A Theoretical Consideration of Paleoindian Use of Sinkholes as Dynamic Tool-stone Procurement Locales along the Highland Rim of Southeastern North America

ABSTRACT

The study explores the hypothesis that sinkholes were used as tool-stone procurement locales by terminal Pleistocene hunter-gatherers seasonally as access to the chert deposits potentially changed due to annual precipitation regimes. The paper presents sites with major Paleoindian components directly associated with sinkholes on the Highland Rim of southeastern North America, along with an examination of sinkhole geomorphology. Admittedly, temporal and seasonal data are currently lacking that would give a clearer understanding of Paleoindian tool-stone exploitation at sinkholes, but the theoretical study seeks to add to discussions regarding a dynamic lithic landscape influenced by geomorphic processes during the terminal Pleistocene. Eighteen procurement sites in the Highland Rim of the Interior Low Plateau are presented as supporting evidence that climate change during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition potentially altered the lithic landscape of hunter-gatherer groups. The shifting access to raw materials would have influenced Paleoindian resource use, technological organization, and seasonal movements.

KEYWORDS:

• Paleoindian
• sinkholes
• chert exploitation
• karst topography

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Scott Jones for the invitation to present this research and our discussant Joseph Gingerich at the Southeastern Archaeology Conference in Jackson MS. We are especially grateful to all the property owners in Alabama and Kentucky who granted us access to their land and supported us in taking rock (geologic samples) from their fields. Thanks also to Ellis Durham and Mark Cole for the many hours of conversation regarding chert exploitation by Ice Age hunter-gatherers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ryan M. Parish

Ryan Parish is an associate professor of archaeology in the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Memphis. His interests include chert provenance research, reflectance spectroscopy, hunter-gatherer societies, lithic analysis, and geoarchaeology.

Samantha Robinson

Samantha Robinson is an undergraduate student at the University of Memphis earning a dual degree in History and Earth Sciences.