Exploring the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition Archaeological Record on the Colorado Plateau

Summary

This is an abstract from the "American Foragers: Human-Environmental Interactions across the Continents" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Pleistocene-Holocene transition (PHT) archaeological record on the Colorado Plateau is notably sparse, especially when compared to the surrounding Great Basin, Rocky Mountain, and Plains regions. Whether this dearth is due to low human populations in the region during the PHT, or due to insufficient fieldwork targeting PHT archaeological resources, is unclear. To address this uncertainty, we used a random forest model to determine which areas of southern Utah had high potential for PHT-aged archaeological sites based on the location of known PHT sites and several environmental variables. A cluster of high-potential areas in the San Rafael Desert, Emery County, UT, was selected for pedestrian survey during the 2023 and 2024 field seasons. We present the results of the 2023 field season, during which we encountered 12 sites, two of which contain lithic artifacts of ambiguous typology that may date to the PHT, as well as a handful of isolates, one of which may date to the PHT. We use GIS to analyze the distribution of archaeological materials in the environment and discuss future directions for PHT-focused fieldwork in the area.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• American Foragers: Human-Environmental Interactions across the Continents   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39288.0