The Relationship Between Paleoindian Site Location and Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Lake-Level Fluctuations in the Lahontan basin, Nevada

Abstract

In the Great Basin, most substantial Paleoindian sites are found on landforms associated with extinct lakes and wetlands, suggesting that early groups had a special affinity for lacustrine settings. The Lahontan basin of western Nevada contains a rich record of Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene (TP/EH) (~16,000 – 8300 cal BP) lake-level fluctuations and Paleoindian occupation. In 2008, Ken Adams and colleagues compared the relationship between site location and lakeshores of known ages using a small number of Paleoindian sites in the Black Rock Desert and Winnemucca Lake basins. They argued that sites dating to between ~13,000 and 8,000 years ago should be concentrated at elevations between 1200 and 1235 m ASL. Their research relied on a small archaeological data set from a limited geographic area. To test their hypothesized relationship between site distribution and lakeshore elevation, I compiled site location data for the entire Lahontan basin. My results support Adams and colleagues’ hypothesized spatial-temporal relationship between Paleoindian sites and Pleistocene lakeshores; however, the distribution of early sites across northwestern Nevada suggests that TP/EH land-use patterns were complex and expanded into upland regions.