Geological Considerations

If the data recovered at the Wendover caves are to be fully evaluated, the student must turn to the geologic and climatic events of the late Pleistocene and the Recent geologic epochs. Some of the cave data may even contribute to the study of the sequence and duration of climatic fluctuations within late Pleistocene and Recent times. The archeological interest in geologic/climatic matters develops for various reasons. First is the matter of chronology. By means of radiocarbon dating we know that man visited Danger Cave about 9000 B.C. It is necessary to correlate these deposits with already recognized geologic and climatic events. Fortunately for this purpose a fairly specific calendar of geological time exists. If the cave deposits could be correlated with natural events this correlation automatically provides, at very least, estimates of the time of occurrence of the natural cave deposits. Another interest the archeologist has in a valid geologic, and hence climatic, correlation lies in the insight he may gain into the environmental circumstances which man faced at any given time during his conquest of the Americas

Archaeology · Cave · Chronology · Geography · Geologic time scale · Natural (archaeology) · Physical geography · Pleistocene · Radiocarbon dating · Sedimentary rock · Sequence (biology) · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Karst Systems and Hydrogeology · Landslides and related hazards · Paleontology