Attachment_01_Statement_of_Work_Jonah_Housepits.pdf

U.S. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

PINEDALE FIELD OFFICE, WYOMING

Jonah Housepit Synthesis (BPSv2_10413)

STATEMENT OF WORK

I. Introduction and Background

The purpose of this project is to enhance our understanding of the use of housepit features in the Jonah Oil & Gas Field by more thoroughly examining the lithic artifacts and faunal remains from a selection of twelve of these sites. The additional laboratory analyses of these curated collections will contribute to a broader project: a synthesis report of housepits in the Jonah Field, which will compare and contrast these findings with what is known about other sites with housepits from the Upper Green River Basin.

The goal of this project – which will contribute to one of three components leading to an overarching archaeological synthesis of the Jonah Field’s archaeology – is to augment a synthesis report about sites with housepit features in the Jonah. A selection of twelve sites has been made per those which have known housepit features and have lithic and/or faunal collections in curation associated with their excavation. These lithic and/or faunal collections may not have been analyzed to the fullest extent possible. Questions remain about specific research topics pertaining to housepits in the Jonah field such as whether there are patterns in seasonality of site use, identifying changes in resource procurement strategies over time (e.g., selection of food sources; selection of raw materials for lithic tools), and the duration or distinct phases of occupations. This project will assist in answering these questions by revisiting the lithic and faunal collections of these sites and analyzing them further.

Preparing the broader synthesis will significantly improve the BLM Pinedale Field Office’s ability to evaluate the significance of housepit features, identify and plan for the presence and management of potentially significant features, and more effectively explain the importance of these features to both energy development companies and the broader public. However, in order for the synthesis to be as comprehensive as possible while generating novel or more in depth interpretations of these types of sites, more data is needed.

II. Project Location and Scope

The geographic area for this project is the twelve sites within the entirety of the Jonah Field.

These sites are selected from only those portions of the Jonah Field where the surface land is managed by the Bureau of Land Management; those sites found on privately held, State, or other federal agency’s surface-owned land were not included.

The Pinedale Field Office (PFO) is located in southwestern Wyoming. The Jonah Field is located in Sublette County, approximately 25 miles south-southeast of the town of Pinedale and 18.25 miles east of the town of Big Piney. The Jonah Field totals 30,550 acres, or roughly 47.73 square miles.

The scope of the project is the curated lithic and/or faunal collections from the selected twelve previously documented archaeological sites; all sites include at least one feature identified as a prehistoric housepit and have curatorial collections associated with their previous excavation(s).

No fieldwork or new resource recordation will occur. The sites include:

48SU1307

48SU2094

48SU2317

48SU2324

48SU2326

48SU2800

48SU3835

48SU3993

48SU4396

48SU6281

48SU6582

48SU6636

III. Statement of Work

This project represents a supporting element of one of three components which will be completed individually. These three components will be compiled into an overarching synthesis of archaeology in the Jonah Field. This project is a contributing element to the first component.

The first component of this project will lead to the creation of a Class I report, i.e. a data synthesis and analysis, and a GIS database of the Jonah Field’s known housepit features. The second component will involve the creation of a summary of the Jonah Field’s known thermal features over time. The third component will involve the creation of a paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Jonah Field. Taken together, these three components will be used to create an overarching archaeological synthesis of the Jonah Field. This overarching synthesis will assist with making informed management decisions for these housepit features in the Jonah Field, and will improve the BLM’s ability to interpret these features more broadly to the public.

This first component’s Class I data review and synthesis report will identify all housepit features that have been documented to-date in the Jonah Field. The report will enumerate and delineate the isolates, sites, districts, or landscapes containing one or more housepit features. The housepits will be categorized by type, based on characteristics such as size, age, geography, presence or absence of associated artifacts, presence of human remains, or other characteristics as deemed applicable by the contractor. The synthesis report will also address when different types of housepits were common, when those types decreased in frequency, and will offer hypotheses explaining why these changes occurred.

In order to analyze these characteristics more holistically and thoroughly, further research is needed to elucidate patterns in seasonality, resource procurement, and site occupation timelines.

To achieve this, the contractor shall undertake the following analyses of preexisting collections from the selected twelve sites.

1. Review of lithic collections: identify those lithic samples – including groundstone, chipped stone debitage, and/or total or partial chipped stone tools – which may be used to determine relative age(s) of the lithic sample through typology.

a. Analysis of lithic collection selections: analyze those selected lithic samples and definitively make a determination of relative age and tool type whenever feasible.

b. Interpretation of lithic collection analyses: the contractor shall identify patterns in relative ages and tool types present in these sites, as well as patterns in depositional depth of the lithic samples.

2. Review of faunal collections: identify those cranial, long bone (particularly epiphyseal segments), and/or dental samples which may be used for further analyses such as identifying genus and/or species, sex, and age of an individual animal.

a. Analysis of faunal collection selections: complete the analysis of the selected samples. The contractor is responsible for determining which analyses are appropriate, including (but not limited to): age, sex, genus and/or species;

where samples are taken from stratified sites, radiocarbon dating of two samples: one taken from the nearest-to-surface stratum, and one taken from the furthest-from-surface stratum (if appropriate and feasible per funding, a third sample between the two strata may be taken and analyzed)

b. Interpretation of faunal collection analyses: contractor shall identify patterns in results of analyses and discuss their interpretation. E.g., if many subadult Cervus spp. are present, what can be inferred about site seasonality and resource procurement strategies? What can be inferred about site occupation duration and frequency from radiocarbon dates on bone samples from highest and lowest site strata?

3. Report: prepare a report that discusses the results of the above analyses— both the results and data per se, and the interpretation of the meaning of patterns (or absence of patterns) for both lithic and faunal collections at the selected twelve sites. Tables, graphics, and charts should be included in the report as needed to fully illustrate the findings and discussions.

In summary: the final products of this project shall include the hard copies (two, printed) and the digital copies (two PDFs: one high resolution, one low resolution) of the completed report, following Wyoming SHPO standards.

IV. Government Supplied Property

The contractor shall furnish all labor, equipment, software, supervision, transportation, operating supplies, and incidentals necessary to conduct the curatorial database and materials search, as well as for the analyses required for report production.

The BLM will provide the contractor with a GIS shapefile of the Jonah Field’s boundary and a surface management layer to the contractor, as well as a shapefile of the twelve selected sites whose collections will be analyzed. The BLM will also provide access to all literature housed at the Pinedale Field Office that may not yet be included in WyoTrack, if needed.

The contractor shall be in regular contact with the BLM PFO point of contact regarding project process, project findings, and recommendations of management needs. The frequency and manner of contact will be established by the contractor and the BLM point of contact during the first post-award meeting; the frequency and manner of project updates may be updated as needed as the project progresses.

V. Proposed Funding Schedule

Work schedule and partial payments shall be divided into five segments. The contractor may begin work immediately after a pre-work conference with the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and Pinedale Field Office point of contact is completed. This schedule may be modified to accommodate extensions if deemed necessary by the aforementioned parties.

Part A: Lithics and faunal collections review and analysis

Part B: Draft report submission

Part C: Final report submission

Sep 30, 2025: 30% partial payment

Oct 30, 2025: 25% partial payment

Nov 30, 2025: 45% partial payment

VI. Deliverables

The contractor shall submit two printed hard copies and two digital copies (one high resolution and one low resolution PDF) of the Class I synthesis report. The high-resolution PDFs of the reports may be submitted through WyoTrack. The reports should use color maps and photographs, and when appropriate, tables and charts. Hard copies shall be mailed to the PFO point of contact.

In addition to these deliverables, the contractor shall supply any copies of notes relevant to the process behind the conclusions drawn that would be appropriate to archive at the BLM Pinedale Field Office.

The project will not be considered complete until all three hard copies and two digital copies of the report are received as well as the GIS database.

Notifications: At a minimum, email and phone call notifications shall be sent by the contractor to the PFO point of contact when their draft and final deliverables are submitted to the BLM for review. All deliverables shall be submitted to the PFO point of contact and/or through WyoTrack, as specified by the PFO point of contact.

Confidentiality: To protect cultural resource information from unauthorized disclosure, all site location and content information must be kept in strictest confidence. The contractor shall not make specific site location, content, or nature-of-resource information available to members of the public, and must take whatever internal measures are necessary to ensure that confidential material is protected. All BLM and Wyoming Cultural Use Permit Stipulations shall be followed.