Archaeological Investigations at Yourhaney Plantation (38GE18)

10Of considerable interest was the recovery of charcoal from the pre-Clovis layer. There was an areaof abundant charcoal in a shallow depression, from which a chert flake was recovered and it isbelieved that this represents a hearth. Two radiocarbon samples were submitted, which resulted indates of 50,300 RC yr. BP and 51,700 RC yr. BP (Goodyear 2005). This work could have greatimplications for understanding the origin and migration of the human species.ARCHAIC PERIODEarly ArchaicThe Archaic Period has been traditionally divided into three sub-periods: the Early Archaic (10,000to 8,000 B.P.), the Middle Archaic (8,000 to 5,000 B.P.), and the Late Archaic (5,000 to 3,000B.P.). Generally, the Archaic is viewed as a lengthy time of adjustment to changing environmentsbrought about by the Holocene warming trend and rising sea level.Early Archaic projectile point forms include the Hardaway Side-Notched, Palmer Corner-Notched,and Kirk Corner-Notched. Representatives of the terminal Early Archaic bifurcate tradition(Chapman 1975) are also found in some quantities. The Middle Archaic sequence begins withKirk Serrated and Kirk Stemmed points, which are followed by the closely aligned Stanly Stemmed.These are followed by the Morrow Mountain I and II types and then the Guilford and Brier Creeklanceolate types. Late Archaic points include the early Savannah River Stemmed and the smallerOtarre Stemmed points. Pottery makes its appearance in the terminal Late Archaic with the fibertemperedStalling’s series and the sand-tempered Thom’s Creek series (see Blanton et al. 1986).Middle ArchaicDuring the Early Archaic period, the region became warmer and moister because of the meltingcontinental glaciers that increased sea levels and precipitation. Oaks were the dominant forestvegetation (Delcourt and Delcourt 1987) and there appear to have been episodes of heavy rainfall(Segovia 1985). This environment led to changes in human adaptations that are visible in thearchaeological record. Based on research conducted at two sites in North Carolina's Haw RiverValley, Claggett and Cable (1982) proposed that changes in technology from the Paleoindian tothe Early Archaic Periods reflect changes in settlement organization in response to post–Pleistocenewarming.Sassaman (1983) suggests that Middle Archaic people were very mobile, perhaps movingresidences every few weeks, which fits Binford's (1980) definition of a foraging society. Binfordproposed that foragers had high levels of residential mobility, moving camps often to takeadvantage of dispersed, but similar resource patches. He believed that differences inenvironmental structure could be traced to large-scale climatic factors and further noted that acollector system could arise under any condition that limited the ability of hunter–gatherers torelocate residences. During his work in the Haw River area of North Carolina, Cable (1982)argued that postglacial warming at the end of the Pleistocene led to increased vegetationalhomogeneity which encouraged foraging. Sassaman's (1983) "Adaptive Flexibility" modelsuggests that this homogeneity allowed for a high degree of social flexibility, which allowed themto pick up and move when needed.