Environment, Prehistory & Archaeology of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Greg C. Burtchard

Chapter 4:
THE 1995 MOUNT RAINIER ARCHEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE
(continued)

THE NEW PICTURE, REPORTED PREHISTORIC SITES AND ISOLATES 1991-1995

During the present reconnaissance, 28 new sites, isolates, and well substantiated but unverified sites were added to the total documented through 1990. Table 4.1 lists reported finds, sources and site or isolate number. Map Figure 4.1 shows the count of 62 reported prehistoric places, both documented and unverified, in Mount Rainier National Park at the close of 1995.

Figure 4.1 Mount Rainier Prehistoric Localities Reported through 1995 Formally Documented Archaeological Sites in Mount Rainier National Park

Table 4.1 Sites and Isolates, 1991-1995 (also see Appendix A)

Twenty-four of the 62 sites and isolated finds reported through 1995 and shown on Figure 4.1 have not been verified in the field or documented in a formal fashion. They are included here to help illustrate the Park's first slow then rapidly growing archaeological record, to show the subalpine and alpine bias in the location of prehistoric use areas, and to provide an organized database for continuing verification survey efforts. Clearly, the site database will continue to grow as verbal accounts and historic period cultural remains are added to the list, and new survey adds as yet unknown cultural remains.

As noted above, eight prehistoric sites had been formally documented in Mount Rainier National Park at the beginning of the present project. Five of these were reevaluated and documentation updated in 1995. In addition, 11 previously reported, but undocumented, sites (n=4) and isolates (n=7) were recorded during the current project. Newly documented archaeological localities include eight new prehistoric sites, two historic period sites and 11 isolated finds. [27] Combined with reevaluated sites, these results bring to 40 the number of formally documented archaeological localities in Mount Rainier National Park. Fold-out Figure 4.2 shows 1995 reconnaissance areas and the current set of formally documented sites and isolates in Mount Rainier National Park. Full descriptive documentation for these sites is included in Burtchard and Hamilton (1998). A tabular summary of results is included as Table 4.2.

It is important to emphasize, that sites and isolated finds included here represent a beginning effort at documenting the Park's archaeological record. The site count will increase further as other localities are investigated, as subsurface techniques are added to surface reconnaissance efforts, and as overall sample areas increase. Please note, too, that due to this study's focus on prehistoric remains, the results substantially under-represent the Park's historic period archaeological record. Finally, additional hearsay localities not reflected in written reports probably will be added as efforts to elicit such information from knowledgeable individuals continue.

The above considerations notwithstanding, the current sample reasonably characterizes the general distribution of prehistoric archaeological remains in Mount Rainier National Park. Many of the documented sites and isolates were found over a long period of time by individuals whose observations accommodate a variety of locations, terrain and environmental circumstances. Accordingly, sampled terrain is widely dispersed across the Park landforms and environmental zones. Prehistoric site distribution, however, is not comparably dispersed. As predicted by Smith's (1964) over 30 years ago, the tendency toward location of prehistoric remains in subalpine to alpine settings is clear and represented on all sides of the mountain.

Patterns appear in other aspects of the archaeological record as well. In the sections that follow, extant Mount Rainier data are reviewed and related to implications for long-term land-use practices in the Park. Results of field lithic analyses are considered first; emphasizing artifact classes, technological attributes and raw materials. The lithic assemblage is then discussed in terms of its relevance to functional site distinctions and temporal implications. The final section of the chapter builds on these analyses to propose a nine-part site type model for the park. The final section also considers site type and distribution patterns in relation to a series of specific environmental variables.

Table 4.2 Mount Rainier 1995 Archaeological Site and Isolated Find Summary

Figure 4.2 Documented Archaeological Sites and Isolates, Mt. Rainier National Park (click on image for an enlargement in a new window)