A cluster of associated sites with a long sequence of occupation, located in an ancient Pleistocene lake basin in south-central Oregon, USA. Deposits of pumice from an eruption of nearby Mount Mazama in c5000 be have provided excellent chronological control for these sites. The earliest date, 11,200 ± 720 be, taken from hearth charcoal, confirms the presence of man below the Wisconsin glacial ice (see also Wilson Butte Cave). Associated artefacts, including a mano, indicate an early hunting and gathering rather than a Big Game Hunting subsistence pattern for this period. Later contexts contain artefacts of the Desert tradition. Occupation continued into historic times, but looting has caused the archaeological record to be wholly unreliable after clOOO be.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied