Bone Refuse and Insect Remains: Their Potential for Temporal Resolution of the Archaeological Record

The contents of a bone-filled pit from a Late Prehistoric period site in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, are inferred to represent the remains of a meal originally cooked in a skin container. The residue remained in the container, outside of the pit, for at least three weeks. Subsequently, but within a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American antiquity 1991-10, Vol.56 (4), p.680-686
Main Authors: Chomko, Stephen A., Gilbert, B. Miles
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult insects
America and Arctic regions
Animal remains (Archaeology)
Antiquities
Archaeological excavation
Archaeological site recording
Archaeological sites
Archaeological surveys
Archaeology
Bones
Ceramic cultures
Food
Fossil insects
Hunter gatherers
Kitchen middens
North America
Paleoanthropology
Prehistory and protohistory
Primitive societies
Pupae
Salvage archaeology
Traditional societies
Wyoming
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Summary:The contents of a bone-filled pit from a Late Prehistoric period site in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, are inferred to represent the remains of a meal originally cooked in a skin container. The residue remained in the container, outside of the pit, for at least three weeks. Subsequently, but within a few weeks of cooking, the residue was dumped upside down into a pit which was then sealed with a sandstone slab. Preparation of the food and its disposal took place between June and September. The temporal resolution made possible by the analysis of the insect remains permits the inference that the site assemblage accumulated during two separate occupations. Such an inference affects how the site assemblage may be interpreted within the context of a settlement system.
ISSN:0002-7316
2325-5064
DOI:10.2307/281545