This article reviews the archaeological evidence for storage on the Snake River Plain. A review of the literature indicates the presence of four types of facilities that include small shallow oval-basin shaped pits with rounded bottoms, larger but shallow oval-shaped pits, sagebrush platforms in ice caves, and stone and grass platform beds. The evidence of storage features is, however, quite limited in the Middle and Late Archaic periods. Though preservation and sampling may well account for distribution, a number of other explanations are provided.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ButlerB. Robert and MurpheyKelly1983Kanaka Rapids Hydroelectric Project: Phase II Cultural Resource Evaluation. B. R. Butler Associates Report 83-2.
2.
DunnMichael T.1995Fungal Contamination of Stored Seeds: Implications for Aboriginal Caching Strategies, Idaho Archaeologist, 18:2, pp. 35–38.
3.
GouldRussell T. and PlewMark G.1996Prehistoric Salmon Fishing in the Northern Great Basin: Ecological Dynamics, Trade-Offs, and Foraging Strategies. In Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Fishing Strategies, PlewMark G. (ed.), Boise State University, Boise, pp. 64–83.
4.
GouldRussell T. and PlewMark G.2001Archaeological Excavations at Three Island Crossing. Boise State University, Boise.
5.
HenriksonL. Suzanne1996Prehistoric Cold Storage on the Eastern Snake River Plain: Archaeological Investigations at Bobcat Cave. Monographs in Idaho Archaeology and Ethnology, No. 1, Archaeological Survey of Idaho.
6.
HenriksonL. Suzanne2003Bison Freezers and Hunter-Gatherer Mobility: Archaeological Analysis of Cold Lava Tube Caves on Idaho's Snake River Plain, Plains Anthropologist, 48, pp. 263–285.
7.
MeatteDaniel S.1990Prehistory of the Western Snake River Basin. Occasional Papers of the Idaho Museum of Natural History No. 35, Pocatello.
8.
MurpheyKelly and CrutchfieldM. J.1985Archaeological Test Excavations at the Crutchfield Site: Hagerman Valley, Idaho. University of Idaho Anthropological Reports No. 86, Moscow, Idaho.
9.
O'LearyBeth S.1996The Structure of a Salmon Resource: The Southern Tutchone Fishery in the Southwest Yukon, Canada. In Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Fishing Strategies, PlewMark G. (ed.), Boise State University, Boise, pp. 6–24.
10.
PavesicMax G.FollettW. I., and StathamWilliam P.1987Anadromous Fish Remains from Schellbach Cave No. 1, Southwestern Idaho. Idaho Archaeologist, 10:2, pp. 41–42.
11.
PavesicMax G. and MeatteDaniel S.1980Archaeological Test Excavations at the National Fish Hatchery Locality, Hagerman Valley, Idaho. Archaeological Reports No. 8. Boise State University, Boise.
12.
PlewMark G.1981Archaeological Test Excavations at Four Prehistoric Sites in the Western Snake River Canyon near Bliss, Idaho. Project Reports No. 5. Idaho Archaeological Consultants, Boise.
13.
PlewMark G.1983Implications of Nutritional Potentials of Anadromous Fish Resources on the Western Snake River Plain. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 5:1-2, pp. 58–65.
14.
PlewMark G.1986The Archaeology of Nahas Cave: Material Culture and Chronology. Archaeological Reports No. 13. Boise State University, Boise.
15.
PlewMark G.1988Archaeological Assemblage Variability in Fishing Locales of the Western Snake River Plain. North American Archaeologist, 9:3, pp. 247–257.
16.
PlewMark G.1990Modeling Alternative Subsistence Strategies for the Middle Snake River. North American Archaeologist, 11:1, pp. 1–15.
17.
PlewMark G.2000The Archaeology of the Snake River Plain. Boise State University, Boise.
18.
PlewMark G.HuterPamela, and BenedictRichard2002Archaeological Test Excavations at 10-EL-1577, Near King Hill, Idaho. Boise State University, Boise.
19.
PlewMark G.PavesicMax G., and DavisMary Anne1987Archaeological Investigations at Baker Caves I and III: A Late Archaic Component on the Eastern Snake River Plain. Archaeological Reports No. 15, Boise State University, Boise.
20.
PlewMark G. and PlagerSharon1999Fish Remains from Three Sites in Southwestern Idaho, Idaho Archaeologist, 22:2, pp. 27–32.
21.
SchellbachLouis1967The Excavation of Cave No. 1, Southwestern Idaho. 1929. Tebiwa, 10:2, pp. 63–72.
22.
StewardJulian H.1938Basin-Plateau Socio-Political Groups. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 120, Washington, D.C.
23.
ZeanahDavid W.1988Food Storage Strategies in the Great Basin. Paper presented at the 21st Great Basin Anthropological Conference, Park City, Utah.
