THE CONTEXT OF ARCHAIC GEOARCHAEOLOGY ALONG THE JORDAN RIVER, SOUTHERN SALT LAKE VALLEY: SITE FORMATION PROCESSES & HYDROCLIMATIC CHANGE

Recent excavations of a terrace of the Jordan River have revealed evidence for the oldest pithouse structure in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah. This open air site preserves stratigraphic integrity and was repeatedly reoccupied during the Archaic from 3000-1500 cal yr BP. AMS dates suggest that site 42SL186 preserves the oldest securely dated dwelling in the eastern Great Basin ~2500-2300 cal yr BP. A high artifact density (>28,000 recovered/80 acre site) attests to the intensity of hunter-gatherer activities along the Jordan River, which remains a perennial wetland that is increasingly threatened by urbanization. This valuable new archaeological context within an underrepresented region of the American West enables the reconstruction of prehistoric lifeways during the timeframe when economies shifted towards sedentism and from foraging to farming. This paper will present an assessment of local stratigraphy, site formation, soil development, bioturbation, and geochronology in light of Holocene hydroclimatic changes.