First published 2008 by Left Coast Press, Inc.
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Simms, Steven R.
Ancient peoples of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau/Steven R.
Simms ; original artwork by Eric Carlson and Noel Carmack.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59874-295-4 (hardback : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-59874-296-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Paleo-IndiansGreat Basin. 2. Paleo-IndiansColorado Plateau. 3. Indians of North AmericaGreat BasinAntiquities. 4. Indians of North AmericaColorado PlateauAntiquities. 5. Great BasinAntiquities. 6. Colorado PlateauAntiquities. 7. Great BasinEnvironmental conditionsHistory. 8. Colorado PlateauEnvironmental conditionsHistory. I. Title.
E78.G67S54 2008978.00497dc222008003539
Cover design by Hannah Jennings
ISBN 978-1-59874-295-4 hardcover
ISBN 978-1-59874-296-1 paperback
T his book is about the ancient peoples of the Great Basin and the northern Colorado Plateau, a region occupying most of Nevada and Utah and portions of California, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado. It is an investigation of once real lives across an expanse of time too large to comprehend in terms of our short lives, through empathy, or by appeal to our imagined histories.
My aim is toward those who know something about the region and something about archaeology, and who want to understand why the ancient histories happened the way they did. This book is not a compendium of archaeological digs, or a list of relics found, or a guide to identifying arrowhead collections. Neither is it an exhaustive textbook recitation of the scholarly studies pertaining to the region. It is an interpretation of the physical record of past cultures, ecosystems, and climates. As such, it includes examples of the evidence found at archaeological sites to back up my interpretations, although this treatise is certainly not encyclopedic. I intend it to be synthetic, but it is my own set of perceptions and interpretations.
Two premises anchor my story. The first is that a scientific approach must be the foundation for knowing the past. This is not because science is truth, but because all interpretations of the past, whether they arise from religious conviction, ethnic identity, politics, folklore, or written history originating in the blink of the past two centuries, must be evaluated against empirical evidence that actually originated in that past. Why? Ancient times are too large to know if we are armed only with our modern understandings. To know a past different from our present requires a fundamental acknowledgment: Regardless of what one believes happened in the past, and no matter how strongly ones convictions are held, something did happen and this reality may hold little resemblance to modern peoples beliefs or perceptions. The only way to navigate the diversity of stories and the inevitable contention among peoples beliefs is to appeal to the evidence no matter how fragmentary, while acknowledging the vagaries of the scientific process.
Western North America showing the Great Basin, a land of internal drainage and the Colorado Plateau, a land of high mesas dissected by deep canyons. They constitute the Basin-Plateau because of the cultural similarities of Native American groups and some degree of unity in the ancient history of the region. What occurred in the Basin-Plateau was shaped by what went on around it, especially in the Southwest and California; hence these regions are also identified. The Wasatch Front of Utah is depicted because it provides a perceptual anchor to the narrative and serves as a springboard into the regions deep past.
The images in the mirrors are our selves. Knowledge about a past that might not conform to our initial perceptions or to our traditional knowledge challenges us to see the modern world differently.
Even after practicing archaeology in the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau regions for 35 years, I still find excitement in a landscape that I like to say is a study in pastels. I continue to find intrigue in archaeological remains that are often so subtle, visitors wonder what it is we are looking at, let alone finding. Over the years of teaching, I realized that audiences want the past interpreted and explained, not just described. Even for those whose initial interest in archaeology arose from the mere collection of objects, the deeper desire is to climb into a time machine and find out what these distant peoples and cultures were like. Finally, I believe there are educated readers seeking to go deeper into the Ancient Desert West but who dont want to work through the highly specialized and technical articles in professional journals.
At some risk of bringing too much conclusiveness to the story, I try to strike a balance between breadth, depth, scientific responsibility, and audience sensitivities. To facilitate this goal, I employ the notion of place as a vehicle for the narrative. The cultures of the Basin-Plateau conceptualized sense of place in vastly different ways, not only from us but among themselves. And sense of place changed fundamentally over the centuries and millennia. At times place was
My goal is nevertheless to tell a story that is scientifically responsible, and thus one that can be supported with observed evidence. Extensive end notes are a significant element of this book. They constitute a book within a book for those who want to know what supports my interpretations. They offer avenues for further reading, and on many topics they are a subtext under the narrative. The book can be read with them or without them, and in this way I hope it can find accessibility for the educated lay reader, students, and perhaps colleagues.
