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.

The Cumberland River Archaic of Middle Tennessee

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
River Valley ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
Cumberland River ◽  
Middle Tennessee ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

Prior to 2010, the only major literature on the manifestation of the Shell Mound Archaic in the Middle Cumberland River Valley of Tennessee was an unpublished dissertation and technical or avocational reports. Recent research by the coeditors reveals that there are nearly forty Archaic shell-bearing sites in the region. This volume brings together multiple lines of evidence to more fully examine a major cultural phase that has been virtually overlooked in the professional literature. We approach this topic by incorporating data and discussions of recent research at Archaic shell-bearing sites in the western Middle Cumberland River Valley combined with contemporary examinations of prior investigations, which until now have been difficult for scholars to access. The data presented in this volume are a testament to the sustainability of riverine adaptions in antiquity.

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.

Archaic Origins of the Lowland Maya

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon C. Lohse
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Radiocarbon Data ◽  
Cultural Origins ◽  
Lines Of Evidence ◽  
Lowland Maya

The earliest Lowland Maya are commonly recognized by permanent architecture and the appearance of pottery. However, when other lines of evidence are considered, strong continuities with late Archaic populations can be seen. Reconciling these views relies on more than simply gathering more data. It is also necessary to consider the effect of decades of scholarship that defines the precolumbian Maya as “civilization” rather than considering the historical contexts of important transitions, such as the one that culminated with sedentism, the adoption of new technologies, and participation in long-distance exchange. The Archaic-to-Preclassic transition was relatively brief and largely obscured by the practices of establishing permanent dwellings. Nevertheless, this period must have been extremely dynamic and marked by significant cultural change, making it important to researchers interested in early Mesoamerica. Using three lines of evidence—subsistence, economy and technology, and stratigraphically controlled radiocarbon data—this article argues that the Lowland Maya had their cultural origins at least in the late Archaic and that the case for pottery before ca. 1000 B.C. remains uncertain. Future research is needed to determine precisely how far back in time certain cultural practices that characterize Preclassic and Classic Maya society can be documented.

scholarly journals Declining Foraging Efficiency in the Middle Tennessee River Valley Prior to Initial Domestication

2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elic M. Weitzel
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Optimal Foraging Theory ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Tennessee River ◽  
Tennessee River Valley ◽  
Middle Tennessee ◽  
Relationship Of

Recently, researchers investigating the origins of domestication have debated the significance of resource intensification in the shift from foraging to food production. In eastern North America, one of several independent centers of domestication, this question remains open. To determine whether initial domestication may have been preceded by intensification in eastern North America at approximately 5000 cal BP, I evaluated the archaeofaunal assemblages from six sites in the middle Tennessee River valley. Analyses of these data suggest that overall foraging efficiency gradually declined prior to initial domestication, but patch-specific declines in foraging efficiency occurred in wetland habitats and not terrestrial ones. Climatic warming and drying during the Middle Holocene, growing human populations, and oak-hickory forest expansion were the likely drivers of these changes in foraging efficiency. These results support the hypothesis that initial domestication in eastern North America was an outcome of intensification driven by environmental change and human population increases. Finally, while the debate concerning the relationship of intensification to domestication has been framed in terms of a conflict between niche construction theory and optimal foraging theory, these perspectives are compatible and should be integrated to understand domestication more fully.

Geoarchaeology and Bayesian Statistical Modeling of Radiocarbon Dates from 40CH171, a Multicomponent Shell-Bearing Site in Cheatham County, Tennessee

2019 ◽  
pp. 75-90
Author(s):  
D. Shane Miller ◽  
Thaddeus G. Bissett ◽  
Tanya M. Peres ◽  
David G. Anderson ◽  
Stephen B. Carmody ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Site Formation ◽  
State University ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
University Of Tennessee ◽  
Middle Tennessee State University ◽  
Blue Creek ◽  
Middle Archaic ◽  
Cumberland River ◽  
A Site ◽  
The University

Using multiple lines of evidence from 40CH171, including opportunistic sampling, geoarchaeology analysis, and Bayesian radiocarbon modeling, this chapter constructs a site formation process narrative based on fieldwork conducted from 2009 to 2010 by the University of Tennessee, Middle Tennessee State University, and the Tennessee Division of Archaeology. This chapter argues that the shell-bearing strata were deposited relatively close to an active channel of the Cumberland River and/or Blue Creek during the Middle Holocene (ca. 7170–6500 cal BP). This was followed by an abrupt shift to sandier sediments, indicating that deposition after the termination of the shell-bearing deposits at the Middle Archaic/Late Archaic boundary took place in the context of decreasing distance from the site to the Cumberland River and Blue Creek.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Aaron Deter-Wolf ◽  
Tanya M. Peres
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Southeastern United States ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Short Overview ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Cumberland River ◽  
And Function ◽  
Culture Phase

This introduction presents a brief geologic overview of the Middle Cumberland River Valley of Tennessee. It describes the research interests that culminated in the creation of this volume and positions the volume within the overall context of Archaic shell-bearing site excavations in the Southeastern United States and the Shell Mound Archaic culture phase. The introduction further summarizes the prevailing theories as to the creation and function of Archaic shell-bearing sites which have been generated by research in other regions of the coastal and interior Southeast. Finally, it presents a short overview of the contributed chapters.

scholarly journals Interplay of intestinal microbiota and mucosal immunity in inflammatory bowel disease: a relationship of frenemies

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 175628482093518
Author(s):  
Huimin Chen ◽  
Hongfen Li ◽  
Zhanju Liu
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Intestinal Microbiota ◽  
Mucosal Immunity ◽  
Therapeutic Response ◽  
Mucosal Immune Response ◽  
Bowel Diseases ◽  
Inflammatory Bowel ◽  
Novel Approaches ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, are chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. With in-depth studies on the mechanisms of the initiation and development of IBD, increasing lines of evidence have focused on the intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis of IBD. The imbalance between the host and intestinal microbiota induces dysregulated immune response in intestinal mucosa and plays a pivotal role in the initiation of disease and ongoing bowel destruction. This review focuses on recent advances in intestinal microbiota regulation of mucosal immune response as well as novel approaches based on intestinal microbiota alterations in the diagnosis and evaluation of therapeutic response in IBD.

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