A Rock Alignment Complex (10-OE-1319) in the Southcentral Owyhee Uplands, Idaho
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-1997
Abstract
Stone alignments are common throughout the Owyhee Uplands and include a variety of forms including cairns, circular and semi-circular structures, walls, canyon rim enclosures and cleared stone circles (Agenbroad 1976, Plew 1980; Tuohy 1963, see Table 1). Comparable structures have been described for other locations in southwestern Idaho including the Bennett Hills (see Idaho Archaeological Survey Files) with similar stone structures having been reported throughout the Great Basin (e.g. Delacorte 1985; Rudy 1953; Thomas 1988; Wallace 1976). The majority are believed to represent hunting stations, traps, corrals and drive lanes used to dispatch deer and pronghorn as well as bighorn sheep (McGuire and Hatoff 1991). In eastern Owyhee County, Idaho large stone alignment complexes have been described as bison jumps (Agenbroad 1976), though recently reinterpreted as probable deer and pronghorn procurement facilities (Plew 1988). Late prehistoric and historic Great Basin structures resembling these in form and function but constructed largely of wood have been reported by Arkush (1995), Pendleton and Thomas (1983), and Raymond (1982),
Publication Information
Plew, Mark G.. (1997). "A Rock Alignment Complex (10-OE-1319) in the Southcentral Owyhee Uplands, Idaho". Idaho Archaeologist, 20(2), 33-36.