CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Ellis, C.; Goodyear, A.C.; Morse, D.F.; and Tankersley, K.B.
Date : 1998
Title : Archaeology of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Eastern North America
Publication : Quaternary International
Issue : 49-50(1-4):
Page(s) : 151-166
Abstract
The most recently investigated significant sites dating to the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene in eastern North America are reviewed, with special attention devoted to sites in the north, extending from the Great Lakes area east to the New England-Canadian Maritimes region. In archaeological terms, these sites date to the time of the Paleoindian to Archaic transition. Despite the problems of Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene 14C `plateaus', chronological advances have occurred through the recent reporting of several, often stratified, 14C or geoarchaeologically dated sites. These sites also provide some insight into subsistence practices and the environmental context of the occupations and, particularly, for the earliest dating occupations in the north. Several trends in stone tool technology are also becoming well-documented, such as a shift from more formalized to more expedient core reduction strategies, an increasing reliance on more coarse-grained rocks, and the appearance of ground stone tools. Nonetheless, at the present time it is extremely difficult to characterize and understand the environmental coping strategies of the human occupants of the time because of (1) poor control of environmental and cultural variability in time and space; (2) limited numbers of known sites; and (3) a paucity of subsistence remains.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology