Idaho National Laboratory Cultural Resource Management Plan

of the limited number of sites excavated from this time period; only through more excavations will we be
able to interpret the relative importance of small game and plant foods to the Archaic lifeway.
Research Question—Do ground stone implements commonly occur in early Archaic sites?
If plant seeds were an integral part of the diet during the Archaic, seed processing tools such as
grinding stones (i.e., manos and metates) should commonly occur in seed procurement field camps and
residential base sites that were occupied during the summer and fall. Several INL areas currently support
dense stands of seed-producing plants, such as Indian rice grass, that were commonly eaten by the
Archaic inhabitants of other areas of the Desert West. It is feasible that even if plant seeds were integrated
into the diet, they may not have been harvested on INL lands because the occupants were elsewhere
during the summer and fall months. Only through well-designed data collection projects can this kind of
question be answered.
Data Requirements: Any residential base site that contains artifacts diagnostic of the Early Archaic
(e.g., Northern Side-Notched and Pinto series) would likely address this question. If properly excavated,
the seasonality of site occupation could be determined so that the presence or absence of ground stone
could be properly interpreted. Any sites other than residential bases that contain ground stone could also
provide important information, especially if buried cultural material is present.
Research Question—Do ground stone tools commonly occur in Middle Archaic sites?
Following the discussion with the previous question, seed processing may not have been necessary
during the Early Archaic, but with the onset of the altithermal, the climatic stress may have required the
expansion of the diet to include such high cost resources. If this is the case, ground stone should become a
common element in Middle Archaic summer and fall residential bases, and there should be a noticeable
increase in seed processing field camps when compared to earlier Archaic occupations.
Data Requirements: Any residential base site that contains artifacts diagnostic of the Middle
Archaic (e.g., Gatecliff and McKean series) or any site type dating to the Middle Archaic with ground
stone artifacts.
Research Question—Do ground stone tools commonly occur in Late Archaic sites?
With reference to the discussions above, after the altithermal (4500 B.P.), conditions should have
improved in the upper Snake River Basin. Therefore, high cost items (e.g., grass seed) might no longer
need to be utilized. A shift such as this would be obvious in the archaeological record and would imply a
shift in subsistence organization of the area occupants.
Data Requirements: Any site with Late Archaic material, especially with the potential for
subsurface deposits and preserved vegetal materials (e.g., a lava tube).
Research Question—Are there periods during the Archaic when the inhabitants were more
logistically organized than at other times?
In many areas west of the Snake River Basin, semi-permanent pithouses were being constructed
during some periods of the Archaic that appear to represent residence for a minimum of several months.
This pattern is different than the interpreted settlement of the Archaic inhabitants of the upper Snake
River Basin who apparently never stayed in one place long enough for it to be worth the energy
investment to construct a substantial residence structure.
The “nature” of the food resources seems to explain the presence or absence of pithouses (i.e., more
or less logistical complexity). On the middle and lower Snake River, salmon are available during certain
seasons, and enough can be taken so that, with the proper storage technology, life could be maintained in
one place for several months of the year. The availability of salmon, therefore, explains, in part, the
presence of many of the pithouse villages along the Snake River in western Idaho. However, a few
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