Before winter comes : Archaeological investigations of settlement and subsistence in Harney Valley, Harney County, Oregon

dc.contributor.authorO'Grady, Patrick Warren, 1959-
dc.date.accessioned2010-09-17T00:30:40Z
dc.date.available2010-09-17T00:30:40Z
dc.date.issued2006-12
dc.descriptionxxi, 541 p. : ill. (some col.), maps. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT E78.O6 O37 2006en_US
dc.description.abstractMany archaeological researchers that have conducted investigations in the Harney Valley of southeastern Oregon use the ethnographic description of the seasonal round of the Harney Valley Paiute reported by Beatrice Blyth Whiting in her 1950 work Paiute Sorcery as a framework for discussions of prehistoric human use of the area. Archaeological investigations of seven sites, situated in areas identified as having been utilized by the Harvey Valley Paiutes, were conducted to test the relationship between Whiting's ethnographic account and the archaeological record. Data recovery excavations occurred at the Hoyt (35HA2422), Morgan (35HA2423) and Hines (35HA2692) sites near Burns, and test excavations occurred at the Knoll (35HA2530) site in the Silvies Valley, the RJ site (35HA3013) in the Stinkingwater Mountains, and the Broken Arrow (35HA2735) and Laurie's (35HA2734) sites near Malheur Lake. Studies of the cultural materials recovered during the excavations were undertaken to evaluate the content and complexity of each site. Analyses included typological considerations of the chipped stone tools, ground stone, bone tools, and shell, bone, and stone beads. Radiocarbon dating, obsidian sourcing and hydration, and zooarchaeological and paleobotanical analyses were also conducted when possible. Based on the results of the analyses, the seven sites reported herein were primarily used during the past 2000 years, with periods of less intensive use extending beyond 4000 BP. The results of the archaeological investigations indicate that there is a strong correlation between the late Holocene prehistoric record and Whiting's ethnographic description. However, the relationship between human use of the centrally-located lakes and wetlands and the neighboring uplands is clearly more complex than the ethnographic record suggests. Patterns of settlement and mobility revealed through the archaeological record indicate that central places, located closer to wetlands and lacustrine settings but within relatively easy reach of the uplands, may have figured more prominently in the behavior of prehistoric populations than the seasonal round as described by Whiting. Future research will benefit from explorations of central place foraging, emphasizing the role of behavioral ecology in the placement of sites and patterns of site use within the Harney Valley and the northern Great Basin at large.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipCommittee in Charge: Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, Chair; Dr. Dennis L. Jenkins; Dr. Douglas J. Kennett; Dr. Esther Jacobson-Tepferen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1794/10731
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Oregonen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesUniversity of Oregon theses, Dept. of Anthropology, Ph. D., 2006;
dc.subjectSettlementen_US
dc.subjectSubsistenceen_US
dc.subjectHarney Valley (Or.) -- Antiquitiesen_US
dc.subjectHarney County (Or.) -- Antiquitiesen_US
dc.subjectOregon -- Antiquitiesen_US
dc.subjectLate Holoceneen_US
dc.subjectObsidian sourcingen_US
dc.subjectGreat Basinen_US
dc.subjectPaiute Indians -- Oregon -- Harney County -- Antiquitiesen_US
dc.subjectExcavations (Archaeology) -- Oregon -- Harney Countyen_US
dc.subjectLand settlement patterns -- Oregon -- Harney Countyen_US
dc.subjectHarney County (Or.) -- Antiquitiesen_US
dc.titleBefore winter comes : Archaeological investigations of settlement and subsistence in Harney Valley, Harney County, Oregonen_US
dc.title.alternativeArchaeological investigations of settlement and subsistence in Harney Valley, Harney County, Oregonen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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