Illuminating high elevation seasonal occupational duration using diversity in lithic raw materials and tool types in the greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, USA

AbstractThe postglacial vegetation and fire history of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is known from low and middle elevations, but little is known about high elevations. Paleoecologic data from Fairy Lake in the Bridger Range, southwestern Montana, provide a new high-elevation record that spans the last 15,000 yr. The records suggest a period of tundra-steppe vegetation prior to ca. 13,700 cal yr BP was followed by open Picea forest at ca. 11,200 cal yr BP. Pinus-Pseudotsuga parkland was present after ca. 9200 cal yr BP, when conditions were warmer/drier than present. It was replaced by mixed-conifer parkland at ca. 5000 cal yr BP. Present-day subalpine forest established at ca. 2800 cal yr BP. Increased avalanche or mass-wasting activity during the early late-glacial period, the Younger Dryas chronozone, and Neoglaciation suggest cool, wet periods. Sites at different elevations in the region show (1) synchronous vegetation responses to late-glacial warming; (2) widespread xerothermic forests and frequent fires in the early-to-middle Holocene; and (3) a trend to forest closure during late-Holocene cooling. Conditions in the Bridger Range were, however, wetter than other areas during the early Holocene. Across the Northern Rockies, postglacial warming progressed from west to east, reflecting range-specific responses to insolation-driven changes in climate.

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Raw-Material Availability and the Organization of Technology

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/3085499 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

pp. 21-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 298

Author(s):

William Andrefsky

Keyword(s):

Production Technology ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Poor Quality ◽

Important Variable ◽

Raw Material ◽

Stone Tool ◽

High Quality ◽

Formal Tool ◽

Lithic Raw Materials ◽

Tool Types

Ethnographic examples of stone-tool makers in Australia and archaeological examples from three different areas in the western United States indicate that the availability of lithic raw materials is an important variable conditioning stone-tool production technology. Attributes of availability such as abundance and quality of lithic raw materials condition the production of formal- vs. informal-tool types. Poor-quality raw materials tend to be manufactured into informal-tool designs. High-quality lithic raw materials tend to be manufactured into formal-tool designs when such materials occur in low abundance. When high-quality materials occur in great abundance both formal- and informal-tool designs are manufactured. Other factors, such as residential mobility or sedentism, are found to be less-important determinates of lithic-production technology.

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Ectomycorrhizal fungi of whitebark pine (a tree in peril) revealed by sporocarps and molecular analysis of mycorrhizae from treeline forests in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Botany ◽

10.1139/b07-107 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 86 (1) ◽

pp. 14-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Katherine R. Mohatt ◽

Cathy L. Cripps ◽

Matt Lavin

Keyword(s):

Mountain Pine Beetle ◽

Fire Suppression ◽

Global Climate ◽

High Elevation ◽

Pine Forests ◽

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽

Whitebark Pine ◽

Cenococcum Geophilum ◽

Ecm Fungi ◽

Greater Yellowstone

Whitebark pine ( Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) is unique as the only stone pine in North America. This species has declined 40%–90% throughout its range owing to blister rust infection, mountain pine beetle, fire suppression, and global climate change. However, intact mature and old growth forests still exist in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) at high timberline elevations. This study addresses the urgent need to discover the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi critical to this tree species before forests are further reduced. A study of mature whitebark pine forests across five mountain ranges in the Northern GYE confirmed 32 ECM species of fungi with the pine by sporocarp occurrence in pure stands or by identification of mycorrhizae with ITS-matching. Boletales and Cortinariales ( Cortinarius ) comprise 50% of the species diversity discovered. In Boletales, Suillus subalpinus M.M. Moser (with stone pines), Suillus sibericus Singer (stone pines), Rhizopogon evadens A.H. Sm. (five-needle pines), Rhizopogon spp. (pines) and a semi-secotioid Chroogomphus sp. (pines) are restricted to the hosts listed and are not likely to occur with other high elevation conifers in the GYE. The ascomycete generalist, Cenococcum geophilum Fr., was the most frequent (64%) and abundant (51%) ECM fungus on seedling roots, as previously reported for high elevation spruce-fir and lower elevation lodgepole pine forests in the GYE. The relative importance of the basidiomycete specialists and the ascomycete generalist to whitebark pine (and for seedling establishment) is not known, however this study is the first step in delineating the ECM fungi associated with this pine in peril.

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Behavioral complexities at high elevation: assessing prehistoric landscape use in the alpine regions of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

The UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports ◽

10.13001/uwnpsrc.2019.5749 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

pp. 104-112

Author(s):

Scott W. Dersam

Keyword(s):

High Elevation ◽

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽

Research Station ◽

Patch Use ◽

Alpine Regions ◽

Small Grant ◽

Wilderness Areas ◽

History Of ◽

Greater Yellowstone ◽

Made In

Alpine landscapes capture our imaginations. Envisioning these forbidding regions occupied by humans in prehistory has drawn academic and public audiences alike. The history of these alpine regions is being rewritten the world over, due in part to recent archaeological discoveries made in the alpine regions of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). These discoveries, some in the wilderness areas of Montana, have revealed a complex tapestry of prehistoric lifeways. Archaeological and paleobiological research in Montana’s GYE alpine regions by Dr. Craig Lee (INSTAAR/ PCRG), Dr. Rachel Reckin (USFS) and Scott Dersam (PCRG) have spearheaded these continued multi-disciplinary studies in the region. Their efforts have focused on the climatological, ecological, as well as cultural impacts of ice patch use and alpine habitation on patterns of prehistoric occupation in the region. The UW-NPS Research Station Small Grant funded archaeological research and reconnaissance of the alpine regions of Montana’s Beartooth wilderness during the summer 2019. The 2019-field season’s discoveries added significant knowledge to regional research in high elevation studies, documenting the highest known stone circles, ceramics, and Paleoindian hunting activities in Montana. Featured photo from figure 4 in report.

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The Bostrom Site: A Paleo-Indian Habitation in Southwestern Illinois

North American Archaeologist ◽

10.2190/821j-4n00-wwkk-xhff ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 43-69 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Kenneth B. Tankersley ◽

Brad Koldehoff ◽

Edwin R. Hajic

Keyword(s):

Social Interaction ◽

Great Lakes ◽

Raw Materials ◽

The Other ◽

Subsistence Strategy ◽

Source Areas ◽

Early Archaic ◽

Lithic Raw Materials ◽

Tool Types ◽

Dramatic Fall

Recent investigations at the Bostrom site in southwestern Illinois demonstrate that the site was occupied by at least three successive groups of Paleo-Indians: Clovis, Gainey, and Holcombe. Of the artifacts for which lithic raw materials were identified, Clovis tools are manufactured from stone that was procured up to 1500 km from the site. Gainey and Holcombe artifacts, on the other hand, are manufactured from stone whose source areas occur within a radius of 300 km from the site. Early Archaic, Dalton artifacts are manufactured from stone procured within 150 km of the site. These lithic resource procurement patterns suggest that there is a dramatic fall-off in mobility, social interaction, or both, after the initial peopling of the area. The presence of Great Lakes and Northeastern tool types at this southerly latitude suggests that the Gainey and Holcombe economies were much broader than the stereotypical model of a caribou-based subsistence strategy.

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Defining Sustainability in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Journal of Sustainable Development ◽

10.5539/jsd.v11n1p32 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 32 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ryan D. Bergstrom

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽

Community Stakeholders ◽

Gateway Communities ◽

Starting Point ◽

Greater Yellowstone ◽

Effective Decision Making ◽

Collective Resource ◽

Time In Residence

Because of the normative and subjective nature of the terms sustainability and sustainable development, solutions tend to be applicable for specific regions but not the whole of society. Thus, it is imperative understand better how community stakeholders and decision makers define the concept of sustainability. Not only will greater understanding of such definitions add to our understanding of nature-society relations, but also in certain contexts, this understanding may help to promote realistic and effective decision-making at local levels. The objective of this study was to determine how amenity-driven gateway communities surrounding Yellowstone and Grand Teton National parks define, conceptualize, and perceive sustainability, and if those perceptions varied between time in residence, community of origin, or role within the community. Thirty-five key informant interviews were conducted with decision makers within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to meet the study objectives. Throughout study communities, definitions of sustainability focused on the environment, the economy, and multi-generational thinking, and it is believed that these similarities can be the starting point for communication and collaboration among gateway communities, the long-term sustainability of their individual communities, and the collective resource upon which they all depend, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

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