238 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 179 



COMPARATIVE PLATEAU SITES 



The scarcity of published material on archeological excavations in 

 the Plateau is unfortunate. Almost all the existing reports have been 

 concerned with sites of the late prehistoric and early historic periods. 

 This may be due to the earlier sites being less numerous and difficult 

 to locate. However, one should not overlook the fact that late sites 

 usually contain more spectacular artifacts and larger quantities of 

 them. 



There are several ways in which the material culture of one area 

 may be compared with that of another. One of the most widely used 

 methods is the trait list which records presence and absence of arti- 

 fact types. Trait list comparisons are valid within limits. If the 

 two artifact collections are of the same general time horizon and 

 consist of large enough samples, reasonably good conclusions can be 

 reached. There are, of course, certain pitfalls. Presence and absence 

 listing usually does not account for the abundance of an artifact type 

 in one area and its rarity in the other. This must be done by some 

 additional notation. 



Statistical treatment of trait lists for the derivation of coefficients 

 of correspondence usually is unsatisfactory. The results can be no 

 better than the data used, and who can be sure that equal weight 

 should be given to each trait ? The sample from each area is seldom, 

 if ever, completely random, and rarely are collections large enough to 

 be good statistical samples. For these reasons it is believed that a list 

 of traits for each area accompanied by observations is suitable for 

 the purpose of comparison. In considering the other documented 

 sites in the Plateau this practice is followed. 



Certain artifact types are found all over the Plateau ; especially are 

 they associated with the late prehistoric and the early historic periods. 

 To save repetition, a list of artifacts common to all sections of the 

 Plateau is given below. It is to be understood that these are present 

 at all of the sites to be discussed, and are not, therefore, useful for 

 comparison. 



Cobble hammers Antler wedges 



Cobble choppers Splinter awls 



Polished pestles Two-notched net weights 



Stone mallets Chipped-stone drills 



Small corner-notched points Leaf -shaped blades 



Flake scrapers Dentalium shell 

 Tubular pipes 



THE DALLES REGION 



Downstream from the McNary Reservoir, there are several docu- 

 mented sites that are comparable. At The Dalles and vicinity, on the 



