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2002-2003 - A0046 |
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| A0046 is located along a crescent shaped section of well delimited ridge line. There are two primary components. At the north end there is a high density of Early Neolithic elements. |
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At the south end, there is a relatively high density of Middle Paleolithic
elements distributed across a sandy surface with high visibility.
Each of these areas was treated differently, and the area between them was
also investigated. |
| On the Early Neolithic concentration we placed a number of one meter grid units and did complete surface collection. The placement and frequency of these units changed as we gradually came to understand the kinds of data they yielded. |
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It is quite clear from the data, however, that there is a center with a very high density of artifacts and that from this point the density falls off in each direction until it reaches levels typical of the background scatter we find in this landscape. |
| Excavation of a one meter unit near the high density area reveal a) that artifact densities decline rapidly with depth and b) artifact size also declines with depth. These excavations confirmed what the geology was already suggesting. Namely, these High Desert landscape surfaces have been stable for a considerable amount of time, long enough, in fact, that Middle and Upper Paleolithic activities would have taken place on them. Thus the likelihood of finding materials in stratigraphic context, while not impossible, is unlikely in most of our study area (with the exception of cave deposits in the wadi systems). |
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At the Middle Paleolithic concentration, we employed a different strategy. Here we defined an area that consisted of the far end of the ridge line and then attempted to piece provenience with a total station all the surface artifacts. It is hoped that these high-resolution spatial data can then be linked to the stone tool analysis to perhaps reconstruct flint-knapping areas. The analysis of these data is still on-going. |
