GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF LATE QUATERNARY DEPOSITION AND EROSION ON SOUTHERN OREGON COASTAL UPLANDS

Efforts to locate late Pleistocene-early Holocene (LP-EH) age (ca. 12,000-8,000 yr BP) archaeological sites along the southern Oregon coast have been hindered, in part, by a poor understanding of regional site formation processes. Models of LP-EH site formation on coastal headlands are proposed, each addressing the stability and preservation of paleosurfaces in different geologic contexts and under varying environmental conditions. Examples of each model are drawn from southern coast localities and are discussed in relation to associated archaeological evidence and the results of chronometric dating.