Elevation, What's the Point?: A Preliminary Study of Selected Obsidian Projectile Points Collected From Varying Elevations at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Summary

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI) has evidence of a well-established trade network for raw lithic material, specifically obsidian. Obsidian was widely traded throughout the central and southern Sierra, since local material was unsuitable for tool manufacture. High elevation archaeological sites, such as those observed at Taboose Pass (11,400 feet in elevation), consist of high density obsidian lithic scatters with tools, blanks, and diagnostic projectile points. Low density obsidian scatters are observed at lower elevations in the foothills, indicating a wide dispersal of material. Is there an evident transmission of projectile point styles with the dispersal of material? Is there a correlation between projectile point types from higher to lower elevations? As a preliminary study, I selected SEKI archaeological sites with collected diagnostic projectile points from various elevations (15-20 sites per zone) and conducted a basic comparative analysis of material and form. This poster summarizes the results of the projectile point investigation.

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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