Discerning Empirical Relationships Between the Natural Environment and Prehistoric Site Location: an Example from the Watts Bar Reservoir, East Tennessee
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 12-1989 Discerning Empirical Relationships Between The Natural Environment and Prehistoric Site Location: An Example From the Watts Bar Reservoir, East Tennessee Kenneth Paul Cannon University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Cannon, Kenneth Paul, "Discerning Empirical Relationships Between The Natural Environment and Prehistoric Site Location: An Example From the Watts Bar Reservoir, East Tennessee. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1989. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/939 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Kenneth Paul Cannon entitled "Discerning Empirical Relationships Between The Natural Environment and Prehistoric Site Location: An Example From the Watts Bar Reservoir, East Tennessee." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology. Walter E. Klippel, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Jefferson Chapman, Charles H. Faulkner Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council : I am submitting herewith a thes is written by Kenneth Paul Cannon entitl ed "Discerning Empirical Rel ationships Between the Natural Envi ronment and Prehistoric Site Location: An Exampl e from the Watts Bar Reservoir, East Tennessee." I have examined the final copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in part ial fulfillment of the requi rements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropol ogy. We have read th is thes is and recommend its acceptance : Accepted for the Council : Vice Provost and Dean of The Graduate School STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in part ial fulfillment of the requi rements for a Master's degree at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, I agree that the Library shal l make it available to borrowers under rul es of the Library . Brief quotat ions from this thesis are al lowabl e without special permission, prov ided that accurate acknowl edgment of source ;s made. Permiss ion for extensive quotat ion from or reproduction of this thesis may be granted by my major professor, or in his absence, by the Head of Interl i brary Services when , in the opinion of either, the proposed use of the material is for schol arly purposes . Any copying or use of the material in this thesis for financial gain shal l not be all owed without my written permission. Signature .\;""" - Date __..::.. \ �_.4--=V_Nl.J:;.__ \'l8__ � _______ _ DISCERNING EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND PREHISTORIC SITE LOCATION: AN EXAMPLE FROM THE WATTS BAR RESERVOIR, EAST TENNESSEE A Thesis Presented for the Master of Arts Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Kenneth Paul Cannon December 1989 ii Dedicated to my parents Patr icia A. Cannon and Geral d L. Cannon iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Th is thes is is an outgrowth of an archaeol og ical survey of the Watts Bar Reservo ir funded by the Tennessee Val ley Authority under contract number TV66340A, Dr. Walter E. Kl ippel , Principal Investigator. My deepest appreciation is extended to Dr. Kl ippel for allowing me the opportunity to conduct th is project. Al so for his professional gu idance, friendship, and especial ly his patience, I am deeply indebted. Drs . Charl es H. Faul kner and Jefferson Chapman al so prov ided enthus iastic support for this project, not only in their insight about East Tennessee archaeol ogy, but al so in al lowing access to their resources. I woul d al so like to extend my thanks to Drs . Gerald F. Schroedl and Paul W. Parmal ee for their insights on the project area. I woul d like to express my gratitude to the Tennessee Val ley Authority for fu nding this project and the individual s with in the agency . The efforts and pat i ence of Ms . Jill Elmendorf are greatly appreciated . As wel l, Mr . Bennett Graham provided me with invaluabl e aid. Of spec ial importance to this project were those indiv iduals who worked so closely with me in the field and the lab, I extend my grat itude for maintaining a professional att itude toward s the project. I would especial ly like to thank George Crothers , Rick Stoops , Roy Meador and Lee Ann Wilson for enduring the heat, the cold, the rain, the chiggers, the poi son ivy and my inadequac ies. iv The initiation and compl etion of this project would not have been possible without the efforts and support of several indiv idual s. The high qual ity of the fiqures is the direct result of Terry Faulkner' s efforts. Sherry Crisp and Charl ene Weaver provided the administrative hel p that al lowed the project to operate. Editorial comments, wh ich contributed to a more concise document, were graciously provided by Jay lamar and Sandra Harpol e. The facil ities and staff of the McCl ung Museum were indispensabl e throughout the duration of this project. Part icul arly I would like to thank Betty Creech , Miles Wr ight and Richard Pol hemus for their inval uable assi stance. Final ly, but by no means least, I would like to thank Charl ie Hall, Darcy Morey, Bill Turner, Heather Aiken, Sherri Turner, Mary El len Fogerty, Jack Hofman, Bruce Monzano, Hank McKelway, lynn Snyder and Tom Whyte for their ideas concern ing th is project and especial ly their fri endship- -for without my friends I would be lost. Wh ile many individual s, named and unnamed, contributed to the successful completion of this project, I must take ful l responsibil ity for its inadequac ies and shortcomings. v ABSTRACT The Watts Bar Reservoir study area is an artificial ly defined region of 13,815 hectares, demarcated by the reservoir boundary of the Tennessee Val ley Authority. Fol lowing compl etion of the Watts Bar Dam in 1942, the reservoir impounded 95 river miles of the main Tennessee River, in addition to portions of the Cl inch, Emory and Piney rivers, as wel l as several smal ler tri butaries . Since the mid-ni neteenth century archaeol og ical investigat ions have been conducted in the region. However, the sporadic nature of these research endeavors has created a somewhat fragmented picture of the reg ion's preh istory. Fol lowing Smith's (1978b) model of the linear band ing of environmental zones adjacent to the course of meandering streams , this thesis addresses site location in the reservoir.. Specifical ly, the main river channels of the Tennessee and Cl inch rivers were divided into one kilometer tracts in order to del ineate the natural distribution of environmental variabl es. A comparison of tracts containing archaeologi cal sites and those without sites was made using the Kol mogorov-Smirnov goodness of fit test. Al though the use of random sampl ing methods to obtain negat ive information has been strongly advocated (i.e., Binford 1964 ; Thomas 1973; Kvamme 1985; Kellog 1987), I chose to use al l tracts to offset the biases in the ' archaeological record due to the sporadic nature of the region's research. A separate and additional test was conducted for the del ineation of patterns of natural shelter sel ection. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION .... 1 Background . 1 Organizat ion . 4 II. MODERN ENVIRONMENT . 7 Phys iography . 9 Geolo gy . 14 So i 1 s ... 19 Cl imate ... 22 Faunal Resources . 29 Floral Resources . 50 III. HOLOCENE DYNAMICS ... 63 Envi ronmental Change 64 IV. CULTURAL DYNAMICS .. 74 Paleoindian Period .. 74 Dal ton Transition . 78 Archaic Period . 80 Earl y Woodland Period 86 Middle Woodl and Period 87 Late Woodland Period .. 89 Emergent Mississippian 91 Mississippian Period . 92 V. HISTORY OF REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 96 VI . CHRONOLOGY ... 113 VII. SAMPLING BIASES 119 VIII. ROCKSHELTER SURVEY . 140 Introduction .. 140 Variables .... 144 Field Methods ... 147 Results and Conclus ions 150 IX. EMPIRICAL TESTING OF PREHISTORIC SITE LOCATION 155 Introduct ion . .•. 155 Variables . .. 155 Resul ts and Discussion 162 Concl usions 196 X. SUMMARY 199 REFERENCES CITED 202 VITA .. ... ' . 233 vi i LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE- 1. Mean preCipitation (cm) and temperature (QC) for the Watts Bar Reservoir study area 23 2. Annual maximum fl ood elevat ion of the Cl inch and Tennessee rivers at Kingston, Tennessee 1867-1957 26 3. Greatest known fl oods on the Tennessee River at Loudon, Tennessee . • . 28 4.- Modern aquatic resources of the Watts Bar Reservoir study area . • . 31 5. Vertebrate faunal remains recovered from archaeol ogi cal sites within the Watts Bar Reservoir study area . 33 6. Mol l uscan species identified from archaeological col l ections and modern col l ect ions in the upper Tennessee River system . 37 7. Modern herptofauna of the Watts Bar Reservoir study area . • . 40 8. Modern faunal resources of the Watts Bar Reservoir study area . 43 9. Modern avifauna and seasonal informat ion of the Watts Bar Reservoir study area . 45 10. Modern fl oral resources of the Watts Bar Reservoir study area and ecological informat ion .