GEOARCHAEOLOGY AT THE WEED LAKE DITCH SITE: AN EARLY HOLOCENE OCCUPATION IN THE NORTHERN GREAT BASIN

Geomorphological context of archaeological sites is important in establishing temporal and spatial relationships as well as environmental and landscape reconstructions. However, in the Great Basin of western North America, subaerial sites from the early Holocene and late Pleistocene are rarely found in buried contexts with good stratigraphic integrity. The Weed Lake Ditch site, a Haskett-Tradition archaeological site located in the Northern Great Basin, has provided a rare opportunity for geoarchaeological study of an early Holocene site and its relationship to pluvial Lake Malheur's last highstand and subsequent regression. In addition, radiocarbon dates obtained during the project provide a revised chronology for the pluvial lake sequence, and peoples' use of its shoreline environment.