David S. Brose

Functional Analysis of Stone Tools: a Cautionary Note On the Role of Animal Fats

Recent studies have suggested that variations in areal distributions of utilized and non-utilized lithic materials can aid in the delineation of functional site areas. Microscopic analyses of experimentally produced and utilized flakes suggest that due to an accumulation of animal fats along the working edge significant numbers of utilized flakes may not display wear indicating use. Factors of lithology and variations in butchering technique are considered and implications for areal patterns explored.

Fort Walton Settlement Patterns

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the Fort Walton settlement patterns. Fort Walton artifacts occur in areas with important contrasts of local environments in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. There is a series of long and narrow offshore islands paralleling the coastline of the mainland or islands that are small and more equilateral in area. The northern highlands cover the interior half of the Panhandle and consist of a series of highland masses separated by stream valleys. Over the southern half of the uplands, vegetation is mostly open pine forest dominated by a longleaf-pine–scrub–oak–wire–grass association. Rainfall increases slightly from east to west across the Panhandle. Abundant animal resources in the area include white-tail deer, puma, bobcat, black bear, the Florida wolf, and numerous smaller carnivores. The highlands zone offers a greater area of land suitable for settlement than other zones. The food resources available to inhabitants of the coast consist primarily of the species of marine fish and shellfish in the Gulf.

Bones, Boats and Bison: Archeology and the First Colonization of Western North America@@@An Early Paleo-Indian Site Near Parkhill, Ontario

This revolutionary archeological synthesis argues an alternative model of the earliest human population of North America. E. James Dixon dispels the stereotype of big-game hunters following mammoths across the Bering Land Bridge and paints a vivid picture of marine mammal hunters, fishers, and general foragers colonising the New World. Applying contemporary scientific methods and drawing on new archaeological discoveries, he advances evidence indicating that humans first reached the Americas using water craft along the deglaciated Northwest Coast about 13,500 years ago, some 2,000 years before the first Clovis hunters. Dixons rigorous evaluation of the oldest North American archaeological sites and human remains offers well-reasoned hypotheses about the physical characteristics, lives, and relationships of the First Americans. His crisply written analysis of scientific exploration is essential reading for scholars, students, and general readers.