University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 8-2009 Lithic Resource Survey of the Upper Little River Drainage: Raw Material Availability and Use at the Townsend Sites Jeremy L. Sweat University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Sweat, Jeremy L., "Lithic Resource Survey of the Upper Little River Drainage: Raw Material Availability and Use at the Townsend Sites. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2009. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/64 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 Jeremy L. Sweat entitled "Lithic Resource Survey of the Upper Little River Drainage: Raw Material Availability and Use at the Townsend Sites." 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 equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology. Boyce N. Driskell, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Gerald Shroedl, Lynn Sullivan 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 thesis written by Jeremy L. Sweat entitled “Lithic Resource Survey of the Upper Little River Drainage: Raw Material Availability and Use at the Townsend Sites.” 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. Boyce N. Driskell ____________________________ Boyce Driskell, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Gerald Shroedl ________________________________ Lynn Sullivan ________________________________ Accepted for the Council: Carolyn Hodges ____________________________ Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student record) Lithic Resource Survey of the Upper Little River Drainage: Raw Material Availability and Use at the Townsend Sites A Thesis Presented for the Master of Arts Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Jeremy Lee Sweat August 2009 Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Boyce Driskell for all of his guidance and advice. I am grateful for the opportunities Dr. Driskell provided me both as an undergraduate and graduate student, many of which not only provided employment opportunities as a graduate assistant, but also helped me to establish a career with the National Park Service. I would like to thank my committee members, Drs. Gerald Schroedl and Lynne Sullivan, for all of their help and advice in developing the manuscript for this thesis. I am forever grateful to my parents, Larry and Margie Sweat, for instilling me with a love for science and art. Without their encouragement, I may have never developed an interest in archaeology and natural history. I am deeply indebted to Ron Chambers for all of his help in locating raw materials and providing access to private properties in Blount County. I would like to thank Peter Lemiszki and Martin Kohl with the Tennessee Division of Geology for their advice on local geology. I would also like to thank Bobby Braly, Angela Dautartas, Miriam Soto, Larry Sweat and Morgan Sweat for their help in the field. Lastly, I would like to thank my incredible wife, Whitney Flanagan, whose endless patience and support made this thesis possible. ii Abstract From 1999 to 2002, the Transportation Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, conducted a number of archaeological investigations associated with the widening of State Route 73 (U.S. 321) through Townsend, Tennessee. The excavations at the Townsend sites resulted in the recovery of a large assemblage of chipped and ground stone tools. A lithic resource survey of the upper Little River drainage was undertaken to identify the likely source areas of raw materials used for the manufacture of the chipped and ground stone tools recovered during the Townsend excavations. These data were then used to identify local versus non-local materials use by prehistoric peoples in Tuckaleechee Cove. The results of this research are presented in this thesis. iii Table of Contents Chapter Page 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................1 2. Background .................................................................................................5 Physiography ...........................................................................................5 Local Geology ..........................................................................................8 Townsend Project ....................................................................................18 Previous Lithic Resource Studies in Eastern Tennessee .......................21 Regional Stone Tool Use.........................................................................23 3. Methodology .................................................................................................38 Field Methodology ..................................................................................38 Laboratory Methodology.........................................................................40 4. Material Types .............................................................................................42 5. Survey Areas.................................................................................................53 Systematic Survey Areas .........................................................................53 Opportunistic Survey Areas ....................................................................70 6. Materials Use at Townsend .........................................................................137 Formal Tools ...........................................................................................138 Flake Tools ..............................................................................................147 Cores .......................................................................................................156 Bifaces .....................................................................................................160 Debitage ...................................................................................................166 Ground Stone Tools ................................................................................169 iv 7. Summary and Conclusions .........................................................................187 Summary..................................................................................................187 Conclusions .............................................................................................188 References Cited.................................................................................................198 Vita ......................................................................................................................208 v List of Figures Page Figure 1. Overview map of the upper Little River drainage ...............................6 Figure 2. Major geologic units of the upper Little River Drainage .....................10 Figure 3. Major geologic units of Tuckaleechee Cove. .........................................13 Figure 4. Major geologic units of Miller Cove .....................................................15 Figure 5. Major geologic units of the southeast Ridge and Valley portion of the upper Little River drainage project area. .....................................17 Figure 6. Portion of the USGS 7.5’ Kinzel Springs quadrangle map showing the location of sites 40BT89, 40BT90, 40BT91 and 40BT94 ................................................................................................20 Figure 7. Portion of the USGS 7.5’ Kinzel Springs quadrangle map showing the location of Survey Area 1 ..........................................................54 Figure 8. Portion of the USGS 7.5’ Kinzel Springs quadrangle map showing the location of SurveyArea 2 ...........................................................56 Figure 9. Knox chert located at Survey Area 2 .....................................................58 Figure 10. Banded slate recovered from Survey Area 2.......................................59 Figure 11. Portion of the USGS 7.5’ Kinzel Springs quadrangle map showing the location of Survey Area 3 ..........................................................60 Figure 12. Portion of the USGS 7.5’ Kinzel Springs quadrangle map showing the location of Survey Area 4 ..........................................................62 Figure 13. Portion of the USGS 7.5’ Kinzel Springs quadrangle map showing the location of Survey Area 5 ..........................................................64 Figure 14. Quartzite recovered from Survey Area 5 ............................................65 Figure 15. Quartzite recovered from