Publication Preparation for Archaeological Materials

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This grant allows Dr. Grayson to prepare illustrations for inclusion in a monograph to be published by The American Museum of Natural History. This volume reports results of analysis of faunal materials from three deep stratified rockshelters and caves excavated in the northern half of the U.S. Great Basin: Danger Cave, Last Supper Cave and Hanging Rock Shelter. All these sites contain sizeable vertebrate faunas which span over 10,000 years and which come from areas for which little information on mammalian history and on interactions between prehistoric peoples and animal communities are available. The monograph is of significance for three reasons. First it provides information on the changing environments in the American West and how different species of animals responded to it. This helps to explain the distributions of small mammals which one sees today. Secondly, the research sheds light on how prehistoric peoples used this environment and obtained their subsistence from it. Finally, Dr. Grayson and his colleagues have worked to test and develop new methods for analyzing faunal materials. These techniques should be useful to a large number of reseachers. This grant is important because it will allow full publication of this NSF supported research. Such work only gains full value if it is widely disseminated and the American Museum publication will make this possible.