The reason and significance of variation in material culture is one of the most fundamental debates in archaeological studies. These debates factor strongly into Levantine Epipalaeolithic research, where the morphological variability of microlithic tools has been interpreted to represent distinct cultural or ethnic communities. This dissertation addresses microlith variability during the Middle Epipalaeolithic (≈17,500 – 14,600 cal BP) through the analysis of lithic assemblages from Wadi Mataha, ‘Uyun al-Hammâm, and Kharaneh IV (Jordan). Although regionally disparate, the lithic assemblages are characterized by the same geometric microlith type: the trapeze-rectangle. The integration of typological, technological, morphometric, and use-wear analyses allows for the subtleties in material culture to be explored among these sites. In addition to these analyses, new methods for use-wear quantification are presented. This dissertation sets out to test several hypotheses in regards to the microlith assemblages: 1) microliths will have overlapping functions, indicating that function does not drive form; and 2) microliths will show differences in technological style. These hypotheses relate back to current debates in Epipalaeolithic research about the nature of microlith variability. Is variation in microlith morphology the product of different technological sequences of production or microlith function? Or is variability the result of different cultural practices? This material culture variability is explored through the lens of the chaîne opératoire, where I advocate for the inclusion of functional analysis into our study of lithic assemblages. Through the integration of multiple methods, I suggest there is not a direct correlation between microlith form and function. Instead, the variability we witness in microliths during the Middle Epipalaeolithic is the result of local expressions within different communities.

The reason and significance of variation in material culture is one of the most fundamental debates in archaeological studies. These debates factor strongly into Levantine Epipalaeolithic research, where the morphological variability of microlithic tools has been interpreted to represent distinct cultural or ethnic communities. This dissertation addresses microlith variability during the Middle Epipalaeolithic (≈17,500 – 14,600 cal BP) through the analysis of lithic assemblages from Wadi Mataha, ‘Uyun al-Hammâm, and Kharaneh IV (Jordan). Although regionally disparate, the lithic assemblages are characterized by the same geometric microlith type: the trapeze-rectangle. The integration of typological, technological, morphometric, and use-wear analyses allows for the subtleties in material culture to be explored among these sites. In addition to these analyses, new methods for use-wear quantification are presented. This dissertation sets out to test several hypotheses in regards to the microlith assemblages: 1) microliths will have overlapping functions, indicating that function does not drive form; and 2) microliths will show differences in technological style. These hypotheses relate back to current debates in Epipalaeolithic research about the nature of microlith variability. Is variation in microlith morphology the product of different technological sequences of production or microlith function? Or is variability the result of different cultural practices? This material culture variability is explored through the lens of the chaîne opératoire, where I advocate for the inclusion of functional analysis into our study of lithic assemblages. Through the integration of multiple methods, I suggest there is not a direct correlation between microlith form and function. Instead, the variability we witness in microliths during the Middle Epipalaeolithic is the result of local expressions within different communities.

This dissertation research presents the elemental and technological analyses of basalt adze quarries from the Samoan Island of Tutuila. Both Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) were utilized in the chemical characterization of basalt samples and artifacts. Elemental concentration data derived from both INAA and EDXRF successfully differentiated between multiple Tutuilan basalt adze quarries, and these data were utilized to determine the most efficacious elemental analysis technique for Tutuilan basalt adze provenance study. Elemental concentration data from the Lau’agae quarry were utilized with technological attribute analysis of artifacts recovered from that archaeological site to investigate the potential for economic specialization in the manufacture of basalt adzes. Analysis of both the technological attribute data and the elemental concentration data provided evidence for potential specialization at the Lau’agae quarry. When these data were compared to similar data from other Polynesian archaeological sites it further supported the potential for specialized production at Lau’agae. Ultimately, it was determined that multiple skilled producers created various types of basalt adzes at Lau’agae with the intent to export and exchange their products.

No description available.

The scientific importance of Wanuskewin Heritage Park lies in the number and diversity of archaeological sites present in a single area. Wolf Willow and Dog Child are multicomponent occupation sites located in the Opimihaw Valley and both contain McKean components. McKean Complex sites are relatively uncommon on the Northern Plains which makes the cluster at Wanuskewin Heritage Park important. McKean lithic materials are mainly locally produced with very few exotics. Materials from McKean assemblages have a heavy reliance on local lithic materials such as chert and quartzite. McKean levels at the Thundercloud, Cut Arm, and Red Tail sites, all located in Wanuskewin Heritage Park, are consistent with this pattern of lithic resource utilization. The presence of exotic lithic materials can allude to territory, trade networks spanning vast amounts of land, or even show preference for an exotic material over locally available tool stone. This thesis will allow Wolf Willow and Dog Child to be understood in the broader context of McKean sites on the Northern Plains. Secondarily, Eldon Johnson’s 1998 “Properties and Sources of Some Saskatchewan Lithic Materials of Archaeological Significance”, a popular and highly utilized thesis, is updated here with new information concerning raw materials found in Wanuskewin Heritage Park.

The Midsouth has long been known to be a locus of Paleoindian (13,200-10,000 yrs B.P.) populations. Paleoindian populations have generally been characterized as highly mobile hunter-gatherers with egalitarian social structure. Utilizing the theoretical lens of diversification and intensification of resource use, the Late Pleistocene adaptations of the region’s populations are examined from both a large scale or coarse grain perspective as well as more fine grain data from the site level. Previous models of Paleoindian adaptations are defined and tested in this study to determine the applicability of these models with new data. Coarse grain data are derived from lithic raw material use in diagnostic artifacts from six Paleoindian archaeological sites concentrated in the lower Tennessee River Valley that are referred to as the Tennessee-Duck River Paleoindian complex. Numerous Paleoindian projectile points have been recovered from these sites that allow for raw material use across the lower Tennessee River to be evaluated. Site specific data are derived from analysis of lithic artifacts and spatial distributions at the Carson-Conn-Short site (40BN190), also situated in the lower Tennessee River Valley. The Carson-Conn-Short site is a large multi-component Paleoindian site located near the confluence of the Duck and Tennessee Rivers. The regional or coarse grain data indicate a pattern of increasing regionalization and intensification of local resource use. The site level data suggest that the Paleoindian occupants of the Carson-Conn-Short site were more sedentary than previously thought. Traditional thought suggests that large, riverine Paleoindian sites are the product of either aggregation of different groups or re-occupation of the same landform over time. Rather than reflecting aggregation or re-occupation by Late Pleistocene populations, these people continuously occupied the site with minimal movement. The site was continuously occupied through the entirety Late Pleistocene into the Early Holocene. The Carson-Conn-Short site was situated at a particular locale that allowed for access to the greatest diversity of resources and also provided a mechanism that allowed for social information to be transferred via riverine mechanisms. This study suggests that Paleoindian populations in the Midsouth exhibited a greater degree of social complexity and sedentism than previously thought that provided the foundation for the development of agriculture and associated social institutions.

The Consort Pebble Chert Quarry site (EkOr-8) is a Pre-Contact quarry site located south of the Village of Consort, Alberta. Despite knowledge of the site's existence by local area farmers, it was only in 1999 that it was first recorded as an archaeological site. It is described as a large area dominated by the presence of marked depressions that vary in size from less than a metre in depth and diameter to well over three metres in depth and diameter as well as an abundance of chert pebbles on the ground surface. Originally believed to be an example of meteorite impacts, the site was explored by geologists from the University of Calgary. Further visits by provincial archaeologists resulted in numerous theories as to the cause of the depression features and the purpose of the site. No archaeological investigation was undertaken prior to the summer of 2006.<p>No diagnostic artifacts were recovered from within the site area; however, a possible temporal indicator to site usage may be indicated based on the discovery of a Duncan projectile point in a site immediately to the south of the Consort Pebble Chert Quarry. An abundance of lithic artifacts were uncovered as results of the shovel test program undertaken by the author during the summer of 2006. The majority of these lithic artifacts were derived from the abundant lithic material within the site area known as pebble chert. No other non-lithic artifacts were found during the course of this excavation. <p>Shovel tests were used to provide an indication of the subsurface stratigraphy at the site. No evidence of cultural strata was found and the subsurface deposits present reflect a history of glacial landscapes. A number of glacial phenomena are the likely causes of the depression features. The presence of pebble chert on the ground surface; however, did make this area an attractive location for collecting unmodified lithic material in order to fashion stone tools. The existence of numerous artifacts made from pebble chert at the site indicates that past cultural groups had visited and collected from the area. An overview of archaeological sites on the Canadian Plains demonstrates that pebble chert is a valuable lithic material that was used in a wide variety of archaeological sites throughout the Pre-Contact era.

The Consort Pebble Chert Quarry site (EkOr-8) is a Pre-Contact quarry site located south of the Village of Consort, Alberta. Despite knowledge of the site's existence by local area farmers, it was only in 1999 that it was first recorded as an archaeological site. It is described as a large area dominated by the presence of marked depressions that vary in size from less than a metre in depth and diameter to well over three metres in depth and diameter as well as an abundance of chert pebbles on the ground surface. Originally believed to be an example of meteorite impacts, the site was explored by geologists from the University of Calgary. Further visits by provincial archaeologists resulted in numerous theories as to the cause of the depression features and the purpose of the site. No archaeological investigation was undertaken prior to the summer of 2006.<p>No diagnostic artifacts were recovered from within the site area; however, a possible temporal indicator to site usage may be indicated based on the discovery of a Duncan projectile point in a site immediately to the south of the Consort Pebble Chert Quarry. An abundance of lithic artifacts were uncovered as results of the shovel test program undertaken by the author during the summer of 2006. The majority of these lithic artifacts were derived from the abundant lithic material within the site area known as pebble chert. No other non-lithic artifacts were found during the course of this excavation. <p>Shovel tests were used to provide an indication of the subsurface stratigraphy at the site. No evidence of cultural strata was found and the subsurface deposits present reflect a history of glacial landscapes. A number of glacial phenomena are the likely causes of the depression features. The presence of pebble chert on the ground surface; however, did make this area an attractive location for collecting unmodified lithic material in order to fashion stone tools. The existence of numerous artifacts made from pebble chert at the site indicates that past cultural groups had visited and collected from the area. An overview of archaeological sites on the Canadian Plains demonstrates that pebble chert is a valuable lithic material that was used in a wide variety of archaeological sites throughout the Pre-Contact era.

Quarries are fixed locationally, whereas most seasonally abundant food resources in northern latitudes are not. Toolstone procurement must therefore be ‘factored in’ to other resource procurement strategies. As sources of useable toolstone, quarries are the logical starting point for the study of how stone tool-using societies organized their technologies in accordance with their subsistence and social needs. Yet they have often been ignored by archaeologists because of the logistical problems presented by their typically enormous and variable assemblages. Quartz differs from more common, crypto-crystalline raw materials such as chert, flint or chalcedony. It is harder, more brittle, and has different fracture properties. It is less common archaeologically than crypto-crystalline toolstone, and archaeologists tend to either avoid quartz assemblages altogether, or to automatically and uncritically analyze them in the same manner as crypto-crystalline toolstones without considering their different properties. The Grandfather Quarry (HbMd-4) offers an opportunity to address these problems at once. Using Lithic Technological Organization theory, a mass analysis (after Ahler 1989), modified and combined with an attribute analysis, demonstrates that this method is a useful tool for examining large, complex assemblages such as those found in quarry sites. While more time-consuming and labour-intensive than a standard mass analysis, the modified version allows for the collection of a large number of attribute data that lend robusticity to the results and provide academic rigour. This research also demonstrates that quartz assemblages can indeed be examined using the same methods as for other raw materials, provided the unique properties of quartz as a toolstone are considered. It is shown that although the overall quality of toolstone from this source is quite poor, the Grandfather Quarry was likely the only reliable source, or at least one of a very few reliable sources, of quartz toolstone in the Churchill River Basin. All useable toolstone was intensively exploited, but rare nodules of higher quality quartz were set aside for in situ reduction into cores, tools and bifaces. Lastly, the unexpected discovery of microblade technology at the quarry opens new avenues for future research in the northern Manitoba Boreal Forest.

The Jot-em-Down Shelter (15McY348) was excavated by U.S. Forest Service archaeologists in 1986. The present study concentrated on the lithic assemblage, with a particular focus on the chipped stone debitage. The Jot-em-Down Shelter lithic assemblage was compared to assemblages recovered from four nearby sites, open sites 15McY570 and 15McY616, and rockshelter sites 15McY403 and 15McY409; and rockshelter sites located in and near the Red River Gorge, Cold Oak Shelter (15LE50) and Rock Bridge Shelter (15WO75). This study determined that Jot-em-Down Shelter was a multicomponent site utilized by mobile groups of people from the Early Archaic through Mississippi periods. Use of the site intensified around the Late Archaic and Early Woodland periods. Prehistoric peoples who occupied the shelter had contact with other groups from the surrounding area, hunted nearby, and processed hides.