Lithics and Landscapes in the Mojave Desert

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Establishing the Science of Paleolithic Archaeology: The Legacy of Harold Dibble (1951–2018) Part I" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Harold Dibble’s focus on the multiple ways that lithics were used, modified, and transported across the landscape have been critical to Paleolithic studies but also have important applications in other areas. In this paper, we use data on lithic procurement, use, and reuse from sites in the Mojave Desert of southern Nevada and California to examine prehistoric forager land use. We document the different ways that lithics were used depending on the environmental setting within this desert environment, particularly focusing on the differences between Holocene lakeshore sites and those away from these important and yet often ephemeral lake stands. We discuss the variability of lithic manufacture and use tied to differences in subsistence strategies and environment, something that Harold was instrumental in addressing for Paleolithic groups in Europe. Our goal is to show that Harold’s ideas and impacts have broad-ranging applications in the archaeology of foraging groups worldwide.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Establishing the Science of Paleolithic Archaeology: The Legacy of Harold Dibble (1951–2018) Part I   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35948.0