Category: Featured

Today, we recognize three sponsors, Lower Columbia Research at the Chewaucan Level and Legacy Anthropology and the Archaeological Society of Central Oregon (ASCO) at the Warner Level. Legacy Anthropology is a full-service archaeological consulting company established in 2019 providing archaeological and historic preservation consulting services throughout Washington State. They collectively have over 15 years of experience in cultural resource management on over 150 projects including surveys and construction monitoring for road improvements, utility upgrades, bridge replacements, commercial construction, and residential development. They are a certified Minority/Woman-owned business. To learn more, please visit https://legacyanthropology.com The ASCO is a group of amateur, avocational, and professional archaeologists who share common interests in the history and prehistory of central Oregon. Their primary goal is to stimulate public interest in the preservation and research of past lifeways. ASCO was organized in 1944 and has a current membership of over 100. To learn more, please visit https://ascoinfo.net/

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Our final featured symposium is “Tracking the Human Landscape of the Old River Bed Delta at the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition, ” organized by Daron Duke and D. Craig Young. The latest archaeological finds from the Old River Bed delta reveal a distinguishing terminal Pleistocene component alongside telling new information about its ancient environment. The delta is best known for its early Holocene record, but these data allow for a richer temporal, spatial, and social context to be developed. The finding of human footprints presents an opportunity for even finer resolution. This symposium highlights the interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts now underway centered on examining people’s relationship with a once vast deltaic wetland as it rose, fell, and disappeared in the Bonneville Basin, the largest lacustrine basin in the desert west. In addition to the featured symposia and plenary session, we are also excited to host three general sessions of 10-12 papers each along with two poster sessions of 10 posters each. The 38th GBAC will be busy from start to finish! We would like to take this opportunity to thank three sponsors at the Chewaucan Level: ARH Archaeology and Architectural History, Codifi, and Dudek. ARH Archaeology and Architectural History, LLC (ARH) is a woman-owned,…

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With just a little more than two weeks to go, we are excited to share the final GBAC program along with a few important announcements: To register for the conference and purchase banquet/fieldtrip tickets, please visit https://greatbasinanthropologicalassociation.org/gbac/gbac-registration/ Thank you for your continued support of the GBAA and GBAC. See you soon! The 38th Great Basin Anthropological Conference – Final Program

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Today’s featured GBAC symposium is “In His Footsteps: Tom Connolly’s Legacy in Oregon Archaeology,” organized by Jaime Kennedy and Andrew Boehm. After 40+ years, Tom Connolly recently retired as the Director of Archaeological Research at the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History. In addition to extensive work on the Pacific Coast and western inland valleys, his contributions to Great Basin archaeology span several decades. Tom’s research on perishable artifacts, lithics, and his decades-long collaborations to refine regional cultural chronologies spurred significant developments in our understanding of the Great Basin in deep history and will undoubtedly influence the trajectory of the discipline for years to come. He’s literally written the book on Oregon Archaeology and inspired generations of academic, agency, and CRM archaeologists. This symposium honors Tom’s legacy through a series of papers presented by friends, colleagues, and others influenced by his impressive career. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge three Mojave-level sponsors: the Far Western Foundation, Paleoscapes Archaeobotanical Services Team, and Thunderstones Lithic Consulting. The Far Western Foundation was established to advance the study and appreciation of western North American archaeology, ethnography and history, and provide avenues for individuals and organizations representing diverse cultural…

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Today’s featured symposium is “Multi-Disciplinary Investigations of Cultural and Ecological Assemblages at the Paisley Caves in the Chewaucan Basin, South-Central Oregon.” The symposium features nine presentations highlighting ongoing work with the Paisley Caves assemblage. The Paisley Caves are unusually rich repositories of cultural and natural materials accumulated in deposits spanning 16,000 years in age. Located on the high shoreline of pluvial Lake Chewaucan in the Summer Lake sub-basin of the Chewaucan basin, these caves and rockshelters have been professionally investigated twice. First, by Luther Cressman in the period 1937-1940 and later by Dennis Jenkins and the University of Oregon field school between 2002 and 2011. Analyses of fish bone, isotopes, megafauna, small mammals, pollen, macrobotanical remains, birds, and insects assist in reconstructing the local ecology over a period of 16,000 years. A total of 353 radiocarbon dates has been obtained on artifacts, bones, cultural features, coprolites (human and non-human), and naturally accumulated plant and animal remains. Obsidian sourcing and hydration performed on >500 specimens provide new insight into the demography and mobility of local populations spanning >14,000 years. The analysis of human coprolites, perishable and non-perishable artifacts, and cultural features provides clarity into the lifeways and challenges of some of…

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