Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T06:16:15.887Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Grand Canyon Dams, Split-Twig Figurines, and “Hit-and-Run” Archaeology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen C. Jett*
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis

Abstract

In 1966 and 1967, amateurs unearthed a number of split-twig figurines in Stanton Cave in the Grand Canyon’s Marble Gorge. A number of these figurines are described, including one which is perhaps the finest ever discovered. It is documented that these finds by amateurs were stimulated by publication about this site in popular periodicals. It is also argued, using the Grand Canyon as an example, that survey and salvage in connection with large dam construction is never a substitute for long-range study of the archaeology and its environmental context, and that salvage cannot be considered as a benefit justifying dam construction but only as an alleviation of some of the dam damage.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1968

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bostick, Neely H. 1967 The Caves of Marble Gorge, Grand Canyon. Caves and Karst, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 24. Castro Valley.Google Scholar
Braun, Ernest 1967 Photographer Ernest Braun: “Get into the Middle of the Action.” San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle, California Living, Week of July 23, pp. 4–5. San Francisco.Google Scholar
Carter, Luther J. 1967 Canyon Dams: Dissents from Arizona Scientists. Science, Vol. 157, No. 3784, p. 46. Washington.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cockrum, E. Lendell 1960 The Recent Mammals of Arizona: Their Taxonomy and Distribution. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Dobyns, Henry F. 1966 Statement of Dr. Henry F. Dobyns, Anthropologist, Cornell University. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs House of Representatives Eighty-ninth Congress Second Session on H. R. 4671 and Similar Bills to Authorize the Construction, Operation, and Maintenance of the Lower Colorado River Basin Project, and for Other Purposes, Serial No. 89–17, Pt. 2, pp. 1576–81. Washington.Google Scholar
Durrant, Stephen D. and Dean, Nowlan K. 1959 Mammals of Glen Canyon. Ecological Studies of the Flora and Fauna in Glen Canyon. University of Utah Anthropological Papers, No. 40, pp. 73–103. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Euler, Robert C. 1966 Willow Figurines from Arizona. Natural History, Vol. 75, No. 3, pp. 627. New York.Google Scholar
Euler, Robert C. 1967a The Canyon Dwellers. The American West, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 227, 67–71. Palo Alto.Google Scholar
Euler, Robert C. 1967b Helicopter Archaeology. The American West Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 24. Palo Alto.Google Scholar
Euler, Robert C. and Dobyns, Henry F. 1962 Ethnic Group Land Rights in the Modern State: Three Case Studies. Human Organization, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 20307. Boston.Google Scholar
Euler, Robert C. and Olson, Alan P. 1965 Split-Twig Figurines from Northern Arizona: New Radiocarbon Dates. Science, Vol. 148, No. 3668, pp. 3689. Washington.Google Scholar
Euler, Robert C. and Taylor, Walter W. 1966 Additional Archaeological Data from Upper Grand Canyon: Nankoweap to Unkar Revisited. Plateau, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 2645. Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Halloran, Arthur F. 1964 The Mammals of Navajoland. Navajoland Publications, Series 4. Window Rock.Google Scholar
Hassemer, Jerry 1966 Split-Twig Figurines. Cave Crawler's Gazette, Vol. 7, No. 4. Phoenix.Google Scholar
Heizer, Robert F. 1966 Salvage and Other Archaeology. The Masterkey, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 5460. Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Hoyt, William 1963a Marble Canyon Rim Site Ancient Agriculture Hub. Arizona Daily Sun, Vol. 17, No. 303, pp. 12. Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Hoyt, William 1963b Tragedy, Twig Figurines Marble Canyon Features. Arizona Daily Sun, Vol. 17, No. 304, pp. 12. Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Hoyt, William 1964 4,000 Year Old Objects Found in Arizona. Arizona Daily Star, August 13, Section B., p. 1. Tucson.Google Scholar
Jennings, Jesse D. 1966 Glen Canyon: A Summary. University of Utah Anthropological Papers, No. 81. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Jett, Stephen C. 1966 Statement of Dr. Stephen C. Jett, Assistant Professor of Geography, University of California. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs House of Representatives Eighty-ninth Congress Second Session on H. R. 4671 and Similar Bills to Authorize the Construction, Operation, and Maintenance of the Lower Colorado River Basin Project, and for Other Purposes, Serial No. 89–17, Pt. 2, pp. 1581–7. Washington.Google Scholar
Jett, Stephen C. 1967 Statement of Dr. Stephen Jett, in Behalf of the Navajo Tribe of Indians. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs House of Representatives Ninetieth Congress first Session on H. R. 3300 and Similar Bills to Authorize the Construction, Operation, and Maintenance of the Colorado River Basin Project, and for Other Purposes — S. 20 and Similar Bills to Provide for a Comprehensive Review of National Water Resource Problems, and for Other Purposes, Serial 90–5, pp. 490–516. Washington.Google Scholar
Johnston, Bernice 1967 Grand Canyon Yields Mysteries of Past. Arizona Daily Star, January 1. Tucson.Google Scholar
Kelly, Roger E. 1966 Split-Twig Figurines from Sycamore Canyon, Central Arizona. Plateau, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 657. Flagstaff.Google Scholar
McNutt, Charles H. and Euler, Robert C. 1966 The Red Butte Lithic Sites near Grand Canyon. American Antiquity, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 41019. Salt Lake City.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, William C. 1963 Records in Rock of a 1054 A.D. Star Explosion. Desert, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 2830. Palm Desert.Google Scholar
Olson, Alan P. 1966 Split-Twig Figurines from NA 5607, Northern Arizona. Plateau, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 5564. Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Reilly, P. T. 1966 The Sites at Vasey's Paradise. The Masterkey, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 12639. Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Schwartz, Douglas W. 1960 Archaeological Investigations in the Shinumo Area of Grand Canyon, Arizona. Plateau, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 617. Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Schwartz, Douglas W. 1963 An Archaeological Survey of Nankoweap Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park. American Antiquity, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 289302. Salt Lake City.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, Douglas W. 1965 Nankoweap to Unkar: An Archaeological Survey of The Upper Grand Canyon. American Antiquity, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 27896. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Schwartz, Douglas W. 1966 A Historical Analysis and Synthesis of Grand Canyon Archaeology. American Antiquity, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 46984. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Schwartz, Douglas W., Lange, Arthur L., and Saussure, Raymond De 1958 Split Twig Figurines in the Grand Canyon. American Antiquity, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 26474. Salt Lake City.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simms, Jack R. and Scott Daniel, D. 1967 A Lithic Assemblage Near Winslow, Arizona. Plateau, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 17588. Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Taylor, W. W. 1954 An Analysis of Some Salt Samples from the Southwest. Plateau, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 17. Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Taylor, W. W. 1958a A Brief Survey through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. Museum of Northern Arizona, Bulletin 30, pp. 18–30. Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Taylor, W. W. 1958b The Pueblo Ecology Study: Hail and Farewell. Museum of Northern Arizona, Bulletin 30, pp. 1–17. Flagstaff.Google Scholar