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33. Aboriginal Adaptations on the Colorado Plateau:
A View from the Island-In-The-Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
Osborn, Alan J., Jesslyn Brown, Galen Burgett, Linda Scott Cummings,
Ralph J. Hartley
, Susan Vetter, Jennifer Waters, and Tony Zalucha
This final report documents the results of archeological inventory,
excavation, and analysis of prehistoric cultural resources within a
45-kilometer (28-mile) long corridor in the Island-in-the-Sky district of
Canyonlands National Park, Utah. During three field seasons of survey,
mapping, and excavation in 1983-1985, the research team recorded 322
artifact scatters, plotted 90,000 prehistoric artifacts and 250 historic
items, completed 600 one-square-meter test pits, and conducted 10 block
excavations. Block excavations at two locations in Gray's Pasture revealed
a plant processing/hunting field camp (42SA16858) and a disturbed pithouse
(42SA8506). Associated features and materials included a puddled
clay-lined hearth, a slab-lined pit, a cached Mesa Verde Black-on-white
olla, six additional restored ceramic vessels, chipped and ground stone
tools, human remains, animal bone, and macrobotanical material.
Radiometric determinations for these locations ranged from 1335 B.P.
(corrected A.D. 690-795). Radiometric dates for sites examined within the
project area ranged from 2990 B.P.(corrected 1400-925 B.C.) to 120
B.P.(corrected A.D. 1655-1950). Research problems for this project
included aboriginal patterns of land use, paleonutrition/diet/health, food
storage, and caching strategies. Special emphasis was given to the
investigation of artifact assemblage-diversity at varying spatial scales
within surface artifact scatters.
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