[103] V. MODELS FOR PLATEAU PREHISTORY

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The following essay is designed to acquaint the reader with some of the author's general thoughts about Plateau prehistory. It is hoped that it will thus provide a meaningful context for the more specific interpretations of Plateau sequences presented in Part IV of this report.

Very few models presently exist which attempt to systematize the whole of Plateau prehistory. Of those that do exist, most tend to see the Plateau as something to which the model is secondarily applied. The evolutionary schemes of Willey and Phillips (1958), Beardsley (Beardsley et al. 1955), and Service (1962) are examples of such general models.

Plateau-centered models do exist, however. Perhaps the most important of these is the Intermontane Western tradition (Daugherty 1962). With this model, Daugherty proposes a series of general developmental ties between the Southwest, the Great Basin and the Plateau, and specifies a sequence of periods perceptible in the archaeology of each. Because the model presented in this essay proposes an alternative series of periods based on inferred historic relationships between the Plateau and surrounding geographic areas, it also constitutes a partial analysis of the Intennontane Western tradition. Let us begin, therefore, with a review of Daugherty's five proposed periods, the Early, Transitional, Developmental, Late, and Historic.

THE INTERMONTANE WESTERN TRADITION

The Early period, lasting from about 9000 to 6000 B.C. and roughly equivalent to the Anathermal, is said to have been characterized by diverse hunting and gathering economies with the intense utilization of locally available resources such as bison and salmon. Due to sparse archaeological data little more may be said about similarities and differences within the Intermontane West during this period although it is thought that strong regional traditions had not yet developed.

The Transitional period, lasting from about 6000 to 2500 B.C., is roughly coeval with the Altithermal. In the Southwest and Great Basin gradual dessication caused a reduction in population and shift in emphasis away from hunting and toward food gathering. In the Plateau the population was concentrated along the existent waterways where riverine resources such as freshwater mussels and salmon became increasingly important at the expense of food gathering and hunting. Regional economic specialization appears to date from the Transitional period and serves to distinguish the Great Basin, Plateau, and Southwest.

During the Developmental period, lasting from about 2500 B.C. to 0 A.D., further regional specialization took place which was eventually to culminate in the late prehistoric patterns which have been ethnographically recorded. In the Southwest agricultural practices were developing, while in the Northwest better fishing techniques, coupled with a less rigorous climate, allowed the expansion of riverine populations and at the same time increasing use of food gathering and hunting. Regional elaboration continued with Transitional period elements surviving as an underlying matrix of traits. [103]

[104] The Late period, lasting from about A.D. 0 to the Historic period, saw the emergence of fully developed area traditions in the Intermontane West. Within these traditions, the Southwest Agricultural Area tradition, the Desert Area tradition and the Northwest Riverine Area tradition, there was a strong tendency toward regional specialization. Toward the end of the Late period there was considerable influence exerted in the Plateau by Plains groups.

The Historic period witnessed a brief elaboration of both material and non-material culture which was followed by the disintegration of native societies.

AN HISTORICAL MODEL

It must be emphasized that the Intermontane Western Tradition embodies broad generalizations about general developmental trends within the entire Intermontane West. In contrast, the following model has been developed specifically for dealing with the Plateau and emphasizes relationships dependent upon historical processes such as diffusion, accultruation, and migration.

Period 1. Anathermal Hunting and Gathering: About 9000 to 6000 B.C. The earliest known Plateau assemblages are characterized by stemmed-lanceolate projectile points and appear to represent mixed hunting and gathering economies. Unfortunately, only four well-known sites have produced such components. They are Lind Coulee (Daugherty 1956a), 35WS4 (Cressman 1960), Windust Cave (Rice and Daugherty 1964: personal communication), and Marmes Rockshelter (Daugherty 1964: Personal communication). Little uniformity in the faunal assemblages associated with these components makes it difficult to assess reliably economic adaptations on a Plateau-wide basis. At 35WS4 extensive use was made of the natural salmon fisheries of The Dalles, while the hunting of birds and land mammals was a secondary pattern. At Lind Coulee bison hunting was of primary importance while the hunting of smaller mammals and food gathering were secondary subsistence patterns. Limited faunal assemblages from Windust Cave and Marmes Rockshelter suggest a generalized hunting and gathering base. As yet it is impossible to determine whether these assemblages represent local or regional adaptations of similar subsistence patterns or various stages in the yearly economic round.

Period II. Early Altithermal Adaptations in the Columbia Plateau: 6000 to 4500 B.C. Gradual dessication at the onset of the Altithermal probably eliminated or greatly restricted many large game animals in the Columbia Plateau and so greatly diminished the big game component of the Lind Coulee Phase. According to Cressman (1960), fishing also diminished at The Dalles. Anathermal patterns of economic adaptations were replaced by highly generalized hunting-gathering patterns in which food gathering and hunting smaller animals was more greatly emphasized. The Indian Wells and Vantage phases represent this period; influences from areas outside the Columbia Plateau are not evident in the tool assemblages. [104]

[105] Period III. Heavy Diffusion or Out-Migration from the Great Basin: 4500 to 2500 B.C. This period is represented by the Cold Springs Phase which saw the introduction of the food grinding complex into the Columbia Plateau, and was marked by a major shift from hunting to food gathering in the mixed economic system of the Plateau. The introduction of notched points and manos suggests that this basic adaptation may have been introduced from the Great Basin either through out-migrations into the southern Columbia Plateau or intensive diffusion. The first appearance of obsidian in large quantities further suggests a close link between the northern Great Basin and the Columbia Plateau.

Period IV. The Maintenance of Altithermal Patterns: About 2500 B.C. to 0 A.D. Period IV is characterized by three significant trends. (1) The basic economic adjustments made during the Altithermal are evidently maintained without significant change, while trade between the Great Basin and Plateau continues as before. (2) On top of this generalized base much regional variation occurs within the Plateau. This is particularly evident in assemblages of projectile points and cobble implements from the Middle Columbia, the lower Snake River, and the Upper Columbia. (3) The first definitely identifiable connections with the coast of Washington date from this period. They consist in the duplication of projectile points types in the two areas (see Appendix A, Stemmed Projectile Points Type 3 and 5) and a few trade items from Rabbit Island I (Crabtree 1957). There is, however, no evidence suggesting strong coastal influences in the Plateau.

Period V. Coastal Ties: About 0 A.D. to 1650 A.D. Earlier in this report it was postulated that the beginning of the Cayuse Phase might mark the migration of Salishan speakers into the Plateau. Whether or not we agree with this hypothesis, we must admit that strong discernible ties with the coast of Washington date from this period. This is evidenced by trade, in the form of such items as Dentalia, shell pendants, mussel shell adzes and scrapers, and ground stone adzes, and by the probable diffusion of such things as art motifs, the hand maul, and antler beam hafts. More impressive, however, is the fact that some of the most basic tools in the fishing technology apparently first appear at the beginning of this period. Two excellent examples are the three-prong salmon spears and composite harpoon toggles, both of which were in use along the coasts of Washington and British Columbia in the first millennium B.C. The implication is that many of the strong riverine characteristics evident in the ethnographic expression of Plateau culture were developed in the riverine economics of western Washington and then introduced into the Plateau at the beginning of Period V.

Period VI is marked by an efflorescence in material culture and a tendency away from re¬gional variation toward greater homogeneity in artifact assemblages. [105]

[106] Period VII. The Historic. Little need be said about this period except that it saw direct contact between Plateau peoples and the expanding American frontier. It is characterized by a brief continuation of cultural efflorescence in Period VI followed by the rapid disintegration of traditional Plateau culture.

COMPARING THE MODELS

In comparing this model with that proposed by Daugherty for the entire Intennontane West, we must keep in mind that the reference points and defining criteria for each system are different. The periods that Daugherty has proposed are designed to be meaningful within the entire Intermontane West; the periods which I have presented here are designed specifically to deal with Plateau prehistory. The reader will notice, however, that there is general time agreement between the models, a fact which at first glance would seem to support the Intermontane Western Tradition. However, we should ask ourselves if the two sets of proposed periods need be interpreted in the same way.

In discussing the Plateau both from the standpoint of the Intermontane Western Tradition and the Northwest Riverine Area tradition, Daugherty emphasizes gradual internal development accompanied with progressive areal and regional differentiation. While this point of view does not deny the potential importance of other historical and intercultural events, it will be argued hereafter that it does not place enough emphasis on the processes of diffusion, acculturation, and migration. Thus the six periods which were proposed earlier in this section were based primarily on inferred cultural relationships between the Plateau and surrounding areas, while internal developmental trends were not emphasized.

One of the fundamental points of the Intermontane Western Tradition deals with the relative similarities and dissimilarities seen in the prehistories of the Plateau, Great Basin, and Southwest. Similarities are said to be greatest in the Early period, with progressive differentiation occurring between and within each of these areas during succeeding periods. Again internal development is emphasized in explaining this differentiation. Three comments may be made regarding this point of view.

First, although such regional and areal differentiation appears to have been of particular significance over the last 3,000 years and may also have occurred at a much earlier date, it is nevertheless difficult to evaluate because our recognition of it is closely bound up with the numbers and sizes of samples from each period of prehistory. Thus, differentiation may merely be more apparent during the Late period, a time in prehistory for which we have great amounts of data. In contrast, the Early period is represented by smaller and less numerous assemblages; similarities and differences are thus harder to pinpoint

Second, we may justifiably postulate that there was considerable differentiation between the Plateau and the Great Basin even during the early period. To be sure, the general level of socio-cultural development is the same and tool assemblages are broadly similar. However, this is also true if we compare the Plateau with other areas of North America, or Early period assemblages with the assemblages of the Transitional and Developmental periods. When we make comparisons between material cultures in the Great Basin and the Plateau we find a few similarities but also many differences. Crescentic forms are a good example of an artifact type with an apparently widespread distribution in the Intermontane West during the Early period, in contrast, however, projectile points are by no means uniform throughout this vast area. In the Plateau stemmed-lanceolate forms with edge-ground bases predominate. Although such projectile points are common at an early time level in the Plains and in such areas as eastern Wyoming (Agogino 1961), they do not appear to be [106/107] common in the Great Basin. In fact the sequence at Danger Cave (Jennings 1957) implies that corner, base, and side-notched points were more abundant at this time level. Moreover three milling stones and three possible handstones were recovered from Level I at Danger Cave (C14 date of 9500 B.C.) while 122 milling stones and 39 handstones were recovered from Level II (C14 dates of 7840 and 7010 B.C.). To date we have no evidence that food grinding became extremely important in the Plateau until Altithermal times. Thus, we can at least make a good case for considerable differentiation between the Plateau and Great Basin during the Early period.

Third, Great Basin and Plateau assemblages appear to be generally more similar during the Transitional period. This may be attributed in part to migration and/or diffusion from the Great Basin into the southern Plateau.

Differences in the conclusions to which the two models can lead are clearly illustrated by comparing the Northwest Riverine Area tradition with an historical interpretation of the utilization of riverine resources in the Plateau. According to Daugherty's model, riverine adaptation in the Plateau was incipient during the Early period and became generally well established during the Altithermal when increased dessication within the Plateau concentrated population along the courses of major waterways such as the Snake and Columbia rivers. During the Developmental period improved fishing techniques were adopted which further extended the riverine adaptation and set the stage for the culmination of the Northwest Riverine Area tradition during the Late period.

The history of riverine adaptation in the Plateau may be reconstructed in quite another way. While I would agree that during the late Anathennal and possibly the very early Altithermal there were at least heavy local adaptations to riverine situations (see Cressman 1960), these do not necessarily imply a progressive or incipient developing riverine tradition. Elsewhere in the Plateau more generalized hunting and gathering economies were operating. Moreover, fishing evidently declined at The Dalles during the Transitional period.

During the Altithermal groups migrating from the northern Great Basin pushed into the southern Plateau where they adapted their traditional economic systems to the regional situation. Thus techniques which probably developed to exploit the resources of remnant pluvial lakes in the northern Great Basin came to be applied along the rivers and streams of the Plateau, As a result waterfowl and shore-side animals continued to be used while fishing was reduced to a minor subsistence pattern. It may be argued that this adaptation was maintained throughout the Transitional and developmental periods and that as Altithermal climatic conditions abated it became somewhat less important in the total economic round as gathering and hunting were practiced in ever-increasing amounts.

This trend was abruptly changed at the beginning of the Late period with the introduction of new and better fishing techniques and a change in social organization united bands into winter villages and organized the economy in a more efficient manner. Both of these factors are seen as introductions from the western flanks of the Cascade Mountains rather than independent developments within the Plateau.

CONCLUSIONS

These reconstructions, based on a considerable amount of inference and reasoned speculation, have been designed to show that the processes of diffusion, acculturation, and migration could have been predominant factors in shaping the prehistory of the Plateau. Those who stress developmental models may justly criticize some of my arguments on the basis that they overstate the case for historical origins of areal patterns. After all, we must admit that cultures do not borrow [107/108] elements blindly and that migrating peoples adapt their culture to whatever environment with which they are forced to deal. The truth lies in between. A completely satisfactory reconstruction and explanation of Plateau prehistory must consider changes in prehistoric patterns as due both to changes in the relations between cultures and their physical environments and in relationships between cultures themselves. Much more data are needed before such attempts can successfully be made. [108]

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LAST REVISED: 14 FEB 2015