First Advisor

Shelby Anderson

Term of Graduation

Spring 2024

Date of Publication

7-29-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Anthropology

Department

Anthropology

Language

English

Subjects

cooking techologies, fire cracked rock, Willamette Valley Oregon

Physical Description

1 online resource (xiv, 158 pages)

Abstract

Rock is a durable and widely available resource that can store and transfer thermal energy, which is why people have used, and still use, rock in various forms of cooking techniques using different types of thermal facilities. Many of these facilities are important heritage resources associated with the long-term connection of Indigenous people to places, plants, and animals. In Oregon's Willamette Valley there is an abundance of thermally modified rock (TMR) that archaeologists minimally record and then discard, with inadequate information retained to reconstruct past TMR use or answer other important questions about past relationships between peoples' use of TMR, specific cooking technologies, land use and subsistence practices. To address these gaps, I address the question of whether or not this classification system accurately identifies thermal facilities associated with direct and indirect cooking technologies? To do so, I developed a new method of TMR analysis, applied the method to four sites in the Willamette Valley, and assessed the effectiveness of the method for distinguishing variations in thermal facilities and classifying cooking technologies.

The results of this study demonstrate the potential of this classification, given the appropriate attribute data, to accurately classify thermal facilities and cooking techniques. This study confirms that detailed TMR analysis can yield considerable information to our understanding of cooking facilities and techniques. Moreover, this research highlights the need to update our current methods of collecting and analyzing TMR use-wear attribute information. The methods of detailed data collection and analysis employed in this study provide an example for future use by those interested in studying cooking techniques and their associated thermal facilities. Identification and archaeological classification of these facilities will assist in the much-needed acknowledgement and protection of important spaces and places associated with Indigenous heritage resources and traditional ecological knowledge.

Rights

© 2024 Dianna Marie Wilson

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42591

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Available for download on Tuesday, July 29, 2025

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