Adaptive transitions and environmental change in the northern Great Basin: A view from Diamond Swamp
The presence of sedentary prehistoric occupations in association with wetland settings in the Great Basin has been the focus of continued debate. Theoretical discussions concerning the nature of hunter-gatherer adaptations to wetland environments have been based on two models: (1) Stress-based or push models, which argue that hunter-gatherer populations would reduce mobility as a response to less favorable conditions, and (2) abundance-based or pull models, which argue that hunter-gatherers would have been attracted to localized environments of diverse and plentiful resources. Archaeological evidence from Diamond Swamp provides insight into human adaptive transitions in wetland environments. Archaeological data from Diamond Swamp revealed a series of cultural components representing significant portions of the Holocene. The components at the Dunn and McCoy Creek sites consist of collections of artifactual, faunal, and floral materials, in association with semi-subterranean pithouse features dated between 3500 and 900 BP. These occupations correspond to periods of increased moisture and higher water tables. During periods of climatic amelioration semi-sedentary occupations occurred with the expansion of highly productive marsh and juniper grassland vegetation zones. The component at the McCoy Creek Site corresponds to a period of decreasing moisture punctuated by periodic drought, evidenced by the presence of a less substantial wickiup occupation dated at 500 BP. This occupation is indicative of a transition to a more mobile, less intensive occupational episode. The study provides evidence that transitions to sedentary pithouse villages in Diamond Swamp are best accounted for by the abundance-based model. A shift towards a less substantial, more mobile, occupation occurred with a decline in effective moisture. The research reflects adaptations made by local hunter-gatherer populations to long term environmental change within a typical Great Basin wetlands setting.
- Research Organization:
- Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 5581133
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
GREAT BASIN
CLIMATIC CHANGE
HUMAN POPULATIONS
BEHAVIOR
BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION
ARCHAEOLOGY
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
QUATERNARY PERIOD
WATER TABLES
CENOZOIC ERA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
NORTH AMERICA
PALEONTOLOGY
POPULATIONS
USA
550100* - Behavioral Biology
540120 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)