Social Organization

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Human PrehistoryHuman Prehistoryof Great Salt Lake

Human PrehistoryTo understand human history of Great Salt Lake need to go back to origins of humans.

Human Evolution

(A) Pan troglodytes, chimpanzee, modern(B) Australopithecus africanus, STS 5, 2.6 My(C) Australopithecus africanus, STS 71, 2.5 My(D) Homo habilis, KNM-ER 1813, 1.9 My(E) Homo habilis, OH24, 1.8 My(F) Homo rudolfensis, KNM-ER 1470, 1.8 My(G) Homo erectus, Dmanisi cranium D2700, 1.75 My

(H) Homo ergaster (early H. erectus), KNM-ER 3733, 1.75 My(I) Homo heidelbergensis, "Rhodesia man," 300,000 - 125,000 y(J) Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, La Ferrassie 1, 70,000 y(K) Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, La Chappelle-aux-Saints, 60,000 y(L) Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, Le Moustier, 45,000 y(M) Homo sapiens sapiens, Cro-Magnon I, 30,000 y(N) Homo sapiens sapiens, modern

First hominids lived in Africa ~ 7 million years ago14 different species identified (best known Australopithecus)First fossils classified as Homo sapiens date from about 200,000 years ago and are called neanderthals(a subspecies of Homo sapiens)

Human Evolution

(a subspecies of Homo sapiens).

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•Began to migrate outside of Africa 100,000 years ago.

•Believed by many to have replaced the Neanderthals by 30,000 B.C..

•By 10,000 B.C. Homo sapiens Sapiens could

Modern Human Beings

be found throughout the world due to migration.

Social OrganizationMigration

North America was the last colonized by hominids.Traditional hypothesis - Beringia (land bridge) between Russia and AlaskaGenetic Evidence - Asian origin of Native AmericansAmericans30,000 to 12,000 years B.P. was first migration

During the last ice age between 100,000 B.C. and 8000 B.C. the water level in the oceans dropped revealing a land bridge

over the Bering Strait connecting Asia and North America

The Holocene follows the Pleistocene epoch and began roughly 11,000–10,000 years agoAt this time only about 10 sites of this age are known in North America.

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When did humans first enter the New World?The estimates range from 30,000+ years ago to 13,500 years ago.The migration into the New World, no matter when, expanded humanity’s dispersal through 2 new continents.

It is during this time that the scene was set for plant and animal domestication and thus the transformation of the Earth’s surface

Entering the New WorldWhen people first arrived in the New World is tied up with where they arrived.

Archaeologists rely on biological, geographical, and linguistic data to help sort out this question.

How do scientists know the age of archaeological material?

Radiocarbon dating (radiometric dating)Cosmic radiation (form of neutrons) collides with Nitrogen atomsCollisons result in loss of proton – now has 6 protons and 8 neutrons Now unstable and now Carbon 14 (number of protons determines what kind of atom)

Radiometric Dating

All radioactive atoms eventually decay, Carbon 14 eventually decays to Nitrogen againCarbon enters living world via PSNThe % of C 14 in all living things is the same as the % in the atmosphereC 14 i t l i h d th i diC 14 is not replenished once the organism dies

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Radiometric Dating

The decay rate or half-life of C 14 is constant5,730 yearsRadon 222 = 4 daysUranium 238 = 4.5 billion years

To determine the age of material all that is needed is to then know the ratio of C 12 to C 14 atoms within ato then know the ratio of C 12 to C 14 atoms within a specimenParticle accelerators are used to do this

Entering the New WorldWhen people first arrived in the New World is tied up with where they arrived.

Archaeologists rely on biological, geographical, and linguistic data to help sort out this question.

Three competing hypotheses: • By way of the Bering land bridge that

connected Asia and North America several times during the late Pleistocene

• Along the coast of the northern Pacific

Entering the New World

• Along the coast of the northern Pacific Rim

• By following the ice edge across the northern Atlantic from western Europe

Beringia route The term for the bridge in anthropology is Beringia.

• Beringia: The dry-land connection between Asia and America that existed periodically during the Pleistocene epoch.

• At periods of glaciation more water was uptaken and the bridge would appear (up to 1,300 miles wide).

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Between 28-15,000 years ago, Beringia consisted of steppes and tundra

Tundra: Treeless plains characterized by permafrost conditions that support the growth of shallow-rooted vegetation such as grasses and mosses.

This environment supported herds of grazing animals.This environment would have been the same as that in

Beringia route

This environment would have been the same as that in northern Asia.

Beringia routeIn northern Asia, archaeologists have found Paleocene hunting tools.

At Yana RHS (Russia) 30,000 years ago stone tools, horn, ivory spear foreshafts are foundMore recently, 14-13,000 years ago at Berelekh(Russia) shows how well adapted residents were to this cold environment.

Rhino horn foreshaft

Pitulko et al. 2004. Science 303:52-56.

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Late Pleistocene Sites in Siberia

Beringia route Bering Land Bridge

The earliest inhabitants of North America may have entered the continent by way of the Bering land bridge, exposed during maximum glaciation.

So, Beringia was dry during two times of interest to human migration:

75-45,000 years ago, during which the problem for travelers was the glaciers themselves.

• Laurentian: Pleistocene ice sheet centered in the Hudson Bay region and extending across much of eastern Canada and the northern United States

Beringia route

Canada and the northern United States• Cordilleran: Pleistocene ice sheet originating in

mountains of western North America.

The last glacial maximum was largely (not entirely) a North American phenomenon.

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Evidence of Human AntiquityHuman Artifacts in association with bones of extinct animals

Mammoth, Mastodon, Giant Bison, etc.

No evidence of human evolution in Western Hemisphere

No hominid fossilsNo hominid fossils

So, humans have been here long enough for some animals to have gone extinct, but not so long as to have evolved from a pre-Human species

Beringia Route The land link was exposed twice, between 50,000 and 40,000 years ago, and again between 28,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Evidence is strong for human arrival during the latter t f th d i d lth h ipart of the second period, although various

archeologists argue that entry occurred much earlier.

Here’s what we know:Geologic Facts

Pleistocene: 1.6 mya-10,000 BPMost Recent (Wisconsin) Glaciation: begins 75,000 BPAsian land bridge (Beringia): fully emergent 40 000 BP40,000 BPIce-Free Corridor between Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets open after 13,500 BP

Cultural FactsEarliest widespread evidence of humans in North America is post-13,500 BPBut, emerging evidence of earlier occupations

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Paleo-Indians in the AmericasDuring the Paleo-Indian period, evidence of mobile hunting and gathering comes from widely scattered locations, including many sites in the western United States.

The distinctive fluted point is the period’s hallmark artifact. Each face of a fluted point typically displays a groove (or “flute”) resulting from the removal of a long channel (o ute ) esu t g o t e e o a o a o g c a eflake, possibly to make it easier to use a special hafting technique for mounting the point on a shaft.

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Paleo-Indians in the AmericasOne of the striking findings about Clovis is that is was found in so many places across both continents at nearly the same time in all the places.

Distribution of points cross-cuts many environmentsThis suggests that the peoples were of recent introduction to the New World or that the idea of Clovis spread very fast (it was a great idea)sp ead e y ast ( t as a g eat dea)

These fluted Clovis spear points were hafted to bone foreshafts making for more efficient hunting

This means that when a point was thrown it became detachable from the spear shaftThis may be the first example of a ‘semi-automatic’ weapon

Paleo-Indian LifewaysBig game hunters?

Clovis people of the American southwest were successful at hunting large game, like mammothsSome association with megafauna (mammoths and mastodons) but usually involving single individuals in locations that suggests chance encounter (associated with water)

Megafauna

Mammoth Bison antiquis

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Paleo-Indian Lifeways• Megafauna: Animals over 100 pounds, including the mammoth,

mastodon, giant bison, horse, camel, and ground sloth. • Of the sites associated with Paleo-Indians, the most impressive

are the places where ancient hunters killed and butchered megafauna.

• At many of these kill sites, knives, scrapers, and finely flaked and fluted projectile points are directly associated with the p j p yanimal bones, all of which are evidence that the megafaunawere human prey.

No other big game found associated with Clovis points

Clovis Culture Paleo-Indians (Clovis) as First Americans

Paleoindian Period (13,500-8,000 BP)

Paleo-Indian CultureBig game hunters

• e.g., Olsen-Chubbock, New Mexico (discovered 1930); bison kill site

Clovis CultureFluted Points (e.g, Clovis, Folsom, Plano)Highly mobile; nomadic, seasonal movementsPopulation density low, small, mobile bands

Widely accepted as earliest occupants of Americas up through 1970’s

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Ice free corridor open between Laurentide and Cordilleran glaciers by about 13,500 years ago.

Problem: It appears there are several potential sites that date earlier.

E th d t thi th d b t d

Beringia route

• Even so the dates this path open are debated

Pre-Paleoindian Occupations?1970s – evidence of possible pre-Clovis occupation

Linguistic evidence: some estimate Native American languages diverged from Asian languages 35,000 BP

The Earliest AmericansBiological and genetic evidence

Prior to 9,500 years ago there are fewer than 2 dozen examples of skeletal remains.

• In addition to Kennewick Man (9,300 BP) here are a few of the other finds:

– At Snake River (12,800 BP, Idaho) shows a young woman who had experienced metabolic stress, likely starvation

– At Spirit Cave (10,600 BP, Nevada) a mid-40s man wrapped in fine matting, tooth abscesses and back problems

– By Grimes Point rock-shelter (~11-10,000, Nevada) a teenage boy who died of a obsidian knife wound.

Mitochondrial DNA: divergence of Native American from Asian genetic stock 20,000-42,000 years ago

Inherited from maternal line only (no recombination)“genetic clock”

Pre-Paleoindian Occupations?

Only irrefutable evidence has to be archaeological: where were the sites?

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Clovis First or Pre-Clovis?Evidence for Pre-Clovis Sites: Criteria

Archaeological remains must exhibit undeniable human presenceArchaeological deposits must be within undisturbed geologic deposits in “proper” stratigraphic context (below Clovis materials)A h l i l t i l t b bl t d ti bArchaeological materials must be amenable to dating by radiometric techniques or clearly associated with materials amenable to radiometric datingResults of the work must be well-published in generally accessible professional journal or monograph

Possible Pre-Clovis SitesMeadowcroft Rockshelter (Pennsylvania, disc. 1973)

Deeply stratified sequence of occupationsearliest layers dating to before 12,800

• Earliest levels non-Clovis (simpler tool kit)

Questions of association and contamination

Monte Verde (Chile, disc. 1993)Stream Bank occupationFeatures – fire pits, hut postsArtifacts – wooden lances, tent stakes, bola stones

• Peat Bog preservation

Possible Pre-Clovis Sites

Lower level dates to 12,500 BP, with evidence of human occupation below (earlier) than thatlowest levels really associated w. human activity?

Location of Early New World Sites

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Other North American Pre-Clovis Sites

Cactus Hill (Virginia, disc. late 1980s)Stratified site

• Clovis layer, below which were found points, blades, cores, charcoal, calcined animal bone

• Soil phosphate (indicates past human presence)• Radiocarbon dates: 15,000-18,000 BP, ,

Other North American Pre-Clovis Sites

Topper (South Carolina, disc. 1983)Clovis Deposits with over a meter of possible archaeological deposits below

• Radiocarbon dates similar to Cactus Hill (15-16,000 BP) and possibly much earlier (40,000 BP?)

Both are still being evaluated

Location of Early New World Sites Pre-Clovis Paradox

If people were in North America prior to the “Clovis Barrier” at 13,500 BP, how did they get here, and where did they come from?

Central route into continent through Canada blocked by glaciers until 13 500 yearsby glaciers until 13,500 years

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Pacific coast routeThe second scenario also has the first migrants coming from Asia.

They would move along the Pacific Rim from Asia to North America.This is a water route along which people could have arrived earlier

Would these populations have watercraft?There is evidence of use of watercraft had been used to reach Australia by at least 40-50,000 years ago.Australia by at least 40 50,000 years ago.This means it might be feasible, but no direct data for a boat or raft yet found.

Many like this idea as it explains the finds in South America that predate the glacial recessions. There are problems with this view

The archaeological data that would support this view is submerged.There is little evidence of a marine-adapted population on the coast of northeastern Asia

Pacific coast route

One computer simulation suggests that the coastal route is not enough to explain all the data.

Pacific Coastal Route Hypothesis

The earliest immigrants into the Americas may have traveled by boat along the islands and environmental refugia that dotted the Pacific coast during the late Pleistocene.

North Atlantic ice-edge corridorThis third hypothesis tries to explain the Clovis culture

Clovis: Phase of North American prehistory, 13,500–13,000 years ago in the West, during which short-fluted projectile points were used in hunting mammoths.This idea is that some of the migrants may have come from Europe and not Asia.

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North Atlantic Ice-Edge Corridor

The earliest arrivals in the New World may have come from western Europe and traveled up the coast and across to North America by following the ice sheet between the continents in the late Pleistocene.

Basis is similarity of the Clovis point tool-making technique and that of the Solutreans of Europe

They say the Solutreans may have entered by following the sea-ice bridge that connected America and Europe during last glaciation

There are problemsThe Solutreans were gone from Europe 5,000 years earlierS f th d t t t thi tSo far no other data to suggest this route

Entry of the First Humans into the New World

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Several hypotheses have been advanced by scientists to explain the disappearance of North and South American megafauna from the fossil record at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. The two major ones are:

Overkill hypothesis was the idea that humans killed the megafaunafrom overuse.

Pleistocene ExtinctionsClimate change during this time is called the Younger Dryas

• A climatic event between roughly 13,500 and 11,500 years ago; when the climate of higher latitudes became colder and drier but did not mark a full return to glacial conditions.

Pleistocene Extinctions

• Some archaeologists suggest that humans took advantage of the vulnerability of animals drawn to shrinking water holes during this time and helped hasten their extinction.

Pleistocene Extinctions

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Extinctions of Pleistocene Megafauna occurred shortly after arrival of humans

Survived

Extinct

Geonynornis newtoni went extinct about 50 mya.

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Africa is an exception, where the extinction of mammalian megafauna did not follow the same pattern.

This may have been because the mammals of Africa evolved “with man”, and were not exposed as naïve prey to sophisticated Pleistocene hunters.

Human Prehistory of Great Salt Lake

Size and complexity of culture is a product of environmental conditions and technological capabilities

Type and amount of resources availableTools and labor organizations

GSL provides an excellent opportunity to examine cultural evolution

Flooding and drying cycles no doubt greatly affected prehistoric human adaptation.

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Initial impression of GSL is stark desolationWhat resources were available for human existence?

Marshes -> single richest ecosystem even compared with most types of intensive farming

Primary productivity – Fixation of energy by autotrophs; rate of energy storage or increase in organic matter

Gross Primary Productivity – Total amount of energyGross Primary Productivity Total amount of energy fixed

Net Primary Productivity – The amount of energy left over after the autotroph has met own needs. (GPP –Respiration)

GSL Marshes high net primary productivity1 acre of Typha 10,792 lbs of harvestable roots and tubersGround into 5,500 lbs. of flourExceeds rice, wheat and corn in nutritional value


Salt flats and PlayasLarge populations of halophyte plants SalicorniaSeeds are large and edibleBasic staple of Prehistoric humans


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Mountains surrounding lake – minorUsed primarily as source of game


Pattern of utilization readily apparent from distribution of archaeological sites500 + sites identified

< 5% above 1850 m (6,070 ft)


Single Pre-clovis site proposed – near Lehi, UtahFlakes and bifacially retouched stone tools foundSuggested at 40,000 years oldDiscounted by most anthropologists


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Paleo-Indian arrival in Great Salt Lake Region (~12,000 years ago)


Little is known of these peopleAdapted to hunting of large Pleistocene mammalsmammoths, giant sloths, camels, giant bison, and other animals that are now extinct. Used well-known “fluted” projectile points


Paleo-Indian Period Divided into phases (12,000 – 9,000 years ago)

Clovis CultureFolsomPlano (includes Cody Complex)

Phases identified by their tool kit –


primarily stone tools.

Utah was cooler and wetter then. Paleoindianscamped along the shores of lakes and streams, including the Great Salt Lake.What would have been elevation of GSL during that time?


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12,000 – 10,000 years ago Gilbert (4,275 ft)

Sites dated to this time period come from Curlew Valley – North of Great Salt LakeSevier Desert – Near Delta, UtahDeep Creek Mountain Area – Southwest of Great Salt LakeDanger CaveDeer Creek Cave


Deer Creek CaveSmith Creek

Both the Clovis and Folsum varieties of points have been found as well as a later form – Cody Knife


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Presence of all three suggest occupation throughout entire Paleo-Indian period


Site near Draper Formation near Sandy, Utah near recessional beach contained mammoth Other used sources include rock art



Archaic Stage (8,500 – 2,500 years ago)Broadly based subsistence adaptation

• Varied from season-season• Species-species

Come after the “big game hunters” and before agriculturalists


Tool types include• Atlatl • Grinding stones• Basketry• Stone vessels• Lack bow and arrow

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Lived in cave/rockshelters adjacent to freshwater springs on the lake.

Barn Owl Cave, Fish Springs Utah

Human Prehistory of Great Salt Lake Human Prehistory of Great Salt Lake

Evidence suggests populations increasing around Great Salt Lake during this time.Gradual increase in number of sites occupied on the lake


Increase in population appears to be tied directly to changes in lake elevationLived almost entirely on lake edge resources

PickleweedTyphaRodentsBirds


Birds

Some use of upland gameSheepDeer

No upland sites were occupied during period

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Populations sedentary and lake resources sufficient to support growing populations


Size of lake edge ecosystem and thus available resources –inversely tied to lake level fluctuationsAs lake elevation fell from Pleistocene high –

Exposed freshwater springsMore extensive marsh habitatLarger areas of playa

R lt d i il bl f h l it ti


Resulted in more resources available for human exploitationRelationship is not continuous

Point of diminishing returns realizedWater table eventually can not support flow to springsSuggests this occurs at 4200’ elevation

GSL likely at this point ~ 5,500 years agoTiming coincides with post-pleistocene warming period


Not surprising that ~ 5,500 years ago sites in upland areas begin to be occupied2 factors

Increased populationDecreased lake resources


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Lake edge continued to be used but in a less sedentary wayMigratory shift from site to site as resources became available in different ecosystems


Excavated sites found in Mountains west and south of lakePinyon juniper zonesUsed as hunting campsMost abundant resource found were Mountain SheepAlso Deer and rabbit abundantOccasionally bison

Occupation of these sites by “family groups”


Occupation of these sites by family groupsOccupation was seasonal

Lake edge Foothills Lake edge5,500 – 3,500 years ago

3,500 – 2,500 years ago increased moisture – Neoglacial PeriodLake levels rose to 4260’Lake would have eliminated much of marsh areas, playas and freshwater springsMany sites were eliminated and abandoned


Occupation of upland sites continuedCarrying capacity of sites likely increased due to enhanced precipitationBut projectile point densities during this time begins to decline


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At end of Neoglacial, Archaic occupation of Great Salt Lake apparently endedOf 30 excavated sites none give evidence for occupation 2,500 – 1,500 years ago


Hypothesis for abandonment of Great Salt Lake following NeoglacialClimate drierCarrying capacity of upland sites again reducedLake edge resources again available

But after 1,000 + years of upland occupation, groups probably not familiar


or adapted to lakeside ecosystems

Population density markedly reduced 2,500 years ago

In SummaryArchaic occupation began 8,500 years ago - continued until 2,500 years agoChange in number and location of sites suggests increasing population until 5,500 years agoReduction in population followed


Initially groups were sedentary then shifted to pattern of seasonal mobility when lake reached point where wasn’t capable of stable existence

With subsequent flooding – radical change to dependence on upland resourcesWhen these resources were reduced, Archaic groups abandoned lake


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For Review Paleo-Indian Culture (12,000 – 9,000 BP)

ClovisFolsomPlano

Archaic Culture (8,500 – 2,500 BP)


Formative Stage, Sevier & Great Salt Lake Fremont Culture (1,500 – 500 BP)


Sevier and Great Salt Lake Culture represents cultural variants of the Fremont CultureCharacterized by

Villages located on alluvial fans in valleys near marsh or riverine habitatTemporary encampments throughout other ecosystemsRatio of temporary camps to villages = 10:1Subsistence economy collecting gathering hunting


Subsistence economy – collecting, gathering, huntingSupplemented by corn agricultureSocial organization – loosely confederated family aggregates

Architecture –Semisubterranean dwellingsAdobe surface storage units


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Pottery types important for identification of groupsPlain, and decorated varieties of coil-made gray-wareFingernail incising


BasketryArrow pointsBone implements and ornaments


Stone knife

Settlement patterns at Great Salt LakeAll of village sites located in marsh areas on saline soils (~4209’)Agriculture?Saline soils preclude agricultureSites identified in Bear Rive Bay and Farmington Bay areas

Resources Bison


BisonWaterfowl (Canada Geese)BulrushCattails

Willard Site – exceptional siteContains adobe storage structuresCharred corncobsCorn represents minor component of subsistence

Possible agricultural sites in Grantsville/Tooele area


Documents

Social Organization