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Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Environmental Change at the Sunshine Locality, North-Central Nevada, U.S.A.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Gary Huckleberry ,
Charlotte Beck ,
George T. Jones ,
Amy Holmes ,
Michael Cannon ,
Stephanie Livingston  and
Jack M. Broughton
Gary Huckleberry
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Charlotte Beck
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York
George T. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York
Amy Holmes
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Michael Cannon
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Stephanie Livingston
Affiliation:
Desert Research, Inc. and Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, Nevada
Jack M. Broughton
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
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Abstract

Sedimentological, faunal, and archaeological investigations at the Sunshine Locality, Long Valley, Nevada reveal a history of human adaptation and environmental change at the last glacial–interglacial transition in North America's north-central Great Basin. The locality contains a suite of lacustrine, alluvial, and eolian deposits associated with fluvially reworked faunal remains and Paleoindian artifacts. Radiocarbon-dated stratigraphy indicates a history of receding pluvial lake levels followed by alluvial downcutting and subsequent valley filling with marsh-like conditions at the end of the Pleistocene. A period of alluvial deposition and shallow water tables (9,800 to 11,000 14C yr B.P.) correlates to the Younger Dryas. Subsequent drier conditions and reduced surface runoff mark the early Holocene; sand dunes replace wetlands by 8,000 14C yr B.P. The stratigraphy at Sunshine is similar to sites located 400 km south and supports regional climatic synchroneity in the central and southern Great Basin during the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene. Given regional climate change and recurrent geomorphic settings comparable to Sunshine, we believe that there is a high potential for buried Paleoindian features in primary association with extinct fauna elsewhere in the region yet to be discovered due to limited stratigraphic exposure and consequent low visibility.

Keywords

stratigraphyfaunaPaleoindianYounger DryasGreat Basin
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 55 , Issue 3 , May 2001 , pp. 303 - 312
Copyright
University of Washington

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