It is with excitement that we share the Preliminary Program for the 38th Biennial Great Basin Conference (GBAC) to be held in Bend, OR October 18-21st. With just under one month to go, things are coming together and we look forward to catching up with everyone soon. In the meantime, please review the Preliminary Program and the 160 paper and poster abstracts that will make this year’s conference a great one. To date, 17 vendors have reserved tables in the Book Room, ensuring that it will be a vibrant gathering place featuring a range of goods and services. We wish to share a couple of important announcements along with the Preliminary Program: Individuals wishing to donate to the GBAA may do so by visiting this page: https://greatbasinanthropologicalassociation.org/gbac/donate/ Thank you everyone for your continued support of the GBAC and GBAA. This year’s conference is going to be great one. Watch for more updates and news in the coming weeks! Preliminary Program for the 38th Biennial Great Basin Conference

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Today’s featured symposium is “Tradition, Teaching, and Technology: Papers in Honor of Dan Stueber.” Dan’s career as an archaeologist spans four decades and has been marked by a devotion to understanding flintknapping and lithic technology. During that time, Dan has freely shared his extensive knowledge with both the professional and avocational communities, students, and Tribal members. Today, he is a leading researcher of the Western Stemmed Tradition (WST) in the American West and is working concurrently on several significant late Pleistocene and early Holocene sites in Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. He is also firmly committed to collaboration with Tribal nations and works to share his knowledge with Indigenous communities. Finally, Dan has played an important role in the lives of countless students and professional researchers who share his passion for lithic technology. Papers in this symposium honor Dan by focusing on projects in which he has played an integral role or helped shape through his mentorship of researchers who will continue his legacy for decades to come. We would also like to recognize two organizations who have sponsored the GBAC at the Mojave Level, Great Basin Consulting Group and HRA, Inc. Great Basin Consulting Group, LLC, is a cultural…

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Today’s featured symposium is “Exploring the Intersections of Human Ecology and Culture History in the Great Basin.” Evolution and ecology-minded Great Basin archeologists are often frustrated when their research ultimately falls back on historical explanation. Culture historians increasingly incorporate paleoecological information in their analyses, albeit often in the absence of models that might elucidate causal links between environmental and behavioral variability. This symposium presents the latest in research from these competing but also clearly interrelated (and arguably complementary) perspectives with an eye towards exploring how they might better inform one another to provide comprehensive explanation for the diversity of human behavior across the Great Basin. Today, we recognize two corporate sponsors: Chronicle Heritage at the Bonneville Level and Rondeau Archaeological at the Mojave Level. Chronicle Heritage is a global cultural and heritage resource management consultancy committed to the possibilities in a prosperous balance between the needs of the future and the uses of the past. Throughout their history, they have worked for clients in both the public and private sectors, guiding one successful project after another through the complex regulations that govern the management of prehistoric, historic, architectural, and paleontological resources. To learn more, please visit chronicleheritage.com

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Today’s featured symposium is “Beyond Stones and Bones: Current Research on Fiber Artifacts in the Great Basin.” While much of the global archaeological record is dominated by stone and bone, the Great Basin boasts perhaps the most extensive, diverse, and ancient records of fiber artifacts in the world. Studies of plant and animal fiber artifacts in the region have traditionally focused on normative analysis, using structural traits to explore geographic and chronological patterning. More recent work has pioneered fiber identification techniques to better understand environmental context and land use strategies, explored the use of radiocarbon dating of fiber artifacts to achieve chronological control of disturbed contexts, and extracted microfossils from basketry to interpret dietary uses. This symposium examines the status of current research in Great Basin fiber artifacts and explores future directions for fiber investigations. We would also like to recognize sponsorship at the Lahontan Level by two companies, Archaeological Services LLC and WestLand Resources. Archaeological Services LLC (ASCC) is based out of Vancouver, WA. They have grown from a one-person operation working solely in Clark County to a firm that employs six full-time archaeologists who carry out projects throughout the Pacific Northwest. To learn more about ASCC, please visit https://archaeologicalservices.com/about-ascc/…

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