Evidence for Pleistocene Horse Hunting on the Columbia Plateau from the Rock Island Overlook Site

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Second-Oldest Sites in the Pacific Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Recent reanalysis of selected artifacts from a 1974 archaeological salvage excavation at the precontact Rock Island Overlook site, 45CH204, in central Washington State indicates that cultural deposits are much older than previously reported. Projectile point chronology and obsidian hydration dating suggest the Rock Island Overlook site was first occupied 13,000–16,000 years ago. The assemblage also contains evidence of hunting Pleistocene horses. Horse blood residue was identified on a Windust type projectile point. This result also supports the age estimate for the site as Pleistocene horse extinction occurred about 12,700 years ago. Other data from the site are consistent with a Pleistocene age, although more information is needed to confirm and refine the dating.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Second-Oldest Sites in the Pacific Northwest   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35871.0