The Early to Middle Archaic transition in the Georgia-Carolina Piedmont: A view from the Gregg Shoals site

Prehistoric sites of the Archaic Period are one of the most numerous archaeological features of the Carolina-Georgia Piedmont. However, until recently, these sites received little research attention other than attempts at temporal association of projectile point stylistic patterns. The majority of the research attention was given to the larger, more "productive" sites, such as the large shell mound sites of the Late Archaic Period. While these are certainly important sources of information, they represent only one aspect of a much broader and more diverse subsistence adaptation and settlement pattern.; Stratified sites with intact, separated components or single component sites provide good opportunities to address questions of site specific importance, such as changes in occupation or use. These sites can also contribute to knowledge of the subsistence-settlement system when comparisons are made at the drainage and regional level. Stratified sites are of major importance when occupations encompass a major shift in adaptation, changes in resource availability, or major environmental changes. Therefore, chronology, subsistence, and settlement information are vital bases for the interpretation of cultural change.; The research conducted at the Gregg Shoals-Clyde Gulley sites focused on understanding the character of the riverine subsistence-settlement system through time in this section of the Savannah River basin. Research problems addressed at the Gregg Shoals-Clyde Gulley group are divided into four interrelated domains: chronology, subsistence, adaptive change, and cross-areal comparison for settlement pattern recognition.; The archaeological and geological investigations of the Early and Middle Archaic components at the Gregg Shoals site produced information on interassemblage variability in the riverine/interriverine environment, and the relationship of this variability to changes in exploitative strategies and mobility patterns. Changes in the subsistence- settlement system, adaptation to changes in the environment and resource distribution, and population size and density, are most productively approached by understanding organization of the exploitative strategy and mobility pattern. The level of mobility and the organization of the exploitative strategy will determine the content and structure of the lithic assemblage. Therefore, the main focus of the lithic analysis is the definition of aspects of the technological organization that will reflect changes in the subsistence strategy and mobility pattern rather than depending upon traditional cultural-historical typologies to define interassemblage variability. While use of the morphologically based typologies play an important role in the preliminary assessment of occupation zones, it is necessary to move beyond this to the identification of tool attributes and tool kit organization patterns that are both functional and reflective of the exploitative strategy, cultural adaptation, and social context in which they are embedded.; This thesis combines the use of data from large area archaeological surveys and the excavation of stratified sites from the Carolina-Georgia Piedmont region to reveal aspects of transition and continuity in the regional patterns of the Middle Archaic period. Aspects of tool assemblage and technological organization revealed between the Early and Middle Archaic occupations at the Gregg Shoals site are compared to recently proposed models of Archaic adaptation, settlement, and mobility in the southeast.