Patterns of Resource Distribution and Archaeological Settlement Patterns in the Piedmont Uplands of the Middle Atlantic Region

1982 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay F. Custer ◽  
Edith B. Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Resource Distribution ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Atlantic Region ◽  
Middle Atlantic ◽  
Resource Distributions ◽  
Middle Archaic

Varied patterns of subsistence resource distributions are found in the Piedmont Uplands throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Settlement patterns correlate with these resource distribution patterns through time. Paleo-Indian through Middle Archaic patterns are small scattered procurement sites that are part of a supra-local logistical system. Late Archaic through Middle Woodland patterns include large base camps in low relief settings forming the focal points for foraging systems, or a tethered nomadism. Late Woodland patterns are dependent upon intensive collecting and agriculture rather than specific subsistence resource distribution patterns.

Modeling Archaic Settlement Patterns and Ecology in the Middle Cumberland River Valley of Tennessee

2019 ◽  
pp. 145-166
Author(s):  
Andrew Gillreath-Brown ◽  
Aaron Deter-Wolf
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Analysis ◽  
Residential Mobility ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Data Limitations ◽  
Middle Archaic ◽  
Cumberland River ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

Spatial analysis provides a greater understanding of relationships between people and environment. This chapter discusses settlement patterns and settlement ecology of the Middle Cumberland River Valley of Tennessee through spatial analysis and a settlement ecological approach. Multiple lines of evidence are necessary to distinguish between survey bias and archaeological patterns. This chapter examines Archaic settlements at local and regional scales using GIS-based analyses, exploring the environments that people chose to settle and the possible relationship of these choices to horticulture and gathering, and highlighting Archaic patterns with consideration of data limitations. The lower number of sites in the region during the Middle Archaic could suggest a return to a residential mobility strategy, while the Late Archaic yielded more logistical mobility. Decrease in site numbers and elevation from the Early to Middle Archaic could be tied to temperature fluctuations during the Altithermal. Some Late Archaic sites occur at slightly higher elevations, indicating perhaps more varied resources.

Problems and Prospects in Northeastern Prehistoric Ceramic Studies

1987 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay F. Custer
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
Middle Atlantic ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Study Population ◽  
Ceramic Design ◽  
Design Motifs

Three major research topics can be addressed using Northeastern ceramic data. First, different technological developments are seen in the earliest ceramics. Flat-bottomed wares develop in the Middle Atlantic and coiled, conoidal wares are earliest in New England. Second, the Abbott Farm and Delmarva Adena complexes of the central Middle Atlantic can be distinguished from surrounding Early and Middle Woodland complexes on the basis of ceramics; social complexity may be related to ceramic traits. Finally, Late Woodland ceramic design motifs and design “grammars” can be used to distinguish ethnic groups and study population movements throughout the Northeast.

The millennia-long use history of triangular bifaces

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 168-207
Author(s):  
R Michael Stewart
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Delaware Valley ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Early Woodland ◽  
Middle Archaic ◽  
History Of

Relatively small, triangular bifaces often considered to be projectile points have a demonstrable use history that includes the Middle Archaic, Late Archaic, Early Woodland, late Middle Woodland, Late Woodland, and Contact periods of regional archaeology. Radiocarbon dates and other data are used to document this extensive history using the Upper Delaware Valley of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York as a case study. Observed trends are evaluated in a broader regional context. The degree to which triangles of different ages can be distinguished from one another is addressed and suggestions for future research are made.

Clay Acquisition and Vessel Distribution Patterns: Neutron Activation Analysis of Late Windsor and Shantok Tradition Ceramics from Southern New England

1995 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Lizee ◽  
Hector Neff ◽  
Michael D. Glascock
Keyword(s):  
Neutron Activation Analysis ◽  
Activation Analysis ◽  
Neutron Activation ◽  
New England ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Contact Period ◽  
European Contact ◽  
Southern New England

In southern New England, typological distinctions between Niantic, Hackney Pond, and Shantok ceramics have been used to describe changing settlement patterns for the Late Woodland (500- 350 Years B.P.) and contact (post-A.D. 1600) periods. Based on the initial typologies developed by Rouse (1947) the Shantok ceramic tradition was also considered an ethnic marker of the Mohegan and Pequot tribes based on material recovered from Fort Shantok. Reexamination of stylistic data have suggested that levels of stylistic similarity between late ceramic types actually limit their use as ethnic markers in reconstructing contact period settlement patterns (Lizee 1994; McBride 1990). In this study, neutron activation analysis is employed to determine if compositional profiles correspond with identified stylistic types. The distribution of compositional groups within the region proves to be useful in describing changes in settlement during the Late Woodland and contact periods for southeastern Connecticut. Results of this study suggest that cultural factors underlying the evolution of the historic Pequot and Mohegan tribes, and locations of focal village sites, also had an impact on access to clay resource zones at the time of European contact.

Below-the-Watertable Archaeology at Lamoka Lake

1983 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Michael Gramly
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York State ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
York State ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Central New York ◽  
Lake Site

A trench excavated into the waterlogged fringe of the Lamoka Lake site in central New York state yielded cultural stratigraphic zones with abundant artifacts and food remains. A peaty layer resting upon Late Archaic beach or streamside deposits produced late Middle Woodland (Kipp Island phase) ceramics and stone implements. Discoveries of wood, fruit pits, and nuts in the same layer as well as rich congeries of animal bones indicate that the archaeological potential of the Lamoka Lake site is not exhausted.

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