Document Type

Thesis

Date of Degree Completion

Winter 2022

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Cultural and Environmental Resource Management

Committee Chair

Patrick McCutcheon

Second Committee Member

Steve Hackenberger

Third Committee Member

Sterling Quinn

Abstract

For decades, the annual subsistence round in the Mid-Columbia Plateau has been examined archaeologically through surface lithic scatters using bivariate approaches. We know from the ethnographic record that the annual round is a complicated process where multiple resources may be extracted simultaneously, yet there are no studies examining the archaeological record on a scale that allows investigation of this complexity. This research used GIS to model landforms and the locations of plant, animal, and mineral resources to assign a resource potential score across the landscape. The relationship between resource potential score and the archaeological record in the East Saddle Mountains was then quantified and analyzed. Diversity among the archaeological record was examined with a Paradigmatic Classification system based on artifact type. Results revealed a non-random relationship between the potential resources and the archaeological record that indicated intensive use of toolstone resources, and extensive land use across plant and hunting resources.

Share

COinS