Margaret Lyneis and the Pottery Traditions of Corn Creek and Ash Meadows, Southern Nevada

Abstract

Margaret Lyneis examined pottery recovered from two of southern Nevada’s desert oases, the Desert National Wildlife Refuge and the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. People occupied these rich havens of springs and lush vegetation fairly continuously from the Early Archaic period, with farming practiced during the Formative and Post-Formative periods. Lyneis’ investigations demonstrated for the first time that pottery was made in these locations during the later periods, with tempers for both gray and brown ware ceramics consisting of crushed rock obtained from adjacent mountains. This paper summarizes these studies and reflects on the implications of Lyneis’ research for understanding Nevada’s prehistory.

Margaret Lyneis examinó cerámica recuperada de dos de los oasis del desierto del sur de Nevada, el Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre del Desierto y el Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Ash Meadows. La gente ocupaba estos refugios ricos de manatiales y exuberante vegetacion de manera bastante continua durante el periódo Arcaico Temperano, con la agricultura practicada durante los periódos Formativo y Postformativo. Las investigaciones de Lyneis demonstraron por la primera vez que cerámica fue producida en estas locaciones durante los periódos posteriores, con desgrasantes para cerámicas gris y marrón que consistía de rocas trituradas obtenidas de montañas adyacentes. Este artículo resume estos estudios y reflexiona sobre las implicaciones de la investigación de Lyneis para comprientendo las prehistoria de Nevada.

KEYWORDS:

• Virgin Branch Pueblo
• Southern Paiute
• Ash Meadows
• Corn Creek site

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Margaret Lyneis for her above-and-beyond the call research, which made this article possible. Funding research was provided by the Fish and Wildlife Service. I would also like to thank Amy Sprunger at the Corn Creek Field Station for her encouragement and support. Keith Hardin drafted Figure 1, Daniel Perez translated the abstract, Helen Fairley and Karen Harry reviewed the manuscript and provided excellent comments.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.