Edwards II: Report of An Excavation In Western Oklahoma

Abstract

Edwards II is located on the North Fork of the Red River in western Oklahoma. It is one of two sites excavated in 1968 by the University of Oklahoma Field School in Archaeology. The major excavation area consisted of 19 contiguous five foot squares. Two test pits were also dug to determine the limits of the site. Nine features were uncovered; all were pits which exhibited a variety of shapes. Ceramic materials and projectile points are similar to Custer and Washita River foci manifestations, but the low proportion of bison bone, and the presence of a few corner notched and stemmed points suggest placement early in the time span represented by these foci.     

A Plainview Kill/Butchering Locale On The Llano Est Acado-The Lubbock Lake Site

Abstract

The Lubbock Lake site is a multi-component, stratified locality on the Llano Estacada (Southern High Plains). Part of a Plainview (Paleo-Indian) period bison kill/butchering locale is being excavated. Cultural designation is based on recovered projectile points, stratigraphic position, and radiocarbon dates. Tool assemblage consists of lithic and bone expediency tool kits. Geological, faunal, and paleoenvironmental settings create an interpretative framework for the cultural event. Only part of the Plainview lifeway system is reflected at the site. The locale represents a different level of social organization than seen at other Plainview period bison kill sites. Preliminary statements include a few differences and similarities between excavated Plainview sites.     

Perry Ranch:A Plainview Bison Kill On the Southern Plains

Abstract

Salvage excavations at the Perry Ranch site in southwestern Oklahoma uncovered the association of Plainview projectile points with an extinct subspecies of bison. A radiocarbon date of 7030 ± 190 B.P. has been obtained from bison bone at the site. However, stratigraphic disturbances limit inferences about the cultural activities at the site.     

An Analysis of Waste Flakes from Sites in the Upper Knife-Heart Region,North Dakota

Abstract

An analysis of lithic debitage from seven archaeological sites was undertaken with the assumption that itcould provide insights into the technological and behavioral background of the craftsman. The analysis describes lithic debitage in terms of six categories. The sites are grouped into two phases: the Heart River phase (about A.D. 1675-1780) and the Knife River phase (about A.D. 1780-1845). The use of Chi-Square and Difference of Means statistics indicates that the present categorization of archaeological units (phases), based on ceramic analysis, is substantiated by an analysis of lithic debitage. Differences between the phases are related to the increasing loss of native material culture after White contact.     

Late Paleo-Indian Activity At The Lubbock Lake Site

Abstract

Excavations at Lubbock Lake (41 LU1), Southern High Plains of Texas, revealed the presence of a complex, late Paleo-Indian feature containing a camping area and bison (Bison antiquus) kill/butchering locale. The feature is found within a cienega or marsh deposit and dates from 8300 to 8600 years. At least two camping episodes are indicated, separated by the kill/butchering event. Camp debris consists of a projectile point midsection, unifacial and bifacial tools, and flakes. Faunal debris includes remains of butchered pronghorn antelope, rabbits, ducks, grouse, and turtles. The kill/butchering locale contains remains of four bison and three fetuses, a bone expediency tool, a reworked projectile point base, unifacial butchering tools, and flakes. Projectile points, other lithic tools, and age of the feature indicate a Firstview occupation. From faunal and geologic data, site environs are reconstructed as a marshlands rimmed by a narrow border of wet meadows grading into a mixed grass prairie. Although several late Paleo-Indian kill/butchering locales are known on the Southern High Plains, this feature is the first late Paleo-Indian camp.     

Fire-Cracked Rock As Tools: Wear-Pattern Analysis

Abstract

Within the last ten years, lithic studies have focused intensively on chipped stone tool technology, particularly biface reduction procedures. Recent analysis of lithic materials from a multi-component Middle Missouri Village site (32ME7) in North Dakota revealed the necessity for intensively examining another artifact class, fire-cracked rock. A considerable quantity of fire-cracked granitic stones exhibited one or more wear patterns assumed to represent wear suggesting recycled procurement and utilization of a common resource. Supplemented by archaeological analogs and analysis of secondary attributes (i.e., archaeological context and systemic context), the wear pattern study resulted in the identification of five functional classes of fire-cracked rock tools.     

An Analaysis Of Obsidian Debit Age And Protohistoric Exchange Systems In The Southern Plains As Viewed From The Edwards I Site (34BK2)

Abstract

Obsidian is the third most abundant lithic material in the protohistoric assemblage from the Edwards I (34Bk2)site in southwest Oklahoma. Chemical analysis of this material has identified the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico and the San Francisco Mountains in northern Arizona as the primary and secondary sources, respectivel.

These materials as well as various pottery types and other goods were probably obtained through the pueblos o Pecos and Picuris. Because more specific information concerning this protohistoric exchange system may be linke with specific obsidian source localities in the Jemez Mountains, some of the more important elements for charac erizing this source system are presented. Iron (Fe), cerium (Ce), zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb), yttrium (Y). an possibly rubidium (Rb) may be the most useful for defining specific source localities in this system. Rather the using absolute concentrations to define these localities, we advocate the use of ratios. In addition, future studies of the Jemez Mountains obsidian sources must utilize a regional approach to better characterize the different localities.     

Offshore refuges support higher densities and show slower population declines of wintering Ruddy Turnstones Arenaria interpres

ABSTRACT

Capsule: Wintering Ruddy Turnstones Arenaria interpres occur in higher densities and their populations decline less on, or close to, offshore refuges than on mainland sites subject to greater levels of human disturbance.

Aim: To compare wintering densities of Ruddy Turnstones and changes in counts across time from sites with differing levels of human disturbance.

Methods: Long-term counts of Ruddy Turnstones (1998/1999 to 2015/2016) were used from 19 sites (two offshore refuges and 17 mainland sites subject to higher levels of human disturbance) in northeast England. No direct measure of human disturbance was available for our mainland sites; instead we used questionnaires (n?=?690) to understand how far people travelled to visit the coast and then used this distance with human population densities in a buffer around each site as a proxy for human disturbance levels.

Results: After controlling for the extent of their preferred habitat at each site (rocky shore) we found: (i) the closer each of the 19 sites was to the nearest offshore refuge the higher the density of Ruddy Turnstones and (ii) bird counts were stable at the two refuge sites, whereas, on average, counts declined at the 17 mainland sites. However, no relationship was found between Ruddy Turnstone counts from 17 mainland sites and human population densities within differing distances from each site (up to 10?km).

Conclusions: Our work suggests that Ruddy Turnstones made greater use of relatively undisturbed areas (offshore refuges) than those subject to greater disturbance by humans (mainland sites). Although the use of refuges and mainland in our study area was not well known, observations from 11 radio-tagged Ruddy Turnstones suggest that individual birds did use both locations. In a broader context, our work concurs with other studies that highlight the need for refuges with limited or no human access.     

The Jared Site: A Comanche Burial at Fort Sill,Oklahoma

Abstract

A late-19th century ravine burial from Southwest Oklahoma is described. The site is compared with historic and anthropological records to document a nineteenth century Comanche burial practice.     

Fossil Bison and Artifacts from The Mona Lisa Site,Calgary, Alberta

Abstract

In November, 1968, salvage excavations at the site of an art gallery under construction in urban southwest Calgary, Alberta, Canada, revealed a Paleo-Indian bison kill. The single kill level lay at a depth of more than 250 em. in flood plain deposits of the Bow River, now flowing more than a mile north of the site. The bone bed was overlain by a thick deposit of Mazama Ash (6600 years B.P.). A bone radiocarbon date of 8080 ± 150 years B.P. (G.S.C.-1209) was obtained. Intermittent pedigenesis and fineness of enclosing sediments indicate an overbank flood plain situation for the kill; evidently the site area was repeatedly flooded, probably seasonally, before and after the kill episode. No evidence of a jump-off is present, although this is inconclusive at present. In the 30 square meters excavated at Locality A there was evidence for three activity loci relating to processing of carcasses. The lithic sample includes only crude butchering tools, precluding cultural assignment. Several bone tools, most of them fashioned from tibiae, appear to have been used as expedient and expendable butchering tools at the kill. Some modification of the butchering of lower limbs is noted, apparently to facilitate the production of the bone tools.     

Lithic Resource Utilization Patterns in the Middle Missouri Subarea

Abstract

Some years ago Donald Lehmer (1954) suggested, on the basis of data from sites near the Oahe Dam, that Middle Missouri Tradition and Coalescent Tradition populations practiced distinctly different lithic resource exploitation patterns. This study attempts to evaluate and expand upon Lehmer’s observations using data from four archaeological sites near Mobridge, South Dakota. An underlying premise is that studies of lithic resource exploitation must be grounded in a firm understanding of the geologic and geographic parameters of the natural resource base. Toward this end, field reconnaissanceand geologic information are used to define 12 stone types which occur in high frequency in the chipped stone artifact assemblages and which have reasonably well defined natural source locations and conditions. Comparisons of the four site assemblages according to the frequency of occurrence of these stone types supports Lehmer’s observations, and illustratescontrastive patterns of resource exploitation associated with the two cultural traditions. Coalescent populations relied heavily on several stone types occurring naturally in the Big Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota, while Middle Missouri populations generally ignored these sources and relied heavily on Knife River Flint as a major lithic resource. These contrastive exploitation patterns appear to have remained relatively constant through time and across considerable space.     

Jackson Fall-Leaf: A Multi-Component Occupation Site Inc Northeasternc Oklahoma

Abstract

The Jackson Fall-Leaf site is a deeply buried multi-component occupation site located in the Little Caney River Valley of Northeastern Oklahoma. The site, situated in the Cross Timbers province on the southeastern periphery of the Southern Plains, contains cultural debris from the Woodland and Plains Village periods. Excavation produced a large quantity of chipped stone artifacts and allowed the delineation of an activity area within the site. Typological cross dating, in combination with intensive paleo-environmental research at the site and at other locales in the Copan area, indicates that the site dates from the period between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1300.     

Sitio Creston (La 4939), a Stone Enclosure Site Near Las Vegas,New Mexico

Abstract

Recent work by the Museum of New Mexico resulted in the excavation of eight stone enclosures similar to those investigated by E. B. Renaud (1942), R. G. Campbell (1969), and others in southeastern Colorado and northeastern New Mexico. The site, tentatively dated within the span A.D. 1000-1150, is assigned to the Early Panhandle period defined by Campbell (1969). There is a general likeness of the ceramics to Taos Plain and Taos Incised. Projectile points consist almost entirely of a corner-notched form called Scallorn Points elsewhere. From all indications, the occupation, probably by an estimated 40 to 45 individuals, was short, with staggered abandonment. The evidence, though not conclusive, points to a hunting and gathering economy with the site serving as a base camp for a number of diversified activities. Detailed examination of the lithic remains resulted in the postulation of a projectile point production sequence which, at least in part, casts doubt on the validity of Fresno, Young and similar points as projectile points.     

Systemic Change and Lithic Debris: The Nine Mile Creek Survey

Abstract

Data from 55 archaeological sites located during the course of a survey of a portion of Nine Mile Creek northeast of Lawrence, Kansas were analyzed as the focus of a seminar at the University of Kansas in 1969. The recognition of significant variation in lithic debris samples from the Nine Mile Creek sites resulted in the development of a seriational procedure and an explanatory model in terms of temporally changing subsistence patterns.     

Do changes in spinal reflex excitability elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation differ based on the site of cerebellar stimulation?

Abstract

Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate whether spinal reflex excitability is influenced by the site of cerebellar transcranial magnetic stimulation (C-TMS).

Materials and methods: Fourteen healthy volunteers (mean age: 24.6?±?6.6?years [11 men]) participated. Participants lay on a bed in the prone position, with both ankle joints fixed to prevent unwanted movement. Right tibial nerve stimulation was provided to elicit the H-reflex in the right soleus muscle. Conditioning transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was delivered at one of the following sites 110?ms prior to tibial stimulation: right, central, or left cerebellum; midline parietal (Pz) region; or sham stimulation. A total of 10 test trials were included for each condition, in random order. The unconditioned and conditioned H-reflexes were measured during random inter-test trials, and the cerebellar spinal facilitation (CSpF) ratios for each site were calculated (the ratio of conditioned to unconditioned H-reflexes). CSpF ratios were compared among TMS sites.

Results: CSpF ratios were significantly higher at cerebellar sites than at the Pz site or during sham stimulation. However, there was no significant difference in CSpF ratio among cerebellar sites.

Conclusions: TMS conditioning over any part of the cerebellum facilitated the excitability of the spinal motoneuron pool. Facilitation of the H-reflex due to C-TMS may involve the effects of the bilateral descending tract of the spinal cord on the spinal motoneuron pool. Alternatively, direct brainstem stimulation may have activated portions of the bilateral descending tract of the spinal cord.     

Helb: a Preliminary Statement

Abstract

Preliminary inspection of surface features and ceramic remains led one author to assign the Helb site, in north-central South Dakota, to the Term ina I Variant of the Middle Missouri Tradition. New data from limited investigations at Helb are used to evaluate this assignment. The program objectives and design are outlined, and preliminary discussion of structural remains, ceramic and lithic samples and recently obtained radiocarbon determinations are provided. These evidences suggest that the site should be reassigned to the Extended Variant of the same tradition     

Le Paléolithique moyen et supérieur de la Hongrie du nord : nouvelles investigations dans la région d’Eger

The region of Eger town at the foot of the Bükk Mountains in Northeastern Hungary has particular importance for the understanding the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic periods of the Carpathian Basin. One of the key-problems is the association of carinated tools and foliate points in the lithic assemblages of the sites. New investigations at the Egerszalók-K?vágó site give fundamental data for the animated discussion on the relation between Aurignacian and Szeletian.     

Replication and Classification of Small Size Lithic Debit Age

Abstract

A summary of attributes of small lithic flakes produced in making bifaces by several force application methods is presented, based on experimental flint knapping. The usefullness of these attributes in classifying manufacturing techniques is discussed. It is shown that attributes commonly measured are not always sufficient to identify force application techniques. It is especially difficult to identify force application methods on archeological sites due to sampling problems and the possibility of a mixture of techniques.     

Nest-site selection of the Long-eared Owl Asio otus in northwestern Switzerland

Capsules Sites are selected as part of an antipredator strategy.

Aims To assess if site choice depends on habitat variables at nest sites and if habitat quality influences reproduction.

Methods Breeding density was explored in northwestern Switzerland from 1992 to 1996. Habitat variables were examined at 38 breeding sites and were compared with data collected from random sites. Habitat quality was estimated using the discriminant function scores of the nesting sites.

Results Breeding density was found to vary between years; more pairs bred and raised more young in 1993, a year of high vole abundance. Long-eared Owls tended to avoid the vicinity of buildings; they occupied sites with denser forest edges, greater canopy cover, and with more conifers than random sites. I found no statistical evidence that they used less optimal sites when the population was high. The number of fledglings increased with habitat quality, but did not vary with any of the habitat variables taken separately.

Conclusion Long-eared Owl selects nesting habitat as part of an anti-predator strategy, but the measures of territory quality did not seem to be a limiting factor for the population.     

陕西洋县绿豆梁旧石器遗址出土的石制品

洋县绿豆梁遗址位于汉水北部一级支流金水河左岸的第四级阶地上。为了配合国家重点工程项目——南水北调西线“引汉济渭”工程的建设,2014～2015年对该地点进行了发掘,揭露面积126 m2,出土和采集不同类型的石制品656件。研究显示,早期人类加工石制品的原料来自于河漫滩或阶地古老砾石层中的砾石,岩性包括石英、石英岩、硅质灰岩、石英砂岩、花岗岩等。硬锤打击法是最主要的剥片方式。石制品包含石锤、石核、石片、石器、断块和碎屑等类型。遗址石器组合中既包括刮削器、尖状器、石钻等尺寸较小的轻型石器,也包含重型刮削器、砍砸器等重型石器。通过与位于相同阶地部位、相距2 km的金水河口遗址的测年数据和地层堆积序列对比,绿豆梁遗址的年代属于中更新世时期或更早的时段。