Lisbeth A Louderback
Biographic Data
| ID | 3770635 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lisbeth A Louderback |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lisbeth A |
| FAMILY NAME | Louderback |
| SIGNATURE | LOUDERBACK L A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Utah |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9549-3455 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 37 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 17 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Targeted explorations of Pleistocene-Holocene transition archaeology on the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah
Starch Granule Yields from Open-Air Metates Unaffected by Environmental Contamination
The morphological characteristics of starch granules preserved on ancient ground stone tools can reveal which plant species were processed and consumed and even infer tool function. Bedrock metates are commonly associated with the processing of localized seasonal resources, providing potential evidence for past human lifeways, including foods collected and processed, social gatherings, settlement patterns, land investment, and territorial behavio…
An investment index for lithic technology
Identification of starch granules on ground stone tools exposed to fire
Climate-Driven Dietary Change on the Colorado Plateau, USA, and Implications for Gender-Specific Foraging Patterns
Complementary archaeological and paleoenvironmental datasets from North Creek Shelter (Colorado Plateau, Utah, USA) are analyzed using the diet breadth model, revealing human dietary patterns during the early and middle Holocene. Abundance indices are derived from botanical and faunal datasets and, along with stone tools, are used to test the prediction that increasing aridity caused the decline of high-return resources. This prediction appears v…
Direct Evidence for Geophyte Exploitation in the Wyoming Basin
In the Wyoming Basin, archaeological sites dating from the Early Archaic to Late Prehistoric are often found associated with or adjacent to dense populations of Cymopterus bulbosus (springparsley), a nutritious geophyte that would have been an important food source for prehistoric humans living in the region. Experimental data have shown that the caloric return rates of C. bulbosus were enough to support seasonal exploitation by foragers, yet the…
Socioecological Dynamics Structuring the Spread of Farming in the North American Basin-Plateau Region
The spread of agriculture is a major driver of social and environmental change throughout the Holocene, yet experimental and ethnographic data indicate that farming is less profitable than foraging, so why would individuals choose to adopt agriculture leading to its expansion? Ideal distribution models offer one framework to answer this question: Individuals should adopt less profitable subsistence strategies and occupy more marginal environments…
Starch Granule Size and Morphology as a Proxy for Water Regime Influence on Zea mays
A wealth of information on the patterns of human subsistence and plant domestication has been generated from studies on maize (Zea mays) starch granules. However, very little work has been conducted on how the size and morphology of those granules might change as a function of water stress during the growing season. In the arid Southwest, the role of irrigation in growing maize is an essential parameter in many foraging models. Our study seeks to…
Holocene vegetation and climate change on the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah, USA
Pollen, plant macrofossils, and sedimentary analyses from archaeological deposits at North Creek Shelter (NCS) on the Colorado Plateau provide data on vegetation and climate change during the Holocene. From 11,300–10,200 cal yr BP, NCS was embedded in a mixed conifer forest of cool-adapted species (e.g., Abies , Pseudotsuga menziesii , and Pinus ponderosa ) with an Artemisia understory. During this interval, NCS pollen corresponds to modern polle…
Identification of starch granules from oak and grass species in the central coast of California
Starch granule analysis is commonly used to describe the incorporation of plants into past human diets. However, assigning starch granules to particular plant taxa can be problematic. Here we take a statistical approach to analyzing multiple diagnostic characteristics of starch granules from three species of oak, Quercus agrifolia (coast live oak), Q. douglasii (blue oak), Q. lobata (valley oak) and one species of wild rye (Elymus elymoides) that…
Holocene subalpine forest-parkland dynamics in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Wasatch Mountains, Utah, USA
Understanding long-term responses of subalpine forest-parklands to Holocene climate variability in local context is critical for better managing those ecosystems under future climate change. Available records suggest that western North American subalpine forest-parkland ecosystems responded to Holocene climate in various ways at different places. Here we present a Holocene record of upper montane forest-parkland dynamics from Silver Lake in Big C…
Integrating Modern Vegetation and Ethnographic Data to Understand Dietary Choices in the Past
Effects of cultivation on tuber and starch granule morphometrics of Solanum jamesii and implications for interpretation of the archaeological record
A multi-proxy approach to archaeobotanical research
Curation practices and extraction methods in relation to starch grain yields from ground stone artifacts
Ethnographic and Archaeological Evidence Corroborating Yucca as a Food Source, Mojave Desert, USA
Plant subsistence economies for native peoples in the Mojave Desert have been well-documented ethnographically and historically, but less so archaeologically. Ethnographic accounts taken from southern California Native Americans (Palmer 1878), including the Panamint (Coville 1892), Kawaiisu (Zigmond 1981), Timbisha Shoshone, and Southern Paiute (Fowler 1995; Kelly 1932–1934) report that Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia Engelm.), Mojave yucca (Y. sch…
Middle-Holocene climates and human population densities in the Great Basin, western USA
Much of western North America saw higher temperatures and lower precipitation during the middle Holocene. The Great Basin became much drier and warmer than it is today, causing major shifts in lake levels, treelines, plant community composition, and vertebrate distributions and abundances. To assess the impact of climate change on middle-Holocene human population densities in this region, we examine the frequency structures of radiocarbon-dated a…
Middle-Holocene climates and human population densities in the Great Basin, western USA
Much of western North America saw higher temperatures and lower precipitation during the middle Holocene. The Great Basin became much drier and warmer than it is today, causing major shifts in lake levels, treelines, plant community composition, and vertebrate distributions and abundances. To assess the impact of climate change on middle-Holocene human population densities in this region, we examine the frequency structures of radiocarbon-dated a…
Curation practices and extraction methods in relation to starch grain yields from ground stone artifacts
Climate-Driven Dietary Change on the Colorado Plateau, USA, and Implications for Gender-Specific Foraging Patterns
Complementary archaeological and paleoenvironmental datasets from North Creek Shelter (Colorado Plateau, Utah, USA) are analyzed using the diet breadth model, revealing human dietary patterns during the early and middle Holocene. Abundance indices are derived from botanical and faunal datasets and, along with stone tools, are used to test the prediction that increasing aridity caused the decline of high-return resources. This prediction appears v…
Direct Evidence for Geophyte Exploitation in the Wyoming Basin
In the Wyoming Basin, archaeological sites dating from the Early Archaic to Late Prehistoric are often found associated with or adjacent to dense populations of Cymopterus bulbosus (springparsley), a nutritious geophyte that would have been an important food source for prehistoric humans living in the region. Experimental data have shown that the caloric return rates of C. bulbosus were enough to support seasonal exploitation by foragers, yet the…
Effects of cultivation on tuber and starch granule morphometrics of Solanum jamesii and implications for interpretation of the archaeological record
Starch Granule Size and Morphology as a Proxy for Water Regime Influence on Zea mays
A wealth of information on the patterns of human subsistence and plant domestication has been generated from studies on maize (Zea mays) starch granules. However, very little work has been conducted on how the size and morphology of those granules might change as a function of water stress during the growing season. In the arid Southwest, the role of irrigation in growing maize is an essential parameter in many foraging models. Our study seeks to…
Socioecological Dynamics Structuring the Spread of Farming in the North American Basin-Plateau Region
The spread of agriculture is a major driver of social and environmental change throughout the Holocene, yet experimental and ethnographic data indicate that farming is less profitable than foraging, so why would individuals choose to adopt agriculture leading to its expansion? Ideal distribution models offer one framework to answer this question: Individuals should adopt less profitable subsistence strategies and occupy more marginal environments…
Identification of starch granules from oak and grass species in the central coast of California
Starch granule analysis is commonly used to describe the incorporation of plants into past human diets. However, assigning starch granules to particular plant taxa can be problematic. Here we take a statistical approach to analyzing multiple diagnostic characteristics of starch granules from three species of oak, Quercus agrifolia (coast live oak), Q. douglasii (blue oak), Q. lobata (valley oak) and one species of wild rye (Elymus elymoides) that…
A multi-proxy approach to archaeobotanical research
Middle-Holocene climates and human population densities in the Great Basin, western USA
Much of western North America saw higher temperatures and lower precipitation during the middle Holocene. The Great Basin became much drier and warmer than it is today, causing major shifts in lake levels, treelines, plant community composition, and vertebrate distributions and abundances. To assess the impact of climate change on middle-Holocene human population densities in this region, we examine the frequency structures of radiocarbon-dated a…
Ethnographic and Archaeological Evidence Corroborating Yucca as a Food Source, Mojave Desert, USA
Plant subsistence economies for native peoples in the Mojave Desert have been well-documented ethnographically and historically, but less so archaeologically. Ethnographic accounts taken from southern California Native Americans (Palmer 1878), including the Panamint (Coville 1892), Kawaiisu (Zigmond 1981), Timbisha Shoshone, and Southern Paiute (Fowler 1995; Kelly 1932–1934) report that Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia Engelm.), Mojave yucca (Y. sch…
Curation practices and extraction methods in relation to starch grain yields from ground stone artifacts
A multi-proxy approach to archaeobotanical research
Integrating Modern Vegetation and Ethnographic Data to Understand Dietary Choices in the Past
Effects of cultivation on tuber and starch granule morphometrics of Solanum jamesii and implications for interpretation of the archaeological record
Holocene vegetation and climate change on the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah, USA
Pollen, plant macrofossils, and sedimentary analyses from archaeological deposits at North Creek Shelter (NCS) on the Colorado Plateau provide data on vegetation and climate change during the Holocene. From 11,300–10,200 cal yr BP, NCS was embedded in a mixed conifer forest of cool-adapted species (e.g., Abies , Pseudotsuga menziesii , and Pinus ponderosa ) with an Artemisia understory. During this interval, NCS pollen corresponds to modern polle…
Identification of starch granules from oak and grass species in the central coast of California
Starch granule analysis is commonly used to describe the incorporation of plants into past human diets. However, assigning starch granules to particular plant taxa can be problematic. Here we take a statistical approach to analyzing multiple diagnostic characteristics of starch granules from three species of oak, Quercus agrifolia (coast live oak), Q. douglasii (blue oak), Q. lobata (valley oak) and one species of wild rye (Elymus elymoides) that…
Holocene subalpine forest-parkland dynamics in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Wasatch Mountains, Utah, USA
Understanding long-term responses of subalpine forest-parklands to Holocene climate variability in local context is critical for better managing those ecosystems under future climate change. Available records suggest that western North American subalpine forest-parkland ecosystems responded to Holocene climate in various ways at different places. Here we present a Holocene record of upper montane forest-parkland dynamics from Silver Lake in Big C…
Socioecological Dynamics Structuring the Spread of Farming in the North American Basin-Plateau Region
The spread of agriculture is a major driver of social and environmental change throughout the Holocene, yet experimental and ethnographic data indicate that farming is less profitable than foraging, so why would individuals choose to adopt agriculture leading to its expansion? Ideal distribution models offer one framework to answer this question: Individuals should adopt less profitable subsistence strategies and occupy more marginal environments…
Starch Granule Size and Morphology as a Proxy for Water Regime Influence on Zea mays
A wealth of information on the patterns of human subsistence and plant domestication has been generated from studies on maize (Zea mays) starch granules. However, very little work has been conducted on how the size and morphology of those granules might change as a function of water stress during the growing season. In the arid Southwest, the role of irrigation in growing maize is an essential parameter in many foraging models. Our study seeks to…
Climate-Driven Dietary Change on the Colorado Plateau, USA, and Implications for Gender-Specific Foraging Patterns
Complementary archaeological and paleoenvironmental datasets from North Creek Shelter (Colorado Plateau, Utah, USA) are analyzed using the diet breadth model, revealing human dietary patterns during the early and middle Holocene. Abundance indices are derived from botanical and faunal datasets and, along with stone tools, are used to test the prediction that increasing aridity caused the decline of high-return resources. This prediction appears v…
Direct Evidence for Geophyte Exploitation in the Wyoming Basin
In the Wyoming Basin, archaeological sites dating from the Early Archaic to Late Prehistoric are often found associated with or adjacent to dense populations of Cymopterus bulbosus (springparsley), a nutritious geophyte that would have been an important food source for prehistoric humans living in the region. Experimental data have shown that the caloric return rates of C. bulbosus were enough to support seasonal exploitation by foragers, yet the…
Identification of starch granules on ground stone tools exposed to fire
An investment index for lithic technology
Targeted explorations of Pleistocene-Holocene transition archaeology on the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah
Starch Granule Yields from Open-Air Metates Unaffected by Environmental Contamination
The morphological characteristics of starch granules preserved on ancient ground stone tools can reveal which plant species were processed and consumed and even infer tool function. Bedrock metates are commonly associated with the processing of localized seasonal resources, providing potential evidence for past human lifeways, including foods collected and processed, social gatherings, settlement patterns, land investment, and territorial behavio…
Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (13 works) · Geography (13 works) · Biology (11 works) · Ecology (9 works) · Archaeology (8 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (8 works) · Agriculture (5 works) · Environmental Science (5 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (5 works) · Holocene (5 works)