Dead trees do tell tales: investigations into the role of fires on archaeological site location and recognition in the Piney Creek drainage of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem
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Abstract
The discovery and documentation of an archaeological site is dependent on three conditions. First, that people in the past left something behind; second, that those materials preserved; finally, that location is observed and documented by a researcher. Fires impact all three. Past fires would have interacted with available resources and caused changes to local and regional geomorphologic processes (conditions one and two). Perishable artifacts can be burned and destroyed in the heat of a fire. Even durable items such as projectile points can be modified by heat fracturing, spalling, and ...
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