Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Occupations on the Sierra Army Depot in Honey Lake Valley, California

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Recent archaeological testing at three sites on the Sierra Army Depot in Honey Lake Valley recovered several Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene artifacts. Obsidian hydration rim measurements on tools and debitage display remarkably thick hydration rinds (~9.0-11.0 microns) and confirm very early occupations. Results of X-ray fluorescence sourcing reveal a relatively local interaction sphere that displays continuity through the Holocene with assemblages dominated by local basalt and northern obsidian sources. The location of the sites at an elevation of ~1221.5 meters could only have been occupied after a significant decline in Pleistocene Lake Lahontan water levels, and coincides with a GIS model that predicts a rapid expansion of wetland habitat when the lake reached that elevation. Radiocarbon dates on freshwater shell produced dates ranging from ~10,900 to 11,900 cal BP, and suggest a shallow marsh was present at that time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32819