Charles E. Cleland

Late Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Upper Great Lakes

Known cultural adaptations to specific ecological settings are projected back into the prehistoric period in an attempt to elucidate late prehistoric cultural patterns in the Upper Great Lakes region. Modern Biotic Communities and Historic Adaptations The Upper Great Lakes region has proven to be an excellent area for the study of mans relationship to his environment. Several major environmental zones are present and there are documentary accounts of early historic adaptations to these environments as well as prehistoric sites indicating the pattern of development of these adaptations. Over the past few years the main emphasis in Michigan archaeology has been on the study of the nature and relationship of these adaptations.2 The environmental areas which we intend to deal with in this paper are the Carolinian biotic province, the Canadian biotic province and the vaguely defined transition between these two areas (see map). Since they have been described in detail elsewhere3 we shall only mention some of the key characteristics here. The Carolinian biotic province is located in the southern part of the Upper Great Lakes area. It is marked by essentially southern plant and animal species and both soils and climate are amenable to agriculture. The Miami and Potawatomi were groups adapted to this area in the early historic period.