Lithics and the Late Prehistoric: Networks and Interaction on the Southeastern Columbia Plateau

Summary

The people of the Columbia Plateau have been frequently characterized as a homogenous culture despite a 3,000-year depth of history and large spatial extent. Moreover, differences in artifact form, assemblage composition, and household features belie this characterization. The changing natural and social environment can be detected in modifications in cultural technology, and relationships among distinct groups can be inferred. The research presented here tracks these changes. By using concepts from evolutionary and social network theories, this study employs obsidian provenience sourcing and the morphometric analysis of projectile points to trace the ways people dealt with these environmental and social pressures through shifting adaptive strategies and increased intergroup interaction. Ultimately I ask can the cultural learning and adaptive strategies of late prehistoric cultural groups be identified in the variability of southeastern Columbia Plateau projectile points? And, how does obsidian procurement reflect changing cultural interactions and exchange networks in the southeastern Columbia Plateau over the past 3,000 years?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21112