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CURRENT RESEARCH PAST RESEARCH
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Bonneville Estates RockshelterInvestigating Changing Lifeways during the Early to Middle HoloceneIntroduction
The Bonneville Estates Rockshelter is located in Elko County, Nevada (Figures 1, 2). The goal of the Bonneville Estates project is to understand how human adaptations evolved as climate and environments of the eastern Great Basin became increasingly arid during the early-to-mid Holocene, between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago. To this end, our multi-disciplinary team of scientists has begun the excavation of the rockshelter's cultural occupations, in order to reconstruct human use of the shelter across this span of time. Project personnel include Ted Goebel (former project director, University of Nevada Reno), Ken Adams (project geomorphologist, Desert Research Institute), Kelly Graf (PhD Student, University of Nevada, Reno), Bryan Hockett (project archaeozoologist, Elko BLM), and David Rhode (project paleoecologist, Desert Research Institute), as well as undergraduate students from around the U.S. that enrolled in the University of Nevada Las Vegas Field School in Great Basin Archaeology and Paleoecology in 2000 and 2001 (Figure 3).
Results
Excavations have resulted in the discovery of a series of cultural occupations that span the period from about 9,500 to less than 1,000 years ago (Figures 4, 5). Preservation within the rockshelter is excellent. Finds include Eastgate and Elko points with bindings still attached, bone awls, as well as many basket fragments, twine fragments, and other perishable materials dating to as early 7,500 years ago. Especially exciting was the discovery of a coiled basket base indirectly radiocarbon dated to 7,200 years ago (Figure 6). Faunal remains have not yet been analyzed in detail, but field identifications indicate that pronghorn antelope bones dominate faunal assemblages from most cultural layers. Paleobotanical remains are very well-preserved, and include pinyon pine nut seeds and cones, Indian ricegrass seeds, and beavertail cactus pads. Excavations have also exposed many archaeological features, including a Fremont-period depression filled with Indian ricegrass seeds (probably dating to about 1,500 years ago), a middle Archaic matting, as well as a series of early Holocene hearth pits filled with charcoal and bone.
So far, our excavations have led to several important findings about the archaeology of the Bonneville Estates Rockshelter. First, the earliest cultural occupation of the shelter thus far found dates to about 9,500 years ago; however, during the 2001 field season we learned that this occupation is underlain by at least 2 m of older sediment that could contain more ancient artifacts and features. Second, the shelter appears to have been used by prehistoric humans as a short-term camp, where local resources like Indian ricegrass and pronghorn antelope were processed. Third, the shelter appears to contain several stratified occupations that span 7,000-5,000 B.P., demonstrating (along with evidence from nearby Danger Cave [Rhode and Madsen 1998]) that this part of the Great Basin was not abandoned during the hot and dry middle Holocene, as other areas of the Great Basin may have been.
Conclusions
Excavations will continue during the 2002 field season. Sundance crews will excavate more of the pre-5,000-year-old cultural deposits, increasing our artifact and ecofact samples and exposing horizontal living floors in order to learn how use of the shelter may have changed during the early and middle Holocene. Further, we hope to excavate more of the cave's late Pleistocene deposits in search of Paleoarchaic and Paleoindian occupations that may be buried there. Special thanks to the field school crews from 2000 and 2001 (Figure 7). Their efforts have made this program possible. References CitedRhode, David, and David B. Madsen
Alvord Basin | Weed Lake Ditch | Juniper Lake |
