A Class II Archaeological Reconnaissance of a Portion of Area 20 Nevada Test Site Nye County, Nevada. Desert Research Institute Social Sciences Center Technical Report No. 52

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ft DESERT RESEARCH INSTITUTE (I I UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA SYSTEM A CLASS II ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE OF A PORTION OF AREA 20 NEVADA TEST SITE NYE COUNTY, NEVADA Technical Report No. 52 SOCIAL SCIENCES CENTER

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A CLASS II ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE OF A PORTION OF AREA 20 NEVADA TEST SITE NYE COUNTY, NEVADA Technical Report No. 52

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This monograph describes a Class II cultural resources reconnaissance of a 9.75 km2 land parcel in Area 20 of the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. The Social Sciences Center, Desert Research Institute, examined a 30% sample of this sagebrush and juniper covered area on Pahute Mesa in order to identify a representative sample of the cultural and archaeological resources there. This information was then used to develop alternative strategies through which the U.S. Department of Energy might minimize the potential adverse effects of their nuclear testing activities in Area 20 on Twenty-two, previously unknown archaeological sites were discovered during the pedestrian reconnaissance of nine 120 m wide transects that were systematically placed through the project area. These transects also enclosed fifteen small archaeological localities and a large archaeological site that had been recorded during earlier surveys in Area 20. In addition, two other cultural resources were discovered outside the project area. Twenty-seven of the 38 archaeological sites situated in the sampled transects consisted of isolated artifacts or small concentrations (less than 20 artifacts) of white welded tuff and/or obsidian debitage. Diagnostic artifacts discovered at these small sites included bifacial stage forms and Rosegate, Elko, Humboldt and Lake Mohave-style projectile points. The remaining eleven archaeological sites in the sample transects were larger (0.05 to 68.7 hectares) concentrations of white welded tuff and/or obsidian debitage and various stone tools. Five of these larger sites, all containing milling stones, were interpreted to be temporary camp sites; the remaining six sites probably reflect localities where more task-specific activities took place. Diagnostic artifacts found at these larger archaeological sites included Elko, Gatecliff, and Lake Mojave projectile points. The sample reconnaissance of the project area disclosed that the larger more complex archaeological sites tend to occur along the bottoms and edges of ephemeral drainages, particularly at the headwaters of those drainages. In contrast, the smaller and more discrete archaeological sites in the project area tend to be distributed along the interfluves between ephemeral drainages. An evaluation of the research potential (significance) of the cultural resources located in the transects across the project area discloses that these sites hold information relevant to various research questions. These address cultural chronology, spatial relationships of past cultural activities, prehistoric lithic technology, past processes of residential mobility and demography, and the relationships between past fluctuations in the environment and prehistoric patterns of settlement and subsistence. Although the research value of most of the smaller sites already has been preserved though data collection performed under the current study, construction and worker activities during nuclear tests in Area 20 have the potential to directly or indirectly affect the research potential of the Two alternatives for the management of these cultural resources are offered. First, DOE can utilize the information in this report in the planning and location of future nuclear tests and then continue to identify and mitigate specific adverse effects from those events on a case-by-case basis. Alternatively, DOE can initiate one-time studies to mitigate all potential adverse impacts to cultural resources throughout the project area. This approach would involve the retrieval of a representative sample of the data available from only those cultural resources situated in the survey transects. Because those cultural resources would be representative of all cultural resources in the project area, this action would adequately mitigate all potential direct, indirect, and accumulative impacts from all nuclear testing in the area.

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This project would not have been possible without the valuable support and guidance of Mr. Frank Bingham, U.S. Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office. Mr. Robert Bivona, Nevada Test Site Support Office, provided extremely valuable assistance in the coordination of this work. Thanks are extended to the field crew member on this project: Ron Reno, Maria Pan, Keith Myhrer, Cheryl Nowak, and Cari Lockett. Cari Lockett directed half of the field project, processed the site and artifact data, and created tables from DRI's site data computer archive system. Zi-Chang Zhang prepared the maps and Carol Bailey photographed the artifacts. Lois Snedded edited the manuscript and Shirley Garcia and Ramona Reno prepared this report for

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TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................ iii LIST OF FIGURES.............................................. iv LIST OF TABLES................................................ v PREVIOUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES ............................... 8 METHODS AND PROCEDURES ........................................ 22 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS............ 33 How old are the culturalremains in question?............. 33 What are the spatial relationships of cultural remains on Pahute and Rainier mesas to each other and to What are the processes and chronology of sediment deposition in Area 20 and how may natural geologic and biotic processes have affected the nature of the archae What behavioral information about such things as methods of tool manufacture, changes in lithic technology, economy of resource use, and nature of associated activities is represented by lithic debitage at lithic scatters in Area 20?.................................. 36 What is the history and what are the processes of past residential mobility anddemography in Area 20?......... 37 What is the relationship between past fluctuations in the environment of Area 20 and prehistoric patterns of EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL ADVERSE IMPACTS ....................... 38

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of Area 20 on the Nevada Test Site, Southern Nye County, Nevada ......................... 2 Figure 2. Map of the Pahute and Rainier mesas overview area and its major geographic features.................... 4 Figure 3. Map showing the location of previous archaeological surveys in Area 20 on Pahute Mesa.................. 9 Figure 4. Map showing the location of archaeological sites recorded during previous surveys in Area 20, Pahute Figure 5. Map showing the location of archaeological sites recorded during previous surveys in the project area . 21 Figure 6. Map showing the location of archaeological sites recorded during the Area 20 sample survey.............. 23 Figure 7. Gatecliff contracting stem, Elko Corner-notched and Rosegate Series points from archaeological sites in Figure 8. White welded tuff unifacially retouched flakes; a white welded tuff biface; and a unifacially retouched quartzite flake .......................... 30 Figure 9. Lake Mohave, Humboldt, Gatecliff Contracting Stem, Gatecliff Split Stem, Elko Corner - notched, and Rosegate style projectile points from Area 20 ... . 31 Figure 10. Utilized obsidian flake, obsidian uniface, obsidian biface and Brownware pottery from Area 20............ 31 Figure 11. Map showing the location of all known archaeological sites in the Area 20 project zone, Pahute Mesa,

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LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Percent ground coverage of trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials and winter annuals on Pahute and Rainier mesas, southern Nye County, Nevada .................. 6 Table 2. Summary of previous cultural resources studies in Area 20 on Pahute Mesa, southern Nye County, Nevada . 10 Table 3. Selected cultural and environmental attributes of cultural resources recorded in Area 20 during previous Table 4. Size and area of Area 20 sample survey transects and number of sites recordedper transect ............... 22 Table 5. Selected cultural and environmental attibutes of cultural resources recorded during the Area 20 sample Table 6. Summary of projectile point types, unifaces and bifaces found at specific sites...............................29

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Purpose and Project Background Since the early 1960's, Area 20, situated on Pahute Mesa in the northwestern portion of the Nevada Test Site, southern Nye County, Nevada, (Figure 1) has been used by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for nuclear weapons testing. In accordance with the Limited Test Ban Treaty signed in August, 1963, this testing has been restricted to underground localities. Nevertheless, construction activities which accompany underground nuclear tests have resulted in the disturbance of the surface terrain around each test. In compliance with Federal legislation (National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and National Environmental Policy Act of 1969) , the DOE, Nevada Operations Office, has long required that cultural resources studies must precede all land disturbing activities on the Nevada Test Site (U.S. Department of Energy 1983). The objectives of these studies are to identify and evaluate the cultural resources that might be affected by the proposed activity, to determine the potential for adverse impacts to those cultural resources by the proposed actions, and to develop plans and measures to mitigate any adverse impact to those archaeological sites eligible for nomination to the National Register. Traditionally these cultural resources studies have been conducted on a case-by-case, drill-hole-by-drill-hole basis. However, a number of proposed testing activities have been planned to occur in a 975 hectare section of Area 20. In an attempt to streamline the existing cultural resources management procedure, the DOE, Nevada Operations Office, requested that the Social Sciences Center, Desert Research Institute (DRI), conduct a Class II cultural resources reconnaissance of approximately 30% of this 975 hectare block. The purpose of this reconnaissance was to obtain a scientifically-based, representative sample of the cultural resources in this area and to use this information to develop a strategy through which DOE could minimize both the potential adverse effects of their planned testing activities on cultural resources and the costs of any measures required to mitigate those adverse impacts. This report presents the results of the Class II cultural resources reconnaissance and offers a recommended management plan that will address the

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Pahute Mesa is a large east-west trending, step-faulted, volcanic plateau that traverses the extreme northwestern portion of the Nevada Test Site and the southern portions of Ranges 75 and 76 of the Nellis Air Force Base Bombing and Gunnery Range (Figure 2). It rises in elevation from about 1750 meters (5740 ft) around the bases of Black Mountain, Quartz Mountain and Tolicha Peak toward the west 2304m (7560 ft) to an unnamed point above Lambs Canyon in the east. The plateau's southern margin is clearly marked by the steep slopes of the Timber Mountain caldera (Byers et al. 1976; Byers and Barnes 1976), but its northwestern boundary is more difficult to define as the cuesta gently slopes into the southwestern portion of Gold Flat. Toward the north and northeast, Pahute Mesa is marked by more precipitous slopes into Gold Flat and Kawich Valley. Its northern boundary is less clear, however, where it joins Saucer Mesa of the southern Kawich Range and Rainier Mesa of the southern East Thirsty Canyon, which eventually flows into the Amargosa River and Death Valley, drains the southwestern portion of Pahute Mesa and provides a natural route of travel to the Oasis Valley-Beatty area 25 kilometers (16 miles) to the southeast of the study area. Fortymile Wash, another major tributary of the Amargosa River and a natural route of travel to the Ash Meadows area in the Amargosa Desert, drains surface runoff along the southern margin of Pahute Mesa via several steep-walled but relatively short canyons entrenched into the mesa's edge. Most surface runoff from Pahute Mesa, however, is drained toward the north. Silent Canyon, leading to Gold Flat, is the largest and longest of these northern drainages, but others include Grass Spring Canyon, another drainage leading to Gold Flat, as well as Lambs Canyon, Gritty Gulch, and Kawich Canyon, all leading to the southern portion of Kawich Area 20 (Figure 2) lies in the headwaters of East Thirsty Canyon near the center of Pahute Mesa between an altitude of 1859 to 1908m (6100 to 6260 feet). Northerly trending channels of the southwestward flowing East Thirsty Canyon drain the northern and western portions of the project area; the southern and eastern sections are drained through several unnamed tributaries to Fortymile Canyon. The only surface water in the project area is found in natural bedrock tanks and ephemeral drainages following precipitation. The volcanic rocks comprising Pahute Mesa erupted from at least three separate volcanic centers. The earliest rocks, represented by the Tub Springs and Grouse Canyon members of the Belted Range Tuff, were apparently extruded as ash-flows and pumice rich, air-fall tuffs from the Silent Canyon Volcanic Center during late Miocene time some 13 to 15 million years ago (Noble et al. 1968; Sargent et al. 1966; Orkild et al. 1969). Unlike the other volcanic centers in the region, where the caldera areas are relatively well-defined, the Silent Canyon caldera is largely obscured by younger, unrelated volcanic rocks. On the eastern half of Pahute Mesa, most of these later volcanic rocks, including the widespread Ammonia Tanks and Rainier Mesa members of the

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Figure 2. Map of the Pahute and Rainier mesas overview area and its major geographic features.

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Timber Mountain Tuff, were extruded from the Timber Mountain volcanic center (Cornwall 1972:33) during early Pliocene time (11 million years ago). However, in Area 20 on the western half of Pahute Mesa the Timber Mountain tuffs are overlain by late Pliocene rocks of the Black Mountain volcanic The Area 20 project area is covered by flat-lying ashflow tuffs of the Thirsty Canyon Tuff. This formation extends from Timber Mountain northwest to an area south of Goldfield, Nevada (Cornwall 1972:25). Two units of the Spearhead Member and the overlying Trail Ridge Member attain a maximum thickness of 600 feet. The lower unit of the Spearhead Member is generally a cooling unit, weathering to cavernous or "honeycomb" slopes. The upper Spearhead Member unit is grayish-pink and porous in the upper part and forms smooth rounded slopes. It grades downward to welded grayish-red in the middle part. The lower part is slightly welded, light brown, and grades downward to Ridge Member caps much of western Pahute Mesa and is the exposed bedrock in the project area. The top of this member is partly welded to densely welded; the middle and lower parts of the member are partly welded, grading downward Pahute Mesa falls in the Tonopah floristic area (Cronquist et al. (1972:91-92, fig. 56). Beatley (1976:58-68, fig.. 3) describes the distribution and composition of three major vegetation communities on and around Pahute Mesa: the black sagebrush community, the big sagebrush community and the pinyon-juniper woodlands. Table 1 lists the maximum ground coverage in each of these vegetation communities. The Area 20 survey locality is occupied prevailingly by the big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) community where it is the dominant ground cover on the deeper, better-drained soils. Black sagebrush (Artemisia nova) forms a low, closely-spaced shrub cover on the shallow, residual soils in the project area and occurs in a mosaic with the big sagebrush community. Sticky-leaved rabbit brush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus ssp,puberulus) is the most commonly associated shrub, but joint fir (Ephedra nevadensis), winterfat (Ceratoides lanata), spiny hop sage glabrata), wild buckwheat (Eriogonum microthecum) and cliffrose (Cowania mexicana) also occur in small numbers, usually less than five percent of the total shrub coverage. Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamus nauseosus) may co-dominate or even dominate along certain washes through the area; cliffrose, service berry (Symphoricarpos longiflorus) and wormwood (Artemisia ludoviciana) grow along the more rocky washes and around bedrock outcrops. Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) grow in the heads of shallow drainages.

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Table 1. Percent ground coverage of trees/shrubs, herbaceous perennials and winter annuals on Pahute and Rainier mesas, …