Characterizing Paleoindian Landscapes of Southeastern Utah

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Transcending Modern Boundaries: Recent Investigations of Cultural Landscapes in Southeastern Utah" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The earliest occupations of the greater Bears Ears area are represented by fluted, unfluted lanceolate, and stemmed projectile point technologies indicative of the Paleoindian period. Historically, this period has not been the focus of discussions pertaining to regional archaeological records. As such, we currently have a limited understanding of how people used the greater Bears Ears landscape at the end of the Pleistocene. The regional Paleoindian record is reviewed here to assess the nature of initial human occupation of the area. Site distribution data, toolstone selection, and lithic technological organization are used to characterize the archaeological signature of these early peoples. Results indicate that as early as Clovis times (ca. 13,000 BP) hunter-gatherer groups were familiar with the distribution of lithic sources and habitually make use of local materials. Moreover, the presence of Late Paleoindian Plains and Great Basin-related biface technologies suggests that by ca. 10,000 BP, southeastern Utah was part of established inter-regional land-use strategies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Transcending Modern Boundaries: Recent Investigations of Cultural Landscapes in Southeastern Utah   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23608