Determining Implications of Lithic Selectivity in the Early Historic European Trade of the Central Mississippi Valley

Summary

Exchange between Protohistoric Period Native American and European traders in the Central Mississippi Valley reorganized the lithic industry to focus on hide processing. The most distinctive markers of this industry, thumbnail scrapers, increased as participation in the regional trade intensified and gradually led European-made goods replacing traditional tools. Although several avenues concerning the implications of thumbnail scrapers have been investigated, their raw material source remains inconclusive across the region. Verifying material source will shed light on possible shifts in lithic procurement strategies, mobility patterns, and interregional relationships following participation in the skin trade economy. Additionally, variations in lithic selectivity may be a factor in certain groups’ success or failure in the trade. Using reflectance spectroscopy, the chert type and source will be non-invasively determined for a collection of thumbnail scrapers from various protohistoric sites in the Central Mississippi Valley.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Global Perspectives on Lithic Technologies in Complex Societies

Keywords

Spatial Coverage