Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change: A.D. 700 –1300

Table 10.2. Park Creek II Feature Attributes.
Feature Length Width Depth Plan Profile Artifacts
(cm) (cm) (cm)
3 70 60 7 Elliptical Basin-shaped Debitage (2)
4 87 N/A 15 Elliptical Irregular None
2 100 75 12 Elliptical Basin-shaped Debitage and utilized flakes (2);
Pottery (1)
5 141 76 14 Unknown Basin-shaped Debitage and utilized flakes (27);
Biface fragment (1)
The Fifteenth Century Occupation
at the Park Creek II Site.
The A3 horizon represented an early fifteenth
century occupation at Park Creek II. Archaeologists
identified 376 artifacts from feature and nonfeature
contexts associated with this occupation. Artifacts
included cortical and noncortical flakes (including
utilized pieces), projectile points (one Levanna point,
one Snook Kill-like point, and one Lamoka-like
point), two bifaces, one unifacially retouched piece,
one pottery fragment, and fire-cracked rock. Only the
Levanna point type fits into the early Late Prehistoric
time frame. However, the presence of a Snook-Kill
and a Lamoka point may indicate collection and reuse
by later peoples or sporadic use of the site area
through time. The single pottery fragment, identified
in Feature 2, had a mostly eroded exterior and a
smoothed interior. Given the small size of the fragment
(0.4 gm), its location on the vessel could not be
determined.
Features 2 and 5 (Table 10.2) were associated with
the A3 horizon. Feature 2 consisted of reddened earth
and charcoal. It was approximately 100 cm in length
and 75 cm in width. Its longest axis was north-south
and it was elliptical in plan. The profile was basinshaped
with a depth of only 12 cm. Two pieces of lithic
debitage and calcined bone were recovered from
Feature 2. Feature 5 appeared on the surface as a
dense concentration of charcoal. Approximately 5 cm
below the feature’s surface, the matrix was heavily
burned and was a bright-red color with some blackened
soil. Due to time constraints, the eastern portion
of Feature 5 was not exposed. The excavated portion
of the feature was 141 cm by 76 cm. Approximately
one-half of the feature was excavated. The profile was
basin-shaped, with a maximum depth of 14 cm.
Artifacts identified in the feature matrix included 25
pieces of lithic debitage, 2 utilized flakes, 1 biface
fragment, and calcined bone.
Microwear analysis was conducted by Pope (2000)
on 3 bifaces, 1 unifacial piece, and 64 unmodified
flakes (debitage and macroscopically identified utilized
flakes) from the A3 horizon. Of the three bifaces
examined, only the Snook Kill-like point possessed
well-developed use traces, use polish, and haft traces.
Meat polish was present along the lateral blade edges.
Evidence suggested that the tool was used as both a
projectile and a knife, for hunting and butchering. The
hidelike polish indicated that the biface was, possibly,
sheathed in hide. No use traces were present on the
unifacial piece (retouched flake). The majority of the
expedient flake tools were used on soft materials,
most likely plants or woody plant fibers. Some of
these expedient tools were also used to cut or process
animal materials, probably small game, given the size
of the tools.
Microwear analysis demonstrated that while formal
tools maintained and discarded at the site were used
for animal processing, unmodified flakes were mainly
used for processing soft plants and, rarely, meat.
Expedient tools were used to shave, slice, scrape, perforate,
or engrave. These expedient tools were both
hafted and hand-held. Hafting may have improved
tool efficiency (Versaggi et al. 1996). The microwear
analysis suggested that formal tools (often a focal point
of lithic analysis) may reflect only a small percentage of
site activities. Combining microwear analysis of formal
tools with that of unmodified debitage provided a
fuller image of activities at Park Creek II.
Features associated with the A3 horizon contained
wood and acorn, hickory, and beechnut (Fagus grandifolia)
(Asch Sidell 2000) (Table 10.3). As with the A4
horizon, nutshell most likely represented a consumed
resource, given the lack of hickory trees in the vicinity
of the site (Asch Sidell 2000:6). Maize (cupule,
glume, and kernel) was identified in both features.
The presence of inedible cupules and glumes suggested
that maize may have been grown nearby (Asch
Chapter 10 Upland Land Use Patterns during the Early Late Prehistoric (A.D. 700–1300) 199