Human prehistory in North America has sparked the interest of private citizens for decades, sometimes leading to an accumulation of avocational artifact collections that lack site-level provenience. The Wild/Clymer artifacts (n = 1,371) are one such collection where precise site provenience was lost. The analysis aims to recover regional provenience by using morphology, raw material sourcing, and typology to create a data set. The avocational collection data set was analyzed by comparing it to the professionally recorded archaeological data sets from within 100 miles of Frenchglen, Oregon. A paradigmatic classification approach identified 606 typeable points in the avocational collection, in addition to other morphological traits. Systematic typological schemes used throughout the Great Basin identified 15 different projectile point types, with the densest concentration consisting of Elko Eared (20%) projectile points. The results of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis identified 62 obsidian sources from the northwest Great Basin, although it was dominated by Beatys Butte obsidian. Many morphological, typological, and sourcing characteristics of the Wild/Clymer Collection sample are consistent with professionally analyzed archaeological records within the northern Great Basin. We conclude that lost information can be recovered and used to evaluate scientific information potential, which facilitates the identification of affiliated Tribes for collaboration in the continued care and management of the collection.
","abstract_html":"<p>Human prehistory in North America has sparked the interest of private citizens for decades, sometimes leading to an accumulation of avocational artifact collections that lack site-level provenience. The Wild/Clymer artifacts (n = 1,371) are one such collection where precise site provenience was lost. The analysis aims to recover regional provenience by using morphology, raw material sourcing, and typology to create a data set. The avocational collection data set was analyzed by comparing it to the professionally recorded archaeological data sets from within 100 miles of Frenchglen, Oregon. A paradigmatic classification approach identified 606 typeable points in the avocational collection, in addition to other morphological traits. Systematic typological schemes used throughout the Great Basin identified 15 different projectile point types, with the densest concentration consisting of Elko Eared (20%) projectile points. The results of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis identified 62 obsidian sources from the northwest Great Basin, although it was dominated by Beatys Butte obsidian. Many morphological, typological, and sourcing characteristics of the Wild/Clymer Collection sample are consistent with professionally analyzed archaeological records within the northern Great Basin. We conclude that lost information can be recovered and used to evaluate scientific information potential, which facilitates the identification of affiliated Tribes for collaboration in the continued care and management of the collection.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hughes, Mackenzie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Cultural and Environmental Resource Management","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Patrick McCutcheon","Steve Hackenberger","Craig Skinner"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:37:48Z","subjects":["Archaeology; Lithics; Lithic Technology; Museum; Provenance; Raw Material Sourcing; Great Basin; Oregon; Nevada; pXRF; XRF; Typology; Provenience","Anthropology","Archaeological Anthropology","Geochemistry","Geology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1392","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Patrick McCutcheon","Steve Hackenberger","Craig Skinner"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hughes, Mackenzie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-09-14T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Cultural and Environmental Resource Management"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Archaeology; Lithics; Lithic Technology; Museum; Provenance; Raw Material Sourcing; Great Basin; Oregon; Nevada; pXRF; XRF; Typology; Provenience","Anthropology","Archaeological Anthropology","Geochemistry","Geology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1392"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Human prehistory in North America has sparked the interest of private citizens for decades, sometimes leading to an accumulation of avocational artifact collections that lack site-level provenience. The Wild/Clymer artifacts (n = 1,371) are one such collection where precise site provenience was lost. The analysis aims to recover regional provenience by using morphology, raw material sourcing, and typology to create a data set. The avocational collection data set was analyzed by comparing it to the professionally recorded archaeological data sets from within 100 miles of Frenchglen, Oregon. A paradigmatic classification approach identified 606 typeable points in the avocational collection, in addition to other morphological traits. Systematic typological schemes used throughout the Great Basin identified 15 different projectile point types, with the densest concentration consisting of Elko Eared (20%) projectile points. The results of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis identified 62 obsidian sources from the northwest Great Basin, although it was dominated by Beatys Butte obsidian. Many morphological, typological, and sourcing characteristics of the Wild/Clymer Collection sample are consistent with professionally analyzed archaeological records within the northern Great Basin. We conclude that lost information can be recovered and used to evaluate scientific information potential, which facilitates the identification of affiliated Tribes for collaboration in the continued care and management of the collection.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Recovering Lost Information From Avocational Projectile Point Collections"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Patrick McCutcheon","Steve Hackenberger","Craig Skinner"],"dc:creator":["Hughes, Mackenzie"],"dc:date.available":["2021-09-14T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Human prehistory in North America has sparked the interest of private citizens for decades, sometimes leading to an accumulation of avocational artifact collections that lack site-level provenience. The Wild/Clymer artifacts (n = 1,371) are one such collection where precise site provenience was lost. The analysis aims to recover regional provenience by using morphology, raw material sourcing, and typology to create a data set. The avocational collection data set was analyzed by comparing it to the professionally recorded archaeological data sets from within 100 miles of Frenchglen, Oregon. A paradigmatic classification approach identified 606 typeable points in the avocational collection, in addition to other morphological traits. Systematic typological schemes used throughout the Great Basin identified 15 different projectile point types, with the densest concentration consisting of Elko Eared (20%) projectile points. The results of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis identified 62 obsidian sources from the northwest Great Basin, although it was dominated by Beatys Butte obsidian. Many morphological, typological, and sourcing characteristics of the Wild/Clymer Collection sample are consistent with professionally analyzed archaeological records within the northern Great Basin. We conclude that lost information can be recovered and used to evaluate scientific information potential, which facilitates the identification of affiliated Tribes for collaboration in the continued care and management of the collection.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1392"],"dc:subject":["Archaeology; Lithics; Lithic Technology; Museum; Provenance; Raw Material Sourcing; Great Basin; Oregon; Nevada; pXRF; XRF; Typology; Provenience","Anthropology","Archaeological Anthropology","Geochemistry","Geology"],"dc:title":["Recovering Lost Information From Avocational Projectile Point Collections"],"dc:type":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Cultural and Environmental Resource Management"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:37:48Z"}