Date of Completion

5-5-2017

Embargo Period

5-5-2018

Keywords

Archaeology, Paleoindian, New England

Major Advisor

Kevin A. McBride

Associate Advisor

Brian D. Jones

Associate Advisor

Daniel S. Adler

Associate Advisor

Jonathan C. Lothrop

Field of Study

Anthropology

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Open Access

Open Access

Abstract

Using a multi-scalar approach, this dissertation investigates the Paleoindian occupations of New England with a focus on adaptive strategies related to environmental factors and the potential role that caribou played in Paleoindian subsistence. I analyze individual sites, geographic clusters of sites, sub-regions, and regional study areas. A data set inclusive of southern New England was obtained through three methodologies: my own excavations in Connecticut; reanalyses of Connecticut Paleoindian sites; and collaboration with researchers who shared data on Paleoindian sites in the Northeast.

On the scale of individual sites, I present site reports detailing the excavation and analysis of Ohomowauke and Templeton. At the scale of a geographic cluster, I investigate Paleoindian occupations of a geomorphic landscape associated with a wetland in a pro-glacial lake basin in southeastern Connecticut. On the sub-regional scale, I investigate patterning in Middle Paleoindian sites with Michaud-Neponset fluted points to analyze whether Paleoindians employed adaptive strategies predicated on the location and concentration of migratory caribou herds during their biannual migrations to calving grounds in the spring and over wintering grounds in the fall. Finally, on the regional scale, I compare Paleoindian adaptive strategies in New England to Paleoindian adaptive strategies hypothesized in neighboring regions of the eastern Great Lakes and the Middle Atlantic to investigate diversity in Paleoindian lifeways.

By bringing to bear a plethora of analytical methodologies on a wealth of data from sites throughout New England, this dissertation intends to illuminate the adaptive strategies central to Paleoindian life in the New England.

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