Prehistoric High Elevation Seasonal Use in Wyoming: Results of Flaked Stone Analysis from High Rise Village

Summary

The analysis of flaked stone procured from 10 of High Rise Village’s 52 habitation features provided a unique glimpse into high-elevation prehistoric hunter-gatherer behaviors in western Wyoming, including occupational intensity, and settlement and subsistence behaviors. Rather than a hunting-focused and/or intensive logistical-residential settlement-subsistence strategy described throughout the Rocky Mountains and Intermountain West, High Rise Village was evidently targeted for specific resource patch(es) by small residentially mobile family groups, who foraged for predictable resources for short periods of time. This pattern thereby conforms to previous models for seasonal transhumance-based adaptations in the Rocky Mountains. Furthermore, this research provides evidence for the integral importance of high elevations to prehistoric hunter-gatherers in western Wyoming’s Late Prehistoric period.

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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