tools, familiar from other coastal sites, included projectile points,

cutting and scraping tools, choppers, abraders, pointed bone awls, and — 169 —
Archaeologi/ of Oregon

bone or antler wedges and chisels. Historic period artifacts included

fragments of Chinese porcelain, chimney glass, and metal. The site gives

clear evidence of repeated and productive use as a hunting and fishing

camp, its limited extent suggesting occupation by small family-sized

groups (Minor 1983: 99-111).

Lower Columbia River

As noted in the introduction to this chapter, the Lower Columbia valley was an especially rich and densely occupied zone. Many prehistoric sites are known to exist along the river, extending from its mouth upstream to the Columbia Gorge. In 1805, Lewis and Clark estimated that some 8000

people lived along the Columbia in just the 50-mile stretch between the

mouth of the Willamette River at modern Portland, and the mouth of the

Cowlitz River downstream. Some of the native villages were large

enough to be called towns, and travelers on the river were never long out

of sight of a settlement. Excavations in the area have so far been quite

limited, but enough is known to show that the rich ethnohistoric culture

recorded by 19th century Euro-American travellers has roots extending

at least 3000 years into the past. The archaeological remains also show

clearly the cultural affinity of the Lower Columbia with the coastal region

generally.

Eddy Point and Ivy Station

Roughly 25 miles up the Columbia from its mourn at Astoria, sites at EddyPoint and Ivy Station near the townof Knappa represent occupations

that overlap in time, to span the last 3000 years of prehistory and history

in the Columbia estuary. Repeated use of Eddy Point over some 2000

years is indicated by a series of eight 14C dates, the earliest at 3130 BP, the

latest at 890 BP. These come from various levels within some seven feet of culture-bearing deposits. Ivy Station yielded one 14C date of 1370 BP,

and produced an abundance of historic porcelain, window glass, glass

beads, metal buttons, nails, and other evidence to show that it was

occupied well into the historic period.

Both sites produced rich faunal inventories. At Eddy Point, deer and elk were most abundant, with harbor seal also well represented. Fishes

included salmon, sucker, sturgeon, and unidentified marine fish. Gaper

clams and butter clams were attested, though not abundant. Currently,

marine shellfish do not occur in the vicinity, and these were probably

obtained downriver. Duck, goose, and swan were also identified. The

fauna from Ivy Station is very similar. — 170 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

All the major artifact categories are shared as well. Both Eddy Point and

Ivy Station give evidence of flaked stone projectile points and various

cutting and scraping tools. Bone and antler artifacts included parts of

composite harpoon points, awls, chisels, and wedges, as well as ornamental

specimens. Heavy stone items were mauls, pounding stones, and net

sinkers. At neither site did the limited excavations reveal evidence of

house structures. The excavator believes, however, that both probably were sedentary village settlements, in view of their rich and diverse

remains and location in settings that were typical of historic villages

(Minor 1983: 112-147).

Merrybell Site

Farther upstream, in the Portland Basin, excavations at Merrybell and

other sites have established another local sequence that parallels in time

and cultural content the one just described. In this work, chronological

subdivision was a major focus of concern, and the result was a welldefined set of cultural phases that bring out some of the more subtle

changes over time in artifact assemblages. This sequence has already

been referred to in earlier pages, where it was cited as a general guide to coastal chronology in general. This research also gave additional

perspective on village occupation and ecological factors relating to it (Pettigrew 1981; Saleeby 1983b).

The Merrybell Site, on Sauvie Island, gives early evidence of what seems

to have been a major village occupation. Sauvie Island lies below the

Columbia's confluence with the Willamette, and downstream from the

great bend where the big river turns northward, below modern Portland

.

The island is long and narrow, flanked on one side by the Columbia River,

and on the other by Multnomah Channel. The latter is a major stream that diverges from the Willamette several miles above its mouth and flows

parallel to the Columbia for 15 miles or so before joining the big river. Merrybell is situated on the edge of a former slough, extending along it for nearly a quarter-mile. An extensive area was dug by the Oregon

Archaeological Society, yieldinga large numberof specimens. Subsequent

stratigraphic excavations recovered a numberofcharcoal samples, which

produced 14C dates around 2900 BP for a lower level. Traces of structural remains were noted in these excavations but no well-defined dwellings were recorded. Only a few stone specimens were recovered from the very

limited excavations in the lower level of the site, but remains from the

upper level, along with specimens and HC dates from other sites near

Portland, allowed the definition of a cultural phase named after the type

site. — 171 —
Archaeology of Oregon

The Merrybell Phase is dated between 2500 and 1 750 BP. Projectile points

included medium-sized, broad-necked points used to tip atlatl darts, and

small, narrow-necked arrowpoints. Shaped and grooved stones

interpreted as atlatl weights were also present. Fish net sinkers were

represented by large and small pebbles, either notched or showing

evidence of having been wrapped about with cordage. There were also a fewperforated specimens. Shaped and unshaped stone pestles indicated

the processing of vegetal foods. Uniface knives and peripherally flaked

pebble choppers were common, as were stemmed drills. These, along

with small tabular stone axe or adze-heads, antler splitting wedges, and

abrading stones made of pumice, sandstone, or hard igneous rock, were

apparently tools for working wood, bone, and antler. Hunting, fishing, and various domestic processing and manufacturing

activities seem to be well represented by the Merrybell assemblage.

Although faunal remains were poorly preserved, some survived, and the

bonesofdeer, unidentified birds, salmon,minnows, suckers, and sturgeon

show that those species, at least, were taken (Saleeby 1983a).

Cholick Site

At the nearby Cholick Site is represented the inception of the Multnomah

Phase, 1750-100 BP, which followed Merrybell. This phase represents a

cultural tradition that continued unbrokeninto the historic period, where

it appeared as the lifeway of the Chinookan peoples described by Lewis

and Clark. Three subphases are recognized: Multnomah 1, 1 750-700 BP; Multnomah II, 700-200 BP; and Multnomah III, 200-100 BP. The Multnomah I subphase, as seen at Cholick, is similar to the Merrybell

Phase in most details. But it differs in having a higher proportion of

narrow-necked arrowpoints, a lower proportion of broad-necked dart

points, and changes in the relative frequencies of certain other artifacts. Large cutting tools referred to as "mule-ear knives" first appear in Multnomah I. The end of this subphase is marked by a major episode of flooding in the Lower Columbia, the Cascade Landslide Flood. This

followed upon a massive earth movement that blocked the narrow Columbia Gorge above Portland about 700 years ago:

The Cascade Landslide created a temporary earthen dam,

impounding the waters of the Columbia River near the site of

Bonneville Dam in the Columbia Gorge. When the earthen dam

broke, it caused a catastrophic flood downstream that destroyed

manyaboriginal settlements; it also mayhave caused major changes — 172 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

in the topography of river channels and land surfaces. As a consequence, villages may have been reestablished at new sites, in response to shifted salmon migration routes and alterations in the

river and slough channels used for transportation (Pettigrew

1981:121).

At the Cholick Site this event is indicated by a thick stratum of silt, completely devoid of cultural remains, that occurs within the deposits not far above a

14C date of 850 BP. With only one documented exception,

the Cholick Site itself, those settlements in the Portland Basin known to have been occupied before the date of the Cascade Landslide Flood were

not reoccupied thereafter; sites of the Multnomah II and HI subphases,

which postdate the flood period, appear in new locations. Meier Site

The best single representative of the Multnomah II and III subphases is the Meier Site, a mile or so west of Multnomah Channel. Characteristic of

both subphases are small, narrow-necked arrowpoints similar to those of

Multnomah I, but also including new styles. Broad-necked points, which

diminished steadily in numbers after the Merrybell Phase, were by these

times quite rare. Other items presumably related to the hunt were flaked stone scrapers and some large cutting tools referred to as mule ear knives.

Aspects of the food quest were represented by bone points, barbs, and

foreshafts—which seem to be parts of fish harpoons—and perforated

stones interpreted as net sinkers. Vegetal food processing is indicated by

stone mortar fragments, heavy shaped and unshaped pestles, and a perforated deer antler tine identical to those used historically as digging

stick handles.

Manufacturingactivities are represented by splitting wedges ofbone and

antler, abrading stones of pumice and hard igneous rock, and flaked stone graving tools, all probably used in woodworking; hammerstones

and antler tine flakers, probably used in making flaked stone artifacts; and pointed bone splinters, that may have functioned as awls in the

manufacture of leather and basketry items.

Objects of artistic, ornamental, or ceremonial importance were well

represented at the Meier Site. Aboriginal craft work and concepts are portrayed by incised clay tablets, clay figurines, simple stone and bone

sculptures of birds and other creatures, beads and pendants of ground

stone and shell, and a perforated shark's tooth pendant. Euro-American — 173 —
Archaeologi/ of Oregon

trade goods, attributable to the very latest part of the occupation, included

rolled copper tube beads, glass trade beads, and some unidentified metal

fragments.

The remains of a large plank longhouse havebeen partially uncovered by

new excavations at the Meier Site (Ames et al. 1992). Six 14C dates, and a few glass trade beads and pipe fragments, indicate that the house was

built some500 years ago, and occupied thereafter into historic times. This

remarkable structure, estimated to be about 45 feet wide by 1 15 feet long,

would have housed a very substantial extended family. The dwelling was repaired and rebuilt many times, its use-history demonstrated by a myriad of cross-cutting and superimposed postholes and plank

impressions across its whole area. Ousters of overlapping postholes

show that some main wall and roof support members had been shored

up or replaced as many as 8 to 10 times over the life of the house. A

profusion of firepits and storage pits, dug, filled, and re-dug many times

by generations of householders over several centuries of occupation,

covered the floor area. These pits yielded an abundance of fire-cracked

rock and tens of thousands of bone fragments from elk, deer, salmon,

sturgeon and other animals, the remains of food that was stored, cooked,

and eaten in the house. It is calculated that at least 40,000 board feet of

western red cedar went into the initial building (a modern 3-bedroom

house requires 10 to 12,000 board feet of lumber). Periodic replacement

of decaying supports and planking over a use-life of 400 years probably

required half a million to a million board feet of lumber. This study,

bringing out the astounding longevity of the Meier longhouse, and the

major continuing investment required in its maintenance, offers an

important new perspective on traditional household life in the region.

The results of this continuing research, not fully available at the time of

writing, will greatly enrich our knowledge of later prehistory in the

Portland Basin.

Resources of the Sauvie Island Vicinity

Bones of some 40 different kinds of animals were identified from the

above three sites in the Sauvie Island vicinity (Saleeby 1983b). The most

common large animals were deer and elk. Bear, dog, raccoon, beaver,

muskrat, duck, goose, swan, and crane were also represented. Fish

remains included salmon, sturgeon, sucker, and minnow. Shells of

freshwater mussels were recovered as well. In all, a dietary economy very

like that of the historic Chinook is suggested.

An analysis of potential food resources in the Sauvie Island vicinity

mapped the spatial distribution of various species, and charted their most

likely seasons of procurement. This showed that the prehistoric people

here enjoyed a sufficiently rich, varied, and accessible natural resource — 174 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

base to permit year around occupation of sedentary villages. In this setting, there would have been no necessity for the seasonal movement

so commonly seen among hunting-gathering societies elsewhere (Table

4.1, Figure 4.11).

Season SPRING

Resources

Salmon, Steelhead trout Sturgeon

Smelt

Habitat

Riverine

Waterfowl Lacustrine, Palustrine Sandhill crane Palustrine, Grasslands Deer Riparian, Grasslands Camas, Bracken fern Wild strawberry Grasslands

Wild strawberry, Wood sorrel Conifer forest Horsetail Palustrine Cow parsnip Wild celery Wood sorrel

Riparian SUMMER Salmon, Steelhead trout Riverine Lupine, Kinnikkinnick Huckleberry, Oregon grape

Salal berry

Conifer forest

Skunk cabbage Palustrine

Cattail Riverine, Palustrine Wood sorrel, salmon berry dewberry, thimbleberry

blackcap, elderberry

Riparian, Conifer

forest Oso berry Riparian, Oak woodland

Conifer forest FALL Salmon

Freshwater mussels Waterfowl

Sandhill crane Deer

Elk Bear

Serviceberry Acorns

Hazelnuts Crabapple

Sturgeon Smelt Waterfowl Deer

Elk Bear

Riverine

Lacustrine, Palustrine

Palustrine, Grasslands

Riparian, Grasslands Oak woodlands, Conifer forest Conifer forest

Oak woodlands

Grasslands (edges) Riverine

Lacustrine, Palustrine Riparian, Grasslands

Conifer forests Conifer forests Table 4.1 Seasons during which various available exploited in the Sauvie Island catchment sphere.

1983: Table 37).

food resources were most likely to be Compare with Figure 4.11. (Saleeby — 175
Archaeology of Oregon

Riverine/Lacustrine IB Palustrine HRiparian E3 Oak Woodland

Grassland

Conifer Forest

Figure 4.11 Distribution of natural resource zones in the Sauvie Island catchment sphere

(Saleeby 1983: Map 9). — 176 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

House Types of the Lower Columbia

As described in the Lewis and Clark diaries of 1805-1806, large multifamily rectangular plank houses were the characteristic native residence

all along the LowerColumbia River. It wasnoted above that archaeological

remains of such a house have been 14C dated as early as 2550 years ago

at the Palmrose site near the mouth of the Columbia, and it seems likely that comparable dates may one day be obtained for such structures in the

Portland Basin. The remarkable plank house at the Meier site,just

described, is a good representative of the historically-known type in that

area. But the prehistoric folk of the Portland Basin also made smaller

semisubterranean dwellings and above-ground mat lodges like those of

the Plateau. Excavations at the Ede Site, on the Columbia just west of

Portland, exposed a shallow semisubterranean house with a saucer- shaped floor somewhat over 25 feet in diameter. Beneath this floor was

found part of another. The lower floor was 14C dated to 1690 BP, on

charcoal from a firepit; the upper floor was dated to 1460 BP, on charcoal

embedded in the floor itself (Minor 1989c). At the nearby Kersting site, circular semisubterranean houses were attested from the same level as a rectangular house that was dated by three 14C determinations clustering

around 2000 years ago. At sites near Skamania and Camas, farther upriver, excavations revealed

circular housepits containing projectile points like those of the Merrybell

Phase (2500-1750 BP). These structures were said to closely resemble the

traditional pithousesof the interior Plateau region. Abit farther upstream,

near the outlet of the Columbia Gorge, the Caples site revealed oval

semisubterranean housepits that were also said to suggestPlateau winter

houses. Four 14Cdeterminations of 740, 490, 440, and 300 BP date this site.

In the same vicinity, a lower level of site 45SA1 1 gave evidence of shallow

oval housepits suggestive of Plateau summer mat lodges, while from an upper level came evidence of substantial rectangular plank-walled

dwellings. Eight 14C dates between 465 BP and modern times establish

the late prehistoric-early historic age of 45SA11. Its historic period

occupation is further documented by abundant Euro-American trade

goods, and descriptions of its appearance as a village of plank-walled

houses in the Lewis and Clark diaries (Dunnell and Beck 1979; Minor,

Toepel, and Beckham 1986; Warren 1959).

From these findings it appears that the architectural uniformity seen along the Lower Columbia by early historic explorers was only recently — 177 —
Archaeologi/ of Oregon

established. Earlier occupants made use of at least three different house

forms, apparently reflecting community and seasonal variations, as well

as cultural relations with the Plateau region upriver.

Artistic and Symbolic Forms

Rock art sites are little-known along the Oregon Coast. Some are reported

from the lower reaches of the Columbia, but rock art is not nearly as abundant as in the Plateau and Northern Great Basin. Why sites are so few in Oregon's coastal zone is not clear, since rock art is well-represented

farther north, especially in British Columbia. The relative lack of

information may reflect only a paucity of research on the subject, but it could be simply mat the soft sedimentary rocks of the coast do not offer surfaces sufficiently erosion-resistant for rock art to survive over long

periods. Surely future field work specifically directed to rock art will bring to light at least some more examples.

Perhaps the best-known rock art site in the Portland Basin is at Gentry's

Landing, on the Washington State side of the Columbia. Here several

groups of boulders scattered along the river for roughly 600 feet display

a great number of pits and grooves ground into their surfaces. Most of the

pits are simply small depressions. The grooves take several forms. Many

are just straight lines, some are zigzags, and some represent sets of

parallel hash marks or nested "V" or "U" forms. Some of the grooves

have a pit at one end. A number of circles are also seen, some of them

occurring in concentric sets. Occasionally two or three circles are joined

together by a line drawn through their centers, and a few individual

circles are bisected by a short line. No humanlike or animal forms seem

to be represented. Clearly these carved rocks were developed over a

considerable period of time, as indicated by the hundreds of individual

elements represented, and their crowding and overlapping (Loring and

Loring 1982: 16-21).

Figurines carved of stone or molded in clay are an important symbolic

form that is well represented on the LowerColumbia and in southwestern

Oregon as well, including the far south coast. Little is known about the occurrence of such objects in the intervening area, but again this must be

at least partly due to very limited research on the subject.

A series of sites bordering Lake River, on the Washington State side of the

Columbia River west of Vancouver, have yielded fired clay figurines and

other objects (Stenger 1991). The figurines typically taper from a broad

end to a rounded tip, and lack appendages. Some are anthropomorphic, — 178 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

with faces represented by incised lines. Cutpieces of shell impressed into

the clay before firing sometimes indicate hair or facial features. Other

figurines, not of human form, exhibit punctated and incised decorative

patterns. Occasional fired clay sherds, apparently representing vessel fragments, have also been found. These too are decorated with incisions or punctations. Smoking pipes and pendants complete the array of types.

The specimens are believed to be of late prehistoric age, approximately

the Multnomah II subphase (700-200 BP) in the Portland Basinchronology.

Stenger (1991: 120) speculates about a Japanese origin for this tradition,

but it must also be noted that the Lake River specimens have parallels

much closer to home in southwestern Oregon (Mack 1991). Clearly a

distinctive tradition, this fired clay industry merits further study and

analysis of its place in Lower Columbia prehistory.

Bear, seal, owl, beetle, salamander, jay, woodpecker, otter, and salmon were known to the people of Oregon's southern coast as fellow creatures with special powers, who might become spirit helpers (Pullen 1990).

Individuals who gained such guardian spirits could rely on their help in curing illness, in hunting and fishing, or in foretelling the future. Nellie

Lane, a traditional doctor of the Lower Coquille community, described

the role of spirit helpers in her training:

I first dreamed about Grizzly Bear. He looked just like a person, but

hewasabear. He told me, Tou're going to become a big doctor. I'm

going to be your power; I shall stand behind you whenyou cure sick

people. Tomorrow I don't want you to eat anything all day. I want

you to walk around in the hills and practice this song all day." Then

he sanghis songfor me. Thenextone I dreamtof wasYellowhammer.

He looked like a person too. He said to me, "I'm going to be your

power. When you sing my song you can cure people who are sick. When you think about me, then you can cure." These two kept

comingback to me, telling mehow to train myself, all the time. Once

Coyote came to me. I said, "I don't want you for my 'power'."

Coyote is mean, always doing mean things. He is kind of foolish

too, sometimes. You know the stories about him. I didn't want him,

because I was afraid he might make me do things like he does. Next

I dreamed about Otter. He came to meand said, "I'm going to help

you. You have to sing my song first whenyou wantto cure someone who is sick. When you sing my song I shall be right there near you.

Other people can't see me, but you will see me there helping you"

(Drucker 1937: 280-281).

Stone sculptures, clay figurines, and occasional engraved petroglyphs

found on the south coast suggest that people sometimes made — 179 —
Archaeology of Oregon

representations of their animal helpers. They also show that the traditions

of these creatures stem from prehistoric times. Pullen (1990: 122-23)

reports that a number of stone and clay bear effigies have been found by

artifact collectors at places on the Siuslaw, Coquille, Umpqua, and Pistol

rivers. Seal sculptures have been found along the Lower Coquille. A

carved bone owl effigy was taken from the Umpqua-Eden site near the

mouth of the Coquille. Water beetle petroglyphs occur near the falls at Scottsburg, on the Umpqua River. Steller's Jay seems to be represented on stone sculptures found on the Smith River and near Coos Bay, and a woodpecker sculpture is known from a site near the Coquille River

mouth. A sea otter figure comes from the south fork of the Coquille River near Powers. Finally, salmon effigies carved from blue schist have been

found on the lower Coquille and lower Rogue rivers. Pullen suggests that

all these items were linked with beliefs handed down in oral tradition,

and figured prominently in the rituals and ceremonies that brought

people together for various religious and social purposes.

Future Research

The stress placed throughout this chapter on continuity between

prehistoric andhistoric culturesis warrantedbymanyobserved similarities in settlement pattern and material culture. But, as noted in previous

chapters, it is easier to compare past and present in the material culture

sphere thanin the realmofsocietal organization. Thiscaveat has particular

force in western Oregon, where the native peoples described by Lewis

and Clark and other early Euro-American travelers were disastrously

stricken by measles, smallpox, and other Old World diseases. Their

numbers had been dreadfully reduced by the time even the earliest historic chroniclers arrived in the area. This kind of disruption would have had relatively little effect on the

elements of material culture, technology, and interaction with the natural

environment that are stressed in the present account. But epidemic

disease would inevitably have had a powerful effect on societal

organization. It is quite possible, even likely, that more complex social systems existed in prehistoric times than thoseimpliedbythe ethnographic

record. Archaeological information of the kind needed for definitive

evaluation of this issue is still very limited, but the picture should become

clearer as more research is carried out. Thus, the nature of prehistoric social and settlement systems throughout

the Pacific Coast/Lower Columbia region should be a major topic of

future research. Dunnell et al. (1973) and Saleeby (1983) have addressed — 180 —
Chapter 4 - Lower Columbia and Coast

the matter for the Lower Columbia area. Minor and Toepel (1983)

analyzed patterns of aboriginal land use along the southern Oregon

Coast. Draper (1988) has made an effort to determine the different types

of sites occupied by residential and task groups in the same area, and to specify the relative permanency or mobility of community groups. In all these cases, the question of a major decline in native population at the

opening of the contact period is critical. Another realm of uncertainty is the full character of occupation before

about 3000 years ago along the Pacific Coast and Lower Columbia.

Human presence at least 8000 years ago is established by the evidence of

Tahkenitch Landing, and people were undoubtedly in the region before

that. At Ground Hog Bay and Namu, on the coasts of Alaska and British Columbia, coastal occupationpredates 9000 BP(Dumond 1983). Evidence

from this early time is extremely thin all along the west coast, however,

and much research will be needed to provide a better picture. Oregon's

current beach lines are young, reflecting a postglacial rise in sea level that

stabilized at the modern stage only about 3000 years ago. Future studies

in the region will have to attend to this archaeological fact of life by

searching for evidence of earlier occupation on high coastal headlands, on off-shore rocks and islands, beneath coastal dune fields, along river

estuaries, and at higher elevations in the coastal interior. A virtual absence of evidence for prehistoric occupation in the Coast

Range also demands further research. The steep, rugged terrain and

dense rainforest vegetation no doubt inhibited travel and residence there

to some degree, but it must be remembered that the same factors also

limit the archaeological visibility of any evidence that might be mere. It would surely be poor science to infer from our current archaeological

ignorance that the area was not utilized by prehistoric people. It was

certainly rich in attractive resources, and the extent of its actual use must

be seriously examined by future research. There may also be a future for underwater archaeology on the Oregon

Coast. With adequate seafloor maps, diving archaeologists armed with

a knowledge of factors governing site location may be able to find some

of the evidence of early coastal occupation that mustbe there, on the ocean

bottom, awaiting discovery.

181 —
Archaeology of Oregon

182 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

Chapter 5

Willamette Valley

The Willamette Valley is completely surrounded by the other

archaeological regions of Oregon. The Northern Great Basin and Plateau

lie to the east and northeast, across the Cascades; the Pacific Coast and

Lower Columbia River lie to the west and north; and the Southwestern

Mountainslie to thesouth (Figure5.1 ). The WillametteValley environment

has a somewhat "Californian" character that is unique within the Pacific Northwest. About 20 miles wide and 1 00 miles long, it is flanked east and

west by the coniferous forests of the Cascades and Coast Range. Its alluvial plain is veined by rivers and creeks flowing out of both ranges to join the Willamette River on its course northward to the Columbia below

Portland. Prior to 20th century agricultural land clearing, gallery forests of deciduous and evergreen trees followed the watercourses, and much

of the valley floor wasin opengrassland with scattered oakgroves (Towle

1982; Boyd 1986).

The indigenous people of the Willamette Valley, who all spoke languages

belonging to the Kalapuyan family, formed a series of small, independent

groups: in the north lived the Tualatin, Yamhill, and Pudding River

bands; centrally located were the Luckiamute, Santiam, Mary's River

Muddy Creek, and Tsankupi bands; and in the upper valley were the

Long Tom, Chafan, Mohawk, Winefelly, and Yoncalla bands. East of the — 183 —
Archaeology of Oregon

t§&t

,€li; i

Key to Sites

1 - Willamette Falls 2 - Fuller and Fanning Mounds

3 - Hager's Grove

4 - Cascadia Cave

5 - Templeton

6 - Hurd Site

7 - Benjamin Sites. Kirk Park 8 - Inman Creek. Hannavan Creek. Perkins Park

9 - Flanagan Site 10 - Mohawk River

1

1

- Cottage Grove

12 - Western Cascades Uplands

13 - Baby Rock Shelter. Rigdon's Horse Pasture Cave

Figure 5.1 Map showing site locations in the Willamette Valley region of Oregon.

— 184 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

valley, the Molalla (of a separate but related linguistic group) occupied

the Cascades from about Oregon City in the north to Crater Lake in the

south. How far back in time the historic pattern of life might extend is the

subject of continuing research, but human occupancy probably dates

back 11,500 years or so, and is firmly demonstrated as exceeding at least 8,000 years (Cheatham 1988).

Ethnographic Life Way

The lifeway of the native peoples, as described in 19th and early 20th

century accounts, provides a model for understanding the archaeological

evidence (Beckham, Minor and Toepel 1981; Minor et al. 1980; Zenk

1976). In the 19th century, Kalapuyan groups occupied the whole of the

valley from Willamette Falls (Oregon City) southward. The range of one

group, the Yoncalla, extended beyond the head of the Willamette Valley

into the Upper Umpqua River region. The basic economic pattern of

mobile hunting, fishing, and gathering was, of course, governed by the

natural resources available in the regional landscape. As the following

archaeological accounts will show, the digging of camas, gathering of

wild nuts, and hunting of deer, elk, and other game are attested for the

Willamette Valley as early as 8000 years ago. Evidence from the western

Cascades shows that hunting camps were also occupied there by that

time.

A map of individual group territories shows graphically the close relationship of the people to their natural environment. The Willamette

River, flowing down the middle of the valley, separated eastern from

western groups (Figure 5.2). Each group occupied an elongated territory that began at the big river and extended across the valley into the foothills of either the Coast Range or Cascades. Typically, territories paralleled the courses of smaller rivers tributary to the Willamette. This settlement

pattern assured access for each group to all the basic land types of the

region: river, gallery forest, grassland, oak grove, foothills, and montane

woodland. By moving about within their individual ranges on a seasonal

basis, groups could harvest each resource as it ripened, or was most

readily obtained, or most conveniently scheduled.

Seasonal alternations gave a natural rhythm to human activities. Fishing was scheduled mainly in spring, fall, and winter, though fish were

available all year. During the root harvest, from early through late summer, starchy bulbs were dug in great quantity from meadows filled with camas lilies. To bake and preserve the camas bulbs, large pits were dug and lined with stream cobbles, and a fire wasbuilt over them. When — 185 —
Archaeology of Oregon

/ Xlf o 10 20 Miles ^\: v 1—-C=_l I 1 s

/ ))u \\^^>-4,

^^

Nltfe^^ 1 ^Vj \ JgPortlond 3 Tualatin W^__\ W^^_^

f ^-^—\ LVOregon v \ _,_>>£!* ^N^X \

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(Z Yamhill Q /

Riverjl/ ) „ Northern \^\_^^

\Molala L^^

1^ ^^^f^ ' r~fi|jr Solem^^ J ^^Y^

1 Luckiatnute £ ^**^^\--—

L>C K^t^^YA^/ir^^^ rC" [Mt

Jefferson ) ^ \r ' *\^<r^i~ ^""^^ I * / N—„%• „_^_ Santiam 1 —'Upper j / LMarys ftt?^ \ 1

I ^ r\- I /^Albany S 1 Santiam /

-

\ Creek/4 ^— ^ 1 '^^^~'/—> U

\ ft Tsankupl^"-V MOLALA } yA \ / ^"Cr^- { s

/Long? X^+rf /l \sy

/pTom/ V* J Mohawk k^s^fT 1 Three # Sisters ^^^^ 7 Eugenest*T~\^ ^1 ^\ \ v*" J ^T^-^ \\ ,- /wine^-V

V^TT'Tl.Jelly /^\

C A ^4 *^s / ^>^I ^^^^ \ A V ^r^ \ \ ^W__^ \ ^ / Yoncalla ^rv.^ §y

\y ) I / ^^ *\ j ^=/ ( / Southern f*K 1 / / Molala ^>>V

/ OREGON J

Figure 5.2 Distribution of Kalapuya group territories east and west of the Willamette

River; Molala territory in the Western Cascades.

the rocks were hot the fire was raked away, the pit filled with camasbulbs,

and earth placed over the top. After baking for two or three days, the

bulbs were removed and pounded into cakes for winter stores. The

gathering of a wide variety of seeds, berries, and other plant foods went

on throughout summer and early fall. Hunting was primarily a fall season pursuit, though deer, elk, waterfowl, and smaller animals were

present, and taken to some extent, the year around. Throughout the — 186 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

productive season, foods weredried and stored for winter, which was not

a time of major food-getting activity.

Residential patterns were related to these cycles, and to the attendant

weather conditions. In the busy summer months, when the weather was

fine, people ranged widely. They camped in the open with only the most

casual of brush shelters, when any shelters were used at all. During the

cool, wet months of the year they lived in substantial houses, each

sheltering multiple families. One type of structure, described by a native

of the Mar/sRiver area in the northwestern comer of the valley, was said

to be up to 60 feet in length. It had a pole frame, bundles of grass tied to the frame to make up the walls, and a flat—or nearly flat—roof covered

with slabs of bark. Inside, the house was partitioned off to accommodate

as many as 1 families. The interior was furnished with mats of tule grass. Beds were laid along the walls, and from the rafters hung baskets and

bags containing stored provisions. Another type of structure, only

sketchily described, was a roughly conical shelter about 15 by 20 feet across which contained, amongother things, drying racks for salmon and

roots. This was apparently used during the summer season (Mackey

1974).

Kalapuyan society seems to have been basically simple, each local group

practicingautonomy in governance. Marriage ties linked together different bands,and tradingpartnershipsallied peopleofdifferent areas. Historical accounts suggest that the Tualatinband of the northern valley joined with

the coastal Tillamook and Alsea in raiding for slaves, which were then

traded to the Chinook along the Lower Columbia River. Other kinds of trade relationships no doubt existed as well. No major chiefs, nor any

well-defined elite class, apparently existed in the Willamette Valley.

Society was largely egalitarian, except for a small class of slaves who

occupied the lowest level of social status. Few additional details are known of the native society, largely because the Northwest, including the

Willamette Valley, was stricken by a series of influenza or malaria

epidemicsduring thelate 1 700sand early 1 800s. Thesediseasesdevastated

whole populations, destroying much of the aboriginal way of life before

it could be recorded.

The Molala, who occupied the Cascades to the east of the Willamette

Valley, apparently were few in number but well-established in the

montane zone (Rigsby 1965, 1969). They wintered in small autonomous

villages along the rivers of the lower western Cascades, and exploited the

higher elevations in summer. They gathered roots and berries, hunted elk and deer, and fished for salmon, steelhead, trout, and eels in the streams

and lakes of their country. They are known to have traded with the — 187 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Klamath, and to have intermarried with their Klamath, Kalapuyan,

Chinookan, and other neighbors. Molala myths tell of long-standing

enmity and occasional warfarebetween themand their Cayuse neighbors

to the east, and some basis for such friction may be seen in ethnohistoric

records that document hunting and gathering trips into the western

Cascades (Molala territory) by east-side peoples.

Landscape and Natural Resources

The open Willamette Valley, with its cover of wild grasses, broad fields of camas lilies, and oak groves, produced edible seeds, bulbs, and acorns

in greatquantity. Manylocalities carry the name "camas swale/' indicating a former abundance of this important native food that has largely

disappeared under modern cultivation and stock grazing. The old oak

groves have suffered a similar fate. Though both camas and oak remain

characteristic of the valley's natural vegetation today, their present rather

meager occurrence should not be mistaken as representing aboriginal

conditions. Bottomland plant communities along the valley's streams

contained other species which also produced edible or otherwise usable

parts. These included hazelnut, Oregon grape, salmonberry, elderberry,

and ninebark.

Historic accounts show that the Willamette Valley people regularly

burned the grasslands; it is believed by some biogeographers, in fact, that the Willamette Valley would have been invaded and covered by forest had this not been an ancient practice, maintained from time immemorial

(Johannessen et al. 1971). The English botanist David Douglas (whose

name has been given to the Douglas-fir) travelled the valley in 1826 and

related that great burned expanses were to be widely seen. Charred

growth rings in old trees memorialize repeated burnings over a period

of almost 300 years, between 1647 and 1943. A dramatic drop in the

frequency of burning after 1848 coincided with the arrival of alien

immigrantsand their suppression ofthe native population. This supports

the inference that the earlier fires had indeed been set by natives (Sprague

and Hansen 1946). Such burning would have promoted the growth of

important seed-producing grasses, kept the streamside forests clear of

heavy underbrush, and facilitated deer and elk-hunting activities by

keeping the country relatively open (see Boyd [1986] for a detailed

account).

The slack water sloughs and marshes once common in the Willamette

Valley attracted and supported various resources. The Pacific Migratory

Hywayannually brought clouds of ducks, geese, swans, and other water — 188 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

birds to overwinter and breed in the mild climate. Grouse, quail, pigeons,

and doves were important as well, beinglocal residents available the year

around. The edges of the valley, and the mountainsbehind, held yet other

resources. Both the Cascades to the east and the Coast Range to the west were densely covered with Douglas-fir. Mature stands of coniferous

forest are not notably rich in edible life forms, but along stream bottoms,

in burned-off areas, and around lakes and bogs in these mountains, were

found salmonberry, elderberry, huckleberry, and an abundance of

woodland game. Elk, deer, black bear, grizzly bear, beaver, raccoon, and

squirrel were just a few of the mammalian species available. The subsistence economy of the Willamette Valley was conditioned very

significantly by a specific feature of local geology, as Cheatham (1988:

199) points out: The lava flow that underlies the Willamette River near Oregon City

stands in a special relationship to prehistoric cultural development

in the Upper Willamette Valley, for the waterfall it created there

presented an almost insurmountable barrier to anadromous fish attempting to migrate upstream. The result was that salmon

constituted at best an undependable subsistence resource for the

prehistoric peoples who lived upriver. The lava sill also prevented

the river from increasing its slope, resulting in the maintenance of a broad, moist valley flood plain in the Upper Willamette Valley, an

ideal setting for abundant propagation of the camas lily. In effect, the falls denied Willamette Valley natives the use of salmon, a major

subsistence resource throughout the Northwest Coastand Plateau,

while significantly increasing the availability ofcamas, a secondary

staple elsewhere.

TheWillamette Falls themselves were neverthelessa fishery ofimportance,

which seasonally attracted people from both the Portland Basin and

Lower Willamette Valley. The locality was, in a smaller way, a gathering

place like The Dalles of the Columbia River east of the Cascades. And

with the high water of spring, some salmoncould indeed ascend the falls, as observed by Charles Wilkes in June, 1841: The salmon leap the fall; and it would be inconceivable, if not

actually witnessed, how they can force themselves up, and after a leap of from ten to twelve feet retain strength enough to stem the

force of the water above. About one in ten of these who jumped

would succeed in getting by . . . (Wilkes 1845, quoted in Minor et al. 1981:58).

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Archaeology of Oregon

But though anadromous fish were not wholly excluded from the upper

valley, the impact of the barrier on human subsistence is seen in the diaries

of 1 9th century travellers. Those who moved along the Columbia, or other

Northwest rivers, frequently mentioned eating salmon. In the accounts

of Willamette Valley travellers, however, fish are rarely mentioned;

instead, the diarists hunted or traded for elk, deer, various small mammals,

and birds such as ducks, geese, and pigeons (Cheatham 1988: 8). Thus the Willamette Valley offered its natural largesse widely dispersed over a broad area. The human population adapted to this reality by

developing a quite dispersed pattern of settlement, and a comparatively

mobile society.

Time and Environmental Change

Floods emanating from the Cascades and Coast Range over a long period

of geological time have buried the Willamette Valley floor ever deeper in gravel, sand, and silt. In the late glacial period, the catastrophic Missoula

floods more than once surged up the Willamette Valley, carrying silt and

ice-rafted rocks almost as far south as modern Eugene (Baldwin 1976). As

a result of this history, large areas of the valley floor are geologically very

recent. They cannot be expected to yield evidence of early people, unless

it is fortuitously exposed by erosion or excavation. The regional

geomorphology is, therefore, of great importance to prehistoric cultural

investigations.

Ten major geomorphic surfaces have been defined for the Willamette

Valley. In order of decreasing age these are the Looney, Eola, Dolph,

Quad, Calapooyia, Senecal, Champoeg, Winkle, Ingram, and Horseshoe

units (Balster and Parsons 1968). The Horseshoe unit is the currently

active modern floodplain. The Ingram unit is assigned an age between

about 550 and 3300 BP, while the next older Winkle unit appears to range

in age from about 5250 BP near its surface to sometime near 34,400 BP at

its base. These assessments are based on 14Cdeterminations. Clearly there

is great potential for cultural remains to exist within the Ingram and

upper Winkle alluvium, which together extend back well into, and

beyond, the time that human beings are known to have been in the New

World.

Only the most recent sites are likely to be detectable on the modern valley

floor. Cultural remains left in mid-valley by early occupants must now lie deeply buried in alluvial sediments. The older geomorphic surfaces

along the edges of the valley, however, have not been subjected to — 190 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

flooding and heavy deposition since the river cut itself down below their

level. There ancient artifacts are likely to be less deeply hidden, and early

sites are most likely to be found.

Postglacial climate in the Willamette Valley is known through studies of

fossil pollen from the sediments of Onion Rat and Lake Labish near Salem (Hansen 1942, 1947). Pollen countsshow that after the last glaciation,

local climate shifted froma cool, wet regime to one markedly warmerand

drier. The early postglacial period, between about 9000 and 7000 years

ago, was a time of transition, when white pine and Sitka spruce—trees which thrive under cool, moist conditions—declined in numbers. By

4000 years ago there had been further decline in the abundance of cool- climate species, and an increase in Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine; the

latter especially is a tree that does well in relatively warm, arid situations. The white oak, which does best under relatively warm, dry conditions,

reached a maximum during this latter interval. After 4000 years ago the

climate again turned somewhat cooler and moister. This led to the forest patterns seen around and in the valley today, with Douglas-fir and some

ponderosa pine on the surrounding hills, and oak and other deciduous

species on the valley floor.

This sequence reflects the same general trends noted for other parts of

Oregon; in fact, these local fluctuations belong to a pattern of world-wide

climatic change during postglacial times. The degree to which these

climatic changes affected the lives of prehistoric Willamette Valley

peoples is an interesting question. To the extent that climatic changes

affected the vegetation, they would surely have influenced people, who

harvested both plants and the animals that feed on them. This remains an

area to be explored by future research. Cultural Chronology and Time Markers

The earliest artifacts known from the Willamette Valley are of PaleoIndian type; Clovis fluted spearpoints have been found on the surface at several places (Toepel 1985). The Clovis type appears in dated sites elsewhere between about 1 1,500 and 10,500 BP, and the local specimens

probably were made during the same time range. An Early Archaic occupation follows the very scantily attested Paleolndian period. Characteristic of the Early Archaic is the willow-leafshaped Cascade point, which has been 14C dated to nearly 8000 BP. Toward the end of this period there appeared large, thick, side-notched

points reminiscent of the Northern Side-notched type from the Plateau

and Great Basin. — 191 —
Archaeology of Oregon

The Middle Archaic is

14C dated after about 6000 BP. Large points similar

to the Northern Side-notched type, along with large stemmed points, are

characteristic of this period. The large Early and Middle Archaic points

all appear to have been made for use with the atlatl and dart. A number of 14C dates indicate that the Late Archaic began around the

start of the Christian era, about 2000 BP. Small triangular and stemmed

points are quite abundant after this date, marking the inception of bow

and arrow use. The same styles were made into the historic period, when

they appear in some sites along with metal tools and glass trade beads

from Euro-American sources (Figure 5.3). The same stylistic characters in point types that mark change over time

also offer clues to the cultural affiliations and contacts of their makers. In the case of the Willamette Valley, the styles reflect close ties to the

Columbia Plateau.

Mohawk River, Templeton, Cottage Grove

A large Clovis fluted point, its edges battered and rounded by streamrolling, was found along the Mohawk River near Springfield in 1959

(Allely 1975). Another Clovis point, said to have been found near Cottage

Grovein 1935, wasdonated to theOregonState MuseumofAnthropology.

Two large lanceolate points were reportedly found with mammoth

bones in the side wall of a drainage slough on the Templeton property

near the Calapooia River, along with mammoth bones. But since these

finds were made in 1895 and reported from memory a half-century later, the association mustbe regarded as a possibility rather thanan established

fact. Other finds of possibly related mammothbones and projectile points

have also been reported from the area (Cressman and Laughlin 1941; Cressman 1947). From the scanty evidence so far available for the PaleoIndian period little can be said about the people's lifeway, but the traces do indicate human presence in the valley about as early as it has been

established anywhere on the continent.

More sites of the Early Archaic period are known from the Willamette

Valley, and sites belonging to the Middle and Late Archaic are fairly numerous. In the upper valley near Eugene, the Hannavan Creek,

Flanagan, Benjamin, and Hurd sites—amongothersof similar significance

that will be more briefly mentioned—document these three periods of

occupation. Thesamebasic pattern of huntingand gathering is suggested

throughout the period of record, although details are scanty for earlier times. — 192 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

Figure 5.3 Projectile points from the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Bottom row, Early Archaic; middle row, Middle Archaic; top row, Late Archaic. All from the Hager's Grove

Site. Hannavan Creek Site

The Hannavan Creek Site is a continuous scatter of lithic artifacts that extends for nearly a half-mile along a small tributary of the Long Tom

River, a few miles west of Eugene (Cheatham 1988). The site lies just

where the river flows out of the wooded Coast Range foothills into the

extreme southwestern corner of the Willamette Valley. The surrounding — 193 —
Archaeology of Oregon

H.

locality, formerly known as the Long Tom Marsh, is now covered by Fern

Ridge Lake. This is a flood-control reservoir backed up behind a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam. The Hannavan Creek Site was exposed

and investigated during a winter draw-down of the reservoir.

The Land Survey Mapsof 1854, compiled before Euro-American farming

markedly changed the landscape, show that the Hannavan Creek Site was well-situated amid the plant and animal resources of four major

vegetation zones: open prairie, marshland, deciduous gallery forest along streams, and mixed evergreen-deciduous woodland. Plant foods

available in some quantity would have included camas bulbs, acorns,

hazelnuts, tarweed seeds, sunflower seeds, cattail rhizomes, and a variety

ofberries. Large animals of the area were elk, deer, black bear, and grizzly

bear. Smaller creatures included raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, beavers,

and other rodents. Marsh birds included ducks, geese, and other waterloving species, as well as grouse, quail, and wild pigeon. Trout, suckers,

freshwater mussels, and crayfish were available in the streams. Grasshoppers, yellowjacket larvae, and caterpillars were also endemic.

All these species were characteristic foods of the Kalapuyan people who

occupied the Willamette Valley during the early 19th century (Cheatham

1988: 22-25).

The fluctuating waters of Fern Ridge Lake have washed the Hannavan

Creek Site over many years. Five major concentrations of artifacts were

exposed in a broad zone along the stream, including many small clusters of fire-cracked rocks that mark former firehearths and roasting pits.

Excavation of one such rock cluster yielded some 350 camas bulbs that

had been accidentally charred, and thus preserved. Two 14C

determinations on bulbs from this oven were 7750 BP and 6830 BP. Though the dates are not fully consistent with one another, they

nevertheless suggest that the roasting of camas bulbs in earth ovens was

a tradition of high antiquity in the Willamette Valley, going back to the

Early Archaic period.

Artifacts from Hannavan Creek included projectile points, scrapers, and

knives that probably represent hunting and butchering tasks. Fragments

of ground stone suggest the grinding and pounding of plant foods.

Hammerstones, anvils, cores, flaked stone debris, choppers, drills, spokeshaves, and gravers indicate the working of stone, bone, and wood

.

This is a generalized tool kit that may have been used over thousands of

years with little change. The projectile points were of more distinctive

types, however, and add some time perspective. They include a few large

broad-necked dart points assignable to the Early and Middle Archaic

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Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

periods, and a number of small arrow points that indicate significant

occupationduringthe Late Archaic period. Theprojectile pointassemblage

thus shows that the early 14C dates from Hannavan Creek indicate only

a portion of the time over which the site was actually used.

No evidence of house floors or wall posts was observed on the surface or

located by limited subsurface testing. It cannot be affirmed, however,

that structures were never built there, because erosion by the lake waters

might well have destroyed or obscured anyarchaeological traces of them.

Dwelling structures could conclusively document residential stability,

but even without such evidence the excavator of Hannavan Creek

believes that it was probably a winter village site and year-around base

of operations for its occupants. The site's very large size, its location on

the edge of a pre-Holocene land surface usually safe from flooding, the occurrence of many small and medium-sized sites on the nearby lakebed

(formerly the LongTomMarsh) that may represent activities staged from

Hannavan Creek, and the favorable situation of the site at the juncture of

four different biotic zones, all suggest that it played a central role in the

local subsistence-settlement system (Cheatham 1988).

Perkins Park Site

The Perkins Park Site, on a peninsula jutting into Fern Ridge Lake less than a mile east of Hannavan Creek, was probably a winter village too. Numerous lithic scatters nearby in the old Long Tom Marsh probably

mark the sites of short-term activities staged from Perkins Park. As at Hannavan Creek, a very extensive scatter of fire-cracked rock and lithic artifacts occurs along the course of an old creek bed. This scatter is roughly a quarter-mile long, with six areas of major artifact concentration.

One of them centers on the tip of the ridge that is now Perkins Peninsula,

the others being on adjacent lower ground. Again in parallel with

Hannavan Creek, the Perkins ParkSite lies onpre-Holocene land surfaces

that would be above the level of most flooding, and near the juncture of

prairie, marshland, gallery forest, and woodland zones. The artifact assemblage is likewise highly similar. Animal bone was present, but too fragmentary to be identified beyond the fact that birds and mammals

wereboth represented. Macrobotanical remains included charred camas

bulbs, acorn and hazelnut hulls, and cherry seeds. Large stemmed and

side-notched projectile points indicate some Early and Middle Archaic

occupation, and many small arrowpoints represent Late Archaic time.

Two 14C dates were 1220 and 1 085 BP, falling at about the midpoint of the Late Archaic. — 195
Archaeology of Oregon

Upper Long Tom River Sites

Other finds, on the grounds of the Oregon Country Fair west of Fern

Ridge Lake, add to the local prehistory. About two miles up the Long

Tom River from Hannavan Creek, near the town of Veneta, three deeply

buried sites yielded charcoal dated at 9660, 9485, and 9130 BP. At the

Long TomSite in the same vicinity, an amorphous rock feature about five

feet below the surface yielded an obsidian scraper and a

14C date of 8890

BP. All these sites document Early Archaic activity in the area. Four

Middle Archaic sites showed manyearth ovens scattered across the flood

plain, represented by fire-cracked rock and charcoal. Ten 14C

determinations place these sites between 4600 and 3120 years ago. Plant

food processing was manifestly an important activity in the Long Tom

area over a long period of time. Someconfirming remains of camasbulbs,

hazel nuts, and acorns were also recovered. Four additional sites in the same vicinity are dated to the Late Archaic period by eight 14C

determinations ranging between 2080 and 380 BP. These later sites yielded many small arrowpoints, but relatively slight evidence of the

plant-processing ovens so well-represented by the Middle Archaic finds. This research also produced a detailed geologic history of the Long Tom

River floodplain over the past 10,000 years, a stratigraphic sequence that

will facilitate future investigations. Subsurface prospecting with a proton

magnetometer also suggested the presence of many moreburied cultural features in the area. The locality thus represents an important

archaeological resource "in the bank" for future research. (Friedel et al. 1989).

The Ralston and Bradley-Moen sites, farther upstream on a Long Tom

tributary called Spencer Creek, demonstrate early exploitation of the

foothills zone above the valley floor. These sites gave evidence of fire- cracked rock cooking features that were placed in the Early and Middle

Archaic periods by 14C dates of 6525 BP and 4290 BP respectively

(Cheatham 1988: 209-217).

Kirk Park

Downriver to the north of Hannavan Creek, on the Long Tom floodplain

below Fern Ridge Lake, four sites have been investigated at Kirk Park.

Detailed comparisons of their archaeological assemblages identify them

as a related complex of base camp and activity locations. Eleven 14C dates

show mat they were occupied sequentially, with considerable temporal

overlap, from at least 3310 BP down to less than 150 BP. The Kirk Park — 196 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

sites gave much evidence of fire hearths, earth ovens, and camas bulbs,

with hulls of acorns and hazelnuts also found. Bones of deer, bear, rabbit,

beaver, muskrat, raccoon, and turtle were also present. Winter flooding

would have precluded year-around occupation in this setting. Stream

flow records for the LongTomat nearby Noti show that peak flows occur from December through March, and this circumstance, as well as the camas, hazel, and acorn remains, suggest that Kirk Park must have been

primarily a summertime encampment (Cheatham 1988).

Inman Creek

Along Inman Creek, which flows out of the Coast Range between

HannavanCreek and Kirk Park, downcutting has exposed ancientgravel

beds that contain large obsidian nodules. This apparently was an

important source of obsidian used for tool-making by inhabitants of the

Fern Ridge area and other parts of the Willamette Valley (Skinner 1991).

Geologically, however, the Coast Range is a very unlikely source for obsidian, and in fact geochemical analysis indicates that the stone

originated in the western Cascades. This is shown by very close matches

in the abundances of certain chemical trace elements found inboth Inman

Creek obsidian and that from a flow on the southern flanks of Mount

Douglas, in the upper Willamette River drainage. Further, it is known

that alluvial sand, gravel, and mudstone eroded from the western

Cascades was deposited in parts of the western Willamette Valley to a depth of nearly 200 feet during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene.

Both the Willamette and McKenzie rivers, flowing out of the Cascades,

probably contributed to the catastrophic late glacial flooding that moved

these sediments. The obsidian-bearing gravels exposed by the

downcutting of Inman Creek were most probably transported by the

Willamette River, which has meandered back and forth across the valley

floor during recent geological times.

Whatever the ultimate geological origin of Inman Creek obsidian, the source was quite important to Willamette Valley inhabitants. In a series of local sites, flaking debitage from places very near Inman Creek was 60% to 80% obsidian, but the percentage of obsidian to other kinds of

toolstone declined rapidly with distance from Inman Creek. The

percentageofobsidian debitage in sites 30miles out wasbelow 25%. Most

interestingly, beyond 30 miles the percentage of obsidian debitage in archaeological sites rose again, growing ever higher as the sites lay closer

to the high Cascades source at Obsidian Cliffs (Skinner 1991: Figures 14,

15). Further research is needed to test these conclusions and extend this

197
Archaeology of Oregon

promising beginning to a fuller understanding of raw material transport

and exchange among Willamette Valley people.

Flanagan Site

The Flanagan Site, located on an old stream meander channel west of Eugene, overlaps in time with the Fern Ridge sites. Overa dozen14Cdates on charcoal, from deposits up to three feet deep, cluster around 5700,

3300, 1800, 900, and 500 BP. These dates, and rich cultural remains, show

that the site was repeatedly occupied throughout the Middle and Late Archaic periods (Toepel 1985; Beckham, Minor and Toepel 1981).

The Flanagan artifact assemblage was highly similar to those from

Hannavan Creek and Perkins Park. Only a single leaf-shaped point was

found, but large side-notched, corner-notched, and stemmed dart points were common. Small, stemmed triangular arrowpoints were also well

represented. Other tools probablyused in butcheringand hide processing werebiface knives, scrapers, perforators, and use-modified flakes. Wood

and bone working are suggested by hammerstones, choppers, drills, spokeshaves, and a grooved sandstone abrader that might have served

to smooth down arrowshafts or comparable artifacts. Stone tool manufacture is suggested by manyexhausted stone cores. Other indicators were battered hammerstones, roughly shaped bifaces which may have

been unfinished "preforms" for projectile points, and abundant lithic debitage from the flaking process. Food preparation was well-attested at the Flanagan Site. Several pit- ovens three to six feet across were found, as were a few charred

specimens tentatively identified as camas bulbs. Excavation revealed

quantities of fire-cracked stream cobbles and charcoal fragments that had

obviously been raked out of such roasting pits. The low-lying terrain

around the site, saturated by the spring floods that were endemic to the

valley before modern dams were built, no doubt supported camas lilies in great abundance. A few charred acorn hulls, and some pits of wild

cherry and Klamath plum, also represent foods probably gathered by the

site's aboriginal occupants. It was also evident, however, that recent disturbances or rodent action had intruded some modern plant remains

into the prehistoric site. Barley seeds and walnut shells found at Flanagan were of Old World species that must reflect modern farming in the area. The Flanagan Site was probably occupied by groups who came in summer to gather plant foods and hunt game such as deer and elk in the

woods along the stream where the site lay. The wide range of artifacts — 198 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

suggests that people stayed for perhaps several weeks, carrying out

various food processing and tool-manufacturing chores while there. The

encampment must have been less than permanent, however, because its low elevation would have made it a morass during the wetter months of the year. Neither were any house structures discovered there, though

faint architectural traces could have gone unseen in the excavations.

Benjamin Sites

A number of low mounds, the Benjamin Sites, are scattered along old

meanders of the Long Tom River several miles north of Fern Ridge Lake.

Excavations of varying scope were carried out in several of the mounds,

and major digging in two of them provided abundant evidence of human

activity (Miller 1975). Each mound rose about three feet above the

surrounding terrain. One was roughly circular, about 60 feet in diameter.

The other was ellipsoidal, measuring about 50 by 100 feet. No house

remains were found in either mound, suggesting that these were not

long-term residential sites. The evidence indicates rather that they were

visited seasonally by people who harvested a variety of natural resources

in their vicinity.

Plant food gathering and processing was certainly a major focus of

attention at the Benjamin Sites. The mounds contained much fire-cracked

rock, fire-reddened earth, and charcoal, which related to many small

firehearths and large earth ovens. Some of the latter were as much as two

feet deep and five feet across. Charred camas bulbs made it clear that they

functioned as roasting pits. Additional clues come from mortar and

pestle fragments, which probably served in the cracking and grinding of

hard-shelled nuts such as the acorn and hazelnut. No nutshells were

recovered from the archaeological deposits, but no doubt in prehistory,

as now, the Benjamin sites were flanked by streamside gallery forests where oak and hazel are common.

The number of projectile points recovered—nearly 250—suggests that hunting was also of considerable importance at the Benjamin Sites. Raked stone scrapers, retouched flakes, choppers, and biface knives were also well-represented, demonstrating the prevalence of butchering

and hide-processing activities normally associated with hunting. The

woods fringing the Long Tom River are today known as excellent hunting country for deer and small game, and probably were in the past

as well. — 199
Archaeology of Oregon

The Benjamin Sites almost surely represent seasonal use. The low, wet

lands they occupybeside the LongTomRiver would havebeen frequently

if not invariably flooded during the winter/ spring runoff season. But

during the dry, sunny summer these soggy lands became meadows,

probably filled with camas lilies and other harvestable plants. The lack

of any archaeological evidence for houses at these intensively-used sites

is no enigma, for during the pleasant Willamette Valley summers people

could have lived comfortably in the open, using only the simplest and

most perishable of temporary shelters. Two 14C dates on charred bulbs from the earth ovens were 2300 and 1 600

BP; these place in time one interval of occupation at the Benjamin Sites. But the projectile points found suggest that human use began earlier and

continued later than these dates indicate. To judge from the artifacts, the

Benjamin Sites were probably occupied through about the same range of

time as the Flanagan Site. As at Flanagan, the earliest Benjamin projectile

points were large leaf-shaped specimens, and large stemmed, corner- notched, and side-notched dart points. Later arrowpoints were the

familiar small stemmed and unstemmed varieties described for sites previously mentioned.

Hurd Site

The Hurd Site, near Coburg on the eastern edge of the valley, was in contrast probably a winter village (White 1975). The remains of a semisubterranean house structure, the site's location on higher ground,

and its distinctive artifact assemblage, all suggest that the Hurd Site was

a more permanent, wet-season settlement. The occupied area is on the

forward edge of the Winkle geomorphic surface, overlooking a lower

flood plain through which the McKenzieRiver flowstoward its confluence

with the Willamette, several miles west of the site. Though the difference

in relief between the two land surfaces is only a few feet, it was enough

that the Hurd Site, on the Winkle surface, would be above the level of all but the most unusual flooding.

A 14C assay on charcoal from a firehearth on the house floor gave a date

of 2800 BP; a confirming date of 2820 BP came from a second hearth

intruded into the housepit. The house was oval in plan, defined by the

outlines of a large, shallow pit a few inches deep and about 16 by 23 feet across. In addition to the firehearth werea number of small pits, probably

post-holes. These small pits did not add up to any complete pattern of

wall and roof supports for the house; but if the superstructure were

lightly built, some of its fainter traces might have been obliterated by the —200 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

passage of time, or missed in excavation. The shallowness of the house

pit, and lack of evidence for really substantial support timbers, suggests

that the structure may have resembled the semi-conical grass-thatched

lodges of historic Willamette Valley peoples rather than their more

substantial long rectangular houses with sunken floors and bark-shingled

roofs. A cluster of eleven 14C dates on charcoal from various firehearths and

earth ovens elsewhere in the Hurd site indicates a second major period of

occupation extending from 1100 BP to late prehistoric times. No house

structure was identified for the later occupation; instead, there were many large and small earth ovens and fire hearths. It has been suggested

that in its later period, the Hurd Site was a summer encampment rather

than a base settlement (White 1975). But the artifact assemblage is so much more varied than that found at other sites as to suggest that Hurd

may have been a base settlement during its later occupational phase as

well. The lack of evidence for later house remains could reflect simply the

limitations of the archaeological sample.

The importance of hunting at the Hurd Site is documented by over 400

projectile points fromthe excavations. The assemblage was similar to that found at the Flanagan and Benjamin sites, except that early leaf-shaped,

and large stemmed and side-notched dart points were extremely rare. Small triangular stemmed and corner-notched arrowpoints, like those

from later phases of the other sites, dominated the Hurd collection. Scrapers, flake knives, and utilized flakes in large numbers no doubt

represent associated hide processing.

An extensive and varied series of large scrapers, gravers, reamers,

choppers, scraper planes, drills, abrading stones, and denticulate tools were probably used in the manufacture of wooden objects, and perhaps

in the working of bone as well (Figures 5.4-5.7). Abundant flakes of

varying size and degree of modification also indicate the on-site

manufacture of stone tools, and a number of battered hammerstones

were found that may have been used in the lithic reduction process. Theprocessing ofvegetal foods is well-attested, not onlybythe abundance

of earth ovens, but also by charred camas bulbs, pestles, and mortar

fragments (Figures 5.8, 5.9). These latter tools were rare, but this is perhaps not surprising; a great deal of work went into their manufacture,

and they would not be lost or discarded lightly.

Finally, the interpretation of the Hurd Site as a stable central base

settlement is bolstered by the facts of its broader context. Not only is it on — 201 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 5.4 Basalt bifaces from the Lynch Site.

Figure 5.5 Heavy pointed tools from the Hurd Site.

high enough ground to be safe from all but unusual flooding, but it lies at the base of the Coburg Hills, an outlier of the western Cascades. From

here its occupantscould exploit, at relatively short range, both valley floor and montane settings. They could target the natural resources ofdifferent

environmental zoneson various kinds of huntingand gatheringmissions,

without having to traverse any major distances.

202
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

Figure 5.6 Heavy uniface chopping tools from the Hurd Site.

Figure 5.7 Uniface chopper and shaped pestle from the Hurd Site. Hager's Grove

Near Salem is Hager's Grove, a locality that provides a record of Middle

and Late Archaic prehistory for the central Willamette Valley. Charcoal

from fire features at location MA7 yielded 14C dates of 3800, 2900, 2700,

and 1200 BP, while similar features from location MA9 produced dates

of 3700, 1200, 1100, and 400 BP (Pertigrew 1980b). The sites lie along —203 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 5.8 Stone bowl from the Willamette Valley. meandering stream channels that were probably, in prehistoric times as now, cloaked in gallery forest and surrounded by grassland. The two

excavated locations both produced numerous stone artifacts, associated

withcharcoal-filled firehearthsand apparentearth ovens. Artifact-strewn

occupation surfaces were located, but no dwelling structures were

discovered.

Projectile points of the earliest occupation were fairly large, leaf-shaped

specimens, andassociated with themwerelarge stemmedand occasionally — 204 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

Figure 5.9 Charred camas bulbs from an earth oven. side-notched points. These were probably used with the atlatl and dart. They were succeeded, after about 2500 BP, by smaller points with narrow

stems, which were clearly used to tip arrows. Other specimens from

Hager's Grove included biface knives, scrapers, drills, and use-modified

flakes, as well as large unifacially flaked cobbles. A single well-made

mortar shaped from a large piece of vesicular basalt was also found there. The flaked stone tools indicate the importance of hunting, while the

mortar and earth ovens document the gathering and processing of plant —205 —
Archaeology of Oregon

foods. Found among the fire-cracked rocks and charcoal of the earth ovens were a number of charred camas bulbs, hazelnuts, and acorns, along with a few examples of other species. In all, the archaeological

collections, as well as the geographical setting, indicate that Hager's

Grove served as a seasonal camp where game—probably deer and

smaller animals—was hunted and plant foods collected during a few

weeks of the year. This was probably during midsummer and early fall, when camas, acorns, and hazelnuts would all have been at a harvestable

stage together. The people seem not to have made substantial shelters,

and perhaps they camped in the open during the fine weather. Although

there were some changes in artifact styles over the period of occupation,

and the bow and arrow replaced the atlatl and dart during that span, there seem to have been no fundamental changes in the character of human

activity at Hager's Grove over nearly 3500 years of time.

Fuller and Fanning Mounds

The final phase of aboriginal occupation in the Willamette Valley is best

represented by the Fuller and Fanning mounds. These two sites are considered together because of their nearly identical artifact assemblages

and close proximity to one another. They are located on the Yamhill River some 20 miles northwest of Salem, near the town of McMinnville. Both

sites were of considerable extent, the Fuller mound measuring some 80

by 120 feet across, the Fanning mound some 120 by 180 feet. Both also

varied between about three and five feet in depth. These sites were

excavated in the early 1940s, before the development of 14C dating, and

they have never been fixed precisely in time. Euro-American trade goods

of brass, copper and glass show that the latest occupation extended into

historic times, probably the early 1800s. Such artifacts were very few,

however, and the bulk of the specimens were of prehistoric native types.

Comparison of the projectile points with specimens from 14C -dated sites suggests that the Fuller and Fanning mounds were probably occupied

throughout the Late Archaic period, fromabout2000 BPonward (Laughlin

1943; Murdy and Wentz 1975; Woodward, Murdy, and Young 1975).

Like the Hurd Site, the Fuller and Fanning mounds were probably stable

residential locations. Although no evidence of house structures was

recovered, both sites contained many human burials, and a wide variety

of artifact types. These facts suggest that occupation must have been

relatively stable, that the sites must have represented "home" to their inhabitants. Domestic refuse included much evidence of firehearths and

fire-cracked rock. The lack of any reported evidence for house structures

at the sites may well reflect no more than the fact that the excavations were — 206 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

carried out by untrained local collectors, who could easily have failed to observe the subtle clues that would lead to the recognition of collapsed

and decayed dwellings.

Hundredsofprojectile points wererecovered from the Fuller and Fanning

mounds. They comprised a remarkably uniform collection, being almost

exclusively small triangular arrowpoints, either corner-notched or stemmed at the base. They are very similar to the points from other Late Archaic sites in the Willamette Valley, particularly to the later specimens

from the Hurd and Benjamin sites. Flaked stone knives and scrapers represent other aspects of the hunting complex, as do bone awls probably

used in hide-working. Bone points, and pieces that represent parts of

composite harpoons or fish spears, were also represented. Fishing with

nets is suggested by the presence of grooved pebbles that may have

served as sinkers. The game obtained with this equipment included elk,

deer, beaver, fox, various birds, and fish. The collecting and processing of wild vegetable foods on a large scale is also suggested, as at other sites, by abundant fragments of fire-cracked

rock, probably from earth ovens used in baking camas bulbs. A number

oflarge elk antler tines, perforated at the center, wereexactrepresentatives

of an artifact type used by historic Columbia Plateau people as handles

for root-digging sticks. That camas was an important staple of the Fuller and Fanning site occupants seems assured. Mortars and pestles that could have served to crush or mill wild seeds, acorns, hazelnuts, and

other products were also recovered.

Several tool types indicate that wood-working was another important

activity of the Fuller and Fanning villagers. Large, heavy wedgesof antler no doubt served in splitting out boards or slabs of wood. Flaked stone

drills and gravers, as well perhaps as some of the bevelled scrapers and

knives recovered from the sites, could have served in the shaping and

fitting of these pieces. Another industry was the making of stone tools,

suggested not only by the abundance of stone tools themselves, but also

by discarded flakes of stone, hammerstones that may have served in

initial rough flaking activities, and pointed flaking tools made of antler

tines that would have served to put the final touches on lithic artifacts.

Artistic and ceremonial aspects of life were well-represented at the Fuller and Fanning sites by artifacts of both native and Euro-American

manufacture. A large, beautifully flaked double ended knife of obsidian

is of a type highly prized by the historic Yurok and other people of northern California. Two large paddle-shaped "fish clubs," beautifully

carved of whalebone, are of types best known from the Columbia River —207 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 5.10 Necklace from Fuller Mound made up of Olivella and butter clam shells from

the Oregon coast, sheet copper bangles, and a brass button. and the coasts of British Columbia. Shell beads of Olivella, Glycymetis, and

Haliotis (abalone), strung as necklaces or bracelets, represent marine

species imported from the Pacific coast. Euro-American trade goods

included a number of brass buttons, some brass finger rings, a brass

thimble, some sheet copper that had been rolled into tubular beads, and

glass trade beads of several different kinds (Figures 5.10-5.13).

208
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

Figure 5.11 Bone artifacts from Fuller Mound. Top, necklace of cut andpolished bird bone

beads; lower left, bone earspools; lower right, incised bone pendant.

The richness of the artistic and ceremonial complex from these two sites contrasts markedly with what is known fromelsewhere in the Willamette

Valley. It is not yet clear whether this richness can simply be attributed to the relative recency of the sites, which allowed the preservation of objects

normally lost to gradual decomposition, or whether the Fuller and

Fanning mounds may have been home to societies considerably richer

and more complex than those known from other parts of the valley.

Further research will be needed to resolve this question. —209 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 5.12 Whalebone club from Fuller Mound.

Cascadia Cave

The montane woodlands of the Cascades were, like the Willamette

Valley, occupied from early times. During the ethnohistoric period, as mentioned above, the lower-lying western Cascades were the year- around homeland of Molala bands. Higher elevations locked by winter snows were visited in the warmer season, both by Molala and by other

people from both sides of the mountains. Kalapuyan groups from the

Willamette Valley probably hunted and gathered in the Cascades during —210 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

MFk

WEBBk f

I 1,

| '**\

1L X

f- 1

Vw

m

*>.

'***w ' >

Figure 5.13 Bone wand and antler digging stick handle from Fuller Mound.

the summer, but this intriguing possibility is scarcely touched by the

available evidence. The archaeological record for the mountains is still quite thin, but archaeological data are beginning to suggest that a lifeway

like that of the historic Molala is of ancient standing in the mountains.

Cascadia Cave, on the South Santiam River, gives early evidence for humanuseof the mountainforests (Newman 1966). Excavations revealed

between 9 and 12 feet of earth overlying its bedrock floor. Throughout

this fill were flaked and ground stone artifacts, left by repeated visitations — 211 —
Archaeology of Oregon

over a long period of time. A

14C date of 7910 BP pertains to the earliest occupation, and major use of the site may have ended by about 6000 BP. The later prehistory of the site is unclear, because digging by private

artifact collectors had largely destroyed the upperdepositsbefore scientific excavations took place.

The occupants of Cascadia Cave left behind many leaf-shaped obsidian

points of the Cascade type. These were especially common in the earlier

levels; they continued into levels dated about 6000 BP, but by then large

side-notched points were also common. All these points were of quite

large size, no doubt used to tip atlatl darts. The bow and arrow had not

yet made its appearance at the time of the Cascadia Cave occupation.

Knives, scrapers, and use-modified flakes were common, probably used

in butchering and skinning the game brought down with stone-tipped

projectiles. Thebones of deer were found in every level of the excavations,

and elk, snowshoe rabbit, and marmot bones also appeared. Hazelnuts

found at one spot during the excavations indicate the gathering of vegetal

foods. A dozen or so hand grinding stones, or manos, show that vegetal

foods such as nuts and seeds were crushed and milled at the site. Occupation in late summer and fall is suggested by the evidence for plant

food processing, and the prevalence of deer bone.

Baby Rock Shelter

Another early montane occupation is known from Baby Rock Shelter, near Oakridge on the Middle Fork of the Willamette River (Olsen 1975).

At this site, badly disturbed by looters, a number of artifacts were found.

Notched projectile points, knives, scrapers, perforators, and gravers

appear to represent hunting and hide working. Choppers, mauls, manos,

and milling stone fragments suggest vegetal food processing. No 14C

dates were obtained from Baby Rock Shelter, but a few artifacts lay

beneath volcanic ash that came from the Mount Mazama eruption of about 7000 BP (Kittleman 1973). In addition, the projectile point types

suggest the Baby Rock occupation overlaps that of Cascadia Cave, just

mentioned, and Rigdon's Horse Pasture Cave, next to be described.

Rigdon's Horse Pasture Cave

In the upper Middle Fork drainage of the Willamette River a few miles

east of Oakridge is Rigdon's Horse Pasture Cave (Figures 5.14, 5.15). This

site has been 14Cdated between 2500 and 200 BP (Baxter et al. 1983). Rocklined firehearths, oven-like cooking features, and storage pits were found

in the deposits. A considerable quantity of bone—dominated by deer —212 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

remains—indicates that hunting was of major importance. Large, sidenotched dart points like those from Cascadia Cave are the earliest type

found at Horse Pasture Cave. They are succeeded by smaller, stemmed

and corner-notched arrowpoints, and finally by a series of very small Desert Side-notched points. The latter type is known to be very late in the

Northern Great Basin, and extremely rare in the Willamette Valley

(Figure 5.14). Many knives, scrapers, and flake tools complement the

projectile point assemblage and give evidence of the butchering and hide

processing characteristic of a huntingcamp. There were very few ground

stone tools, suggesting that plant food processing was of only minor

importance there. A few fragments of basketry and plant-fiber cordage were found in the

dry upper levels of the cave (Figure 5.15). Blue and white glass beads, and

tubular beads of rolled sheet copper, also came from the top of the

deposits. These finds show that native use of the site continued into the

time of 19th century alien incursions. One important suggestion to come

from the distinctive Desert Side-notched points and historic trade goods was that, particularly in late prehistoric and early historic times, Horse

Pasture Cave may have been a stopping place for travellers on the

Klamath Trail, which led across the mountains and down the Willamette

Valley to the Columbia.

Western Cascades Uplands

The research at Horse Pasture Cave opened up a new perspective on

prehistoric use of the mountains. This work, and follow-up excavations

at Vine Rockshelter, the Colt Site, and the Saddle Site in the same vicinity,

documented four phases of cultural development in this part of the

western Cascades. These phases generally parallel the Early /Middle/

Late Archaic sequence known from the Willamette Valley, but suggest

that early projectile point styles persisted much longer in the mountains

than they did in the valley below. This research also made the very

important point that hunter-gatherer subsistence in woodland areas

critically depends on extremely restricted micro-environments:

The Upper Middle Fork is characterized by a constricted valley

floor, with bottom lands widening and closing in a series of semiisolated prairies. Openings in the forest are common on ridge tops

and hillsides. These prairies varyfrom large openings, such as High

Prairie near Oakridge, Oregon, to moderate ones such as Rigdon

Meadows [Rigdon' s Horse Pasture], to very small glades. Today

these prairies amount to about 5% of the timbered areas of the — 213 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 5.14 Projectile points from Horse Pasture Cave. Top row, late prehistoric Desert

Side notched points; middle row, Late period points typical of the Willamette Valley; bottom row, Middle period points typical of the Willamette Valley.

Western Cascades, yet their micro-environments support about

85% of the Western Cascades floral variation. This variety provides

a rich habitat for game of all species. Between these oases lies a

virtual desert of coniferous forest. Early explorers realized the

barrenness of the forest. Wood's 1856 exploration of northern

California moved from prairie to prairie, feeding on the flora and

214
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

... )

*• c^^^ttar^

#

Figure 5.15 Basketry fragments from Horse Pasture Cave.

fauna present there, and fasting for weeks at a time as they passed

through the forest between (Baxter 1986: 6). Important predictable effects of this biotic situation are a low human

population density for montane woodlands generally, and human

settlements that were small and sparsely scattered. Pursuing especially

the latter point, a study was made of archaeological site and artifact distributions in the Upper Middle Fork area, in relation to the habitats of —215 —
Archaeologx/ of Oregon

plants and animals known to have been traditional staple foods. The

resulting correlations suggested deep prehistoric roots for a mobile

seasonal round like that of the Molala:

According to the hypothesized seasonal round, in the spring

multifamily Molala winter villages split into small family groups

which scattered to harvest camas and other resources relatively

common in the small prairies throughout the valley. As the

summer passed, hazelnuts, acorns, and camas, as well as grass

seeds, fern roots and other vegetables were harvested and processed

for storage. Hunting, drying and storage of meat may have been

even more important activities. These scattered low concentrations

of resources were probably very stable, but able to support the

subsistence and food storage needs of only fairly small groups.

In the mid-to late summer the upland berry fields wereexploited by

small, short term task groups, whose harvesting and production of dried berries was probably more limited by human ability to transport the product than by its availability. It is likely that the

uplands (>3500 feet), no more than two linear miles from the

lowlands at any point on the main stem of the Upper Middle Fork, were not occupied for long periods, but were visited again and

again by hunting and berrying expeditions. That is, it is not likely that summer base camps were located in that area. While the

concentrated food supply available at the berry fields might have

allowed larger groups to congregate, such groups would probably

have quickly scared or hunted the game out of the immediate area. After all, berries were desired as sweeteners to make other foods more palatable but they did not serve to stave off starvation

throughout the winter.

In the fall, families remained dispersed as they gathered acorns from the scattered oak trees and burned and collected the grass seed

fields. In the late fall and winter, however, they again gathered at the winter villages. The gathering deer and elk herds at that season may have made group hunting productive enough to support

larger social units for a time before they resorted to their stored

winter supplies (Baxter 1986: 163-164).

In related but independent research, Snyder (1987) developed a thoroughgoing quantitative study of site locations in a different part of

the central Cascades. She convincingly showed that prehistoric land use

in the montane zone focused strongly on the relatively small number of

non-wooded openings that exist in upland forests. Her environmental — 216 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

data base was derived from U.S. Forest Service Soil Resource Inventory

maps that establish land types based on vegetation, soils, drainage, and

vegetation. The detailed nature of the environmental data is shown by

the fact that 48 land types were present in the area studied. The

archaeological data base came from Forest Service cultural resource survey reports, which documented search patterns and the locations of

189 archaeological sites in a transect across the Cascades between the

towns of Eugene and Bend. Analysis of these two data bases allowed

Snyder to determine both the types of environmental settings where

archaeological sites were found, and the types of settings where they were

not found. She demonstrated with statistical rigor that the edges of

meadows, lakes, or other openings are dominantly the places where

archaeological evidence of prehistoric human activity is concentrated.

Wooded settings rarely yielded such evidence, even though their sparser ground cover generally afforded better possibilities for discovery than

did the dense vegetation of moister settings.

Strong biological reasons for such a concentration of human activity loci were seen in the fact that non-forested openings within the woodlands

support most of the species common to the Oregon Cascades flora. They

offer not only the plants that people seek, but also the most abundant

habitats for game, which people also seek. Woodland openings,

particularly lakes, mires, and meadows, were also shown to be longlived, making them stable and predictable resource locations for human

groups. For example, two contemporary mires in the central Cascades

have been shown to predate 7000 BP, by the occurrence in their sediments

of volcanic ash from the MountMazama eruption. At Odell Lake and the

nearby Wickiup DamSite, projectile points and other artifacts have been

found beneath this same volcanic ash horizon. At Cascadia Cave, as mentioned above, a

14C date of 7910 BP was obtained for deposits

containing projectile points and other tools, along with the bones of deer,

elk, smaller mammals, and birds. Based on her analysis, and a systematic

review of the growing archaeological data base for the Oregon Cascades

generally, Snyder (1 987) concluded that the ethnohistoricallydocumented

pattern of late spring/early fall occupation of the higher elevations by

transhumant hunter-gatherers has probably existed since at least 7000

years ago. A further contribution to archaeological knowledge of the montane zone

is an account of 10 upland sites on the westernmost flanks of the central Oregon Cascades, brought together by Southard (1991). These reports

document a series of small, sparse activity locations in upland settings that are not particularly remote from valley floor locations. Projectile

points, cutting tools and flakes, occasional hammerstones, and a few fire- — 217 —
Archaeology of Oregon

cracked rocks, suggest that these were most probably hunting stands, or

spots where animals brought down in hunting were butchered or prepared for transport. It seems likely that continued research will document many more such sites, leading to a better understanding of the

degree to which people of the Willamette Valley proper may have

exploited the montane woodlands.

Continued work in the mountains will add to the picture just sketched.

It remains to discover unequivocal evidence of the postulated winter

village settlements of the western Cascades. These, if found, should be

sites with substantial house remains and other indicators of sedentary

occupation. Prospects for archaeological success here are surely limited

by the fact that Euro-American towns and settlements have been built in many of the best places for such villages, but continued research may yet

be fruitful.

Artistic and Symbolic Forms

Deeply grooved boulders have been reported along a road leading to the

summit of Spirit Mountain, on the northwestern edge of the Willamette

Valley. The grooves form parallel lines, and some are embellished by

smaller appended lines. In one case a triangle is shown at the end of a

straight line, suggesting a point on the end of a shaft. Engraved on

boulders at Black Point, immediately below Willamette Falls at the

northernmost end of the valley, are a series of circles, many with pits or crossed lines, or both, filling the circles (Loring and Loring 1982: 154, 157).

At Cascadia Cave, many petroglyphs are incised into the soft stone of the cave wall. Zigzag and wavy lines are most common, along with sets of

short parallel lines and U-shaped motifs. Anumber of inverted U-shaped

motifs with five or more short vertical lines at their open ends might be

fancied as human "feet," though the likeness is certainly not exact. There

are also a number of circles with pits at their centers. The Hadleyville Boulder, southwest of Eugene, is a large stone about 5 by

10 feet across. Its surface is covered by perhaps 300 small shallow pits one

to two inches in diameter, and several larger depressions three to four

inches in diameter. On the Briley Ranch Site, in the same vicinity, is a boulder on which is engraved a large oval with branching lines inside. The figure is somewhat reminiscent of a veined leaf. Northeast of Eugene,

the Petersen Ranch Site contains another pitted boulder. —218 —
Chapter 5 - Willamette Valley

Finally, two sites in the Western Cascades near Oakridge give evidence

of painted figures that appear to depict horses with riders. One of these

sites is Baby Rock Shelter. The archaeological debris known here is quite

early, but the painted figures are clearly of historic vintage, unrelated to the earlier occupation.

All of these sites are reported by Loring and Loring (1982: 214-221).

Evidence of rock art in the Willamette Valley region is still very limited,

but the sites described suggest that others must surely await discovery.

Little is known of native art forms in general for the Willamette Valley,

indicating this field as one in need of considerable investigation.

Future Research

Current knowledge of Willamette Valley prehistory shows that major

elements of the historically known lifeway extend at least 8000 years back

in time. Continuity in artifact types, most notably the progression of

projectile point styles, also indicates continuity of cultural tradition. Back

beyond 8000 years ago, however, the archaeological record is all but

blank. Asnoted at thebeginning of this chapter, floodingof the Willamette

River and its tributaries has, over millennia, buried earlier land surfaces

beneath river silts and gravels. Whether earliest human life in the valley

differed radically from that knownback to 8000 BP is a question for future

research. The geomorphological and remote sensing approaches applied

in the Long Tom River study mentioned above (Friedel et al. 1989) must

playa majorrole in efforts to more fully understand the earliestoccupation.

The archaeological record for the mountains remains extremely scanty.

Occupations as early as 8000 BP are also knownthere, but evidence comes

from only a handful of sites. Despite important new research in the

mountains (Baxter 1986; Snyder 1987; Southard 1991), the continuum of

occupation over time, and the range of site types and activities there, are yet to be adequately documented.

In the beginning of this chapter, a question was raised about climatic

change and its effect on the human population. This question is yet to be

satisfactorily answered. Although it seems likely that postglacial climatic

change did affect the lives of prehistoric Willamette Valley peoples, a much more detailed sequence of human occupation, with many more

dated sites, must be established before it will be possible to discuss this topic with confidence. Fuller paleoenvironmental data are also essential

to fill out the details of of current paleoclimatic frameworks. — 219
Archaeology of Oregon

It has longbeen thought that the native economy of the Willamette Valley was largely denied the salmon harvest, so important to other peoples of

the Northwest, because fish could not ascend the falls of the Willamette

at Oregon City in significant numbers (Kroeber 1939; Cheatham 1988).

The presumption that this was always the case has been cogently

challenged, however. It may be that at some periods, under different

environmental conditions, salmon were a good deal more important to people of the upper valley than they were historically. For example, a moister climatic regime might have fostered higher waters, that would

allow fish to pass the falls in greater numbers. Future archaeological

research at suitable sites, carried out with due attention to possible

evidence of fishing, may open up a new perspective on this matter (McKinney 1984).

As all the above comments suggest, an important focus for continuing

research is the domain of settlement pattern studies. Ethnohistorical

records have provided little detail about the kinds of groups people

formed, and the nature of their camps and villages. While the native

Willamette Valley settlement cycle is understood in a very general way,

archaeological evidence is beginning to show that there was considerable

variation in patterns of settlement and adaptation in different parts of the

region (Connolly 1983; Baxter 1986; Snyder 1987; Cheatham 1988).

Continued investigation along these lines will further enrich our

understanding of the relations between natural landscape and biota on

the one hand, and patterns of human subsistence and settlement on the

other.

Finally, much is yet to be learned about artistic and symbolic forms, and

about patterns of trade in the Willamette Valley. The study of rock art is not well advanced, though an important beginning has been made

(Loring and Loring 1982). Similarly, research into the sources and

transport of obsidian toolstone in the region is just beginning (Skinner

1991). Both areas of study have the potential to reveal yet-unexplored

relationships among the prehistoric societies of the region

.

220
Chapter 6 - Southzvestem Mountains

Chapter 6

Southwestern Mountains

The natives of interior southwestern Oregon were a mountain people,

relatively few in number and isolated by the ruggedness of their country

into many scattered bands (Figure 6.1). The Shasta, a Hokan-speaking

group, extended from the middle Rogue River southward to the Klamath

River in California. Speakers ofPenutian languages included the Lowland

Takelma of the upper Illinois and middle Rogue River valleys, the

Upland Takelma of the upper Rogue, and the Cow Creek Umpqua and

Yoncalla of the Umpqua Basin. Speakers of Athabaskan languages

occupied the western Klamath Mountains, their range extending in from

the coast to include the Upper Umpqua and Upper Coquille valleys as

well. Islands of Athabaskan-speakers also lived in the Medford-Grants

Pass area, surrounded by speakers of Penutian languages. Athabaskan

groups included, from north to south, the Upper Umpqua, Upper

Coquille, Kwatami, Tututni, Shasta Costa, Chetco, Tolowa, Galice, and

Applegate bands. The lifeways of these diverse peoples shared a great

deal in common. They also displayed definite Californian affinities, no

doubt a reflection of both geographical proximity and environmental

similarity.

— 221 —
Archaeology of Oregon

-

Key to Sites

1 - Standley Site 2 - North Umpqua Narrows. Limpy Rock Shelter 3 - South Umpqua Falls, Times Square Rockshelter. Hughes 1 Rockshelter 4 - Marial, Tlegetlinten. Blossom Bar

5 - Applegate River 6 - Ritsch. Marthaller

7 - Gold Hill. Saltsgaver 8 - Far Hills Ranch

9 - Elk Creek

10 - Salt Creek

1

1

- Border Village

Figure 6.1 Map showing site locations the Southwestern Mountains region of Oregon.

222
Chapter 6 - Southzvestern Mountains

The diverse languages spoken in the Southwestern Mountains show that the native peoples, despite their prominent cultural similarities, have

very distinct ancestries. The Shasta speak a Hokan language, descended

from an ancient Californian speech community that goes back perhaps

7000 to 10,000 years. The Takelma, Cow Creek Umpqua, and Yoncalla,

whose clearly related languages all belong to the Penutian phylum, are

the linguistic descendantsofa speechcommunity thatbecame widespread

in Oregon 5000 or more years ago. A much later migration was that of the

Athabaskans, who speak closely related languages of the Na-Dene

phylum, with their main linguistic relatives centered a thousand miles

awayin western Canada and Alaska. The Athabaskans probably entered

the region between about 1500 and 1000 years ago (Shipley 1978; Moratto

1984: 530-574).

Ethnographic Life Way

Firsthand information on the traditional lifeways of the Southwestern

Mountains is quite scanty. Yet it is invaluable, both in its own right and

as a guide to interpreting the archaeological record of prehistoric times.

Three recent syntheses bring together the available data from early

ethnohistoric (LaLande 1990) and later ethnographic (Gray 1987) as well

as archaeological (Harmon and Olmo 1990) sources. These volumes are highly recommended as indispensable to a fuller understanding of the

region's native cultures.

Broadly, the people of the Southwestern Mountains were all hunterfisher-gatherers who made their living from a wide variety of natural resources to be found in the narrow canyons and small interior valleys

they occupied . They stayed in small settlements of a few houses each, and

these central settlements, occupied for the greater part of the year, served

as homebases from which people ranged out over considerable distances

to exploit the surrounding environment.

The main villages were generally located on alluvial terraces of the major

streams. A surviving illustration of an Umpqua house of the 1850s shows

a large, substantial plank structure with gabled roof, apparently

semisubterranean, very much like the plank houses knownupand down

the Northwest Coast and along the Lower Columbia. Takelma and

Shasta houses were of similar construction, some with plank covering

and others, of poorer folk, sheathed with slabs of bark.

Major sources of food were salmon, trout, suckers, crayfish, and freshwater

mussels from the streams; deer, elk, bear, squirrels, rabbits, acorns, pine —223 —
Archaeology of Oregon

nuts, berries, and other items from the savannahs and forests; and camas

bulbs, sunflower seeds, and tarweed seeds from the grasslands. These

of course are but a few prominent examples among the many species that were depended upon. Winter villages were all but abandoned in early

spring, as people scattered widely into small hunting-gathering camps.

Camas roots were dug in early spring and summer, baked in earth ovens, and stored against the coming winter. Acorns were gathered in early fall as another winter staple. For eating they were pulverized in a hopper

mortar, and the meal leached in water to remove its bitterness. It could

then be boiled as a gruel, or baked in leaf-wrapped cakes.

The salmon harvest wasa major event in summer and early fall, when fish abounded in the rivers leading up fromthe Pacific. Fish weirs built across streams constricted the passage of salmon, guiding them through a narrow gateway where they might be netted or speared. Basketry traps were also used in conjunction with these weirs. Fish were elsewhere

taken with hook and line. With winter approaching, people regrouped in their permanent villages.

They occupied the cold season with such food-getting efforts as were

profitable, and with domestic chores. Hunting, and fishing for riverine

species, went on all year, but were perhaps most important in fall and

winter. They were about the only economic pursuits left after the plantgathering and salmon seasons had ended. Deer were stalked by hunters

disguised with deer heads and skins, or driven by men with dogs, or caught in deep winter snow. Some groups took deer and elk in deep pit

traps dug in game trails. These pits contained upright sharpened stakes,

to impale and dispatch the unlucky creatures falling onto mem. Deer and

elk were also taken with rope snares, hungover game trails in appropriate

spots.

Villages were made up of closely related families, and sociopolitical

organization was simple. Each village was an autonomous unit bound

to no larger polity, but certain purposeful and short-lived alliance

arrangements did exist. Each settlement was led by one or more

respected elders, who enjoyed a social standing and level of influence

above mat of ordinary folk. A sense of territoriality was strongly felt by some groups, especially the Athabaskan-speakers, and skirmishes were

sometimes fought over trespasses. Despite these attitudes, there were

nevertheless occasions when larger groups came together for ceremonial

events and at especially productive fishing or gathering localities. Further,

since it was the rule for people to seek mates outside the community they were born in, families were linked to others in all directions by ties of

kinship and marriage. — 224 —
Chapter 6 - Southzuestem Mountains

The degree to which people maintained definite intergroup boundaries seems to have varied according to circumstances. Societies maintained

home settlements, but localities where different groups converged to hunt, gather, or fish at certain seasons are also well documented. It is probably accurate to conclude that each group had both a heartland

where it was the dominant presence, and a hinterland that it shared in common with neighboring peoples. Such patterns are commonplace

among hunting-gathering people generally, especially when population

densities are relatively low.

Many elements of the traditional lifeway can be seen archaeologically.

Earlier cultures were not, however, identical with those known from

historic times. For example, the linguistic evidence just discussed clearly

shows that the Southwestern Mountains received migrations of people

over a long period, and cultural changes must have accompanied those

migrations. There was also climatic change and adaptation to it, and there was no doubt population growth, and social adjustments stemming from

it. The ethnographic lifeway thus provides a model for interpretive

analysis, but much is left to be learned from the archaeological data. Landscape and Natural Resources

Interior southwesternOregonincludes a variety ofterrains and distinctive environmental types. The Klamath Mountains, reaching westward to the

Pacific coast and southward into California, are formed of geologically

ancient and contorted precambrian rocks. On the north they adjoin the

Coast Range, and on the east they face the western Cascades. The region

includes a few small areas of relatively low lying, open country, along the

north and south forks of the Umpqua River near Roseburg, and the Upper

Rogue and Illinois rivers in the vicinity of Grants Pass and Medford.

Elsewhere, steep mountains, sharp ridges, and deep, narrow canyons are

characteristic. The Coast Range and the seaward side of the Klamath Mountains are generally covered by western hemlock and Douglas-fir forest. Additionally, sitka spruce grows in the coastal fogbelt, western red cedar

is commonin moist settings, and ponderosa and sugar pine occur on drier

sites. In the Cascades, the higher elevations are covered with forests of

Pacific silver fir, Shasta red fir, and grand fir. These montane evergreen

forests ring a compact interior zone of mixed coniferous and broadleaf

forest that covers the intermediate and lower elevations. This forest, with

intermingled stands of Douglas-fir, broadleaf evergreen tan oak, and

madrone, is similar to the dry, open Californian woodlands farther south. —225 —
Archaeology of Oregon

At the center of this zone, in the interior valleys around Roseburg,

Medford, and Grants Pass, there occurs yet another kind of vegetational

mosaic. This assemblage, adapted to the hot, dry summers of the area, includes varying mixtures of Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, Oregon white

oak, California black oak, and manzanita. Again the greatest similarity is with Californian rather than Oregonian vegetation patterns (Franklin

and Dyrness 1973).

The mammalian fauna of southwestern Oregon includes black bear,

Roosevelt elk, mule deer, rabbits, squirrels, and many smaller rodents, to nameonly a few of the species known historically to have been important

in the traditional diet. Characteristic birds included grouse, woodpecker,

band-tailed pigeon, and a host of small passerine species. Salmon and

steelhead ran in the Umpqua, Coquille, Rogue, Illinois, and Klamath

rivers in considerable numbers, though not of course in the abundance

known from the Columbia River. Trout were year-round residents in these rivers as well, and in many smaller streams of the region.

Time and Environmental Change

Temperature and moisture set the conditions of existence for each kind

of plant, and the fact that southwestern Oregon is a transitional zone between moist coast and dry interior, warm south and cool north, is reflected in a broad range of species. Salal, rhododendron, and evergreen

huckleberry are primarily coastal species that are found in the southwestern

Oregon interior as well. Sagebrush, antelope bitter brush, mountain

mahogany, western juniper, and other species are plants common to the

Great Basin that have found a foothold in southwestern Oregon. Plants

of northern affinities are subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce, and plants

of southern habitats include digger pine, buckbrush, manzanita, and

three-leaf sumac. This present-day flora offers clues to the climatic

history of the region, and makes it clear that the same postglacial

fluctuations in warmth and moisture as were mentioned in previous

chapters affected southwestern Oregon as well (Todt 1990).

The summer-dry Californian climate of southwestern Oregon was

established in pre-human times. Drought-adapted species moved up

from the south during warm intervals. Cooler and drier intervals

allowed northern and Great Basin species to extend into the area. With

postglacial warming, those species adapted to warmerand drier conditions were able to expand, giving prominence to the oak, manzanita, and

buckbrush that characterize the valleys of southwestern Oregon today.

At higher elevations, and in places with distinct microclimates, coastal, — 226 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

northern, and GreatBasin speciespersisted. Thisclimatic and vegetational

history has made the region today a mosaic of great biotic diversity, with one of the most varied floras in North America (Todt 1990: 71). During the mid-postglacial period of increased warmth and dryness,

about 7000 to 4500 years ago, oak savannah probably dominated the

lower and middle elevations of the mountains, while grassland and

brushy chaparral species occupied the valley floors and lower foothills. Coniferous species were forced upward to higher, cooler elevations. The

last 4500 years have brought somewhat cooler, moister conditions, and some re-expansion of coniferous woodlands at the expense of oak and

chaparral (Detling 1968).

Systematic research which might reveal effects of environmental change on the native lifeway is just beginning in southwestern Oregon. It has

been speculated that, because grasslands with oak savannah along

streams are rich in edible grass seeds and acorns, the mid-postglacial

expansion of this vegetation may have greatly benefited the prehistoric

people. It has been further speculated that southwestern Oregon natives

may purposefully have set fires, as did historic people in the Willamette

Valley and central California, to foster rapid regrowth of grasses or keep

meadows frombeing taken over by brush (Lewis 1973, 1990). Systematic

paleoenvironmental research, carried out with reference to questions of

human adaptation, is greatly needed in the Southwestern Mountains

region.

Cultural Chronology and lime Markers

The earliest period of humanoccupation in the Southwestern Mountains,

as elsewhere in Oregon, is attested by Clovis fluted points. One has been

reported from the Umpqua river area near Roseburg (Hanes 1978a).

Another was found in the vicinity of upper Butte Creek, a tributary of the

Rogue River (Dyck 1982; LaLande and Fagan 1982), and another near the

California border (Deich 1977). Four cultural phases succeed the pioneer

Clovis occupation, the first three spanning the time when the atlatl and

dart were in use, and the last the time when the bow and arrow were

introduced (Pettigrew and Lebow 1987; Nilsson and Kelly 1991).

The Applegate Phase, 10,500-8500 years ago, is recognized by large

broad-stemmed points reminiscent of the early Windust type from the

Plateau, and broad-based, short pentagonal points of locally distinctive

form. This phase is defined on the basis of very limited evidence, and

needs further research to clarify the diagnostic types and establish its age

by 14C dating. —227 —
Archaeologij of Oregon

The Marial Phase, 85(XM500 years ago, is marked most prominently by

willow-leaf bipoints. These are quite large in early times, but become

progressively smaller throughou t the phase. In the Plateau they are called Cascade points. Broad-necked points with stems that broaden toward

the base are also characteristic, as are large side-notched, straight-based

points. These too have analogues in the Plateau, the first in the Rabbit

Island stemmed type, the second in the Northern Side-notched type.

The Coquille Phase, 4500-2200 years ago, is marked by roughlydiamondshaped points that are short and broad, with barbs and a broad tapering

stem. These locally distinctive points have been given the name Coquille

Series Broad-necked. Also characteristic are medium and small willowleaf points. This phase is not yet well-defined and dated, and it maybegin

and persist somewhat later than specified here. The Rogue Phase, 2200-150 years ago, marks the arrival of the bow and

arrow with a range of small, narrow-necked points. The beginning date

of this phase is somewhat problematical, and should perhaps be a few

hundred years later. The early end of the phase is indicated by Coquille

Series Narrow-necked points, small willow-leaf points, and small

triangular stemmed points given the name Elk Creek Square barbed;

these latter are reminiscent of the Pin Stem points of the Columbia River,

and the Rosegate type of the Great Basin. The later part of the phase is dominated by highly distinctive Gunther Island (or Rogue River) points.

These are delicately made corner-notched and base-notched specimens

which often have long, drooping asymmetrical barbs. Also present at this time are small concave-base triangular and side-notched points, the latter reminiscent of the Desert Side-notched type of the Great Basin.

Applegate River Sites

Archaeological studies along the Applegate River, just north of the

Oregon-California border, established the outlines of a cultural sequence

that may reach back 8000 to 10,000 years (Brauner 1983). At Site JA53a, on a high terrace overlooking the river, excavation of two broad 30-foot

square areas recovered over 80 large spearpoints of apparently early type

(Figure 6.2). The specimens have triangular blades and broad stems, and

are highly similar to the Windust type 14 C-dated in the Plateau region to the period 10,000-8000 years ago. Edge-faceted cobbles believed to be

hide-working tools, flaked stone scrapers, and cutting toolsalso occurred.

Some peculiar circular discs, an inch or so across and flaked entirely

228
Chapter 6 - Southivestern Mountains

around their edges, are enigmatic. Traces of crushed and decomposed

bone were found in association with the artifacts, and it seems apparent

that the site was a hunting and butchering station. No structural remains were identified, but the distribution of natural stones across the

archaeologically exposed area suggested that the site occupants may

have deliberately cleared work spaces by shifting and piling the rocks

which littered the area.

Site JA53b, on the next lowest terrace of the river, yielded a number of

serrated lanceolate points comparable to the Cascade type of the Plateau.

Site JA52, 14C-dated between 8000 and 4000 BP, produced similar

specimens. Stone bowl mortars and shaped pestles were associated with

these points, as were hopper mortar bases and mano and milling slab fragments. Thegrinding tools suggest that processing of plant foods such

as camas roots, acorns, and grass seeds was carried out in the locality.

Hunting persisted also, as indicated by the projectile points (Figure 6.3). The Sinn's Bar Site, located in the valley bottom, represents the later end

of the Applegate sequence. The basal levels of the site extended to a depth

of 10 feet. They produced large serrated lanceolate points like those

found on the higher river terrace, and large, relatively crude side-notched

points as well. In upper levels, leaf-shaped points of the Gold Hill type

occurred, along with a variety of small, notched points (Figure 6.4). Pithouse remains were encountered in the upper levels of the site, but

details of their structure remain unknown. A single point of the late prehistoric Gunther Barbed type was found, in a contact period pithouse

that culminated the site sequence. Other characteristic tools of the region

included flaked stone knives, drills, and scrapers (Figures 6.5, 6.6). Marial Site

The Marial Site, on the interior Rogue River about 50 miles inland from

the Pacific coast, has produced a sequence of human occupation that spans most of postglacial time (Griffin 1983; Ross 1987; Schreindorfer

1985). Situated where a tributary stream joins the main river, on a terrace that overlooks quiet water between major rapids above and below, the

site commands a good salmon and steelhead fishing locality. Additional

food species close at hand include freshwater mussels, otter, and beaver

in the river; oaks, pines, and manzanita on the flanking hills; and deer, elk,

bear, raccoon, rabbit, and squirrel in the woods. The richness of its surrounding biota suggests that Marial would be a highly desirable

residential location. Although limited test excavations have not revealed — 229
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 6.2 Early projectile points from Site JA53, Rogue-Applegate area.

any housepits at the site, the work has been too limited to rule out their presence.

Stratigraphic excavations at Marial sounded a deposit of river silt and

loam nearly 15 feet deep fromsurface to underlying gravels. Flaked stone

artifacts, fire-cracked rocks, and bone fragments were found throughout.

Seven cultural components have been recognized. Six of these occurred

in one layer-cake sequence, with cultural zones separated from one —230 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

Figure 6.3 Projectile points of the Middle period from the Rogue-Applegate Area.

another by sandy river deposits containing few artifacts. The latest occupation was found in a different part of the site, on the terrace edge

near the river. The lowermost occupation, in Cultural Zone 6, has a radiocarbon date of 8560 BP. From lower Cultural Zone 3 came a

14C date of 6845 BP; slightly

higher in Zone 3, a date of 5850 BP was obtained on charcoal found near

a tight cluster of fire-cracked river cobbles. Higher still, a date of 4060 BP — 231 —
Archaeology of Oregon

4*4i«*

Figure 6.4 Projectile points of the Late period from the Rogue-Applegate area. Top two

rows, historic period; bottom row, protohistoric. came from Zone 2, and a date of 2810 BP from Zone 1. The latest component, found in a separate location, yielded a

14C date of 710 BP

(Figure 6.7). Over 4000 pieces of bone, most of them finely fragmented and thus not

identifiable to species, were recovered from the Marial excavations.

Three identifiable salmon vertebrae came from levels at 48 inches, 24-25

inches, and 12-1 6 inches. Acougarbone wasfound at a depth of 55 inches. —232 —
Chapter 6 - Southivestern Mountains

Figure 6.5 Stone tools from the Rogue-Applegate area. Left row, protohistoric.

Figure 6.6 Grooved stone object from site JA52, Rogue-Applegate area.

Carbonized fragments of hazelnut hulls were found at depths of 13 feet, 10 feet, and 3 feet. All these items appeared in levels dated between 5850

and 281 BP. Many fragments of deer-sized bone were found throughout

the deposits. The excavators suggest that the relative abundance of pulverized bone may give evidence that the practice of crushing and

boiling bones for soup, known ethnographically from many Native

American groups, was practiced at Marial from early times. —233
Archaeologi/ of Oregon

Hunting practices are indicated by a series of projectile points. Earliest were relatively large atlatl dart heads. These first appeared in the lowest

levels of the site, dated before 8560 BP. They were succeeded shortly

before 2810 BP by smaller, lighter arrowheads, which continued to the

end of the occupation (Figure 6.7). Choppers, flakes, and scrapers that were probably used to break up bones, slice through meat and ligaments,

and clean hides, continued throughout the sequence. Stone pestles

shaped by grinding, alongwith fragments of milling stones, give evidence

of plant food processing. The historic Takelma people of the Rogue River

used such pestles in the shelling and processing of hazelnuts and acorns, among other things.

The making of stone tools is indicated throughout the cultural sequence

by pockets where hundreds of small waste flakes occurred. In several cases these were found along with battered hammerstones that were no

doubt used to break up nodules of raw lithic material. Basalt and chert occur naturally among the cobbles of the adjacent riverbed, and in the site

itself were found both worked and unworked nodules of these common

toolstones. Flakes retaining traces of the rough cortex of stream-rolled

cobbles were commonplace as well.

Obsidian, like basalt and chert, was used for tool-making throughout the

period of occupation, but it was much scarcer. The nearest obsidian

outcrops are more than 100 miles to the east, and all of this toolstone

reaching Marial had to be imported. Its presence there, even before 8560

BP, attests the antiquity of far-flung exchange relationships—or longdistance travel—within the region as a whole. Obsidian quite clearly

arrived in the form of finished or at least roughly finished artifacts. The

excavations did not yield any flakes that retained traces of the weathered

cortex of raw obsidian nodules. Manifestly, obsidian was very precious

so far from its geological sources. Artifacts made of it were resharpened

and reworked when dulled or broken to a much greater extent than were

artifacts madeofother kindsof stone. This is shownbythe disproportionate

abundance of tiny flakes of obsidian at the site, as compared to fewer

equally small flakes of chert or basalt. Tlegetlinten and Blossom Bar

Two additional sites that together span much the same time range as Marial are Tlegetlinten and Blossom Bar. Tlegetlinten is located at the juncture where the Illinois River flows into the Rogue, about 30 miles

inland from the Pacific coast. In early historic times Tlegetlinten was

occupied by the Shasta Costa band of Athabaskans. The probable site of —234 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

±>^*\

2810±50BP» XV Cultural Zone

Figure 6.7 Idealized stratigraphic sequence at Marial, showing depositional layers, occupation zones, radiocarbon dates, and point type distributions. Based on Ross (1987: Figures 4-7).

this recent occupation, archaeologically recorded in 1935, was eroded

awayby a major flood in 1964. Subsequentexcavations on a terrace higher

above the river produced large and small lanceolate projectile points

comparable to those from Marial, suggesting that this earlier part of the

Tlegetlinten site probably dated between about 7000 and 3000 BP. The occupation at Blossom Bar, on the Rogue River between Tlegetlinten

and Marial, wasmarkedbysmall,basally-notched arrowpointsofGunther

Barbed type. These are comparable to those dated about 710 BP at Marial.

Other sites, not yet investigated, are also known from this stretch of the

Rogue River. There is little doubt that the area was a significant theater

of human occupation throughout prehistoric times (Griffin and

Schreindorfer 1984). — 235 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Gold Hill

The Applegate and Marial sequences lead up to what was for long the

only archaeologically reported culture of interior southwestern Oregon,

that of Gold Hill. This first major prehistoric find in the region was made

at a very rich site on a shoreline terrace of the Rogue River, opposite the

small town of Gold Hill. The discovery was made by a landowner in the

process of levelling a knoll in a cultivated field. The levelling proceeded

by first plowing deeply to break up the soil, and then dragging the

loosened earth to an adjacent low area using a horse-drawn scraper. Whenthe knoll had been reduced by some three feet in this way, the plow

began to bring up human remains and artifacts in remarkable quantity. Dr. L. S. Cressman, of the University of Oregon, was called in; he

subsequently directed salvage operations at the site in 1930, 1931, and

1932. As before, earth was initially removed by plowing and scraping,

but the work shifted to hand troweling and screening when signs of occupation were discovered (Cressman 1933a, 1933b).

The area investigated in this way measured about 1 20 feet across, and the

maximum depth reached by excavation was seven feet. Some 39 human

burials were uncovered, mostly in the southern part of the mound.

Approximately 30 areas of concentrated occupation were recorded,

mostly in the northern part of the mound. The human remains had all been placed in a flexed position, in small pits. The areas of concentrated

occupation were roughly circular or ovate in plan, and varied from four

feet to 15-20 feet across. They consisted of fire hearths and associated fire- cracked stones, ash, charcoal, artifacts, and bone and antler fragments.

No house floors or house pits were identified, but given the plow-andscraper method of excavation, it would be surprising if any such features were preserved. Indeed, given the abundance and variety of artifacts and

human remains from the site, it seems quite clear that it must have been an important residential location. The predominant occurrence of

occupational debris at the north end of the site, and burials at the south

end, also suggests a village/cemetery situation. Noclear-cut soil stratification wasdocumented,but the excavator reported

his definite impression that cultural remains were roughly concentrated

into three levels or zones, each two to three feet in thickness. This depth

of deposit implies that the site was occupied over a considerable period

of time, an impression borne out by the typology of the recovered

projectile points (Figure 6.8). Many medium-sized points of willow-leaf

shape, since dubbed Gold Hill points, are very similar to specimens 14Cdated at Marial between about 4500 and 2200 BP.

236
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

At the other end of the time scale, many small, very finely made

arrowpoints of the Gunther Barbed type were found. These, as noted

above, are

14C-dated within the last 1000 years on the lower Klamath

River. The complete absence of Euro-American goods at Gold Hill implies that the site was abandoned before historic contact. Thus a

reasonable estimate would place the main occupation between about

3000 BP and late prehistoric times, though there is some possibility that

it may have begun earlier. The absence of medium-sized corner-notched

and side-notched points, which seem in the Applegate chronology to represent a period intermediate between the time of the Gold Hill point

and Gunther types, suggests that there mayhave been a significant hiatus

between earlier and later periods of occupation at Gold Hill. Perhaps the

divisions sensed in the stratification of the site are related to breaks in the

occupational sequence.

The projectile points already mentioned would seem to represent the

hunting component of the local economy. A number of ground stone

pestles, bowl mortars, and hopper mortar bases represent the processing

of vegetal foods, such as camas roots and acorns (Figure 6.9). Some of the

pestles were very finely made, carved with raised bosses on either side of

the handgrip area. Moore (1973), a long-time local resident and collector,

reports a large number of "heavy, slightly concave metates" from the site that actually may have been hopper mortar bases rather than grinding

slabs, as the term "metate" implies. This is not certain; however, he also

illustrates (Moore 1973; Figure 169) several flat, smooth hand-sized

stones, and two highly distinctive two-horned mullersof the well-known

Klamath type, which correspond to the manos or hand stones commonly

used to crush seeds on the metate (the occurrence of these highly

diagnostic horned mullers so far from historic Klamath territory is striking).

Manufacturing tools reported from the site are limited, but included numerous flaked stone scrapers and pounding/rubbing stones, as well

as many well-made flaked stone drills. It is likely that other tools of more

casual form existed, such as gravers and choppers, but were not

differentiated from the stone detritus of the excavations.

The most impressive finds made at the site were the human burials and

their contents. As noted earlier, 39 pit graves were recorded from Gold

Hill. A disastrous flood on the Rogue River, which devastated the site in 1964 , revealed more that were previously unknown—very fleetingly, as

the deposits were calved off and carried down the river. A number of the

buried individuals were accompanied by exquisitely shaped obsidian

blades, 8 to 12 inches long, evenly flaked over both surfaces, and slightly —237 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 6.8 Projectile points from the Gold Hill Site. Top two rows, Late period; bottom

row, Early period.

constricted at the midpoint as if for a handgrip (Figure 6.10). In total some

22 such blades have been reported from Gold Hill, and it is likely that others were recovered by collectors, who published no record of their plunder. The blades occurred singly or in pairs in most of the graves

which possessed them, but one interment held five obsidian blades and

one comparable specimen made of slate. Another grave held a quantity

of beads made from the seed of the digger pine, several hundred beads

of the marine Olivella shell, and several pieces of Glycymeris and abalone —238 —
Chapter 6 - Southzvestern Mountains

Figure 6.9 Stone bowl or mortar from the Gold Hill Site.

shell. Yet another yielded seven tubular smoking pipes of serpentine or greenstone schist, finely shaped and smoothed, and varying between

four and eight inches in length (Figures 6.11, 6.12). The large obsidian blades are ofa type traditionally used by Hupa, Karuk,

Wiyot, and Yurok people of northern California in the White Deerskin

Dance. The use of such blades by the people of Gold Hill suggests that ancient Oregon groups belonged to the same far-reaching intertribal —239 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Figure 6.10 Obsidian blades from the Gold Hill Site (courtesy of Richard Hughes).

ceremonial network. The White Deerskin Dance was an important ritual in which highly valued family treasures and heirlooms were displayed,

among them very large obsidian blades. In addition to being important

ceremonies that expressed the elevated social status of community

leaders, these dances brought together partners from different

communities, even different tribes. They functioned as major occasions

for trade and social interaction overa broad area. Still practiced in historic times, the White Deerskin Dance clearly has prehistoric roots. This was —240 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

Figure 6.11 Tubular steatite pipes from the Gold Hill Site. m

Figure 6.12 Bone whistle or hair ornament (?) from the Gold Hill Site.

first shownby the finding of large obsidian danceblades in archaeological context at Gunther Island, near Eureka on the northern California coast (Loud 1918, Hughes 1978), and subsequently by the Gold Hill artifacts. The beautifully made stone smoking pipes from Gold Hill also have their greatest similarities among northern California specimens. These two

classes of objects, along with the distinctive Gunther Barbed projectile

points mentioned previously, strongly indicate the northern California

cultural connections of the Gold Hill inhabitants.

241 —
Archaeology of Oregon

Geochemical analysis of the large obsidian blades from Gold Hill has

matched their trace element composition to that of distant obsidian flows

east of the Cascades (Hughes 1990). Six different sources are represented,

the farthest away being Glass Butte in east-central Oregon, some 175

miles from Gold Hill. These facts show that the people of Gold Hill maintained significant relationships in another direction as well, into the

territories of Klamath and Northern Great Basin groups. Not only the

large size and exquisite workmanship of the obsidian blades made them

precious, but also the far places from which they came, and the social ties and travel that obtaining them required.

Saltsgaver Site

Further insights into the local lifeway are afforded by sites much closer

at hand. Quite near Gold Hill, in the same little section of the Rogue River

valley, is the Saltsgaver Site. Here over 100 roasting pits or earth ovens were exposed by the tilling of a field (Prouty 1989). Fires made in the pits

had baked the surrounding earth red and brick-hard, rendering the pit

rims clearly visible when agricultural work disturbed the surface soil. Excavation of several pits revealed charcoal and fire-cracked rocks. From

one pit, 14C-dated at 5300 BP, charred nut shells were recovered. Though

the identification is notcertain, they wereprobably acorn hulls. Acharred

specimen fromanother pit is probably a camasbulb. Oaktrees and camas

lilies are now abundant in the general area of the site, and may have been more common before the area was converted to farmland. Earth ovens

of this sort were used down into historic times by native people to bake camas and other bulbs for winter storage. The Saltsgaver Site seems to parallel Gold Hill closely in age, as shown by the occurrence there of the same early willow-leaf and later Gunther Island projectile point types as found at Gold Hill. The many earth ovens at Saltsgaver give evidence of a major emphasis on plant food processing by native people who were

surely the neighbors, if not themselvesat least sometime occupants, of the

Gold Hill settlement. Ritsch and Marthaller Sites

A few miles downstream from Gold Hill are the Ritsch and Marthaller

sites. These are neighboring and undoubtedly related occupations on

either side of Applegate Creek at the point where it joins the Rogue River

(Wilson 1979; Steele n.d.). Willow-leaf points and many contractingstem, small side-notched, and Gunther Island points suggest that Marthaller mayhaveoverlapped to somedegree with theearly occupation

at Gold Hill, and to a great degree with its later phase. Human burials and — 242 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

a dense occupational zone suggest the pattern of a stable village with

associated cemetery. The Ritsch Site was dominated by small concave

base and Gunther Island points, and apparently lacked a significant

earlier component. Two house floors show this to have been a residential

site, but no cemetery was discovered. Conceivably the neighboring

Ritsch and Marthaller communities shared a single burial ground.

Radiocarbon dates from the Ritsch Site of 1470, 1400, 1150, and 460 BP

place it firmly in late prehistoric time.

Far Hills Ranch

A few miles upstream from Gold Hill, close to where Elk Creek joins the

Rogue River, is the Far Hills Ranch Site. Like Gold Hill and Marthaller,

this site seems to have been a stable village with a cemetery associated

(Davis 1983). Far Hills Ranch has been archaeologically studied only to a verylimited extent, but reportedly over 90 humanburials were removed

from it before World War II, and reinterred at the nearby town of Trail. Restricted excavations here identified a probable residential component.

The projectile point assemblage included a high proportion of early

willow-leaf forms and a few late Gunther Island specimens. This is an

assemblage quite similar to that from Gold Hill, suggesting that Far Hills

Ranch was occupied over a similar timespan.

Elk Creek Sites

The sites known along the main stem of the interior Rogue River seem to exemplify a pattern of stable settlements that were occupied over

generations, long enough for substantial cemeteries to develop in association with them. Similar but rather less intensive occupations may

have been characteristic of the tributary valleys. This is suggested by the

evidence from Elk Creek, where a major research project has provided a

rich and systematically gathered database that describes the environmental

setting and resources as well as the artifactual remains.

Elk Creek is a short upper Rogue River tributary that heads in the

Cascades west of Crater Lake. Low water often limits the late summer

and fall salmonruns in Elk Creek, but spawners are there from September

to February, and steelhead peak there between December and May.

People could have obtained exhausted, spawned-out fish from the

shallow stream even without special equipment, simplyby flipping them

onto the bank with their hands. Elk Creek receives snowfall, but it normally melts off quickly, and the valley is a favored winter refuge for elk and deer. In modern times, hard snowy winters have only increased —243 —
Archaeology of Oregon

the concentration of deer along Elk Creek, as stragglers were driven more

completely from the high, cold mountains to the east. During spring,

summer, and fall, small animals and plants for food and artifact making

could be taken from a series of local environments on easy day trips.

Environmental zones extended from thickets ofalder, ash and cottonwood

along the stream course, upward through buckbrush and mountain

mahogany scrub into forests of oak, madrone, and Ponderosa pine.

Especially important were the oak groves of intermediate elevation,

where great quantities of acorns offered a readily storable winter staple.

Higher yet grew Douglas-fir, hemlock, white pine, and sugar pine. On

more distant peaks above 5000 feet, where snow lingered until July, were

forests of red fir and white fir with delicious gooseberries, huckleberries,

elderberries, and currants growing in the understory. One such place was Huckleberry Mountain, about 10 miles away (Budy and Elston 1986; Lyman 1987; Pettigrew and Lebow 1987).

Some three dozen archaeological sites were found by systematic survey

along a seven-mile reach of Elk Creek. At several, only sparse flakes of worked stone appeared on the surface. At others flaked stone was more

abundant, and a few also showed depressions in the ground, thought to be old housepits. Six sites were excavated to a significant extent,

revealing anarchaeological record in Elk Creek Valley that began as early as 5000 years ago and became quite rich within the last 1000 years. The

absence of earlier archaeological sites probably does not indicate an

absence of earlier occupation in the area, but rather the destruction or deep burial of any earlier record by geological forces. A radiocarbon date

of 7400 BP on gravel deposits more than a meter below the modern

surface shows that the present Elk Creek valley bottom was still forming

then. The absence in valley floor deposits of any volcanic ash from the

eruption of nearby MountMazama (Crater Lake) about 7000 BP suggests

continued major stream erosion after that date. The finding along Elk

Creek of artifact types dated from about 5000 BP onward may reflect stabilization of the modern surface around that time (Brauner and Lebow

1983; Budyand Elston 1986; McDowell and Benjamin 1987; Pettigrew and

Lebow 1987).

At site JA100 four housepits were excavated, one of which had a second

occupation floor superimposed over the first. One housepit was roughly

rectangular, measuring about 11 by 19 feet across and a foot deep. The

others were roughly circular, about 14 feet across and one or two feet deep. Typically they had the remains of wall posts around their edges,

central fireplaces, and small pits dug into the floor, probably for storage; one structure had six such pits. Splotches of red, baked earth on the floors,

along with charcoal and scattered patches of charred bark, suggested a —244 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

probable end to pole-and-bark superstructures by fire. One structure had

been used after its abandonment for a cremation burial, as indicated by

a fragmentary human skeleton found within a dense concentration of

charcoal . Outside, between two of the houses, partial excavation revealed

a pit about two feet deep and three feet in diameter. This pit contained numerous fire-cracked rocks, and near it were recovered 27 acorns of the

Oregon white oak. Thirteen radiocarbon dates on debris from the JA100

housesindicate several episodes ofintensive occupationand reoccupation

between about 1000 and 200 years ago. A few scattered projectile points

of earlier broad-necked and willow leaf types suggest occasional visits to the site over the preceding several millennia (Pettigrew and Lebow 1987).

A single housepit excavated at site JA59 was roughly circular, about 16

feet in diameter. It had been dug into a hillslope, so that the downhill edge

of the level floor was at the ground surface, while the uphill edge lay at a depth of about two feet. A large irregular hearth near the center of the

housepit yielded a

14C age of 740 years ago. As in the JA100 houses, redfired earth and charred bark suggested burning of the pithouse

superstructure. A series of six additional dates from the later fill of the

housepit imply that it was afterward used intermittently as a refuse

dump, between about 500 BP and historic times. This refuse may indicate

the former presence of other structures nearby, perhaps now destroyed

by the grading of a road through the site. As in the case of JA100, a few

scattered broad-necked and willow-leaf points suggest earlier visits (Budy et al. 1986; Pettigrew and Lebow 1987).

Site JA27A apparently once had housepits, but uncontrolled digging by

looters prior to the archaeological study made this impossible to verify.

Excavations there yielded a concentration of cobble tools, a cluster of

cobbles, a cluster of fire-cracked rocks, and a small shallow pit with

heavily fire-reddened walls. Also found were a few fragmentary human

bones, evidently placed as a disarticulated burial in a small pit abouta foot

deep. The burial pit was lined with stream cobbles, and with seven

milling stones, or metates. Seven radiocarbon dates showed episodes of

occupation between about 1600 BP and historic times. A few broadnecked and willow-leaf projectile points from a lower stratum suggest

occasional earlier visits beginning as much as 5000 years ago (Pettigrew

and Lebow 1987).

Three of the excavated sites had no housepits, and clearly were occupied

ephemerally. Interestingly, each of these was closely adjacent to one or more housepit occupations. Site JA27B, on a terrace above JA27A,

revealed only a few concentrations of fire-cracked rock, charcoal and

burned red earth. Site JA102, also on a high terrace, produced only a —245 —
Archaeology of Oregon

sparse scatter of flaked stone. Site JA107, at low elevation on Elk Creek,

yielded considerably more abundant flaked stone debris. Although the excavators saw this as a residential site because of its wide variety of tools,

the absence of any housepits suggests that it may have been simply a short-term seasonal field camp, albeit a well-situated and frequently used

one. All three sites had projectile points of types dated throughout the last 5000 years. Sites JA27B and JA107 especially had relatively high

percentages of broad-necked and willow-leaf points, indicating that they saw the most intensive earlier occupations among the six excavated sites (Budy and Elston 1986; Pettigrew and Lebow 1987). It seems likely that many if not most of the unexcavated Elk Creek sites, known only from

limited surface indications, were of character similar to these three

ephemeral field camps, some with a long history of use, that during late times served as activity locations subsidiary to the main housepit

occupations.

All the Elk Creek sites yielded flaked stone points for hunting projectiles.

These included mostly small, narrow-necked arrowheads, while larger

broad-necked points probably used to tip atlatl darts were much less numerous. Willow-leaf points, which ranged from quite small to quite

large, probably were used during both the bow/arrow and atlatl /dart

periods, with the narrower forms tending to be late and the broader forms

early. Raked stone tools for processing meat, hide, and bone included

bifacial and unifacial knives and scrapers, drills, burins, and large cobble

choppers. Numerous distinctive keeled end scrapers from JA107, which

showed heavy use-wear and much resharpening, suggest that

woodworking was particularly important at that site (Budy and Elston

1986).

The fine-grained stone used in tool making was predominantly chert,

locally available in stream gravels and rock outcrops. Local basalt was

also used. But obsidian brought from remote sources was important as

well, comprising 3% to 10% of the flaked toolstone at various sites. Obsidian does not occur locally, and the limited fragmentation of flaking

debris, as well as the absence of weathered cortex on flake debitage,

indicate that it was imported as already shaped and retouched tool preforms (Spencer 1987). Some 200 obsidian artifacts from Elk Creek were traced by geochemical "fingerprinting" to three distant flows:

Silver Lake/Sycan Marsh 70 miles to the northeast, Spodue Mountain 70

miles due east, and Grasshopper Flat, 90 miles to the southeast. The three sources were all strongly represented in the Elk Creek samples. There was somewhatless obsidian from Grasshopper Rat, as mightbe expected

due to its greater distance, but at the same time Grasshopper Flat obsidian — 246 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

reached its highest local proportions in those Elk Creek sites nearest that source (Hughes 1987; Zeier 1986). The essential conclusions of these

studies have been independently substantiated by a later analysis using

other data (Nilsson and Kelly 1991).

Ground stone plant-processing tools included bowl-shaped mortars,

hopper mortar bases, pestles, metates, manos, and edge-faceted cobbles.

Battered hammer and anvil stones probably served various functions.

Quartz crystals, pigment stones, and fragments of steatite smoking pipes no doubt reflect the social realm.

Nearly 500 pottery sherds were found at JA100, and 90 more at JA27A.

Pottery was conspicuously—and inexplicably—lacking at JA59, only one sherd having been found. On a housepit floor at JA100 was found a broken but reconstructable shallow bowl, eight inches in diameter and

about four inches deep. It was thick and hand-modeled, as shown by numerous finger impressions. The inside of the bowl rim had been

decorated with fingernail incisions, and the inner surface was incised in an irregular cross-hatch pattern. Thebowl exterior wasrough, the surface

having largely exfoliated or eroded away. Baking in an open fire had

given it an uneven reddish brown color. Pottery sherds from the Elk

Creek assemblage as a whole showed that such bowls were the prevalent

form, though one small cup about two inches in diameter and one inch

deep was also recognized. This pottery belongs to the Siskiyou Utility

Ware tradition, recently discovered to be widespread in southern Oregon

and northern California. Found with the pottery werealso a few fired clay

figurines, small and very simply made. These included a deer's head, a human torso, a fish tail, and some nondescript flattened and conical

broken pieces (Mack 1983, 1987; see also Endzweig 1989).

Bones and bone fragments from the Elk Creek sites numbered more than

26,000, of which 650 were complete enough to be identified to genus or

species. Most of these represented deer; much less common were elk,

beaver, pocket gopher, mountain lion, canids (dog, coyote, or wolf), fox,

turtle, and salmon. The modern excellence of Elk Creek as a winter deer

habitat is shown by these data to be of long standing. Analysis of the

stages of eruption and wear on deer teeth indicates that the animals in the

sample were killed predominantly in the fall, winter, and spring. The

dental age profiles also showed young and old animals in

disproportionately great numbers, while prime adults were rarely taken.

This implies individual hunting, because the very youngand very old are most likely to fall prey to human (or other) stalkers, while alert, healthy

adults are most likely to escape (Lyman 1987). Chemical analysis of

247 —
Archaeology of Oregon

projectile points and butchering knives confirmed theimportanceof deer

hunting at Elk Creek, by identifying cervid (deer, elk) blood on most of

the artifacts examined (Loy 1987).

Charcoal and charred seeds from firehearths and soil samples taken at the

Elk Creek sites reflect a prehistoric vegetational mosaic comparable to that which exists in the area today. Table 6.1 shows the species identified,

the environmental zones they represent, and their probableeconomic use and season of collection.

Table 6.1. Economic use and seasonality of plant remains from Elk Creek

sites (Davis and Miksicek 1987: Table B.6). Common Name Economic Use Season Mixed Conifer Forest

Fir basketry, wood, sap-medicine year round

Douglas-fir baskety, wood, sap & twigs-medicine year round

Pine-Oak Woodland

Pine wood, nuts, edible cambium, sap-medicine nuts-fall Oak edible acorns, wood, medicine acorns-late summer

Incense Cedar Wood, medicine, fragrant boughs year round

Cascara bark-medicine year round

Madrone edible berries, wood, leaves-medicine late summer

Manzanita edible berries, wood, leaves-medicine late summer

Hazelnut edible nuts, basketry, bark-medicine nuts-late summer

Blackberry edible berries, roots-medicine summer

Elderberry edible berries, flowers & bark-medicine late summer

Huckleberry edible berries, bark-medicine summer

Stream Forest Red Alder wood, basketry, bark-medicine year round

Willow basketry, bark-medicine year round

Oregon Ash wood, roots-medicine year round

Meadow Herbs, Grasses

Bluegrass edible seeds early summer

Ryegrass edible seed summer

Panic Grass edible seeds summer

Fescue Grass early summer

Lamb's quarters edible seeds, greens summer

Bedstraw medicine summer

Plantain edible leaves, medicine summer

Borage early summer

Dock greens, medicine summer

Knotweed edible seeds summer

Lupine edible leaves, roots, medicine summer

Lotus summer Hop Clover edible seeds early summer

Buckwheat edible young stems, medicine summer

Thistle edible stems, medicine summer

Tarweed edible seeds summer

248
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

Food waste, ash from campfires, and human excrement are three byproducts of human activity that can leave concentrations of phosphorous

in the earth of archaeological sites. Phosphorous tends to be quite

insoluble and not readily leached awayfromits original place ofdeposition.

Thus its accumulation can indicate the intensity of human activity at occupation sites. Chemical analysis of soil profiles showed intense

concentrations of phosphorous at JA59, strong concentrations at JA100,

and somewhat lesser but still significant concentrations at JA27A. The

first two of these are housepit sites, where the structures themselves and

the general abundance of artifacts also signal heavy human activity.

Housepits are believed to have occurred at JA27A as well, but digging in the site by looters eliminated the possibility of verifying this. Site JA27B

showed relatively little phosphorous. This too is congruent with other

indicators of more limited occupational intensity there (McDowell 1987).

Two other sites, JA102 and JA107, were not tested for chemical residues,

butlackofhousepitsandlowartifactdensitiesindicate limited occupational

intensity there as well.

In broad view, the culture history of Elk Creek demonstrates a high

degree of continuity throughout the 5000 years of record. The basic

functional artifact types changed little throughout this period, except for the introduction of the bow and arrow about 2000 years ago, and the

introduction of pottery about a millennium later. Manifestly however,

along Elk Creek as elsewhere in the Southwestern Mountains, human

occupation intensified significantly during the last 1000 years. As noted

above, two basic kinds of sites havebeen identified: domestic homesteads

with housepits, and apparent field camps or activity locations where

human use was less intensive, probably seasonal. The seasonal sites give

evidence of use over a generally longer timespan, from a period when

willow-leaf and broad-stemmed projectile points were dominant

perhaps as early as 5000 BP—down to the time of the main housepit site occupations, after 1000 years ago. The housepit sites, though most

intensively occupied within the last thousand years, also yielded some

projectile point types suggestive of earlier occupation. There was thus an

overlap in the time of occupation of the two kinds of sites, but no housepit

sites are documented for earlier times.

How may the change in settlement pattern be accounted for? An

appealingly simple hypothesis points out that salmon and steelhead runs

in the Rogue River system would provide an important native food

resource concentrated in good fishing localities. Deer and acorns are also

abundant and highly important food resources in the same area, but tend

to be much more dispersed. Thus, the best choice for a homestead site would be near a good fishing spot. Here people could exploit a major — 249 —
Archaeology of Oregon

dependable food source close at hand, and range out on short trips to camps and activity locations for deer and acorns. During the last 1000

years it appears that Elk Creek provided such spots. But perhaps in

earlier times, dryer or warmer climate made for lower and warmer

waters in Elk Creek; fishing might then have been sufficiently

unproductive that people were not induced to build permanent homes

in the valley. In such times, they might have chosen instead to live along

the main stemof the Rogue River, notmany miles away. Elk Creek would

even men have been a good place to gather acorns and hunt deer, but this could be accomplished on forays out from homesteads elsewhere, with

only temporary bases established along Elk Creek. Exploration of this hypothesis will challenge investigators to develop a much better

understanding of the regional climatic history than nowexists (Pettigre

w

and Lebow 1987).

Hinterland Sites

As just discussed in relation to Elk Creek, activity locations and field camps in the hinterlands must have been a regular complement to the more settled homesteads known along the rivers and major streams. Major pithouse settlements such as Gold Hill, Far Hills Ranch, and those

along Elk Creek must all have been ringed by small sites where brief

visitations required no substantial shelters. In fact, small sites attested only by scattered flakes, points, or ground stone artifacts are known to occur in various settings sometimes quite distant from known pithouse

occupations. Most of these are known only from surface observations,

but a few from the Upper Rogue River area have been examined through

limited excavations.

The Salt Creek Site, on a ridge overlooking Little Butte Creek Valley, may

be a typical example of a hinterland location. It gave evidence of scattered

flakes, and a variety of projectile points including leaf-shaped, sidenotched, stemmed, and triangular types. The range of forms suggests

that the site may have been visited repeatedly over a considerable span

of time. Sites JA1 and JA2, in the Emigrant Dam reservoir area, also

appear to have been seasonal camps. They yielded only lithic flakes and

a few arrowpoints. Site JA85, on a terrace aboveJackson Creek, produced

only a few small projectile points, but a considerable number of pestles,

mortar bowls or bases, and grinding slabs. It was manifestly a special

plant-processing location (Pettigrew and Lebow 1987).

— 250
Chapter 6 - Sonthzvestem Mountains

Border Village

Looking southward from the Rogue River center, another major focus of

prehistoric occupation was along the Klamath River (Mack 1983, 1990).

A numberof sites have been studied along the middle reaches of the river,

just at the point that it crosses from Oregon into California. This general

t area wasaborderland shared historicallybythe Klamath, whosehomeland

centered to the east and north, and the Shasta, who were a well- established people of the Southwestern Mountains. A 14C date of 7650

BP from Klamath Shoal Midden shows human presence in the area at an

early time, and several sites along the river contain Gold Hill, Northern

Side-notched, and Elko series projectile points that are generally dated

between about 7000 and 2500 years ago. Thus, occupation of the Klamath

River canyon spans at least the last 7500 years, but sites from which the

most detailed record has been derived are much later, dated near the end

of the prehistoric period. Of interest here for illustrative purposes is Border Village, located on the Klamath River a scant half-mile north of the

California border. The nearby Big Boulder Village and Iron Gate sites furnish comparable records, but to avoid substantial duplication they are simply mentioned here. Border Village occupies an area about 600 feet in length and 100 feet in width, on an alluvial terrace overlooking the Klamath River. Within this space were observed 19 apparent pithouse depressions, which occurred,

irregularly spaced, in two parallel rows. Two of these depressions were

completely excavated, revealing pithouse floors, and a third was cross- sectioned by means of an X-shaped trench, confirming that it was a

similar structure. Housepit 1 proved to contain four occupation floors, the deepest about

two feet beneath the surface. The others apparently represent episodes

of rebuilding or refurbishing the initial structure. The floor of this building was circular, slightly over 21 feet in diameter. In the center was

a large firepit, and lying on the floor were scattered artifacts, including

many muller fragments and several milling slabs. Charred wooden posts

and slabs lay on the floor, and three stubs of apparent roof support posts

remained in vertical position near the center of the unit. Two vertically

placed wooden planks, and the wood fragments lying on the floor,

suggested that the superstructure of the dwelling had consisted of

wooden planks leaned inward from the edges of the housepit to rest against the support posts observed near its center. The floor which

overlay this one, separated by a few inches of earth, exhibited similar

characteristics, as did the two which followed in sequence above it. The — 251 —
Archaeology of Oregon

three uppermostfloors all exhibited both a central firepitand a subsidiary

fire area to one side nearer the house wall. Burned materials found on all four floors suggested that each cycle of occupation had been terminated

by fire, after which a new structure had been built in the same pit.

A 14Cdetermination madeon a vertical post stub associated with the third

occupation floor indicated an age of550 BP. It seems that nogreat amount

of time separated the four occupations represented within the housepit.

The same kinds of projectile points, predominantly Gunther Barbed, of

late prehistoric age, were found throughout (Figure 6.13). Excavations showed the other two houses examined at the site to have

much the same character. The projectile points excavated were also predominantly of the Gunther Barbed type, suggesting a similar age. Whether all 19 of the structures indicated by surface depressions at the

site conformed to this same pattern of content and age is speculative, of course. It would not be surprising if further work at the site suggested a broader time range for the location as a whole, but currently available

evidence gives little sign of it. The artifact assemblage from Border Village was rich; the collection from

Housepit 1 is illustrative. Projectile points and a variety of knives and

scrapers imply hunting. The processing of plant foods is indicated by a

large number of milling stones and manos, or mullers, as well as by the occurrence of over 400 pottery fragments from cooking vessels. Manufacturingactivities are attested by flaked stone cores, drills, gravers, knives, and scrapers. A few fragments of twined basketry were also preserved, which is very unusual in open sites of this kind.

Bones excavated from the housepits at Border Village represent a varied

bag of food species; fish included salmon, chub, and suckers; mammals

included deer, antelope, elk, mountain sheep, beaver, porcupine, a

variety of small rodents, jackrabbit, cottontail, river otter, and such

predators as grizzly bear, mountain lion, and red fox. It is thus clear that the inhabitants of the village relied both on the river and the wooded

hinterlands beyond it for protein foods. Though no actual plant remains were preserved, it seems likely that plant gathering followed a similar

pattern. Certainly the grinding tools recovered from all occupation floors indicate consistent processing of vegetal foods.

Site distribution data show that settlement and activity locations in the

Klamath River canyonwere well-chosen to give their occupantsoptimum

access to the natural resources of the area (Mack 1990: 15-17). Typically,

sites were located on the first or second terrace of the river, adjacent to — 252 —
Chapter 6 - Southzvestern Mountains

Figure 6.13 Projectile points from the Middle Klamath River area. Top row, Gunther

Barbed and small basal notched point; middle row, left, Desert Side-notched, right, small stemmed points; bottom row, earlier stemmed and leaf-shaped forms.

wide stretches of shallow water, and near springs or places where small

streams joined the main river. Such spots offered flat, well-drained

ground on which to live, fresh water, good fishing, and immediate access

to the varied flora and fauna of the riparian zone along the stream as well

as the wooded mountains through which the river cut. In such places

people could have maintained year-around settlements, making forays

as needed to nearby hunting areas, root grounds, and acorn-gathering —253 —
Archaeology of Oregon

localities. The floral and faunal evidence just described from Border

Village seems to exemplify precisely such a pattern.

From the occurrence of pottery sherds in Klamath River sites, including

Border Village, Mack (1 983) defined a new artifact type for southwestern

Oregon and northwestern California. It waslongbelieved thatthe people

of the west coast did not make and use pottery. In historic times none did

to any significant extent. But archaeological discoveries have now shown

that in late prehistoric times pottery was widely distributed in the

drainages of the upper Klamath, Pit, and Rogue rivers. This pottery,

called Siskiyou Utility Ware, iscrudely hand-molded, variable in thickness, coarse in texture, and generally buff in color (Fig 6.14). Fingernail

impressions frequently decorate vessel rims, and incised lines occur on body surfaces. Exterior surfaces are often exfoliated and rough, while

interior surfaces are smooth. Wide-mouthed shallow bowls seem to have

been the most common forms, but cups have also been identified. Radiocarbon dates for sites at which this pottery has been found place it between about 1 100 and 400 BP (Mack 1990).

Siskiyou Utility Ware was obviously a tradition of local origin. A survey

of the archaeological literature by Mack (1987) identified sparse and

scattered finds of late prehistoric brownware pottery in the Sacramento /

San Joaquin Valley and the Columbia River drainage, as well as in the

Great Basin, but none of these definitively resemble Siskiyou Utility

Ware. The same is true of small earthenware figurines representing

people and animals (see below, Artistic and Symbolic Forms) that are often

found together withSiskiyou Utility Wareinarchaeological sites. Although

clay figurines of varied forms were made in central California from Early

Horizon (4500 BP) times onward, and along the Columbia River at least in late prehistoric times, the figurines associated with Siskiyou Utility

Ware are quite separate in their emphasis on animal and human subjects

and their realistic rendering. In the absence of clear connections among

these various regional traditions, it is reasonable to suggest that all are mostlikely areally restricted developments thatgrewoutof a widespread

general knowledge of fired clay technology that is itself of great antiquity

.

North Umpqua Narrows

A third major focus of occupation in the Southwestern Mountains region

is the Umpqua River Basin, north of the Rogue River drainage. Until

recently all but unknown archaeologically (Hanes 1978a), a number of

important sites have now been excavated which begin to define the

outline of prehistory in the area. —254 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

Figure 6.14 Fragments of Siskiyou Utility Ware pottery from the middle Klamath River. A key site is that at the Narrows of the North Umpqua River, where the

stream churns through a tight chute and over a falls about 10 to 15 feet high. This locality was described in an 1855 cadastral survey report as

the site of an extensive Indian fishery. It remains a popular spot today,

where salmon, steelhead trout, and other species are taken in considerable

abundance. The Narrows is located at the very edge of the Western

Cascades, and a short distance downstream the river emerges from a deep canyon into the broad, open flood plain of the Umpqua Basin. The —255 —
Archaeology of Oregon

archaeological site is thus situated within a vegetational ecotone, where

the woodland species of the mountains and the grassland species of the

valley intergrade. People coming there would have had ready access to not only fish from the river, but the varied range of plants and animals

native to two quite different natural habitat zones. O'Neill (1989: Table 5)

tabulates 31 plant species identified from the vicinity, virtually all of which have some nutritive, medicinal, or industrial use.

Archaeological excavations revealed a stratified sequence of human

occupation at the Narrows that reached back more than 6000 years, dated

by 14C determinations on firehearth charcoal of 6270, 5090, 1020, 450, 330,

320, 140, and 90 BP (O'Neill 1989, 1990). Throughout this sequence were

found flaked stone projectile points, biface and uniface cutting and

scraping tools, cobble choppers, hammerstones and pounding tools, and

ground stone mortars and pestles. Numerous cores and thousands of flakes of chert, basalt, and obsidian gave evidence that stone tools were

manufactured on the spot throughout the history of the site. Bone was

rarely found in the excavations, and plantremains other than charcoal not

at all, owing to poor conditions for preservation. Nevertheless, the site's location and the tools found there clearly imply that fishing, hunting, and

gathering activities were all staged from the place. At Martin Creek,

another riverine site some miles downstream, excavation of a protected

rockshelter gave evidence of artifacts associated with the bones of deer,

hare, squirrel, salmon, and sucker, as well as shells of the freshwater

mussel. Charred hazelnut hulls were also reported (O'Neill 1989).

Traces of a pithouse at the Narrows, 14C dated on hearth charcoal at 1020

BP, suggest that people stayed at the locality for some weeks or months;

at any rate for long enough stretches of time to make such construction

worthwhile. The 1855 cadastral survey notes mention a nearby village

thenoccupied byIndians who fished at theNarrows, butits archaeological

trace has not been found.

Limpy Rock Shelter

Upstream, Limpy Rock Shelter is one of some 20 sites deep in the rugged

terrain of the North Umpqua River headwaters that have been identified as seasonal upland hunting camps (Baxter 1989: Table 1, Figure 2). The

site is a large overhang filled with rocky rubble. Limited excavations

recovered some 200 flaked stone tools, including projectile points, knives,

scrapers, and other items. More than 4000 pieces of flaked stone debitage

and a few spent cores indicate that tool making was one of the activities carried out at the site. All the flaked stone tools, especially the projectile — 256 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

points, canbeassociated withhuntingtasks; a few grindingslab fragments

and a hopper mortar base indicate the processing of plant foods as well. The centrality of hunting at Limpy Rock Shelter is suggested by the

recovery of nearly 3300 bones of mammals, birds, and fishes, most of the

identifiable specimens being of deer or other medium to large mammals.

As in the case of most such finds, it is not wholly clear to what extent the

bones might reflect the activities of other predators besides human

hunters. The faunal inventory is certainly congruent, however, with a

tool assemblage unmistakably suited to hunting and butchering tasks. No occupation floors or distinct cultural features were found at Limpy

Rock Shelter. That camp fires were made there is suggested by scattered

charcoal, but no definite hearths were discovered. A 14C determination

of 430 BP on charcoal gathered from the excavated deposits dates the

occupation to the late prehistoric period.

South Umpqua River Sites

The South Umpqua Falls, Hughes I, and Times Square rockshelters

comprise an apparently related complex of base camp and hunting sites situated within several miles of one another. The South Umpqua River

Falls are high enough to concentrate fish, but not high enough to prevent

the passage upstream of spawning salmon and steelhead trout. Chinook

salmon spawn in the fall. Steelhead enter the river in fall and spawn

during the winter. Lamprey eels are also seasonal migrants. In addition

to these anadromous species the river is inhabited year around by

rainbow and cutthroat trout, suckers, chubs, sticklebacks, and squawfish.

The vicinity is further important as an overwintering area for deer and

elk, lying as it does somewhat below the elevation of persistent winter

snowpack. The South Umpqua Falls are a traditional camping and

fishing location of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, who

continue to use the area today (Minor 1987).

Two small rockshelters overlook the SouthUmpquaFalls, and excavation

revealed that both were occupied prehistorically. Similar projectile

points and other artifacts from the two shelters suggest that both span

approximately the same time range, and three glass trade beads from the

lower shelter indicate that its occupation continued into historic times. A

14Cdate of3190 BP from the upper shelter relates to the earliest occupation,

while a date of 600 BP pertains to later occupation in the lower shelter. People encamped in the rockshelters left behind a number of flaked stone

projectile points, knives, scrapers, drills, and other tools. They also left —257 —
Archaeology of Oregon

cores of tool-making stone and thousands of flakes of chipped stone

debitage. Cobble tools included hammerstones, anvils, and grinding

stones. Bone or antler artifacts included wedges, stone-flaking tools,

awls, and sharpened bone splinters. Also found were shell disk beads,

Olivella shell beads, and a number of bear claws perforated at one end for suspension. The inventory represents a variety of hunting, foodprocessing, and manufacturing tasks, suggesting that people spent a considerable amount of time at this location and were involved while

there with a number of different activities. The remains of five burials

found in the upper shelter, presumably of people overtaken by death

there in the normal course of events, imply fairly regular human presence

at the site. Animal bone from the South Umpqua Falls Rockshelters included more

than 46,000 i terns, mostly fragmentary. Some4300 identifiable specimens

represented predominantly mammals (55%) and fish (36%). There were

also small or trace amounts of land snails, freshwater clams, birds,

reptiles, and crustaceans. Deer were by far the most common species

among the identified mammals, and most of the unidentified fragments were also of the size and thickness of deer bone. Some 21 other mammal

species included creatures as small as shrews, voles, and wood rats, and

as large as mountain lion and elk. The fish bones were not tabulated

quantitatively by species, but included salmon, sucker, squawfish, chub,

and lamprey eel. Seeds and nuts from the excavations included predominantly pine nuts,

hazelnuts, Douglas-fir seeds, and seeds of the rose family. Some hazelnut

shells and rose seeds werecharred, suggesting that they had been roasted

or toasted. The bulk of the seeds and nuts, however, could not be

certainly identified with human agency. Although they may have been

brought into the sites by people, it is also highly possible that they were

brought in by rodents or perhaps reflect the natural "seed rain." At the

least, all are known historically to have been used as food, and their occurrence in the rockshelters shows that they were available in the near

vicinity should the human occupants choose to seek them out. Much less abundant and diverse evidence of occupation was found at Hughes I Rockshelter, high on a densely forested slope about a mile

distant from South Umpqua Falls. The small artifact assemblage was

dominated by projectile points, knives, and scrapers, though a grinding

slab and handstone were also found. A

14C determination of 1025 BP on

charcoal from an ash lens dates the deposit. Over 1700 whole and

fragmentary bone specimens were recovered from the small test —258 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

excavations, most of them so broken up as to be unidentifiable. Of the

bones that could be identified, 96% were of deer. Most of the fragments

are also believed to represent deer, based on their size and thickness.

Clearly this was a hunter's camp where deer werebroughtfor processing,

and must have seen only brief occasional use. Times Square Rockshelter, about three miles above South Umpqua Falls, like Hughes I also gives evidence of upland hunting, but it yielded a considerably more detailed record. It lies in an area of considerable biotic diversity, within the Mixed Conifer zone but close to the boundaries of

the Subalpine Mountain Hemlock and Interior Valley vegetation zones;

plant associations characteristic of all these zones occur in the vicinity of

the site (Spencer 1989: Figure 4). Growing in the immediate vicinity of the

rockshelter are salal, blackberry, Oregon grape, gooseberry, strawberry,

thistle, wild buckwheat, ferns, manzanita, chinquapin, madrone,

ponderosa and sugar pine, white oak, and hazel, all of which yield edible

berries, seeds, roots, or nuts. Most of these plants ripen during August

and September. The fish and mammalian species available near the site are essentially the same as those named for the South Umpqua Falls rockshelters. Animal bones were recovered in abundance from the dry Times Square

deposits, consistent with artifactual indications (below) that it served as a huntingcamp. Although thebones wereheavily fragmented, specimens

representing 14 mammalian species were identified, in addition to remains offishes, birds, reptiles, and amphibians(Schmitt 1 989). Hundreds of rodent and rabbit-sized bones were partially digested, making it clear

that carnivores and possibly raptors had delivered them into the cave in

fecal pellets. Woodrats ("packrats") also commonlycollect bones in their

nests, and woodrat bones themselves indicate that these creatures did

live in the rockshelter. On the other hand, many flakes of heavier bone,

bones with butchering marks, and bones showing evidence of burning

give ample evidence of human processing as well. Deer and elk bones

most commonly exhibited these traces, and a great amount of highly

fragmented deer and elk bone indicates that in addition to butchering to remove meat, skeletons were subjected to pounding and breakage for the

extraction of marrow.

Radiocarbon dates of 3240, 2690, 1500, 1 380, and 800 BP were obtained on

charcoal from Times Square Rockshelter. Two small white glass trade

beads, dated mostcommonly to the period 1820-1840, a piece of wrought

iron, and a fragment of tin-ware bring the evidence of humanoccupation

into early historic times. Remnants of a recent pole-supported shelter

259 —
Archaeology of Oregon

attestcontemporary usage of the site. Mostof the archaeological specimens

from the site came from the uppermost strata, and are referable to the last 1500 years. Flaked stone artifacts included a number of fragmentary projectile

points, many cutting and scraping tools made on flakes, a number of cores, and nearly 1 0,000 flakes of workingdebris fromartifact manufacture.

This assemblage can be readily identified with hunting, butchering, and

tool-maintenance activities. The high percentage of broken projectile

points, as well as the abundant lithic manufacturing debris, indicates that broken points were replaced at Times Square Rockshelter in the process

of refurbishing damaged arrows. Two pestles and three hopper mortar

bases, one ground into a bedrock ledge, indicate that some plant food

processing also went on at the site. Most of the toolstone was chert, with

a small but significant percentage of obsidian also present. A small

sample of obsidian artifacts from the site, their chemical compositions

identified by the X-ray fluorescence method, were traced to sources at Silver Lake, Sycan Marsh, and Spodue Mountain. A single specimen was

traced to a source at the Newberry Craters. These obsidian flows all lie east of the high Cascades, some 70 to 80 miles away.

A number of artifacts made of normally perishable plant materials were

preserved in the dryness of Times Square Rockshelter. Five fragments of twined basketry have been described, and some 70 fragments of cordage.

Manyof these latter were knotted, suggesting that they maybe fragments

of light nets, fish line, or snares. Several small packets were made by

folding madrone leaves together and tying them with strips of fiber or : grass. Miscellaneous plant stems and fibers of maidenhair fern, bear

grass, dogbane, rushes, and cedar bark represent materials that were used in weaving and spinning by many historic native groups. Their presence, along with the formed specimens, strongly suggests that basketry and cordage were not only used at the site, but manufactured

there as well. Wooden artifacts included a bow stave fragment, two arrow shafts, two

projectile foreshafts, three wooden points, several awls and eyeless

needles, and a firedrill hearth, among less readily identifiable specimens.

As in the case of the fiber specimens, manufacturing activities are suggested at the site itself by the finding of many wood chips and sticks that have been peeled, cut, and broken (Fowler 1989).

Hunting camps tend to be thoughtofas representing only male activities. In ethnohistoric times, men typically did the actual hunting, and —260 —
Chapter 6 - Southzuestem Mountains

manufactured the lithic tools used in hunting and butchering. And in most archaeological sites the lithic artifacts, and perhaps the bones of the

hunter's quarry, are all that is preserved for later analysis; the evidence

thus suggests only male occupations. At Times Square Rockshelter,

however, where dryness favored the preservation of wood and fiber

artifacts, it appears that weaving and cordage-making—typically female

activities—are also well-represented. With better archaeological

preservation a significantly different picture thus emerges, of visits to the

uplands that were probably familial in character rather than being all- male hunting forays. Such visits apparentlyincluded both manufacturing

activities and the gathering of plant resources in the vicinity by nonhunting members of the group. Without the perishable artifacts, the only

clues to female presence at Times Square would be the few mortars

found, by themselves suggestive but isolated and therefore less than

compelling evidence of activities typically carried out by women. Given

the proximity of Times Square Rockshelter to South Umpqua Falls, where fairly substantial and long-term occupation is suggested, it would

seem quite expectable that women and children, as well as males, would

be in the complement visiting the site. Standley Site

Toward the coastward edge of the Umpqua Basin is the Standley Site, an

open settlement quite different in character from those just discussed.

Research there has figured importantly in developing a long-term

perspective on cultural continuity and change in the Southwestern

Mountains as a whole (Connolly 1991 ). Archaeologically represented by

a dense scatter of stone artifacts along the edge of a terrace overlooking

the Camas Valley flood plain, the Standley Site was clearly a substantial

encampment in prehistoric times.

Excavations revealed a number of buried cultural features, most of them

comprised of fire-broken stones, burned earth, and charcoal. Some of

these features contained charred hazelnut hulls or camasbulbs, and were

undoubtedly fireplaces or the remains of earth ovens. Concentrations of

burned wood and bark suggested the presence of dwelling structures,

but none could be defined with assurance. A wide range of tasks and activities was carried out at the Standley Site. The stone tool assemblage includes pestles, stone bowls, abrading stones,

edge-ground cobbles, gouges, hammers, anvils, cores, flakes, knives,

scrapers, drills, gravers, projectile points, clay figurines, and painted —261
Archaeology of Oregon

tablets. In addition to hunting, gathering, and food-processing tasks, a

distinctive wood-working industry seems to be indicated by distinctive

end scrapers and gouges.

Obsidian, a common though not dominant toolstone at the Standley Site, gives evidence of distant exchange relationships. Of 40 specimens

studied by geochemical analysis, 70% came from the Silver Lake, Sycan

Marsh, and Spodue Mountain sources, nearly 150 miles east across the Cascades. Most of the rest came from California's Medicine Lake

Highlands, more than 150 miles south and east. Eleven 14C dates ranging between 2350 and 310 years ago, and some 40

obsidian hydrationmeasurements, place the mostintense and continuous

occupation of the Standley Site between about 3000 years ago and late prehistoric times. Some obsidian hydration dates indicate that earliest occupation began about 4500 to 5000 years ago. The occurrence in the Standley Site artifact assemblage of leaf-shaped

bipoints; distinctive shouldered, contracting-stem points; broad-necked

stemmed points; edge-faceted cobbles; and stone bowl mortars first prompted the recognition of a Glade Tradition in southwestern Oregon.

This tradition was seen as a regional continuation of the Old Cordilleran

or Cascade patternrecognized throughout thePacific Northwest(Connolly

1986; Connolly and Baxter 1986). Comparative statistical analysis of 47

artifact assemblages from the Southwestern Mountains region in Oregon

and California showed that the Glade Tradition began some 9000 years

ago and persisted long in the region, to late prehistoric times in the Umpqua and Coquille river basins (Connolly 1988). The deep, stratified Marial Site (mentioned earlier in this chapter) demonstrated the age and

continuity of this tradition particularly well, and the Standley Site documented the last 3000 years. Beginning about 1700 years ago the Glade Tradition was replaced in the Klamath and Rogue River drainages by the Siskiyou Pattern, which

differed dramatically. Nucleated pithouse villages, predominant use of metates and hopper mortars, small side-notched and basally-notched

projectile points, and a florescence of long-distance trade in marine shells and obsidian indicated a majorcultural change. Connolly (1 988) suggested

that in-migration of a new people might account for this change, but

noted that accelerated trading activities among people already resident

could also have had far-reaching effects on the overall cultural pattern.

About 1 000 years ago the Gunther Pattern appeared at Gunther Island on

the northern California coast and spread rapidly, bringing distinctive — 262 —
Chapter 6 - Southwestern Mountains

triangular concave-based points, bone harpoon points, shallow steatite

oil lamps, large ceremonial obsidian blades, baked clay figurines, flanged

pestles, bell-shaped mauls, zoomorphic stone clubs, and a variety of bone

and shell ornaments. Because Gunther Pattern sites appeared in the area occupied historically by Athabaskan peoples, whose language identifies them unmistakably as immigrants from western Canada or Alaska,

Connolly suggested that the sudden appearance of the Gunther Pattern marked the arrival of the Athabaskans in the Southwestern Mountains

region. The archaeological date of about 1000 years ago for this event

matches well with language-based estimates suggesting that the OregonCalifornia Athabaskans split off from their northern relatives about 1300

years ago.

In historic times, the area in which the Standley Site occurs was occupied

by the Athabaskan-speaking Upper Umpqua, who are thought on

ethnological evidence to have moved up the coast from farther south only

a short time earlier. In Connolly's (1991) reconstruction, the lack of

Gunther Pattern diagnostics at Standley implies its abandonment before

or perhaps coincident with the local arrival of the Athabaskans.

Artistic and Symbolic Forms

Native rock art from the Southwestern Mountains is documented in a

series of drawings and brief descriptions by Loring and Loring (1983: 1-

15). Various interesting manifestations suggest the diversity that remains

to be more fully studied and reported as research continues in the region.

The Yoncalla Boulder lies in a wooded draw near the modem town of the same name, not far from the boundary between the Southwestern

Mountains and the Willamette Valley. The location is within the territory

historically occupied by the Yoncalla tribe. A large stone about four by

six feet across, the Yoncalla Boulder is incised with many short, deep

grooves often arranged as sets of parallel lines or inverted v-shapes.

Much longer grooves form bands enclosing these sets of lines in broad

and narrow panels. The overall effect is strikingly geometric, and the fact that almost the entire surface of the boulder has been heavily engraved

gives it a very imposing character.

Representational features are more characteristic of the paintings in red

and blue pigment that are found on the walls of Dog Creek Cave in the

Upper Umpqua valley. One figure shows a person standing with feet planted wide apart, holding a bow in one hand. The archer may be

running, or perhaps has just let fly an arrow. Other human figures either —263 —
Archaeology of Oregon

hold bows, or stand with arms outspread. Geometric figures are present

as well. Circles with dotsat the center are mostcommon,buttherearealso

sets of short parallel lines. At Two Mile Rapids on the Rogue River, a boulder field contains a number of stones that have been heavily marked with pits, grooves,

zigzags, and curved lines. Some of the pits are large and deep enough to be bedrock bowls or mortars. One simple fish outline is reported, but the

elements overwhelmingly form geometric rather than representational

patterns.

As discussed for other parts of Oregon, these markings on stone are understandable in a general way as symbolic figures and indicators of

human activities, but detailed interpretations are elusive. The study of

rock art in the Southwestern Mountains is still in its infancy. A fuller understanding of these prehistoric expressions should be achievable

with systematic study of elements and motifs, and efforts to relate them

to the value systems of the traditional people through historical studyand

consultation among their local descendants.

Fired clay figurines depicting animals and humansare a portable art form

only recently found to be widespread in the Southwestern Mountains

(Deich 1982; Mack 1991). These figurines exhibit the same reddish brown

color, coarse texture, hand modeling,and fingernail-impressed decoration

as seen on Siskiyou Utility Ware pottery, and generally occur together

with such pottery in archaeological sites. Over 20 14C dates place these

figures (and Siskiyou pottery) between about 1000 and 400 years ago

(Mack 1991: Table 1). Animal figures, including deer, elk, fish, rodents, carnivores, owls, and

possibly bears account for most of the figures; only about 1 0% are human

representations. Breasts or penises show the sex of some of the human

figures, but for most specimens sex is not indicated. Most of the human

figures exhibit no facial features, but animal's heads often show such

details as eyes, ears, mouths, muzzles, and antlers, that allow different

species to be identified. Most of the known specimens are broken or damaged, though complete objects have also been found.

The figurines arebelieved to be children's toysbecauseof their informality

and lack of stylization. This is also suggested by the wide range of creatures depicted, their usually broken condition, and the fact that the

figurines are typically found near main living areas, but outside the

immediate work areas of adults. This distribution appears to reflect child

play behavior, which is often so patterned (Mack 1991). —264 —
Chapter 6 - Southivestern Mountains

Fired clay figurines have been found in the middle and upper drainages

of the Pit River, the Klamath River, and especially the Rogue River, where

most of the currently known examples have been recorded. Historically,

these were the territories of the Achomawi, Shasta, and Upland Takelma.

More broadly, fired clay figurines are known from central California, some parts of the Great Basin, and the middle Columbia River. But the

figurines of these areas lack the focus on animal representations, and the

realistic depictions of facial features and limbs that set apart the objects

from the Southwestern Mountains (Endzweig 1989). It is evident that the

specimens from the Oregon-California borderlands comprise a distinct

tradition, unique to that area. Notably, this tradition spread across a

territory that in historic times was home to some very different tribal/

linguistic groups, whichethnohistoric evidence showsto havenevertheless

interacted intensively in trade, exchange of mates, and occasionally

warfare. The sharing of a tradition that seems to have centered on the

culture of children offers a poignant suggestion of the closeness that apparently grew between the ethnically and linguistically diverse people

of the Southwestern Mountains.

Future Research

Archaeological research in the Southwestern Mountains has progressed

remarkably in recent years, and an increasingly detailed picture of the

regional prehistory is emerging. The biotic richness, cultural unity, and

ethnolinguistic diversity of the region invite, however, much fuller exploration. A beginning has been made in outlining the course of past

environmental change in the Southwestern Mountains, based on

biogeographical study of the modern flora. But systematic

paleoenvironmental research, based on geological study, pollen, tree- ring analysis, and other approaches, is just in the planning stages. Census

and evaluation of the native food resources of the region, in terms of

location, abundance and cyclicity, is being pursued but has not yet

reached the stage ofpublication (Nan Harmon, personal communication).

A provocative investigation into the relationship between seasonal and

short-term climatic fluctuation, resource distribution and abundance,

and the economic ranges of different groups, is also underway (Richard

Olmo, personal communication).

The marked degree to which people of very different ethnic origins and

languages came in the Southwestern Mountains to share a common way

of life needs continuing investigation. Speakers of Hokan, Penutian,

Athabaskan, and Algonquian languages interacted quite intensively in ethnohistoric times, and commonalities in the archaeological record —265 —
Archaeology of Oregon

indicate that this interaction has deep roots. While retaining their own

ethnolinguistic identities, people came to share most of the everyday

patterns of residence, hunting, gathering, tool manufacture, and so on. Important socio-ceremonial observances apparently united diverse

groups. For example, archaeology suggests that the White Deerskin

Dance has a long history in both northern California and southwestern

Oregon. Ona more homely level, the making of children's toys from fired clay has a similar distribution. Further archaeological investigation of such relationships will be ofmuch historical and anthropological interest.

Finally there are the unanswered questions and controversies that inevitably stem from ongoing research. Pettigrew (1990) provocatively

catalogs problems and controversial interpretations that are actively

under debate by regional researchers. A major item is how or whether

two differing characterizations of the archaeological sequence of the

region maybe reconciled. In this survey, both ideas havebeen presented:

the one, a periodizationbased on theconceptof temporal phases (Pettigrew

and Lebow 1987); the other, a view stressing continuities, based on the

concept of cultural traditions (Connolly 1988, 1991). At the present stage

of knowledge and analysis, the two schemes do not harmonize as well as could be wished. But the view taken here is that the different conceptual

frameworks are (or should be) complementary, and that with further

work both are likely to contribute important perspectives on the regional

prehistory. As always, the call is for continuing exploration.

266
Chapter 7 - Oregon Cultures in Perspective

Chapter 7

Oregon Cultures in Perspective

The traditional cultures of Oregon were varied and distinctive, reflecting the different environments they grew in and the particular social factors

that channeled their own courses of development. In a broad way,

however, the forces that shaped them have also shaped other cultures,

and native Oregon lifeways share much in common with those of other

places, near and far. This concluding chapter briefly places early Oregon

cultures in a larger comparative context, to show some of the ways in which they relate to or resemble other important developments in the

northern hemisphere.

The Peopling of the North and the Peopling of

America

It is abundantly clear that human origins lie in the tropics and semitropics

of the Old World, probably in Africa and probably around three million years ago. The north-temperate zone was populated only very late in the

human career, and the far north much later yet. With the emergence of

fully modernhumansand their developmentofa varied and sophisticated

technology, people began adapting to the arctic climes of the Old World —267 —
Archeology of Oregon

about30,000yearsago. The far north isan extremely rigorous environment

for humans, but fish, fowl, and mammals school, flock, and herd there in overwhelming concentrations. Once people learned the habits and

developed the technology to live in the arctic and exploit its riches, the

entire north was opened to human occupation. From Norway on the

west to Greenland on the east, the arctic biota is remarkably uniform, and

that was perhaps even more true during the terminal Pleistocene period,

when mammoths, mastodons, horses, camels, caribou, musk ox, and

other large animals were widespread throughout the north. The peopling

of the arctic was prerequisite to the peopling of the New World, and

indeed the two events are seamlessly related. The precise dates of this epochal expansion of the human domain are not agreed upon, but the

best evidence suggests that it began about 30,000 years ago, with the

crossing to America achieved between about 18,000 and 14,000 years ago

(Fagan 1987; Aikens 1991, with references).

The first Americans came from northeast Asia across the Bering Land

Bridge. A broad plain more than 600 miles wide emerged from the

shallow BeringSea as terminal Pleistoceneglaciers grew, and increasingly

kept much of the world's water from returning to the oceans. The first immigrants probably crossed Beringia shortly after the last glacial

maximum, when world climate wasbeginning to warmbut muchglacial

ice remained unmelted, and sea level was still relatively low. Large parts

of Alaska had remained unglaciated throughout the ice age, and during

the time of the Bering Land Bridge, this territory was continuous with the

arctic tundras that stretched endlessly across northern Asia and Europe.

Anearlier entry into the Americaninterior is rendered unlikelyby the fact that during the last glacial maximum, the Laurentide ice sheet, spreading

outward from the Hudson Bay region, and the Cordilleran ice sheet,

spreading outward from the northern Rocky Mountains, covered much

of Canada. In one area of northwestern Canada the terminal moraines of these two glaciers overlapped, suggesting that for at least the period of greatest cold, continuous glacial ice would have blocked movement

southward from Beringia and Alaska into the continental interior. Human

movement down the west coast at that time is equally unlikely, because

there the way southward wasblocked byimmense glaciers that extended

to water's edge, calving directly into the sea. A theory that people

traveled along this coast by boat during terminal Pleistocene times

(Radmark 1979), though highly implausible given the ice-age conditions,

must nevertheless be conceded as not wholly beyond imagining. As

recently pointed out in a broad-ranging examination of this problem,

there is archaeological evidence for human occupation in Australia and

New Guinea 40,000 to 50,000 years ago; in the New Britain, New Ireland, —268 —
Chapter 7 - Oregon Cultures in Perspective

and Solomon islands 20,000 to 32,000 years ago; and on offshore islands

of Japan during about the same period. Such facts do show clearly that

people of these areas were living on coastal resources and travelling

substantial distances across water at an early time (Erlandson 1992a,

1992b). Whether such clues from the equatorial and middle latitudes

foreshadow an archaeological findingyetunmade, however, that seagoing

people also spread along the arctic shores of the northern Pacific in terminal Pleistocene times, remains to be seen. The archaeological

evidence so far discovered onthesecoastsdocumentsonlypost-Pleistocene

occupation.

A

14C date of 13,200 BP for Fort Rock Cave in Oregon, and dates of 14,500

and 15,000 BP for Wilson Butte Cave in Idaho (Gruhn 196), are the earliest

to be possibly associated with evidence of human presence in the

Northwest. They are in fact amongthe earliest dates thatmightreasonably

be claimed for human presence in the NewWorld as a whole, but it must

be noted that all currently available dates in this and earlier time ranges

are controversial, due to limitations or ambiguities in the evidence.

By at least 1 1 ,500 years ago, however, people were clearly present all over North America. Numerous 14C dates from Arizona, New Mexico, and

elsewhere establish a time range of 11,500 to 11,000 BP for sites of the

highly distinctive Clovis complex (named for a discovery near the town

of Clovis, NewMexico). Clovis fluted points havebeen found fromNova

Scotia to California, and from Alaska to Panama (Haynes 1969; Bryan et

al. 1978). Well-made spear points of the Clovis fluted type have been

found in all parts of Oregon, and the Dietz Site, in the eastern half of the

state, has yielded a considerable number of Clovis points and related

artifacts. How much before 11,500 BP the Clovis people or their direct ancestors entered North America remains to be determined. So far, fully

convincing evidence for earlier occupation has notbeen found, but many

devotees continue the search. The Clovis Paleo-lndians of late glacial times are known from a number

of sites in North America to have been hunters of mammoth, giant bison,

and other large game animals which shortly became extinct as the cool,

moist conditions of the ice age gave way to the warmer and drier climate

of postglacial times. It is a reasonable presumption that Oregon's Clovis

people hunted the Pleistocene animals then extant in the area, and at this period Oregon cultures were probably more closely related to those

elsewhere in North America than they ever were again. The Clovis

horizon marks the only time in North American prehistory when a single

diagnostic artifact style spread over the entire continent. Manifestly,

Paleo-lndian hunters traveled fast and far over the rich, untapped —269 —
Archeology of Oregon

landscape of the New World, and in so doing laid down the cultural base

from which all later regional traditions sprang. Postglacial Readaptation: Archaic

Hunter-Fisher-Gatherers

North American environments changed dramatically as the climate

warmed and dried with the waning of the glacial age. By shortly after 11,000 years ago, the mammoth, horse, camel, giant bison, and other

species once hunted by Paleo-lndians were reduced to extinction. Only

in the Great Plains, where vast grasslands and herds of bison persisted,

did a big-game hunting way of life continue. In the east, forests replaced

open tundras, grasslands, and parklands. In much of the west, shrubby

semidesert vegetation replaced richer, grassier floras as warmerpostglacial

climate dried the landscape and shrank the great lakes once present there. In both east and west the large herding species were replaced by smaller, more scattered animals, and Paleo-lndian big-game hunters gradually

became Archaic foragers and collectors, hunting and gathering a wide

variety of plant and animal foods.

The Archaic lifewaydeveloped differently in various parts of the country,

asindividual societies adapted themselvesto woodlands, rivers, seacoasts,

mountains, or deserts. All these groups were characterized by broadspectrum hunting and gathering, hence may all be labeled by the same

general term. But they differed in detail, in ways reflecting the specific

environments to which they became adapted. During the Archaic

period, the continent-wide uniformity of the Clovis horizon gave way to a large series of regional culture patterns. Within Oregon five regional

traditions have been recognized, as reflected by the central chapters in

this book. All these traditions represent cultures of Archaic type, and all continued from the early postglacial right into historic times.

In the Great Basin of eastern Oregon the Clovis Paleo-lndian way of life is well-attested at the Dietz Site. But even at Dietz was foreshadowed the

Archaic desert culture tradition that was emerging by 1 1,000 years ago at the Fort Rock and Connley caves. By 9000 years ago, the Desert Archaic

pattern was well-developed. Hallmarks of this adaptation were the

milling stone and mano, for crushing seeds; woven textiles that included

carrying baskets, nets, matting, and other elements; woven sandals of sagebrush bark or tule; rabbitskin robes; the atlatl and dart (early) and the

bow and arrow (late); and a highly mobile, wide-ranging pattern of life, suited to the collecting of sparse and scattered resources over a vast

territory. Dwellings included lightly builtpole-and-brush wickiups , and —270 —
Chapter 7 - Oregon Cultures in Perspective

more substantial pithouses. This way of life was not restricted to Oregon,

but was practiced, with local variations, all over the Great Basin province

of Oregon, Nevada, and Utah, and beyond into the deserts of northern

Mexico.

In the Plateau portion of north-central Oregon, salmon fishing nearly

10,000 years ago at The Dalles prefigured a riverine adaptation of Archaic

type that became characteristic of the entire Columbia River drainage.

The uplands were exploited for game during hunting seasons, and

several species of edible roots were gathered there at appropriate times

of the year, but the main focus of human habitation came to be the banks

of the big river and its tributaries. The late spring-early fall salmon runs became an economic mainstay, and the abundance they provided

which could be dried and stored for leaner seasons—supported many

small villages of substantial pithouses. Here the community wintered,

and many people lived and worked throughout the year. Here too task

groups returned home after spending some weeks or months at nearby

summer fish camps, or came back from briefer hunting and gathering

forays into the uplands. The mortar and pestle, for pounding roots into

meal, were characteristic tools. So were various items of fishing gear such

as net weights, net floats, fish hooks, and fish spears. The atlatl and dart,

and the bow and arrow, served as projectile weapons. Stone mauls and

antler wedges, along with other tools, formed part of a well-developed

woodworking complex. The Plateau pattern extended not only along the

Middle Columbia in Oregon, butnorthward throughout trans-Cascadian

Washington and into the Fraser Plateau of British Columbia.

The cultural tradition that developed along the Lower Columbia River

and Pacific Coast embodied both riverine and marine adaptations. Onthe

Lower Columbia between the Cascades and the Coast Range, settlements

of large communal plank houses were established along the banks of the

river. Along the sea coast, plank-house villages tended to be situated on

bays, or on estuaries where rivers emerged from the interior. Fishing and

woodworking were of great importance in all these societies, and related

tools are common in the archaeological assemblages. The mortar and

pestle for processing plant foods were also common. The atlatl and dart,

and the bow and arrow, were both in use for hunting in earlier and later times respectively. At the mouth of the Columbia, and at places along the

coast, seals and sea lions were hunted, using harpoons with bone points.

The wooded mountains beyond the water'sedge wereexploited for plant

and animal foods, but apparently, at least on present evidence, the

interior forests were only lightly utilized by societies that harvested

mainly the resources of watery environments. All these characteristics

mark this traditional Oregon life wayas part of the great Northwest Coast —271 —
Archeology of Oregon

cultural pattern that stretched some 1 800 miles from Yakutat Bay, Alaska,

to Cape Mendocino, California.

Oregon's Willamette Valley cultures occupied a distinctive grassland/

parkland setting, where people maintained a balanced economy based on diverse wild foods. River fishing, root and seed gathering, acorn

harvesting, and the hunting of deer, elk, small mammals, and wildfowl were all important. There was no overriding focus on any one food

source. WillametteValley societies werequite mobile, ranging seasonally

across territories which included riverine, gallery forest, grassland, and

wooded foothills zones. Many sites known on the valley floor were

spring and summer camps with large earth ovens, where roots of the camas lily were baked and preserved for storage. The Hurd Site, on

slightly higher ground along the valley edge near Eugene, was a

residential village where the remains of a large oval house with a slightly

sunken floor were found. It may be typical of the more stable base

settlements of the region, which have so far proven hard to find. In the adjacent mountains, especially the Cascades, small upland sites have

been discovered. Some of these undoubtedly represent the hunting

campsof valley groups,but others wereprobably occupied byprehistoric

people who, like the historic Molala, occupied the mountains on a year- around basis. From various Willamette Valley sites there has been

recovered a cultural inventory including the mortar and pestle for plant

food grinding, large and small projectile points for hunting, and a variety

of cutting and scraping tools for hide and woodworking. The Willamette

Valley was a distinctive natural and cultural area in its own right,

although it had close affinities to both the Plateau and Southwestern

Mountains.

The Southwestern Mountains were rugged territory occupied by small

groups oriented to the rivers—the Umpqua, Rogue, and others—which

cut their way from the Cascades to the sea. In both environment and

culture the region seems to have been a northern frontier of prehistoric

California. Where the mountains touched the Pacific Coast, the local societies shared in the greater Northwest Coast cultural pattern. In the

interior, salmon ran in the rivers, and a wide variety of game was to be

found in the mountainous uplands that dominated the region. Acorns were available from extensive stands of oaks on the valley floors, and

were probably more heavily relied upon here than they were farther north in the WillametteValley. Stonebowl mortars, hopper mortar bases,

and carefully shaped pestles—probably used principally in acorn

processing—are common artifact types in the area. Hunting is wel

attested by an abundance of small and large projectile points, and by tl bones of deer, elk, antelope, bighorn sheep, beaver, rabbit, and othe —272 —
Chapter 7 - Oregon Cultures in Perspective

creatures. Characteristic dwellings were substantial pithouses, usually

built in small clusters in favorable streamside locations. In late times a pottery complex of distinctive character appeared, perhaps invented

independently of other ceramic traditions in the west. Connections and Convergences

As the preceding sketches show, within the territory of modern Oregon

four native culture areas of vast scope came together. The Plateau,

Northwest Coast, Great Basin, and California provinces extend far to the

north and south of the state's boundaries, but each culture type is well

represented by Oregon examples. The Willamette Valley harbored

traditions of more localized cast that do not fit completely into any of the

larger cultural patterns, but in a general way were intermediate between

the Plateau and California. Because of these connections, the present

account of Oregon prehistory may also serve as a general introduction to traditional lifeways once extant over much of western North America.

More importantly, such similarities between ancient Oregon and other

regions demonstrate far-flung networks of communication and the

sharing of ideas and experience among prehistoric populations over many miles and many millennia.

Interesting parallels between early Oregon cultures and the lifeways of even more distant places may also be noted. These parallels are due not

to any recently shared common heritage or communication, but to evolutionary convergence, fostered by the necessities of humanexistence

in habitats of similar character. They further illustrate the power of

adaptation to environment, much referred to in preceding pages as a dominant force in shaping human culture. For example, native people of the Willamette Valley and Southwestern

Mountains ranged widely in the course of a year, fishing in the rivers,

hunting for deer and elk in the mountains, harvesting acorns in the oak

groves, gathering seeds in the grassy parklands, and digging roots in the wetter low-lying areas. A very similar economic cycle characterized the

pre-agricultural Archaic people of the eastern United States, where most

of the same plants and animals were available and exploited. Farther

afield, early Japanese of the Jomon period exploited a highly similar flora and fauna in highly similar ways between about 10,000 and 3000 years

ago, before rice cultivation began. Close environmental and economic

parallels can be found as well in the forest hunting-fishing-gathering

cultures of Mesolithic period Europe between about 10,000 and 5000

years ago. In all these areas, similar though not identical hunting-fishing- —273 —
Archeology of Oregon

gathering technologies included basic items such as the bow and arrow,

the mortar and pestle, a range of stone tools for cutting, scraping, and

woodworking, and basketry and cordage industries which served in catching and gathering (Aikens and Dumond 1986; Aikens, Ames, and

Sanger 1986).

Comparable parallels may be drawn between the coastal peoples of Oregon and coastal folk from other parts of the world. The Northwest

Coast culture pattern, in which western Oregon participated, extended

from northern California up the coast through British Columbia to Alaska. The historic Ainu ofJapan, and their archaeological predecessors,

practiced a very similar littoral way of life. Theybuilt substantial villages

along the seacoast and at the mouths of major rivers, from which they

exploited the salmon, sea mammals, and shellfish of the ocean shore, and

the deer, elk, bear, and other biota of the wooded hills behind. On the coast of Pacific Northeast Asia, ancestors of Koryak, Kamchadal, and

other peoples practiced similar lifeways in similar settings. The deeply

fjorded coasts and protected inland waters of northern Europe provided

comparable habitats and resources for human use, as did the New

England coast of eastern North America (Aikens and Rhee 1992).

Similarly, the Great Basin desert and the Plateau (the latter, like the Basin,

generally arid but veined with rivers connecting to the sea) exemplify

general habitat and cultural types found elsewhere. The Chacoan and

Patagonian regions of southern South America include arid terrains

remarkably similar to both the Great Basin and the Plateau, and the

hunting-gathering cultures of these regions were comparable in their simplicity to those of the Great Basin and Plateau (Lynch 1983). The

Kalahari Desert of southern Africa, and the interior desert of Australia,

also harbored ancient desert cultures that were broadly like those of

interior North America, though if anything adapted to even more

rigorous conditions (Yellen 1977; Gould 1977).

Such similarities among cultures remote from one another give evidence

that humanbeings, who have the samefundamental needs and potentials

the world over, have tended to respond in similar ways to the task of makingaliving whenfaced with similarenvironments. Suchevolutionary

convergencesare not mistaken for direct historical relationships, not only

because of the distances involved, butbecause important aspects of social form, and of artifact styles, clearly differ from group to group. By contrast, manyofthe social and artifactual forms commonto contiguous, historically related groups are often nearly identical, the product of direct face to fac sharing of specific ideas and examples. In sum, bomhistorical connections

and evolutionary convergences have operated to create human societies —274 —
Chapter 7 - Oregon Cultures in Perspective

in prehistoric Oregon that shared much in common with other societies across the continent and around the world.

Future Research

This narrative of Oregon prehistory has emphasized straightforward

interpretations that are factually well supported and unlikely to be

transformed by future discoveries in any radical way. But it has also been

repeatedly mentioned that much remains unknown, and each chapter

has closed with a section titled "future research." All the problems

mentioned in these sections will demand attention, and additional

questions will certainly occur to other investigators.

Because so much remains to be learned, it is appropriate to close this account with a warning that the precious cultural record of prehistoric

Oregon—ancient sites and artifacts lying on and in the ground—is endangered. Construction activities, hobbyist artifact collecting, and

outright pillaging of sites for objects to sell on the antiquities market are major and growing threats to a decidedly finite and non-renewable

cultural resource. Archaeological interpretation depends on the analysis

of artifacts and cultural features of known context, and many kinds of

questions simply cannot be approached at all when objects have been

improperly removed from their place of origin. Federal and state laws

exist to protect our cultural resources, but the best protection will come

from citizens who care about Oregon's rich prehistoric heritage and want

to preserve the archaeological library from which it can be read studied.

Precious pages are being torn out and scattered at an alarming rate.

—275
Archeology of Oregon

276 —
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