Papers by Patrick McCutcheon
Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 1993
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Journal of Archaeological Science, 1994
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Resource intensification is a theoretical concept that is used routinely to explain past human su... more Resource intensification is a theoretical concept that is used routinely to explain past human subsistence and settlement systems by identifying evidence of sedentism, storage, ranking, and hierarchy among early horticulturists and complex hunter-gatherers. Evidence for these developments in the archaeological record include: large houses, and cooking and storage features. Resource intensification, as defined, can include technology for mass capture and processing, resource extension through scheduling, logistical organization of labor, or expanding habitat use. Within the Pacific Northwest, theoretical explanations of these developments grew within three schools: evolutionary-ecology, political economy, and social agency. Our strategy is to (1) diagram the intellectual history of Northwest coast and Columbia plateau theory, and (2) trace relationships and interactions between synthetic works and archaeological studies. Given that almost all treatments of resource intensification fo...
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Journal of Northwest Anthropology, 2017
The Grissom site (45-KT-301) is a late Holocene archaeological deposit in northeast Kittitas Coun... more The Grissom site (45-KT-301) is a late Holocene archaeological deposit in northeast Kittitas County, Washington. Ethnohistoric and historic evidence indicates that the site may reside near the historically recorded Kittitas Fair, or Che-lo-han, a gathering place for Native Americans. Given the proximity to a trade center and the presence of obsidian artifacts, the site exhibits potential to contribute information on obsidian movement and trade in the Pacific Northwest. Using an evolutionary archaeology framework, we undertook a systematic lithic analysis of 167 obsidian artifacts from the Grissom site, including an XRF analysis of a 30% sample. The purpose of this research was to identify whether the site may have been at or near a trade location, and to quantify relationships between source diversity, source locality, and lithic technology. We then compared the results to four previously identified patterns or models for Pacific Northwest obsidian artifact distribution. Eight nonlocal sources and two local sources were identified in the study, supporting the possibility that the site may have been located at or near a trade center. The source diversity in obsidian bifaces and flakes was found to be significantly higher than that of cores, most of which were from a local obsidian source. An inter-site comparison between the Grissom obsidian and the obsidian from three southern Cascade Mountain sites suggested that site-to-source distance was not the only factor driving obsidian occurrence, and instead source quality, trade relationships, or other influences likely contributed to obsidian source distribution at these sites.
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Northwest Anthropology, 2016
To explain the occurrence of obsidian artifact variation in a sample from Northern Mid-Columbia R... more To explain the occurrence of obsidian artifact variation in a sample from Northern Mid-Columbia River archaeological assemblages, we employed an evolutionary archaeology model to test our hypotheses. This model identified inter-variable relationships between stone tool cost and performance sub-variables to define classifications for the collection of artifact provenance, material, technological, and functional data. Data resampling and a stepwise statistical analysis were used to make arguments for why certain partitions of the data were representative and non-randomly associated across source, time, and space. Non-random associations of data frequencies across these variables revealed that natural selection was the primary causal mechanism structuring obsidian occurrence. Results demonstrated a preference for the manufacture of tools from local, low-quality sources; the use of local sources decreased through time, while source diversity generally increased following the expansion of trade systems, and obsidian occurrence across space differed likely due to environmental factors and proximity to trade hubs.
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Radiometric dating is problematic in non-midden sites of the Pacific Northwest. Charcoal is ubiqu... more Radiometric dating is problematic in non-midden sites of the Pacific Northwest. Charcoal is ubiquitous in the forest soils and unburned bone readily dissolves. This fact impedes development of regional chronologies and understanding of the process of resource intensification that was so important to development of Northwest cultures. To alleviate this deficiency, DirectAMS and Central Washington University undertook research to demonstrate the validity of alternatives to traditional radiocarbon dating of charcoal and bone, by using radiocarbon dating of calcined bone and luminescence dating. Calcined bone (i.e., bone burned in excess of 600°C) survives well in archaeological sites with acidic soils that are common to archaeological contexts along the Northwest Coast and has been found in the Old World to provide accurate radiocarbon dating. Luminescence dating can be applied to fire-cracked rock, which is common, particularly in food processing features. We developed a protocol for comparing calcined bone and luminescence dates with charcoal dates, taking all from the same features contexts. The comparison of the radiocarbon dating of charcoal and calcined bone to the luminescence dating of fire-cracked rock identifies the differences in the events that each medium dates and their association with the cultural activity associated with the cooking features. Results were compared for seven sites, demonstrating the validity of this approach to solving the region’s dating dilemma
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Canadian journal of archaeology, 2018
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Overview In the Pacific Northwest, recent research of obsidian artifacts has suggested a shift in... more Overview In the Pacific Northwest, recent research of obsidian artifacts has suggested a shift in the use of obsidian over time (Cadena 2012; Mack et al. 2010). These studies found that over time the distance from a source and the number of sources decreased. The ability to compare the occurrence of sources over geographic areas is essential for understanding the selective conditions under which obsidian is consumed. My research employs an Evolutionary Archaeology framework that considers the cost and performance of stone tool manufacture and use. Employing this model allows hypotheses to be tested about changing obsidian use. To understand the mechanisms of obsidian consumption it is necessary to study stone tool manufacture and use, source diversity, and distance from source-to-site (Eerkens et al. 2007). My research uses a model of stone tool cost and performance developed by McCutcheon (1997) that encompasses these variables with the addition of rock physical properties, as sugg...
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Quaternary Science Reviews
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American Antiquity
Radiocarbon dating using charcoal and bone collagen, two standards of archaeological chronology, ... more Radiocarbon dating using charcoal and bone collagen, two standards of archaeological chronology, can be difficult to impossible in environments where natural burning is common and bone does not preserve well. In such settings, charcoal ages cannot always be trusted and collagen is unavailable. Calcined bone can be a viable alternative medium in these situations but it has rarely been exploited in the Americas. One area that could benefit from its use is the forested Pacific Northwest. We compare calcined bone ages with charcoal and/or collagen dates from individual features or discrete cultural strata in 10 Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia sites dating between 9000 and 100 B.P. Resulting radiocarbon age estimates based on calcined bone closely match those based on charcoal and/or collagen in nearly all cases. We obtained calcined bone dates from three additional Holocene-aged sites that had not previously produced accurate results, obtaining findings consistent with e...
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Journal of Archaeological Science, 2014
Archaeologists have long struggled with distinguishing lithic materials modified by humans (artif... more Archaeologists have long struggled with distinguishing lithic materials modified by humans (artifacts) from natural objects (e.g., geofacts or zoofacts). This problem is especially difficult for finds of small numbers of flake-like lithic specimens, and particularly for very old finds. We attempt to address the artifact versus geofact problem at a paleontology site by employing three systematic and objective tests on the two recovered possible artifacts. First, they are compared with debitage attributes typically expected of artifacts and geofacts based on published experimental and actualistic data. Second, they are compared in terms of nine of these attributes with a toolstone sample from the site excavation matrix. Third, the two possible artifacts are scored for these nine attributes and graphed against the toolstone matrix sample and two samples of flintknapped debitage assemblages. In all three comparisons, the two specimens are more like artifacts than geofacts. While this does not prove the specimens are artifacts, it at least shows they cannot be easily dismissed as the sort of geofacts typically expected in the site matrix. We argue that this distinction is an important first step in the evaluation of possible lithic artifacts.
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Papers by Patrick McCutcheon