Holocene cold storage practices on the eastern Snake River Plain: A risk-mitigation strategy for lean times

Byers, David A.; Henrikson, L. Suzann; Breslawski, Ryan P.

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2016.05.005

Title: Holocene cold storage practices on the eastern Snake River Plain: A risk-mitigation strategy for lean times

Journal Article · 03 June 2016 · Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2016.05.005 · OSTI ID:1369436

Byers, David A. ^[1]; Henrikson, L. Suzann ^[2]; Breslawski, Ryan P. ^[3]

Utah State Univ., Logan, UT (United States). Dept. of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Southern Methodist Univ., Dallas, TX (United States). Dept. of Anthropology

Previous archaeological research in southern Idaho has suggested that climate change over the past 8000 years was not dramatic enough to alter long-term subsistence practices in the region. However, recent isotopic analyses of bison remains from cold storage caves on the Snake River Plain contest this hypothesis. Our results, when examined against an archaeoclimate model, suggest that cold storage episodes coincided with drier, warmer phases that likely reduced forage and water, and thus limited the availability of bison on the open steppe. Within this context we build a risk model to illustrate how environment might have motivated cold storage behaviors. Caching bison in cold lava tubes would have mitigated both intra-annual and inter-annual food shortages under these conditions. This analysis also suggests that skeletal fat, more than meat, may have influenced the selection, transport and storage of bison carcass parts. We deciphered when and how cold storage caves which was used to provide a more comprehensive understanding of foraging behaviors in a broad range of hunting-gathering economies.

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Research Organization:: Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 1369436

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU--16-38997; PII: S0278416516300459

Journal Information:: Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Journal Name: Journal of Anthropological Archaeology Journal Issue: C Vol. 43; ISSN 0278-4165

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Holocene cold storage practices on the eastern Snake River Plain: A risk-mitigation strategy for lean times

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