Pleistocene Geology, Paleontology, & Prehistoric Archaeology

182 Pages·2017·9.14 MB·English

E '
78
.M9
08
no.4
APR14m
Pleistocene Geology, Paleontology
6 Prehistoric Archaeology
by
Christopher L. Hill, John P. Albanese, Rdbert G. Dundas, Leslie B. Davis, David C. Batten, , M' ]
Dale P. Herb-ort, James K Huber, Susan C. Mulholland, James K Feathers, and Matthew J. Root C <i?
Leslie B. Davis and Christopher L. Hill, Co-Principal Investigators hO, tf-
Leslie B. Davis, Project Director
Compiled and Edited by Christopher L. Hill and Leslie B. Davis
MUSEUM OF THE ROCKIES • MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY • BOZEMAN, MT 59717-2730 • 2005
The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for the stewardship of our
public lands. It is committed to manage, protect, and improve these lands in
a manner to serve the needs of the American people for all times. Manage
ment is based on the principles of multiple use and sustained yield of our
nation's resources within a framework of environmental responsibility and
scientific technology. These resources include recreation; rangelands; timber;
minerals; watershed; fish and wildlife; wilderness; air; and scenic, scientific,
and cultural values.
. ·-·-·-···--·-·-------
BLM/MT/ST-06/006+ 1050
ISBN 0-615-13043-7
Dedication
Donald G. Merrell
Donald Gene Merrell, a lifelong resident of Lima, Montana, married Lois Martinell in 1948 and
raised a family in Lima. A 34-year employee of the Montana Department of Highways who retired
in 1984, Don is a veteran goose, elk and deer hunter, fisherman, and collector of surface artifacts.
Curious about the human past in the Centennials, he began collecting while a boy. Don much
later came upon and recognized, while hunting geese along Lima Reservoir in 1988, bones of
extinct mammals eroding onto the beach. He thereafter brought what came to be known as the
Merrell paleontological site and locality to the attention of federal authorities in 1988. Don is
recognized here as an uncommonly observant Montana citizen whose public-spiritedness and
responsible actions led to the investigations and discoveries at this special place chat takes his
name. He was instrumental in stimulating Bureau ofL and Management, Dillon Field Office, staff
to take administrative and technical steps to preserve and protect this valuable heritage resource as
a BLM responsibility. Findings derived from authorized research and mitigation studies at this
important locality can now be shared with the public.
ii
Foreword
This volume is the fourth contribution co a series of cultural resource monographs published by
the Montana State Office of che Bureau of Land Management. The purpose of the series is, in
part, to provide researchers and the interested public with scholarly research that normally is
not available or has limited distribution.
The BLM has stacutory responsibilities to care for and manage cultural and paleontological
resources under its jurisdiction. To that end, we have funded, through Cooperative Agreements
and through contracts, research on archaeological and paleontological properties. This volume
represents the best in this kind of research and should have great scholarly appeal to archaeolo
gists, paleontologists, paleoecologists, and others who have an interest in this area and in good
science.
We would like to thank Ors. Christopher L. Hill and Leslie B. Davis for making chis document
available for publication. We believe the research here has made a significant contribution to
our understanding of the Pleistocene geology and to the archaeological and paleontological
resources represented at the Merrell Locality and the Centennial Valley.
Gary P. Smith
Deputy Preservation Officer
Montana State Office
Bureau of Land Management
Billings, Montana
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Cover: Artistic rendition of the Late Pf eistocene
Merrell Locality landscape and paleofauna, by K. L.
Mather for the Museum of the Rockies.
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Table of Contents
Dedication ..................................................................... ,.. , ...................................................................... ii
Foreword .............................................................................................................................................. iii
Lists of Figu.res, Plates, and Tables ....................................................................................................... ix
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1
Leslie B. Davis
Merrell Locality and Site History ........................................................................................................... 1
Programmatic Ice-Age and Paleoindian Research ................................................................................... 1
FIELD METHODS ........................................................................................................ 3
David C. Batten
Introduction .............................................. , .................................................................................. .-........ 3
The 1994 Fieldwork ........................................................................................ :. .................................... 3
1994 Stratigraphic Descriptions of Test Pits/Excavation Areas ......................................................... 4
The 1995 Fieldwork .............................................................................................................................. 7
Location of the Excavation Areas ........................................................................... , ......................... 7
Vertical Controls ..... , ....................................................................................................................... 7
Excavation Procedures (General) ....................... , ......... , .................................................................... 9
North Block Studies (Excavation Area I) .................................................................................. 11
South Block Studies ................................................................................................................. 11
The 1996 Fieldwork ............................................................................................................................ 11
Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 13
A FIELD RECONNAISSANCE GEOLOGIC STUDY. ................................................ 15
john P. Albanese
Introduction ............................................................................................................. , .......................... 15
General Setting ........ , , ......... , .. . .. . .. .. . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . . . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . .. .. . .. .. .. . . .. . .. .. . . .. . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . 15
Site Stratigraphy .................................................................................................................................. 15
Stratum A (Pleistocene) .................................................................................... , ............................ 15
Stratum B (Pleistocene) .................................................................................................................. 17
Stratum C (Pleistocene) ................................................................................................................. 18
Stratum D (Pleistocene) ................................................................................................................. 18
Stratum E (Holocene) .................................................................................................................... 21
Other Studies .................... :. ......................... , ....................................................................................... 21
Soft Sediment Deformation ................................................................................................................. 21
Soils ..................................................................................................................................................... 21
V
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE
FAUNAL REMAINS, SOUTH BLOCK EXCAVATIONS ........................................... 23
Christopher L. Hill and David C Batten
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 23
Spatial Distribution of Faunal Remains ................................................................................................. 24
Faunal Remains Recovered from the South Block Area Prior to 1994 ............................................ 24
Spatial Distribution of Faunal Remains from the Museum of the Rockies Excavations .................. 24
Description and Interpretation of Spatial Distribution of Faunal Remains ............................... 24
Excavation Area E .............................................................................................................. 26
Excavation Area J ............................................................................................................... 28
Excavation Area K .............................................................................................................. 30
Excavation Area L .............................................................................................................. 30
Excavation Area M .......... ,. ............................. ,. .................................................................. 30
Excavation Area N ·: ............................................................................................ ,, ............. 31
Excavation Area O ............................................................. , ...................... , ........................ 31
Excavation Area P ................ , .............................................. , .............................................. 31
Excavation Area S .............................................................................................................. 32
Excavation Area T .............................................................................................................. 32
Excavation Area U ............................................................................................................. 34
Excavation Area V .............................................................................................................. 34
Excavation Area W ............................................................................................................ 35
Excavation Area X ........................................................................ ,, ..................... , .............. 3 5
Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 36
GEOLOGY OF CENTENNIAL VALLEY AND STRATIGRAPHY
OF PLEISTOCENE FOSSIL~BEARING SEDIMENTS ............................................... 39
Christopher L. Hill
Introduction and Previous Research ..................................................................................................... 39
Summary of the Cenozoic Geology of Centennial Valley ..................................................................... 39
Background ........................................................................ , .......................................................... 39
Bedrock Stratigraphic Sequence ..................................................................................................... 39
Tectonics and Volcanism ............................................................................................................... 40
Structural and Depositional Context ......... , .................................................................................... 40
Pleistocene Volcanism .............................................................................. :. .................................... 40
Structure and Late Quaternary Tectonics ....................................................................................... 41
Geomorphology and Paleohydrology ........................................ , .................................................... 42
Glacial Context ........................................................................................................................ 42
Ice-Age Lakes and Drainage Patterns ....................................................................................... 43
Deposits in the Western Centennial Valley .............................................................................. 43
Merrell Locality Stratigraphy .............. , ................................................................................................ 45
Stratigraphic Descriptions ..................................................... , ........................................................ 46
Grid 80-120 N Escarpment Stratigraphy (South of South Block) ............................................ 46
Grid 120-140 N Stratigraphy (South Block Excavations) ......................................................... 47
Excavation Area E Stratigraphy (1994 Test Pit E) .............................................................. 48
The 1995 Backhoe Sequence ................................................................................................... 53
Stratum A .......................................................................................................................... 53
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Stratum B .......................................................................................................................... 53
Stratum C .......................................................................................................................... 53
Colluvium ......................................................................................................................... 53
Deposits Observed Along the Exposure and in J-X Excavation Areas ....................................... 53
Correlation of Descriptions ...................................................................................................... 54
Grid 140-170 N Escarpment and North Block Stratigraphy .................................................... 56
Escarpment Exposure ......................................................................................................... 56
Excavation Area (1994 Test Pit C) ..................................................................................... 56
Excavation Area I ............................................................................................................... 58
Site-Specific Stratigraphic Integration and Lithostratigraphic Interpretations ........................... 59
LUMINESCENCE. DATING ....................................................................................... 65
James K Feathers
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 65
Radioactivity ........................................................................................................................................ 66
Equivalent Dose ................................................................................................................................... 66
Age Determination .............................................................................................................................. 70
GEOCHRONOLOGY OF MERRELL LOCALITY STRATA AND REGIONAL
PA LEOENVIRONMENTAL- CONT.EX.TS .................................................................. 71
Christopher L. Hill
Chronologic Interpretation .................................................................................................................. 71
General Discussion of Chronologic Framework ........................... _.. ...................................................... 74
Paleoclimatic Context .......................................................................................................................... 75
Summary of Pleistocene Geologic Events ............................................................................................. 76
Conclusions: Lithostratigraphic and Biostratigraphic Context. ............................................................. 77
THE LA.TE PLEISTOCENE VERTEBRATE FAUNA ................................................. 79
Robert G. Dundas
Introduction ..................................................................................... , .................................................. 79
Specimen Repositories ......................................................................................................................... 79
Systematic Paleontology ....................................................................................................................... 79
Discussion .......................................................................................................................................... 90
Invertebrates ........................................................................................................................................ 90
POLLEN AND .ALG.AE ................................................................................................ 91
James K Huber
Description .................................................................................................................................... , ..... 91
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 91
Palynomorph Analytical Methods ........................................................................................................ 91
Loss-on-Ignition of Organic and Carbonate Carbon Methods ............................................................. 92
Results ................................................................................................................................................. 92
Palynomorphs ...................................................................................................................................... 93
Discussion ........................................................................................................................................... 94
Interpretation ...................................................................................................................................... 94
..
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PHITOLITHS ............................................................................................................. 97
Susan C. Mulholland
Introduction ...................................................................................................................... :. .............. ,. 97
Methods and Materials ........................................................................................................................ 97
Phytolith Classification ........................................................................................................................ 98
Results ................................................................................................................................................ 99
Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 100
PREHISTOfilC ARCHAEOLOGY ............................................................................ 103
The Merrell Site Artifact Inventory .................................................................................................... 103
Christopher L. Hill and Dale P. Herbort
Artifact Spatial Context ..................................................................................................................... 105
Conclusions Regarding the Artifacts .................................................................................................. 105
Artifact Crossdating ........................................ , .................................................................................. 105
Leslie B. Davis
Hydration Age Determination of Merrell Site Obsidian Artifacts ...................................................... 106
Leslie B. Davis
Sources of Obsidian ..................................................................................................................... 106
Hydration Rind Thickness Measurements and Age Analysis ........ .'. .............................................. 106
Paleoindians in the Centennial Valley and Environs .......................................................................... 108
Leslie B. Davis and Matthew]. Root
Multiregional Overview ............................................................................................................... 108
Plains Paleoindians ..................................................................... ,, ......................................... 108
Columbia Plateau and Great Basin ........................................................................................ 110
Snake River Plain ....................................................................................... , . .. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . .. .. .. . 111
Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 114
Ac.knowledgments .............................................................................................................................. 115
References Cited ................................................................................................................................. 117
Appendix ............................................................................................................................................ 125
A. Merrell Site Datum Controls ....................................................................................................... 125
David C. Batten
B. Descriptions of Sediments and Soils at Various Stations .............................................................. 126
John P. Albanese
C. Merrell Locality Identified Fossil Specimens Listed By Taxon ...................................................... 131
Robert G. Dundas
D. Inventory of Fauna! Remains Recovered from the Merrell Locality .............................................. 136
Robert G. Dundas
E. Technical Detail Associated with Luminescence Dating ............................................................... 163
James K Feathers
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