What was the annual round followed by many Great Basin peoples?

Great Basin peoples followed an annual round that involved moving through various ecological zones to exploit plant and animal resources as they became available throughout the year. Because the arid environment offered limited food supplies, groups typically remained small and moved frequently to avoid exhausting resources in any single location.12

The specific activities of this round included:

• Foraging and Gathering: Plant foods, particularly seeds and roots, made up more than 70 percent of the diet. In the autumn, pedestrian groups gathered and stored large quantities of piñon nuts from upland groves.12
• Hunting and Fishing: Groups hunted animals such as rabbits, antelope, deer, elk, and mountain sheep. Fishing was a critical activity for those living near lakes and rivers, particularly during spawning runs.12
• Social Aggregation: While groups were generally fluid and small, they periodically gathered in larger numbers for specific events, such as spring rabbit drives, autumn piñon harvests, or seasonal fish spawning.21

While horse-using groups followed a similar pattern, their mobility allowed them to range over much larger areas to hunt bison and other game.1