Alpine archaeology of Alta Toquima and the Mt. Jefferson Tablelands (Nevada) : the archaeology of Monitor Valley

• Published in: Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History 2020-01 (104)
• Main Authors: Thomas, David Hurst, Bean, Jessica R, Burns, Gregory R, Canaday, Timothy W, Charlet, David Alan, Colwell, Robert K, Culleton, Brendan, Eerkens, Jelmer W, Freeland, Nicholas P, Graybill, Donald A, Grayson, Donald K, Harper, Thomas K, Hughes, Richard E, Jimenez, Joseph, Kennett, Douglas J, Millar, Constance I, Novick, Andrea Lee, Pendleton, Lorann SA, Rankin, Amanda M, Rhode, David, Rosenthal, Jeffrey, Rovner, Irwin, Spero, Howard J, Stevens, Nathan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 12th century; American Indians; Animal products; Archaeology; Bayesian analysis; Camps; Caves; Climate change; Diet; Drought; Foraging behavior; Forests; Holocene; Hunting; Material culture; Residential patterns; Technology
• ISSN: 0065-9452
• DOI: 10.5531/sp.anth.0104

The Central Mountains Archaic began with the arrival of foraging populations in the Intermountain West about 6000 years ago. This migration coincided with the "extremely dramatic" winter-wet event of 4350 cal b.c. and the arrival of piñon pine forests in the central Great Basin. Human foragers likely played a significant role in the rapid spread of piñon across the central and northeastern Great Basin. Logistic hunters exploited local bighorn populations, sometimes serviced by hunting camps (the "man caves" such as Gatecliff Shelter, Triple T Shelter, and several others) and they staged communal pronghorn drives at lower elevations. As climate cooled and became more moist, logistic bighorn hunting gradually shifted downslope, then apparently faded away about 1000 cal b.c. Communal pronghorn driving persisted into the historic era in the central Great Basin. This volume, the first in the Alta Toquima trilogy, describes and analyzes more than 100 alpine hunting features on the Mt. Jefferson tablelands. High-elevation, logistical bighorn hunting virtually disappeared across the central Great Basin with the onset of the Late Holocene Dry Period (about 750-850 cal b.c.), giving way to an alpine residential pattern at Alta Toquima (26NY920) and elsewhere on Mt. Jefferson. Situated at almost exactly 11,000 ft (3352 m) above sea level, Alta Toquima was sited on the south summit of Mt. Jefferson (the third-highest spot in the state of Nevada), where at least 31 residential stone structures were emplaced along this steep, east-facing slope. When first recorded in 1978, Alta Toquima was the highest American Indian village site known in the Northern Hemisphere. This volume discusses the material culture, plant macrofossils, vertebrate fauna, and radiocarbon dating for Alta Toquima. Bayesian analysis of 95 14C dates documents an initial occupation of Alta Toquima at 1370-790 cal b.c., with the sporadic settlements persisting until immediately before European contact. These alpine residences are the most dramatic examples of the intensified provisioning strategies that began in the Central Mountains Archaic about 3000 years ago, broadening the diet breadth to include plant and animal resources previously considered too costly. The oldest summertime residence at Alta Toquima correlates with the onset of Late Holocene Dry Period (LHDP) aridity (~750 cal b.c.), and these houses were episodically occupied only during the driest intervals throughout the next 1500 dramatic ye