Testing the Association of Chipped Stone Crescents with Wetlands and Paleo-Shorelines of Western North America: A GIS-based Spatial Analysis

Summary

We use ArcGIS and spatial analysis to quantitatively test a proposed association between chipped stone crescents and wetland environments in western North America. Dating between ~12,000 and 8,000 cal BP, crescents are often found in association with stemmed points of the Western Pluvial Lakes or Western Stemmed traditions. Many scholars have suggested that crescents served as transverse projectile points for hunting waterfowl, others have viewed them as more generalized and multi-purpose tools, possibly associated with wetland resource processing. In this paper we provide the first quantitative analysis of the proposed association between crescents and wetland habitats—testing their proximity to ancient pluvial lakes, marshes, rivers, estuaries, and islands using a GIS-based model. During the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene, coastal habitats were highly dynamic and the Great Basin was cooler and moister than today, with numerous lakes and much more abundant marsh habitat. 8,000 years ago, environmental changes led to significantly drier conditions in the Great Basin, reducing lake and marsh habitat. Our results will help evaluate previous theories about the ecological association of crescents, as well as their function.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage