The Western Stemmed Tradition Components of Last Supper Cave, Nevada
Publication Date
1-1-2024
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
PaleoAmerica
Volume
10
Issue
2-3
DOI
10.1080/20555563.2024.2422133
First Page
226
Last Page
245
Abstract
Last Supper Cave (LSC) is located in northwestern Nevada. It was excavated by Thomas Layton in the early 1970s. Layton recovered Western Stemmed Tradition (WST) points and other stone tools from the cave’s lower strata suggesting that people visited the site during the early Holocene–a possibility subsequently confirmed by radiocarbon dating. Despite the fact that LSC contained a stratified record of human use spanning the Holocene, the collection was never fully analyzed. Our work with it has proceeded in a piecemeal fashion over the past two decades and focused largely on the WST component. Here, for the first time, we describe that component in detail, bringing together previously reported and new chronological, technological, and spatial data to understand when, how, and why people visited LSC during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene.
Funding Sponsor
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Keywords
cave and rockshelter archaeology, Great Basin, late Pleistocene/early Holocene, Obsidian procurement and conveyance, Western Stemmed Tradition
Department
Anthropology
Recommended Citation
Geoffrey M. Smith, Richard L. Rosencrance, Shelby G. Saper, Katelyn N. McDonough, Danielle C. Felling, and Thomas N. Layton. "The Western Stemmed Tradition Components of Last Supper Cave, Nevada" PaleoAmerica (2024): 226-245. https://doi.org/10.1080/20555563.2024.2422133
