University of Utah Anthropological Paper No. 124

Buzz-Cut Dune is an important Fremont-culture village site located on the western margin of Dugway Proving Ground near the Utah-Nevada border. It was discovered during construction activity in 2000. Initial descriptions noted at least five structure floors apparently dating to the Fremont period (AD 500-1200) together with an array of ceramic, groundstone, and chipped stone artifacts. Full-scale excavations revealed a much more complex intermittent occupational pattern over a period of at least 5,000 years beginning with “Archaic” foragers up through proto-historic times.

Throughout this sequence, site usage was characterized by short-term visits from mobile foraging groups. Although the Fremont practiced agriculture elsewhere, there is no evidence for it here, which bears on current discussions regarding the relationship between Fremont farmers and foragers.

Buzz-Cut Dune and Fremont Foraging at the Margin of Horticulture is the site report of a well-planned regional excavation with a strong theoretical component.

David Madsen is an archaeologist with Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory. He is the author of Entering America: Northeast Asia and Beringia before the Last Glacial Maximum (University of Utah Press, 2004) and co-author of Camels Back Cave, University of Utah Anthropological Paper Number 125 (University of Utah Press, 2005).

Dave Schmitt is a research associate with the department of anthropology at Washington State University, part-time archaeologist with the Desert Research Institute, and co-author of Camels Back Cave, University of Utah Anthropological Paper Number 125 (University of Utah Press, 2005).