Bighorn Sheep Processing in the White Mountains, California

Summary

Previous research in the eastern Great Basin using stable isotope analysis of faunal remains suggests that bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) responded to climate change by shifting their ranges to higher elevations during warm intervals. A shift in sheep ranges would have increased travel and transportation costs for central place foragers based in lower elevation valleys. We expect that hunters responded to the increased costs in a number of ways, including altering settlement strategies and increasing in-field processing of sheep to reduce transport weight. These predictions are tested using a comprehensive analysis of skeletal part representation and taphonomy of faunal assemblages from high elevation sites in the White Mountains, California. Results focus on differences in sheep processing by elevation, time, and site function.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Extreme Alpine Foraging: Explaining High Altitude Residences in the Great Basin   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage