This thesis reconstructs the landscape evolution of the Billy Big Spring site (24GL304, Glacier County, north-central Montana) from the last glacial maximum to present through the analysis of sediment and soil samples collected from a transect of auger tests that bisected the site and surrounding landforms. Interpretations were drawn from stratigraphy, pedologic data, sedimentologic analysis and radiocarbon dating. The site landscape came into being in the late-Pleistocene, after Wisconsin-age glaciers retreated. Glacial retreat left a meltdown depression on the land that filled with water to form a pond, which persisted through the early-Holocene. The onset of the mid-Holocene (Altithermal) occurred before ~8,415 cal. yrs. BP, when increasingly arid conditions caused the water level to drop. The first radiocarbon dated human occupation of this site occurred during the Altithermal, ~7,030 cal. yrs. BP, after the eruption of Mount Mazama (~7,633 cal. yrs. BP). Arid conditions continued until ~7,000 cal. yrs. BP, when pond water re-expanded across the basin, marking the transition to the cooler late-Holocene. Sometime before 2,100 cal. yrs. BP, dry conditions returned, and the extent of the pond water decreased again. Since this time, overland alluvial processes have deposited sediments in the basin. Many hypotheses on how the Altithermal impacted the people of the Northwestern Plains have been proposed since the 1950s, but little agreement has been reached. This is due to the fact that there was great variation in how the Altithermal expressed itself throughout the Northwestern Plains. The human reactions to this phenomena cannot be explained simplistically for the region as a whole. This study shows that the Billy Big Spring site experienced drying during the Altithermal, but despite this, people continued to occupy this site. This evidence adds to the argument that the Altithermal climate of the Northwestern Plains did not have severe enough impacts to impose much hardship on its occupants.

No description available.

Recent archaeological research within the American west, especially the Great Basin (e.g., Graf and Schmitt 2007), has perpetuated the notion of decreased residential mobility accompanied by increased diet breadth of hunter-gatherer groups during the Early Holocene. The earliest occupations at North Creek Shelter (NCS), a multicomponent site in south-central Utah, date to this time, specifically the Paleoarchaic (~10,000-9000 BP) and Early Archaic (~9000-7500 BP) periods. The zooarchaeological data from these levels were analyzed to determine whether Paleoarchaic occupations on the Colorado Plateau possessed greater residential mobility and narrower diet breadth than those of the Early Archaic, as they do in the Great Basin. However, upon examination of the NCS data, neither seems to be the case, or at least not to the dramatic degree observed to the west, as settlement and subsistence strategies remain fairly constant throughout the Early Holocene.

There is a universally recognized need for a more refined chronological understanding of the Early Holocene in the Southeast. The Paleoindian/Early Archaic period deposits at the Hester site provide an opportunity to refine the local chronology for northeast Mississippi. Three-dimensional spatial analysis of these deposits revealed the presence of at least four distinct occupations. Attribute-level morphological analysis of projectile points excavated from these occupations indicated that base width, shoulder width, and basal indentation ratio, changed significantly through time. A paradigmatic classification system employing these attributes was used to classify the projectile points from Hester. These classes were successfully seriated indicating that they are true historical classes. The range of historical classes indicates that this alternative to the traditional point typology may provide greater chronological precision for the Early Holocene in northeast Mississippi.

Early human activity in the arid west has been of interest for many researchers over the last century. However, relatively little is known about Paleoarchaic occupants of the Colorado Plateau and Great Basin because stratified Paleoarchaic sites in these regions are rare. Linked with the climatic Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene transition, the Paleoarchaic to Early Archaic transition has also captured interest in the central Great Basin with recent data coming out of Bonneville Estates Rockshelter—a site containing Pre-Archaic and Early Archaic components in eastern Nevada. These new data provide a model for testing differences in the chipped stone assemblage inferring changes in residential mobility at a new Paleoarchaic site on the Northern Colorado Plateau. Recently excavated, North Creek Shelter (42GA5863) is the only known stratified Paleoarchaic site on the Colorado Plateau for which we have data. Located in south-central Utah, this site was occupied during both the Paleoarchaic (~10,000-9,000 rcybp) and Early Archaic (~9,000-8,000 rcybp) time periods. Differences in the chipped stone assemblage inferring residential mobility between these time periods will be evaluated using Ted Goebel's (2007) model from Bonneville Estates Rockshelter. Based upon Bonneville Estates Rockshelter's lithic assemblage, Goebel inferred that the Pre-Archaic occupants exhibited higher levels of residential mobility than subsequent Early Archaic occupants. A similar tendency was expected for the Paleoarchaic occupants of North Creek Shelter; however, it appears that there is little difference between the North Creek Shelter Paleoarchaic and Early Archaic chipped stone assemblages inferring differences in residential mobility. What little difference there is may be the result of multiple factors, but if it is the result of residential mobility, then the data suggest that North Creek Shelter Paleoarchaic occupants were only slightly more mobile than the Early Archaic occupants.

Le site CeEt-482 est un vestige de la tradition technologique de l’Archaïque du golfe du Maine. Il est exceptionnel, car il n’a été occupé que durant une courte période de la préhistoire et n’a subi, par la suite, que peu de perturbations anthropiques. De plus, les fouilles ont couvert une large superficie et ont été pratiquées dans un cadre professionnel. Parmi les restes matériels découverts se trouvent des milliers d’éclats, et aussi plus d’une centaine de micro-outils en quartz. Cet assemblage a conduit l’archéologue responsable du projet à émettre l’hypothèse que les activités de taille ont dû être plutôt intensives. Outre ces objets issus de la taille, plusieurs pierres ont aussi été amassées. Certaines dont la surface présente des marques d’abrasion ou d’impacts et d’autres qui n’ont aucune marque d’utilisation visible. J’ai choisi de placer ces pierres à l’avant-plan dans l’interprétation de la fonction du site afin de vérifier si celles-ci corroboraient l’hypothèse suggérée au départ. Toutefois, dans une perspective plus large, j’ai aussi cherché à savoir quel fut leur rôle dans la stratégie d’occupation des individus qui ont séjourné sur CeEt-482. L’organisation technologique des outils est l’angle d’approche qui fut utilisée. L’analyse des pierres, quant à elle, a employé deux structures méthodologiques dont l’une est inspirée du concept de la vie de l’objet et la seconde provient du cadre conceptuel nommé théorie du Design. Les résultats ont ensuite été mis en contexte par rapport à la disposition spatiale des vestiges. Ce mémoire a permis d’apporter une nuance quant à l’interprétation initiale du site. En fait, les activités liées au travail de la pierre se seraient déroulées plutôt de manière ponctuelle. L’analyse des outils choisis pour ce mémoire démontre que ceux-ci ont participé de manière plus intensive aux activités qui sont en lien avec le travail de la matière souple, fibreuse ou dure, ainsi qu’aux activités liées à l’alimentation. Je propose l’hypothèse que le site CeEt-482 puisse donc avoir été une destination qui offre un large éventail de ressources, soit pour réparer son équipement ou bien pour y refaire des provisions après ou avant un long périple. / The CeEt-482 site is located on the south shore of the Strait of Quebec, and dates approximately eight thousand years before today. The site was occupied briefly by a group related to the Gulf of Maine Archaic technological tradition. The site produced numerous lithic artifacts that are mainly represented by flakes and by a microtool industry, mostly made of quartz. The site was excavated over thirty years ago. At the time, only a preliminary analysis of the assemblage was carried out. The interpretation was that flaking activities on the site was intensive and, also, an important aspect that explains the function of the site. However, different types of pebbles used as tools and rocks with marks of impacts or grinding were found throughout the excavated area. I decided to place these tools at the centre of this research in order to verify if they corroborate the hypothesis of the site function or the intensity of flaking activities. The research question is explored with a technological organization approach which has the potential to demonstrate the way tools interact with the strategies employed by the occupants during the occupation of the site. The methodology applied to the analysis of the stone tool assemblage is based on the tool’s life history combined with the concept of design theory. This research contributes a more complete interpretation of the site that adds to the initial interpretations of the site’s function. The results suggest that flaking activities where in fact less important than seemed at first sight and happened sporadically throughout the occupation. Regarding the tools that have been studied, the intensity of activities appears to be most closely linked to the work of soft or hard organic material and linked with food preparation and consumption. In conclusion, I suggest that CeEt-482 could have played the role of a safe destination after a long period of travel where the occupants could find a large variety of resources and where they could repair equipment or gather provisions before or after another trip.