Archaic Violence in Western North America: The Bioarchaeological Record of Dismemberment, Human Bone Artifacts, and Trophy Skulls from Central California

The age of the Rockland tephra, which includes an ash-flow tuff south and west of Lassen Peak in northern California and a widespread ash-fall deposit that produced a distinct stratigraphic marker in western North America, is constrained to 565,000 to 610,000 yr by 40Ar/39Ar and U–Pb dating. 40Ar/39Ar ages on plagioclase from pumice in the Rockland have a weighted mean age of 609,000 ± 7000 yr. Isotopic ages of spots on individual zircon crystals, analyzed by the SHRIMP-RG ion microprobe, range from ∼500,000 to ∼800,000 yr; a subpopulation representing crystal rims yielded a weighted-mean age of 573,000 ± 19,000 yr. Overall stratigraphic constraints on the age are provided by two volcanic units, including the underlying tephra of the Lava Creek Tuff erupted within Yellowstone National Park that has an age of 639,000 ± 2000 yr. The basaltic andesite of Hootman Ranch stratigraphically overlies the Rockland in the Lassen Peak area and has 40Ar/39Ar ages of 565,000 ± 29,000 and 565,000 ± 12,000 yr for plagioclase and groundmass, respectively. Identification of Rockland tephra in ODP core 1018 offshore of central California is an important stratigraphic age that also constrains the eruption age to between 580,000 and 600,000 yr.

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Two Fired-Clay Figurines from Central California

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/278651 ◽

1963 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 118-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A. B. Elsasser

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Clear Picture ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Western North America ◽

Central California

AbstractFragmentary human figurines from archaeological sites in Sacramento and Marin counties are described. It is suggested that noting slight variations in decorative and other characteristics within the type may aid in providing a clear picture of the geographical and chronological distributions of these specimens in western North America.

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EARLY TRIASSIC PALEOCEANOGRAPHY ALONG WESTERN NORTH AMERICA: AN ANALYSIS OF THE MIDDLE MEMBER OF THE UNION WASH FORMATION, EAST-CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

10.1130/abs/2018am-321907 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Rostislav Kovtun ◽

◽

Adam D. Woods

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Early Triassic ◽

Western North America ◽

East Central ◽

Central California ◽

Middle Member ◽

Union Wash Formation

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The late-surviving ‘duck-billed’ dinosaur Augustynolophus from the upper Maastrichtian of western North America and crest evolution in Saurolophini

Geological Magazine ◽

10.1017/s0016756814000284 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 152 (2) ◽

pp. 225-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

ALBERT PRIETO-MÁRQUEZ ◽

JONATHAN R. WAGNER ◽

PHIL R. BELL ◽

LUIS M. CHIAPPE

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Distal Region ◽

New Combination ◽

Cranial Morphology ◽

Western North America ◽

Central California ◽

Skull Roof ◽

New Tribe ◽

Anatomical Information ◽

Upper Maastrichtian

AbstractWe amend the taxonomy and provide new anatomical information on the hadrosaurid dinosaur Saurolophus morrisi (upper Maastrichtian Moreno Formation, central California, USA) derived from full preparation of the referred skull roof. The cranial morphology of this species is distinct enough to justify the new combination Augustynolophus morrisi gen. nov. The morphology of the nasals and surrounding cranial bones indicates that A. morrisi sported a solid nasal crest ending in an elongate triangular plate that extended above the skull roof. Autapomorphies include a crescentic base of the frontal caudodorsal process and extension of the process caudal to the frontal ‘dome’; distal end of nasal crest with knob-like process inflected rostrally; circumnarial depression lightly incised and weakly emarginated, adjacent to caudolateral margin of nasal and occupying two-thirds the width of lateral surface of distal region of crest; and caudal surface of distal nasal crest subrectangular. We formally establish the new tribe Saurolophini consisting of Prosaurolophus, Augustynolophus and Saurolophus. Saurolophin synapomorphies include a premaxilla with broad arcuate contour of rostrolateral region of thin everted oral margin and flat and steeply inclined occlusal surface of dentary dental battery, among other characters. Saurolophin crests evolved towards increasing caudodorsal length, along with caudal extension of the circumnarial fossa and involvement into the crest of adjacent facial elements. Augustynolophus is the second described genus of North American late Maastrichtian hadrosaurids. Its recognition implies a greater diversity among late Maastrichtian dinosaur faunas than previously recognized and is congruent with hypotheses of endemism and/or provinciality during Late Cretaceous time.

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