Prehistoric settlement patterns in southwest Oregon
Datum
1993-12
Autor:innen
Zeitschriftentitel
ISSN der Zeitschrift
Bandtitel
Verlag
University of Oregon
Zusammenfassung
This study addresses the problem of prehistoric culture change in
interior southwest Oregon as reflected in subsistence/settlement patterns.
Eighty-three sites, excavated during cultural resource management projects,
constitute the database. This study also demonstrates the applicability of
cultural resource management data to questions of regional interest and of
general importance to anthropology.
Two contrasting subsistence/settlement regimes are modeled based on
regional ethnographic and archaeological studies. One pattern is that of a
mobile subsistence regime; the other is that of a more sedentary regime
associated with permanent villages and the collection and processing of
foods for over-winter storage. The first is reflected in the archaeological
record by a settlement system consisting of seasonal camps and short-term
task sites; the second is represented by a settlement system consisting of
villages, seasonal camps, and task sites. To test these models against available data, sites were first placed in functional categories (village, seasonal camp, task site) based on qualitative
and quantitative assessments of their archaeological assemblages. This
analysis represents the first quantitative assessment of a large database of
archaeological sites in this region, and also provide a means of testing
previous archaeologists' intuitive judgments about site type. Quantitative
measures distinguishing sites, based on the density and diversity of stone
tools present in their assemblages include: (a) density measures for chipped
stone artifacts; (b) a multidimensional scaling exercise which distinguishes
sites based on assemblage diversity (richness and evenness); and (c) cobble
and groundstone density measures compared with excavated feature data.
The quantitative analysis also offers a methodological contribution for
avoiding problems associated with comparison of archaeological samples of
greatly varying sizes.
Next, sites were assigned to the Middle Archaic (6,000-2,000 BP) or
Late Archaic (2,000-150 BP) period. Finally, a comparison of site types
manifest in the two periods shows that the predominant settlement pattern
during the Middle Archaic consisted of seasonal camps and task sites,
indicating a more mobile subsistence/settlement regime. A more sedentary,
village-centered regime, appeared along major waterways at the end of the
Middle Archaic, and spread throughout the region during the Late Archaic.
Beschreibung
xv, 275 p. : ill., maps. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call numbers: KNIGHT E78.O6 W55 1993
Schlagwörter
Land settlement patterns, Prehistoric -- Oregon, Indians of North America -- Oregon -- Antiquities, Excavations (Archaeology) -- Oregon, Oregon -- Antiquities