Lithics Revisited: An Analysis of Native American Stone Tool Technology In The Middle Chesapeake

Summary

Historical archaeologists often point to the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century as a catalyst for change in aspects of indigenous lifeways.  This is especially true concerning lithic technology, when the metanarrative often describes Native Americans quickly swapping their stone tools for the "superior" metal tools of Europeans.  Recent studies, such as Carly Harmon’s paper, Analyzing Native American Lithic Material Culture from 1600 to 1700 (2012), have challenged such thinking; indicating a declining reliance on stone beginning in the Woodland period prior to Contact. This paper uses lithic data from sites in the Potomac Valley (Kettering Park, Potomac Creek, Cumberland, and Posey) to showcase the dynamic nature of Native cultures; lithic technologies have indeed been changing well before European arrival. Patterns in the lithic density data also suggest that the instability and stress of both the Late Woodland and early Contact period had an impact on stone tool technology. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Indigenous Landscapes of the Middle Chesapeake   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 362