Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

Folsom Activity, Mobility, And Flaked Stone Technological Organization At The Rio Rancho Folsom Site, New Mexico Locus 4147 And As-2, William A. Skidmore-Farren

Anthropology Graduate Student Publications

What are the similarities and differences within locus 4147/AS-2 technological organization? Determining the function of the site may reveal new adaptive strategies used by Paleoindian groups and perhaps tell us more about their social and technological organization. By measuring, identifying, analyzing, and comparing the lithic components of the locus 4147/AS-2, I hope to further our understanding of the Rio Rancho site’s function and technological organization. A study of the spatial distribution of various artifact types within the locus will also help determine the function. Chemical (XRF) and physical analysis of the variety of lithic materials from the sites will also …

3d Morphometric Analysis Of Late Paleoindigenous Projectile Points From The Mackenzie I Site, Northwestern Ontario, And Surrounding Regions, Dave Norris

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Despite decades of archaeological investigations into the presence of people in northwestern Ontario during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene there is still a tenuous understanding of the timing and origins of those past groups that moved across the region. This is mainly a result of small sample sizes, acidic soils (that degrade organic materials) and low recoveries of diagnostic tools such as projectile points. The discovery of an uncharacteristically large Paleoindigenous site, the Mackenzie I site, east of Thunder Bay, yielded recoveries of artifacts in numbers never seen in the region. The exceptionally large number of projectile points recovered …

Paleoindian Response To Climate Change In The Northern Jornada Del Muerto, Christopher W. Merriman

Anthropology ETDs

Human-environment interaction is a long-standing and productive line of inquiry that includes the study of cultural responses to climate change. However, demonstrating a causal relationship between climate change and the consequent culture change is rarely straightforward for numerous reasons. In this dissertation I develop an optimality model to predict how Paleoindians should have responded to changes in precipitation across the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene. The water supply model (WSM) ranks water supplies much like the diet breadth model ranks food resources. To adjust the WSM for climate change, paleoclimate records from playas in the northern Jornada del Muerto were used in …

Update On The Activities Of The Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey (2014-2020), Albert C. Goodyear

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Archaeological Excavations At White Pond, Elgin, Sc, Christopher R. Moore

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Late Pleistocene Adaptations In The Midsouth: The Paleoindian Occupation Of The Carson-Conn-Short Site And The Lower Tennessee River Valley, James Scott Jones

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

The Midsouth has long been known to be a locus of Paleoindian (13,200-10,000 yrs B.P.) populations. Paleoindian populations have generally been characterized as highly mobile hunter-gatherers with egalitarian social structure. Utilizing the theoretical lens of diversification and intensification of resource use, the Late Pleistocene adaptations of the region’s populations are examined from both a large scale or coarse grain perspective as well as more fine grain data from the site level. Previous models of Paleoindian adaptations are defined and tested in this study to determine the applicability of these models with new data. Coarse grain data are derived from lithic …

Beaver Lake Projectile Point, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

CRHR: Archaeology

This is a Paleoindian Period Beaver Lake projectile point (approx. 10,500-9,500 B.P.) of Ft. Payne chert discovered in Perry County, Tennessee. It is associated with state site number 40PY312 and context of find is a shoreline bank on the Tennessee River near Linden, Tennessee. Site 40PY312 is also associated with hundreds of early stage reduction flakes of Ft. Payne chert. The point is important because of its Paleoindian cultural affiliation of which very little is known, and also by the fact it has been re-purposed from a projectile point to an end-scraper. The re-purposing of projectile points is a very …

From Maya Pyramids To Paleoindian Projectile Points: The Importance Of Public Outreach In Archaeology, D Clark Wernecke, Thomas J. Williams

Journal of Archaeology and Education

Public outreach in archaeology can have a valuable impact on education, culture, society and even on the economy. However, it should not be relegated to the addendum of our research projects. Here we present two case studies that the authors have been actively involved in where outreach was a central part of the investigations. Following this, we outline a basic framework for conducting outreach in both the short- and long-term. While these are not perfect examples, they are intended to get archaeologists, as a community, thinking about the real and practical implications of conducting public outreach. Beyond the educational value, …

Late Paleo-Indian Period Lithic Economies, Mobility, And Group Organization In Wisconsin, Ethan Adam Epstein

Theses and Dissertations

The following dissertation focuses upon the organization of Pleistocene / Holocene period lithic technology in Wisconsin circa 10,000 – 10,500 years before present. Lithic debitage and flaked stone tools from the Plainview/Agate Basin components of the Heyrman I site (47DR381), the Dalles site (47IA374), and the Kelly North Tract site at Carcajou Point (47JE02) comprise the data set. These Wisconsin sites are located within a post glacial Great Lakes dune environment, an inland drainage/riverine environment, and an inland wetland/lacustrine environment. An assemblage approach is used to examine the structure of each site’s lithic economy. This broad approach to lithic organization …

Clovis Lithic Manufacturing Variability At The Allendale Chert Quarries: A Preliminary View From 38al228, Allendale County, South Carolina, Andrew James Weidman

Occasional Papers – Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey

Abstract

This research is the result of archaeological testing that occurred from 2010–2012 at 38AL228, a multi-component quarry related site in Allendale County, South Carolina. This thesis 1) provides a summary of the testing in order to define the cultural sequence and isolate the Clovis component for further analysis, and 2) compares the Clovis lithic assemblage from 38AL228 with the Clovis lithic assemblage from the Topper site (38AL23) to explore possible manufacturing variability based on distance from the source of raw material within the Allendale chert quarries. The premise for the comparative analysis is framed around the concept of differential …

The Distribution Of Paleoindian Debitage From The Pleistocene Terrace At The Topper Site: An Evaluation Of A Possible Pre-Clovis Occupation (38al23), Megan M. King

Occasional Papers – Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey

Abstract

Lithic debitage was excavated from all temporal components of the Topper Site, including stratum below Clovis-aged deposits. To determine the nature of lithic assemblage below Clovis the artifacts were carefully examined using traditional methods associated with the analysis of lithic debitage, including aggregate and individual flake analysis. Individual flakes within culturally known deposits, as well those associated with pre-Clovis aged sediments, were examined to determine if they shared characteristics associated with humanly produced tools. The distribution of lithic debitage, as well as non-cultural debris, were also compared between all strata. Statistical tests were utilized to determine the relationships between …

The Western Stemmed Point Tradition: Evolutionary Perspectives On Cultural Change In Projectile Points During The Pleistocene-Holocene Transition, Lindsay D. Scott

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this thesis I analyze the cultural techniques of Paleoindians in North America by examining the diversification and fusion of stemmed projectile point traditions using an evolutionary analysis. The Western Stemmed Point tradition has an extensive regional and temporal distribution throughout the Intermountain West and High Plains during the Paleoindian period. In an effort to determine how stemmed projectile point technologies relate to each other, I applied a phylogenetic approach to construct heritable patterns of projectile point histories. By measuring the physical traits of those points and using a macro-evolutionary theoretical approach, changes in artifact form can be acquired and …

Paleoindian Predictive Model For Yellowstone National Park, Matthew R. Nelson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Greater Yellowstone Region was a destination for nomadic hunter-gatherers for at least 12,000 years. Archaeological sites representing the whole spectrum of time, cultures, and activities, have been found throughout the region. Within Yellowstone National Park a number of Paleoindian projectile points and other related cultural materials have been recorded, however, only a handful of buried Paleoindian sites have been identified and excavated. Considering the nature of the archaeological record in the area, some interesting questions surface about the value of the information recorded on the Paleoindian sites. In terms of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) Paleoindian archaeology, is it possible …

A Flute Runs Through It, Sometimes… Understanding Folsom-Era Stone Tool Variation, Robert Detlef Lassen

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the “Folsom-Midland Problem,” in which two distinct varieties of stone projectile points occur together in many Folsom-age sites from the terminal Pleistocene in North America. In order to understand why these point types co-occur, a sample of measurements and photographs of 1,093 artifacts including points, preforms, and ultrathin bifaces has been amassed from 27 archaeological sites and three private collections across the Great Plains region of the United States. Analysis of the Folsom and Midland diagnostic artifacts from the Gault site in Central Texas provides the basis of subsequent analyses of the larger sample and indicates that …

The Distribution Of Paleoindian Debitage From The Pliestocene Terrace At The Topper Site: An Evaluation Of A Possible Pre-Clovis Occupation (38al23), Megan King

Masters Theses

The lithic debitage excavated from units where pre-Clovis material was found were analyzed using mass analysis as well as individual flake analysis. Statistical analyses were performed to test whether or not the assemblages associated with known occupation were similar to those associated with pre-Clovis levels. No significant difference was observed between the physical attributes of the lithic debitage found within strata associated with known prehistoric populations and the lithics found within pre-Clovis aged deposits. Two alternate explanations for these patterns exist: one which argues for the presence of a legitimate pre-Clovis occupation at the Topper Site and the other citing …

Eagle Hill: A Late Quaternary Upland Site In Western Lousiana, Joel Gunn, David O. Brown

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Eagle Hill II site (16SA50) is located in a rolling upland area of western Louisiana known as Peason Ridge. Because of its location in a saddle, the locale accumulated colluvial sediments during certain intervals of the late Quaternary; in addition, it served as a habitation area for prehistoric groups. Sediments were preserved from the early and late Holocene, apparently reflecting the relatively cooler and moister conditions of those periods that were conducive to erosion-preventing vegetation. The site was excavated in a manner to provide both vertical and horizontal information on site occupation at relatively high resolution. A sampling design …

Papers On Paleo-Indian Archaeology In Texas: I, Thomas R. Hester

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This third number in the Center's Special Report series contains two papers dealing with Paleo-Indian archaeology in Texas. Two additional papers dealing with this topic have recently been submitted. One involves a detailed review of the Plainview-Golondrina typological problem (authored by Thomas C. Kelly), and a second (written by Jules A. Jaquier), describing the bifacial implements from the Johnston-Heller site (41VT15).

Some Aspects Of Late Prehistoric And Protohistoric Archaeology In Southern Texas, Thomas R. Hester, T. C. Hill Jr.

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

This paper is concerned with the last several hundred years of the prehistoric period in the southern part of Texas. The earlier human occupation of this region, extending back perhaps 11,000 years, has been summarized elsewhere (Hester 197la). The Paleo-Indian period is represented by scattered surface finds of Clovis and Fol6om projectile points, and by a variety of "Late Paleo-Indian" point styles, such as Plainview, Scottsbluff, Golondrina, Angostura and Merserve.. The following Archaic era is poorly defined, although there are numerous surf ace sites and an abundance of chipped stone artifacts (cf. Weir 1956; Hester, White and White 1969).