Interpreting Resharpening Patterns of Paleoindian and Early Archaic Projectile Points from the Carolina Piedmont

Summary

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

Resharpening occurs throughout the use-life of a tool and may indicate the intention to rejuvenate the blade edge or the reconfiguration of a tool for a new function. Analysis of this aspect of projectile point maintenance can reflect variation in resource use strategies amongst the users of these tools. This study concerns the differences in resharpening patterns of four projectile point styles from the Paleoindian and Early Archaic periods of the Carolina Piedmont, known as Hardaway Dalton, Hardaway Side-Notched, Palmer, and Kirk. In this research, we analyze the evidence of retouch or resharpening on these points to infer how mobility patterns, resource use, and land use changed during the Paleoindian to Early Archaic transition in the Carolina Piedmont. We contextualize these data concerning resharpening patterns into the different landforms at which the points were found as well as their unique geographic locations across the landscape. In utilizing two different methods of assessing projectile point resharpening, along with geospatial and statistical analyses, we infer how mobile hunter-gatherer groups adapted and modified their usage of the landscape during the earliest occupations of the Carolina Piedmont. These data contribute to the overall research concerning hunter-gatherer lifeway variation across long periods of time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25817