A PaleoAmerican Odyssey, part Two
Oct. 23rd, 2013 10:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plutherusContinuing my report on the Paleoamerican Odyssey conference
11:00am – Biface traditions.
The land bridge went both ways. People could have crossed back into Asia as well as into America. It was also a destination itself. There are multiple sites in Beringia, indicating a long-term settlement. In the Raven Bluff site they found some early fluted points in layers dated before, during, and after the Clovis era.
From the program book:
In my notes, I also wrote “Microblade and Flute. Unique North American industries” but I'm not sure what that was in reference to, or if the two items were related.
Interlude: The artifact room.
One of the rooms at the conference was used for displaying artifacts. The tools mentioned in the Hokkaido talk were all there. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that one. The following pictures were all taken by Patrick O'Grady, and used with his permission:
In entering the artifact room, the first thing one sees is a collection of mammoth bones. Technically, these are not artifacts, but as one of my co-workers pointed out they still belong there by virtue of being awesome:
Clovis points. Apparently, none have ever been found with evidence of use. Either all the ones we found were new, or they are actually ceremonial, or they were really fastidious about cleaning them after using them.
Some of the artifacts found at Sheep Mountain (more information about this site in part 3, or possibly part 4):
Display of artifacts from Sagehen Gap:
Artifacts from Rimrock Draw, another important site in Oregon:
All of the University of Oregon display cases:
Dr. Scott Thomas at the U of O artifact display:
Dr. Loren Davis and Dr. Dennis Jenkins of OSU and U of O:
And, of course, the famous poo. Human DNA in poo was one of the most important finds at Paisley caves, providing very strong evidence of human presence in Oregon before the Clovis era:
I'll talk a bit more about that in part 3, when I get to my notes about Stuart Fiedel's talk and that of Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Adavasio.
Also, in the artifact room, I had a couple of short conversations with two people, both of whose names I regrettably didn't get. One was a modern-day knapper. He makes stone tools, trying to replicate the methods that would have (or could have) been used.
Preparing a core, it turns out, is a big deal. First you need to find a proper stone, big enough to hold in one hand. It needs an acute angle with a proper lip in it. The stone can be broken by smashing it into another stone of the same type or a harder material. Then, it needs to be shaped into a good “core”. We actually have found quite a few of these cores, after various tools have been chipped out of them. The guy I spoke to was attempting to copy the Clovis curved point style, which is different than the standard Clovis point you see in the artifact case above. There were some there, but I didn't get pictures. Sorry. Once the core has been broken into roughly the right shape, it can be further refined by grinding it with a piece of sandstone. Then, finally, it's ready to be knapped, which can be done by striking it with an appropriate material, such as the rounded end of an elk antler (that's what the guy I spoke to was using). Antler is good as it's very hard, but also resilient to has enough “give” to be used repeatedly without breaking itself. The process of shaping the core can create “overshot flakes”, that is, large flakes that aren't necessarily used for anything but are generally just material that got in the way.
Once everything's set up, a lot of “blanks” can be made in a matter of striking by repeated striking along the acute-angled edge. From time time the “lip” can be fixed or other minor shaping done by grinding again with a piece of sandstone. The “blanks” can then be further fashioned into points or other tools as needed. (It was apparently common to carry a bunch of blanks with you while out hunting and finish them in the field.)
Different materials can be used for different tools, and sometimes substandard stone can be used to knock out quick one-time-use tools as needed. Even the leftover flakes can be used and often were, usually for cutting cordage or leather or plant material to make harvesting a lot easier.
There are various other techniques that can be used to prepare different materials. For example, Quartz is hard to work, but becomes much easier if heated for a while first. (I was told the optimum method is to bake it at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 hours.)
There are actually several different defined stone tools that can be used. These same tools are found over and over throughout the archaeological record. It's not just points. One of the people who came to our modeling workshop Thursday night listed off half a dozen tool types in rapid succession. I wrote at least some of them down, but don't have those notes handy. All of my notes from the workshop are in the hands of Coral, who will hopefully be entering them all soon.
And that's it for tonight. Tomorrow, I'll discuss the workshop a bit more, and get to Dr. Fiedel's talk, and various responses, including those of Dr. Adavasio and Dr. Jenkins.
11:00am – Biface traditions.
The land bridge went both ways. People could have crossed back into Asia as well as into America. It was also a destination itself. There are multiple sites in Beringia, indicating a long-term settlement. In the Raven Bluff site they found some early fluted points in layers dated before, during, and after the Clovis era.
From the program book:
Heather L. Smith, Jeff Rasic, and Ted Goebel
Biface Traditions of Northern Alaska and their Role in the Peopling of
the Americas
Archaeologists have long looked to Alaska for evidence of the origins of
the first Americans, but still no clear Clovis ancestor has been uncovered
there. In this presentation we review the bifacial-rich traditions
of north and northwest Alaska, focusing on new results from two fluted-
point sites—Serpentine Hot Springs and Raven Bluff, and reviewing
earlier work conducted at the Mesa, Sluiceway-Tuluaq, and Nogahabara
sites, all thought to potentially date to the terminal Pleistocene. In terms
of technology, subsistence, and settlement, these complexes seemingly
represent “Paleoindians” in the Arctic; however, none of them (with the
possible exception of Sluiceway-Tuluaq) are as old as or older than Clovis.
More likely they are the product of a northward spread of Paleoindian
people—or Paleoindian technology—into the Arctic at the very
end of the Pleistocene, 13,000-12,000 calendar years ago, simultaneous
to the dispersal of temperate North American bison into the north.
In my notes, I also wrote “Microblade and Flute. Unique North American industries” but I'm not sure what that was in reference to, or if the two items were related.
Interlude: The artifact room.
One of the rooms at the conference was used for displaying artifacts. The tools mentioned in the Hokkaido talk were all there. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that one. The following pictures were all taken by Patrick O'Grady, and used with his permission:
In entering the artifact room, the first thing one sees is a collection of mammoth bones. Technically, these are not artifacts, but as one of my co-workers pointed out they still belong there by virtue of being awesome:
Clovis points. Apparently, none have ever been found with evidence of use. Either all the ones we found were new, or they are actually ceremonial, or they were really fastidious about cleaning them after using them.
Some of the artifacts found at Sheep Mountain (more information about this site in part 3, or possibly part 4):
Display of artifacts from Sagehen Gap:
Artifacts from Rimrock Draw, another important site in Oregon:
All of the University of Oregon display cases:
Dr. Scott Thomas at the U of O artifact display:
Dr. Loren Davis and Dr. Dennis Jenkins of OSU and U of O:
And, of course, the famous poo. Human DNA in poo was one of the most important finds at Paisley caves, providing very strong evidence of human presence in Oregon before the Clovis era:
I'll talk a bit more about that in part 3, when I get to my notes about Stuart Fiedel's talk and that of Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Adavasio.
Also, in the artifact room, I had a couple of short conversations with two people, both of whose names I regrettably didn't get. One was a modern-day knapper. He makes stone tools, trying to replicate the methods that would have (or could have) been used.
Preparing a core, it turns out, is a big deal. First you need to find a proper stone, big enough to hold in one hand. It needs an acute angle with a proper lip in it. The stone can be broken by smashing it into another stone of the same type or a harder material. Then, it needs to be shaped into a good “core”. We actually have found quite a few of these cores, after various tools have been chipped out of them. The guy I spoke to was attempting to copy the Clovis curved point style, which is different than the standard Clovis point you see in the artifact case above. There were some there, but I didn't get pictures. Sorry. Once the core has been broken into roughly the right shape, it can be further refined by grinding it with a piece of sandstone. Then, finally, it's ready to be knapped, which can be done by striking it with an appropriate material, such as the rounded end of an elk antler (that's what the guy I spoke to was using). Antler is good as it's very hard, but also resilient to has enough “give” to be used repeatedly without breaking itself. The process of shaping the core can create “overshot flakes”, that is, large flakes that aren't necessarily used for anything but are generally just material that got in the way.
Once everything's set up, a lot of “blanks” can be made in a matter of striking by repeated striking along the acute-angled edge. From time time the “lip” can be fixed or other minor shaping done by grinding again with a piece of sandstone. The “blanks” can then be further fashioned into points or other tools as needed. (It was apparently common to carry a bunch of blanks with you while out hunting and finish them in the field.)
Different materials can be used for different tools, and sometimes substandard stone can be used to knock out quick one-time-use tools as needed. Even the leftover flakes can be used and often were, usually for cutting cordage or leather or plant material to make harvesting a lot easier.
There are various other techniques that can be used to prepare different materials. For example, Quartz is hard to work, but becomes much easier if heated for a while first. (I was told the optimum method is to bake it at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 hours.)
There are actually several different defined stone tools that can be used. These same tools are found over and over throughout the archaeological record. It's not just points. One of the people who came to our modeling workshop Thursday night listed off half a dozen tool types in rapid succession. I wrote at least some of them down, but don't have those notes handy. All of my notes from the workshop are in the hands of Coral, who will hopefully be entering them all soon.
And that's it for tonight. Tomorrow, I'll discuss the workshop a bit more, and get to Dr. Fiedel's talk, and various responses, including those of Dr. Adavasio and Dr. Jenkins.
