Refining the Projectile Point Chronology of Western Pennsylvania during the Transitional Period

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Periods and typologies are artificial boxes that archaeologist use to classify cultures and the artifacts that they used, consequently there is a need to re-evaluate old paradigms as new data become available, particularly when these paradigms are internally inconsistent. This paper looks at the Transitional period in western Pennsylvania and analyzes both the semantic division of cultural periods between 2900 and 900 BC the types of projectile points used to define these periods. Current descriptions of the Transitional period adequately describe eastern Pennsylvania but fail to adequately describe the material culture and typology of western Pennsylvania. Data will be synthesized from existing excavations and site reports to compile a database of C14 dates associated with diagnostic projectile points in order to establish an accurate serration of point types. These data will be visually represented on a time line and a series of maps in order to show spatial, typological, and chronological variation. The paper’s ultimate purpose it to create a consistent projectile point chronology that can be used as a framework to accurately date sites within this region on the basis of typology.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25296