Windows 10 1703 download iso itasca staten crossing. The Middle Archaic Period in Connecticut: The View From Mashantucket

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

McAndrews, J. In Quaternary Paleoecology, edited by E. Cushing and H. Yale Press, New Haven. McWeeney, L. Ia Charcoal Identification for the Millbury Site.

Report prepared for the Albert Morgan Archaeological Society. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor. Appendix D I. Research Report Series No. Department of Historic Resources, Richmond, Virginia. In Coastally Restricted Forests, edited by A. Laderman, pp. Oxford University Press, New York. Miller, N. Journal of Arnold Arboretum 60 2 : Moeller, R. North American Archaeologist 5 3 Newby, P. In review for Quaternary Research. Quaternary Research 41 North American Pollen Data Base n.

Peteet, D. Daniels, L. Heusser, J. Vogel, J. Southon, and D. Vogel, D. Nelson, J. Southon, R. Nickmann, and L. Journal of Quaternary Science 9 2 : Pfeiffer, J. Rhodora 88 Ridge, J. Besonen, M. Brochu, S. Brown, J. Callahan, G. Cook, R. Nicholson, N. Thompson, B.

Fowler, and P. G\’4ographie Physique et Quaternaire 53 1 Robinson, B. Robinson, J. Petersen, and A. Robinson, pp. Occasional Publications in Maine Archaeology No. Sneddon, L. Thesis, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Spear, R. Davis, and L. Ecological Monographs Stea, R. Boreas Taylor, K. Lamorey, G. Doyle, R. Alley, P. M Grootes, P. Mayewski, J. White, and L. Nature Thorson, R. Geoarchaeology Watts, W. Ecological Monographs 49 4 Porter, pp.

Webb, R. Anderson and T. Webb, III. Webb, T. Bartlein, and J. K 3 edited by W. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado. Whitehead, D. Ecological Monographs 51 4 Yu, Z. McAndrews, U. Zielinski, G. Mayewski, L. Meeker, S. Whitlow, M. Twickler, M. Morrison, D. Meese, A. Gow, R. Alley Record of Volcanism Since B. The Connecticut sample includes dates. Connecticut dates are compared to radiocarbon chronologies from five other Northeastern states New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia and southern Ontario.

Connecticut and other New England states have bi-modal distributions of radiocarbon dates after BP. Maize may not have been as significant to prehistoric subsistence in New England as in the Middle Atlantic region, and Late Woodland population increases were apparently less pronounced in New England.

These included only forty-five dates from archaeological sites and five geological dates. Only three dates were from Connecticut archaeological sites. The first Connecticut dates were two samples submitted by Suggs from the Manakaway site in Greenwich. David Thompson submitted the third Connecticut archaeological date from the Binette site, Naugatuck.

In the three decades following Jordan\’s early survey, radiocarbon dating became the most frequently utilized method for developing absolute chronologies for prehistoric sites and associated artifacts. Table I assembles published and unpublished radiocarbon dates from Connecticut archaeological sites.

These dates derive from cultural resource management surveys, doctoral studies, museum research files, academic institutions, and investigations by professional and avocational archaeologists. This list is intended as a research tool for cross-referencing radiocarbon samples, archaeological sites, artifact assemblages, and archaeological reports.

However, this paper poses the hypothesis that radiocarbon dates also reflect broader prehistoric cultural processes. Radiocarbon dating is commonly employed by archaeologists to evaluate prehistoric culture changes among material artifacts such as projectile points, ceramic types, burial practices, and subsistence patterns particularly the origins of agriculture.

For example, all prehistoric peoples built hearths for warmth and cooking. More dated hearths might reflect more people during specific prehistoric periods. Perhaps questionable radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites also provide chronological information for human activities in an environment over time. Charcoal might reflect periods of site occupations even if not directly associated with artifacts that archaeologists wish to date.

Cultural factors probably influenced archaeological site formation, kinds of features constructed and preserved, and associated radiometric dates.

For example, throughout the Paleo-Indian and Archaic periods it is assumed that Native Americans hunted and gathered naturally occurring animal, plant and fish resources. Human populations were mobile in order to exploit highly pro- ductive seasonal resources, such as changes in animal ranges, fish spawning runs, and the differential ripening schedules of greens, roots, fruits, seeds and nut resources.

Many archaeological sites in Connecticut were reoccupied over thousands of years, suggesting favorable environmental conditions at particular locations. Woodland period agriculture involved production of new food resources that might have led to lower seasonal mobility. Agriculture is also often associated with human population increases e. Sedentary agricultural lifestyles might have led to new types of deep storage features that were conducive to preservation of charcoal and other organic remains e.

Greater numbers of features might have been associated with agricultural subsistence patterns such as food storage facilities, postholes from permanent structures, middens resulting from annual or pro- longed seasonal occupations, and perhaps palisades or other fortifications. Therefore, adoption of agricul- tural subsistence strategies might be indicated by increasing numbers of radiocarbon dated features than during pre-agricultural times.

Many environmental factors also effect carbon preservation. Because charcoal and other organic matter physically decay over time, fewer and smaller carbon samples are usually available from Paleo- Indian and Archaic period sites than from more recent Woodland period sites. Geological processes have destroyed archaeological sites throughout the Holocene period of human occupations.

Sea levels have risen and have inundated coastal sites. Rivers and streams have eroded valleys and terraces. Geomorphic proc- esses have probably destroyed a greater number of older archaeological sites, and associated charcoal samples, than recent sites. Carbon physics and chemistry also influence radiocarbon dates as valid chronological indicators of human occupations at archaeological sites.

Bristlecone pine calibrations Suess ; Stuiver et al. Recent data from Greenland ice cores and uranium-thorium dates from corals and from other sources have extended the cali- bration range to include the Paleo-Indian period e. By Paleo-Indian times, the magnitude of error for radiocarbon dates is more than 2, years earlier than actual calendric dates. Radiocarbon dates are usually reported as BP dates radiocarbon years before present, and are converted to calen- dric dates BC or AD following calibration.

Shells, bone and short-lived plant materials have often provided inaccurate radiometric dates. Accelerator mass spectrometry AMS dating techniques have greatly relieved problems of small carbon samples and differences among dated materials.

C 13 isotope corrections can also be applied to plant samples with a C4 pathways, including maize and other cultigens. Radiometric dates also reflect the research designs of individual archaeologists who selectively excavate sites, submit samples, and publish results from radiometric dating to support specific research questions.

Sets of radiocarbon dates might reflect biases among researchers rather than unbiased samples of archaeological sites or features. Many of these factors were considered when assembling radiocarbon data from Connecticut. Inter- pretations of the Connecticut radiometric chronology were aided by comparisons with other radiocarbon sequences from Northeastern North America.

Until about , archaeological sites were recorded by Smithsonian inventory numbers identifying the state number e. Since approximately , the Connecticut Historical Commission and the Office of the State Archaeologist have inventoried archaeological sites by an alphabetical town number and site series number e. The Connecticut radiometric database derives from combined efforts of numerous archaeologists and research institutions.

The Connecticut database presently includes radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites Table I. Radiocarbon dates are listed from older to more recent dates.

Information was collected from published sources, unpublished archaeological survey reports on file with the Connecticut Historical Commission, Ph. C C 12 corrections were selected for this list when this information was available. Laboratory numbers are reported on Table I. Connecticut site inventory numbers have been compiled for named sites from computerized site files of the Connecticut Historical Commission. Radiocarbon dates are also presented for twenty-two sites that either have not yet received site numbers or for which site forms have not yet been filed with the Connecticut Historical Commission.

Towns and physiographic regions associated with archaeological sites have also been reported on Table I. Archaeological information presented on Table I includes site names, features or site proveniences of dated samples, and the material submitted for dating e. Projectile point types, ceramic types, cultigens, and other important cultural materials associated with radiocarbon dates are included on Table I.

Typological information for artifacts often varies between archaeological reports. The expected prehistoric cultural periods of artifacts are also listed. Published and unpublished references for radiocarbon dates are presented below.

Table 2 summarizes the radiocarbon database from Connecticut towns and physiographic regions. Table 2 describes the numbers of archaeological sites with radiocarbon dates, the numbers of individual dates from towns, and the range of dates from towns.

Only 34 percent of Connecticut towns 57 towns have dated prehistoric archaeological sites. Most towns have few dates that only encompass segments of the prehistoric chronological sequence. Ledyard has the most dates 41 dates largely resulting from cultural resource surveys sponsored by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The Northwest Highlands encompass an area of The highest point in Connecticut is feet elevation on Mount Frissel at the northwest comer of the state.

The average elevation for all towns in the Northwest Highlands is feet above sea level O\’Brien Mountains and rolling plateaus drain into the narrow valleys, including the Shepaug River tributary to the Housatonic River, and the Farmington River that drains into the Connecticut River. An aggressive program of archaeological excavations and radiocarbon dating began in western Connecticut during by the Shepaug Valley Archaeological Society Swigart Swigart reported 10 radiocarbon dates from the Northwest Highlands and II dates from towns in the adjacent Western Uplands.

The Institute has continued to support archaeological research projects. The present sample of radiocarbon dates from the Northwest Highlands includes 32 dates from 20 archaeological sites among six towns Table 2. This is the smallest sample of radiocarbon dates from any region of Connecticut. This date derived from an organic sample and might be of geological rather than human origin. Western Uplands The Western Uplands is a region of rolling hills and valleys.

The uplands are also head- waters to several smaller rivers that flow south into Long Island Sound including the Norwalk, Saugatuck, Mill and Pequonnock Rivers. The Western Uplands includes The average elevation of towns in the Western Uplands is feet above sea level O\’Brien The Western Uplands presently have a sample of 61 radiocarbon dates from 26 sites among II towns.

McWeeney\’s three earliest carbon samples between 10, to BP probably relate to Paleo-Indian occupations at the Templeton site. All of these Paleo- Indian charcoal samples were identified as oak or hickory wood, suggesting early Holocene expansion of temperate hardwoods into the uplands of Connecticut by Paleo-Indian times McWeeney A total of 36 radiocarbon dates were procured from sites along the Connecticut sections of the transmission corridor, including 14 dates from seven Western Upland sites, 21 dates from three sites in the Western Coastal Slope region, and one date from the Northwest Highlands.

Other cultural resource management surveys have also contributed substantial numbers of radiocarbon dates from the Western Uplands. Seven dates are available from the Newtown Sewer site in Newtown Jones et al.

David Thompson , , personal communication, has maintained a tradition of Archaeological Society of Connecticut field research in the Western Uplands, reporting six dates from the region.

Western Coastal Slope Long Island Sound provides rich environments of marine fisheries, abundant coastal shellfish, and estuary habitats with diverse plant and fish nursery communities. Sea levels have risen throughout the Holocene period of human occupations.

The shoreline of Long Island Sound was approximately 40 m below modern sea levels at approximately 12, BP, 25 m lower between approximately and BP,5 m lower at BP, and approximately 2 m lower at BP Gayes and Bokuniewicz Rising seas have destroyed older archaeological sites along former coastlines, and have eroded headlands and inundated river valleys that may have been important locations for human occupations.

A total of 60 radi- ocarbon dates has been reported from 19 archaeological sites within five towns Table 2. Wiegand has accumulated 34 pub- lished and unpublished radiocarbon dates from nine sites in the region Wiegand , , and personal communication. In addition, excavations conducted along the Iroquois Gas Transmission System included 21 radiocarbon dates from three sites in Milford Millis et al.

Central Valley The Central Valley formed from faulting and subsidence along its eastern border and sedimentary filling of the valley floor Bell Metacomet Ridge rises along the middle of the Central Valley as a result of volcanic intrusions into sedimentary brownstone formations. Following glaciation, the falls of the Connecticut River at Windsor Locks was a significant ecological barrier to spawning fish moving up the Connecticut River.

The Central Valley encompasses an area of 1, Towns of the Central Valley average feet elevation O\’Brien The prehistoric chronology of the Central Valley contains 66 dates from 36 archaeological sites in sixteen towns Table 2.

Kevin McBride initiated intensive radiocarbon dating for his doctoral research within the Connecticut River valley. McBride\’s doctoral dissertation and preparatory publications reported 15 radio- carbon dates from the Central Valley, 13 dates from the Eastern Uplands, and 19 dates from the Eastern Coastal Slope regions McBride , ; McBride and Dewar In , Peter Pagoulatos completed a study of Terminal Archaic settlements, reporting nine new radiocarbon dates within the Connecticut River valley.

In , Jonathan Lizee a reanalyzed prehistoric ceramics associated with the Windsor Ceramic Tradition from dated archaeological sites both within and outside the Connecticut River drainage also see Lavin , These studies greatly expanded information about the timespans of particular artifact types and subsistence resources within Connecticut.

Many other archaeological projects have been conducted in the Central Valley. Yale University conducted excavations at the Lewis-Walpole site, Farmington, between and , and Starbuck published 2 radiocarbon dates. Feder a, b, , in press, n. The region was greatly affected by Pleistocene glaciation, and many modern landforms were formed from moraines and deltatic deposits Lewis and Stone Similar to the Western Coastal Slope, rising sea levels have inundated early Holocene shorelines and associated archaeological sites.

The Eastern Coastal Slope contains radiocarbon dates from 44 archaeological sites within eight towns. John Pfeiffer reported 22 dates from the region in publications leading toward his doctoral dissertation at the State University of New York at Albany about Late Archaic and Terminal Archaic cultures of the lowest Connecticut River valley Pfeiffer , ; Pfeiffer and Stuckenrath MPMRC project files include 29 unpublished dates from seven sites.

Many other archaeological surveys have been conducted along the Eastern Coastal Slope. Amateur archaeologists have investigated possible Medieval Celtic settlements at Gungywarnp, Groton, and have received radiocarbon dates of , , and BP preceding, contemporaneous with, and following the supposed Medieval period of early European colonization Barron , Whittall and Barron Eastern Uplands The Eastern Uplands encompasses an area of 1, square miles within 41 towns Figure 1.

The region is primarily composed of rolling metamorphic formations that form headwaters to the Salmon and Moodus Rivers draining to the Connecticut River, the Yantic and Shetucket Rivers that form the Thames River at Norwich, the Quinebaug River that joins the Shetucket River above Norwich, and the Pawcatuck River that is the boundary with Rhode Island Bell The average elevation of towns in the Eastern Uplands is feet above sea level O\’Brien A total of 34 new radiocarbon dates was reported from this project, including dates for Neville-Stark projectile points from the Bolton Spring site ranging between BP and 10, BP.

Regions of Connecticut differ in the number of radiocarbon dates and sites investigated by archae- ologists Table 2. The Eastern Coastal Slope contains twice the number of dated sites and more than three times as many radiocarbon dates as the Northwest Highlands. Varying sample sizes of radiocarbon dates might influence assessments of regional cultural chronologies. Differing histories of archaeological research within various regions might have introduced biases into the radiocarbon database.

Lizee a and Lavin , focused on Woodland sites that contained ceramics. Bendremer ; also George focused on Late Woodland agricultural sites. Many CRM highway surveys have been conducted along level river terraces that may not have existed during the Early Holocene. Do selective research designs inflate numbers of radiocarbon dates from particular periods? Table 3 summarizes temporal distributions of radiocarbon dates from different physiographic regions in Connecticut.

Dates have been combined into standardized year intervals based upon uncalibrated mean laboratory dates.

The primary assumption of this study is that radiocarbon dates represent relatively unbiased samples. While archaeologists may differentially select artifacts or feature types for dating, we believe that archaeologists are incapable of predicting specific ages of radiocarbon samples. Archaeologists often reject radiocarbon dates that do not meet preconceived chronological parameters for artifact use or site occupations.

Rejected dates are also included in this database. Rejected dates may provide previously unsuspected evidence for cultural chronologies. Figure 2 presents frequency curves numbers of dates per year intervals for total Connecticut radiocarbon dates and chronologies for six physiographic regions. Several patterns are notable. If archaeological research designs have biased the radiocarbon database, then separate regions should have differing radiocarbon chronologies based on research activities of individual archaeologists.

These modes are not expressed in the Northwest Highlands possibly because of the small number of dates from this region, but perhaps also because of different cultural-ecological processes in mountainous habitats. Sea level rise, and consequent destruction of early archaeological sites, may have been more severe along the Western Coastal Slope than along the Eastern Coastal Slope.

Late Archaic dates are less common in the west than the east. No amount of sampling bias can account for the consistent lack of radi- ocarbon dates between BP and BP across all physiographic regions of Connecticut.

Connecticut radiocarbon dates dates per year interval in geographic region. Geographic patterning of these radiocarbon date modes is beyond its likelihood of archaeological sampling bias, and probably reflects undetermined cultural processes in Connecticut. One tempting hypothesis is that regional modes reflect shifting population centers, perhaps associated with ethnic migrations e. However, this question is beyond the scope of this paper. Connecticut radiocarbon dates should contribute to general understanding of prehistoric cultural changes.

The Connecticut radiocarbon chronology can be appreciated from comparisons with other studies of prehistoric chronology and culture change in Northeastern North America. Ritchie\’s prehistoric cultural chronology for New York was developed from relatively large numbers of radiocarbon dates during the early decades of radiocarbon dating in archaeology.

The New York chronology has provided structure for New England archaeology until the present time e. Ritchie\’s cultural sequence included a then poorly dated Paleo-Indian Stage ca. Each cultural stage was associated with artifacts and other material traits that presumably conferred progressive adaptive advantages, and possibly effected prehistoric human populations over time.

The Archaic Stage was first named by Ritchie , based upon excavations at Lamoka Lake and other sites, to signify pre-ceramic cultures subsisting by hunting, gathering wild plants and fishing. Ritchie initially defined two projectile point traditions within the Archaic Stage.

Initial lack of radiocarbon dated sites between 10, BP and BP led Ritchie and Funk ; after Fitting to speculate whether an Early Archaic Sub-Stage was a period of population abandonment in the Northeast, associated with low resource productivity of early post-glacial boreal conifer forests. Pollen and macro-botanical studies have subsequently demonstrated that mixed hardwood forests had expanded into the region at much earlier times e.

The Early Archaic 10, – BP was established from radiocarbon dates at Staten Island sites that contained Kirk, Palmer, and bifurcate-base points analogous to point types in the Southeastern United States Ritchie and Funk The Maritime Archaic has not been identified in Connecticut. The Transitional Stage or Terminal Archaic was associated with an expanded material inventory toward the eventual manufacture of pottery Ritchie Transitional Stage artifacts included steatite vessels, early Vinette I pottery, and Susquehanna, Frost Island and Orient projectile points.

Burial cere- monialism was also a recognized as trait of the Transitional Stage in New England Dincauze Radi- ocarbon dates demonstrated broad chronological overlaps among Archaic projectile point traditions and other artifacts in New England Hoffman The Late Woodland showed increasing influences from maize agriculture and regional diversification of ceramic types in New York after BP Ritchie and Funk Late Woodland projectile points included Levanna and Madison triangular types.

Many radiocarbon samples have been submitted by archaeologists during the decades following the publications of Ritchie\’s New York prehistoric chronology, and Jordan\’s early survey of New England radiocarbon dates. As radiocarbon databases grew, lists of dates were published from many New England and Middle Atlantic States. Studies include Hoffman\’s list of dates from Massachusetts, Gengras\’ list of dates from New Hampshire, Herbstritt\’s dates from Pennsylvania, Trader\’s list of dates from West Virginia, and Boyce and Frye\’s dates from Maryland.

A list of dates is available from southern Ontario covering the Middle and Late Woodland periods Smith In addition, Hoffman has recently published a list of dates for steatite and early ceramics from New England. Most of these studies reported uncalibrated radiocarbon dates radiocarbon years before present or BP. Date sequences are therefore uncalibrated in following discussions and in Table I. As noted above, radiocarbon dates are valuable for studying changes of prehistoric material culture.

Assumptions of randomness might be invalid, but this question should be examined through a review of available data. Table 4 summarizes the numbers of uncorrected radiocarbon dates within year intervals from individual states. Simple frequency distribution curves number of dates per year interval have been compiled for each state and regional radiocarbon study. Therefore, it is not possible to compare prehistoric cultural chronologies in quite the same ways between all areas of Northeastern North America from the published studies of radiocarbon chronologies.

Differences in approaches between different studies are often illustrative of varying research designs and problems of radiocarbon dating, in general. M cc ;:! N S; o; r-. The Maryland sample was relatively small with only dates. The earliest date at the time of the study was BP. Rising sea levels flooded many Chesapeake Bay archaeological sites, perhaps accounting for few Archaic dates in the Maryland sample.

A large increase of dates occurred after BP, marking the beginning of the Late Woodland. Subsequent archaeological studies have demonstrated that maize appeared at many sites along the western shore of Chesapeake Bay at approximately BP Reeve Maryland Dates after Boyce and Frye The Maryland sample reflects one problem of radiocarbon chronologies.

During the s, the federal government and Maryland Coastal Zone Administration sponsored Chesapeake Bay coastal archae- ological surveys e. Oyster shells from many prehistoric shell middens were directly dated. Figure 3 suggests differences between shell and wood charcoal dates. Shell dates were consistently older than wood charcoal dates, possibly biasing chronological patterns with numerous spuri- ous dates in this small sample.

Non-shell samples magnify the increase of radiocarbon dates during the Late Woodland period Figure 3. Figure 4 is a West Virginia sample of dates Trader Albans site. Bifurcate Base points ranged between and BP. Shifts to maize agriculture occurred earlier in the Ohio River valley than in the Chesapeake Bay area and New England. Figure 5 presents a large sample of dates from Pennsylvania Herbstritt Herbstritt reported cultural periods rather than specific artifact types associated with radiocarbon dates.

Herbstritt\’s cultural periods approached normal uni-modal distributions for date frequencies. The Paleo-Indian period ended by approximately BP. The Early Archaic might have extended to BP. Early Woodland to Late Woodland periods tended to overlap in time. The overall Pennsylvania pattern suggested punctuated increases and then stabil- ity for the numbers of dates over time from the Paleo-Indian through Middle Archaic periods and again during the Late-Terminal Archaic through Middle Woodland periods.

West Virginia dates after Trader and selected point types. Woodland dates was evident after BP. Similar to date sequences to the south of Pennsylvania, the dramatic increase of Late Woodland dates might reflect the adoption of maize agriculture, marking both sedentary villages and population increases.

Recently, Smith focused attention on the Middle to Late Woodland transition to maize agri- culture in southern Ontario. Southern Ontario cultural phases were examined from radiocarbon dates between and BP Figure 6. This is currently the earliest verified date for maize macro-botanical rather than pollen evidence in Eastern North America outside of the Mississippi-Ohio River drainage e.

Smith suggests that early maize BP might have been traded into the southern Ontario, or was part ofa mixed hunting-gather- ing-fishing-horticultural subsistence economy. Relatively low frequencies of Middle Woodland dated sites indicate population stability among southern Ontario hunter-gatherers until after BP, when a large increase of radiocarbon dates indicated expansion of agricultural villages among Early Ontario Iroquoians.

The dramatic increase of Early Ontario lroquoian dates after BP was consistent with the chronology for agriculture from the Middle Atlantic region to the south.

A comparative list of radiocarbon dates from northern New England has recently been published for New Hampshire Gengras The New Hampshire sample included dates from 38 sites Figure 7.

This study did not report associated artifacts or cultigens, but instead listed dated sites by river systems. The total New Hampshire sample demonstrated relative continuity of radiocarbon dates from the Paleo- Indian period at the Whipple site through the Middle Archaic periods. A smaller Late Woodland mode occurred at BP. Pennsylvania dates after Herbstritt and cultural periods. Southern Ontario dates after Smith and cultural phases.

New Hampshire dates after Gengras and geographic regions. Late Woodland dates were more common along the Connecticut River than within other New Hampshire river systems Figure 7. Agriculture was probably not as important to Late Woodland people in the colder, mountainous areas of New Hampshire as farther south or at lower elevations of the Connecticut River valley.

However, small sample sizes from most New Hampshire rivers affect interpre- tations of regional variability within the radiocarbon chronology. Figure 8 summarizes Hoffman\’s sequence of dates from Massachusetts. Massachusetts dates maintained a bi-modal distribution similar to the New Hampshire sample. There were relatively few dates from the Paleo-Indian through the Middle Archaic periods in Massachusetts. Dated sites became more common at BP, and reached a peak at approximately BP.

Numbers of dates increased during the Late Woodland after BP. Agriculture might not have been as important among New England populations as among Late Woodland people to the south and west. Hoffman\’s study provided contexts for associated projectile point types in Massachusetts Figure 8. Typological problems might be indicated by the broad time ranges among many projectile point types. Note that Hoffman often reported several artifact types within a five-meter distance from a radiocarbon sample.

Similarly, Squibnocket triangular and stemmed points included two periods of popularity, during the Late Archaic and again during the Middle to Late Woodland.

Squibnocket points might have been a generalized biface form rather than a chronologically diagnostic projectile point type. The Massachusetts chronology suggested that during the Late Archaic, Laurentian Tradition notched points preceded and later coexisted with Narrow Point e.

Many of the Late Archaic projectile point types persisted through the Early Woodland, although with substantially fewer associated radiocarbon dates. The persistence of projectile point types in Massachusetts raises questions about the validity or importance of the long-held cultural- chronological division between Archaic and Woodland Stages in New England Hoffman The boundary between the Archaic and Woodland Stages has been one of the major chronological divisions within Northeastern archaeology for at least the past 50 years.

The division was based on the presumed presence or absence of ceramics, marking a major material change and possible adaptive changes within prehistoric societies. Steatite vessels were among the principal attributes defined by Ritchie for the Transitional Archaic Stage. Steatite vessels were believed to have preceded pottery in Northeastern North America. This model was reinforced by steatite-tempered pottery from Chesapeake Bay, often having vessel forms similar to steatite bowls e.

Relationships are problematic between introduction of pottery and development of complex social organ- ization, especially in areas beyond the areas of Adena influence. Adaptive advantages of ceramics andlor burial ceremonialism are questions that require long term archaeological studies, although the chronology for Archaic to Woodland material changes has been addressed Hoffman Hoffman has recently compiled dates from New England and adjacent areas for earliest ceramics Vinette I, Vinette II and Point Peninsula ceramics , steatite and native copper artifacts.

Figure 9 presents frequency curves for dates associated with these artifacts between approximately and BP. Vinette [ pottery was rare in New England until after BP. At this time, dates associated with Vinette [ pottery increased in southern New England.

Massachusetts dates after Hoffman and selected point types. Archaic-Woodland Transition after Hoffman and major artifacts. Dates for steatite bowls and copper grave goods were far more common in southern New England after BP than in northern New England. Steatite bowls and copper have been found in several cremation burials in Connecticut McBride ; Pfeiffer In summary, Hoffman\’s study completely obscures the former division between the Archaic and Woodland cultural stages by extending the history of ceramics much farther into the Late Archaic than formerly accepted, and by positing the earlier appearance of ceramics than steatite vessels in New England.

Figure 10 presents temporal trends among major projectile point types, ceramics, steatite, cremation burials, and cultigens in Connecticut from this study see Table I. Sites such as Lewis-Walpole contained Paleo-Indian to Middle Archaic artifacts, but features had little datable charcoal Starbuck This terminal Middle Archaic date in Connecticut is consistent with the Pennsylvania Herbstritt and Massachusetts Hoffman chronologies and appears to correspond with the end of the hot-dry Atlantic Climatic Phase Hypsithermal as defined in Connecticut McWeeney These Late Archaic projectile point traditions overlap in time Figure Cremation burials were associated with different Late Archaic traditions in Connecticut.

Many of the radiocarbon dates referred to by Hoffman in his study of steatite and early pottery in New England derived from Connecticut archaeological sites. This is a shorter time span than reported for Small-stemmed and Squibnocket points in Massachusetts Hoffrnan Jack\’s Reef points have not yet been dated in Connecticut.

The Late Woodland is marked by nearly simultaneous appearances of Levanna triangular points and cultigens. Narrow-stem, Lamoka, Wading River. Modes for dated maize and Levanna points both occur at approximately BP. The appearance of maize in Connecticut is therefore only approximately years later than at Chesapeake Bay, but – years later than in Southern Ontario, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Figures II and 12 standardize frequency curves as per- centages of dates per years for New England states and Middle Atlantic states, respectively. Radio- carbon dates are relatively rare throughout the entire Northeast until approximately BP, suggesting relatively small Native American population levels from Paleo-Indian through Middle Archaic times. Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire patterns are nearly identical, with low percentages of dates before BP, dramatic increases of dates during the Late and Terminal Archaic periods between and BP, reduced percentages of dates during the Early and Middle Woodland periods between and BP, and Late Woodland increases of dates between and BP.

The Middle Atlantic pattern exhibits gradual increases of dates through the entire Archaic period. Early Woodland Adena increases are recognizable between and BP, but are accompanied by a brief decreases of dates between and BP. Late Woodland dates are far more common in the Middle Atlantic than in New England, probably indicating earlier shifts toward maize agriculture between and BP, and greater population growth and settlement nucleation than in New England.

Clearly, Late and Terminal Archaic population increases in Connecticut and elsewhere in New England provide a significant research topic. If Late Woodland populations were responding to increased agricultural productivity, then the Late Archaic mode for radiocarbon dates and possibly related popula- tion increases might also be related to subsistence changes.

Many wetlands maintained lower water levels. Charred plant remains in swamp cores suggested greater fire frequency in wetlands during this period. These climatic changes probably led to a recharging water tables and wetlands, as well as greater fluvial river-stream flow. One explanation for Late Archaic population increases might be a florescence of Atlantic fisheries, particularly the exploitation of prodigious spring spawning runs of sturgeon, Atlantic salmon, shads, and other anadromous fish.

Large archaeological sites along rivers and streams should indicate fishing, especially at falls and rapids where large numbers of fish might have been caught with weirs or nets. The Western Uplands and Central Valley show the greatest increases of Late Archaic dates, which might reflect extensions of fish spawning ranges into new upstream habitats after the dry Atlantic Climatic Phase.

Conversely, the Northeast Highlands are mostly beyond the ranges of anadromous fish, and only small increases of Late Archaic radiocarbon dates have been noted in this region Figure 2.

Nicholas emphasized the immense productivity of wetland habitats in Connecticut. Wetland root crops have the potential to support large hunter-gatherer populations Reeve and Siegel Root crops such as arrowheads Alismataceae , arrow arums Araceae , lilies Liliaceae , and groundnuts Apiaceae are nearly invisible in the archeobotanical record.

Ethnographically, tuckahoe, or bread roots, were important to subsistence among Eastern Algonquians, and many modem place names preserve this cultural ecological heritage. Earthoven cooking could prepare large root crop harvests, and the technology was critical for detoxifying many species of root crops.

Feature soils could contain evidence of rootcrops, or more likely, vegetation layered to protect and steam the food. For example, Captain John Smith gave a detailed description of earthoven cooking during the early seventeenth century, probably for the preparation of Peltandra virginica or Sagittaria spp. It groweth like a flagge in the Marishes. In one day a Salvage will gather sufficient for a weeke. These roots are much of the greatness and taste of Potatoes.

They use to cover a great many of them with Oke leaves and Ferne, and then cover all with earth in the manner of a Colepit; OVerit, on each side, they continue a great fire for 24 hours before they dare eat it.

Raw it is no better then poyson, and being roasted, except it be tender and heat abated, or sliced and dryed in the Sunne, mixed with sorrell and meale or such like, it will prickle and torment the throat extremely, and yet in sommer they use this ordinarilly for bread Smith Earth oven technology has been documented at least since the Late Archaic in Connecticut, such as at the Lewis- Walpole site Starbuck In the Middle Atlantic region, McLearen observed that fire-cracked rock features were the most common type of archaeological feature from the Late Archaic through the Middle Woodland.

Increases of Late Archaic radiocarbon dates might reflect the introduction of a new technology, as well as exploitation of new resources or habitats. A quantitative study of fire- cracked rock feature types might provide new insights into subsistence and demographic patterns in Connecticut.

No substantial environmental changes have been described during the Early and Middle Woodland periods that might account for this fluctuation among radiocarbon dates. Although ceramic technology appeared during the Late or Terminal Archaic periods, ceramics became common at archaeological sites during the Early Woodland and Middle Woodland in New England. As noted above, the adaptive advantages of ceramic technologies are not obvious but might have involved social rather than demographic advantages smaller rather than larger populations.

In fact, Levi- Strauss concluded his monumental study of North American and Amazonian mythology with the observation that ceramics and earth oven cooking technologies conjoined entirely different cosmological paradigms.

Adoption of Woodland ceramics might represent a significant ideological change that extended to use of new resources e. George and Dewar have proposed the possible use of small seed plants such as Chenopodium, mimicking the Eastern Agricultural Complex of the Ohio Valley and Midwest. If these hypotheses are correct, then seed grinding technologies should be increasingly common at Early and Middle Woodland ceramic sites. One of the major conclusions of this study is that radiocarbon dates, and probably also human populations, increased during the Late Woodland with the adoption of maize agriculture.

Maize might not have been as significant to prehis- toric subsistence in New England as in the Middle Atlantic region. Apparently, Late Woodland population increases were less pronounced in New England than in regions to the south.

Obviously, a great deal of additional research and radiometric dating must be conducted before these and other hypotheses deriving from the Connecticut radiocarbon chronology can be verified. Nicholas Bellantoni, Connecticut State Archaeologist, hunted down site numbers and provided access to site files and reports. Harold Juli of Connecticut College, Dr.

Michael Raber of Raber Associates, Dr. Thank you all for your cooperation and generous help. Bendremer, Jeffrey C. North American Archaeologist 12 4 Aldine, Chicago. Boyce, Hettie L. Brose, David S. Fitting, pp. Cassedy, Daniel F. Ecology 50 3 Dincauze, Dina F. Peabody Museum, Cambridge. American Antiquity 36 2 : Peabody Museum Monographs, No.

Man in the Northeast 22 3 : North American Archaeologist 2 3 : In Integrating Appalachian Archaeology. Internet file. Fiedel, Stuart J. North American Archaeologist II 3 American Antiquity 64 1 Fitting, James E. American Antiquity 33 Plenum Press, New York. Gayes, Paul T. Journal of Coastal Research II Gengras, Justine B. The New Hampshire Archeologist 36 I David R. Dewar Prehistoric Chenopodium in Connecticut. Paper presented at the Conference on Archeobotany in the Northeast.

Heckenberger, Michael J. Archaeology of Eastern North America Pennsylvania Archaeologist 58 2 : 1- Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society 39 I Northeastern Anthropology Johnson, Frederick ed. Papers of the Robert S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology 3. Brian D. Jones, Brian. Public Archaeology Survey Team. Storrs, CT. Museum of Science, Springfield, MA.

Juli, Harold D. The Connecticut College Arboretum, Bulletin New London, CT. Northeast Anthropology Kingsley, Robert G. John Milner Associates, Inc. North American Archaeologist 8 I Prepared for United International Corp.

Harper and Row, New York. Lewis, Ralph S. Journal of Coastal Research Public Archaeology Survey Team, Inc. Uconn CHPC American Antiquity 13 3 McBride, Kevin A. Man in the Northeast Public Archaeology Survey Team, lnc. Report prepared for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. McBride, K.

Wadleigh, and R. Archaeology Research Monographs I. McGhee, Robert, and James A. Reinhart and M. Hodges, pp. Special Publication No. Archeological Society of Virginia, Richmond. Moeller, Roger W. Occasional Paper No. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology 7: I Nicholas, George P. Imprint, West Hartford, CT. Parkos, Joseph The M. Site, A Preliminary Report.

Pfeiffer, John E. Raber, Michael S. Report prepared for Southern Auto Sales, Inc. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology Reeve, Stuart A. Riley, Thomas J. Current Anthropology 31 5 Ritchie, William A. Ritchie, William A, and Robert E. Funk Aboriginal Settlement Patterns in the Northeast. Robertson, James A. Smith, Carlyle S.

Bulletin of the Archaeological Societv of Connecticut 21 Smith, David G. Macmillan, NY. Academic Press, NY. Starbuck, David R. The New Hampshire Archaeologist Stuiver, M. Long, and R. Kra editors Calibration. University of Arizona, Tucson. Suess, R.

Olsson, pp. Nobel Symposium Willy lnterscience, New York. Suggs, Robert C. Eve Emshwiller. Problem: The increasing availability of large vegetation databases holds great potential in ecological research and biodiversity informatics, However, inconsistent application of plant names compromises the usefulness of these databases.

Unfortunately, awareness of the problem remains low among vegetation scientists. We discuss how these problems might be minimized. Results: We highlight the importance of taxonomic reference lists for standardizing plant names and outline standards they should fulfill to be useful for vegetation databases. Additionally, we present the R package vegdata, which is designed to solve name-related problems that arise when analysing vegetation databases.

Conclusions: We conclude that by giving more consideration to the appropriate application of plant names, vegetation scientists might enhance the reliability of analyses obtained from large vegetation databases.

Rajanikanth Govindarajulu. Aaron RoDriguez. Benjamin J Crain , Jeffrey White. Napa County contains particularly high levels of biological diversity in a variety of categories and is considered one of ten localized areas in California that contain the highest numbers of native and endemic plant species.

Here we present a floristic summary based on a new annotated checklist of the flora of this uniquely diverse region. The checklist was developed by combining several local and statewide floristic data sources that represent herbarium collection records and other observations from Napa County. The final checklist of vascular plants for Napa County consists of 1, taxa, including 1, native taxa from different families.

Alarmingly, native taxa in Napa County were listed as rare or threatened to some degree. The results of this study demonstrate that for its size, Napa County contains remarkably high levels of plant diversity as well as high concentrations of special status taxa as compared to other areas within the California Floristic Province, the State of California as a whole, and other regions within global biodiversity hotspots characterized by Mediterranean climates. In particular, this analysis highlights the floristic significance of Napa County at global and local levels, and thus, this review is an important step to help promote and facilitate long term research and conservation planning in the area.

 
 

 

Windows 10 1703 download iso itasca staten crossing

 

Nelson, J. Southon, R. Nickmann, and L. Journal of Quaternary Science 9 2 : Pfeiffer, J. Rhodora 88 Ridge, J. Besonen, M. Brochu, S. Brown, J. Callahan, G.

Cook, R. Nicholson, N. Thompson, B. Fowler, and P. G\’4ographie Physique et Quaternaire 53 1 Robinson, B. Robinson, J. Petersen, and A. Robinson, pp. Occasional Publications in Maine Archaeology No.

Sneddon, L. Thesis, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Spear, R. Davis, and L. Ecological Monographs Stea, R. Boreas Taylor, K. Lamorey, G. Doyle, R. Alley, P. M Grootes, P.

Mayewski, J. White, and L. Nature Thorson, R. Geoarchaeology Watts, W. Ecological Monographs 49 4 Porter, pp. Webb, R. Anderson and T. Webb, III. Webb, T. Bartlein, and J. K 3 edited by W. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado. Whitehead, D. Ecological Monographs 51 4 Yu, Z. McAndrews, U. Zielinski, G. Mayewski, L. Meeker, S. Whitlow, M. Twickler, M. Morrison, D. Meese, A. Gow, R. Alley Record of Volcanism Since B. The Connecticut sample includes dates. Connecticut dates are compared to radiocarbon chronologies from five other Northeastern states New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia and southern Ontario.

Connecticut and other New England states have bi-modal distributions of radiocarbon dates after BP. Maize may not have been as significant to prehistoric subsistence in New England as in the Middle Atlantic region, and Late Woodland population increases were apparently less pronounced in New England.

These included only forty-five dates from archaeological sites and five geological dates. Only three dates were from Connecticut archaeological sites. The first Connecticut dates were two samples submitted by Suggs from the Manakaway site in Greenwich. David Thompson submitted the third Connecticut archaeological date from the Binette site, Naugatuck. In the three decades following Jordan\’s early survey, radiocarbon dating became the most frequently utilized method for developing absolute chronologies for prehistoric sites and associated artifacts.

Table I assembles published and unpublished radiocarbon dates from Connecticut archaeological sites. These dates derive from cultural resource management surveys, doctoral studies, museum research files, academic institutions, and investigations by professional and avocational archaeologists. This list is intended as a research tool for cross-referencing radiocarbon samples, archaeological sites, artifact assemblages, and archaeological reports.

However, this paper poses the hypothesis that radiocarbon dates also reflect broader prehistoric cultural processes. Radiocarbon dating is commonly employed by archaeologists to evaluate prehistoric culture changes among material artifacts such as projectile points, ceramic types, burial practices, and subsistence patterns particularly the origins of agriculture. For example, all prehistoric peoples built hearths for warmth and cooking.

More dated hearths might reflect more people during specific prehistoric periods. Perhaps questionable radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites also provide chronological information for human activities in an environment over time.

Charcoal might reflect periods of site occupations even if not directly associated with artifacts that archaeologists wish to date. Cultural factors probably influenced archaeological site formation, kinds of features constructed and preserved, and associated radiometric dates. For example, throughout the Paleo-Indian and Archaic periods it is assumed that Native Americans hunted and gathered naturally occurring animal, plant and fish resources.

Human populations were mobile in order to exploit highly pro- ductive seasonal resources, such as changes in animal ranges, fish spawning runs, and the differential ripening schedules of greens, roots, fruits, seeds and nut resources.

Many archaeological sites in Connecticut were reoccupied over thousands of years, suggesting favorable environmental conditions at particular locations. Woodland period agriculture involved production of new food resources that might have led to lower seasonal mobility. Agriculture is also often associated with human population increases e. Sedentary agricultural lifestyles might have led to new types of deep storage features that were conducive to preservation of charcoal and other organic remains e.

Greater numbers of features might have been associated with agricultural subsistence patterns such as food storage facilities, postholes from permanent structures, middens resulting from annual or pro- longed seasonal occupations, and perhaps palisades or other fortifications. Therefore, adoption of agricul- tural subsistence strategies might be indicated by increasing numbers of radiocarbon dated features than during pre-agricultural times.

Many environmental factors also effect carbon preservation. Because charcoal and other organic matter physically decay over time, fewer and smaller carbon samples are usually available from Paleo- Indian and Archaic period sites than from more recent Woodland period sites.

Geological processes have destroyed archaeological sites throughout the Holocene period of human occupations. Sea levels have risen and have inundated coastal sites. Rivers and streams have eroded valleys and terraces. Geomorphic proc- esses have probably destroyed a greater number of older archaeological sites, and associated charcoal samples, than recent sites. Carbon physics and chemistry also influence radiocarbon dates as valid chronological indicators of human occupations at archaeological sites.

Bristlecone pine calibrations Suess ; Stuiver et al. Recent data from Greenland ice cores and uranium-thorium dates from corals and from other sources have extended the cali- bration range to include the Paleo-Indian period e. By Paleo-Indian times, the magnitude of error for radiocarbon dates is more than 2, years earlier than actual calendric dates.

Radiocarbon dates are usually reported as BP dates radiocarbon years before present, and are converted to calen- dric dates BC or AD following calibration. Shells, bone and short-lived plant materials have often provided inaccurate radiometric dates. Accelerator mass spectrometry AMS dating techniques have greatly relieved problems of small carbon samples and differences among dated materials. C 13 isotope corrections can also be applied to plant samples with a C4 pathways, including maize and other cultigens.

Radiometric dates also reflect the research designs of individual archaeologists who selectively excavate sites, submit samples, and publish results from radiometric dating to support specific research questions.

Sets of radiocarbon dates might reflect biases among researchers rather than unbiased samples of archaeological sites or features. Many of these factors were considered when assembling radiocarbon data from Connecticut.

Inter- pretations of the Connecticut radiometric chronology were aided by comparisons with other radiocarbon sequences from Northeastern North America. Until about , archaeological sites were recorded by Smithsonian inventory numbers identifying the state number e. Since approximately , the Connecticut Historical Commission and the Office of the State Archaeologist have inventoried archaeological sites by an alphabetical town number and site series number e.

The Connecticut radiometric database derives from combined efforts of numerous archaeologists and research institutions. The Connecticut database presently includes radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites Table I. Radiocarbon dates are listed from older to more recent dates.

Information was collected from published sources, unpublished archaeological survey reports on file with the Connecticut Historical Commission, Ph. C C 12 corrections were selected for this list when this information was available. Laboratory numbers are reported on Table I. Connecticut site inventory numbers have been compiled for named sites from computerized site files of the Connecticut Historical Commission.

Radiocarbon dates are also presented for twenty-two sites that either have not yet received site numbers or for which site forms have not yet been filed with the Connecticut Historical Commission. Towns and physiographic regions associated with archaeological sites have also been reported on Table I. Archaeological information presented on Table I includes site names, features or site proveniences of dated samples, and the material submitted for dating e.

Projectile point types, ceramic types, cultigens, and other important cultural materials associated with radiocarbon dates are included on Table I. Typological information for artifacts often varies between archaeological reports. The expected prehistoric cultural periods of artifacts are also listed.

Published and unpublished references for radiocarbon dates are presented below. Table 2 summarizes the radiocarbon database from Connecticut towns and physiographic regions. Table 2 describes the numbers of archaeological sites with radiocarbon dates, the numbers of individual dates from towns, and the range of dates from towns.

Only 34 percent of Connecticut towns 57 towns have dated prehistoric archaeological sites. Most towns have few dates that only encompass segments of the prehistoric chronological sequence. Ledyard has the most dates 41 dates largely resulting from cultural resource surveys sponsored by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The Northwest Highlands encompass an area of The highest point in Connecticut is feet elevation on Mount Frissel at the northwest comer of the state. The average elevation for all towns in the Northwest Highlands is feet above sea level O\’Brien Mountains and rolling plateaus drain into the narrow valleys, including the Shepaug River tributary to the Housatonic River, and the Farmington River that drains into the Connecticut River.

An aggressive program of archaeological excavations and radiocarbon dating began in western Connecticut during by the Shepaug Valley Archaeological Society Swigart Swigart reported 10 radiocarbon dates from the Northwest Highlands and II dates from towns in the adjacent Western Uplands.

The Institute has continued to support archaeological research projects. The present sample of radiocarbon dates from the Northwest Highlands includes 32 dates from 20 archaeological sites among six towns Table 2. This is the smallest sample of radiocarbon dates from any region of Connecticut.

This date derived from an organic sample and might be of geological rather than human origin. Western Uplands The Western Uplands is a region of rolling hills and valleys.

The uplands are also head- waters to several smaller rivers that flow south into Long Island Sound including the Norwalk, Saugatuck, Mill and Pequonnock Rivers. The Western Uplands includes The average elevation of towns in the Western Uplands is feet above sea level O\’Brien The Western Uplands presently have a sample of 61 radiocarbon dates from 26 sites among II towns.

McWeeney\’s three earliest carbon samples between 10, to BP probably relate to Paleo-Indian occupations at the Templeton site. All of these Paleo- Indian charcoal samples were identified as oak or hickory wood, suggesting early Holocene expansion of temperate hardwoods into the uplands of Connecticut by Paleo-Indian times McWeeney A total of 36 radiocarbon dates were procured from sites along the Connecticut sections of the transmission corridor, including 14 dates from seven Western Upland sites, 21 dates from three sites in the Western Coastal Slope region, and one date from the Northwest Highlands.

Other cultural resource management surveys have also contributed substantial numbers of radiocarbon dates from the Western Uplands. Seven dates are available from the Newtown Sewer site in Newtown Jones et al.

David Thompson , , personal communication, has maintained a tradition of Archaeological Society of Connecticut field research in the Western Uplands, reporting six dates from the region. Western Coastal Slope Long Island Sound provides rich environments of marine fisheries, abundant coastal shellfish, and estuary habitats with diverse plant and fish nursery communities.

Sea levels have risen throughout the Holocene period of human occupations. The shoreline of Long Island Sound was approximately 40 m below modern sea levels at approximately 12, BP, 25 m lower between approximately and BP,5 m lower at BP, and approximately 2 m lower at BP Gayes and Bokuniewicz Rising seas have destroyed older archaeological sites along former coastlines, and have eroded headlands and inundated river valleys that may have been important locations for human occupations.

A total of 60 radi- ocarbon dates has been reported from 19 archaeological sites within five towns Table 2. Wiegand has accumulated 34 pub- lished and unpublished radiocarbon dates from nine sites in the region Wiegand , , and personal communication. In addition, excavations conducted along the Iroquois Gas Transmission System included 21 radiocarbon dates from three sites in Milford Millis et al.

Central Valley The Central Valley formed from faulting and subsidence along its eastern border and sedimentary filling of the valley floor Bell Metacomet Ridge rises along the middle of the Central Valley as a result of volcanic intrusions into sedimentary brownstone formations.

Following glaciation, the falls of the Connecticut River at Windsor Locks was a significant ecological barrier to spawning fish moving up the Connecticut River. The Central Valley encompasses an area of 1, Towns of the Central Valley average feet elevation O\’Brien The prehistoric chronology of the Central Valley contains 66 dates from 36 archaeological sites in sixteen towns Table 2. Kevin McBride initiated intensive radiocarbon dating for his doctoral research within the Connecticut River valley.

McBride\’s doctoral dissertation and preparatory publications reported 15 radio- carbon dates from the Central Valley, 13 dates from the Eastern Uplands, and 19 dates from the Eastern Coastal Slope regions McBride , ; McBride and Dewar In , Peter Pagoulatos completed a study of Terminal Archaic settlements, reporting nine new radiocarbon dates within the Connecticut River valley.

In , Jonathan Lizee a reanalyzed prehistoric ceramics associated with the Windsor Ceramic Tradition from dated archaeological sites both within and outside the Connecticut River drainage also see Lavin , These studies greatly expanded information about the timespans of particular artifact types and subsistence resources within Connecticut.

Many other archaeological projects have been conducted in the Central Valley. Yale University conducted excavations at the Lewis-Walpole site, Farmington, between and , and Starbuck published 2 radiocarbon dates. Feder a, b, , in press, n. The region was greatly affected by Pleistocene glaciation, and many modern landforms were formed from moraines and deltatic deposits Lewis and Stone Similar to the Western Coastal Slope, rising sea levels have inundated early Holocene shorelines and associated archaeological sites.

The Eastern Coastal Slope contains radiocarbon dates from 44 archaeological sites within eight towns. John Pfeiffer reported 22 dates from the region in publications leading toward his doctoral dissertation at the State University of New York at Albany about Late Archaic and Terminal Archaic cultures of the lowest Connecticut River valley Pfeiffer , ; Pfeiffer and Stuckenrath MPMRC project files include 29 unpublished dates from seven sites.

Many other archaeological surveys have been conducted along the Eastern Coastal Slope. Amateur archaeologists have investigated possible Medieval Celtic settlements at Gungywarnp, Groton, and have received radiocarbon dates of , , and BP preceding, contemporaneous with, and following the supposed Medieval period of early European colonization Barron , Whittall and Barron Eastern Uplands The Eastern Uplands encompasses an area of 1, square miles within 41 towns Figure 1.

The region is primarily composed of rolling metamorphic formations that form headwaters to the Salmon and Moodus Rivers draining to the Connecticut River, the Yantic and Shetucket Rivers that form the Thames River at Norwich, the Quinebaug River that joins the Shetucket River above Norwich, and the Pawcatuck River that is the boundary with Rhode Island Bell The average elevation of towns in the Eastern Uplands is feet above sea level O\’Brien A total of 34 new radiocarbon dates was reported from this project, including dates for Neville-Stark projectile points from the Bolton Spring site ranging between BP and 10, BP.

Regions of Connecticut differ in the number of radiocarbon dates and sites investigated by archae- ologists Table 2. The Eastern Coastal Slope contains twice the number of dated sites and more than three times as many radiocarbon dates as the Northwest Highlands.

Varying sample sizes of radiocarbon dates might influence assessments of regional cultural chronologies. Differing histories of archaeological research within various regions might have introduced biases into the radiocarbon database. Lizee a and Lavin , focused on Woodland sites that contained ceramics. Bendremer ; also George focused on Late Woodland agricultural sites. Many CRM highway surveys have been conducted along level river terraces that may not have existed during the Early Holocene.

Do selective research designs inflate numbers of radiocarbon dates from particular periods? Table 3 summarizes temporal distributions of radiocarbon dates from different physiographic regions in Connecticut. Dates have been combined into standardized year intervals based upon uncalibrated mean laboratory dates. The primary assumption of this study is that radiocarbon dates represent relatively unbiased samples. While archaeologists may differentially select artifacts or feature types for dating, we believe that archaeologists are incapable of predicting specific ages of radiocarbon samples.

Archaeologists often reject radiocarbon dates that do not meet preconceived chronological parameters for artifact use or site occupations. Rejected dates are also included in this database. Rejected dates may provide previously unsuspected evidence for cultural chronologies. Figure 2 presents frequency curves numbers of dates per year intervals for total Connecticut radiocarbon dates and chronologies for six physiographic regions. Several patterns are notable.

If archaeological research designs have biased the radiocarbon database, then separate regions should have differing radiocarbon chronologies based on research activities of individual archaeologists. These modes are not expressed in the Northwest Highlands possibly because of the small number of dates from this region, but perhaps also because of different cultural-ecological processes in mountainous habitats.

Sea level rise, and consequent destruction of early archaeological sites, may have been more severe along the Western Coastal Slope than along the Eastern Coastal Slope. Late Archaic dates are less common in the west than the east. No amount of sampling bias can account for the consistent lack of radi- ocarbon dates between BP and BP across all physiographic regions of Connecticut.

Connecticut radiocarbon dates dates per year interval in geographic region. Geographic patterning of these radiocarbon date modes is beyond its likelihood of archaeological sampling bias, and probably reflects undetermined cultural processes in Connecticut. One tempting hypothesis is that regional modes reflect shifting population centers, perhaps associated with ethnic migrations e. However, this question is beyond the scope of this paper. Connecticut radiocarbon dates should contribute to general understanding of prehistoric cultural changes.

The Connecticut radiocarbon chronology can be appreciated from comparisons with other studies of prehistoric chronology and culture change in Northeastern North America. Ritchie\’s prehistoric cultural chronology for New York was developed from relatively large numbers of radiocarbon dates during the early decades of radiocarbon dating in archaeology. The New York chronology has provided structure for New England archaeology until the present time e.

Ritchie\’s cultural sequence included a then poorly dated Paleo-Indian Stage ca. Each cultural stage was associated with artifacts and other material traits that presumably conferred progressive adaptive advantages, and possibly effected prehistoric human populations over time.

The Archaic Stage was first named by Ritchie , based upon excavations at Lamoka Lake and other sites, to signify pre-ceramic cultures subsisting by hunting, gathering wild plants and fishing.

Ritchie initially defined two projectile point traditions within the Archaic Stage. Initial lack of radiocarbon dated sites between 10, BP and BP led Ritchie and Funk ; after Fitting to speculate whether an Early Archaic Sub-Stage was a period of population abandonment in the Northeast, associated with low resource productivity of early post-glacial boreal conifer forests. Pollen and macro-botanical studies have subsequently demonstrated that mixed hardwood forests had expanded into the region at much earlier times e.

The Early Archaic 10, – BP was established from radiocarbon dates at Staten Island sites that contained Kirk, Palmer, and bifurcate-base points analogous to point types in the Southeastern United States Ritchie and Funk The Maritime Archaic has not been identified in Connecticut. The Transitional Stage or Terminal Archaic was associated with an expanded material inventory toward the eventual manufacture of pottery Ritchie Transitional Stage artifacts included steatite vessels, early Vinette I pottery, and Susquehanna, Frost Island and Orient projectile points.

Burial cere- monialism was also a recognized as trait of the Transitional Stage in New England Dincauze Radi- ocarbon dates demonstrated broad chronological overlaps among Archaic projectile point traditions and other artifacts in New England Hoffman The Late Woodland showed increasing influences from maize agriculture and regional diversification of ceramic types in New York after BP Ritchie and Funk Late Woodland projectile points included Levanna and Madison triangular types.

Many radiocarbon samples have been submitted by archaeologists during the decades following the publications of Ritchie\’s New York prehistoric chronology, and Jordan\’s early survey of New England radiocarbon dates. As radiocarbon databases grew, lists of dates were published from many New England and Middle Atlantic States. Studies include Hoffman\’s list of dates from Massachusetts, Gengras\’ list of dates from New Hampshire, Herbstritt\’s dates from Pennsylvania, Trader\’s list of dates from West Virginia, and Boyce and Frye\’s dates from Maryland.

A list of dates is available from southern Ontario covering the Middle and Late Woodland periods Smith In addition, Hoffman has recently published a list of dates for steatite and early ceramics from New England. Most of these studies reported uncalibrated radiocarbon dates radiocarbon years before present or BP. Date sequences are therefore uncalibrated in following discussions and in Table I. As noted above, radiocarbon dates are valuable for studying changes of prehistoric material culture.

Assumptions of randomness might be invalid, but this question should be examined through a review of available data. Table 4 summarizes the numbers of uncorrected radiocarbon dates within year intervals from individual states. Simple frequency distribution curves number of dates per year interval have been compiled for each state and regional radiocarbon study.

Therefore, it is not possible to compare prehistoric cultural chronologies in quite the same ways between all areas of Northeastern North America from the published studies of radiocarbon chronologies. Differences in approaches between different studies are often illustrative of varying research designs and problems of radiocarbon dating, in general.

M cc ;:! N S; o; r-. The Maryland sample was relatively small with only dates. The earliest date at the time of the study was BP. Rising sea levels flooded many Chesapeake Bay archaeological sites, perhaps accounting for few Archaic dates in the Maryland sample. A large increase of dates occurred after BP, marking the beginning of the Late Woodland. Subsequent archaeological studies have demonstrated that maize appeared at many sites along the western shore of Chesapeake Bay at approximately BP Reeve Maryland Dates after Boyce and Frye The Maryland sample reflects one problem of radiocarbon chronologies.

During the s, the federal government and Maryland Coastal Zone Administration sponsored Chesapeake Bay coastal archae- ological surveys e.

Oyster shells from many prehistoric shell middens were directly dated. Figure 3 suggests differences between shell and wood charcoal dates. Shell dates were consistently older than wood charcoal dates, possibly biasing chronological patterns with numerous spuri- ous dates in this small sample. Non-shell samples magnify the increase of radiocarbon dates during the Late Woodland period Figure 3. Figure 4 is a West Virginia sample of dates Trader Albans site.

Bifurcate Base points ranged between and BP. Shifts to maize agriculture occurred earlier in the Ohio River valley than in the Chesapeake Bay area and New England. Figure 5 presents a large sample of dates from Pennsylvania Herbstritt Herbstritt reported cultural periods rather than specific artifact types associated with radiocarbon dates. Herbstritt\’s cultural periods approached normal uni-modal distributions for date frequencies.

The Paleo-Indian period ended by approximately BP. The Early Archaic might have extended to BP. Early Woodland to Late Woodland periods tended to overlap in time. The overall Pennsylvania pattern suggested punctuated increases and then stabil- ity for the numbers of dates over time from the Paleo-Indian through Middle Archaic periods and again during the Late-Terminal Archaic through Middle Woodland periods.

West Virginia dates after Trader and selected point types. Woodland dates was evident after BP. Similar to date sequences to the south of Pennsylvania, the dramatic increase of Late Woodland dates might reflect the adoption of maize agriculture, marking both sedentary villages and population increases.

Recently, Smith focused attention on the Middle to Late Woodland transition to maize agri- culture in southern Ontario. Southern Ontario cultural phases were examined from radiocarbon dates between and BP Figure 6. This is currently the earliest verified date for maize macro-botanical rather than pollen evidence in Eastern North America outside of the Mississippi-Ohio River drainage e.

Smith suggests that early maize BP might have been traded into the southern Ontario, or was part ofa mixed hunting-gather- ing-fishing-horticultural subsistence economy. Relatively low frequencies of Middle Woodland dated sites indicate population stability among southern Ontario hunter-gatherers until after BP, when a large increase of radiocarbon dates indicated expansion of agricultural villages among Early Ontario Iroquoians.

The dramatic increase of Early Ontario lroquoian dates after BP was consistent with the chronology for agriculture from the Middle Atlantic region to the south. A comparative list of radiocarbon dates from northern New England has recently been published for New Hampshire Gengras The New Hampshire sample included dates from 38 sites Figure 7.

This study did not report associated artifacts or cultigens, but instead listed dated sites by river systems. The total New Hampshire sample demonstrated relative continuity of radiocarbon dates from the Paleo- Indian period at the Whipple site through the Middle Archaic periods. A smaller Late Woodland mode occurred at BP. Pennsylvania dates after Herbstritt and cultural periods.

Southern Ontario dates after Smith and cultural phases. New Hampshire dates after Gengras and geographic regions. Late Woodland dates were more common along the Connecticut River than within other New Hampshire river systems Figure 7. Agriculture was probably not as important to Late Woodland people in the colder, mountainous areas of New Hampshire as farther south or at lower elevations of the Connecticut River valley.

However, small sample sizes from most New Hampshire rivers affect interpre- tations of regional variability within the radiocarbon chronology. Figure 8 summarizes Hoffman\’s sequence of dates from Massachusetts. Massachusetts dates maintained a bi-modal distribution similar to the New Hampshire sample. There were relatively few dates from the Paleo-Indian through the Middle Archaic periods in Massachusetts.

Dated sites became more common at BP, and reached a peak at approximately BP. Numbers of dates increased during the Late Woodland after BP. Agriculture might not have been as important among New England populations as among Late Woodland people to the south and west. Hoffman\’s study provided contexts for associated projectile point types in Massachusetts Figure 8.

Typological problems might be indicated by the broad time ranges among many projectile point types. Note that Hoffman often reported several artifact types within a five-meter distance from a radiocarbon sample. Similarly, Squibnocket triangular and stemmed points included two periods of popularity, during the Late Archaic and again during the Middle to Late Woodland. Squibnocket points might have been a generalized biface form rather than a chronologically diagnostic projectile point type.

The Massachusetts chronology suggested that during the Late Archaic, Laurentian Tradition notched points preceded and later coexisted with Narrow Point e. Many of the Late Archaic projectile point types persisted through the Early Woodland, although with substantially fewer associated radiocarbon dates. The persistence of projectile point types in Massachusetts raises questions about the validity or importance of the long-held cultural- chronological division between Archaic and Woodland Stages in New England Hoffman The boundary between the Archaic and Woodland Stages has been one of the major chronological divisions within Northeastern archaeology for at least the past 50 years.

The division was based on the presumed presence or absence of ceramics, marking a major material change and possible adaptive changes within prehistoric societies. Steatite vessels were among the principal attributes defined by Ritchie for the Transitional Archaic Stage. Steatite vessels were believed to have preceded pottery in Northeastern North America.

This model was reinforced by steatite-tempered pottery from Chesapeake Bay, often having vessel forms similar to steatite bowls e. Relationships are problematic between introduction of pottery and development of complex social organ- ization, especially in areas beyond the areas of Adena influence. Adaptive advantages of ceramics andlor burial ceremonialism are questions that require long term archaeological studies, although the chronology for Archaic to Woodland material changes has been addressed Hoffman Hoffman has recently compiled dates from New England and adjacent areas for earliest ceramics Vinette I, Vinette II and Point Peninsula ceramics , steatite and native copper artifacts.

Figure 9 presents frequency curves for dates associated with these artifacts between approximately and BP. Vinette [ pottery was rare in New England until after BP. At this time, dates associated with Vinette [ pottery increased in southern New England. Massachusetts dates after Hoffman and selected point types.

Archaic-Woodland Transition after Hoffman and major artifacts. Dates for steatite bowls and copper grave goods were far more common in southern New England after BP than in northern New England. Steatite bowls and copper have been found in several cremation burials in Connecticut McBride ; Pfeiffer In summary, Hoffman\’s study completely obscures the former division between the Archaic and Woodland cultural stages by extending the history of ceramics much farther into the Late Archaic than formerly accepted, and by positing the earlier appearance of ceramics than steatite vessels in New England.

Figure 10 presents temporal trends among major projectile point types, ceramics, steatite, cremation burials, and cultigens in Connecticut from this study see Table I. Sites such as Lewis-Walpole contained Paleo-Indian to Middle Archaic artifacts, but features had little datable charcoal Starbuck This terminal Middle Archaic date in Connecticut is consistent with the Pennsylvania Herbstritt and Massachusetts Hoffman chronologies and appears to correspond with the end of the hot-dry Atlantic Climatic Phase Hypsithermal as defined in Connecticut McWeeney These Late Archaic projectile point traditions overlap in time Figure Cremation burials were associated with different Late Archaic traditions in Connecticut.

Many of the radiocarbon dates referred to by Hoffman in his study of steatite and early pottery in New England derived from Connecticut archaeological sites.

This is a shorter time span than reported for Small-stemmed and Squibnocket points in Massachusetts Hoffrnan Jack\’s Reef points have not yet been dated in Connecticut. The Late Woodland is marked by nearly simultaneous appearances of Levanna triangular points and cultigens. Narrow-stem, Lamoka, Wading River. Modes for dated maize and Levanna points both occur at approximately BP.

The appearance of maize in Connecticut is therefore only approximately years later than at Chesapeake Bay, but – years later than in Southern Ontario, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Figures II and 12 standardize frequency curves as per- centages of dates per years for New England states and Middle Atlantic states, respectively. Radio- carbon dates are relatively rare throughout the entire Northeast until approximately BP, suggesting relatively small Native American population levels from Paleo-Indian through Middle Archaic times.

Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire patterns are nearly identical, with low percentages of dates before BP, dramatic increases of dates during the Late and Terminal Archaic periods between and BP, reduced percentages of dates during the Early and Middle Woodland periods between and BP, and Late Woodland increases of dates between and BP.

The Middle Atlantic pattern exhibits gradual increases of dates through the entire Archaic period. Early Woodland Adena increases are recognizable between and BP, but are accompanied by a brief decreases of dates between and BP. Late Woodland dates are far more common in the Middle Atlantic than in New England, probably indicating earlier shifts toward maize agriculture between and BP, and greater population growth and settlement nucleation than in New England.

Clearly, Late and Terminal Archaic population increases in Connecticut and elsewhere in New England provide a significant research topic.

If Late Woodland populations were responding to increased agricultural productivity, then the Late Archaic mode for radiocarbon dates and possibly related popula- tion increases might also be related to subsistence changes. Many wetlands maintained lower water levels. Charred plant remains in swamp cores suggested greater fire frequency in wetlands during this period. These climatic changes probably led to a recharging water tables and wetlands, as well as greater fluvial river-stream flow.

One explanation for Late Archaic population increases might be a florescence of Atlantic fisheries, particularly the exploitation of prodigious spring spawning runs of sturgeon, Atlantic salmon, shads, and other anadromous fish. Large archaeological sites along rivers and streams should indicate fishing, especially at falls and rapids where large numbers of fish might have been caught with weirs or nets.

The Western Uplands and Central Valley show the greatest increases of Late Archaic dates, which might reflect extensions of fish spawning ranges into new upstream habitats after the dry Atlantic Climatic Phase. Conversely, the Northeast Highlands are mostly beyond the ranges of anadromous fish, and only small increases of Late Archaic radiocarbon dates have been noted in this region Figure 2.

Nicholas emphasized the immense productivity of wetland habitats in Connecticut. Wetland root crops have the potential to support large hunter-gatherer populations Reeve and Siegel Root crops such as arrowheads Alismataceae , arrow arums Araceae , lilies Liliaceae , and groundnuts Apiaceae are nearly invisible in the archeobotanical record.

Ethnographically, tuckahoe, or bread roots, were important to subsistence among Eastern Algonquians, and many modem place names preserve this cultural ecological heritage. Earthoven cooking could prepare large root crop harvests, and the technology was critical for detoxifying many species of root crops.

Feature soils could contain evidence of rootcrops, or more likely, vegetation layered to protect and steam the food. For example, Captain John Smith gave a detailed description of earthoven cooking during the early seventeenth century, probably for the preparation of Peltandra virginica or Sagittaria spp. It groweth like a flagge in the Marishes. In one day a Salvage will gather sufficient for a weeke. These roots are much of the greatness and taste of Potatoes. They use to cover a great many of them with Oke leaves and Ferne, and then cover all with earth in the manner of a Colepit; OVerit, on each side, they continue a great fire for 24 hours before they dare eat it.

Raw it is no better then poyson, and being roasted, except it be tender and heat abated, or sliced and dryed in the Sunne, mixed with sorrell and meale or such like, it will prickle and torment the throat extremely, and yet in sommer they use this ordinarilly for bread Smith Earth oven technology has been documented at least since the Late Archaic in Connecticut, such as at the Lewis- Walpole site Starbuck In the Middle Atlantic region, McLearen observed that fire-cracked rock features were the most common type of archaeological feature from the Late Archaic through the Middle Woodland.

Increases of Late Archaic radiocarbon dates might reflect the introduction of a new technology, as well as exploitation of new resources or habitats.

A quantitative study of fire- cracked rock feature types might provide new insights into subsistence and demographic patterns in Connecticut. No substantial environmental changes have been described during the Early and Middle Woodland periods that might account for this fluctuation among radiocarbon dates. Although ceramic technology appeared during the Late or Terminal Archaic periods, ceramics became common at archaeological sites during the Early Woodland and Middle Woodland in New England.

As noted above, the adaptive advantages of ceramic technologies are not obvious but might have involved social rather than demographic advantages smaller rather than larger populations.

In fact, Levi- Strauss concluded his monumental study of North American and Amazonian mythology with the observation that ceramics and earth oven cooking technologies conjoined entirely different cosmological paradigms.

Adoption of Woodland ceramics might represent a significant ideological change that extended to use of new resources e.

George and Dewar have proposed the possible use of small seed plants such as Chenopodium, mimicking the Eastern Agricultural Complex of the Ohio Valley and Midwest. If these hypotheses are correct, then seed grinding technologies should be increasingly common at Early and Middle Woodland ceramic sites. One of the major conclusions of this study is that radiocarbon dates, and probably also human populations, increased during the Late Woodland with the adoption of maize agriculture.

Maize might not have been as significant to prehis- toric subsistence in New England as in the Middle Atlantic region. Apparently, Late Woodland population increases were less pronounced in New England than in regions to the south. Obviously, a great deal of additional research and radiometric dating must be conducted before these and other hypotheses deriving from the Connecticut radiocarbon chronology can be verified.

Nicholas Bellantoni, Connecticut State Archaeologist, hunted down site numbers and provided access to site files and reports. Harold Juli of Connecticut College, Dr. Michael Raber of Raber Associates, Dr. Thank you all for your cooperation and generous help.

Bendremer, Jeffrey C. North American Archaeologist 12 4 Aldine, Chicago. Boyce, Hettie L. Brose, David S. Fitting, pp. Cassedy, Daniel F. Ecology 50 3 Dincauze, Dina F. Peabody Museum, Cambridge. American Antiquity 36 2 : Peabody Museum Monographs, No. Man in the Northeast 22 3 : North American Archaeologist 2 3 : In Integrating Appalachian Archaeology.

Internet file. Fiedel, Stuart J. North American Archaeologist II 3 American Antiquity 64 1 Fitting, James E. American Antiquity 33 Plenum Press, New York. Gayes, Paul T. Journal of Coastal Research II Gengras, Justine B. The New Hampshire Archeologist 36 I David R. Dewar Prehistoric Chenopodium in Connecticut. Paper presented at the Conference on Archeobotany in the Northeast. Heckenberger, Michael J. Archaeology of Eastern North America Pennsylvania Archaeologist 58 2 : 1- Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society 39 I Northeastern Anthropology Johnson, Frederick ed.

Papers of the Robert S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology 3. Brian D. Jones, Brian. Public Archaeology Survey Team. Storrs, CT. Museum of Science, Springfield, MA. Juli, Harold D. The Connecticut College Arboretum, Bulletin New London, CT. Northeast Anthropology Kingsley, Robert G. John Milner Associates, Inc. North American Archaeologist 8 I Prepared for United International Corp. Harper and Row, New York. Lewis, Ralph S. Journal of Coastal Research Public Archaeology Survey Team, Inc.

Uconn CHPC American Antiquity 13 3 McBride, Kevin A. Man in the Northeast Public Archaeology Survey Team, lnc. Report prepared for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. McBride, K. Wadleigh, and R. Archaeology Research Monographs I.

McGhee, Robert, and James A. Reinhart and M. Hodges, pp. Special Publication No. Archeological Society of Virginia, Richmond. Moeller, Roger W.

Occasional Paper No. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology 7: I Nicholas, George P. Imprint, West Hartford, CT. Parkos, Joseph The M. Site, A Preliminary Report. Pfeiffer, John E. Raber, Michael S. Report prepared for Southern Auto Sales, Inc. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology Reeve, Stuart A. Riley, Thomas J. Current Anthropology 31 5 Ritchie, William A.

Ritchie, William A, and Robert E. Funk Aboriginal Settlement Patterns in the Northeast. Robertson, James A. Smith, Carlyle S. Bulletin of the Archaeological Societv of Connecticut 21 Smith, David G. Macmillan, NY. Academic Press, NY. Starbuck, David R. The New Hampshire Archaeologist Stuiver, M.

Long, and R. Kra editors Calibration. University of Arizona, Tucson. Suess, R. Olsson, pp. Nobel Symposium Willy lnterscience, New York. Suggs, Robert C. Thompson, David H. Tryon, Christian A. Walwer, Gregory F.

Prepared for Sasaki Associates, Inc. Prepared for the New Milford Building Committee. Whittall, James P. Early Sites Research Society Bulletin 18 1 Wiegand, Ernest A. Norwalk Community Technical College. Ziac, Delacy c. While the quantity of artifacts dating to this period has increased in the past twenty years, the diversity has not. Statements about Paleo-Indian culture history, lifeways, and cultural processes are the same now as they were two decades ago. Have archaeologists learned all there is to know about Paleo-Indians, or are they still laboring under fallacious stereotypes and self-fullfilling prophesies?

The second begins where the excavation, analysis, and interpretation of Paleo- Indian sites in Connecticut specifically and the Northeast in general ends. I have been watching the archaeology of Eastern Paleo-Indian mature during the past 30 years from when Debert MacDonald and Bull Brook Jordan were the best and the brightest hopes for understanding man\’s entrance into the Northeast.

The proliferation of new sites, more abundant and reliable dates, and vastly improved technology for excavation and analysis should have honed our interpre- tations of Paleo-Indian lifeways and cultural processes to a point only dimly imagined by the first researchers Moeller a.

Although my future excavation days are numbered in single digits, and I do not expect to have the opportunity to delve deeply into any Paleo-Indian analyses, I have a few comments on what I believe are fruitful and fruitless theoretical avenues.

Lithic sourcing, environmental reconstruction, and artifact analysis have one thing in common: context. The only place to begin the interpretation of Paleo-Indian settlement systems is with guaranteed Paleo-Indian artifacts, ecofacts, and features. Starting with mixed contexts, multi-component surface collections, deflated features, tree-throw pits, and non-diagnostic artifacts will produce useless results which merely re-enforce the false stereotypes Moeller The most pervasive stereotypes in Paleo-Indian studies begin with lithics and the environment.

Stereotype 1: Paleo-Indians used only the best cryptocrystalline lithics regardless of the distance they had to travel to obtain them. Stereotype 2: The people were living in a peri-glacial tundra, or at best, taiga environment.

All researchers should consider very carefully any pronouncements or assump- tions in these realms which preclude the use ofnon-cryptocrystalline lithics and the occupation of habitable oases.

After several years of careful artifact analysis and research, the monograph, 6LF A Paleo-Indian Site in Western Connecticut, was published in I had never expected to find a Paleo-Indian component during the first season of excavation.

A field school and teaching situation with only a few experienced staff are not the best circumstances for con- fronting something absolutely unique. The few fluted points previously known from the state were stray finds in surface collections or lacked definitive, subsurface, in situ associations. Conclusions: We conclude that by giving more consideration to the appropriate application of plant names, vegetation scientists might enhance the reliability of analyses obtained from large vegetation databases.

Rajanikanth Govindarajulu. Aaron RoDriguez. Benjamin J Crain , Jeffrey White. Napa County contains particularly high levels of biological diversity in a variety of categories and is considered one of ten localized areas in California that contain the highest numbers of native and endemic plant species.

Here we present a floristic summary based on a new annotated checklist of the flora of this uniquely diverse region. The checklist was developed by combining several local and statewide floristic data sources that represent herbarium collection records and other observations from Napa County.

The final checklist of vascular plants for Napa County consists of 1, taxa, including 1, native taxa from different families. Alarmingly, native taxa in Napa County were listed as rare or threatened to some degree.

The results of this study demonstrate that for its size, Napa County contains remarkably high levels of plant diversity as well as high concentrations of special status taxa as compared to other areas within the California Floristic Province, the State of California as a whole, and other regions within global biodiversity hotspots characterized by Mediterranean climates.

In particular, this analysis highlights the floristic significance of Napa County at global and local levels, and thus, this review is an important step to help promote and facilitate long term research and conservation planning in the area. Mara Magenta. Log in with Facebook Log in with Google. Remember me on this computer. Enter the email address you signed up with and we\’ll email you a reset link.

Need an account? Click here to sign up.