Sponsor
National Marine Fisheries
Published In
This Place is Home: Exploring Heritage and Community of The Klamath Tribes at the Beatty Curve Site (35KL95)
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2015
Abstract
The archaeological record of fish in the Upper Klamath Basin is important for several reasons. First it is important to descendant indigenous people in the region. Nineteenth century explorer accounts and ethnographic records highlight the importance of fish to subsistence and overall lifeways of Klamath basin people in the 19th and 20th centuries before major habitat destruction (Gatschet 1890; Spier 1930; Lane and Lane Associates 1981; Deur 2003b). Ancient fish bone records emphasize the long-term relationships between fish and Native Americans and the range and diversity of fish species used, which have been in great decline over the past several decades. Second, archaeological records may be able to directly assist with habitat restoration efforts, providing empirical evidence of former species distributions and suggesting ways fish responded to past environmental change, for example. Finally, fish faunal records can contribute to archaeological research questions related to evolution in settlement and subsistence systems, and links of subsistence change to other cultural developments.
The goal of our project was to analyze and document the fish remains recovered during excavation of the Beatty Curve site (35KL95) by the Oregon State Museum of Anthropology (OSMA), which funded the primary analysis effort. As part of a larger study to document past distribution of anadromous salmonids in the Upper Klamath Basin (Butler et al. 2010; Stevenson 2011), we secured funding from the National Marine Fisheries to support specialized analysis of a sample of the Beatty Curve site salmonid specimens. This report summarizes our efforts.
Locate the Document
A contribution to a report to the Oregon Department of Transportation Geo-Environmental Services Unit. (ODOT Key #12402)
Persistent Identifier
https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/anth_fac/333
Citation Details
Butler, V.L. , J. T.Elder, D. M. Gilmour, A. E. Stevenson, D. Y. Yang, C. F. Speller. Fish Remains from the Beatty Curve Site (35KL95). In, This Place is Home: Exploring Heritage and Community of the Klamath Tribes at the Beatty Curve Site (35KL95), Edited by Thomas J. Connolly, Christopher Ruiz, and Dennis L. Jenkins. Museum of Natural and Cultural History & State Museum of Anthropology, University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon. Museum Report 2015-006