University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 12-1986 Faunal Resources, Butchering Patterns, and Seasonality at the Eastman Rockshelter (40SL34): An Interpretation of Function Bruce Louis Manzano University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Manzano, Bruce Louis, "Faunal Resources, Butchering Patterns, and Seasonality at the Eastman Rockshelter (40SL34): An Interpretation of Function. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1986. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4931 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 Bruce Louis Manzano entitled "Faunal Resources, Butchering Patterns, and Seasonality at the Eastman Rockshelter (40SL34): An Interpretation of Function." 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. Paul W. Parmalee, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Charles H. Faulkner, Walter E. Klippel 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 Bruce Louis Manzano entitled 11 Faunal Resources, Butchering Patterns, and Seasonality at the Eastman Rockshelter (40SL34): An Interpretation of Function." I have examined the final copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the require­ ments for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Anthropology. Paul W. Parmalee, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: eLlJ. d?.., �­ U�J� ,L,\� . Accepted for the Council: Vice Provost ! and Dean of The Graduate School STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO USE In presenting t�is thesis in partial fulfillment of the require­ ments for a Master's degree at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, I agree that the Liprary shall make it available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of the source is made. Permission for extensive quotation from or reproduction of this thesis may be granted by my major professor, or in his absence, by the Head of Interlibrary Services when, in the opinion of either, the proposed use of the material is for scholarly purposes. Any copying or use of the material in this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Signature�� L. � Date_j/� .) Lffl_ FAUNAL RESOURCES, BUTCHERING PATTERNS, AND SEASONALITY AT THE EASTMAN ROCKSHELTER (40SL34): AN INTERPRETATION OF FUNCTION A Thesis Pre�ented for the Master of Arts Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Bruce L. Manzano December 1986 Dedicated to April Maria May you have the courage to· strive for your dreams and the wisdom to achieve them. ; ; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am very grateful to the members on my thesis committee: Ors. Paul W. Parmalee (Chairman), Charles H. Faulkner, and Walter E. Klip­ pel for their patience and guidance in various aspects of this study. Dr. Faulkner's successful efforts to gain financial support for the initial analysis of the Eastman Rockshelter faunal mateiial is grate­ fully recognized. Dr. Klippel 's insightful comments about this -study has more than once pulled it back on-track. Above all, I extend my deepest praise and admiration to Dr. Parmalee for his support through­ out my graduate period at The University of Tennessee. His help and genuine interest in the identification and interpretation of specimens from whichever faunal project I might have been working on is greatly appreciated. Besides my committee members, several other people deserve recog­ nition for their role in the this study. I am particularly indebted to Mr. S. D. Dean for his unrelentless effort in excavating deposits from the Eastman Rockshelter. His desire to understand the prehistory of northeastern Tennessee has enabled future generations to obtain a glimpse of the past that might never have been realized. Thanks are also extended to the Tennessee Eastman Company and Lynn D. Johnson, Manager of Goverment Relations at Tennessee Eastman for their finan­ cial support of this study. I extend my appreciation to Dr. William Bass for his constant support of my efforts in graduate school. Additionally, Dr. Jack L. ; ; ; Hofman was always willing to talk about various aspects of prehistoric human rockshelter use and butchering practices. His archaeological perspective never failed to flame my own efforts in the study of human prehistory. Thanks are made to Mary Ellen Fogarty, Lynn Snyder, and Thomas Whyte for their helpful insights on taphonomy, animal butcher­ ing, cervid use patterning, and wolf behavior. Darcy F. Morey is also praised for his understanding of canid behavior as well as his aid in preparing catfish specimens for thin se�tion�ng. Charlie L. Hall is appreciated for the many discussions we had on the functional role of rockshelters in prehistory as well as for drafting Figure 2.02 and those depicting the location of butchering and canid gnaw marks on the sampled cervid remains. Thanks are extended to Terry Faulkner for drafting Figure 2.01 and Miles W. Wright for producing the photographs used in this study. Mike Morris graciously preformed the soil analysis. Kim Johnson is greatly appreciated for her skill in typing the major tables used in this thesis. I am indebted to Rick Stoops for his patience in teach­ ing me the basics to word processing with a personal computer. His good humor has made typing this document considerably less difficult. Ann L. Lacava, thesis consultant for the University, deserves praise for her help and encouraging words. To Jeff W. Gardner I extend special thanks for his constant friendship throughout the good and bad times in Knoxville, Tennessee. Finally, I cannot thank the members of my family enough for their never ending support (both spiritally and financially) during the iv pursuit of my degree. Most of all, however, my wife Cynthia deserves the greatest praise for her unyielding love and encouragement. Al­ though I owe her the world, I can only pay her back with my love. V ABSTRACT This study presents a model on the role the Eastman Rockshelter (40SL34) played in settlement-subsistence systems of prehistoric human groups who once occupied northeastern Tennessee. Expectations gen­ erated from the model are tested through the analysis of a faunal sample recovered from the shelter. These remains date from the Late Archaic to Mississippian time periods. The fauna i� well preserved and represents a variety of species including the first archaeological occurrence of an extinct fish, the harelip sucker. The model assumes a shift in shelter use from earlier residenti­ ally mobi,-e hunter/gatherer groups to its later use by task force hunting groups. It predicts that this shift resulted from an increase in human population through time, a greater dependence on agriculture, and a change to sedentary settlement. It was expected that a greater variety of faunal resources would be obtained in later time periods as compared to earlier periods. However, no major difference in taxa diversity was noticed for Mississippian and Woodland deposits. Common species that were identified include white-tailed deer, squirrel, turkey, turtle, and fish. Although Archaic deposits contained less taxa than later periods, this was attributed to the small faunal assemblage size for these deposits. Bone preservation and the diffi­ culty of separating natural from cultural bone, prevented assigning the identified faunal pattern between deposits soley to human beha­ vior. vi Another expectation tested was that cervid butchering patterns especially in the number of filleting marks, would reflect a shift through time from immediate consumption toward one in which carcasses were processed for storage and transport back to more permanent vil­ lages. Unfortunately, the frequency of filleting marks on the cervid remains sampled was too low to refute or support this expectation. The frequency of Minimal Animal Units (MAU) (Binford 1981, 1984) for sampled cervid remains, however, could be grouped temporally into three categories (Archaic, Early/Middle Woodland, and Late Wood­ land/Mississippian). Although a shift in roles for the Eastman Rock­ shelter may be indicated, the presence of canid gnawed bone is dis­ cussed and an attempt is made to uncover whether the frequency of cervid bone may have resulted from domestic dog activity or scavenging wolves. A third expectation concerns an increase through time in seasonal occupation of the rockshelter. Evidence was generated from analyses of annuli growth measurements in freshwater catfish and bivalves, eruption and wear of white-tailed deer teeth, and the presence of migratory birds. Such data for the post-Archaic time periods suggests an occupation centering on late summer through