Dating the Sites and House Structures

Learning the age of a site or house structure - when and for how long it was occupied - is a critical first step in almost any archaeological study. Three techniques were used to date house structures at Crooks Canyon: artifact styles, radiocarbon dating, and obsidian hydration. In the following presentation, note how the results of all three dating techniques reinforce each other, and point to very recent use.


Artifact Styles

Archaeologists discovered long ago that artifact styles - the ways people make things - change over time. Styles change when people's tastes and ideas change. We have already seen how projectile point styles change over time on the Modoc Plateau. Not surprisingly, the more recent house structures in Crooks Canyon contain mostly what archaeologists call Rose Spring and Desert Side-notched projectile points, the last types of stone weapon tips manufactured by Native peoples in this area. Similarly, certain styles of historic artifacts, such as glass beads, buttons, shell casings, nails, and shoe parts, have their own distinct periods of manufacture and popularity.

Excavations at two house structures in Crooks Canyon produced a variety of historic artifacts. By noting the overlap in time periods associated with the span of popularity for each artifact, archaeologists were able to estimate when these house structures were occupied. In the illustration below, we see that this overlap occurs between about 1860 and 1880. This period includes the Battle of Infernal Caverns and the hostilities immediately preceding it. Perhaps the most remarkable artifact recovered tying the occupants of the houses to these military encounters was a bronze, U.S. General Service military uniform button manufactured between 1854 and 1860.

Historic artifacts found in Native American house structures in Crooks Canyon. By noting the period of overlap in the manufacture of these items - between about 1860 and 1880 - archaeologists are able to pin-point when these houses were occupied.


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