Mobility, style, and exchange among Upper Great Lakes Late Paleoindians

During the period between 10,000 B.P. and 8,000 B.P., a people known in archaeological literature as Late Paleoindians inhabited the upper Great Lakes region. Given that the archaeological record in this region is extremely constrained for this period, very little is known of these people and how they lived. Certainly, there has not been an in-depth regional study of these populations specifically as pertains to their social and cultural expressions of mobility, style, and exchange. It is to this task that this research is directed. The lithic lanceolate points of 40 Late Paleoindian sites and the known paleoenvironmental data provide the base data for this study.;Theories of ecology, style, and egalitarian exchange are employed to provide the structure for this research design. Through these theoretical constructs, inquiries are guided by scientific deductive frameworks. Additionally, both the stylistic and exchange properties of lithic raw material is explored.;During the Early Holocene, widespread and dramatic changes were occurring in the upper Great Lakes natural environment. The final northward retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet accompanied by its associated tundra environs, was replaced by a large ecotonal area which included woodland-associated elements by the end of the 2,000 period. Also, a climatic warming trend accompanied by variable humidity levels developed across the region with water levels of Lakes Michigan and Huron basins also varying by 500 feet.;Studying the subtle interplay between these dynamic natural conditions and the diverse sociocultural developments of immigrating and resident Late Paleoindian populations, reveals three (and potentially four) contemporaneous but differing Late Paleoindian sociocultural organizations operating within four identified subregions of the upper Great Lakes area. Importantly, the previous hunting-focused viewpoint of Late Paleoindian lifeways is challenged with a proposed split in the subsistence system of 63% foraging (hunting) and 37% collecting (gathering).;Stylistic study suggests that the northern and western Late Paleoindian groups of the upper Great Lakes region were the first human occupants of the Superior region who, through time, appear to have developed a social boundary between the groups of the northern and northwestern areas of Lake Superior and those of the southern areas of Lakes Superior including Wisconsin. Still, a narrow area of some overlap between these populations is proposed along the western edge of Lake Superior in the eastern Minnesota (Duluth) area. Mobility patterns for both these populations appear to have ranged to 400 km, and possibly greater. Exchange analysis indicates there are no formal lithic-based exchange systems operating between these northern and western groups.;Populations in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan exhibited a 200 km range in their mobility patterns with a potential for increased mobility between this area and southern Ontario across dry land corridors that, through time, extended northward to beyond the Saginaw Bay area. Again, there is no indication of a formal lithic-based exchange system operating between groups in this area. Unfortunately, a very weak archaeological sample makes any strong assertions inappropriate for the Eastern area.