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AN EARLY HOLOCENE/LATE PLEISTOCENE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE ON THE OREGON COAST? COMMENTS ON HALL ET AL. (2005)
Abstract
In the journal Radiocarbon, Hall et al. (2005:383) claim that 35-CS-9, located in Bandon Ocean
Wayside State Park on the southern Oregon coast, is one of the few Oregon coast sites that includes
sediments and artifacts dating to the early Holocene and possibly to the late Pleistocene. Their
claim for an early Holocene or late Pleistocene human occupation rests on a single radiocarbon date
of 11,000 140 BP (12,71012,680 cal BP) taken from charcoal found at least 20 cm below the
nearest artifact. Although Hall et al. compile various kinds of geoarchaeological evidence to support
this claim, their case is not convincing. While we applaud aspects of their analyses, the inferences
they have drawn are not substantiated by the evidence they present. We agree that 35-CS-9 is a significant
site but believe claims for the antiquity of its human use have been exaggerated.
Wayside State Park on the southern Oregon coast, is one of the few Oregon coast sites that includes
sediments and artifacts dating to the early Holocene and possibly to the late Pleistocene. Their
claim for an early Holocene or late Pleistocene human occupation rests on a single radiocarbon date
of 11,000 140 BP (12,71012,680 cal BP) taken from charcoal found at least 20 cm below the
nearest artifact. Although Hall et al. compile various kinds of geoarchaeological evidence to support
this claim, their case is not convincing. While we applaud aspects of their analyses, the inferences
they have drawn are not substantiated by the evidence they present. We agree that 35-CS-9 is a significant
site but believe claims for the antiquity of its human use have been exaggerated.