Archaeology of the American South Anthropology 550 Spring 2020 Prof. Vin Steponaitis ([email protected]; tel. 919-962-7748) Office hours by appointment in AL-109 (email or call to set up a time) Course Description: This seminar will focus on current issues and interpretations in the archaeology of the American South. It is intended for anyone with a serious interest in the ancient Indian cultures of this region, as understood through the lens of archaeological research. Through weekly readings and discussions, students will explore the lifeways and changes that characterized each major period of the South’s ancient history, from 16,000 years ago to the beginnings of European colonization. This will be a challenging course, and students are expected to come to class prepared. Course Structure: The seminar meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 to 3:15 pm in Alumni 203. In general, discussion topics and readings will be assigned on weekly basis, with final readings posted a full week before they’re due. Typically, the readings for each topic will include some titles that everyone reads, and others that are divided among the students in the class. Students must do the assigned readings before each class meets. In class, students will discuss the general readings, and also present brief reports and critiques on the readings specifically assigned to them. Brief written exercises may be assigned if needed. In addition, each student will be expected to write a 12-15 page term paper on a topic of their choosing; this topic must be discussed with the instructor as soon as possible, and certainly no later than February 6th. At the end of the semester, each student will briefly present the results of the term-paper project orally to the class, and will also hand in the full written version. Course Requirements: In addition to the assigned readings, requirements include class participation (30%, including the class discussions and written exercises), an end-of-semester oral report (10%), a term paper (30%, due 4/23), and a final exam (30%, 5/4 @ 12 pm). Note that regular class attendance is essential. It will be taken into account by reducing your grade 10% for each unexcused absence. If you must miss class, please discuss it with me in advance if possible. If this is not possible, then please contact me as soon as possible afterwards. In general, illness or unavoidable family obligations (like weddings) are the only valid reasons for an absence. Course Web Site: The syllabus, readings, and other relevant information will be posted on the course web site at <http://rla.unc.edu/courses/Anth550/>. I may also use Sakai. I reserve the right to change the assigned readings as the semester progresses (with at least a week’s notice). Honor Code: Students are expected to adhere to UNC's Honor Code <http://honor.unc.edu/>. Schedule (as of 1/9): 1/9 Introduction and overview 1/14-1/23 Paleoindian period 1/28-2/6 Archaic period 2/11-2/13 Student research (no class) 2/28-2/20 Poverty Point and early mounds 2/25-2/27 Eastern Agricultural Complex 3/3-3/19 Woodland period 3/24-4/2 Mississippi period: Cahokia and Moundville 4/7-4/9 Mississippian iconography 4/14-4/21 Student presentations (in class) Archaeology of the American South Anthropology 550 Week 1: Overviews Part 1. To start off, I'd like you to read a review article concerning Southern archaeology, in order to get a preliminary glimpse at the “big picture.” Please read the article below. As you read, keep the following questions in mind: * What are the major periods, and when do they date? * What are the major cultural features or innovations that mark each of these periods? Also, come to the next class prepared to answer the following question: * Looking at peoples’ overall way of life (economy, settlements, social organization, etc.) what are the most important trends and transformations that can be seen archaeologically? Pick at least three (not everyone needs to choose the same ones). In reading the article, don’t let yourself get bogged down in trying to remember and understand all the details. Just focus on understanding the big picture, with particular reference to the questions above. Also be thinking about potential paper topics! Also, if you see any terms or phrases that you don’t understand or don’t make sense, feel free to bring these questions to class. Steponaitis, Vincas P. (1986). Prehistoric archaeology in the southeastern United States, 1970-1985. Annual Review of Anthropology 15:363-404. Part 2. Now it’s time to get a sense of the lay of the land. It’s difficult to talk about or to understand the ancient history of the South without knowing something about its geography, physiography, and forests. Read the article below and then do Exercise 1, which will be handed out separately and due in class on 8/26. Gremillion, Kristen J. (2004). Environment. In Southeast, edited by Raymond D. Fogelson, pp. 53- 67. Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 14. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. [Focus on pp. 53-60.] More Readings (Optional): Smith, Bruce D. (1986). Archaeology of the southeastern United States: From Dalton to de Soto, 10,000-500 B.P. Advances in World Archaeology, vol. 5, edited by F. Wendorf and A. Close, pp. 1-92. Fenneman, Nevin M. (1917). Physiographic Subdivision of the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 3(1): 17-22. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/83422> Archaeology of the American South Anthropology 550 Week 2: Paleoindian Arrival The Clovis culture, traditionally dated 11,500-11,000 14C years BP has long been recognized as the earliest well-documented occupation of North America. At the same time, the question of whether “pre- Clovis” cultures existed has for decades been one of the most hotly debated questions in American archaeology. Here we will discuss the questions of when and how the South was first colonized. Currently there are a handful of sites in the South (and nearby) for which claims of pre-Clovis antiquity are being made. These readings offer a sampling of what we know about these sites. (Note that, for better or worse, most of what we know about some of these sites comes from fund-raising newsletters, newspaper stories, TV documentaries, and press releases — in other words, not from the scientific literature.) The general readings (which everyone must read) provide the latest word on the dating of Clovis, and an overview of the sites that are allegedly pre-Clovis. The supplemental readings (which will be divided among the class participants) give additional details on these sites. Waters, Michael R., and Thomas W. Stafford Jr. (2007). Redefining the Age of Clovis: Implications for the Peopling of the Americas. Science 315: 1122-1126. Goodyear, Albert C. (2005). Evidence of Pre-Clovis Sites in the Eastern United States. In Paleoamerican Origins: Beyond Clovis, edited by R. Bonnichsen, B. Lepper, D. Stanford, M. Waters, pp. 103-112. Texas A&M University Press. Pringle, Heather (2011). Texas Site Confirms Pre-Clovis Settlement of the Americas. Science 331: 1512. Clausen, C. J., A. D. Cohen, Cesare Emiliani, J. A. Holman, J. J. Stipp (1979). Little Salt Spring, Florida. Science 203:609-614. [Focus on the earliest occupation.] Adovasio, J. M., J. D. Gunn, J. Donahue, R. Stuckenrath (1978). Meadowcroft Rockshelter, 1977: An Overview. American Antiquity 43(4): 632-651. [Focus on the pre-Clovis assemblage and dates.] Supplemental Readings: Waters, Michael R., et al. (2011). The Buttermilk Creek Complex and the Origins of Clovis at the Debra L. Friedkin Site, Texas. Science 331: 1599-1603. McDonald, Jerry N. (2000). An Outline of the Pre-Clovis Archeology of SV-2, Saltville, Virginia, with Special Attention to a Bone Tool Dated 14,510 yr BP. Jeffersoniana 9: 1- 59. Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville. Michael R. Waters et al. (2009). Geoarchaeological investigations at the Topper and Big Pine Tree sites, Allendale County, South Carolina. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 1300–1311 [Focus on sections 1-3, 8, and 12.] Macphail, Richard I., and Joseph M. McAvoy (2008). A Micromorphological Analysis of Stratigraphic Integrity and Site Formation at Cactus Hill, an EarlyPaleoindian and Hypothesized Pre-Clovis Occupation in South-Central Virginia, USA. Geoarchaeology 23(5): 675–694. [Focus on pp. 675-679, 691-692.] Optional Readings: Jennings, Thomas A., and Michael R. Waters (2014). Pre-Clovis Lithic Technology at the Debra L. Friedkin Site, Texas. American Antiquity 79(1): 25-44. Archaeology of the American South Anthropology 550 Week 3: Paleoindian Settlement and Chronology The conventional wisdom these days subdivides southern Paleoindian point styles into three chronological units: Early, Middle, and Late. In reading the first article, think about the basis for this classification, and whether any different arrangements are equally consistent with the evidence. The next three articles show how data on large-scale distributions of Paleoindian points have driven models for the initial colonization of the South, and the problems with assigning archaeological meaning to such data. Anderson, David G., Lisa D. O’Steen, and Kenneth E. Sassaman (1996). Environmental and Chronological Considerations. In The Paleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast, edited by David G. Anderson and Kenneth E. Sassaman, pp. 3-15. University of Alabama Press. [Focus on pp. 7-15.] Anderson, David G. (1996). Models of Paleoindian and Early Archaic Settlement in the Lower Southeast. In The Paleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast, edited by David G. Anderson and Kenneth E. Sassaman, pp. 29-57. University of Alabama Press. [Read pp. 29-39, 53-57.] Anderson, David G., et al.