The Ash Meadows Collection is from the Amargosa Desert on the western periphery of the Great Basin. The numerous springs in this desert location offered a unique setting for prehistoric people living in the harsh Great Basin environment, as well as opportunities for mining and farming for historic settlers. The area continues to provide a refuge for many species of plants and animals today.

The 14 archaeological sites that comprise the Ash Meadows collection were excavated between 1968 and 1971 by Dr. Claude Warren, of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Dr. Peter Mehringer Jr., of Washington State University. Excavations yielded over 15,200 archaeological, faunal, and macrobotanical specimens that have contributed to the interpretation of human adaptation and environmental change in the Great Basin.

Paleoecological Reconstructions
The excavations at Ash Meadows have given researchers valuable insight into the highly variable and rapidly changing prehistoric Great Basin environment. Dr. Mehringer and Dr. Warren used information from archaeological sites, dune migration and peat formation sequences, radiocarbon dates on charcoal, and fossil mollusk remains to trace fluctuations in the water table at Ash Meadows. Spring channels and playa lakes were present during the Late Pleistocene, reflecting the wetter environmental conditions that prevailed during that time. Erosional surfaces and migrating dunes show that progressively dryer conditions existed at Ash Meadows during the Holocene. The data from Ash Meadows has been correlated with similar data at sites such as Tule Springs, and used to reconstruct regional paleoclimatic change in the Great Basin. This paleoenvironmental information has been essential in understanding human adaptation in the Great Basin.

Archaeological Interpretations
The archaeological sites excavated at Ash Meadows reflect extensive prehistoric and historic use of the area, and are some of the first in the Amargosa drainage to have been radiocarbon dated. Sites types and features include artifact scatters, occupation surfaces, hearths, storage pits, and a cave site. Early use of the area is documented by the Barnett Site, where a hearth with a radiocarbon date of 1950 B.P., and a multitude of chipped stone and ground stone artifacts document the camps of hunter-gatherer groups. Another nearby site, characterized as an occupation surface with Death Valley III components and Virgin Anasazi ceramics, yielded a radiocarbon date of 1280 B.P. A third site at Ash Meadows records a camp site used by Numic migrants to the Great Basin region, and is documented by Paiute pottery and a hearth with a radiocarbon date of 440 B.P.

Artifacts, and floral and faunal evidence, tell of the daily experiences of the prehistoric and historic Native American people at Ash Meadows. Ground stone manos and macrobotanical remains suggest that people ate mesquite beans, squash, corn, piņon nuts, and various other seeds. Chipped stone scrapers, projectile points, and burned faunal remains from fish, amphibians, and tortoise also show that the prehistoric people of this area had a rich and varied diet. Textiles, mats, and cordage tell of how people added comfort to their surroundings. Items such as shell beads and Virgin Anasazi potsherds attest to the extensive trade and social networks that existed, aiding prehistoric Great Basin people in their survival.

Historically, Ash Meadows served as a camp for people en route to California during the Gold Rush. The many historic glass and metal artifacts found at the Barnett Site document this historic use. The occurrence of "brum corn", a species of corn thought to have been cultivated historically by Mormon groups in the western U.S., documents Mormon settlement of the Ash Meadows area. More recent historic use by European settlers focused on diverting the spring waters for agricultural development of the area.

Ash Meadows References

Mehringer, P. J., Jr. and C. N. Warren
1976 Marsh, Dune and Archaeological Chronology, Ash Meadows, Amargosa Desert,
Nevada. In Holocene Environmental Change in the Great Basin, edited by R. G.
Elston and P. Headrick, pp. 120-150. Nevada Archaeological Survey Research Papers.
Reno.

Muto, G. R., P. J. Mehringer, Jr. and C. N. Warren
1976 A Technological Analysis of Projectile Points from a Burial, Amargosa Desert,
Nevada. Kiva 41(3-4):267-276.

Other sources of gray literature related to this collection are available at UNLV's Department of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies