Analysis and Comparison of the Paleo-ecological Reconstruction of Simpson Springs to the Archaeological Record of Camels Back Cave in the Bonneville Basin of Utah

Summary

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

We present a case study that utilizes paleoecological data to further our understanding of the archaeological record in the Bonneville basin of western Utah. We report paleoecological data from Simpson Springs, including pollen, charcoal, and elemental data. We provide the first pollen record from cultural sediments at Camels Back Cave. The data from the two records are compared to shed new light on the archaeological record for the Bonneville basin. Simpson Springs would have been the closest perennial freshwater site to various Holocene human populations intermittently occupying Camels Back Cave during the mid-to-late Holocene. By reconstructing the local vegetation community and spring history at Simpson Springs, we can contextualize the possible resources available during the periods of human occupation and abandonment from Camels Back Cave. This study is one of few paired paleoecological and archaeological site investigations in the Bonneville basin. Major findings include (1) Simpson Springs experienced intermittent wet periods throughout the Holocene, 10,300 cal yr B.P., 7800 – 6300 cal yr B.P., 4200 – 2400 cal yr B.P., and 1400 cal yr B.P. to present; (2) the presence of pollen aggregates suggests human activity as early as 11,100 cal yr B.P. at Camels Back Cave.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36787.0