Marmes Rockshelter
Encyclopedia
The Marmes Rockshelter is an archaeological site
first excavated in 1962, near the confluence of the Snake
and Palouse River
s, in Franklin County, southeastern Washington. This rockshelter is remarkable in the level of preservation of organic materials, the depth of stratified deposits
, and the apparent age of the associated Native American
human remains
. The site was discovered on the property of Roland Marmes, and was the site of the oldest human remains in North America at that time. In 1966, the site became, along with Chinook Point
and the American and English Camps
on San Juan Island, the first National Historic Landmark
s listed in Washington. In 1969, the site was submerged in water when a levee
protecting it from waters rising behind the then newly constructed Lower Monumental Dam, which was 20 miles (32 km) down the Snake River, failed to hold back water that leaked into the protected area through gravel under the soil, creating Lake Herbert G. West
.
, a geologist, under the auspices of Washington State University
(WSU)and the National Park Service
in 1962, and continued until 1964. In 1965, Fryxell returned to the site along with Professor Carl Gustafson and students from WSU, and had Roland Marmes dig a trench in front of the rockshelter with his bulldozer, which turned up human and elk bones. Radiocarbon dating
indicated that the human remains were about 10,000 years old. In 1968, Fryxell returned once again, this time with several WSU professors (including a visiting professor from Poland) and members of the United States Geological Survey
, and found more human and animal remains, along with bone tools. April 29 of that year, Washington Senator Warren Magnuson made a public announcement of the finds.
Lyndon B. Johnson
signed an Executive Order that authorized funding for the Army Corps of Engineers
to build a levee
around the site to protect it from the imminent flooding caused by construction of the Lower Monumental Dam. Late that year, Daugherty left the dig, leaving Fryxell to lead the project. Once the Lower Monumental Dam was closed in February 1969, within three days, the site was completely underwater, due to the seepage of thick layers of gravel that had not been accounted for. However, as the site was being flooded, the excavation team laid down plastic sheeting topped with gravel in the hopes of being able to return to the dig in the future.
The location of the site is still known today, and has come under some threat of erosion from the wakes of motorized vehicles on the lake. The Army Corps of Engineers considers the site to be in stable condition with a "Satisfactory" threat rating since 2004.
The excavations at the site revealed evidence of human occupation from a period that lasted 8,000 years, and that the area was home to humans as long ago as 11,230 years ago. The people living at the site hunted game such as elk and deer using atlatl
s, and also hunted smaller mammals such as beavers, while they gathered mussels from the river. The excavation turned up graves, which included beads carved from shells and spear points. One grave, that of a child, held five matching knives made of stone. The excavation also turned up chalcedony
and chert
arrowheads. Those in the upper layers were made of agate
, which is not found in the area. Stone tools were found as well, such as scrapers for use in tanning hides, and mortars and pestles
. In layers dated to 7,000 years ago, large amounts of shells belonging to a snail
of the genus
Olivella were found, which would have been imported from the West Coast of the United States
, 200 miles (322 km) away. The majority of the shells had holes drilled through them, indicating that they had adorned necklaces.
In addition, one of the five known Jefferson Peace Medals
was found associated with the most recent human remains at the site, evidently having been given to a local Native American leader (presumably of the Nez Perce) during the Lewis and Clark Expedition
. This medal has since been returned to the Nez Perce and reburied, as per Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
regulations.
Analyzing the pollen sequences at the site showed a steppe ecosystem immediately following the retreat of glaciers 13,000 years ago, which gave way to a mixed forest of pine and spruce, which led in to the current sagebrush prairie ecosystem.
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
first excavated in 1962, near the confluence of the Snake
Snake River
The Snake is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
and Palouse River
Palouse River
The Palouse River is a tributary of the Snake River located in the U.S. states of Washington and Idaho. It flows for southwestwards, primarily through the Palouse region of southeastern Washington...
s, in Franklin County, southeastern Washington. This rockshelter is remarkable in the level of preservation of organic materials, the depth of stratified deposits
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
, and the apparent age of the associated Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
human remains
Human Remains
Human Remains is a British black comedy television series written by and starring Rob Brydon and Julia Davis. It consisted of six episodes that aired in 2000. Each episode documented the relationship of a different couple, all of whom were played by Brydon and Davis and all but two of whom were...
. The site was discovered on the property of Roland Marmes, and was the site of the oldest human remains in North America at that time. In 1966, the site became, along with Chinook Point
Fort Columbia State Park
Fort Columbia State Park is a park located in Chinook, Washington. The historic park encompasses Fort Columbia, one of the few intact coastal defense sites in the United States....
and the American and English Camps
San Juan Island National Historical Park
San Juan Island National Historical Park, also known as American and English Camps, San Juan Island, is a U.S. National Historical Park owned and operated by the National Park Service on San Juan Island in the state of Washington. The park is made up of the sites of the British and U.S. Armies'...
on San Juan Island, the first National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
s listed in Washington. In 1969, the site was submerged in water when a levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
protecting it from waters rising behind the then newly constructed Lower Monumental Dam, which was 20 miles (32 km) down the Snake River, failed to hold back water that leaked into the protected area through gravel under the soil, creating Lake Herbert G. West
Lake Herbert G. West
Lake Herbert G. West is a reservoir formed by the Lower Monumental Dam. It extends up the Snake River for 28 miles to the tailwater of Little Goose Dam...
.
The excavation
The existence of the site was first brought to the attention of Professor Richard Daugherty in 1952 by a rancher named John McGregor. Excavations at the site were started by Daugherty and Roald FryxellRoald H. Fryxell
Roald H. Fryxell was an American geologist and archaeologist.-Background:Roald Hilding Fryxell was the son of Fritiof Fryxell, a geologist and professor, and Regina Holmén Fryxell, an organist and music teacher, both on the faculty of Augustana College in Illinois, from which he graduated in 1956...
, a geologist, under the auspices of Washington State University
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
(WSU)and the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
in 1962, and continued until 1964. In 1965, Fryxell returned to the site along with Professor Carl Gustafson and students from WSU, and had Roland Marmes dig a trench in front of the rockshelter with his bulldozer, which turned up human and elk bones. Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
indicated that the human remains were about 10,000 years old. In 1968, Fryxell returned once again, this time with several WSU professors (including a visiting professor from Poland) and members of the United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
, and found more human and animal remains, along with bone tools. April 29 of that year, Washington Senator Warren Magnuson made a public announcement of the finds.
Inundation of the site
After a bill that would have provided funds to protect the site failed, then-PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
signed an Executive Order that authorized funding for the Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
to build a levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
around the site to protect it from the imminent flooding caused by construction of the Lower Monumental Dam. Late that year, Daugherty left the dig, leaving Fryxell to lead the project. Once the Lower Monumental Dam was closed in February 1969, within three days, the site was completely underwater, due to the seepage of thick layers of gravel that had not been accounted for. However, as the site was being flooded, the excavation team laid down plastic sheeting topped with gravel in the hopes of being able to return to the dig in the future.
The location of the site is still known today, and has come under some threat of erosion from the wakes of motorized vehicles on the lake. The Army Corps of Engineers considers the site to be in stable condition with a "Satisfactory" threat rating since 2004.
Findings at the site
Atlatl
An atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...
s, and also hunted smaller mammals such as beavers, while they gathered mussels from the river. The excavation turned up graves, which included beads carved from shells and spear points. One grave, that of a child, held five matching knives made of stone. The excavation also turned up chalcedony
Chalcedony
Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of the minerals quartz and moganite. These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, while moganite is monoclinic...
and chert
Chert
Chert is a fine-grained silica-rich microcrystalline, cryptocrystalline or microfibrous sedimentary rock that may contain small fossils. It varies greatly in color , but most often manifests as gray, brown, grayish brown and light green to rusty red; its color is an expression of trace elements...
arrowheads. Those in the upper layers were made of agate
Agate
Agate is a microcrystalline variety of silica, chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks and can be common in certain metamorphic rocks.-Etymology...
, which is not found in the area. Stone tools were found as well, such as scrapers for use in tanning hides, and mortars and pestles
Mortar and pestle
A mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix solid substances . The pestle is a heavy bat-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, ceramic or stone...
. In layers dated to 7,000 years ago, large amounts of shells belonging to a snail
Olive Shell
Olive shells, olive snails, or olives, scientific name Olividae, are a family of medium to large predatory sea snails with smooth, shiny, elongated oval-shaped shells. The shells often show various muted but attractive colors, and may be patterned also...
of the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Olivella were found, which would have been imported from the West Coast of the United States
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, 200 miles (322 km) away. The majority of the shells had holes drilled through them, indicating that they had adorned necklaces.
In addition, one of the five known Jefferson Peace Medals
Indian Peace Medal
The term Indian Peace Medals is most commonly associated with circular silver medallions distributed to Native American tribal representatives by representatives of the United States government. They were designed and created by a man named John Reich. They were made in three sizes: small, medium...
was found associated with the most recent human remains at the site, evidently having been given to a local Native American leader (presumably of the Nez Perce) during the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
. This medal has since been returned to the Nez Perce and reburied, as per Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act , Pub. L. 101-601, 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq., 104 Stat. 3048, is a United States federal law passed on 16 November 1990 requiring federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding to return Native American "cultural items" to...
regulations.
Analyzing the pollen sequences at the site showed a steppe ecosystem immediately following the retreat of glaciers 13,000 years ago, which gave way to a mixed forest of pine and spruce, which led in to the current sagebrush prairie ecosystem.
Implications of the findings
Unlike many archaeologic finds, the human remains at the site were able to be dated with environmental, geologic, and archaeologic methods. Human remains at the site are the oldest that have been found in Washington, and at the time was the oldest set of remains found in North America. Later radiocarbon work has confirmed the original dating of this site, indicating that these human remains, albeit very fragmentary, are still some of the oldest ever excavated in the New World. This finding was useful in confirming the early chronology of the region and confirming the antiquity of the styles of associated bone tools.Sources
- Downey, Roger (2000). Riddle of the Bones: Politics, Science, Race, and the Story of Kennewick Man, Springer, ISBN 0387988777.
- Fiedel, Stuart J. (1992). Prehistory of the Americas, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521425441.
- Hicks, Brent A. (2004). Marmes Rockshelter: A Final Report on 11,000 Years of Cultural Use, Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, ISBN 0874222753.
- Kirk, Ruth (1970). The Oldest Man in America: An Adventure in Archaeology, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc., ISBN 0152578315.
- Kirk, Ruth; Daugherty, Richard D. (1978). Exploring Washington Archaeology, University of Washington Press, ISBN 0295956305.
- LeWarne, Charles (2003). Washington State, Seattle: University of Washington Press, ISBN 0295973013.