Dr. Robert Kelly will conduct one season of archaeological fieldwork in the Carson Sink region of western Nevada. Because of heavy rains in this area in recent years major runoff has occurred and this has exposed an archaeological treasure trove of buried houses as well as cultural materials and human skeletal remains. Because these sites will be subjected to further erosion and possible looting it is important that archaeological research be begun as quickly as possible. Dr. Kelly and his collaborators will conduct a basic reconnaissance of sites and determine which are the most promising for further large scale excavation. This will be determined by mapping site features, controlled surface grid collection, and test excavations of a sample of features. With this data it will be possible to develop a detailed excavation plan for future years. Occupation of the Carson Sink area began about 5000 B.P. and the first villages appeared about 1500 B.P. Over most of that period the region was marshy and the inhabitants presumably made use of local resources. This project will provide the first thorough investigation of pithouse villages and of the origins of a sedentary, marsh-oriented economy. It will contribute to our understanding of the relationship between subsistence and hunter- gatherer mobility and to an understanding of the sedentarization process. This research is important for several reasons. It will increase our understanding of how, over the long run, humans at a simple level of organization cope with shifting and unpredictable environments and thus shed light on the process of human adaptation. It will also rescue extremely important archaeological materials which otherwise would be lost.
