Under the Scope: Nondestructive Methods of Analyzing Perishable Artifacts in Legacy Collections

Summary

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

This research presents the macroscopic and microscopic attributes of hair and feathers from the artifact assemblage of North Fork Cave #1, better known as Mummy Cave (48PA201) in Park County, Wyoming. The results of this research enable us to better understand the mammalian and avian resources exploited during the Archaic and Prehistoric periods in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We identify mammalian and avian species native to the region such as bighorn sheep (*Ovis canadensis), beaver (*Castor canadensis), Cooper’s Hawk (*Accipiter cooperii), and black-billed Magpie (*Pica hudsonia). We also detail the cultural exploitation of non-edible resources in the canyon of the North Fork of the Shoshone River, discussing how the site’s occupants utilized these animals’ hides and feathers in their material toolkit. These nondestructive methods of analysis allow us to make insights into the cultural implications of hide and feathers without destroying these perishable artifacts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33387