Hunter-gatherer gatherings: stone-tool microwear from the Welling Site (33-Co-2), Ohio, U.S.A. supports Clovis use of outcrop-related base camps during the Pleistocene Peopling of the Americas

Miller, Glen P.; Bebber, Michelle R.; Rutkoski, Ashley; Haythorn, Richard; Boulanger, Matthew; Buchanan, Briggs; Bush, Jennifer; Lovejoy, C. Owen; Eren, Metin I.

doi:10.1080/00438243.2018.1461128

Cited by 29 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Although undated by radiometric means, the recovery of over 100 diagnostic bifaces classified as Clovis or Gainey, Cumberland, Beaver Lake, Agate Basin, and additional lanceolate forms (Seeman et al 1994) indicates repeated occupation during the entire Paleoinidan Period. Early Paleoindian toolstone procurement at Sandy Springs mirrors regional trends with strong preference for Upper Mercer chert (Miller et al 2019; Prufer and Baby 1963; Seeman and Prufer 1982; Seeman et al 1994; Tankersley et al 1990) from east-central Ohio (Carlson 1991; Stout and Schoenlaub 1945). At Sandy Springs, Upper Mercer accounts for 69% of the Clovis-Gainey assemblage ( n = 9), although nonlocal materials include Hixton Silicified Sandstone (HSS; n = 1), which outcrops approximately 890 km to the northwest in Wisconsin (Carr and Boszhardt 2010) and Paoli chert ( n = 2), which outcrops about 20 km to the southeast in Kentucky (Vickery 1983).…”

Section: Archaeological Data and Distributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given Sandy Springs's dense artifact collection, significant portions of the upper Ohio Valley Paleoindian population commonly moved through Sandy Springs as part of seasonal or annual rounds. Site inhabitants likely traveled north to Upper Mercer–Vanport chert outcrops to retool; strengthen social relations and learning opportunities; and facilitate the exchange of goods, ideas, and mates (Anderson 1990, 1995; Eren et al 2015, 2019; Lepper 2005; Meltzer 2004; Miller et al 2019).…”

Section: Archaeological Data and Distributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the late Pleistocene, Paleoindian foragers (13,500–11,400 cal BP) of eastern North America traversed dynamic landscapes during early migration pulses and subsequently established annual-seasonal mobility patterns (e.g., Anderson 1990, 1995; Anderson and Gillam 2000; Anderson et al 2014, 2015; Ellis 2011; Ellis et al 2011; Kelly and Todd 1988; Meltzer 2004, 2009; Steele et al 1998; Surovell 2000). Embedded within this literature are studies that explore lithic procurement strategies, many through some iteration of least-cost path analysis (LCP) to identify potential toolstone acquisition routes (e.g., Boulanger et al 2015; Eren et al 2016, 2019; Lothrop et al 2018; Miller et al 2019). Understanding the nature of such movements has significant implications for anthropological and archaeological theory (e.g., Anthony 1990, 1997; Bruno et al 2014; Burmeister 2000; Cabana and Clark 2011; van Dommelen 2014), particularly as it relates to regional variability in land-use behavior, culture change, subsistence strategies and prey choice, band territory development, demographic trends, technological organization, and cultural learning and transmission.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Road Not Taken: How Early Landscape Learning and Adoption of a Risk-Averse Strategy Influenced Paleoindian Travel Route Decision Making in the Upper Ohio Valley

Purtill

2020

Am. Antiq.

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To evaluate a model of the travel-route selection process for upper Ohio Valley Paleoindian foragers (13,500–11,400 cal BP), this study investigates archaeological data through the theoretical framework of landscape learning and risk-sensitive analysis. Following initial trail placement adjacent to a highly visible escarpment landform, Paleoindians adopted a risk-averse strategy to minimize travel outcome variability when wayfaring between Sandy Springs, a significant Ohio River Paleoindian site, and Upper Mercer–Vanport chert quarries of east-central Ohio. Although a least-cost analysis indicates an optimal route through the lower Scioto Valley, archaeological evidence for this path is lacking. Geomorphic and archaeological data further suggest that site absence in the lower Scioto Valley is not entirely due to sampling bias. Instead, evidence indicates that Paleoindians preferred travel within the Ohio Brush Creek–Baker's Fork valley despite its longer path distance through more rugged, constricted terrain. Potential travel through the lower Scioto Valley hypothesizes high outcome variability due to the stochastic nature of the late Pleistocene hydroregime. In this case, perceived outcome variability appears more influential in determining travel-route decisions among Paleoindians than direct efforts to reduce energy and time allocation.

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Section: Archaeological Data and Distributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Archaeological Data and Distributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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The Road Not Taken: How Early Landscape Learning and Adoption of a Risk-Averse Strategy Influenced Paleoindian Travel Route Decision Making in the Upper Ohio Valley

Purtill

2020

Am. Antiq.

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“…Archaeological evidence from across North America indicates that outcrops were hubs of regional Clovis activity [26,39,63,68,154]. For a thinly scattered, mobile population such as Clovis or its immediate descendants, outcrops would have acted as ideal meeting spots because, once found, they would have served as predictable places on an emerging mental landscape map [155][156][157][158]. Relative to learning practices, Sholts et al [39] proposed that outcrops were where Clovis knappers from different groups could observe the tools and techniques used by other knappers, leading to the sharing of technological information.…”

Section: The Spread Of Clovismentioning

confidence: 99%

Setting the Stage: The Late Pleistocene Colonization of North America

O’Brien

2018

Quaternary

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The timing of human entrance into North America has been a topic of debate that dates back to the late 19th century. Central to the modern discussion is not whether late Pleistocene-age populations were present on the continent, but the timing of their arrival. Key to the debate is the age of tools-bone rods, large prismatic stone blades, and bifacially chipped and fluted stone weapon tips-often found associated with the remains of late Pleistocene fauna.Quaternary 2019, 2, 1 2 of 22 complex, together with the various modes involved in its transmission. Along the way, I examine how various evolutionary processes and mechanisms helped shape what we see in the Clovis archaeological record. Excellent summaries of Clovis lifeways and numerous related topics not included here can be found in [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. The Clovis Techno-ComplexThe Clovis techno-complex is marked by a number of distinctive tool types, including bone and ivory rods [36], large prismatic stone blades [26], and bifacially chipped and fluted stone weapon tips, referred to as "Clovis points" [26,[37][38][39][40]. Because of significant regional variation in the toolkit, Eren and Buchanan [41], (p. 1) make the excellent point that what archaeologists refer to as "Clovis technology" is better thought of as a shorthand reference to "a fuzzy set of human-tool interactions found across North and Central America during the terminal Pleistocene".Prehistoric projectile-weapon systems were made from a variety of raw materials, including wood, resins, bone, and fibers, but these materials do not preserve well, and as a result, archaeologists focus on the component that does survive, the flaked-stone projectile point [42]. Clovis points were made from several cryptocrystalline stone types, such as chert, quartzite, and obsidian. They were bifacially flaked (flaked on both sides) and are lanceolate in form. They have parallel to slightly convex sides and concave bases and exhibit a series of flake-removal scars-"flutes"-on one or both faces that extend from the base to about a third of the way to the tip (Figure 1). After fluted points were first recognized archaeologically, it was proposed that fluting enhanced bloodletting of a wounded animal [43], although the flute would have been largely covered by the hafting (e.g., sinew) [44]. Similarly, it was proposed that fluting enhanced hafting a point into a split shaft [45]. Experimentation suggests, however, that the thinner base that results from fluting acts as a "shock absorber" that increases point robustness and the ability to withstand physical stress through stress redistribution and damage relocation [46,47].Quaternary 2018, 2, x 2 of 22

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“…J. Mason, 1962;Sholts, Stanford, Flores, & Wärmländer, 2012), most now acknowledge that the Mississippi River with its frequent late Pleistocene glacial meltwater pulses and high sediment loads (Rittenour, Blum, & Goble, 2007;Rittenour, Goble, & Blum, 2005) represented a natural border separating eastern from western Paleoindian settlement-subsistence patterns (Anderson & Faught, 1998;Briggs Buchanan, Hamilton, Kilby, & Gingerich, 2016, p. 118;Morrow, 2014). In the eastern U.S., recent research has focused are defining models of Paleoindian regional variability especially highlighting aspects of land-use behavior, subsistence strategy, social learning, or technological organization (Anderson, 1990(Anderson, , 1995(Anderson, , 1996Anderson & Gillam, 2000;Broster, Norton, Miller, Tune, & Baker, 2013;Briggs Buchanan et al, 2016;Briggs Buchanan, O'Brien, & Collard, 2014;Cannon & Meltzer, 2004Eren et al, 2016;Eren & Desjardine, 2015;Lepper, 1988;Lepper & Meltzer, 1991;Loebel, 2012;Lothrop, Lowery, Spiess, & Ellis, 2016;Meltzer, 1985Meltzer, , 1988Meltzer, , 2009Meltzer & Smith, 1986;G. L. Miller et al, 2018;Seeman, 1994;Smallwood, 2012;Speth, Newlander, White, Lemke, & Anderson, 2013, p. 112).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Better Understanding of Paleoindian Native American Settlement in Southern Ohio: A Multi-Scalar Approach

Purtill¹

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Despite Ohio's prominent role in the historical trajectory of archaeological research into the Native American Paleoindian period (13.5 to 11.4 ka years ago), it has been over 30 years since the last attempt to model Paleoindian land-use behavior at a resolution that includes the southern half of the state. This dissertation revisited Paleoindian adaptation and land-use behavior in southern Ohio and by association the eastern United States. Research was accomplished through a study of Paleoindian occupation at two distinct resolutions in southern Ohio: (i) regional; and, (ii) local, or site-level. The regional level was explored through a GIS and statistical modeling approach of known Paleoindian site locations against randomly selected environmental information to evaluate current theories of Paleoindian land-use behavior. Significant patterns were further explored through comparison of similarly generated trends for later archaeological sites dated to the Early Archaic (~11-8.5 ka) and Late Archaic (~6-2.7 ka) periods. A binary logistical regression test was calculated with significant variables to assess the relative strength of individual variables in explaining Paleoindian site location. The second, site-level component of this dissertation involved archaeological, geomorphological, and geochronological investigation of the Sandy Springs archaeological site and surrounding landscape. Research focused on landform reconstruction with special emphasis on aeolian sand dune formation histories. Furthermore, proxy paleoenvironmental indicators are documented through investigation of sediments at Sandy Springs. Research focused on potential explanations for site function during the Paleoindian period and directly tested the statement that saline springs were a primary reason for Paleoindian occupation. Study results indicate that Paleoindians did not practice a uniform land-use strategy in the upper Ohio Valley but instead adapted strategies to fit local conditions. A potentially distinct Paleoindian land-use strategy is identified for the Interior Low Plateaus province of Ohio. This strategy may reflect strengthening post-11 ka interaction for groups occupying the Cumberland, Tennessee, and upper Ohio drainages. This strategy also may indicate a preference for prairie environments. The combined modeling of Paleoindian, Early Archaic, and Late Archaic site distributions provides a method to assess the impact of collector bias on archaeological interpretations. Study results suggest that collector bias is not restricted to Paleoindian assemblages alone. Cross-temporal approaches provide a means to mitigate the influence of such bias in future studies. Sandy Springs represents one of the largest Paleoindian sites in the upper Ohio River Valley and study results increased our understanding of its geomorphological and archaeological history. The previous claim of saline springs at Sandy Springs was tested through electrical conductivity and pH analysis. Results failed to support the idea that Sandy Springs possessed wa...

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Hunter-gatherer gatherings: stone-tool microwear from the Welling Site (33-Co-2), Ohio, U.S.A. supports Clovis use of outcrop-related base camps during the Pleistocene Peopling of the Americas

Cited by 29 publications

References 69 publications

The Road Not Taken: How Early Landscape Learning and Adoption of a Risk-Averse Strategy Influenced Paleoindian Travel Route Decision Making in the Upper Ohio Valley

The Road Not Taken: How Early Landscape Learning and Adoption of a Risk-Averse Strategy Influenced Paleoindian Travel Route Decision Making in the Upper Ohio Valley

Setting the Stage: The Late Pleistocene Colonization of North America

Towards a Better Understanding of Paleoindian Native American Settlement in Southern Ohio: A Multi-Scalar Approach

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