GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO PALEOINDIAN ADAPTATIONS ON THE AUCILLA RIVER, NORTHWEST FLORIDA A Dissertation by JESSI JEAN HALLIGAN Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2012 Major Subject: Anthropology Geoarchaeological Investigations into Paleoindian Adaptations on the Aucilla River, Northwest Florida Copyright 2012 Jessi Jean Halligan GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO PALEOINDIAN ADAPTATIONS ON THE AUCILLA RIVER, NORTHWEST FLORIDA A Dissertation by JESSI JEAN HALLIGAN Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Michael R. Waters Committee Members, Ted Goebel Cristine Morgan C. Andrew Hemmings Head of Department Cynthia Werner May 2012 Major Subject: Anthropology iii ABSTRACT Geoarchaeological Investigations into Paleoindian Adaptations on the Aucilla River, Northwest Florida. (May 2012) Jessi Jean Halligan, A.B., Harvard University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Michael R. Waters This dissertation addresses how Paleoindians used the karst drainage of the Aucilla River in northwestern Florida during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (approximately 15-10,000 14C yr B.P.). I take a geoarchaeological approach to discuss Paleoindian land use by first defining the Late Pleistocene and Holocene geological record, and then by creating a model of site formation processes in the Aucilla River. Both underwater and terrestrial fieldwork were performed. Underwater fieldwork consisted of hand-driven cores and surface survey, vibrocoring, underwater 1 x 1 m unit excavation, and controlled surface collection. Terrestrial fieldwork consisted of shovel and auger test pits. Seventeen cores were collected from five different submerged sinkhole sites, which were used to select two sites for further study: Sloth Hole (8JE121), which had been previously excavated, and Wayne's Sink (8JE1508/TA280), which was recorded but not formally investigated. Five vibrocores and two 1 x 1m units were used, with previous research, to define the geological and geoarchaeological context of Sloth Hole. Fifteen vibrocores, six 1 x 1 m excavation units, and ten 1 x 1 m surface collection units were used to define the geological, geoarchaeological, and iv archaeological context of Wayne's Sink. A combination of 130 shovel and auger test pits was used to define the geological, geoarchaeological, and archaeological potential of the terrestrial landscape. Five new Holocene-aged terrestrial sites were recorded. All of these data were evaluated with archival data from previously-excavated sites to create models of site formation and Paleoindian land use in the lower Aucilla Basin. This research shows that there have been four major periods of sinkhole infill in the lower Aucilla basin. The first occurred prior to the Last Glacial Maximum, with each sinkhole containing peat deposits that date in excess of 21,000 calendar years ago (cal B.P.). These peats are overlain by sandy colluvium that dates to approximately 14,500 cal B.P. The colluvium is overlain by clays that contain evidence for soil formation. These soils vary in age, with radiocarbon dates of approximately 14,500-10,000 cal B.P. These clays are directly overlain by peats dating to 5,000-3,500 cal B.P., which are overlain by peats and clays that date to 2,500-0 cal B.P. Intact Paleoindian and Early Archaic deposits are possible in the late Pleistocene soils. v DEDICATION To my grandparents: Ken, Ruth, Stuart and Dorothy, for believing in me and for always trying to answer my endless questions. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was supported by the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant in the Archaeology Division (grant 1040924). I was also supported by the College of Liberal Arts Doctoral Dissertation Grant, the Women Divers Hall of Fame Scholarship, the North Star Archaeological Research Program, the Center for the Study of the First Americans, the Texas A&M Department of Anthropology research grant, and the Shlemon geoarchaeological fieldwork grant. First and foremost, I want to thank Ed Green, without whom this project would not have been possible. Thank you for everything: equipment, housing, transport, knowledge, personal sacrifice, patience, teaching, and all the thousands of things I am forgetting. I will always be grateful. I would also like to thank my advisor, Mike Waters, for the endless support through this long process. Thank you to Andy Hemmings for introducing me to the Aucilla and for all of the slave labor and reading of drafts. Thank you to Ted Goebel and Cristine Morgan for your patience with the last minute questions and for the effort of reading this tome. Thank you to Tom Pertierra for the equipment, time, and effort. Sorry about the hole in your boat! I sincerely thank the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research for loaning me the equipment necessary to clean out the bottom of a river and gear for breathing while doing so. I also thank Roger Smith for allowing BAR personnel to assist me, and I thank Franklin H. Price and Dan McClarnon for their heroic efforts on my behalf. Thanks to Mary Glowacki, Louis Tesar, and Jim Dunbar for the assistance with permits and help vii and advice throughout my fieldwork. I thank Joe Donoghue for the loan of the vibrocorer. Thank you to the Florida Museum of Natural History, especially Donna Ruhl and Neil Wallis, for allowing me access to the collections. I would like to thank all of the divers who assisted with the project and gave up significant portions of their summers: Vincent Valenti, Neil Puckett, Brian Spinney, Heather Brown, Anne Corscadden-Knox, Doug Ingles, and Eric Bezemek. I also thank Alyssa Barraza, Valeria Rodriguez, and volunteers from the Spring 2011 and 2012 Anthropology 202 classes for lab assistance. Thanks Jack, Joanne, and Melvin for their endless assistance, good cheer, and willingness to overlook the mess we continually made of their front yards. Thanks to Josh Keene, Ben Ford, Larkin Kennedy, and Andy Laurence for keeping me sane through the years, and especially to Josh for the timely cartoons. Thanks to Marion Coe for occasionally sharing my inability to speak and, thus, understanding me when I fail to make intelligible words. Thanks to Micah Mones for your help in the field and for the couch, but mostly for always being there when I needed to talk something through. Thanks to Ivy Owens for starting me on this path about a hundred years ago and for the timely last-minute edits. Thanks to everyone in the CSFA for mental and moral support. Finally, thanks to my parents for so much, especially teaching me that anything is possible, believing in me, and never asking why I haven't finished yet. Thanks to my brother, Ryan, for everything, especially for providing a periodic escape to the beach. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ xvii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 Peopling of the Americas, Paleoindians, and Pleistocene Florida ............. 1 CHAPTER II PALEOINDIAN STUDIES IN THE SOUTHEAST ................................ 10 Introduction .............................................................................................. 10 The Potential Pre-Clovis Period (pre-13,100 cal B.P.) ............................ 15 Early Paleoindian (Clovis) (13,100-12,600 cal B.P.) ............................... 19 Middle Paleoindian (12,800-12,400 cal B.P.) .......................................... 24 Late Paleoindian/Early Archaic (12,600-10,700 cal B.P.) ....................... 27 Summary and Continuing Concerns ........................................................ 31 CHAPTER III ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND .................................................. 35 Geological Context ................................................................................... 35 Environmental Context ............................................................................ 46 Geoarchaeological Context ...................................................................... 54 Summary and Conclusions ....................................................................... 64 CHAPTER IV FIELD METHODS .................................................................................. 66 Pilot Study, Fall 2008 ............................................................................... 66 Selection of Fieldwork Locations ............................................................ 70 Underwater Coring, Fall 2009 .................................................................. 77 Underwater Unit Excavations, Summer 2010 and 2011 .........................