An Overview of Vitrophyre Use in North Central Idaho: 12,000 Years of Rock Knockin’ on the Lochsa

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeological investigations in the 1990s defined the Clearwater River region of the southern Columbia Plateau as a unique cultural and archaeological entity, though it remains poorly understood. The Nez Perce have occupied this portion of north central Idaho since time immemorial. Excavations throughout ancestral Nez Perce country have revealed vitrophyre in at least 19 key sites dating back 12,000 years. Vitrophyre is a natural igneous glass, formed of pyroclastic flow deposits containing large-grain phenocrysts of ash and pumice. Much like obsidian, vitrophyre creates sharp cutting edges for tool production and retains a chemical signature that can be traced to a geographical point of origin. A combination of geochemical analysis, lithic analysis, and experimentation has provided an overview of this understudied resource and its uses. By comparing two known vitrophyre sources with archaeological samples through an ecological foraging model, vitrophyre use reflects both embedded procurement strategies and territorial restrictions of different groups since the initial occupation of the Clearwater River region. The results of the analysis, in tandem with ethnographic data, suggest a strong connection of the inhabitants of the Clearwater River region with Salish groups of the Bitterroot and Plains regions to the east.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35541.0