Late Holocene Toolstone Use and Group Mobility at the Connley Caves, Oregon

Abstract

This research investigates patterns of hunter-gatherer mobility based on the identification and analysis of late Holocene arrow points from the Connley Caves archaeological site in central Oregon. Looting and expedient excavation in the 1960s left the late Holocene upper deposits of the Connley Caves that contained arrow points highly disturbed. Because projectile points are time diagnostic, this research thus addresses the gap in knowledge concerning site use during the last 2000 years. To investigate these patterns, I identified each arrow point from the Connley Caves using the Monitor Valley Key, and sourced the obsidian from which they are composed using an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Previous research in the region suggests that following the introduction of the bow and arrow (~2000 years ago), people increased the frequency and distance of their movement to procure stone tool raw materials. If this is true in the Fort Rock Basin, I hypothesize that late Holocene arrow points from the Connley Caves should exhibit a higher average transport distance and a greater diversity of sources than dart points that preceded bow and arrow technology. Findings suggest that late Holocene inhabitants of the Connley Caves procured toolstone from primarily local sources (< 20 km), likely due to the high concentration of obsidian flows within the local radius. This marks the Connley Caves as a potential outlier in the region, and greatly advances our understanding of lifeways at the site and of mobility and toolstone use in central Oregon during the last two millennia.