Theses and Dissertations Collection

Twenty seven prehistoric zooarchaeological assemblages from 20 archaeological sites have been recovered from the Clearwater and adjacent lower Snake River regions in Idaho. Nearly 60% of the early prehistoric assemblages (ca. 10,000-6000 BP) are comprised of bear (Ursus spp.), while deer (Odocoileus spp.) dominate both middle (ca. 6000-3000 BP) and late (ca. 3,000-500 BP) prehistoric assemblages. Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), bison (Bison bison), and pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), all of which are extirpated from the study area today, together comprise up to 2.5% of the total faunal assemblage and 6.5% of the late prehistoric assemblage. Within each phase, rabbits and large rodents comprise ≤3% of the total assemblage. The relative frequencies of mammals across all sites suggests subsistence practices focus on large mammals (>25 kg). Artiodactyl index values across all sites indicate a reliance on artiodactyls during all time periods. The relative abundance of deer was negatively correlated with taxonomic evenness (Spearman's rho = -0.8061; p = 0.0049), indicating that subsistence was focused upon deer.