Head for the Hills: Resource Specialization in the Prehistoric Portland Basin

Summary

In the Portland Basin north of the Columbia River, the oldest sites (5,000 years BP and older) tend to be larger than younger sites, have a more diverse array of artifacts, and lie in upland areas. Sites post-dating 5,000 years BP vary in size, tend to have specialized artifact types, and are found at a wide range of elevations. We hypothesize that the lack of older sites at lower elevations is due to changes in subsistence strategies, rather than differential preservation of older materials. We approach the question using archaeological and paleoenvironmental data collected primarily from the Camas/Washougal area in Washington, supplemented by data from other parts of the Portland Basin.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17248