This article documents the archaeological occurrence of bison (Bison bison) on the Snake River Plain. Evidence from thirty-two Paleoindian and Archaic sites suggests that use of bison occurred on the western and eastern Plain. Sites reflect a variety of local environments and activities. The presence of bison, though relatively common in Late Archaic contexts, does not suggest that bison were depended upon as a major resource. Contrary to Butler s (1978) assertion that bison use decreased during the Late Archaic period, it appears that bison hunting was relatively more common in the later prehistory of the Plain

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This article models acquisition costs and nutritional returns for Late Archaic (post-A.D. 1200) peoples of the Middle Snake River. It is an attempt to demonstrate probable deficiencies in the ethnographic record relating to storage for winter consumption and to provide for the generation of hypotheses which may explain diversity in the recent archaeological record. The article proposes three alternative subsistence strategies: relatively sedentary river dwellers who maintain fishing equipment, including weirs, and are the primary exploiters of the riverline resources, particularly anadromous fishes; transhumant groups who rely upon high yield, low cost root crops; and highly mobile groups placing minimal emphasis upon root crops or salmon, electing to pursue large game during winter months. Finally, it is proposed that hunters and gatherers who store for winter prefer high yield resources with low acquisition costs obtainable over extended periods of time

This article reviews the archaeological evidence for storage on the Snake River Plain. A review of the literature indicates the presence of four types of facilities that include small shallow oval-basin shaped pits with rounded bottoms, larger but shallow oval-shaped pits, sagebrush platforms in ice caves, and stone and grass platform beds. The evidence of storage features is, however, quite limited in the Middle and Late Archaic periods. Though preservation and sampling may well account for distribution, a number of other explanations are provided

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This paper estimates fuel exploitation as a way of assessing the extent to which use of firewood in the Desert West should be considered an important factor in determining on the basis of seasonal use, how quickly available wood stores would be exploited. Recognizing that more mobile foragers during spring-fall may not be seriously impacted by fuel availability, we focus our discussion on the potential impact of fuel depletion during the winter period. We use Julian Steward and Murphy and Murphy's locational descriptions of winter villages on the Snake River Plain to calculate fuel return rates of driftwood/deadfall and sagebrush by foraging radii. We argue that fuel depletion is a primary cause of re-location of encampments during the winter period.

This article examines the potential of harvesting and processing sturgeon and assesses its potential nutritional or dietary value as a food resource. Using examples from the Middle Snake River and other areas, catch ratios, handling time, and caloric values are calculated. Analysis of existing data suggests that while sturgeon were utilized, they may not have been optimal in the aboriginal diet