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Bone Refuse and Insect Remains: Their Potential for Temporal Resolution of the Archaeological Record

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen A. Chomko  and
B. Miles Gilbert
Stephen A. Chomko
Affiliation:
Interagency Archeological Services, National Park Service, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225
B. Miles Gilbert
Affiliation:
45 Canyon Wren, Sedona, AZ 86336
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Abstract

The contents of a bone-filled pit from a Late Prehistoric period site in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, are inferred to represent the remains of a meal originally cooked in a skin container. The residue remained in the container, outside of the pit, for at least three weeks. Subsequently, but within a few weeks of cooking, the residue was dumped upside down into a pit which was then sealed with a sandstone slab. Preparation of the food and its disposal took place between June and September. The temporal resolution made possible by the analysis of the insect remains permits the inference that the site assemblage accumulated during two separate occupations. Such an inference affects how the site assemblage may be interpreted within the context of a settlement system.

Résumé

Résumé

El análisis del contenido de un hoyo lleno de huesos de un sitio del período Prehistórico en la Cuenca de Bighorn, Wyoming, indica que se trata de los restos de una comida originalmente cocinada en un contenedor de cuero. Las sobras permanecieron fuera del hoyo durante por lo menos tres semanas. Pocas semanas después los restos fueron arrojados en un pozo y sellados con una losa de arenisca. La preparación y deposición de la comida tuvieron lugar entre junio y septiembre. La resolución temporal proporcionada por el análisis de los restos de insectos hizo posible inferir que el conjunto del sitio fue acumulado durante dos ocupaciones separadas. Esta inferencia modifica la interpretación del sitio dentro del contexto de un sistema de asentamiento.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , October 1991 , pp. 680 - 686
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1991

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