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CHAPTER 5 Summary and Conclusions The sites at which the excavations reported in this study took place represent five major periods of culture history in the middle Chattahoochee Valley. Other culture periods of the area are described in reports of the intensive work that has been completed on other phases of the valley's prehistory by the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Georgia. The long pre-ceramic occupation of the area is least known. Although a few widely scattered artifacts possibly representing this occupation have been found, little can be added to Hurt's statements concerning the Paleo-Indian period or the Lithic stage in the valley. Further interpretation of Hurt's work based on later findings is possible, however. One recalls that several projectile points found by him in private collections were of the Dalton type. The early status of the Dalton complex has now been well documented, as the Stanfield-Worley site seemed to have been transitional in several respects between Paleo-Indian and Archaic (Dejarnette, Kurjack, and Cambron 1962). Evidently the small groups whose occupations are marked by this artifact complex were both numerous and widespread. While a few artifacts that may have been part of the complex were encountered within the basin, Hurt's points were collected some distance from the Chattahoochee in the hills near Seale, Alabama. A preference for upland areas for the location of Paleo-Indian and Early Archaic settlements in the Oliver Basin to the north has been noted by McMichael and Kellar (1959). Carefully made projectile points are the most distinctive artifacts found on Early Archaic sites, where they form a much greater proportion of the total assemblage than at later sites. This proportion indicates a dominance of hunting in economies of the period. While it cannot yet be determined whether the subsistence techniques of the fully Paleo-Indian peoples of the valley differed much from those of the Dalton, Old Quartz, Standing Bay, and other Early Archaic cultures, the latter economies seem to have been manifestations of the continuing earlier tradition. Conclusions: The Excavations 197 The Late Archaic period is slightly better defined; traces of it can be found at many sites within the basin. Large, stemmed projectile points continue as a part of the assemblage, along with grinding stones and other suggestions of a vegetable gathering economy. The addition of steatite vessels and fiber tempered pottery to this complex seems to mark its climax; fiber tempered wares, steatite, and "Archaic-style" projectile points were found at most of the sites examined in the valley. Although their economic activities differed, the early ceramics of Indians of the Chattahoochee Valley are apparently related to the fiber tempered wares of Indians of Stallings Island, for Stallings Punctated is a rare but consistent characteristic of the valley's fiber tempered pottery complex. Pottery tempered with vegetable fiber is a terminal addition to the Stallings Island Archaic complex, whose principal characteristic was its specialized economy based on the exploitation of shellfish. A more generalized economy including hunting, gathering, and fishing was present on the Chattahoochee. The general trend of the Shell Mound Archaic in the Southeast, involving increased wealth and increasing efficiency, seems to hold true for the Chattahoochee River Archaic as well. The largest, most numerous sites of the Early Woodland period (so called for lack of a more exact designation) are those that are components of the Cartersville phase (Caldwell 1958). These sites are characterized by large amounts of check stamped pottery, slightly smaller amounts of simple stamped ware, and small numbers of cord wrapped, dowel impressed sherds. This definition is least adequate for early and late parts of the Cartersville phase, since the fabric marked sherds were the result of influence from areas further north, and the Chattahoochee Valley is considered marginal to the area of the middle eastern tradition where fabric marked types are a characteristic of the Early Woodland. The difficulties in using check stamping as a diagnostic trait plagued Hurt's early study as well as studies by others. It is conceded that the check stamp tradition in the Southeast lasted from Deptford-Cartersville to Historic. Check stamping has been noted in Swift Creek, and indeed, the few Early Swift Creek Complicated Stamped sherds at 1 Br 15 were probably related to the later part of the Cartersville occupation rather than a later Swift Creek component. Simple stamping, lasting into Swift Creek, also has had a long life in the valley. The earliest phase of the stamping...

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