Radiocarbon Datasets, Population Proxies, and Climate Proxies: The Hanford Reach and the Yakima Fold Belt, Columbia Plateau

Summary

This is an abstract from the "People, Climate, and Proxies in Holocene Western North America" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

A review of progress in radiocarbon dating for riverine and upland sites identifies data gaps and issues that are relevant for understanding archaeological landscapes. A total of 183 radiocarbon dates have been obtained from the Hanford Reach and adjacent lands; 108 of these date cultural materials. Occupations appear to grow steadily; however, after 1700 BP use of the Reach may have declined compared to other areas of the plateau. Radiocarbon dates for the Yakima Upland define occupation phases and several cycles of stream cutting and filling. Fifty-six dates were associated with cultural features. The one significant gap in dates from landforms is between 2000 and 3000 BP. No cultural dates have been obtained from 6670–8090 cal BP. The dataset suggests a shift to upland use by 2000 BP. It is obvious that more and better radiocarbon dating for sites is necessary to address basic questions about the effects of air-fall and redeposited tephra, slope stability and soil formation, stream habitats and shellfish use, introduction of formal ground-stone tools, root processing, and equilibrium in small and large mammal hunting.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• People, Climate, and Proxies in Holocene Western North America

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32653