Raging Radiocarbon Issues at Keatley Creek

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Keatley Creek is one of the largest pithouse village sites in Western North America. For nearly four decades, it has featured in debates about the origins of complexity and inequality on the Plateau and among complex hunter-gatherers, in debates on prehistoric rituals, and in debates about methodologies and dating. Critical in all these issues is the establishment of a sound radiocarbon chronology for developments. There have been three dating programs at Keatley Creek since research began in 1986. In an attempt to reconcile conflicting claims about the dating of the site, starting in 2010, I undertook a major excavation and dating program, including a Bayesian chronological modeling, of the four largest pithouses at the site (some attaining 20 meters diameters). The results indicate a consistent and surprisingly short duration for the formation of the substantial rim middens associated with the large houses. However, it is also clear that other significant occupations at the site occurred well before these major developments. The implications of the new stratigraphic and chronological models and other detailed analyses for the various human-environmental and socio-political issues at the site are still being evaluated.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53439