Document Type

Thesis

Date of Degree Completion

Summer 2015

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Resource Management

Committee Chair

Patrick M. Lubinski

Second Committee Member

Steven Hackenberger

Third Committee Member

Shane Scott

Abstract

The Manastash Pines site (45KT346) was excavated in 1979 and 1980 by Dr. James Alexander as part of a Central Washington University (CWU) field school. The excavation included 63 units (1 x 1 m) and three trenches, collecting lithics, fauna, charcoal, and sediment samples. The recovered artifacts were set aside to be analyzed at a later time. Starting in 2012, as part of a larger CWU project revisiting prior university excavations, I catalogued over 18,000 artifacts, scanned excavation records, and analyzed all of the fauna and a sample of the lithics from the site. A total of 2,586 faunal specimens were examined, most from deer-size mammals (92%), and many burned (59%). Most (95%) of the collection was less than 3 cm in maximum size. Identified species include deer, elk, pronghorn, bison, and various rodents. A single marmot tibia exhibited butchery cut marks. The lithic assemblage included 24 pieces of ground stone, a stone bead, 14 projectile points, 45 bifaces, and over 10,000 pieces of debitage. Chipped stone artifacts were primarily cherts, but six were obsidian. Four XRF obsidian samples were sourced to Oregon. Projectile points show use over the last 8,000 years from the Vantage phase through the Cayuse phase. This project demonstrates the data available from previously excavated sites.

Language

English

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