The small number and diffuse distribution of sites with intact Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene occupations in the Southeastern United States consequently makes examining Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene settlement patterning in the region difficult (Goodyear 1999). The Hester Site (22MO569), located in northeastern Mississippi, contains intact Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene deposits that can potentially afford archaeologists with a better understanding of late Pleistocene/early Holocene settlement in the region (Brookes 1979; Goodyear 1999:463-465). Investigations at Hester by Brookes (1979) revealed a stratified site containing artifacts that represented the late Paleoindian through Woodland periods in the Southeastern United States. Burris (2006) developed an alternative typology by re-analyzing the Hester biface assemblage, which demonstrated four discrete occupations at the Hester site. I use formation theory to evaluate the degree to which post-depositional processes have impacted the deposits at the Hester site. I have determined that the Hester site has not been significantly altered by post-depositional processes.

Until relatively recently, the view of Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in the Americas was dominated by the “Clovis-first” paradigm. However, recent discoveries have challenged traditional views and forced reconsiderations of the timing, processes, and scales used in modeling the settlement of the Americas. Chief among these discoveries has been the recognition of a wide range of early cultural diversity throughout the Americas that is inconsistent with previously held notions of cultural homogeneity. During the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene, the development of widely varying economic, technological and mobility strategies in distinct environments is suggestive of a range of different adaptations and traditions. It is argued that colonization was a disjointed process involving alternative, perhaps competing strategies at local and regional levels. Individual groups likely employed distinct strategies for settling new landscapes. These different strategies are reflected in the cultural variability that has been documented in the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene archaeological records of South and North America. A scalar framework for conceptualizing and modeling this variability on local, regional, and continental scales is introduced. Although primarily focused on local and regional reconstructions, the results can be integrated with other regional studies to generate more comprehensive, continental-scale models of the peopling of the New World. This research provides insight into the local and regional variability—in terms of settlement patterns and economic and technological strategies—present in the archaeological record of at least two formally recognized Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene complexes (Fishtail and Paiján complexes) in the Quebradas del Batán and Talambo of the lower Jequetepeque Valley, northern Perú. Results of extensive survey, excavation, and materials analyses are used to characterize mobility strategies and settlement organization. This research indicates that two distinct patterns of site types, settlement, subsistence, and technology existed at the local level between the Fishtail (ca. 11,200-10,200 B.P.) and Paiján (ca. 10,800-9,000 B.P.); these patterns are indicative of differing regional strategies of colonization. Lastly, it is suggested that the adaptations and behaviors pursued during regional settlement, particularly by Paiján groups, set in motion an increasing reliance on plant foods and an early trend toward sedentism that carried forward into the Holocene period.

This project examines small mammal faunas from cave sites in south-west England and south Wales. The aims are threefold: To examine the rapid environmental changes taking place in the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene: To understand the processes by which small mammal remains were deposited in the caves examined: To demonstrate the value of small mammal studies as an archaeological tool. All identifiable small mammal remains from twelve selected sites are listed. Ten of the sites are new material. As the species examined here are seldom exploited by humans, the small mammals provide a record of the past environment unaffected by human selection of particular species, as might be the case in larger mammal assemblages. An examination of possible agents of accumulation is provided for each site to identify any bias introduced by prey selection. Reconstructions of the environment local to each cave at the time of deposition are offered. The evidence provided by the small mammals is related to the archaeological findings from each cave, to demonstrate the effect of human habitation of cave sites on the depositional and post-depositional processes shown by the microfauna. The environmental evidence provided by the study reflects a wider landscape rather than merely the immediate surroundings of the cave, and so gives a basis for human exploitation patterns in the area accessible from the cave. Reconstructions of the ecological mosaics formed by the rapidly changing climate of the period and the topographic variation around the cave sites are provided, demonstrating the potential complexity of the environment in which the humans and other fauna of the period existed. It is hoped that this will encourage archaeologists to look beyond the general division of environmental boundaries in this period, and to examine the local variation in habitat availability and use.