Paleoindian Research in the Middle Atlantic Region

Summary

Paleoindian studies in the Middle Atlantic region have been at the forefront of Paleoindian research in the Eastern Woodlands. William Gardner’s research in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in the 1980s emphasized a focus on micro-cryptocrystalline lithic sources in the settlement system; smaller territories on the order of 40 to 150 km in diameter and a flexible social organization during the seasonal round involving a pattern of changing micro- and macro-bands. These issues continue to be important in the analysis of Paleoindian adaptive strategies and now include more controlled examinations of community patterning; microwear analysis; refitting studies; and lithic sourcing based on trace element analysis. New sites have been discovered resulting in the definition of site clusters and sites associated with paths. Improved chronological controls have enable researches to speculate on changing settlement systems within the Paleoindian period. These studies have resulted in the definition of at least two different Paleoindian adaptive strategies in the Middle Atlantic region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21018