Far Western
Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., is a leader in cultural resources management services. Since 1979, Far Western has consulted in archaeological projects for private industry, government agencies, tribal organizations, and non-profit groups, to achieve the broader goals of the environmental review and compliance process.
We are pleased to announce a new Principal in the firm: Dr. Daron Duke.
Daron Duke has been with Far Western since 2003 and serves as the Director of Far Western’s Desert Branch in Henderson, Nevada. He has worked in the Great Basin and California for more than 20 years.
Far Western Anthropological Research Group
Occasional Speaker Series Presents
Mike Lenzi, M.A., RPA
Staff Archaeologist, Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc.
Speaking on:
The Utility of Experimental Archaeology for Addressing Research Questions:
A Case Study of Crescents from the Western United States.
Thursday, September 10th, 2015 – 5:00 pm
Far Western Lab
2727 Del Rio Place, Davis, CA 95618
Experimental archaeology is used to understand how artifacts were manufactured, used, and discarded. This study used replicated crescents to evaluate common hypotheses for their function and demystify their role in the prehistoric toolkit. Models from human behavioral ecology were applied to evaluate the efficiency of crescents to cut leather, scrape willow, and tip projectiles. Breaks accrued from use of the replicated crescents were compared to archaeological patterns. The hypothesis that the primary function of crescents is for cutting and slicing tasks and scraping plants is not supported; however, use as transverse projectile points is well-supported.
Brian Byrd, Andrew N. Garrard, and Paul Brandy recently published their article “Modeling Foraging Ranges and Spatial Organization of Late Pleistocene Hunter-gatherers in the Southern Levant—A Least-cost GIS Approach” in Quaternary International.
Cores upon cores fill the shelves of the Far Western Geoarchaeology Lab in Davis. These long tubes of “dirt” tell us a lot about prehistoric landscape evolution, and thus can help determine whether or not a location might have potential for archaeological findings. In most situations, backhoe trenching is the most effective way to identify sites. When backhoe trenching is not possible, in urban areas for example, or when the potential depth for a site exceeds the range of mechanical excavation, we conduct hydraulic continuous-core sampling to identify sites.
When archaeologists dig through the layers of earth carefully, the different soils and buried surfaces can be visually seen. Cores do the same thing, like inserting a straw into a layer cake, sometimes reaching 65 feet below surface. Each four-foot section of the core is pulled up in two-inch-diameter plastic liners, brought to the lab, sliced down the center, and splayed open to reveal the stratigraphic layers.
Dating the layers can be done in a couple of ways. Most often, radiocarbon dating is used to get close estimates of how old plant, bone, or shell is in a certain layer, or when now buried surfaces were exposed at the surface. Other times, however, there is not enough organic matter to be sampled. In those cases, Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating can be used. OSL samples must be removed from their original location in complete darkness, and kept in the dark until tested to provide accurate dates. The dates for each layer let geoarchaeologists map similar types of strata throughout a particular location. This helps archaeologists figure out where sites might be buried.
Once buried land surfaces are identified in the cores, they can be sampled to not only determine their age and whether they contain archaeological materials, but also tested to see what types of small seeds, pollen, or other diagnostic material. This can be used to reconstruct the type of landscape that was present when that layer was at or near the surface.
Currently, Far Western Geoarchaeologists are using cores to map the potential for intact buried land surfaces below the historic-era extent of the San Francisco Bay. As ocean levels have risen, they have covered up landforms where people once lived. Recent findings indicate that we may be able to quite accurately map where some people lived for long periods of time, and perhaps returned over and over again generations later.
For interested archaeologists and non-archaeologists alike, we suggest reading: Waters, Michael R.,1992, Principles of Geoarchaeology: A North American Perspective. The University of Arizona Press.
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Creating Vya: The Dream of Dry Farming in Long Valley, Nevada describes the rise and fall of the community of Vya with additional information on Northern Paiute lifeways, early explorers, cattle ranching, and the failed Long Valley Water Project. The book includes numerous photographs by John L. Henry.
Flip through the interactive booklet below, or view this booklet and others on our Public Outreach Projects page!
By Erich Obermayr Historic Insight with Sharon A. Waechter Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc.
