MIDCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY

Overwinter Strategy and Early Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Mobility in Temperate Forests
John A. Walthall
pp. 1-22
Archaeologists conducting research into Early Holocene hunter-gatherer adaptation in Eastern North America have developed a number of theoretical models concerning the mobility strategies of these groups. Several of these models posit a strategy of overwinter population concentration at base camps, followed by a pattern of residential mobility during much of the remainder of the annual cycle. This model is in discord with the ethnographic record for the region. In this paper I discuss and critique this model and, based upon analysis of ethnographic, biological, and archaeological data, I offer an alternative. The model proposed here includes a mobility strategy entailing fall population aggregation and overwinter dispersion.

Rethinking the Paleoethnobotany of Early Woodland Caving
James Schoenwetter
pp. 23-44
The existence of significant differences in the quantities of domesticated plants in the diets of Late/Terminal Archaic and Early Woodland groups has encouraged recognition of a qualitative change in dietary strategies ca. 3000 rcybp in south-central Kentucky. Since the anthropological implications of this interpretation are far-reaching, it is critical to recognize that the reconstruction of Early Woodland dietary strategy is based upon an interpretation of the season(s) of the year that cavers visited the inner passages of Salts and Mammoth caves. This has been a matter of debate since 1974. Elucidation of the arguments for each interpretation of seasonality and reanalysis of the ethnobotanical data from the perspective of new information reveals why the debate is not presently resolvable and identifies the current status of support for both sides of the issue. The reanalysis also offers support for new conclusions about Early Woodland culinary practices and for a proposed reconstruction of caver ritual behavior.

Terminal Archaic and Early Woodland Plant Use at the Gast Spring Site (13LA152), Southeast Iowa
Michael T. Dunne and William Green
pp. 45-88
The Gast Spring site (13LA152), located in the Mississippi River Valley in southeast Iowa, contains Archaic through Woodland components. Archaeobotanical remains from Terminal Archaic and Early Woodland features provide evidence of plant use ca. 3000-2500 BP. In addition to gathering various wild plants, Terminal Archaic and Early Woodland inhabitants of Gast Spring cultivated squash/gourd (Cucurbita sp.), little barley (Hordeum pusillum), and a domesticated variety of goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri). The little barley, AMS-dated at 2800 +/-45 BP, is the earliest known cultivated assemblage of this species in eastern North America. The presence of these crops at Gast Spring and other sites in the region suggests Terminal Archaic and Early Woodland peoples in the Mississippi Valley incorporated a significant, if not intensive, horticultural element into their economies.

Ultrasonic Disaggregation Analysis of Southwestern Michigan Early Woodland Pottery
James W. Cogswell
pp. 89-100
Ultrasonic disaggregation of low-fired pottery has had sporadic use since its presentation by Gaines and Handy in 1977. This technique was evaluated using eight Early Woodland sherds from southwestern Michigan. Size analysis of the resulting clay, silt, and larger particles revealed intrasite similarities and intersite differences in sherd composition. Raw-clay and crushed-granite control samples were compared to the sherd samples and demonstrated that ultrasonic disaggregation has potential for producing reliable samples for technological and compositional analyses of prehistoric pottery.

The Houpt Site and the Late Archaic of Southwestern Ohio
Ken Duerksen and John F. Doershuk
pp. 101-112
Investigations at the Houpt site (33BU477) recovered data from a well-preserved example of a briefly occupied Late Archaic extraction camp. The site was situated on a low hummock rising above the floor of a wetland in an extinct pre-Holocene riverbed. Analysis of the lithic assemblage (including Merom/Trimble points) and ethnobotanical study and radiocarbon dating of feature contents are presented as part of a discussion of the site's placement within the current conception of the terminal Late Archaic period in southwestern Ohio.