A Critique of the Case for Paleoindian Caribou Hunting on the Submerged Alpena-Amberley Ridge

ABSTRACT

A series of papers has developed the claim that stone features on the submerged Alpena-Amberley Ridge (AAR) in Lake Huron provides unique insight into the Paleoindian caribou-hunting economies of the Great Lakes. The documented human occupation of the AAR dates to the late Early Holocene (about 9000 calendar years ago): however, a time when glacial ice was far to the north and the region was occupied by hunting-gathering societies with ties to the western Great Plains and the deciduous forests of the Eastern Woodlands. Key elements of the caribou-hunting scenario as presented are poorly explained, contradictory, and/or ecologically unsound. Ethnographic and archaeological data demonstrate the use of structures for hunting other kinds of large game, presenting possibilities for alternative explanations. Constructing a satisfying explanation of the AAR features will require expanding the scope of investigation to develop and test multiple hypotheses that engage with the terrestrial archaeological record.

KEYWORDS:

• Paleoindian
• caribou
• Great Lakes
• underwater archaeology
• early Holocene

View addendum:

The Day the Armchair Broke: A Reply to White

Acknowledgements

This essay was initiated while I was employed at the University of South Carolina and completed after I moved to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey. I thank the colleagues who provided informal feedback on earlier drafts as well as the anonymous reviewers. I thank PaleoAmerica for accommodating the paper, and I look forward to any discussion that follows its publication.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew A. White

Andrew A. White is research archaeologist at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Champaign, IL. He earned his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Michigan in 2012, and his research investigates the evolution of social complexity among foraging societies, with a focus on the prehistoric archaeology of the eastern woodlands of North America.