Report on an Archaeological Survey in Tiefort Basin, Fort Irwin, San Bernardino County, California.
Abstract
A 36 square kilometer cultural resource survey was made of Tiefort Basin, located at Fort Irwin, California. Tiefort Basin is used by the National Training Center (NTC) as a central staging area for monthly force on force engagements of opposing mechanized units which necessarily results in the disturbance of large tracts of land and adverse impacts to cultural resources. This study was undertaken as part of a multi-phase program of inventory, site evaluation, and mitigation developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, in consultation with the NTC, to manage the cultural resources contained at Fort Irwin. The survey resulted in the identification and recordation of 12 prehistoric sites and 74 isolated artifact/feature locations. These archeological locations, as well as those recorded during previous investigations, are differentially distributed across five broad geomorphic units, each with a differing constellation of hydrological, biological and depositional features. Prehistoric subsistence-settlement activity during the approximate 10,000 years of human occupation of Tiefort Basin was focused primarily on the bottom-lands and dune areas on and adjacent to Tiefort Wash northwest of Bitter Spring. In contrast, basin piedmonts to the north and east of Tiefort Wash appear never to have been significantly used. These findings, combined with the results of previous archaeological investigations in the area, may have relevance in terms of several proposed models of prehistoric culture in the Mojave Desert.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 21, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA175992
Entities
People
- Kelly R. Mcguire
- M. C. Hall
- Mark E. Basgall