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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

Utah Geological Association

Abstract


Cenozoic Geology of Western Utah: Sites for Precious Metal and Hydrocarbon Accumulations, 1987
Pages 301-314

Geologic Implications of Artifact Distribution on Early Man Sites on Pleistocene Shorelines Near Sevier Lake, Utah, and Massacre Lake, Nevada

Byron J. Sharp

Abstract

This study represent a surface investigation of the geologic relationships of Tertiary and Quaternary formations with stone flakes and tools of Early Man found along the shorelines of Pleistocene lakes in the Great Basin. Early Man sites west of Sevier Lake, Utah, and south of Massacre Lake, Nevada, were selected for mapping on the basis of the variety of tools and the special rock types used in their construction. The two-sites are 275 mi apart; the Sevier Lake Site is in the Lake Bonneville regime, whereas the Massacre Lake Site is within the confines of the Lake Lahontan area; the lakes coexisted during Pleistocene times. Tools found at Sevier Lake were made from quartzite, while tools from Massacre Lake were made from obsidian. No artifacts of other cultures have been found at Sevier Lake, but artifacts of Indian and Paleo-Indian cultures are present at Massacre Lake. A detailed typology study was done at Sevier Lake (Appendix A) for comparison with all other sites of which the author is aware in the Great Basin. The tools selected represent (with some variations) most of the tool assemblages observed by the author in the Great Basin. Every tool type selected at Sevier Lake could be duplicated at Massacre Lake. The typology study at Sevier Lake also made it possible to sort out artifacts of the Indian and Paleo-Indian cultures at Massacre Lake.

The highest Pleistocene shorelines near Massacre Lake can be compared with the lower Provo Shoreline of Lake Bonneville. The fact that Lake Bonneville overflowed at Bed Rock Pass, Idaho, into the Snake River and cut down through the alluvium to bed rock reduced the volume of water in Lake Bonneville to the Provo Level (4,800 ft elevation). All this occurred at a time when precipitation amounts were at the highest for the region.

The Early Man artifact distribution was more concentrated near the highest shorelines of Lake Bonneville, whereas the concentration of artifacts at Massacre Lake was generally greatest at lower shorelines.


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