Sifting Through The Sand: Adaptive Flexibility In The Middle Archaic Occupations Of The Sandhills

266 Pages·2017·6.5 MB·English

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Theses and Dissertations
6-30-2016
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Audrey Rachel Dawson
University of South Carolina
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Dawson, A. R.(2016). Sifting Through The Sand: Adaptive Flexibility In The Middle Archaic Occupations Of
The Sandhills Province Of South Carolina. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3412
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SIFTING THROUGH THE SAND: ADAPTIVE FLEXIBILITY IN THE MIDDLE
ARCHAIC OCCUPATIONS OF THE SANDHILLS PROVINCE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

by

Audrey Rachel Dawson

Bachelor of Arts
West Virginia University, 2001

Master of Arts
University of South Carolina, 2004

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in

Anthropology

College of Arts and Sciences

University of South Carolina

2016

Accepted by:

Kenneth G. Kelly, Major Professor

Charles R. Cobb, Major Professor

Gail E. Wagner, Committee Member

Thomas Leatherman, Committee Member

Mark J. Brooks, Committee Member

Lacy Ford, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies
© Copyright by Audrey Rachel Dawson, 2016
All Rights Reserved.
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DEDICATION
To Eleanor and Amelia, never give up on your dreams.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am incredibly thankful for the support, advice, and assistance provided by so
many individuals.
First, and foremost, I would like to thank my committee for their comments,
criticisms, input, and patience.
To Dr. Charles Cobb, I thank you for seeing me through to the end of this journey
even though you are no longer with the University of South Carolina. Your advice and
rich knowledge of southeastern prehistory, lithic technology, and anthropology has been
invaluable throughout this entire project.
To Dr. Kenneth Kelly, I thank you for agreeing to co-chair my committee even
though the prehistory of the southeastern United States is not one of your research
interests. With that said, I also thank you for reading and commenting on my drafts.
To Dr. Gail Wagner, I could not have finished this dissertation without you! Your
encouraging words and motivational comments pushed me through some very dark
periods of writer’s block. In addition, your comments and attention to detail have made
this dissertation what it is today.
To Dr. Mark Brooks, I thank you for sharing your knowledge of the Archaic
period. Your comments and encouragement make me excited to continue down this
research avenue. I hope you enjoy your retirement!
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To Dr. Thomas Leatherman, I thank you for providing a bio-cultural perspective
on a very archaeology-heavy dissertation. Your comments forced me to expand by ideas
into the broader field of anthropology.
To those individuals responsible for the data recovery project at the Three Springs
site, I am thankful. The project was initiated by Mark Dutton and Chan Funk of the Fort
Jackson Environmental Division in consultation with Dr. Christopher Ohm Clement,
formerly of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, and Charles
Cantley, formerly of the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Field and
laboratory work for this project were conducted by the Applied Research Division of the
South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. I am grateful for the hard
work of both the field and laboratory technicians, specifically Andrea (Summers) Brock,
Rick Fogle, Meg Gaillard, Heathley Johnson, Alaina (Williams) McDaniel, David
Rigtrup, Jon Rood, Nate Smith, Jonathan Whitlatch, Joesph Wilkinson, Tamara Wilson,
and Chris Young. The geomorphology was also conducted as part of this data recovery
project by Dr. Andrew Ivester, Dr. Mark J. Brooks, and Dr. Christopher R. Moore.
Analysis of the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) samples was funded in part by a
generous grant from the Archaeological Research Trust (ART) and in part by the author.
OSL samples were analyzed by Michelle Summa Nelson and Dr. Tammy Rittenour of the
Utah State University Luminescence Laboratory.
To Mr. Andrew Bradbury, Mr. Tommy Charles, Dr. Albert Goodyear, Dr.
Christopher R. Moore, and Mr. Sean G. Taylor, I thank you for sharing your knowledge
and answering my endless questions about lithic artifacts and lithic analysis methods.
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To my friend, colleague, and mentor Dr. Steven Smith, I thank you for being the
voice of reason in suggesting I switch to prehistoric archaeology and use the data
recovery data in my dissertation. I am also grateful to you and Dr. Christopher Ohm
Clement for teaching me so much about cultural resource management, field methods,
report writing, and on and on. You have both helped shape me as the archaeologist I am
today.
To my 24/7 cheerleaders, Catherine Keegan and Jessica Boulware, I thank you for
your constant encouragement. I truly would not have finished this dissertation without
your support and motivation. I owe you both so much and I will try to repay it with cake.
Lots of cake.
To Catherine Keegan, I am also incredibly thankful for all the assistance you
provided in dealing with the University of South Carolina.
To Bri Farber, Molly Hopkins, Victoria McClure, and Catherine Keegan, I thank
you for hanging out with sweet Nora so that I could steal a few hours to write, run to the
library, or go to a meeting.
To my family: my parents, George W. and Amy Dawson; my sisters, Brenda and
Amy Georgiana; my husband, Greg Croft; and my daughters, Eleanor and Amelia, I
thank you for your unwavering support and love.
And, last but certainly not least, to whomever is reading this, I thank you.
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ABSTRACT
Based on a sample of Coastal Plain Middle Archaic sites in addition to lithic debitage
data from three Morrow Mountain (7,500-5,500 BP) occupation clusters at the Three
Springs site (38RD837/841/842/844), Richland County, South Carolina, this dissertation
explores the applicability of a model of Adaptive Flexibility to the Morrow Mountain
occupations of the South Carolina Sandhills Province. The model of Adaptive Flexibility
was developed to explain the redundant, low-density scatters of lithic debitage and
generalized, expedient tools made of locally available raw materials that characterize the
Middle Archaic, specifically Morrow Mountain, archaeological record of the South
Carolina Piedmont. Multiple lines of lithic debitage analysis (i.e., mass analysis,
aggregate trend analysis, and individual attribute analysis) were employed to understand
the technological strategies, economy, and mobility of the Morrow Mountain peoples in
the Sandhills Province through the organization of technology concept. These analyses
suggest that within the Sandhills Province the key characteristics of Adaptive
Flexibility—a reliable resource base, high levels of residential mobility, generalized and
unspecialized expedient toolkits, and equal access to lithic raw materials—were present
during the Morrow Mountain cultural horizon. Moving beyond Adaptive Flexibility, this
dissertation speculates that an expedient tool technology and use of readily-available,
local lithic raw materials would have provided the Morrow Mountain peoples free time
for the deliberate modification of the Sandhills vegetation.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION ....................................................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iv
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... X
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. xi
CHAPTER 1: ADAPTIVE FLEXIBILITY IN THE SANDHILLS PROVINCE .....................................1

GEOGRAPHY OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC SLOPE ............................................................4
THE ARCHAIC PERIOD ON THE SOUTH ATLANTIC SLOPE ...........................................12
MODELLING MIDDLE ARCHAIC SETTLEMENT ON THE INNER COASTAL
PLAIN...............................................................................................................17
THE THREE SPRINGS SITE..........................................................................................26
DISSERTATION ORGANIZATION .................................................................................36
CHAPTER 2: CULTURAL CONTEXT FOR THE ARCHAIC PERIOD ON THE SOUTH ATLANTIC
SLOPE .......................................................................................................................39

CULTURAL CONTEXT FOR THE SOUTH ATLANTIC SLOPE ..........................................39
SUMMARY .................................................................................................................70
CHAPTER 3: THE ORGANIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF ACTIVITY
AREAS ......................................................................................................................74

THE ORGANIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY ......................................................................74
ACTIVITY AREA RESEARCH AND OCCUPATION CLUSTERS ........................................85
SUMMARY .................................................................................................................94
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CHAPTER 4: METHODS OF LITHIC ANALYSIS .....................................................................96
LITHICS: BASIC TERMINOLOGY ................................................................................96
DEBITAGE ANALYSIS ..............................................................................................106
SITE SPECIFIC LITHIC ANALYSIS METHODS ............................................................115
LITHIC RAW MATERIALS .........................................................................................118
SUMMARY ...............................................................................................................124
CHAPTER 5: A MIDDLE ARCHAIC CASE STUDY FROM THE SANDHILLS PROVINCE, FORT
JACKSON, RICHLAND COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA .................................................125

LOCUS 3 BLOCK 12 AREA 1 .....................................................................................127
SITE STRUCTURE .....................................................................................................132
SITE FUNCTION DURING THE MIDDLE ARCHAIC ......................................................137
SUMMARY ...............................................................................................................164
CHAPTER 6: ADAPTIVE FLEXIBILITY IN THE SANDHILLS PROVINCE: DISCUSSION AND
CONCLUSIONS .........................................................................................................166

DISCUSSION OF ANALYSIS RESULTS ........................................................................167
FIVE HYPOTHESES OF ADAPTIVE FLEXIBILITY ........................................................171
THE ARCHAIC PERIOD ON THE SOUTH ATLANTIC SLOPE .........................................182
CONCLUDING REMARKS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ...................................................189
REFERENCES CITED ..........................................................................................................192
APPENDIX A –SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS ...........................................252

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