The Surface Paleoindian Record of Northern Warner Valley, Oregon, and Its Bearing on the Temporal and Cultural Separation of Clovis and Western Stemmed Points in the Northern Great Basin
“…This shore has a series of gravel beach ridges created during Lake Warner’s regression. BT1 and BT2 were excavated on the mid-to-lower slope, and we determined after archaeological survey that they are closely associated with the elevation of archaeological sites containing WST and Clovis projectile points (Smith et al, 2015). Figure 4 Northern shore of NWVSA with excavated trench locations.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The marsh was probably short-lived and formed a ring around the northern shore while the lake remained high; however, it may have persisted in some form (e.g., a playette) after the lake receded with seasonal input from a nearby drainage, at least until floodwaters were of sufficient strength to cut through the impounding bar gravels and sediments. Sediment from this layer was dated to 12,399 cal yr BP (10,469±67 14 C yr BP, bulk organic, AA95109 [Smith et al, 2015]) and 12,091 cal yr BP (10,297±55 14 C yr BP, humates, AA95109-H [Smith et al, 2015]). As a soil date, we expect this age reflects when the sediments were sufficiently buried to limit younger carbon input.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Paleoindians probably visited on a seasonal or annual basis much like groups did during historic times (Kelly, 1932; Couture et al, 1986; Cannon et al, 1990), following the lake’s downward trend year-to-year. Nevertheless, groups using Clovis points stopped visiting the NWVSA before the lake reached its modern levels (Smith et al, 2015). Evidence for their visits is restricted to above 1369 m, when the lake covered the basin floor, and most are between 1390 and 1400 m asl (Smith et al, 2015).…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Nevertheless, groups using Clovis points stopped visiting the NWVSA before the lake reached its modern levels (Smith et al, 2015). Evidence for their visits is restricted to above 1369 m, when the lake covered the basin floor, and most are between 1390 and 1400 m asl (Smith et al, 2015). Clovis points fell out of use ca.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Recent archaeological excavations at the LSP-1 rockshelter (Smith et al, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016a, 2016b; Kennedy and Smith, 2016), which formed at 1449 m asl (Fig. 4) when the lake cut into the relatively soft Rattlesnake Tuff Formation (Walker, 1979), also provide important evidence regarding the lake’s history and human use of the NWVSA.…”
During the late Pleistocene, Warner Valley (Oregon, USA) was filled by Lake Warner; however, little is known about its rise and fall and how its changing lake levels effected the distribution of the valley’s earliest occupants. The discovery of Paleoindian projectile points along ancient shorelines of the lake spurred us to examine them for geochronological controls to aid in constructing the lake’s history. We found that Lake Warner filled the valley floor between ca. 30,000 and 10,300 cal yr BP, probably reaching its maximum ca. 17,000–16,100 cal yr BP before it began to recede. People arrived with Clovis and Western Stemmed Tradition (WST) projectile points before ca. 12,800 cal yr BP, around the time the lake stalled in its retreat. When the lake continued its decline, people using WST points followed it southward into the valley floor, where dune-and-slough topography began developing ca. 10,300 cal yr BP in response to episodic wetting and drying during the early Holocene. By the time Mazama tephra fell, ca. 7600 cal yr BP, the once large lake was divided into a series of small lakes, ponds, and sloughs that attracted people to their abundant resources of endemic fish and marsh plants.
“…This shore has a series of gravel beach ridges created during Lake Warner’s regression. BT1 and BT2 were excavated on the mid-to-lower slope, and we determined after archaeological survey that they are closely associated with the elevation of archaeological sites containing WST and Clovis projectile points (Smith et al, 2015). Figure 4 Northern shore of NWVSA with excavated trench locations.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The marsh was probably short-lived and formed a ring around the northern shore while the lake remained high; however, it may have persisted in some form (e.g., a playette) after the lake receded with seasonal input from a nearby drainage, at least until floodwaters were of sufficient strength to cut through the impounding bar gravels and sediments. Sediment from this layer was dated to 12,399 cal yr BP (10,469±67 14 C yr BP, bulk organic, AA95109 [Smith et al, 2015]) and 12,091 cal yr BP (10,297±55 14 C yr BP, humates, AA95109-H [Smith et al, 2015]). As a soil date, we expect this age reflects when the sediments were sufficiently buried to limit younger carbon input.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Paleoindians probably visited on a seasonal or annual basis much like groups did during historic times (Kelly, 1932; Couture et al, 1986; Cannon et al, 1990), following the lake’s downward trend year-to-year. Nevertheless, groups using Clovis points stopped visiting the NWVSA before the lake reached its modern levels (Smith et al, 2015). Evidence for their visits is restricted to above 1369 m, when the lake covered the basin floor, and most are between 1390 and 1400 m asl (Smith et al, 2015).…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Nevertheless, groups using Clovis points stopped visiting the NWVSA before the lake reached its modern levels (Smith et al, 2015). Evidence for their visits is restricted to above 1369 m, when the lake covered the basin floor, and most are between 1390 and 1400 m asl (Smith et al, 2015). Clovis points fell out of use ca.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Recent archaeological excavations at the LSP-1 rockshelter (Smith et al, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016a, 2016b; Kennedy and Smith, 2016), which formed at 1449 m asl (Fig. 4) when the lake cut into the relatively soft Rattlesnake Tuff Formation (Walker, 1979), also provide important evidence regarding the lake’s history and human use of the NWVSA.…”
During the late Pleistocene, Warner Valley (Oregon, USA) was filled by Lake Warner; however, little is known about its rise and fall and how its changing lake levels effected the distribution of the valley’s earliest occupants. The discovery of Paleoindian projectile points along ancient shorelines of the lake spurred us to examine them for geochronological controls to aid in constructing the lake’s history. We found that Lake Warner filled the valley floor between ca. 30,000 and 10,300 cal yr BP, probably reaching its maximum ca. 17,000–16,100 cal yr BP before it began to recede. People arrived with Clovis and Western Stemmed Tradition (WST) projectile points before ca. 12,800 cal yr BP, around the time the lake stalled in its retreat. When the lake continued its decline, people using WST points followed it southward into the valley floor, where dune-and-slough topography began developing ca. 10,300 cal yr BP in response to episodic wetting and drying during the early Holocene. By the time Mazama tephra fell, ca. 7600 cal yr BP, the once large lake was divided into a series of small lakes, ponds, and sloughs that attracted people to their abundant resources of endemic fish and marsh plants.
During the termination of the last glacial period the western U.S. experienced exceptionally wet conditions, driven by changes in location and strength of the mid-latitude winter storm track. The distribution of modern winter precipitation is frequently characterized by a north-south wet/dry dipole pattern, controlled by interaction of the storm track with ocean-atmosphere conditions over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Here we show that a dipole pattern of similar geographic extent persisted and switched sign during millennial-scale abrupt climate changes of the last deglaciation, based on a new lake level reconstruction for pluvial Lake Chewaucan (northwestern U.S.), and a compilation of regional paleoclimate records. This suggests the dipole pattern is robust, and one mode may be favored for centuries, thereby creating persistent contrasting wet/dry conditions across the western U.S. The TraCE-21k climate model simulation shows an equatorward enhancement of winter storm track activity in the northeastern Pacific, favoring wet conditions in southwestern U.S. during the second half of Heinrich Stadial 1 (16.1–14.6 ka) and consistent with paleoclimate evidence. During the Bølling/Allerød (14.6–12.8 ka), the northeastern Pacific storm track contracted poleward, consistent with wetter conditions concentrated poleward toward the northwest U.S.
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