Terminal-Pleistocene Through Late Prehistoric Settlement Strategies around Pluvial Lake Mojave (Soda and Silver Lake Playas), California

Summary

Multiple lines of evidence are used to establish terminal Pleistocene-early Holocene (TP-EH) through Late Prehistoric spatio-temporal patterns and settlement strategies around pluvial Lake Mojave (more recently Soda and Silver Lake playas), California. Data from pedestrian survey and in-field analysis of lithic artifacts at four survey areas along the eastern shoreline of Soda and Silver Lake are analyzed using GIS to establish whether settlement strategies changed in accordance with variations in the lake water-level. Prior analysis of the Little Cowhole survey area identified three spatially separated, dense bands of artifacts that follow the TP-EH shorelines and reflect a gradual, time transgressive shift in TP-EH habitation closer to the receding water-level (Knell et al. 2014). Other survey areas at Soda and Silver Lake have sites dating from the TP-EH to Late Prehistoric, providing the opportunity to evaluate whether post-TP-EH peoples continued shifting towards the receding water-level. The analyses indicate that the Middle and the Late Holocene sites are at sequentially lower elevations than the TP-EH sites, ultimately providing temporal and spatial context for the TP-EH sites (the focus of my research) and key insights regarding Lake Mojave’s or Soda and Silver Lake playas role in the regional settlement system.

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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