Lost Dune Site Area Obsidian Research

Dry Creek Canyon, a well-watered natural east-west corridor that connects the Harney-Malheur Basin
with the Owyhee River drainage that lies to the east of the Lost Dune Site.

Lost Dune Site (35-HA-792) Obsidian Studies

INTRODUCTION | ABSTRACT | DOWNLOADS

INTRODUCTION

In conjunction with Bill Lyons (Washington State University) and Scott Thomas (Burns BLM), we have been investigating obsidian sources in the Harney-Malheur Basin and in the region immediately surrounding the basin. This was done partially in the context of exploring obsidian procurement patterns at two major sites located in the eastern portion of the Harney-Malheur Basin, the Lost Dune (35-HA-792) and McCoy Creek (35-HA-1263) sites.

This research (still ongoing) has led to the identification of several new obsidian sources and the identification of some persistent unknown sources that were previously known only from characterized artifacts. Some of the early results of our investigations are presented in the article, Changing Obsidian Sources at the Lost Dune and McCoy Creek Sites, Blitzen Valley, Southeastern Oregon, which has recently appeared in the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology. If you would like to tale a look at the article, click HERE to download the Acrobat copy.

ABSTRACT: CHANGING OBSIDIAN SOURCES AT THE LOST DUNE AND MCCOY CREEK SITES

X-ray Fluorescence analysis identified 17 known and 4 unknown geochemical sources among 90 obsidian artifacts from the Lost Dune and McCoy Creek sites on the east side of Blitzen Valley, Harney County, Oregon. Changing distributions and abundances of the sources identified in four prehistoric periods (3,500-2,000 BP, 2,000-500 BP, AD 1400s and AD 1500s) suggest eastern Blitzen Valley people used a limited resource area in the middle two periods. Samples for the periods spanning 2000 to 500 BP match sources only in and adjacent to Harney Basin and in the northern Catlow Valley--the "western Malheur/Catlow" area. Then, briefly in the AD 1500s, pottery-using visitors brought to Lost Dune ample obsidian from sources well east of Harney Basin in the Owyhee River drainage.

DOWNLOADS: APPENDIX B

Looking for Appendix B, the online obsidian source information appendix that's part of our Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology article on obsidian source use patterns at the Lost Dune and McCoy Creek sites (Oregon)? Click on the button below to download the Adobe Acrobat version of the appendix.

Scatterplot (below): When zirconium (Zr) is plotted versus strontium (Sr), most of the obsidian sources of
interest are clearly differentiated. For more details, download the Acrobat version of Appendix B above.

Back to the Research Home Page
Back to the Obsidian Lab Home Page

Last Updated: 03/28/2007
Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory