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Eyed Bone Needles from a Younger Dryas Paleoindian Component at Tule Lake Rock Shelter, Northern California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jon M. Erlandson ,
Douglas J. Kennett ,
Brendan J. Culleton ,
Ted Goebel ,
Greg C. Nelson  and
Craig Skinner
Jon M. Erlandson
Affiliation:
Museum of Natural and Cultural History, and Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403 (jerland@uoregon.edu)
Douglas J. Kennett
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Brendan J. Culleton
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Ted Goebel
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of the First Americans, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas 77843
Greg C. Nelson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403
Craig Skinner
Affiliation:
Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon 97330
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Abstract

The geographic and chronological distribution of eyed bone needles in North American Paleoindian sites led Osborn (2014) to propose that these distinctive artifacts date primarily to the Terminal Pleistocene Younger Dryas Cold Event and were essential to making close-fitting clothes needed to survive frigid winter conditions. Our study of a museum collection from Tule Lake Rock Shelter (CA-SIS-218A) in the high Klamath Basin area supports Osborn’s argument. We present nine high-precision accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon assays from a 2.5 m deep cultural sequence, demonstrating that Paleoindians occupied the site primarily during the Younger Dryas. Although only about .5 m3 of the Paleoindian deposits at CA-SIS-218A were excavated, fragments of four small bone needles were recovered, three of which contain whole or partial eyes. Two fragments of large mammal cortical bone from the same levels contain remnants of “groove and snap” fractures that may be related to the production of needle blanks. The bone needles from Tule Lake Rock Shelter extend the geographic range of these distinctive Paleoindian artifacts into the high desert region of Northern California.

Resumen

Resumen

La distribución geográfica y cronológica de agujas de coser con ojos en los sitios Paleoindios de America del norte inspiro a Osborn (2014) proponer que estos distintivos artefactos pertenecían al Terminal Pleistocene Younger Dryas Evento Enfriado y fueran esencial en la construcción de ropa ceñida la cual que era imperativo para sobrevivir en el clima enfriada del invierno. El estudio de una colección de materia recogida de Tule Lake Rock Shelter (CA-SIS-218A) ubicada en la cuenca de Klamath, ahora guardado en un museo, soporta la posición de Osborn. Presentamos aquí nueve fechas de alta precisión de la AMS 14C que vienen de un deposito de secuencias culturales de los 2.5 m de profundidad que se demuestra que los Paleoindios ocuparon el sitio principalmente durante la época de Younger Dryas. Aunque solamente .5 m3 de los depósitos Paleoindios del sitio CA-SIS-218A fue excavado, fragmentos de cuatro pequeños agujas de hueso fueron encontrado de los cuales solo tres contenían ojos o enteros o parciales. Dos fragmentos de hueso cortical de mamíferos grandes que se encontraron en el mismo nivel contenían fracturas de ranura y rotura “groove and snap” que puede ser relacionado a la producción de las agujas no completas. Las agujas de hueso de Tule Lake Rock Shelter amplían el alcance geográfico de estos artefactos Paleoindios hasta la región del alto desierto del norte de California.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 79 , Issue 4 , October 2014 , pp. 776 - 781
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2014

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