Under the direction of Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, Ms Pamela Endzweig, a graduate student in Anthropology at the University of Oregon, will collect information for her doctoral dissertation. Focussing on the John Day River and tributary Pine Creek, located in the Plateau region of Oregon, Ms Endzweig will both conduct a survey and analyze data already collected. In the course of a multiyear field project, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry has located and excavated a number of archeological sites which span a period of over two thousand years and thus document a significant portion of the region's prehistory. However, much of the rich cultural material recovered has not been properly analyzed and, in addition to her own survey, MS Endzweig will coordinate the analyses of these remains. Abundant faunal and floral material will be studied. Together they will give insight into the prehistoric ecology of the region and provide information on how its use by Native American peoples changed over time. These data should also give an indication of the seasons during which individual sites were occupied. Chemical composition of chert tools will also be determined. This will permit - hopefully - artifacts to be matched to geological source and thus provide insight into larger trade networks. Although considerable archaeological research has been conducted in the Plateau region, much has been associated with cultural resource management work and therefore is concentrated primarily in the base of large river valleys. The result is an extremely incomplete and skewed picture of the prehistoric way of life. While some archaeologists have argued that the observed historic pattern in which population did concentrate in river valleys can be projected back into the distant past, others disagree and point to emerging data of the type which Ms Endzweig is collecting. Her present research should shed important light on this issue. This project is important for several reasons. It will increase our understanding of how humans operating at a simple level of technology adapted to a difficult and fluctuating environment. It will provide data of interest to a large number of archaeologists and finally assist in the training of a promising young scientist.
