Paleoenvironments and Paleoindians in the Lower Mississippi River Valley

Summary

Throughout much of the last Ice Age, the Mississippi River, along with its tributaries, served as a key outflow conduit for glacial meltwater, funneling and depositing vast amounts of sediments south towards and into the Gulf of Mexico. During and after the Younger Dryas, this geomorphic system underwent significant changes caused by meltwater drainage fluctuations and sea level oscillations. In this paper, we review how paleoenvironmental changes associated with the Younger Dryas affected the Lower Mississippi River Valley. We then review the regional Paleoindian record, from Clovis/Gainey through the Dalton fluorescence, and discuss whether significant changes in human technological organization or settlement coincide with specific environmental shifts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Human Adaptations to Lateglacial and Early Holocene Climate and Environmental Changes: Towards a Trans-Atlantic Perspective (Part 1)

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Spatial Coverage