3.0 Culture 3.1 Paleoindian (11,500 to 9200 B.C.) There is some debate regarding the possible presence of earlier occupations (see Goodyear 2005), though archaeologists generally agree that by ca. 11,500 B.C., southeastern North America was inhabited by nomadic hunter-gatherers that manufactured distinctive lanceolate-shaped hafted bifaces. The earliest of these Paleoindian populations hunted Pleistocene megafauna species such as mammoth and giant bison. During the excavation of mastodon B at the Coats-Hines site (40WM31) in Williamson County, 34 lithic tools were excavated in association with the faunal remains (Breitburg et al. 1996). Sedi- ments surrounding the remains were carbon dated and ranged from 10,260+/-240 and 14,750+/-220 years BP (Deter-Wolf and Tune 2011). Walthall (1998) noted a dramatic increase in the use of caves and rockshelters in Late Paleoindian times. He attributed the shifting settlement pat- tern to increased populations, changes in mobility ranges, and subsistence activities linked to broad environmental changes, accompanied by extinc- tions of several Pleistocene faunal species hunted by earlier Paleoindian groups. Meeks and Ander- son (2012) further advanced these arguments with hafted biface data indicative of a population increase during Late Paleoindian times. Chronologically diagnostic hafted biface types provide a basis for a Paleoindian sequence dating between 11,500 and 9200 B.C. (Anderson et al. 1996; Sherwood et al. 2004). Early Paleoindian (ca. 11,500 to 10,900 B.C.) contexts are recognized by the pres- ence of fluted and unfluted Clovis hafted bifaces. Fluted and unfluted lanceolate bifaces with broad blades and constricted hafts, such as Beaver Lake, Cumberland, and Quad, are considered Middle Pa- leoindian (10,900 to 10,000 B.C.) diagnostics. Late Paleoindian (10,000 to 9200 B.C.) assemblages are distinguished by the presence of lanceolate forms with side-notched hafts such as Dalton and Hard- away Side Notched.
dating from approximately 9200 to 800 B.C. Based on temporally diagnostic hafted bifaces, stratigraph- ic contexts, and radiocarbon dates, fairly well-doc- umented Archaic sequences have been developed throughout the region: Early Archaic (9200 to 6900 B.C.), Middle Archaic (6900 to 3700 B.C.), and Late Archaic (3700 to 800 B.C.). The Early Archaic is chronologically ordered by diagnostic hafted biface types (Anderson et al. 1994; Sherwood et al. 2004). The sequence begins with side-notched types such as Big Sandy, Bolen, and Taylor. These assemblages date from about 9200 to 8500 B.C. Corner- notched types, such as Kirk Corner Notched and Palmer Corner Notched, were manufactured from approximately 8500 to 7800 B.C., while bifurcated types, including Lecroy, Mac- Corkle, and St. Albans, were made from about 7800 to 6600 B.C. The Middle Archaic period coincides closely with the Hypsithermal climate interval during the Middle Holocene. As McNutt (2008:54-56) indicated, Hypsithermal climate conditions varied significantly across the landscapes of the Southeast, and Sassaman (2001) argued that there were marked sociocultural differences as well. West of the Appa- lachians, riverine settings were important to Middle Archaic populations (Dye 1996; Sassaman 2001). Middle Archaic populations also occupied caves and rockshelters in the Tennessee Valley (Sherwood et al. 2004). Near the end of the period, extensive ex- change networks developed in the region (Jefferies 1996; Johnson and Brookes 1989), and construction possibly began on some of the earliest mounds in the Southeast (Russo 1996; Saunders 1994). A Middle Archaic hafted biface chronology has been established for a broad region across the Southeast. The earliest Middle Archaic manifesta- tions are marked by the presence of Kirk Stemmed, Kirk Serrated, and Stanley Stemmed bifaces between 6900 and 6300 B.C. From approximately 6300 to 5400 B.C., Eva and Morrow Mountain hafted bifaces became the dominant type of the Middle Archaic lithic toolkits. Middle Archaic assemblages dating from 5400 to 4300 B.C. are marked by the presence of Sykes/White Springs and Guilford hafted bifaces. Benton bifaces are diagnostic of terminal Middle
3.2 Archaic (9200 to 800 B.C.) Archaic manifestations in the Southeast are repre- sented by preceramic and early ceramic assemblages
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