University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology Anthropology 2019 MIDDLE TO LATE HOLOCENE (7200-2900 CAL. BP) ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE FORMATION PROCESSES AT CRUMPS SINK AND THE ORIGINS OF ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTS IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY, USA Justin Nels Carlson University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.159 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Carlson, Justin Nels, "MIDDLE TO LATE HOLOCENE (7200-2900 CAL. BP) ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE FORMATION PROCESSES AT CRUMPS SINK AND THE ORIGINS OF ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTS IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY, USA" (2019). Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology. 40. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/anthro_etds/40 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Justin Nels Carlson, Student Dr. George M. Crothers, Major Professor Dr. Sarah Lyon, Director of Graduate Studies MIDDLE TO LATE HOLOCENE (7200-2900 CAL. BP) ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE FORMATION PROCESSES AT CRUMPS SINK AND THE ORIGINS OF ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTS IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY, USA ________________________________________ DISSERTATION ________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Justin Nels Carlson Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. George M. Crothers, Professor of Anthropology Lexington, Kentucky 2019 Copyright © Justin Nels Carlson 2019 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION MIDDLE TO LATE HOLOCENE (7200-2900 CAL. BP) ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE FORMATION PROCESSES AT CRUMPS SINK AND THE ORIGINS OF ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTS IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY, USA Though some researchers have argued that the Big Barrens grasslands of Kentucky were the product of anthropogenic land clearing practices by Native Americans, heretofore, this hypothesis had not been tested archaeologically. More work was needed to refine chronologies of fire activity in the region, determine the extent to which humans played a role in the process, and integrate these findings with the paleoenvironmental and archaeological record. With these goals in mind, I conducted archaeological and geoarchaeological investigations at Crumps Sink in the Sinkhole Plain of Kentucky. The archaeological record and site formation history of Crumps Sink were compared with environmental and archaeological data from the Interior Low Plateaus and Southern Appalachian Mountains for an understanding of how the site fits into the larger story of human-environmental interactions in the Eastern Woodlands. Based on the data recovered, I argue that through land burning Archaic hunter-gatherers were active managers of ecosystems to a greater degree than previously acknowledged. Excavations at Crumps Sink revealed stratified archaeological deposits spanning the late Middle Archaic to Terminal Late Archaic periods. Radiocarbon dates and an analysis of projectile point typologies provided information on the chronological and cultural history of the site. Magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition, plant available phosphorous, and soil micromorphological analyses were conducted to examine landform dynamics in response to environmental change and to trace the anthropogenic signature created by human activities at the site. Masses of lithic debitage, animal bone, and burned sediment nodules per ten-cm-level provide an indication of human occupation intensity and shifting activities over time. Radiocarbon dates were used to reconstruct rates of sediment accumulation in the sink. These varying datasets were considered together for a holistic understanding of localized environmental and anthropogenic impacts on the landform. Between 7200 and 5600 cal. BP, during the Middle Holocene Thermal Maximum and corresponding with the late Middle Archaic period, sediment accumulation was sustained with one identifiable episode of very weak soil development. Background magnetic and chemical signatures in the soils were greater than they were at pre-occupation levels, demonstrating that human activities left a lasting imprint in soils as early as the late Middle Archaic period. Between 5600 and 3900 cal. BP, periods of diminished sedimentation led to more pronounced episodes of soil formation. However, these soil horizons are interposed by pulses of enhanced sediment accumulation. These soil data may signal shifting environmental regimes during the Middle to Late Holocene transition. Between 5600 and 3900 cal. BP scattered plant ash, elevated masses of burned sediment nodules, and pestle fragments in Late Archaic deposits suggest that hunter-gatherers were intensively processing nut mast, potentially in association with early forest clearance and silviculture. Botanical assemblages from a coincident archaeological sequence at the Carlston Annis site in the nearby middle Green River region has demonstrated woodland disturbance and potential silviculture in central Kentucky during this time. During the Late Archaic and Terminal Late Archaic periods (3900-3000 cal. BP), substantial plant ash deposition occurred in a stratum that accumulated relatively quickly. Very low burned sediment nodule masses in this deposit indicate that combustion features were not common in the immediate vicinity and that elevated frequencies of plant ash were the result of burning on a broader expanse of the surrounding landform. Chronologically, the zone with enhanced plant ash deposition is coeval with previously demonstrated occurrences of increased forest fires, grassland expansion, and a shift to early horticultural economies throughout the region. Soil development occurred after 3000 cal. BP, and this episode of landform stability may have lasted for over two millennia until being capped by sediment accumulation from historic agriculture. The late Middle Archaic through Terminal Late Archaic data from Crumps Sink demonstrates that hunter-gatherer activities left lasting signatures in soils in Kentucky. The data from the Late Archaic to Terminal Late Archaic periods (ca. 5600-3000 cal. BP) may indicate intentional land burning by hunter-gatherers to create anthropogenic environments, first for silviculture and then for early plant domestication. This forces a rethinking of labor and subsistence systems within hunter-gatherer societies. Thus, if hunter-gatherers were utilizing long-term forest management methods, they were employing a delayed-return economic system relying on labor investment and negotiated understandings about land tenure. Further characterization of the origin of fire management activities will help us to elucidate the nature of incipient indigenous plant domestication in the Eastern Woodlands. KEYWORDS:Big Barrens Grasslands, Geoarchaeology, Karst Environments, Archaic Hunter-Gatherers, Historical Ecology, Fire Histories Justin Nels Carlson 04/30/2019 MIDDLE TO LATE HOLOCENE (7200-2900 CAL. BP) ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE FORMATION PROCESSES AT CRUMPS SINK AND THE ORIGINS OF ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTS IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY, USA By Justin Nels Carlson George M. Crothers Director of Dissertation Sarah Lyon Director of Graduate Studies 04/30/2019 Date DEDICATION To my parents, Lynn and Bruce Carlson. In loving memory of Bruce Carlson. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Through the years working on my dissertation project, I have received the support of many people. First, I would like to express my gratitude to the members of my dissertation committee: George Crothers, Chris Pool, Dick Jefferies, Alice Turkington, and Gary Stinchcomb. Through a Cave Archaeology course at Mammoth Cave, George Crothers first captivated my interest in the archaeology of the region. His support, guidance, and enthusiasm during the Crumps Sink excavations