Paleoindian Zooarchaeology in Florida

This chapter deals with acquiring food, specifically the animal portion of the diet, in the Paleoindian Period. The authors discuss the historical roots of the sub-field in detail. Locations noted in the chapter include Florida’s Alexon Bison site, the Page-Ladson sites, and Alabama’s Dust Cave. For instance, the zooarchaeological reanalysis of the Jefferson’s ground sloth (Ohio), excavated at the same time as the Old Vero site (Florida), shows clear evidence of butchering.

DUST CAVE REVISITED: A BAYESIAN REANALYSIS OF THE RADIOCARBON RECORD

The Dust Cave cultural chronology and radiocarbon sequence is one of the most important in southeastern North America. In their initial interpretation, the excavators were unable to separate the dates of the early and later strata in ways that facilitate their use for defining the associated cultural components. Here the sequence is reevaluated using Bayesian statistics, one additional date, and assessment of potential outliers. The results produce a useable sequence of non-overlapping cultural components (within the uncertainties of radiocarbon dating) that will improve our understanding the Paleoindian and Early and Middle Archaic cultural chronology in the Southeast.