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253 Introduction In the past two decades there has been a growing interest in the archaeology of the earliest inhabitants of North America. This research, which includes modeling of settlement systems, subsistence strategies, and the organization of chipped stone tool technologies, has advanced our conceptualization of the way Paleoindian and Early Archaic peoples coped with the rapidly changing environmental conditions that occurred during the late Pleistocene and Early Holocene (Amick 1994; Anderson 1996; Anderson and Hanson 1988; Anderson and Sassaman 1996; Bonnichsen et al. 1987; Cable 1996; Chapman 1975; Daniel 1998; Ellis and Lothrop 1989; Faught and Carter 1998; Goodyear et al. 1979; Kelly and Todd 1988; Kimball 1996; Kuehn 1998; Sassaman 1996; Straus et al. 1996; Walker et al. 2001; Walthall 1998). But while these theoretical models have provided avenues of inquiry into the lifeways of Paleoindian and Early Archaic peoples, these models, with few exceptions (e.g., Bonnischen et al. 1987; Cable 1996; Faught and Carter 1998; Kuehn 1998), have not included detailed paleoclimate data or environmental reconstructions (i.e., local-scale biotic communities) or archaeological subsistence data as a basis for interpretation. Recent research in the Middle Tennessee Valley, particularly as stimulated by the archaeological exploration and interpretation of Dust Cave (Driskell 1994, 1996; Sherwood et al. 2004), has developed new data on faunal (Walker 2000) and floral (Hollenbach 2005, 2009) exploitation , geoarchaeology (Sherwood 2001), and land use (Meeks 2003) in addition to stone tool studies (Randall 2001, 2002; Walker et al. 2001), which, when considered together, provide new insights into the prehistory of the Pleistocene/Holocene transition in the Middle Tennessee Valley. Dust Cave is located near present-day Florence, Alabama, just north of the Tennessee River in what is called the Highland Rim province (fig. 11.1). The Highland Rim of northern Alabama is a prominent area in southeastern prehistory. The Middle Tennessee Valley, trending across the province in The Transition from Paleoindian to Archaic in the Middle Tennessee Valley Boyce N. Driskell, Scott C. Meeks, and Sarah C. Sherwood 11 Figure 11.1. Middle Tennessee River Valley in northern Alabama with locations of major physiographic provinces in the region. 254 Driskell, Meeks, and Sherwood northern Alabama and its primary drainage, contains one of the largest concentrations of diagnostic fluted points in the eastern United States (Anderson and Faught 1998; Anderson and Sassaman 1996; Futato 1982, 1996). Archaeologists consider the Middle Tennessee River a migration route and staging area for the colonization of eastern North America (Anderson 1996; Mason 1962); even the possibility of Clovis origins has been suggested. In addition to the numerous fluted points in the region, the area contains several varieties of quality chert with the exceptionally high-grade blue/gray Ft. Payne chert easily accessible in the shoals and around the region. This paper first considers questions of chronology. While we still lack dates for nearly all the Paleoindian contexts in this region of the Southeast, new dates from the lowest deposits at Dust Cave are generally supportive of regional chronological estimates. The paper then reviews local environment and geomorphology, followed by a discussion of the technology and subsistence. Plant and animal exploitation is mostly informed by new data and analyses from Dust Cave, but several other sites in the area are also considered. Regularities and changes in land use are then examined through a study of site data available in the Alabama State Site Files (ASSF) (Meeks 2002). This final section attempts to interpret changing land use patterns across the Pleistocene/ Holocene boundary with the consideration of these multiple sources of data. Cultural Chronology of the Pleistocene/Holocene Transition The temporal sequence that extends across the Pleistocene/Holocene transition in this region is built on a progression within the Paleoindian period in the southeastern United States, which is divided into Early, Middle, and Late subperiods (e.g., Anderson et al. 1990; Anderson and Sassaman 1996; Sassaman and Anderson 1990). The chronological ordering of Paleoindian point forms in the Middle Tennessee Valley include Early Paleoindian (13,450– 12,850 cal B.P.), represented by Clovis;, Middle Paleoindian (12,850–11,950 cal B.P.), characterized by Cumberland, Beaver Lake, and Quad point types; and Late Paleoindian (11,950–11,150 cal B.P.), defined by Dalton and Hardaway Side-Notched types (fig. 11.2). The Early Side-Notched horizon (11,150—10,450 cal B.P.) is considered the beginning of the Early Archaic. The Early Archaic continues with the Kirk Corner-Notched horizon (10,450— 9750 cal B.P...

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