Defining the Local Experience: A Distributional Analysis of Late Prehistoric Activities at the Topper Site (38AL23)

Summary

During the summers of 2015 and 2016, University of Tennessee, Knoxville field schools conducted excavations on the hillside at the Topper Site (38AL23), in Allendale, South Carolina. This work represents a shifting focus away from the Paleoindian period toward the dense Mississippian and Woodland assemblages present at the site. Maps constructed utilizing QGIS document the distribution of artifacts and the arrangement of identified features in the two excavation blocks and dispersed 1x1 m units. Evidence for habitation includes hearth features as well as linear and semicircular arrangements of postholes. The distributional analysis examines utilization of space within and without the structure and determines activity areas.These distributions were compared to similar datasets from other locations, including the Woodland occupation at the G.S. Lewis West site, located approximately 30 km north along the Savannah River. Site function and broader relationships to contemporary, local communities are considered. We discuss what aspects of daily life and household dynamics are reflected in our findings.This paper provides insights into intrasite activity patterning at Topper, local settlement variation in the Savannah River Valley, and contributes to our knowledge of the Woodland period on the Southeastern Atlantic Slope.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17247