LATE PLEISTOCENE HUMAN OCCUPATION OF THE BIGHORN MOUNTAINS

在国家科学基金会的资助下，罗伯特·凯利博士将调查怀俄明州大角山避难所中晚更新世的沉积物。北美最早的一些文物是凹槽点；许多考古学家认为这些点与北美最初的殖民有关，可以追溯到大约12,000到13,500年前，即晚更新世时期。与后来的北美人不同，凹槽尖头的制造者似乎很少使用洞穴和岩石掩蔽处。在他们的殖民模型中，罗伯特·凯利和劳伦斯·托德(1988)争辩说，这一事实表明长笛制作者没有使用“稀有的”景观元素，因为它们是北美迅速殖民的一部分。然而，避难所中很少出现凹凸点，这可能是抽样问题(例如，挖掘深度不够)，也可能是避难所被挖掘的结果(例如，目前可观察到的避难所在更新世晚期不能居住)。对美国数据的分析表明，洞穴和避难所中凹槽状的地点确实很少见，=10%的地点拥有适当年龄的沉积物。但了解此类职业在特定地区有多么罕见，对于理解它们为何如此罕见至关重要。这个项目旨在回答比格伦山脉的两个问题：我们是否对洞穴和避难所中的12,000-13,500 BP沉积物进行了足够的采样？和(B)在洞穴或洞穴本身及其被困沉积物的地质形成过程中涉及的工地挖掘作用，如果有的话，在限制目前洞穴和岩石掩体中缺乏有凹槽的点年龄职业方面发挥了什么作用？该项目将调查怀俄明州大角山150个数据库中的一系列避难所；目前，其中只有3-4个避难所可以证明考古穿透到12,000年前的沉积物中，只有两个避难所含有凹槽。其目标是通过充分测试至少30个避难所，对12,000至13,500年前的沉积物进行充分测试，以测试根据国家数据产生的10%的频率。人们必须能够证明这30个避难所不是一个问题，也就是说，避难所是可供居住和可居住的。因此，调查人员正在重新调查以前挖掘的避难所，通过AMS和OSL测年程序重新测定地层剖面。在两名地质考古学家的协助下，该小组还将收集与评估每个避难所的墓葬历史有关的数据。研究人员还将在新的避难所进行试掘，以确保在不同类型的基岩和不同的地质环境(例如，高海拔与低海拔)中有足够的避难所样本。智力价值一旦完成，该项目将：(A)首次确定特定地区避难所中凹槽位置的频率；(B)评估样本偏差和避难所开挖方式导致避难所中缺乏凹槽位置的概率；以及(C)提供数据，以评估支持凯利/托德晚更新世殖民模式的证据。更广泛的影响2003年，怀俄明大学启动了一个新的古印度考古学博士项目；该项目将为该项目的学生提供培训；此外，还将有国际学生参加(2005年，来自俄罗斯)。收集到的数据将有助于其他关于大角山考古的研究项目。该项目将引起广泛的考古学家的兴趣，他们研究美洲的早期“古印第安人”考古学，并因此加强怀俄明大学与俄罗斯和阿根廷机构现有的合作协议。

With National Science Foundation funding, Dr. Robert Kelly will investigate late Pleistocene deposits in rockshelters in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains. Some of the earliest artifacts in North America are fluted points; these are associated with what many archaeologists believe to the initial colonization of North American, and date from about 12,000 to 13,500 years ago, the late Pleistocene period. Unlike later peoples of North America, makers of fluted points seem to have rarely used cave and rockshelters. In their colonization model, Robert Kelly and Lawrence Todd (1988) argued that this fact indicated that flute point makers did not use "rare" landscape elements because they were part of a rapid colonization of North America. However, infrequent occurrence of fluted points in shelters could be a sampling problem (e.g, failure to excavate deep enough), or a result of shelter taphonomy (e.g, shelters that are currently observable were uninhabitable in the late Pleistocene). Analysis of data from the U.S. suggests that fluted point occupations in caves and rockshelters are indeed rare, = 10% of sites with appropriately-aged deposits. But understanding how rare such occupations are in a given region is essential to understanding why they are rare. This projects aims to answer two questions for the Bighorn Mountains: have we adequately sampled 12,000-13,500 BP deposits in caves and rockshelters? and (b) what role, if any, does site taphonomy, processes involved in the geologic formation of the shelter or cave itself and its trapped sediments, play in conditioning the current lack of fluted point-aged occupations in caves and rockshelters? This project will investigate a series of shelters from a database of 150 in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains; currently, only 3-4 of these can demonstrate archaeological penetration into pre-12,000 year old sediments, and only two contain fluted points. The goal is to test the 10% frequency generated from national data by adequately testing at least 30 shelters for 12,000 to 13,500 year old deposits. One must be able to demonstrate for these 30 shelters that shelter taphonomy is not an issue, that is, that the shelter was available for habitation and habitable. The investigators therefore are re-investigating previously excavated shelters, redating stratigraphic profiles through AMS and OSL dating procedures. With the assistance of two geoarchaeologists the team will also collect data relevant to evaluating each shelter's taphomic history. The researchers will also conduct test excavations in new shelters to ensure that an adequate sample of shelters in different types of bedrock and in different geologic settings (e.g. high vs. low elevation) are available. Intellectual MeritsOnce completed, this project will (a) establish for the first time, the frequency of fluted point occupations in shelters in a specific region; (b) evaluate the probability that sample bias and shelter taphonomy are responsible for the lack of fluted points in shelters; and (c) provide data to evaluate one piece of evidence used to support the Kelly/Todd late Pleistocene colonization model. Broader ImpactsIn 2003, the University of Wyoming initiated a new doctoral program in paleoindian archaeology; this project will provide training for students in that program; in addition, international students will participate (in 2005, from Russia). The data gathered will be useful to other research projects on the archaeology of the Bighorn Mountains. The project will interest a broad range of archaeologists researching early "paleoindian" archaeology throughout the Americas and, as such, strengthen the University of Wyoming's existing cooperative agreements with Russian and Argentine institutions.