Abstract |
We present a study of obsidian artifacts found in Folsom contexts from the Great Divide Paleoindian sites (Great Divide Basin, Wyoming) to evaluate Paleoindian mobility patterns in the central and southern Rocky Mountains. Obsidian sourcing using pXRF demonstrates conveyance from Obsidian Cliff (400 km), Teton Pass (300 km), and the Green River/Engineer Quarry source. Other chipped stone raw materials from Folsom localities derive from sources in the upper Green River Basin, thus partially establishing a Folsom mobility pattern between the Yellowstone Plateau, upper Green River Basin, and Great Divide Basin of Wyoming. This study supports the notion that Paleoindians regularly transported lithic raw materials great distances even in relatively raw material rich regions like the interior of the Rocky Mountains and is further evidence for a sparsely documented Younger Dryas-aged use of the Yellowstone Plateau. |