The Natufian Occupation of Nahal Oren, Mt. Carmel, Israel - The Lithic Evidence
Investigating Patterns in Flaked Lithic Resource Use in Eastern Maine and Southwestern New Brunswick
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Investigating Patterns in Flaked Lithic Resource Use in Eastern Maine and Southwestern New Brunswick Brent D. Suttie Graduate Student University of New Brunswick
Transcript of Investigating Patterns in Flaked Lithic Resource Use in Eastern Maine and Southwestern New Brunswick
Investigating Patterns in Flaked
Lithic Resource Use in Eastern
Maine and Southwestern New
Brunswick
Brent D. Suttie
Graduate Student
University of New Brunswick
Introduction to Study
• Key Concepts
Do lithic types actually change in relative proportions over time?
Are the inferred variations in lithic use over time, also area-
specific?
Do any lithic types suggest temporal-specificity?
What effect do known localized lithic sources have on the
proportions of their relative lithic type in surrounding sites?
Is their actually a difference in lithic type ratios on sites in
eastern New Brunswick versus western New Brunswick, and if
so, how pronounced are the differences?
Acknowledgements Jemseg Crossing (BkDm14) (Blair 2003)
Weir site (BgDq6) (Black 1989)
Swan Creek Lake East (BlDn27)
(Jacques Whitford 2003)
Ultramar site (CeDw14)
(Jeandron 2004:personal communication)
Oxbow site (CfDl1) (Allen 2004)
Mitchell site (CfDl4) (Bourgeois & Allen 2004)
Baird site (BdDq4) (Blair 1999)
Northeast Point site (BgDq7) (Black 1989)
Newtons Point (BeDq11) (Blair 1999)
Wallace Cove Beach (BgDq29) (Black 2003)
Canal Beach site (BgDq22) (Suttie 2003)
Mill Lake Bluff site (BhDq8) (Suttie 2003)
Mill Lake Island site (BhDq5) (Suttie 2003)
Second Sand Beach site (BhDq1) (Reported here)
Simpson’s Farm site (BhDt4) (Reported here)
Partridge Island site (BgDr48) (Bishop 1994)
Bob site (Mack et al 2002)
Sharrow (Petersen 1991)
Kidder Point (Spiess & Heddon 1983)
Young site (Borstel 1982)
Turner Farm (Bourque 1985)
Mud Lake Stream (BkDm5) (Deal 1985)
Diggity site (BjDu17) (Deal 1984)
Brown Site (BeCs3) (Sheldon 1988)
Long Island Bend (BkDm14)
(Reported here)
Meadows site (BlDn26)
(Jacques Whitford 2003)
Site 95.20 (Cox 1991)
McDougall Lake Inlet (BhDq16)
(Bourgeois & Suttie 2005)
Pomeroy site (BiDr2)
(Bourgeois & Suttie 2005)
Square Forks (CgDl10) (Reported here)
Gooseberry Point (BfDr3) (Turnbull 1981)
Lithic Macro-divisions
• Quartz – Opaque and Semi-translucent hard glossy mineral consisting of silica dioxide in crystal form.
• Quartzite - A nonfoliated metamorphic rock formed from sandstone with quartz as the predominant constituent mineral.
• Volcanics – Felsic, Mafic and Porphyritic Volcanics.
• Chert – Cryptocrystalline silica derived from biogenic, volcanogenic, or diagenic processes.
• Other – Mudstones, Siltstones, and Meta-sediments.
Quartz
Quartzite
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Percentageof
Assemblages
Early Archaic Middle
Archaic
Late Archaic Terminal
Archaic
Early
Woodland
Middle
Woodland
Late
Woodland
Quartz and Quartzite in Eastern Maine Assemblages
QUARTZITE
QUARTZ
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Percentage of
Assemblages
Middle Archaic Late Archaic Terminal
Archaic
Early Woodland Middle
Woodland
Late Woodland
Quartz/Quartzite - southwestern New Brunswick
QUARTZITE
QUARTZ
Volcanics
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Percentage of
Assemblages
Early Archaic Middle Archaic Late Archaic Terminal
Archaic
Early Woodland Middle
Woodland
Late Woodland
Volcanics - Eastern Maine
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Percentage of
Assemblages
Middle Archaic Late Archaic Terminal Archaic Early Woodland Middle Woodland Late Woodland
Volcanics - Southwestern New Brunswick
Chert
Early Archaic Middle Archaic Late Archaic Terminal
ArchaicEarly Woodland Middle
WoodlandLate Woodland
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Perc
en
tag
es o
f A
ssem
bla
ge
Chert - Eastern Maine
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Percentage of
Assemblages
Middle Archaic Late Archaic Terminal Archaic Early Woodland Middle Woodland Late Woodland
Chert - Southwestern New Brunswick
Other
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Percentage of
Assemblages
Early Archaic Middle Archaic Late Archaic Terminal
Archaic
Early Woodland Middle
Woodland
Late Woodland
Other Lithic Types - Eastern Maine
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Percentage of
Assemblage
Middle Archaic Late Archaic Terminal Archaic Early Woodland Middle Woodland Late Woodland
Other Lithic Types - Southwestern New Brunswick
KTMP-like Porphyritic
Volcanics
Greater than 60%
of total
assemblage
1% of total
assemblage
2% of total assemblage
Washademoak Chert
10% of total
assemblage
41% of total assemblage
8.5% of total assemblage
Tobique Rhyolite
76% of total
assemblage
3% of total
assemblage
42% of total assemblage
Less than 1% of
total assemblage
Minas Basin Chert
3% of total
assemblage
1.5% of total assemblage
31% of total
assemblage
Eastern New Brunswick
Oxbow Site CfDl-1 - Lithic Use (Allen 2004)
QUARTZ, 99 QUARTZ, 99.5 QUARTZ, 98.8
OTHER, 1 OTHER, 0.5 OTHER, 0.2
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Early Woodland Middle Woodland Late Woodland
Perc
en
tag
e o
f A
ssem
bla
ge
Oxbow site (CfDl-1) 99% quartz
Mitchell site (CfDl-4) 100% quartz
Square Forks (CgDl-10) 96% quartz
Late Maritime Woodland period
Quartzite Use in Southwestern NB
Macroscopic Comparison (15 x)
Primary flake from Newtons
Point site (BeDq11), Grand
Manan Island
Scraper from Diggity site
(BjDu17), Spednic Lake
Ramah-like Quartzite
Coastal vs. Interior Maritime Woodland Period Flaked Stone Use - Coastal Southwestern New
Brunswick
QUARTZ
47%
OTHER
2%
VOLCANICS
28%
CHERT
14%
QUARTZITE
9%
Maritime Woodland Period Flaked Stone Use - Interior Southwestern New
Brunswick
VOLCANICS
38%
OTHER
4% QUARTZ
18%
QUARTZITE
2%
CHERT
38%
Coastal vs. Interior
Conclusions Importance of taking local lithic sources into account when
interpreting lithic use.
Suggestion that point sources do indeed occur in areas adjacent to
sites with largest proportion of a given lithic type.
Despite effects of local sources, quartz and quartzite share a similar
pattern of decline in proportional abundance in Terminal Archaic and
Early Woodland and re-emergence in Middle and Late Woodland, In
southwestern New Brunswick, Late Woodland quartzite use appears
to involve a distinctive light gray fine-med grained quartzite derived
from pebbles and small cobbles (possible source)
The differences suggested between lithic use in eastern and
southwestern New Brunswick are real and pronounced. These
differences mirror those suggested for ground stone tools during
the Late Archaic period by Blair (2003) and Suttie (M.A. in progress),
and for pre-contact ceramics during parts of the Maritime Woodland
period by Bourgeois (1999).
Conclusions During the Maritime Woodland period, coastal sites in
southwestern New Brunswick had a higher proportion of their total
lithic assemblage composed of quartz and quartzites relative to
interior sites in southwestern New Brunswick, which had higher
proportions of chert and volcanics (possible influence of major
sources such as Tobique and Washademoak).
Suggestion that during the Early, Middle and Late Archaic periods
in eastern Maine, porphyritic volcanics composed the predominant
lithic type among flaked stone assemblages, whereas in
southwestern New Brunswick, flaked stone assemblages are
dominated by quartz and quartzite. The presence of limited
amounts of KTMP in Archaic period assemblages in New
Brunswick suggests some exchange or interaction, but thus far
this interaction or exchange appears somewhat limited (as
suggested by very different patterns of lithic use).
