UNLV Anthropology Department

the shores of Pleistocene Lake Mojave in Zzyzx, California. They excavated on lake terraces on the west end of Soda Lake, which is currently a dry lakebed, but once was connected with Silver Lake to form a large Pleistocene lake.

Test excavations were done on several possible beach terraces and in front of a small rockshelter, which had been excavated in the 1980s by archaeologists from California State University, Fullerton. The field class first learned the basics of archaeological fieldwork on campus at UNLV and then spent every other Friday and Saturday working in the field. CSU Fullerton runs a Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx where researchers and students can stay.

The center has an interesting history, as it was once a resort billed as an “oasis” in the Mojave Desert, complete with swimming pool and mud baths. The goal of the excavations was to determine if buried, intact Pleistocene deposits were present on the shore line associated with the earliest occupation of the Mojave Desert.

Elizabeth Campbell (the well-known Mojave Desert Archaeologist) had discovered evidence of early occupation on high beach lines in other portions existed along this portion of Soda Lake. We also hoped to find some additional evidence related to the occupation of the rockshelter that might indicate how prehistoric hunter-gatherers responded to changing environments as the climate became warmer and dryer and the lake receded during the Holocene.

UNLV - GPSA - Graduate College - Admissions - Campus Map