Utah Archaeology 1993

salvage excavations at the fire guard hearth 42WB54 Weber County, Utah

REPORTS 71 Stuiver, M., and G. W. Pearson 1993 High-Precision Bidecadal Calibration of the Radiocarbon Time Scale, A.D. 1950-500 B.C. and 2500-6000 B.C. Radiocarbon 35:1-23. Tipps, B. L. 1988 Archaic and Numic Encampment in the Little Boulder Basin, Eureka County, Nevada. Cultural Resources Report 424-1-8805. P-III Associates, Inc., Salt Lake City. Submitted to Bureau of Land Management, Elko District Office, Elko, Nevada, in prep Bartlett Camp: A Multiple Occupation, Late Prehistoric Site in the Canyonlands Uplands, Grand County, Utah. P-1H Associates, Inc., Salt Lake City. Whallon, R. 1984 Unconstrained Clustering for the Analysis of Spatial Distributions in Archaeology. In Intrasite Spatial Analysis in Archaeology, edited by H. J. Hietala, pp. 242-277. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Whitelaw, T. M. 1983 People and Space in Hunter-gatherer Camps: A Generalising Approach in Ethnoarchaeology. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 2(2):48-66. Yellen, J. E. 1977 Zeanah, D 1991 Archeological Approaches to the Present: Models for Reconstructing the Past. Academic Press, New York. W. Trekking the Desert: An Archeological Treatment Plan for Site 42GR2369. Cultural Resources Report 473-01-9119. P-III Associates, Inc., Salt Lake City. Submitted to Bureau of Land Management, Grand Resource Area, Moab, Utah. SALVAGE EXCAVATIONS AT THE FIRE GUARD HEARTH 42WB54 WEBER COUNTY, UTAH Mark E. Stuart, Promontory/Tubaduka Chapter, Utah Statewide Archaeological Society, 2054 East 6550 South, Ogden, Utah 84405 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to document the results of salvage excavations at the Fire Guard Hearth, 42Wb54 Weber County, Utah and report one of the first 14C dates from an upland site east of the Great Salt Lake. Excavation of this feature was undertaken by the Promontory/Tubaduka Chapter of the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society as part of their ongoing research into the archaeology of the Great Salt Lake region of Northern Utah. The project was under the direction of Dr. Bill Fawcett of Utah State University with Mark Stuart serving as field supervisor. Chapter members who participated were Gary and Carl DeMastrie, Bill and Sara Yates, Steve Hansen, Ann Cornell, Jason Jones, Lisa Pringle, Richard James, and Sarah Halverson. They donated a total of 45 hours in the completion of this project. Their labor of love is greatly appreciated. SITE SETTING The Fire Guard Hearth is a prehistoric feature within the large archaeological site 42Wb54 locally known as the "The Basin." It is located at the mouth of Weber Canyon less than Vi mile north of the Weber-Davis county border. The site proper lies in the eastern portion of the Town of Uintah, Weber County, Utah (Figure 1). The site is currently owned by the Union Pacific Railroad and several private individuals. Site 42Wb54 lies within a small protected basin on a large sand and gravel alluvial delta created by the Weber River during pleistocene Lake Bonneville times. The site has a commanding view of the surrounding terrain, abundant fauna, flora and water resources and lies close to Weber Canyon which provided access to the Wasatch hinterland. These conditions provided a favorable environment for prehistoric inhabitants. The Fire Guard Hearth overlooks the Weber River which is presently located Vi mile to the south. Old 72 UTAH ARCHAEOLOGY 1993 Figure 1. Location of Fire Guard Hearth and Other Archaeological Features on Site 42Wb54. REPORTS 73 stream channels indicate that the Weber River once flowed much closer to the site. Spring Creek and three perennial springs are also located within a lA mile radius. The fauna of the area includes, bobcat, jack rabbit, cottontail rabbit, ground squirrel, skunk, badger and a variety of lizards, snakes, and song birds. During the winter and early spring mule deer by the score and elk use the area as wintering grounds. Bison, black bear, antelope, and mountain sheep were formerly in the area. Several varieties of fish inhabit the nearby Weber River. Flora of the area is typical of a pinyon-juniper habitant with sego lily, prickly pear cactus, cheat grass, wheat grass, bunch grass, sage brush, oak brush, and juniper. Flora along the streams includes willow, oak brush, river birch, cottonwood, box elder, Himalayan berry, and chokecherry. PREVIOUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK The Town of Uintah contains numerous archaeological sites (Stuart 1980), but the "Basin Site" is the largest and best preserved. Several features of this site have been reported over the years beginning with a report by Malouf (1944) who mentioned the existence of stone tepee rings containing flat bottomed Shoshoni pottery. The site was formally recorded in the Utah Statewide Archaeological Survey files by Pendergast (1965) and Stuart (1980) who mention over 60 loci containing prehistoric features on the site. The site is also briefly reported by Polk (1982). Two salvage excavations at 42Wb54 have been conducted under the auspices of the Utah Historical Society Antiquities Section by Mark Stuart. The first of these was at the Uintah Heights feature (Stuart 1982) discovered during road construction activities. It consisted of several dark circular stains containing Fremont pottery and a large fire pit feature containing numerous animal bones (mostly mule deer), chipped stone tools, and Late Prehistoric pottery. The second feature is Deer Dinner Dune (Stuart 1986) which was disturbed and partially destroyed by Union Pacific Railroad maintenance work. The Deer Dinner Dune feature was a large 11 x 7 m loci of blackened sand containing numerous chipped stone tools, projectile points, and hundreds of small burned bone fragments and quartzite debitage. Two concentrations of fire-cracked rock were noted within the blackened sand. The first concentration was associated with 20 Elko Corner-notched projectile points, end scrapers, and bifaces. It is tentatively dated to the Late Archaic period ranging from 1800-1100 B.P. based on Holmer's (1983) chronology for Elko Corner-notched points. The second rock concentration contained four Rosegate Corner-notched arrow points, two Bear River Side-notched arrow points, stone tools, bone gaming pieces, ground stone, and several fragments of highly decorative unfired clay figurines. This suggests reuse of the feature by Bear River phase Fremont peoples dating between 1500-1000 B.P. (Marwitt 1970). Faunal bone identified at Deer Dinner Dune includes rabbit, ground squirrel, unidentified bird, bison, and hundreds of deer bone from which the feature derives its name. Most of the bone was burnt and broken suggesting that bone marrow extraction was practiced there. A third fire pit feature known as the "Preacher Site" has been recorded on a IMACS site form. It was destroyed by the construction of the Combe Road Foursquare Gospel Church in 1992. The feature contained one-handed manos and both Elko Corner-notched and Humboldt projectile points. FIRE GUARD HEARTH The Fire Guard Hearth was exposed by in an old Union Pacific Railroad bulldozer cut constructed to prevent fires caused by trains. The feature first appeared in July 1989 as a dark discoloration in the north wall of the fire guard. This stain along with several diagnostic artifacts was recorded as a possible Late Prehistoric feature by Mark Stuart, a member of the Promontory/Tubaduka Chapter. Over the next two years he noted that the feature was being eroded by strong Weber Canyon east winds and winter storms. Since little is known about the Late Prehistoric period in upland sites along the Wasatch front away from the Great Salt Lake wetlands the feature was deemed to be significant and worth salvaging. In the Fall of 1991 the Promontory/Tubaduka Chapter applied for and received a Certified Local History Grant through the auspices of the Utah State Historical Society for monies to salvage this feature. The goals of this project were to obtain charcoal for 14C dating, gather data about Late Prehistoric adaptive strategies and use the excavation as a training exercise in archaeological methodology for Level III Certification students. 74 UTAH ARCHAEOLOGY 1993 EXCAVATION AND STRATIGRAPHY Excavation began with the cleaning of the vertical profile exposed in the fire guard to reveal natural stratigraphy. The feature appeared ca. 90 cm below the present ground surface as a black stain containing fire-cracked rock and bone fragments. This stain was assigned the feature number F3. The eroded slope below the feature was littered with fire-cracked rock, burned and split bone fragments, obsidian flakes and an obsidian Desert Side-notched Sierra subtype arrow point. Several small potsherds of Late Prehistoric pottery were also observed. The stratigraphy of F3 consists of four strata (Figure 2). The top stratum (F4) consisted of 50 to 60 cm of tan sand mixed with black railroad cinders dating to after A.D. 1902 when the upper tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad were constructed. The surface of this stratum is covered with rice grass. Stratum F4 is underlain by a clean tan sand stratum (F5) measuring ca. 20 to 30 cm in depth. Underneath stratum F5 is a culturally sterile stratum of clean white sand (F6) of unknown depth. F3 was dug into sterile F6 sediment. A 1 x 1 m grid system was established for excavation control. F3 was photographed and a profile sketch drawn. Excavation proceeded by natural stratigraphic levels. All excavated fill was screened through 1/8 mesh screen and recovered artifacts bagged by Field Specimen numbers corresponding to location and depth. Also collected were two, 2 liter bags of excavated fill for floatation analyses. F3 is ca. 180 cm long and ranges from 8 to 20 cm in depth. The outer edges of the feature are orangish tan sand mixed with black charcoal and contain numerous fire-cracked quartzite rock. This probably represents debris left from the use of the feature. The center of F3 is 110 cm long and consists of very dark, black greasy sand containing large pieces of juniper wood charcoal. A concentration of large deer bone fragments mostly rib and leg bones, obsidian flakes, and an obsidian flake scraper were found in situ in this stratum. Excavation of the east portion of F3 revealed the presence of two large 80 to 100 pound boulders that had been purposefully placed at the edge of the feature. They may have been placed there to serve as a wind break against canyon east winds. Excavation ceased when the lower edge of F3 was reached in the vertical profile and sterile F6 was encountered. ARTEFACTS Artifacts recovered from the excavation of the Fire Guard Hearth feature were limited to stone, ceramics and bone. Stone: Fifteen obsidian, three white quartzite tertiary flakes, and an obsidian flake scraper were recovered in situ from F3. Eight obsidian flakes, the basal portions of two Desert Side-notched Sierra subtype arrow points, an obsidian core, and a small fragment of a sandstone slab metate were also collected from the eroded slope below F3. Three weeks later a well-made end scraper of brown chert was collected from the eroded slope on a revisit to the area. Ceramics: Six small fragments of crude and poorly fired Late Prehistoric ceramics were collected from the eroded slope below F3. It is probable they were once associated with the feature. The pottery is coiled made and is tempered with quartzite derived from a granitic source. No vessel shape could be determined due to the small size of the fragments. Bone: Thirty three bone fragments were recovered in situ from F3. All of the bone fragments were split and 13 were burnt probably due to bone marrow extraction. All of the bone was identified as mule deer and consisted of rib and leg bone fragments. Eight exhibited what are probable butchering/cut marks (Earl Jenne, Weber State University Zoology Department, personal communication 1993). This suggests that the deer were killed elsewhere and selected portions then carried to the feature for cooking. DATING Before excavation began it was estimated that F3 dated from A.D. 1600 to 1800 based on the type of diagnostic artifacts observed on the eroded slope. A 2-liter plastic bag of juniper wood charcoal was recovered in situ from the undisturbed center of F3. Care was taken to ensure that the sample was not contaminated during excavation. A great deal of charcoal was also found in the screen but was not collected. The sample was sent to Beta Analytic Inc. in Miami, Florida for analysis and given the lab number Beta-59416 (Tamers 1993). The sample yielded the date of 210 ± 50 B.P. This date yields a range of A.D. 1690-1790 with a midpoint of A.D. 1740 ± 50 years at a 65 percent confidence level at one standard deviation. When calibrated to a 95 REPORTS 75 Metate Fragment IN IE IN 5E IN 3E Plan View flap of F3 IN ME t- ^ Mk ~ Artifact SO Centimeters O - Fire Cracked Rock {FCR} lUAjJ - Orangish Tan Sand Mixed Uith Charcoal 1$*§£I= Dark Black Sand Uith Abundant Charcoal ft North <LJ>'=Z Bone Concentration A ~~~ Rice Grass DSN = Desert Side Notched Point Figure 2. Vertical Profile (top) and plan view map (bottom) of Fire Guard Hearth (F3) at Site 42Wb54. 76 UTAH ARCHAEOLOGY 1993 percent confidence level at two standard deviations the range is A.D. 1515-950 with a midpoint date of A.D. 1732 + 18 years (Klein et al. 1982). Although the date is within modern age, and is therefore subject to possible contamination because of the Industrial Revolution, we accept it as a valid date. DISCUSSION Salvage excavations of the Fire Guard Hearth at site 42Wb54 generated useful though limited information about prehistoric use of the Wasatch Front uplands. This feature is a single use Late Prehistoric hearth used for the cooking of mule deer. The cultural affiliation is based on diagnostic cultural material and a radiocarbon date of 210 ± 50 B.P. Modification of the feature was limited to the construction of the fire pit in sterile sediment and possibly placing two large boulders to serve as a windbreak. Other activities in addition to cooking took place around the hearth. These appear to have included repairing of broken hunting equipment and the resharpening of stone tools. Such is indicated by the recovery of lithic debitage and broken stone tools in situ. Evidence of seasonality is limited, but the lack of seeds in the feature suggests a possible winter or early spring use. Indirect support of seasonality comes from historic records (Stuart 1976) that indicate use of the site area by the Weber Ute band of Northwestern Shoshoni for the hunting of big game which congregated in large herds at the mouth of Weber Canyon during the winter months. Attributes of the Late Prehistoric have been documented through research conducted in northern Utah wetlands by Janetski (1986, 1990, 1991) in Utah Valley, Simms and Heath (1990) at the Orbit Inn Site at the Brigham City airport, Aikens (1966) at the Injun Creek Site west of Ogden, and in the Great Salt Lake wetlands of Weber and Box Elder Counties (Simms et.al. 1990, 1991; Fawcett and Simms 1993). This research suggests that the Late Prehistoric period was a more dynamic time than most archaeologists acknowledge. Preliminary evidence suggests that significant change may have taken place from the early Late Prehistoric to the Protohistoric time. For a description of these possible changes see Fawcett and Simms (1993:Chapter 2). At this stage, it is difficult to specify differences within the Late Prehistoric and begs research aimed at detecting change during this period. While the evidence from the salvage of Fire guard Hearth at site 42Wb54 is not overly impressive it is indicative of the habitual use of sand dune sites which is common throughout the Great Basin (Madsen 1976). To date it is one of the few such sites to be investigated in northern Utah. More importantly, the radiocarbon date and associated diagnostic artifacts document use of this upland site during the Protohistoric phase of the Late Prehistoric period. This is a time for which we currently have little archaeological evidence. Most of which we know of the Protohistoric phase comes from adaptive models based on ethnohistoric descriptions (Madsen 1982; Janetski 1986; Fawcett and Simms 1993). What is needed is a test of these models such is presently going on in Utah Valley (Janetski 1986, 1990, 1991; Janetski and Baker 1992) and the wetlands of the Great Salt Lake (Fawcett and Simms 1993; Simms et.al. 1990, 1991). This kind of test would lessen the reliance on the ethnographic present as a crutch for scientific investigation. Single site analysis, like that presented here, is not particularly informative. But if this analyses is incorporated into the context of a regional project of both systematic survey and excavation it may be possible to test these adaptive models of the Protohistoric. In the Great Salt Lake region other upland Late Prehistoric sites are known (Stuart 1980) but are poorly documented. Artifacts such as flat-bottomed pottery and historic trade goods suggest some of these sites date to the Protohistoric (Madsen 1982). To date, only the Burch Creek Site has been tested (Stuart 1982). Like 42Wb54, this sand dune site has a long occupational history from the Archaic to the late Prehistoric periods. Salvage excavations at this site revealed the presence of several buried hearth features associated with artifact (Flat-bottomed pottery, Desert Side-notched and Cottonwood arrow points) and faunal assemblages similar to that of Fire Guard Hearth at 42Wb54. Although undated, the evidence suggests these features are Protohistoric. The findings from the Burch Creek Site and the FireGuard Hearth suggest that a database exists to test the adaptive models of the Protohistoric mentioned above. The excavation of Fire Guard Hearth by the Promontory\Tubaduka Chapter of the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society demonstrates the contribution a group of trained avocationalists can make to the archaeological record. The entire project from REPORTS 77 beginning to end was all undertaken by chapter members under the direction of professional chapter advisers. Hopefully, avocationalists can be involved in future projects. REFERENCES CITED Aikens, C. Melvin 1966 Fremont-Promontory-Plains Relationships in Northern Utah. Anthropological Papers No. 82. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. Fawcett, William B., and Steven R. Simms 1993 Archaeological Test Excavations in the Great Salt Lake Wetlands and Associated Analyses, Weber and Box Elder Counties, Utah. Contributions to Anthropology No. 14. Utah State University, Logan. Holmer, Richard N. 1983 Chipped Stone From Black Rock Cave. In Black Rock Cave Revisited by David B. Madsen, pp. 32-43. Culture Resource Series No. 14. Bureau of Land Management, Salt Lake City. Janetski, Joel C. 1986 The Great Basin Lacustrine Subsistence Pattern: Insights From Utah Valley. In Anthropology of the Desert West: Essays in Honor Jesse D. Jennings, edited by Carol J. Condie and Don D. Fowler, pp. 145-168. Anthropological Papers No. 110. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. 1990 Utah Lake: Its Role in the Prehistory of Utah Valley. Utah Historical Quarterly 58(l):5-31. 1991 Shifting Hunter-Gather Strategies in the Eastern Great Basin: Utah Valley Test Case. Ms. on file, Museum of Peoples and Cultures, Brigham Young University, Provo. Janetski, Joel C, and Colleen J. Baker 1992 Test Excavations at Maple Spring (42 Ut668): A Multicomponent Prehistoric Hunting Camp in Utah Valley Uplands. Museum of Peoples and Cultures Technical Series No. 92-18. Brigham Young University, Provo. Klein, Jeffery, J. C. Lerman, P. E. Damon, and E. K. Ralph 1982 Calibration of Radio Carbon Dates. Radio Carbon 24(2): 103-150. Madsen, David B. 1976 Bulldozer Dune (42SL46). Antiquities Section Selected Papers Vol. n, No. 6. Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City. 1982 Get It Where the Gettins Good: A Variable Model of the Eastern Great Basin. In Man and Environment in the Great Basin, edited by D. B. Madsen and J. F. O'Connell, pp. 207-226. SAA Papers No. 2. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D.C. Malouf, Carling 1944 Thoughts on Utah Archaeology. American Antiquity 3:319-328. Marwitt, John P. 1970 Median Village and Fremont Culture Regional Variation. Antiiropological Papers No. 95. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. Pendergast, David 1965 Site 42Wb54. Site form on file, University of Utah Archaeological Center, Salt Lake City. Polk, Ann 1985 A Cultural Resources Survey of Two Gravel Prospects: At Mouth of Weber Canyon in Weber and Davis Counties and Near Mountain Green Cemetery in Morgan County, Utah. Utah Department of Transportation, District 1. Archaeological Report No. 135. Sage Brush Archaeology. Simms, Steven R., and Kathleen Heath 1990 Site Structure of the Orbit Inn Site: An Application of Ethnoarchaeology. American Antiquity 55:797-812. Simms, Steven R., Mark E. Stuart, Sheila Beckstead, Eva Jensen, and Suzanne Sarver 1990 Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Lower Bear River Marshes, Utah. Contributions to Anthropology No. 6. Utah State University, Logan. Simms, Steven R., Carol J. Loveland, and Mark E. Stuart 1991 Prehistoric Human Skeletal Remains and Prehistory of the Great Salt Lake Wetlands. Contributions to Anthropology No. 13. Utah State University, Logan. Stuart, Mark E. 1976 Indians of Uintah, Weber County, Utah. Ms. on file, Mark Stuart, 2054 East 6550 South, Ogden, Utah, 84405. 1980 A Revised Summary of Weber County Archaeology. Division of State History, Antiquities Section, Salt Lake City. 1982 The Uintah Heights Site, Weber County, Utah. Utah Archaeology Newsletter Vol. 22, No. 1. Salt Lake City. 1986 Deer Dinner Dune, A Sand Dune Site in Southeastern Weber County, Utah. Utah Archaeology Newsletter 24(2):34-61. Tamers, Murry 1993 Report of Radio Carbon Sample Beta-59416. Submitted to the Promontory/Tubaduka Chapter of the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society, Ogden, Utah. 78 UTAH ARCHAEOLOGY 1993