Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

California recently experienced its first discovery of pre-contact ice-patch archaeology. In late 2014, a juniper bow stave was found partially embedded in remnant glacial ice at an elevation of over 3,700 meters. This stave is one of only a few juniper bow staves ever recovered from an archaeological context within the western Great Basin. The bow stave offers a unique insight into the bow manufacturing process, bow-stave tree selection, and variation in lateperiod bow technology. Combining the study of archaeologically recovered bow-staves with replicative studies, as well as a focused examination of bow-stave tree scarring, provides complementary data that could better detail the totality of pre-contact bow production. This should result in greater numbers of bow-stave trees being identified and a greater understanding of the human component, from tree selection to the patterning evident in remnant scarring.