Six Edwards chert caches are analyzed for investigating the range of caching behavior. Caches are compared in terms of transport cost, potential use, reduction strategies, and placement on the landscape. There was no correlation between caches and transport cost. All of the caches represent the storage of insurance gear for multiple unanticipated future activities. Variation among caches involved how insurance gear was provided in the cache. Relief and distance from water sources are highly predictable variables of cache location. Caches without diagnostic artifacts are important for discerning the range of caching behavior.

An Analysis of Variation in Caching Behavior

A piece of obsidian was found during excavations of a possible Middle Holocene Calf Creek biface cache at site 34ML168 in Oklahoma. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis of the obsidian flake shows that the source material derives from Glass Mountain in California. This is the first instance of California obsidian in this region. However, most intriguing is that Glass Mountain erupted thousands of years after the presumed Calf Creek artifacts were made. By examining the depositional history and lithic technology of the cache, and source provenance of the obsidian, we discuss the significance of this find and present possible scenarios regarding the long-distance conveyance of the obsidian artifact. This study complements other archaeological cases where the use of geochemical sourcing connects people, places, and things of unexpected distances across ancient North America.

Lawrence E. LeVick

Papers

Cache of Preforms from Southwestern Oklahoma