Bu',ctin of thc Buffa"

t""ffi|

TiTflr::"ffi.:*;1i"l3,ii;

THE EARLY AND MIDDLE ARCHAIC IN THE NIAGARA FRONTIER:

DOCUMENTING THE 'IMISSING YEARS'' IN LOWER GREAT LAKES PREHISTORY
?

Kevin P. Smith, Neil O'Donnell and John D. Holland

Division of Anthropology, Buffalo Museum of Science, 1020 Humboldt Parkway, Buffalo,

Ny

14211

ii

Abstract: The Early Holocene period remains the least understood segment of lower Great Lakes prehistory. This paper
provides a descriptive and synthetic catalogue of curated Early and Middle Archaic projectile points from the Nigra
Frontier of westem New York and adjacent Ontario, documents their diversity and diagnostic attributes, and discusses their
distribution, frequency and probable ages in the region. The number and variety of diagnostic Early Holocene artifacts
identified in these collections suggest that past models of culture-history and cultural dynamics in the early post-glacial
lower Great Lakes region need to be reconsidered.
INTRODUCTION

Evidence of human occupation in the Niagara Frontier

(western New York and the adjacent Niagara peninsula of
Ontario) spans nearly 11,500 years of the Late Pleistocene
and Holocene periods. As in most of the eastem United
States, the region's prehistoric archaeological record is conventionally divided into thee major periods (Paleoindian,

Archaic and tiloodland), with sub-periods (e.g. Early

Archaic, Middle Woodland, etc.) and phases (e.g. Barnes,
Meadowood, etc.) providing respectively finer units of
chronological, spatial and cultural control.
Since the 1940s, most archaeological research in the
region has focused on understanding Late Woodland and
Contact period Iroquoian villages or Late Pleistocene
Paleoindian land-use patterns, Multi-disciplinary, problemoriented research projects addressing these periods have
addressed questions of social organization, economic structure and adaptation, producing results of exceptional quality and enduring value (e.g. White 1961, 1976; Englebrecht
1987, L991, 1994; Allen 1988; Fie et al. 1990; Gramty
1988; Laub et al. 1988, 1996; Laub, this volume; Storck
1984; Tankersley 1995; Tankersley er al. 1996). However,
the temporally restricted nature of these long-term investigations has unintentionally limited modern archaeological
research in the region to a relatively narrow range of subjects and periods thaf represent neither the full breadth nor
the complexity of the Niagara Frontier's record of human
occupation and culture change. Vast spans of this region,s
archaeological record relnair virtually unknown.
Ponr documentation of the nine miiiennia between the
1

Paleoindian and Late V/oodland periods has reinforced

tendencies for regional research to focus on periods that are
already fairly well-understood. Archaic period culturehistory and human ecological relafionships, in eonfrast,
have received little concerted attention frorn researchers in
the lower Great I-akes region, even though the Archaic as a
eoncopl in Aynerican archaeoiogy va-e frsf fcrnulatci! cn
1"^ L^^:: -r
--- ^:- -t
^ l-:^
tllc ilASiS OI
tllls regl0rt'b
tul)
icud cj plc-git:r.rlf uriil
adaptations (Ritchie 1932, 1936), The Iaily ancl Midcile
A,rchaic sub-periods, spanning nearly the entire first half of

the Holocene (10,000-8,000 b,p. and 8,000-6,000 b.p.,

respectively), remain the least known segments of the
regional archaeological sequence,t In the absence of basic
culture-historical data it is currently impossible to
ascertain whether theoretically informed, problem-oriented
research directed at the archaeological record of the
Niagara Frontier's lesser-known "missing years,' could
contribute significant information to curent debates in
Great Lakes, North American or world archaeology. This
paper attempts to recover data on these "missing years" in

lower Great Lakes prehistory from extant, curated collections and to suggest areas toward which theoretically
'informed research projects could be directed to elucidate
this region's long record of dynamic hunting, gathering
and fishing cultures.

THE EARLY HOLOCENE: ENVIRONMENTAL CoNTEXTS AND HUMAN RESPONSES

Throughout eastern North America, the Early Holocene
(10,000-6,000 b.p.) was a period of great climatic, fluvial
and biogeographic change. In response to rapid global
climatic changes at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary,
ecological zones representing combinations of linked floristic and fauna! cornrnunities shifted cn a continental
scale. At least in part due to these changes, early Native
American settlement, subsistence and social sysfems
shifted away from pattems developed by Paleoindians to
exploit late Ice Age conditions and towards adaptive
strategies that met the needs of life in the fully forested
Northeast.

Paleoclimatic esearch indicates that the Early

Holocene ws watmer than any other period since the end
of the last Ice Age (COHMAP 1988, Joyce 1988, Kanow
and Warner 1990) and seasonality was more intense due to
parameters established by orbital precession (Davis 1984,
Kutzbacir and Guetter 1986, Broecker and Denton lgg0).
.' uu1.
-.-^,.,,1r urr5 rtd_v
"---., 1.--,^
r^r
^
r()Jl wi1ltiel
ildvc t^^^."
ln wlllturs
eolclcr ihart during ihc lasi cc Age or the lr4odern period
(Webb and Batlein 1988, Cunn 1996). Paleobotanisrs
have documented continent-wide shifts in floristic zones as

BULLETIN OFTHE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

individual plant species and entire floral comlnunities

expanded from Late Pleistocene refugia into deglaciated
portions of the northern latitudes (Gaudreau 1988a,b).
These global biogeographic processes had dramatic
effects in the Great Lakes region. Data derived from stable
isotope records, fossil insect remains and pollen indicate
that summer conditions warrner than present predominated

in the lower Great Lakes region by at least 8,400

b,p.
(Schwert and Morgan 1980, Schwert et al. 1985, Fritz et al.

1987). Studies of lake bottom sediments and particulate

charcoal in bogs from the upper Great Lakes [i.e. in areas

meteorologically "upstream" from the Niagara Frontier]

indicate greater lake turbidity and storminess during the
Early Holocene (Halfman and Johnson 1984) and the
period also appears to have been considerably drier than
cunent conditions (Edwards and Buhay 1994). Post-glacial
isostatic rebound, globally changing atmospheric circulation patterns and synoptic-scale climatic changes led to
wide-spread instability in the fluvial systems of eastern
North America and rapid fluctuations in base-levels of the
early Great Lakes and their tributary basins (Lewis and
Anderson 1989, Tinkler et al. 1992, Dwyer et al. 1996,
Gunn 1996, Pengelly et aL, 1997). All of these climatic and

geomorphic transformations had potentially important

implications for resource distributions within the rapidly
evolving landscapes ofthe region.
The Early Holocene saw the most rapid changes in rates

of vegetation and climate change since the end of the Wisconsinan glaciation (Edwards and Buhay 1994) as well as
rapid fluctuations in the documented botanical composition
of regional forests and their attendant insect microfaunas
(Fritz et al. 1987, Schwert et al. 1987, McAndrews 1994).
The effects of these changes on larger tenestrial, lacustrine
and riparian animal and plant associations in the lower
Great Lakes region are, unfortunately, poorly documented
at present and ecological communities of this period may
have no exact modern analogs. This necessarily complicates efforts to model specific or short-term human
responses to environmental change during this interval.

under such conditions. Seasonal schedules and daily work

routines would have had to be periodically adjusted as new
resources and procurement routines were added to local
groups' subsistence strategies. Through time, changes in
scheduling priorities and in the organization of labor may
have altered the routines, roles and requirements of men,

women, children and elders within the community and

region, helping to effect changes in social organization.
Lake level fluctuations, stream gradient adjustments to
isostatic rebound, eutrophic in-filling of Pleistocene lake
basins and other processes in the transformation of the
region's post-glacial landforms would have shifted the

of predictable and productive irunting, shing

and gathering spots, requiring changes in seasonal
mobility pattems and in the ways specific locations were
used. Intensifying contrsts between summer and winter
locations

conditions would also have required hunting and gathering

groups to develop more effective strategies for coping with
resource short-falls on seasonal, annual and inter-annual
bases, The implementation of a wide range of survival
strategies over time, incorporating exchange, diversification, mobility and storage in different degrees as tactical
responses to local, long-term and shorter-term resource
crises (Halstead and O'Shea 1989) would be expected
components in emerging human ecological adaptations to
the varied resource mosaics of the Northeast. In short, it

may be expected that the archaeological record for the

Early Holocene should record frequent, rapid and farreaching cultural and social changes. The static, mono-

Iithic and ethnographically derived models of band-level

social formations that currently dominate literature on the
Archaic period in the Northeast may inadequately reflect
both the diversity of social formations that existed and the
range of adaptive strategies employed duting the Early
Holocene.

Over the past thirty years, research in the historical

branches of the natural sciences has enhanced our ability

to model paleo-environmental change during the Early

Holocene. During the same decades a wide range of

Nevertheless, it is possible to predict some of the significant, long-term challenges that human communities
would have faced in adapting to the evolving ecological
mosaics that were appearing throughout the recently

theoretical models and methodological approaches were

developed for exploring, conceptualizing and interpreting
the material record of hunting and gathering societies (e.g.
Jochim 1976, Winterhalder and Smith 1981, Keene 1981,

deglaciated lower Great Lakes basin.

For example, ehanges in the eomposition and location

of animal and plant communities would have required

hunters and gatherers to modify iamiliar strategies for

Price and Brown 1985, Halstead and O'Shea 1989). These

advances substantially changed anthropologists' views on
the range of variability found in hunting and gathering
l-.-^*:^:.^^--^-,
^- L^
^^^:^.t^^
^-l
^-.:^^ L^.,-.^^-SUUteLrCS
utl
utc uyrrailrru
rrtcrPlay L^
utd[ lsLS
uulwclt
attu

procuring and using the resourees of their regions, to invent

new approaches for acquiring resources, or to adopt technologies and associated knowiedge from groups iiving in

social and ecological factors as human groups adapt to

environmertal surroundings anci as they mociify their surrounclings, in turn, to meet their needs,

urrtuluJts
^,"*^",*,{i*^

L-".r^*.i,,^
r^LlrYv
tsrr.
".^^;^*.

i*+^" *^^i^,.^I
rrrv-uB(r!r

trlrlrurr!G
^^*,--,,*i^

l^!r,.'r

^"*

Lnn'rrnJ^
vu

ut
^f

i^^41

h,*^*

-^^l^^;^^l
"vuuu1,v,

fion, stylistie and assenblage-le.rel homogenization of

adaltafieins and culfural-historical systematics during the

material culture ovcr wicle areas and either gradual or rapid

diffusion of technological innovations would be expected

Early Flolocene remains too pooriy deveioped to cxplore

relationships between early Native American cultures and

ANTHROPOLOGY
the changing resource base of the lower Great Lakes region
during this period or to examine those changes in the light
of theory. For the most part, we are currently unable to for-

mulate basic models

of the economic, social or ritual

behavior of the Native American populations who lived in

the Niagara Frontier region during the Early Holocene
period without borrowing models, wholesale, from recent

ethnographic practices or spatially distant areas of North

America (Nicholas 1994). In the absence of basic research
directed toward understanding and documenting early post"
glacial adaptations in the lower Great Lakes, we remain
unable to use regional data to develop and test general
theoretical propositions about cultural responses to resource
distributions and environmental change.
PARADIGMS PAST, PARADIGMS PRESENT
AND THE ROLE OF CURATED COLLECTIONS

Collectors and archaeologists working in the Niagara

Frontier during the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries were not very tightly constrained by research
designs or problem orientations. These early, pioneering
researchers were primarily concemed with documenting the
presence and extent of aboriginal occupations in the region
and operated without a clear or independently derived
chronological framework, Typically, their findings were
divided into two gross, linguistically derived categories. On
the one hand, sites with incised, castellated pottery and trianguloid projectile points were thought to represent the

ancestors of lroquoian-speaking nations (Erie, Neutral,

Wenro, Seneca) who occupied the region at the time of
European contact. On the other hand, sites with cordmarked pottery, sites without pottery and sites with notched
or stemmed projectile points were believed to represent the
settlements of pre-Iroquoian, Algonquian-speaking peoples
(Beauchamp 1894, 1900; Morgan 1904;Houghton 1909).
The origin of the lroquoian-speaking peoples and the
nature of the Algonquian societies they were thought to
have displaced were the dominant topics of research into
the 1930s. Both presumed Iroquoian and Algonquian cultural remains were important to this research focus and the
full range of the region's identifiabte prehistoric remains
was considered relevant to addressing this problem. Collections made during this period are relatively broad in nature
and typieally represent cross-sections of all the prehistoric
material found at specific collecting locales rather than
samples whose collection was guided, but potentially
biased by, research designs focused on nanower, if now
more compelling, research questions.
Furthermore, many of these eollections were assembled
ai a time when new lanri was being brought intc cultivation
nnrl hefnro

cnllnnfinc

nrshic+ni
Pvarev

r1-r;,,."
*^,.:^^."
Lrtr 4r
^-ti.f^^roLY\.
III4t,l
^
^r/

hari beceime a hobby wrth th.e eeonomic undertones of an

antiquities market. T'hese early eollections, as a result, arc
frequenfly richer in diversity and contain a larger number

of intact specimens than can be found by surveying the

same locations today. Finally, many of these early collections represent the material record of prehistoric settlement
areas that are no longer accessible to field research as a
result of urban and rural development. For all of these reasons, curated collections from this period represent an
important record of the region's pst.
Many early collections, along with those compiied by
later avocational archaeologists, are curated in the region's
many museums and historical societies but have received
little scholarly attention. The limited extent of the documentation supporting many of these collections, their dis-

persal through numerous larger and smaller institutions

and their conceptual distance from the dominant research
interests of the last half-century has tended to relegate this
material to the status of teaching or exhibit collections
with little assumed research value.
In their role as teaching tools, many of these early collections have been organized and displayed according to

the taxonomic framework Ritchie (7961, l97la) established for New York State projectile points, Ritchie's
typology was published in 1961 and had an initially liberating effect on Great Lakes and Northeastem archaeology.
It allowed formerly undated or undatable sites and site
complexes to be placed within a coherent time-space
framework that was understandable to both professionals
and the lay public. However, this seminal work eventually
exerted a dampening effect on research in the region as its
fixed list of projectile point types encouraged archaeologists to subsume new firrds representing unanticipated and
previously undocumented diversity in the archaeological

record into the few types that Ritchie had illustrated and
described. Several of Ritchie's taxa, notably the Brewerton
series and the Lamoka type, were initially very broadly
defined, incorporating n immense range of variability.
Through time these and several other problematic types
have become, in practice, catch-all categories into which
almost all unusual corner notched, side notched, or
stemmed projectile points have been placed (see, for
example, Mason 1981: Plate 5.7).
In New York and other parts of the Northeast where it
became a fundamental tool of archaelogical analysis,
Ritchie's taxonomic framework discouraged the recogni-

tion of variability amolg regional archaeological assemblages. At the same time, it reified Ritchie's views on the
Archaic period, which were developed before radiocarbon
dating permirted more precise statements about the period's age or duration. On the basis of his early fieldwork,
R.itchie viewecl the Lamoka and Brewerton phases as the
eariiest rchaic manifestations in New York State (Ritche
lq6E taRn Trr tqr..r years, raeli+earb<lr: efaiing den:onstrated that the Brewerton and Lamoka phases belcnged fo

the Late Holocene, roughly 5,500-4,500 b.p.

and

4,50G4,000 b.p., respectively (Calkin and Miller lg7l,

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATIJRAL SCIENCES

Ellis et al. 1990, Hansen and McKendry 1991, Funk 1993).

By the late 1960s, fieldwork in the midwest and midsouth had documented considerably earlier Archaic phases
that spanned the gap between Paleoindian and Late Archaic
cultural complexes, suggesting that similarly ancient sites
should be found in the Northeast (Fowler 1959, Coe 1964,

Michels and Smith 1967, Michels 1968, Broyles 1971).

l.levertheless, Ritchie (1969, 1979) and others (Fitting
1968, i975; Ritchie and Funk 197I,1973) maintained that
archaeological remains representing the first four thousand
years of the Holocene (10,000-6,000 b.p.) were far less
common in the Great Lakes and Northeast than in more
temperate areas farther south.

Persuasive, ecologically based arguments were

advanced to explain the proposed Early Holocene occupational hiatus in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions. The
so-called "Ritchie-Fitting Hypothesis" stated "that the
extreme scarcity in the Northeast of Late Paleo-Indian [and
Early Archaicl traces arises primarily from the fact that
around 7,000 B.C. the forest composition was undergoing a
marked alteration from spruce-pine to pine with a significantly lowered carrying capacity for game" (Ritchie and
Funk 1971: 46) and "the most logical explanation to

account for the meager traces of Late Paleo-Indian and

Early Archaic occupation in upstate New York and
adjacent portions of New England is the probably low carrying capacity of the forests of this region for the food
animals required by the primarily hunting bands of this

early time" (Ritchie 1979: 16). Fitting (1968) extended

Ritchie's proposition to include most of the Great Lakes
basin within a hypothesized zone of low Early Holocene
carrying capacity and depressed human population
densities.

Ritchie's and Fitting's formulations of the problem

assumed that the Early Holocene forests of the Great Lakes
region could be closely modeled from the modern boreal

forests of northern Canada, that these forests were

uniformly poor in resources, and that human adaptations to
the Early Holocene landscape could also be modeled on
modem subarctic hunter-gatherers' lifestyles (Ritchie 1965,
1980). Small band sizes, high settlement mobility and an
economy based almost exclusively on hunting rather than
gathering, fishing or use of a broad spectrum of wild
resources were explicit cultural components of the model.
Despite clear rnethodological problems with defining either
canying capacity or human adaptive responses to changes
in it, and in the absence of actual paleontological data to
demonstrate a low game population during this time, the
Ritchie-Fitting hypothesis became a dominant explanatory
paradigm for Great l-akes ard Northeastem archaeoiogical
rece"r'h f-rm rhe lqf!" fhr{}ush fhr-: r:ariv i8s Masun
1O 1\

Although a small suite of Early Archaic bifurcate-lased

projectile points were illustrated

in Ritchie's

typology

(Ritchie l97la: Plate 34), they were not formally

described and were identified only as anomalous
"untyped" styles. Ritchie acknowledged that these were
clearly Early Archaic types, citing Bettye Broyles' (1971)
work at the deeply stratified St. Albans site (West
Virginia), but noted that they did not represent the full
range of Early Holocene types known from sunounding
regions. This point was later used to argue that the only
recurrent evidence for Early Holocene hunter-gatherers in
the Northeast reflected sporadic occupations or exploration
towads the end of the Early Archaic period (Ritchie 1979:
15). As Ritchie (1971b: 3) stated, the presence of the
bifurcate-based points made it "certain that upstate New
York was infrequently visited by little bands of hunters
from the south, who may have made brief incursions
through the Hudson, Susquehanna and other major river

valleys." The possibility that the Northeast had been

occupied by groups who manufactured bifurcate-based
projectile points in the same styles found farther south, or
that their occurrence was part of a sequence of occupations
spanning the early post-glacial period, was forcefully discounted. In his last major statement on the Archaic,
Ritchie wrote "Staten Island is the sole area in the
Northeast known to me where bifurcated-base points
occurred in contexts which included such other Early
Archaic point styles as Kirk Stemmed, Palmer Corner
Notched, Hardaway and possibly other southeastern
styles" (1979: 16).

The Ritchie-Fitting hypothesis provided a seemingly

robust theoretical paradigm for explaining the limited evidence for Early Holocene occupations in the Great Lakes
region. Ritchie's taxonomic framework not only reflected
that perspective but, by establishing the accepted framework for organizing collections, also guided researchers
towards considering potential Early Holocene diagnostics
as anomalies or unusual variants of better-known Late
Holocene types. As a result, interpretations of both new
and extant collections that relied on Ritchie's taxonomic
framework reified and reinforced his view that the Early
Holocene was a period characterized by low populations,
limited land-use and possible occupation hiatuses tluoughout the Northeast. The few bifurcate-based points that
turned up fron tiile to time in regional collections were
considered anomalous but ultimately uninteresting indications of ephemeral cultural connections to distant regions,
while potentiai Early or Middle Archaic stemmed and
notched points could be subsumed within a few broadly
defined type descriptions assigned to the Late Holoeene.
The possibility that diagnostic artiiacts representing iocai
Ha.rly Hoio+erre phases r;igirl he forrvi in ilrc reglon seenrs
not to have been consielered seriously until lafe in the
1970s.

ANTHROPOLOGY

EXPANDING HORIZONS IN

EARLY HOLOCENE HUMAN ECOLOGY

Neil Trubowitz's survey of the Genesee Valley Expressway
(I-390) corridor yielded rhe first clearly doeumented Early
Archaic sites in western New York (Trubowitz 1979, 1983).
In an important paper, Trubowitz (1979) described a small
number of curated and privately held artifact collections
that he examined to determine whether his Genesee Valley

survey results represented part of a larger pattern in

Western New York. Trubowitz' study reached several
important conclusions. First, he documented that Early
Archaic findspots were present in the region, being
"recorded from the Appalachian highlands to the Lake
Ontario lowlands, and from Seneca Lake to the Niagra [sic]

an Early Holocene cultural hiatus and its ecological explanation were unsuppofed by available evidence from the
lower Great Lakes region. These initial attempts to marshal interdisciplinary research towards reinterpreting the
Early Holocene period went largely unnoticed.
However, over the next two decades archaeological
research, collections analyses and interpretive sophistica-

tion accelerated in sunounding regions. An increasing

number of well-documented excavations and collection
descriptions have made it clear that Early and Middle
Archaic occupations with surprising artifactual diversity
and complexity were present in northern Fennsylvania
(Tumbaugh 1975; McNett 1985; Custer et al. 1994, 1996),
south-central and eastern New York state (Funk 1979,

River" in upland, lowland, valley slope and floodplain settings (Trubowitz 1979:55). Second, although the majority

1988, 1993; Funk and V/ellman 1984; Levine 1989;

Ashton 1994; Fergusson 1996), northem Ohio (Stothers

of the diagnostic Early Archaic projectile points he

identified were bifurcated-base styles, Trubowitz also noted
the regional presence of a variety of other Early Holocene
types, including Kirk Stemmed, Kik Corner Notched, Kessell Side Notched, Stanly and unidentified serrated points.
Finally, he drew attention to data presented by Calkin and
Miller (1977) and Miller (1973), which indicared rhat rhe
paleo-ecological record of western New York was inconsistent with the prevailing view of an Early Holocene land-

1996), New England (Dincauze 1976, Starbuck and Bolian

1980, Robinson et al, 7992), and southern Ontario (Ellis
and Deller 1982; Wortner, Fox and Ellis 1990; Watson

(77 .3Vo)

scape dominated by resource-poor closed boreal forests.

Miller's palynological analyses of bogs in southwestem

New York's glaciated Appalachian uplands indicated that
during the Early Archaic period (coeval with Miller's "8"
pollen zone, 10,000-8,000 b.p.) the dominant foresr type in
the region was a complex mixed coniferous and deciduous
(pine-oak) forest having no exact modem analogs. White
pine, elm and black ash dominated lowland valleys, while
white pine, oaks and sugar maples blanketed the highlands

(Miller 1973:72). Other deciduous taxa represented in "Bzone" pollen assemblages included bvch (Betul4 spp.),
American hornbeam (Cprinus caroliniana), Eastern
hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) and poplars, aspens or
cottonwoods (Populus spp.). Rather than a homogeneous,

dark and dense conifer forest, low in potentially useful

biomass productivity, much of this forest--especially its
upland portions----could have been dominated by a mosaic
of deciduous elements and may have been resource-rich.
Tho lvlidclle Archaic period (8,00-,000 b,p,), coeval with
the beginning of Miller's "C-zone," saw a rise in hemlock
(Tsuga canadensis) values, a corresponding decline in pine
pollen and the appearance of beech (Fgus spp.) in the

region's forests, marking the initiation of essentially

modem forest communities.

Trubowitz's study, together with Miller's palynological

enalvseq
f-nlkin nri fufillcr'cv l\L/it1'\
rn',i^",
nf ,nrh
vtv^
t t I hriof
zvf
"---'-
tv
---,
paleo-ecoiogicai anci archaeologie aL da\a fiom westem New
York, and an important parallel study in southern Ontario
by Wright (1978), strongly suggested rhat rhe assumption of

1990; Lennox 1995).

Radiocarbon dating at some of these sites, coupled

with the recovery of Early Holocene diagnostics from
sealed deposits in deeply stratified contexts, has confirmed
the age of numerous hafted biface types with both southeastern and northeastern stylistic linkages, Thus, investigations at the Blue Dart site, in southern Ontario (Lennox
1995), and at the Haviland site, in Schoharie County, New
York (Fergusson 1996), have recently demonstrated that
LeCroy-like bifurcate-based projectile points from habitation sites in the Northeast occupy the same chronological
position as those found in the midwest and mid-south, contrary to previous suggestions that they were Late Holocene
diagnostics in the Great Lakes region (Frufer and Sofsky
1965). Similarly, excavations at the West Water Street site
in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania (Custer et aL. 1994, 1996),
have demonstrated, as long suspected (Ellis et at. 1990,

Funk 1993), that the spatial range of Middle Archaic

Neville points has to be extended southwards to meet the
distribution of the formally and temporally related Stanly
Stemmed point, defined by Coe (1.964).

Stylistic homogeneity in lithic tools and tool kits

appears to characterize broad areas of the Nofheast during
the Early Holocene, yet local developmental sequences
demonstrate a wide range of variant economic strategies

and cultural practices within general pattems of roughly

coeval change spanning broad regions" Throughout much

of the eastern United States, archaeologists now posit

shift from logistically focusecl settlement-subsistence systems at the end of the Pleistocene to broad-scale foraging
ecoiromies during the Early ,rchaic aird the eventual
.l^.,^l^**^"'+
trr
uuyurrrlrru.
^^J-*^*-"
^f -.^-^
trrul uuLttt4rJ

-^,,i-1t". Lit!t!!rIc
^^*^^t--.
^*J uL4!ty
4rtu

-.r
{_tll-

fnral sysfems cluring the Middle Archa-ic per:iod. (Cable

1996, Gunn 1996, Sassaman 1996).

For example, painstaking rsearch arouncl the Gulf of

BIJLLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

Maine has documented the emergence, from a Paleoindian

base, of generalist economic strategies with fishing, hunting
and wild plant harvesting each contributing to overall diet.
To this base was added the possible cultivation of squash
by 6,500-5,500 b.p. in a social context characterized by

elaborate mortuary ceremonialism (Petersen 1995:

214-217; Robinson 1996; Petersen and Asch Sidell 1996).
Similar pattems of change in adaptive strategies, settlement
systems and modes of social integration characterize the
Early to Middle Archaic transition in the Midwest (Brown
and Viera 1983, Charles and Buikstra 1983, Styles et al.
1983, Jefferies 1995) and the Southeastern United States
(Anderson 1995, Milanich 1995, Anderson and Sassamar
1996), although in each of these areas the specific range of
economic species exploited, the symbolism expressed in
mofuary and domestic contexts and the specific timing of
the changes differ, It is reasonable to expect that similar
trajectories of cultural change and local diversification
remain to be documented in the archaeological record of
the lower Great Lakes region during this interval.

In the light of rapid

changes

Holocene data from surrounding

in understanding Early
regions, it has become

clear that the archaeological record of the Niagara Frontier,

as currently known, is anomalous. Despite Trubowitz's

early use of regional archaeological and paleo-ecological
data to test the Ritchie-Fitting hypothesis, the task of
demonstrating his proposals was left to researchers working
in other areas. Multi-disciplinary teams investigating both
site-specific and regional problems in surrounding regions
have fostered an understanding of cultural changes and
adaptive complexity during the Early Holocene that far
exceeds the level of discourse on such topics in the lower
Great Lakes region (e.g, Hansen 1993).
CURRENT RESEARCH:
ORIENTATION AND APPROACH
Our interest in re-examining the Early Holocene record of

the Niagara Frontier developed while undertaking an

intensive landscape survey (sensu Rossignol and Wandsnider 1992) of a two square kilometer block of cultivated
upland watershed in eastem Genesee County, New York,
The survey produced a surprisingly large number of sites
with diagnostic artifacts that bore unmistakable resemblances to ,arly and Middle .A.rchaic diagnostic artifacfs
from surrounding regions and which appeared not to be
referable to regionally defined Late Holocene Archaic or
Woodland cultural complexes. Artifacts recovered fron,
these sites included Bifurcate-based points, Kirk Corner
Notched points, Palmer points, Stanly or Neville points anci
crudely stemrned points with parallels in fhe Morrow
r,l^",*r^i*
!,+n*
vunLwr. .c ,I-fi*.'{
lvrrurr.r

l-.'
T'rctin
(ry Ju.vv

1
I (7i
\t/o).

h*

^'1,1i

tional group of' large, square-based, sirle nnfch.ed poinfs

resembleel late Middle Archaic fypes from the Upper Midwest (Raddatz and Godar points, Justice 1981: 6149) and

the proto-Laurentian, South Hill phase, bifaces described

by Funk (1988, 1993) as possible markers for the end of

the Middle Archaic period in New York State (ca.

6,30G-5,700 b.p.).

Like Trubowitz's investigations in the late 1970s, our

fieldwork led us to re-examine extant early collections,
including some, such as that of the Buffalo Museum of
Science, which he had not studied. Our examination of
these collections turned up many new examples of the
Early Holocene projectile point styles that we had
recovered in our survey, together with other types that had
not yet been reported from the region in controlled surface
collections or excavations.
The remainder of this paper presents basic data on the
diagnostic Early Holocene projectile points identified to
date in our surveys of extant collections from the Niagara
Frontier. We have assigned these artifacts to named types
and clusters (after Justice 1987) for the heuristic purpose

of communicating our results and interpretations to colleagues working throughout eastem North America. We
remain skeptical that the methodological bases used to
define "types" throughout this broad region are fully comparable and that the type-concept itself is the best tool for
monitoring inter-regional, intra-regional and use-history
variability in material culture.
It is possible, however, to identify stylistic and technological linkages between specific objects in our sample
and those recovered from excavated contexts elsewhere in
eastem North America and, for the time being, using these
type names remains the best way to maintain a common
language and to facilitate comparisons between regions.
Ultimately we remain concerned that it may be inappropriate to extend specific type names over broad distances
without detailed region-by-region information on the
metric and non-metric attributes of the artifacts being
incorporated within those types, Without data to express

the variability found within types, the potential significance of separable but linked types and type-clusters may
be obscured, leading to inappropriate o inaccurate models
of the culturai, temporal and spatial dynamics that once
linked and separated ancient populations living throughout
the vast areas within which these named styles are now

found.

Therefore, we employ establishecl type and eluster

names, heuristically,

to suggest linkages between Niagara

Frontier specimens and those from surrounding regions,

but we also provide information on the metric and nonmetric attributes of each specimen examined in the course
hope thai presentafion of lhis basic data
similar inf+rmation anC to

of this survey.

Vy'e

will stimulate

ohers to provide

rrnndan

thn nnrnarafirc

analrenq

n^1tr'c^ri/

lr r+finn

extend or refute the provisionai moricis we sef tbrwarcl in

this paper.

ANTHROPOLOGY

SAMPLE SELECTION AND ANALYTICAL METHODS

The sample reported in this paper consists entirely of hafted
bifaces, selected from professionally curated collections in
westem New York and the adjacent Niagara penilsula of

Ontario, We have intentionally restricted our analysis to

collections held by professionally curated museums and
historical societies although we are aware of additional
specimens in the collections of avocational archaeologists
and collectors. These private collections are not immediately accessible to researchers and may become dispersecl
and unavailable for examination after the deaths of their
current owners. Therefore, they cannot currently serve as
reference points for documenting local culture-history.
This is not a complete survey of all public collections in
the Niagara Frontier due to limitations on time and the size
of some collections. Further investigations of both public
and private collections are needed to create a more compehensive data base. Collections described in this report are
curated at the Buffalo Museum of Science [BMS], Buffalo,
NY; the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society

[BECHS], Buffalo, NY; the Rochester Museum and

Ny; the Holland Land
Office Museum [HLOM], Batavia, Ny; the Anthropological Research Museum, State University of New york at
Buffalo [UB], Amherst, NY; and the Fort Erie Historical
Museum IFEHM], Ridgeway, Ontario. Throughout this
paper, the curatorial facility holding each specimen is
identified by the abbreviation shown above, followed by
that institution's internal catalogue or accession number,
Science Center [RMSC], Rochester,

where one has been assigned.

Individual specimens were selected for analysis from
these collections on the basis of visual comparisons to published examples of Early and Middle Archaic hafted bifaces
from excavated contexts in northeastem, midwestem and
mid-southem North America, In using this approach, par-

ticular attention was paid to formal and technological

attributes of the haft area. Less emphasis was placed on the
shape of the blade, except to the degree it recorded specific
and potentially diagnostic attributes of Early Holocene

resharpening trajectories (alternate beveling, intentional

serration, etc.). The presence of several non-metric

attributes generally considered to be most common in Early
Holocene lithic technologies were also used to guide the
initial selection of specimens. These attributes inclucled:
blade-edge seration, blade-edge bevel resharpening (par-

ticularly alternate-bevel resharpening), basal bifurcation,

basal and/or haft margin and notch grinding, extreme basal
thinning and pattemed flaking of the blade faces (especially

intentional collateral, oblique, or chevron flaking).

Following their initial seiection, specirnens were sorted

intn

arnrrnc

-"',
uJ !..^"-l
r/oru

(,rrt4t!\r!t
^^""fi^","...r:..*

/^ ^
tE.r,

Lt)UtE:r rltt(.r!eil

sirte nolcherl, lanceolafe. etc.) and \\,cre compar.ed bcth to

pubiished descriptions of Late Holocene (post-6,000 b.p.)
projectile point styles from the lower Great Lakes region

and to published descriptions of excavated Early and

Middle Archaic hafted bifaces from surrounding regions.
Primary descriptive sources employed included Ritchie
and Funk (1971), Funk ard Wellman (1984), Coe (1964),
Broyles (1971), Chapman (1975, Lg77), Cusrer er al.
(1994) and a wide range of shorter descriptive articles and
site reports listed individually in later parts of this paper.
Secondary sources providing summary descriptions, illustrations and information about the distribution and age of
named projectile points types in eastem North America
were also consulted, but were not used as primary bases
for including projectile points within the research sample.
These sources included Ritchie (i971a), Jusrice (lgg7),
Cambron and Hulse (1983), V/righr (1978) and DeRegnaucourt (1992). Finally, published illustrations in site
reports or synthetic research papers without detailed
information on either context or attribute data (e.g. Star-

buck and Bolian 1980, Ellis, Kenyon and Spence 1990,

Funk 1993, etc.) were consulted for their supporting descriptions, dates and contextual analyses after primary and
secondary sources had been used to establish the possible
Early Holocene placement of specific objects.

hojectile points rhat fit within published ranges of

variability for Late Holocene or Pleistocene hafted biface
types from New York State or Ontario, and which could
not be incorporated within published descriptions of Early
Holocene types from surrounding regions, were removed
from the study sample. The final sample, therefore, consisted of projectile points that could be more comfortably
incorporated into descriptions of Early and Middle Archaic

projectile point types from surrounding regions than into

published descriptions of Late Holocene types frorn the
Lower Great Lakes region. Type names were assigned to
these specimens based on their conformability to published
descriptions, while cluster names were assigned according

to the grouping criteria employed in Justice's (19g7)

synthesis. The selection and primary typing of all
specimens was undertaken by Smith and O'Donnell, with
further discussion among all three co-authors.
The following metric attributes were recorded for each
specimen: weight (grams), maximum length (mm), maximum width (mm), shoulder width (mm), maximum thickness (mm), base width (mm), minimum haft width (mm,
for notched points), shoulder/haft junction width (mm, for
sternmed points), haft length (mm), nctch width (rnm),
notch depth (mm), notch angle (degrees), shoulder angle
(degrees, stemmed points only), basal bifurcation depth
(mm) ancl basal bifurcation width (mm),
All linear measurements rvere recorded separately by
twr persons using cligital and anaiog calipers (Mitutoyo
Digimaf ic, furndei fi]--i) anci SPi Model Jr .r, 14, rcsro
tively), r.l,ith data reeorded to two clecinal plaees. .Angle
measurements werc taken with a General'fools Manufacturing Co., Model No. 17 rnanual goniometer, ruled to ore

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

degree accuracy. V/eights were recorded using a Yamato
Labtop electronic balance, with read-out to tenths of a gram
and a reported accuracy of t .01 grams. Paired observations

oral history regarding the collection and its collector; for

example, whether it was a known farm collection or
whether the collector was known to have traded or pur-

for each variable were averaged and recorded to

In general, artifacts made

in styles unusual for the
region were included in this analysis only if they were
from collections known to have been made by individuals
who collected locally, and if the rest of that collection was
overwhelmingly dominated by types and raw materials
typically seen in excavated or surface collected assemchased artifacts and collections.

one

from exotic raw materials and

decimal place in order to reduce inter-observer variability.

Differences in measurements greater than 0.5 mm or 2o
were remeasured and the average of the two closest readings recorded.

The following non-metric variables (and variable states)

were recorded for each projectile point in the study collection: completeness (complete, tip missing, distal half missing, proximal haft missing, haft missing, haft damaged or
barbs missing), proximal end morphology (corner notched,
side notched, basally notched, bifurcated, trianguloid, lanceolate, straight stem, contracting stem or expanding stem),
longitudinal cross-section (biconvex, Ienticular, planoconvex, beveled, flat or other), basal grinding (heavy, light
or absent), notch grinding (heavy, light or absent), blade
edge morphology (straight, convex, concave or complex),
alternate bevel resharpening (heavy, light or absent) and
blade edge serration (heavy, fine or absent).
Most metric and non-metric attributes were recorded by
Smith and O'Donnell; Smith and Holland recorded these

attributes

RESULTS
One hundred four Early Holocene hafted bifaces from the
Niagara Frontier are reported in this study. These include
representives of the Dalton, Hi-Lo, Thebes, Large Side

Notched, Kirk Corner Notched, Rice Lobed, LeCroy,

Stanly Stemmed and Morrow Mountain clusters, as
defined by Justice (1987). These cluster groupings are utilized in this paper as generic categories for linking formally

for the Pell Site collection IRMSC]. Lithic

material identifications were done by Holland, using macroscopic and low-level (5-40x) incident-light microscopic
examinations to compare archaeological specimens with
outcrop-collected lithic reference samples curated in the
Holland Lithic Laboratory, Buffalo Museum of Science,
The following contextual data was recorded for each
specimen: curating institution, catalogue number, field
number, site or collection name and location, lithic raw
material. Except where noted, all specimens in the sample

were obtained through surface collection, Provenience

information for these collections varied from knowledge of
the specific sites and loci from which objects were collected to tentative identifications of the township or county
from which they came. Objects identified in museum records only as being "local" were included in this survey if (1)
they were incorporated within a large, coherent collection

comprised overwhelmingly (i.e. z 95Vo) of lithic raw

materials native to the Niagara Frontier region, (2) they
could not be attributed to a definable sub-collection that
was dominated by "exotic" types and raw materiais indicative of a purchased or traded group within a larger collection, or (3) they were isolated finds manufactured from
lithic raw materials that outcrop in the region or are

primarily exclusive to it. Locally available lithic raw

materials include Onondaga, Bois Blanc, Lockport,
Reynales and Huronian cherts (Eley and von Bitter 1989;
r-I^ll^^.tr
lUlr4ru
Qnipne

blages from the region.

l;fl";^
/lL

I nl'a,.a*n*
,or(rr\ry

-^^^*t
lwurru,J.

[r*f.tn

hr""^""'.

^f

Deeisions to include or exciude specimens without site

or township provenience were also influenced by available

related specimens, Type names and category designations

are utilized, where possible, to suggest closer relationships
within the sample and to other published materials.
One change made to Justice's classification system is a
separation of his Large Side Notched cluster into two separate entities: the Early Side Notched cluster (incorporating
the Big Sandy, Graham Cave Side Notched, Kessell Side

Notched and similar specimens with radiocarbon and

stratigraphic dating to the terminal Pleistocene or earliest
Holocene millennia) and the Heavy Based Side Notched
cluster (incorporating Raddatz-like and proto-Laurentian
side notched points, which have radiocarbon dates and
stratigraphic contexts suggesting

a late Middle Archaic

temporal position). This division of the Large Side

Notched cluster follows the lead of Ellis, Kenyon and
Spence (1990), Further, taxonomic divisions of the Bifurcate tradition follow Chapman (1975, 1980) as discussed
below.

Hi-I-o cluster (N=7; Figure 1; Plate

i)

Seven projectiie points conforming to the Hi-Lo type

description (Fitting 1963, Ellis and Deller 1982) are pres-

ent in the current sample. One specmen (FEHM

988.139.021) was recovered from a site near the mouth of
Lake Erie in Fort Erie, Ontario. A second example (BMS
CZIZ9a) was found near lrving, in Chautauqua County,
New York at the turn of the cenfury. A thircl H-Lo point

(BMS C24357) was coiiecteci in Chauiauqua or Cattaraugus Counties, New York, probably frorn a location
naor thn

rrqiv
'rilla*n

nf u!t_t
Tni-c
vi

:'c rrll

'lhn

tmeinin*

frre IIi

[,o points (RMSC 88.1i8.9'i, RMSC 88.1i8"98, RMSC

BB.ilB.123 and RMS 88.1I8.230) were collected at the
Fell site, Niagara County, New York by Mr. Richard

ANTHROPOLOGY

Figure 1. Regional distribution of Hi-Lo, Dalton and Early Side Notched Cluster bifaces in the Niagara Frontier
region,
Open symbols in shaded circles indicate specimens for which only county provenience is available. bpen symbol
within
the unshaded square in Lake Erie identifies one specimen for which proueni"nce data is limited to th; Niagara
Frontier,
generally. Shorelines of the lower Great Lakes approximate modern, rather than Late Pleistocene/Early Hlocene
posi-

tions.

McCarthy.

Six of the Hi-Lo points are manufactured from

Onondaga chert. The seventh, from the pell Site (RMSC
88.118.230), is made from Lockport chert, a low-grade,
fossiliferous Middle Silurian chert that is available in outcrops along the Niagara escarpment and in secondary cobble sources throughout western New york (Eley and von

Bitter 1989: 79-2A, Holland Lithic Laboratory records,

Buffalo Museum of Science), The Peli site is located at the
base of the Niagara escarpment and this material may have
been immediately available to the site's occupants.
FIi-Lo points share a number of attributes with lato
Paleoindian projectile point styles ancf Early Archaic iypes

of the Dalton clusrer (Jusrice l9B7: 46). All of rhe

specimens in this sample have weak shoulders above confract.ing iaferal hafring margi*s or braarf, shallow sicie
D^^^^
:-- ^L^lt---.r-^*^ snallov,/ly
-^+^L^^
iru.urius.
lfasus i.rc
tcuvalc
willi iasai llrirrrrirrg
ancl grinding on all but one example, BMS CZlZga laeks
both basal thinning and lateral grinding on the haft margins

and base. Its overall crude execution suggests that it may

have been a preform abandoned before completion.
Several, but not all, of the points in this group exhibit
altemate edge beveling, giving a twisted appearance to the

point when viewed from the distal end.

Hi-Lo points have not yet been reported from contexts
in association with datable materials. On technological
bases, and from comparison of the Hi-Lo tool-kit to
Paleoindian and Early Archaic assemblages, Ellis and Deller (1982: 17) argue for a Late Paieoinciian Early Archaic
placement of the. type, with tinks to the Dalton cluster and
an assumed age of 10,500-10,000 b.p. (see also Justice
1987). Assoeiations with fossil strandlines of thc Grcat
Lakes suggest bracketing ages of 10,400-9,500 b,p. (Ellis

and Deltrer 1982, 1985. 1990). Hi-Lo poinrs have been

f^
L
,
",J
-t
luilitt
j)t. t rrCii. i .tK{rl; 1A\i j-I, 1:af i.tCtrlafly tn
{-tll(}ugll(}tJ
sou thern lrtnt ari o, i",i ch i gan, n orth.em ft ldirrra, wcsl-central
Illinois and northem Ohio (Justice lgSl:46; Ellis and DelIer 1990; eRegnaucourt 1992: 12*14). Jusrice (l9Sj:46)

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

10

reports a possible example of the type from the Bull Brook

site in eastern Massachusetts.

Hi-Lo points have previously been reported in New

York State only from the Kilmer site, Steuben County, well
to the east of the Niagara Frontier (Tankersley et al. 1996).
This is the first formal report of this type from western New
York, providing a link between the Kilmer site outlier and
the main distribution of the Hi-Lo type in the central Great
Lakes basin.
BMS C2129a, field or study number: -, State/Province: New York,
County: Chautauqua, Town/Site: Irving, material: Onondaga chert, weight
(grams): 8.5, maximum length (mm): 45.0, maximum widrh (mm): 23.4'
shoulder width (mm) 23.4, maximum thickness (mm): 9.1' base width
(mm): 21.0, minfunum haft width (mrn): 19.8, haft length (mm): 10.4' left
notch width (mm): 11.1, right notch width (mm): 10.1, left notch depth
(mm): 1.4, right notch depth (mm): 1.0, left notch angle: 67o, right notch
angle: 94o, bifurcation depth (mm): 2.8, bifurcation width (mm): 12.9, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: side notched, cross section:
biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge
morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: absent. Notes:

Crude execution overall, possibly preform although damage along edges

suggests possible utilization. Type: Hi-Lo (Ellis and Deller 1982, Justice
r987).

BMS C24357, field or study number: -, State/Province: New York,

County: Chautauqua or Cattaraugus, Town/Site: -, material: Onondaga
chert, weight (grams): 6.0, maximum length (mm): 33.6, maximum width
(mm):23,2, shoulder wdth (mm) 23.0, maximum thickness (mm): 8.8, base
width (mm): 19.8, minimum haft width (mm): 18.4, haft length (mm): 5.9'
left notch width (mm): 6.9, right notch width (mm): 7.7, left notch depth

(mm): 1.3, right notch depth (mm): 1., left notch angle: 87o, right notch
angle: 83', bifurcation depth (mm): 2.9, bifurcation width (mm): l1'9, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: side notched, cross section:

biconvex, basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem grinding: heavy, blade edge
morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: absent. Type:

Hi-Lo (Ellis and Deller 1982, Justice 1987).

FEHM 988.139,021, field or study number: -, Staterovince: Ontario,
County: Niagara Regional Municipality, Town/Site: Fort Erie, material:
Haldimand chert, weight (grams)r 11.4, maximum length (mm): 41.5, maxi-

mum width (mm): 28.9, shoulder width (nm) 27'8, maximum thickness
(mm): 9.3, base width (mm): 20.0, minimum haft width (mm): 22'2' haft
length (mrn): 10.4, left shoulder/stem angle: 136o, Ieft shoulder/stem angle:
143', bifurcation depth (mm): 1.7, bifurcation width (mm): 1,0, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: straight stenr, cross section:
biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: light, blade edge

nrorphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: absent. Type:

Hi-Lo (Ellis and Deller 1982, Justice 1987).
RMSC 88.118.98, field or study numbcr: 91234, Sr^relProvince: New
York, County: Niagara, Town/Site: Pell site (Lkp 002), material: Onondaga
eherf, weight (grams): 4.9, maximum length (mm): 29.6, maximum width
{lntn}:22..4, sho*lder vrirth (rnrrr) ?2.4, maximum thicknes (mmi: 7.4. base
h!t width trinr): 19.4, haft ength (Inm): 10 3,
left shoulder/stem angle: N/4, b'furcat on depth (rnrn): 2.3, bifurcation

widti: (nm): 20.4, *iinimum

width (mm): 11.1, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: lan-

ceolate, cross section: beveled, basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem grind-

ing: heavy, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: light,

serration: absent. Note: heavily resharpened, deeply basal-thinning, nearly
fluted, on one face only. Type: Hi-Lo (Ellis and Deller 1982, Justice 1987),

RMSC 88,118.97, field or study number: A-168, State/Province: New

York, County: Niagara, Town/Site: Pell site (Lkp 002), material:

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 5.9, maximum length (mm): 31.6, maxi-

mum width (mn: 24.3, shoulder width (mm) 24.3, maximum thickness
(mm): 7.9, base width (mm): 17.1, minimum haft width (mm): 17.1, haft
length (mm): 12.8, left shoulder/stem angle:

N/4, bifurcation depth (mm):

1.9, bifurcation width (mm): 13.4, completeness: complete, proximal end

morphology: contracting stem, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding:
heavy, notch or stem grinding: heavy, blade edge morphology: snaight,

bevel resharpening: bsent, serration: absent. Notes: Heavily resharpened,

original point appears to have had weak shoulders which have been nearly
removed through resharpening reduction. Type:

Hi-Lo (Ellis and Deller

1982, Justice 1987).

RMSC 88,118.123, field or study number: A, State/Province: New

York, County: Niagara, Town/Site: Pell site (Lkp 002), material:
Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 5.6, maximum length (mm): 33.4, maxi-

mum width (mm): 21.6, shoulder width (mm) 21'6, maximum thickness
(mm): 8.0, base width (mm): 19.0, minimum haft width (mm): 17.8, haft
length (mm): t 1.0, left notch width (rnm): 9.5, right notch width (mm): 9.0,

left notch depth (mm): 1.6, right notch depth (mm): 0.8, left notch angle
76o, right notch angle: 90', bifurcation depth (mm): 2.2, bifurcation width

(mm): 14.2, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: lanceolate, cross section: beveled, basal grinding: heavy, notch or stern grinding:

heavy, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: light, sena-

tion: absent. Type: Hi-Lo (Ellis and Deller 1982, Justice 1987).

RMSC E8.118.230, field or study number: A 228, State/Province:

New York, County: Niagara, Town/Site: Pell site (Lkp 002), material:
Lockpof chert, weight (grams): 9.7, maximum length (mm): 48.7, maximum width (mm): 22.1, shoulder width (mm) 22.1, maximum thickness
(mm): 10.8, base width (mn: 18.3, rninimum haft width (mm): 18'8, haft
length (mm): 14.2, lefi shoulder/stem angle: 143o, left shoulder/stem
angle: 129o, bifurcation depth (mm): 3.4, bifurcation width (mm): 13.2,
completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: straight stemmed,
cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: light, notch or stem grinding: light,

blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration:

absent. Notes: very roughly made and thick, possible preform. Type: HiLo (Ellis and Deller 1982, Justce 1987)'

DaltonCluster (N=1;Figure I Plate

1)

A single specimen (BMS EdAl13/C17588) from the

collections of the Buffalo Museum of Science is referable
to the Dalton cluster and bears a ciose resemblance to the
Hardaway Side Notched type, as defined by Coe (1'964).
The specimen is incorporated within an unprovenienced
group f projectile points frorn the Niagara Frontier. The
cterial fr.nm rlhich it iq niade Oi'inirdar'
herf
slrnnnrfs
_-*'-fr
---'_')
- -_--------its iocai attribution.
BMS dAt13/C17588 is a smaii, triangr'rloid specimen
with evidence of extensive symmetrical resharpening that

ANTHROPOLOGY

indicates its blade was once considerably longer and

broader than

(grams): 2.3, maximum length (mm): 32.6, maximum width (mm): 21.2,
shoulder width (mm) 21.2, maximum thickness (mm)l 4.8, base width
(mm): 16.8, minimum haft width (mm): 16.6, haft length (mm): 5.0, left
notch width (mrn): 4.8, right notch width (mm): 5.0, left notch depth (mm):

it is today. Extreme

basal thinning, similar to

fluting, is found on both faces of the projectile point. The
base is shallowly side notched, with the notches placed
extremely low on the point's lateral margins, giving its,ears
the out-turned appearance characteristic of the Hardaway
style, The basal concavity, ears and notches are heavily
ground. Resharpening has created ragged or pseudo-

0.7, right notch depth (mm): 0.7, left notch angle; 58o, right notch angle:
5o, bifurcation depth (mm): 2.0, bifurcation

Relationships with preceding Late Paleoindian projectile

points are evident in all of these types and in this example
as well. While the exact typological placement of this piece
is uncertain, and should wait until a larger suite of similar
points has been identified from this region, it is extremely
thin, falling within the published range of Hardaway points

width (mm): 11.5, complete-

ness: complete, proximal end morphology: weakly side notched, cross sec-

tion: biconvex, basal grinding: light, notch or stem grinding: heavy, blade

serrated blade margins, but intentional serration-the

removal of deeply invasive flakes from prepared blade
edges to isolate robust projections along the biface
margins-appears to be missing. The resharpening pattern
apparent on this small specimen suggests chcvron flaking
with pressure-flakes angling from each of the lateral edges
towards the point's base. Edge beveling is absent,
This specimen shares several attributes (basal thinning,
base and lateral grinding, overall base shape and flaking
pattern) with the Dalton, Hardaway Side Notched and Hi'Lo types, all of which are
thought to date to the end of the
Pleistocene or the beginning of the Holocene periods.

1l

edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: light.

Notes: serration on one lateral blade edge may be fortuitous ather than
intentional, basal ears flare outwad slightly creating shallow side notches,
both faces basally thinned with multiple, parallel flakes struck from basal

concavity, overall, heavily resharpened. Type: similar to Hardaway (Coe

1964, Justice 1987) and Hi-Lo (Ellis and Deller 1982, Justice. lgBT) styles,
with more affinities to the former.

Early Side Notched Cluster (N=7, Figure

Plate

l)

Seven projectile points are tentatively identified as

Kessell Side Notched points (n=2), Big Sandy (I) (n=l) or
Big Sandy-like side notched points (n=4). All seven were
manufactured from locally available Onondaga chert.
Two Kessell Side Notched points (RMSC 88.118,150,
RMSC 88.118.159) from the Pell Sire, Niagara Counry,
New York, conforrn generally to the type description published by Broyles (I97I: 60=61). Both are rhin, with flat

(Justice 1987: 243), and well outside that of the more

robust Hi-Lo type. This specimen's size and lack of either
beveling or true serration argue against attribution to the
classic Dalton type.
Hardaway points are rare in the Northeast but have previously been reported from Staten Island (Ritchie and Funk
l97l), the upper Hudson River valley (Levine 1989) and
Maryland (Lowery and Custer 1990). A date of g,36}tl}0

the point. Neither specimen has altemate or bifacial bevel

b.p. [I-4929] was obtained on charcoal from a stratum at

resharpening.

Hill site, Staten Island, Ny, that produced a

Hardaway Side Notched point together with other early
projectile point styles belonging to the Kirk Corner
Notched Cluster (Ritchie and Funk I97I: 53-54). Zone D

cross-sections, straight blade margins and carefully

pressure-flaked edges. Bases are concave, thinned by the
removal of multiple basal thinning flakes and have parallel
pointed ears. One specimen (RMSC 88.118.150) has light

grinding on the basal edge; the other does not. Side

notches are small, narrow, unground, and placed very low

on the blade, angling shallowly upward into the body of

the Richmond

of the Stanfield-Worley Btuff Shelter, Alabama, produced

Hardaway Side Notched points in association with Dalton

and Big Sandy (i) points and a radiocarbon date of

9,640t450 b.p. (DeJarnette et al. L962). A Hardaway Side
Notched point was also associated with a radiocarbon date
of 9,990t140 b.p. [Beta-65177) ar Dusr Cave, Alabama
(DriSkell 1994: 3L, 1996: 328). Based on formal resemLl^-^^-

n^1.^u4vv +^
LU yarrull

t^t^
-'.- -r'
^-l
auu
tatc -lralEUlItolall

polnI s[yles,

Deviations from the Kessell type description are minor.

RMSC 88.118,159 is finely serrated along one lateral

edge, while the length/width ratio of RMSC 88.118.150 is
higher than the typical range described by Broyles and is,
thus, aiso simiiar to the Big Sandy (i) type (DeJamette et
al. 1962: Driskell 1994, 1996). However, the absence of

grinding in the notches, the overall range of values for

other metric and non-metric attributes and their thinness
argue for attribution of these points to the Kessell type.

A third projectile point from the Pell Sire

(RMSC

88.118.169) fits within the range of metric and non-metric

.,^-:^:^i^^^-:L^i
f^l--- r:
v 4r r4rtull
uJUr
I ucu luI
ttl --,IJI ccuIIrg two DlIaces.

stratigraphic relationships in buried sites and associated

radiocarbon dates, Hardaway points are generally thought
fc date fo he early tenth millenniurn, roughly i0,000-9,500

However, wifh light serration on both blade eelges, light

basai grinding anci heavy notch grinding it fits more conformably within he formal description of the Big Sandy

h n /rctice L'vr.
i clR'. l?
tr,

\./

fiM$ i758, fieid or

li'r r',-^
J yv
srudy rumber:

EdAii j3,

/l-rnTannttn
\vrqrvirv

nt ai

[]1.
l]\
tvk,
a)

).

As Rroyles noteet (19?l: 6l), available racliocarbon

State/pfovince: New

York or Ontario, County: -, Town/Site: -, mateial: Onondaga chert, weight

clates indicate that the Kesseli and

Big Sandy (I) projectile

point types are essentially conternporaneous forms, Sincc

t2

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

the number of known Kessell points and components is

small, some degree of overlap between these two types may

Notched points (Broyles 1971: 56-57).

In dimensions, form and resharpening attributes, these

not be surprising. Kessell Side Notched points have previously been identified in small numbers in the Ohio valley

projectile points appear to be referable to the recently

recognized, pan-eastern, initial Early Holocene "Early

(Broyles 1971, Justice 1987:67, DeRegnaucourt 1992) and

Side Notched tradition," which incorporates the Bolen,

Big Sandy (I), Big Sandy Heavy-Based (Cambron and

southern Michigan (Shoshani et al, 1989). Trubowitz

reported one Kessell point in his survey of westem New
York collections but provided no illustration or description
of the specimen (Trubowitz 1979). Kessell points were
associated with a hearth that yielded a radiocarbon date of
9,8501250 b.p.3 at the St. Albans site, West Virginia
(Broyles 1971: 10), while at the Shelton Mastodon site in
Michigan, preserved wood in association with a Kessell
point was dated to 9,640tI20 b.p. [Beta-10302] (Shoshani
et al. 1989:22).

Four projectile points (BMS C2352d, BMS CI622Ia,

BECHS 60-805, BECHS 66448) are larger than the

Hulse 1983), Graham Cave Side Notched, Taylor and Kessell types, all of which have been recovered in association
with organic material radiocarbon dated to a brief period
straddling the traditional Pleistoceneflolocene boundary
of 10,000 b,p. Additional connections, in resharpening
trajectories and extent of basal thinning, respectively, can
be drawn to the Charleston Corner Notched and Hardaway
types.

Archaeological research in southeastern and midcontinental North America indicates that all of the pro-

jectile point styles bearing conjoined attribute-level

through resharpening but were flattened in cross-section

through the removai of broad flakes running across the
blade. Resharpening was accomplished through steep, bifacial pressure retouch that resulted in a bifacially beveled
crsss-sectin and lateral margin serration. On fhree exatrr-

similarities to these four Niagara Frontier specimens are

very early Early Archaic types. As noted above, Kessell
points were associated with dates of 9,850t250 b.p.
(Broyles 1971: 10) and 9,640t120 b.p. (Shoshani et al.
1989) at the St, Albans and Shelton Mastodon sites,
respectively. Big Sandy (I) points have been recovered in
well-controlled, stratified contexts at Dust Cave, Alabama,
with radiocarbon dates of 10,490t360 b.p, [Beta-40681],
10,330t120 b.p, [Beta-4l063] and 10,345t80 b,p. [Beta40680 and ETH-73241. Bolen points, a representative of
the tradition from northem Florida, have been recovered
from a sealed stratigraphic deposit dated 9,7301120 b.p,
(Michie 1.996:250).
Hardaway and Charleston Corner Notched points,
which share specific attributes with the Niagara Frontier
specimens are equally early. Hardaway points have been
associated with dates of 9,640t450 b.p. (DeJarnette et al.
L962) at the Stanfield-V/orley Shelter, Alabama, and
9,360*120 b.p. a929) at Richmond Hill, Staten Island,
New York. Charleston Corner Notched points were associated with Kessell points at St. Albans and with a radiocarbon date of 9,4351270 b.p. [GX-4126] at the Icehouse
Bottom site in the Tellico Dam basin, Little Tennessee
River valley, Tennessee (Chapman 1977: l6L).
Broyles (1971:26, Figure 25a,b) recovered two similar
projectile points, one fluted and one unfluted, from the
riverbank adjacent to the St, Albans site. Based on the
depth at which the fluted example was found, Broyles
infened that thesc were earlier than either the Kessell Side
l.lofched or Charlestot Corner Notched points associated
with her 9,850*250 b.p. date, and Joffre L. Coe agreed
that these appeared to be styiisticaiiy transitionai from his
Hardaway Side Notched to the Palmcr Corner Notched

l- ^ .i^^,.1--"" ..f -.^^".,L

.,.:rL
-"t-'^
^Ll:,,.,,"
rrilELt"lrrr {t !q:rrnJLil "",..^
rlr4tctdtrY
w!rr!
w} k:l^^*,,11",
urr!!LluE.
tlrr:5 tilE;

,,",^"*ir*a+ni ^^^ ^f i nnn

^'" rrrrrLLu
wtrrr rrr
tyP!" ,,,i11-

flake sears extending from each lateral mariin inwards and

proximally towards the base, resulting in a chevron-like
patfern similar to that reported for Charleston Corner

797It 26, Figure 35).

preceding bifaces, yet share a suite of non-metric attributes

with Big Sandy (I), Kessell and other members of the Early
Side Notched cluster. Two of these specimens (BECHS
6H48, BMS C2352d) were found in the vicinity of Irving,
Chautauqua County, New York. A third (BMS C16221a)
was found at the "Fort Neuter" site, probably the vicinity of
the Shelby site, Orleans County, New York, which has been
known as "Neuter Fort" or "Fort Neuter" to avocational
archaeologists for more than a century.o No specific collec-

tion locality is recorded for the fourth (BECHS 60-805)

specimen, although it is certainly from the Niagara Frontier
region. All four examples were manufactured from
Onondaga chert,

These four projectile points are relatively large, broad,

side notched bifaces with U-shaped notches that angle
slightly up and inwards towards the center of the blade.
Notches are heavily ground on all four specimens and the
haft elements have squared ears with suggestions of parallel
points extending downward from their proximal comers.
Bases are concave and heavily ground, with the exception
of BMS CI622La, which is only lightly ground. The lateral
margins of the haft elements are lightly ground or
unground. The bases on all four examples were thinned by
the removal of multiple flakes from one or both faces of the
proximal end. Two examples (BMS C16221a and BECHS
648) have been thinned on one side by the removal of a

flute-like channel flake running most of the length of the

biface. The blades, in all cases, have been severely reduced

f nn l-.
/Tl.^"!*"
-. t.r\rJrv
rrlr!

Tunrbaugh (1975: 89*92, Plate ila-ri) described simiiar

projectile points from sites near Linden and Lewisburg,

ANTHROPOLOGY

PA, in the upper Susquehanna River valley, associated with

spurred trianguloid endscrapers, typical elements of

Paleoindian assemblages. Turnbaugh described these
bifaces as Dalton variants because of their flute-like basal
thinning, even though their formal and technological
attributes separate them fairly clearly from classic Dalton
examples. Nevertheless, the flute-like basal thinning, con_
cave bases and ear-like projections on the point bases, as
well as their reported association with spuned endscrapers,
do recall Late Paleoindian manufacturing trajectories and
assemblages. Together with Broyles' inferred stratigraphic
placement at St, Atbans, these are further indicatois iug_
gesting an age for these projectile points at the end of the
Pleistocene or in the earliest part of the Holocene.
This projectile point type is currently unnamed and
known only from a scattering of locations in West Virginia,
Pennsylvania and, now, Westem New york. Metric and
non-metric attributes suggest that it is an extremely early
Early Holocene style. Based on stylistic cross-ties we
suggest that it may represent a northern variant of a
widespread style-group that includes Bolen, Big Sandy (I),
Graham Cave Side Notched, Taylor and Kessell points as
southeastem and midcontinental representatives of a tradi_
tion dating to the period IO,ZS0-9,750 b.p. (Anderson et al.
1996: 15). Further examples of this type, recovered in association with dated materials, may allow the definition of a
distinct new type within rhe Early Side Notched cluster.
Kessell points, though noted by Trubowitz (1979), have
never been formally described from New york State, Big
Sandy (I)-like points have not been previously reporte
from New York State, Their closest published occurrence is
in the Cross Creek drainage of southwestem pennsylvania
(Adovasio et al. 1995: 10). As noted above, bifaces similar
to the broad, fluted and basally thinned examples from the
Niagara Frontier have been recorded in the upper Ohio
River basin and the West Branch of the Susquehanna River
(Broyles 1971, Tumbaugh 1975). The Nigara Fronrier
examples appear to represent, in small numbers, a series of
stylistically and technologically linked styles typical of the
Early Side Notched Cluster. Based on cross-ties to
specimens in dated context, these styles'dates are expected
to straddle the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary, ca.
10.200-9..500 h n
RMSC 88.118.150, field or srudy number: A279, Stateiprovince: New
York, County: Niagara, Towry'Site: pell site (Lkp 002), material: Onondaga
ehert, weight (grams): 4,2, maximurn length (mm): [39.2], maxirnuur wi<irh
(mrn): 23.3, shoulder width (mm) 20.8, maxinum thickness (mm);
4.9, base
wirith (mm): 23.3, minimum haft widrh (mm): 15,8, haft lengrh (mni): 12.5,

left notch width (mm): 3.1, right norch widrh (mm):2,7,left norch deprh
imrn): .r.0. risht nntch denfh m. ? r refi nnrh ur.
an^r. rro
..;^!.. utr,
-^..r.
, | 5r,r
angle: "2", bifurcation depth (mm): 2.5, bifurcation width (mm): I5.9, conr_

pleteness: tip missing, proxirnal end rnorphology: side notched, cross section: f1at, basal grinding: light, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge

13

morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: light, scrration: light. Notes:

very thin, resharpening has nearly removed left notch juncture with blade
margin. Type: Kessell Side Notched (Broyles 1971: 60-61).

RMSC 88.118,159, field or srudy number: A-193, State/province:

New York, County: Niagara, Town/Site; pell site (Lkp 002), material:
Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 5.2, maximum lengrh (mm):
[29.2], max_
imum width (mm): 28.3, shoulder width (mm) 27.1, maximum thickness
(mni): 6.5, base width (mm): 28.3, minimum haft widrh (mm): 23.0, haft

length (mm): 8.1, left notch width (mm): 3.6, right notch width (mm): _,
left notch depth (mm): 2.7, right notch depth (mrn): -, left notch angle: 52o,
right notch angle: -, bifurcation depth (mm): 2.0, bifurcation width (mm):
25.2, completeness: tip missing, proximal end morphology: side notched,
cross section; plano-convex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grind-

ing: absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent,

serration: light, one side only. Notes: Finely serrated, wide basal thinning
on one face only. Type: Kessell Side Notched (Broyles

l97l:

60_61).

RMSC 88.118.169, field or study number: A-93, Staterovince: New

York, County: Niagara, Town/Site: Pell site (Lkp-002), material:

Onondaga, weight (grams): 4.8, maximum length (mm): [29.3], maximum
width (mm): 25.3, shoulder width (mm) 24.0, maximum thickness (mm):
6.2, base width (mm): 25.3, minimum hafr width (mm): 19.3, haft lengrh
(mm): 12.2, left notch width (mm): 6.2, nght notch width (mm): 4.4, left
notch depth (mm): 3.5, righr notch depth (mm): 2.0,leftnotch angle: 7lo,
right notch angle: 860, bifurcation depth (mm): 1,5, bifurcation width
(mm): 17.4, completeness: tip missing, proximal end morphology: side
notched, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: light, notch or stem

grinding: heavy, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening:

light, senation: light. Type: Big Sandy (I) (DeJamerte et al. 1962:49) with
similarities to Kessell Side Norched type (Broyles l97l).
BECHS 60-805, field or study number: ,2 arrow",
State/province:

New York, County: Erie?, TowVSite: -, material: Onondaga chert, weight

(grams): 8.7, maximum length (mm): [49.0], maximum width (mm): 30.6,
shoulde width (mm) 27.2, maximum thickness (mm): 6.6, base width
(mm): 30.6, minimum haft widrh (mm): 19..0, haft length (mm): 13.0, left
notch width (mm): 7.7, right norch widrh (mm): 7.5, left notch depth (mm):
4.8, right notch depth (mm): 4,4, Ieft norch angle: 70o, right notch angle:
76o, bifurcation depth (mm): 1.8, bifurcation width (mm): 23.4, complete_
ness:. tip missing, proximal end morphology: side notched, cross section:
plano-convex, basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem grinding: heavy, blade

edge morphology: straiglrt, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: heavy.

Notes: Basal thinning flakes on both faces extend to the mid-notch level
and slightly higher on the ventral surface. Type: unnamed, suggested links
to Kessell and Big Sandy (I) types (Broyles 19?1, DeJamerte et al. 1962:
49) and, especially, to unnanred hafted bifaces r.ecovered at the St. Albans

site, West Virginia (Broyles

Lgil

26, figure 25a-b).

BECHS 66-448, field or study number: I47, State/province: New

York, County: Chautauqua, Town,/Site: lrving, material: Onondaga chert,
weight (grams): 5.1, maxirnum length (mm): 33.2, maximum width (nrm):
27.7, shoulder width (mm) 24.8, maximum thickness (mm): 5,g, base
rvidth (mm): 27.7, minimum hft width (mnr): 18., hft lengrh (mm):
12.7, left norch widfh (tnrl 1"t1, righi nr:rrch wiclih (mm): r$.9, Ieff :r*rch
rlepth (mm)r 4.1, right notch depth (rnm): 3,5, left riotch arg!e: 76,,5o, right

notch angle: 66", bifurcation depth (mm): 2.4, bifurcation width (rnm):
i4.9, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: side notched,

BULLETIN OF TIIE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATL]RAL SCIENCES

t4

heavy, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: none, serration; light and worn o absent. Notes: Basal thinning flakes run to top of

(Chapman 1977) and that Thebes Cluster bifaces may be

absent from sites dominated by Kirk Corner Notched
Cluster or Early Side Notched Cluster diagnostics (Dris-

haft on one face, semifluted on other; chevron resharpening on both faces,

kell 1994, E. Smirh 1995),

extreme basal grinding extending around basal ears to the inside of both
notches. Type: unnamed, suggested links to Kessell and Big Sandy (I) types

Two Thebes Cluster specimens (BMS C1256 and BMS

C2237b) were found in the city of Buffalo, Erie County,
New York. One of these (BMS CI256), referable to the
Thebes type as defined by Justice (1987), is made from

cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: hcavy, notch or stem grinding:

(Broyles 1971, DeJarnette et al. 1962: 49) and, especially, to unnamed

hafted bifaces recovered at the St. Albans site, West Virginia (Broyles 1971:
26, figure 25a-b).

BMS C2352d, field or study number: ", Staterovince: New York,

County: Erie, TowrVSite: Brant, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams):
7.2, maximum length (mm): 38.3, maximum width (mrn)l 29.2, shoulder
width (mm) 29.2, rnaximurn thickness (mm): 6.8, base width (mm): 27.8,
minimum haft width (mm): 20.8, haft length (mm): 12.6, left notch width
(mm): 7.2, right notch wiclth (mm): 7.8, left notch depth (mm): 3.8, right
notch depth (mm): 3.9, left notch angle: 69o, right notch angle: 64o, bifurca-

tion depth (mm): 1.1, bifurcation width (mm): 23.7, completeness: com'
plete, proximal end morphology: side notched, cross section: plano-convex,
basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem grinding: heavy, blade edge morphol-

ogyi shaight, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: light. Type: unnamed,

similar to Kessell and Big Sandy (I) types (Broyles 1971, DeJamette et al.
1962:49), Big Sandy Broad-based subtype (Carnbron and Hulse1976: l5)
and unnamed hafted bifaces recovered t the St. Albans site, West Virginia

(Broyles

l97l

26, figure 25a-b).

BMS C16621a, field or study number: -, State/Province: New York,

County: Orleans?, Towy'Site: "Fort Neuter", material: Onondaga chert,
weight (grams): 5.9, maximum length (mm): 36.0, maximum width (mm):
26,9, shoulder width (mm) 25.7, maximum thickness (mm): 6.2, base width

(mm):26.9, minimum haft width (mm): 1?.9, haft length (mm): 14.3, Ieft
notch width (mm): 7.0, right notch width (mm): 6.5, left notch depth (mm):

4.0, right notch depth (mm): 3.7, left notch angle:74o, right notch angle:
85o, bifurcation depth (mm): 2.0, bifurcation width (mm): 21.5, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: side notched, cross section:
plano-cnvex, basal grinding: light, notch or stem grinding: heavy, blade

edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: light.

Notes: basal thinning on one face, other face is fluted. Type: unnamed, suggested links to Kessell and Big Sandy

(I) types (Broyles 1971, DeJarnette et

aL.1962:49) and, especially, to unnamed hafted bifaces recovered at the

Albans site, West Virginia (Broyles l97l:.26, figure 25a-b).

St.

Thebes Cluster (N=6; Figure 2; Plate 2)

Six projectile points in the sample can be assigned to

three types within the Eariy Archaic Thebes Cluster
(lThebes, n=l; Lost Lake, n=1; and St, Charles, n= 4],
Justice 1987: 5440). Most Thebes Cluster hafted bifaces
are thought to have served as heavy-duty knives and some
researchers have suggested that they represent specialized
elements in toolkts that also included hafteci bifaces of the

trariy Side Notehed and/or Kirk Ccrner Notched Clusters

8t^thnrc 1O()/-l
tr.'rrirlpnn frnm ctrnfifinri ricnnqitc in thp
a//vr.
D\

lurvrvr

rnirl-snulh, bowever, st-lpports the irJea tirat Thebes Ciuster

bifaces may apper siightly earlier in the archaeological
record than those of the Kirk Corner Notched Cluster

locally available Onondaga chert. The other (BMS

C2237b) is a heavily beveled Lost Lake point of Wyandotte chert, found in South Buffalo by an early local
archaeologist (H.U. Williams) whose other collections are
overwhelmingly local in nature and show no anomalous
concentrations of Ohio Valley raw materials or point
styles. As this biface is labeled "South Buffalo" in Williams' handwriting, we accept its provenance.
A third projectile point from the Buffalo Museum of
Science collection (BMS C21856), conforms closely to the
St. Charles type (Justice 1987: 57-58) and was recovered
from the Gillmore Farm site, in the Town of Alden, Erie
County, New York during the 1920s or 1930s. This
specimen is manufactured from Onondaga chert, Another
point (BECHS 60-805) exhibits the dove-tail base, shallow central basal concavity, heavy basal grinding, lateral
margin serration and alternate beveling of the St, Charles
type. Provenience data for this specimen is ambiguous, but
is presumed to be local and was flaked from Onondaga

chert. Two additional St. Charles points (RMSC

88,118.296, RMSC 88.118.300) made from Onondaga
chert were recovered from the Pel[ Site, in the Town of
Lockport, Niagara county.
Most of the Thebes Cluster artifacts located in Niagara
Frontier collections are made from locally available lithic
raw materials; only one (BMS CZZ376) is made from an
exotic chert type. Thebes Cluster projectile points are not
normally associated with eastern Great Lakes prehistory,
yet the presence of examples made from local raw
materials, and provenience data for the Buffalo Museum
of Science and Pell site specimens, supports the existence
of these types in the northem Lake Erie basin.
Isolated examples of Thebes Cluster projectile points
made from exotic raw materials have been identified in

southern Ontario collections but have ambiguous

provenience dafa (Mason i98 1: Plate 4.8; Peter Storck,
Royal Ontario Museum, personal communication, 1991),
Thebes Cluster projectile points are well-represented in
L
.1^C L^
---)
^t-^ n-:^
ur
luv TLa
lfrr L^^:-uaslD
tllc wcstsrll ulru
collecllons lroll]
(Stothers 1996), wherc they were made from locally avail-

able raw materials and fiom chert types with becirock

sources 75-150 kilometers distant from the sites where he

.."^i..r^ ",,^*^
'r'i-,^
-^^^=,^*^;
v *.^^--^
wr
u!uYUuu.
Pvv!v
^f . Ti.^h^" 1""t^*
)url
iriface rnanufactured from V/yandotfe chert in the Nragara

Frontier sampie may reprcsent an extreme extension of.

this pattern, irnplying movement of raw material nearly

ANTHROPOLOGY
600 kilometers from its nearest source are,

Projectile point styles associated with the Thebes

Cluster have been dated in the midcontinental region to the
first half of the Early Archaic period and may precede the
appearance of styles linked to the Kik Corner Notched
Cluster (although see Srorhers 1996:

l8l).

Thebes and Sr.

Charles styles were associated with dates of 9,4801400 b.p.
and 9,290f300 b.p. in Zone IV of Graham Cave (Klippel
1971, cited in Justice 1987:54) and circa 9,450 b.p. at the
Twin Ditch site in wesrem Illinois (Banks 1991, cited in
DeRegnaucourt 1992: 118). Projectile points with general

similarities to the Lost Lake type (Icehouse Bottom

Category 38, Chapman 1977 51) were recovered from the
lowest stratigraphic levels of the Icehouse Bottom site,

Tennessee, in association with a radiocarbon date of

9,435x270 b.p. ([GX-4126], Chapman 1977:161). Srorhers
(1996) suggests an age range for Thebes points from 9,600

to 8,900 b,p., but a mid-tenth millennium b.p. range, ca,

9,750-9,250 b.p. seems more in line with published dates
and the stratigraphic position of related Thebes Cluster
types in sites across the midcontinent,

Thebes and St. Charles points have a broad midwestem

distribution focused on the Ohio River drainage basin
(Justice 1987) and extending into its western Pennsylvania
tributaries (Adovasio et aI. 1974:41, Figure 5h, i; Adovasio
et al, 1995: 10). Published summaries (Justice 1987,

DeRegnaucourt 1992) suggest that the distribution of

Thebes points extends farther north than the St. Charles
type. Examples of the Thebes type are known from the

lower peninsula of Michigan and north-central Ohio

(Stothers 1996) and both Lost Lake and St. Charles points
have been recorded from southem Ohio, western West
Virginia and westem Pennsylvania (Justice 1987, Adovasio
et al. 1995), A St. Charles-like variant, known locally as
the Kline type, was also recovered from deep Early
Holocene levels at the Shawnee-Minisink site in pennsylvania's upper Delaware Valley (McNett 1985).
This is the first formal report of Thebes, St. Charles and
Lost Lake points in New York state, although Fogelman
(1988: 46) states fhat small numbers of Thebes and St.
Charles points exist in undescribed, presumably private,
collections from westem and central New York,
BECHS 60-805, field or study number: "3 arrow", State/province:
New York, County: Erie?, Towry'Site: -, material: Onondaga chert, weight
(grams): 7.1, maximum length (mm): 36.4, maximum width (mm): 30.6,
shoulde width (nrm) 23.3, maximurn thickness (mm): 8.2, base width
(mm): 30.6, minimum haft widrh (mrn): 17.?, hafr lengrh (mrn): 14.1, left
notch width (mm): 6,3, right ntcl widrl-r (mnr): 6.0, ieft otch deprh (mm):
5.0, right notch depth (mm): 3.5, lefr notch angle:92.5., righr notch angle:
J-rL (m):
Oo
/*-\.
r/^ L:r..-^^ri^orluIcuO eptn
)J , L;f,,-^-r;^i\11'\,
iiiciion ri/'in (irri): tr-/A. ururrplclcness: compiete, proximai

cid norlhlogy: side notclied, ciurs

l5

BMS C1256, field or study numbe: -, State/province: New york,

County: Erie, Towry'Site: Buffalo, material: Onondaga chert, weight
(grams): 7.7, maximum length (mm): 38.3, maximum width (mm):
[ca.
32.01, shoulder width (mm) 2.1, rnaximum thickness (mm): 7.1, base
width (mm): [ca. 32.0], minimum hfr widrh (mm): 19.4, hafr length (mm):
14.9, bft notch width (mm): 8.1, righr norch widrh (mm): -, lefr norch
depth (mm): 6.0, right notch depth (mm): -, left notch angle: g6o, right
notch angle: -, bifurcation depth (mm):

N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/A,

completeness: one barb missing, proximal end morphology: side notched,

cross section: beveled, basal grinding: heavy, notch

or stem grinding:

heavy, blade edge morphology; convex, bevel resharpening: heavy, senation: absent. Type: Thebes type (Justice 1987) with sinilarities, as well, to
Chapman's (1977) icehouse Bottom Category 37.

BMS C2237b, field or study number: -, StatelProvince: New york,

County: Erie, Towr/Site: South Buffalo, material: Wyandotte chert, weight
(grams): 16.5, maximum length (mm): 59.6, maximum width (mm): 40.0,

shoulder width (mm) 40.0, maximum thickness (mm): 8.9, base width
(mm): 27.6, minimum haft width (mm): 20.0, hafr lengrh (mm): 15.7, left
notch width (mm): 6.3, right notch width (mm): -, left norch deprh (mm):
9.9, right notch depth (mm): -, left notch angle: 55o, right notch angle: 52o,

bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness:

one barb damaged, proximal end morphology: comer notched, cross section: beveled, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade
edge morphology: concave/convex, bevel resharpening: heavy, serration:
light, Type: Lost Lake (Justice 1987).

BMS C21856, field or study number: -, State/?rovince: New york,

County: Erie, Town/Site: Gillmore Farm, Town of Alden, material:
Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 6.6, maximum length (mm): 36.8, maximum width (mm): 27.4, shoulder width (mm) 27.4, maximum thickness
(mm): 7.5, base width (mm): 25.4, minimum haft width (mm): 17.6, haft
length (mm): 13.4, left notch width (mm): 4.5, right notch width (mm): 6.5,
left notch depth (mm): 4.0, right notch depth (mm): 4.7, Ieft notch angle:
72o, right notch angle: 86o, bifurcation depth (mm):

N/4, bifurcation width

(mm): N/4, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: side

notched, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: heavy, notch ot stem

grinding: light, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening:

absent, serration: light. Type: St. Charles (Justice 198?: 5?-58).

RMSC 88.118.296, fie or study number: A-277, StateTprovince:

New York, County: Niagara, Town/Site: Lockport, Pell site (Lkp 002),
material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 7.0, maximum iength (mm):
36.7, maximum width (mm): 29,1, shoulder width (mm) 24.2, maximum
thickness (mm): 7.1, base width (mm): 29.1, minimum haft width (mm):

17.''l,haft length (mm): 14.8, Ieft notch width (mrn): 7.1, righr norch width
(mm): 7.0, left notch depth (mm): 3.8, right norch rlepth (mm): 4,5, left
notch angle: 84o, right notch angle: 96o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/A,
bifucation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: side notched, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: hcavy,
uotch or stem grinding: heavy, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel
resharpening: absent, serration: heavy. Type: St. Charies (Justice l9g7:
57-5R\

HM(. Hl.ii$..i. rejr or sirrry nulnirer:

n-i7i.

Slalsp6y!s

biconvex, basal grinding: hcavy, notch or siem griirding: heavy, blace edge

i'{ew Yorh, County: Niagara, Towry'Siie: Lockport, Peii sire (Lkp 002),
maferial; Onondaga cher, weighi (grams): i4.i, nraximum lerrgth (mm):

morpho.logy; straight, bevei resharpening: light, serration: light,

49.0, maximurn width (mm): 37.5, shoulder width (mm) 34.6, maximum

suutiir.

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

t6

thickness (rnm): 8.4, base width (mm): 37.5, minimum haft width (mm):
23.8, haft length (rnm): 15.0, left notch width (mm): 5.5, right notch width

(mm): 8.8, left notch depth (mm): 6.7, right notch depth (mm): 5.4, left
notch ngle: 86", right notch angle: ?7o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4,
bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete, proximal end mor'
phology: side notched, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: heavy,
notch or stem grinding: heavy, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel
resharpening: absent, serration: absent. Type: St. Charles (Justice 1987:
57-58).

Kirk Corner Notched Cluster (N=23; Figure 2; Plates 2,7)

Twenty three projeetile points in the Niagara Frontier
sample can be assigned to types within the Kirk Comer
Notched Cluster (Justice 1987:71-82), These include Kirk
Corner Notched, small variety with ground bases [a.k.a.
Palmer or Chapman's Icehouse Bottom Category 33, n=3];
Kirk Corner Notched, small to medium with ground bases
[a.k.a. Palmer, Icehouse Bottom Category 31, n=5]; Kirk
Comer Notched, small variety [a.k.a. Icehouse Bottom
Category 25, n=21; Kirk Corner Notched, large variety
[a.k.a. Icehouse Bottom Category 24, n=10] and three
bifaces that suggest links between the Kirk Corner Notched

Cluster and either the Thebes or Early Side Notched

Clusters.

The taxonomic framework within which to interpret

component types of the Kik Corner Notched Cluster has
been debated for the past two decades. Data from deeply
stratified sites in the midwest, northeast and mid-south pro-

duce somewhat contradictory results.

At the core of

this

debate are the Palmer type, a small, comer notched biface

with heavily ground basal edges that many archaeologists

feel represents the earliest variant of this tradition, and

basal grinding itself. Many researchers view basal grinding
as a chronologically sensitive trait that decreases in frequency through the temporal span represented by the Kirk
Corner Notched Cluster (Coe 1964, Broyles 1971, Cable
1996). Other researchers, however, have argued that the
Palmer type is not truly separable from a highly variable
range of smatt Kirk Corner Notched varieties and find no
evidence to support the use of basal grinding as a
temporally diagnostic trait (Chapman I975,1977; Kimball
1996). Justice's (1987: ?8) description of the Palmer type
illusfrates the eonfusion sumounding this issue, since he
argues in the same paragraph that the type can be typologically distinguished only by its heavy basal grinding and
also that basal grinding, alone, is "not a significant criterion
for distinguishing them."
The Paimer type was viewed as an early style in ihe
Carolina piedmont, where it was first identified (Cae 1964,
tlahie 1996'lvet
ex_Cavations a_i nuruerot!s rir:eniv llrtirr
- "/,
f _"
and weii-stratifie< Early rchaic componenis in the Teilicc
basin of Tennessee werc urable to verify it as a separaliie
form with a chronologically restricted range, However,

those excavations succeeded in subdividing the Kirk

Corner Notched Cluster into three stratigraphically controlled groupings that appear to have broad regional
chronological implications,

The earliest portion of this sequence (Chapman's

"Lower Kirk" levels) is represented by corner notched projectile points with broad, excurvate ground bases. Kimball
(1996: 158) suggests these are probably equivalent to
Broyles' (197I: 557) Charleston Corner Notched type,

the earliest Kirk-like style in the St. Albans (West

Virginia) sequence. Next in the Little Tennessee regional
sequence are a series of small Kirk Corner Notched forms
with naffow, predominantiy straight, ground and unground
bases. Kimball draws a connection between these "small

Upper Kirks" and Broyles' (1971: 6243) "Kirk Comer

Notched, Small Variety." Many of the ground-base
variants in the "small Upper Kirk" and "Lower Kirk"
horizons may be equated with the original Palmer type
description, stripped of its stricter chronological implications (Justice 7987:78-79). Finally, the latest portion of
the Kfuk sequence is best represented by larger, comer
notched bifaces with broad, straight or incurvate, ground
or unground bases (Kimball 1996: 158). These "large
Upper Kirks" (Icehouse Bottom Category 24; Chapman
1977: 4L) appear to be chronologically and formally linked
to Broyles' (1.971: 64_{5) "Kirk Corner Notched, Large
variety" bifaces (Kimball 1996). This tripartite sequence
of lower Kirk, small Upper Kirk and large Upper Kirk
horizons has been shown to have general validity over
much of eastern temperate North America (Chapman
1980, Kimball 1996: 158-159) and serves in this study as
a provisional taxonomic framework for organizing Kirk
Corner Notched Cluster bifaces from the lower Great
Lakes region,

Most Kirk-like bifaces identified

in regional

collec-

tions could be easily assigned to one of the sub-categories

established by Broyles (1971) or Chapman (1975, 1977).
Thee bifaces, however, combine attributes of early Kirk
Corner Notched Cluster and Thebes or Early Side Notched

styies. One projectile poin

in the Holland Land

Office

Museum collection (HLOM 186,24.37MS study no, 12)

combines attributes suggestive of both the Thebes and the
Kirk Corner Notcheel Clusters. The point is part cf a collection from Genesee County, New York and is manufactured from Onondaga chert. The flattened cross-section of
the blade and the point's expanding, shallowly incurvate
base find parallels in larger variants of the Kirk Comer
Notchecl type (Broyles 1971, Chapman 1977).The point's

heavy basai grinding, iighier grinciing around ihe basai

ears and both notches, and its alternately bevel-retorched
hiadc
mnr'inc qvt
are. v
hn'.vever.
rrnclraracierisf ic atiribuics for
rr
!r,rrrhru
vruuv
the Kirk Corner Notcired Ciuster but are eonlmon
attributes of 'Ihebes and Eariy Side lr{otched Ciuster projectile point preparation and reduction strategies, Although

ANTHROPOLOGY

no clear parallels have been identified in the published literature, this specimen's attributes suggest a temporal placement during the earlier portion of the Early Archaic period.

Two bifaces with straight to convex ground

bases,

squared basal ears, broad, ground side notches and heavily

serrated, bifacially beveled blade margins conform to

Chapman's (1977: 49-50) Category 37 ("pseudo-side
notched, squared basal tang") from the Icehouse Bottom
site, Tennessee. Both specimens in the present sample
(BECHS 16-34 ancl HLOM 186.24,37MS Study #14)
were manufactured from Onondaga chert and are assumed

to be from the Niagara Frontier, although specific

provenience data is lacking for both points. Category 37
bifaces have been interpreted as heavy knives, diagnostic of
the "Lower Kirk" zones at Icehouse Bottom (Chapman

1977: 53, 123-L24). Formal similarities and tenthmillennium (b.p.) radiocarbon dates (9,435t270 b.p, [GX41261and 9,1751240 b,p. [GX-4127]) from the Lower Kirk
zone at Icehouse Bottom support a temporal placement
between the Early Side Notched and Upper Kirk horizons
(Chapman 1,977: 161-162). Two Kirk Corner Notched
points from the West Water Street Site (Custer et al. 1996:
Figure 32, middle and right), along the west branch of

t7

type. Basal grinding is heavy and deliberate. One of these

points was collected at the Pell Site, Town of Lockport,

Niagara County, while another (HLOM 186.13.33) is

thought to have been collected in Genesee County, New
York, although exact provenience is unreported. The base
of BMS C2352c, found in the town of Brant, Erie County,
New York, has been ground heavily enough to create
facets along the basal margin. Lateral edge resharpening
on this point includes both serration and gentle alternate

bevel retouch. Although uncommon, one Category 33

point at Icehouse Bottom was also beveled (Chapman
1977:48).

Five points (BFCHS 60-805, BMS C2129b:2, BMS

C2225a, BMS C2352d, and BMS C16221c) conform to
Category 31 at Icehouse Bottom ("Kfuk Corner Notched,
small to medium, ground bases;" Chapman 1977: 47),
which differs from Category 33 primarily in the dimension
of maximum length. One of these (BMS C2225a) was
recovered from the City of Fort Erie, Niagara Regional

Municipality, Ontario. Another (BMS C2I29b:2) is

to have been collected in the village of Irving,

reported

Chautauqua County, while a third (BMS C2352d) is from

the nearby Town of Brant, in southern Erie County, New

Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River, appear to share

numerous attributes with Chapman's "Lower Kirk"
taxonomic group and the Niagara Frontier specimens.
These specimens were recovered from a sealed stratum,
dated to 9,430t310 b.p. [Beta-53664] (Custer et al. 1994,
1996). Available data, therefore, suggest that these two
Niagara Frontier points are referable to the interval

York. Although its exact provenience is unrecorded,

BECHS 60-805 is presumed to be local and may have
been found, as well, in Erie County. Finally, Cl622Ia is
repofed to have come from "Fort Neuter," a site believed
to be in the Town of Shelby, Orleans County, New York.s
Two points conform closely to Category 25 points
from Icehouse Bottom ("Kirk Corner Notched, small vari-

9,50G-9,200 b,p.
Ten bifaces in the study sample conform closely to des-

ety"; Chapman 197'l: 4l-42). One example (BMS

criptions of Kirk Corner Notched, small variety (Icehouse

Bottom Categories 25,31 and 33; Chapman 1977: 4748)
and Palmer projectile points (Coe 1964, Broyles 1971) and
are tentatively assigned here to a middle portion of the Kirk
Corner Notched Cluster sequence, equivalent to the Tellico
region's "small Upper Kirk" horizon (Kimball 1996: 158).
These points are small to medium comer-notched bifaces

with flattened to lenticular cross-sections, generally trianguloid blades with straight to mildly excurvate lateral
margins, haft elements as wide as or wider than the blade,
barbed proximal blade ends and greater or lesser degrees of
grinding on straight to excurvate bases and in the coner
notchcs. In the study sample, most representatives of this
group were resharpened by controlled pressure flaking and
blade edge serration. Heavy wear along the edges of a few
examples has obscured the extent of former serration and
suggests that these lrifaces were utilized, at tines, as hoavy
duty cutting toois.
'l:h-^..
t trtvv

RMSC 88

\'^ttlrlu
^."' ^*"*l^^

/DtC
tlvlJ

fr1"C^
w.L.r.rLL,

Ir,1/JvJ
ll
^t

1aa 1a
..
|.)..1..
.l
^ll.

conform to trcehouse Bcttom's Category

33 ("Kirk Corner Notched, small with ground base;" Cliarman 7977:48), which closely matches Coe's (1964) Palmer
1

18. ! 19)

C30137) was recovered from a lithic scatter surrounding a

Iarge spring-head adjacent to the Byron-Bergen Swamp in
the rolling uplands of Genesee County, New York. The
second example (BMS EdAl158) is identified only as
being "local," implying a generic Niagara Frontier origin.
All small variety Kirk Corner Notched points (a.k.a.
Icehouse Bottom Categories 25,31 and 33) identified in

Niagara Frontier collections were manufactured from

locally available Onondaga chert.
Small variety Kirk Corner Notched points are said to

be most common in the middle portions of the Kirk

sequence (Broyles 1971, Chapman 1977). Broyles
recovered Kirk Corner Notched, small variety, hafted
bifaces from Zone 20 of the St. Albans Site, West
Virginia, in association with a date of 8,930t80 b.p.
(Broyies 7971: 57. Small variant Khk Corner Notched
points were dated to 9,490*23A b.p. and 8,440*380 b.p. ar

the Longworth-Giek sire, Kentucky (Collins and Driskell

1979, cited in Jeffries i988: 99). At eep Shelfcr,
Kentucky, an H,arly Arehaic living floor with snaii Kirk
Corner Nctched points produced. a radiocarban date of
8,520*470 b"p. (Jeffries 1988: 98). Finally, Category 31
bifaces ("Kirk Corner Notched, small to medium, ground

18

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

Figure 2. Regional distribution of Thebes and Kirk Corner Notched Cluster bifaces in the Niagara Frontier region. Open
symbols in shaded circles indicate specimens for which only county provenience is available. Shorelines of the lower
Great Lakes approximate modem locations, rather than Late Pleistocenearly Holocene positions.

base") were recovered from the fill of a feature at the

Icehouse Bottom site, Tennessee, in direct association with
a charcoal sample dated to 9,350t2I5 b.p. [GX-4125]
(Chapman 1977 : 47, 16l).
Both at Icehouse Bottom and at the St. Albans site,
depth-controlled seriation suggests that small variety Kirk
Corner Notched points, with and without basal grinding,
were more common in deeper strata than those in which the
larger variants of the Kirk Corner Notched type predominated. Radiocarbon dates from strata dominated by these
two variants, however, overlap wifhin the 9,50G-8,500 b,p.
range, suggesting that although subtle temporal differences
in their frequency may exist within sites, both size classes
may have been produced throughout the entire "Upper
Kirk" phase, making ir elifficult, if not impossible, io allocate individual specimens to one or the other end of this
thousand year span. Nonetheless, available evidence suggcsts ttc srnaljcr sizc e iasl, wif h grcat rnternal variabiilty in
resirarpening lra-iectories ancl inciclence of !:asai grinding, is
rnost frequenfly encountered during the earlier portion of
the cited range, circa 9,500-8,800 b,p.

Ten bifaces from the surveyed Niagara Frontier collections conform to Chapman's definition of "large Upper
Kirk" (Icehouse Bottom Category 24; Chapman 1977;41)
and Broyles' "Kirk Corner Notched, large variety" bifaces
(Broyles L97L: 65). Regional collections contain both

highly resharpened and nearly pristine examples, the latter

frequently exhibiting well-controlled diagonal or collateral
soft-hammer percussion flaking across the blade with pressure flaking and fine senation of the blade edges. Heavy
or coarse serration is rarely observed on these points,
although examination of the edges of rnany larger Kirk

Corner Notched examples from the Niagara Frontier

region suggests that the apparent absence of heavy serration may reflect advanced wear on formerly serrated
specirnens. Initial stages of resharpening frequently pper
to have involved removing long, narrow pressure flakes
frorr eacli blacle edge, with flake scars extending from
each iatera!, rnargins in'"'ards and prcximaiiy towareis the
base. The resnltant appearance is of chevron retouch. In
ater stages of resharpening, when thickness to width ratios

increase, retouch seems

to become tnoLe random

and

ANTHROPOLOGY

bifaces discaded after long use-histories may retain little of

the originally well-controlled flaking on their dorsal and

ventral surfaces.
Bases range from straight to concave, with variable
amounts of basal grinding or intentional thinning. Long,
parallel thinning flakes struck from the basal margin are,
however, commonly represented, At the St. Albans site, the
concave-based variety of large Kirk Corner Notched points
was most common in the uppermost strata of the site,s Kirk
zone, and may span the Kirk/Bifurcate transition (Broyles

l97I:

65).

Overall, artifacts attributed to the Kirk Corner Notched

Cluster are lelatively thin for their size, where original
width can be estimated, and differ from later corner
notched projectile point types in several important respects.

As these points are frequently intermixed with specimens

attributed to Ritchie's Late Archaic Brewerton Corner
Notched type in Niagara Frontier collections, and as they
are sometimes misidentified as late Middle Woodland
Jack's Reef Corner Notched points, a brief statement on
identification criteria is wananted. Bifaces assigned here to
the Kirk Corner Notched Cluster can be distinguished by
their relatively flat cross-section, which was achieved
through well-controlled cross-blade soft-hammer percussion. The flake scars that shaped and flattened the dorsal
and ventral surfaces of these points are more similar in

width, length and flatness to those characteristic of

Paleoindian thinning approaches than later Archaic or
Woodland lithic reduction strategies. In several cases, wellcontrolled collateral or parallel flaking of the preform is
apparent on those parts of the bifaces' dorsal and ventral
surfaces that have not been modified by invasive resharpening, Nearly pristine Kirk Corner Notched bifaces appear

fo have been formed from triangular or subtriangular

preforms and have deep corner notches that left prominent
barbs which rarely extend far beyond the lateral extensions
of a wide, expanding base. Hafting elements are relatively
broad with an overall triangular shape and a flat to slightly
concave base. Basal grinding is highly variable and rarer on
Iarge variety Kirk Corner Notched Cluster bifaces than on
the smaller forms.
In contrast, Ritchie's definition of the Brewerton Corner
Notched type (Ritchie I97\a: 16) stresses the biconvex io
ridged cross-sectior of the blacle, the Brewerton points,
overall thick form and the overhanging character of balbs
that extend well beyond the lateral margins of the expand-

ing base. Jack's Reef Corner Notched points (Ritchie

l97La:26*27) are thinner than Kirk Corner Notched points
and have extremely high width-to-thickness ratios indicative of oreparation from a fiake biank, Jack,s Reef points
fypically have a characterisfic Fentagonai sirape during
early stages cf reduction, refleeting fheir pentagonl
preform shape, Well-controlled but randomly directed pressure flaking was used to thin and form both dorsal and

l9

ventral surfaces of these points,

Large variety Kirk Corner Notched points appear to be
widely distributed within the Niagara Frontier. Examples

included

in this survey include two from the village of

Irving, northern Chautauqua County (BMS C2129b:1 and

BMS C5797a), two from the Gillmore Farm site in the
Town of Alden, Erie County (BMS C21876a and BMS
C21868c), one from the Pell Site, Town of Lockport,
Niagara County (RMSC 88.i18.108) and one from the
Call's Field #1 site, locus 5 in the Town of Byron, Genesee
County, New York (BMS C296i3.004). One specimen in

the Holland Land Office Museum collection (HLOM

186.33.36IBMS Study #4) is from Genesee Counry. Three
specimens are identified only as "local," implying an
origin in the greater Niagara Frontier region, although
exact provenience is unrecorded (BMS Ed41065, BMS
8d41131, BMS EdA1252). All recorded examples were
manufactured from locally available Onondaga chert.

In several well-stratified sites from the southeastern

and midcontinental regions, Iarge variety Kirk Corner
Notched points have been found in contexts that suggest
they were most frequently produced during a late phase in
the developmental sequence represented by the Kirk
Corner Notched Cluster. Radiocarbon dating is, however,
more ambiguous. Age ranges for charcoal samples associated with the larger and smaller Kirk Corner Notched varieties overlap with one another and with dates for the succeeding Bifurcate tradition.

A deeply serrated, large variety Kirk Corner Notched

point from the Patrick Site, in Tennessee's Tellico basin,
was recovered from the same stratum as a charcoal sample

dated to 9,4101240 b.p. (tcx-at27l, Chapman l9l7:

16l-162). This is the earliest dare for this style, Large
variety Kirk Corner Notched points were present in two
strata (Zones 16 and 18) at the St. Albans site, Kanawha
County, West Virginia, associated with radiocarbon dates
of 8,8001160 b.p. and 8,850t160 b.p. (Broyles t97L: 65).
At the Longworth-Gick site, Kentucky, chareoal from a

layer producing large Kirk Corner Notched projectile

points was dated to 8,440*.125 b,p. (Collins and Driskell
1979, cited in Jeffries 1988: 99) and dates of 8,500t320
b.p,, 8,435*275 b,p, and 8,095t275 b.p, were associared
with iarge Kik-reiated comer notched points at Russell

(Griffin 1974: 13).

Icehouse Bottom site, most radiocarbon dates
relevant to the Kirk Corner Notched Cluster were derived
from strata below those that actually produced large variCave, Alabama

At the

ety Kirk Corner Notched points (Cate gary 24; Chapman

1977: 41), These dates, which range from 9,435t270 to
tt,71-5t14 b.p., ma, fherefore provide limiting dates after
-,,i-:

^il1'r.r

.l-

l-

-.--t
- - lllL:- Stl/jU
tjUCllC(;llfft(Jfi tIl iJte n-5(rUf)
dafc of R 5?5+?5q
!r
n tl-Ql?71
frnn:
Ielr,r,,on,,<
r'r'
u!!ru.L
"_
"i'
L'
!'Jl
"
'

\
tom supports this contention. Although this datc was
rejected by Chapman as an unreliable age estimator for the

20

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

1980: Table l), it came from a

stratum (Stratum L) sealed immediately beneath Stratum I,
the context that produced the greatest number of large variety Kirk Corner Notched points at Icehouse Bottom (Chapman 1977: 4l , 162) and was in proper chrono-stratigraphic
order relative to other dated samples there. No clear basis
for rejecting this date is apparent in the published site

Kirk horizon (Chapman

report and the similarity of this date to those from

Longworth-Gick, St, Albans and Russell Cave argues
against its exclusion on any a priori basis.
It is noteworthy that Stratum I, the main stratum containing large variety Kirk Corner Notched points at
Icehouse Bottom, was also the deepest stratigraphic horizon

in which points of the Bifurcate tradition

appeared in
quantity (Chapman 1977: Tab\e 3). Dates for the earliest
Bifurcate tradition horizon (St. Albans phase) at the Rose
Island site in the Little Tennessee River basin range from
8,800t270 b.p. [GX-3,597] to 8,6601180 b.p. [GX-3,598]
(Chapman 1975: Table 26), and at the St, Albans site the
earliest dates on Bifurcate tradition horizons range from

8,830t350 b.p. to 8,820t250 b.p. (Broyles

l97l: 47).

Broyles felt that he dates on the St. Albans phase (early

Bifurcate tradition) Iayers were inexplicably old and Chapman argued that one of his dates for the Kirk horizon was
too young. Yet, all of these dates fall in proper stratigraphic
sequence within their respective sites and match or overlap
the most recent dates associated with large variety Kirk
points at Icehouse Bottem, Longworth-Gick, Russell Cave
and St. Albans. Consequently, it is equally possible that
large variety Kik Corner Notched points may be transitional to, or were used in concert with, the earliest bifurcate
base styles.

Intermixing of Kirk Corner Notched bifaces and bifurcates has been recorded at the Haw River Site, North
Carolina (Lamella 8 floor, Cable 1996: 113). At the St.
Albans site, Broyles notes (1971: 29) that one of the three
earliest bifurcate points (MacCorkle Stemmed type) she
recovered was actually fornd within the uppermost "Kirk
layef' (Zone 16), a stratum otherwise dominated by large
variety Kirk Corner Notched points. Broyles noted, as well,
that MacCorkle Stemmed bifurcates "appear to be a transitional type between Kirk Comer Notched and St. Albans
Side Notched" fypes. The other two MacCorkle Stemmed
points recovered at St. Albans came from Zone 14, a cul'
tural layer with few artifacts of any kind (Broyles 1971:
Table 1) that was separated from the uppermost "Kirk

zone" (Zone 16) by only a few inches of alluvially

deposited clay. Thus, stratigraphic and chronometric clata

from deeply buried, well-stratified sites in the midcontinental rogion suggest that large. variety Kirk Corner Notched
and early f'urcate tradition pirlts rnay havs been in use a
tire same tirne" Stylistic evidence rgues for ovcilap. as
well.
Large variety Kirk Corner Notched points may have

begun their history during the middle portion of the Kirk

tradition (the first half of Chapman's "Upper Kirk" zone in
the Tellico region) and probably remained in use through
the first part of the Bifurcate tradition. Available radiocarbon determinations suggest a temporal span of approxi-

mately 9,400 b.p. to 8,400 b.p., while stratigraphically

controlled studies suggest that they became more common
in the latter half of this range, ca. 8,80G-8,400 b.p.
Only three of the Kik Corner Notched Cluster points
examined in this study (BMS Ed41158, BMS EdAl131
and BMS EdAl252) were similar to bifaces from the Nettling site, an undated but suspected Early Archaic, Kirk
Corner Notched Cluster site in southern Ontario (Wortner
et al, 1990; Ellis, Wortner and Fox 1991). All three of
these points were manufactured from locally available
Onondaga chert but could not be attributed to specific
localities within the Niagara Frontier. Similarities to Nettling bifaces include expanding bases that are shorter and
naffower than the rnge reported or illustrated for mid-

continental Kirk Corner Notched Cluster bifaces and

coarse, asymmetric blade serration, which otherwise
appears to be rare on Niagara Frontier and northeastern

Kirk Corner Notched Cluster specimens (see, e.g., illustrations in Funk and Wellman 1984 and McNett 1985).
It has been argued that exotic lithic raw materials from
the Nettling site (Wortner et al, 1990, Ellis, Wofner and
Fox 1991) and Early Archaic sites of the westem Lake
Erie basin (Stothers 1996) imply that hunter-gatherers in
the lower Great Lakes region traveled seasonally over
extensive ranges during the first millennia of the Holocene
or participated in long-distance exchange networks, At the
Nettling site, lithic raw materials from sources 175-300
kilometers distant were well-represented among exhausted, finished and discarded tools, but did not occur with
expected frequencies in the expedient tool, unfinished tool
or debitage assemblages. It has been infened that curated
tool assemblages were being rejuvenated at this site by
hunter-gatherers pursuing a highly mobile seasonal or
annual round (Ellis, Kenyon and Spence 1990: 77-78;
Ellis et al, 1991: 5-7). Stothers (1996) similarly reports the
presence of non-local raw materials in Kirk Corner
Notched Cluster assemblages from the westem Lake Erie
basin and suggests that they, too, can be used to econstruct large prehistoric band territories and extensive seasonal mobility ranges.

in this light, it is worth noting that although Kirk

Corner Notched Cluster bifaces made on non-iocai
matrials have been observed in Niagara Frontier museum
collections, only Onondaga chert was used o make Kirk
^---uulllgl

T^^L^.:
l\ulvlu

l-1,,,,-urulv

r^:f^,-^.
urrqvv

Lt,.^,,1J
rsr vuuu

!"u

unambiguously attribuiecl Lo l{agara Fronfier ,sie,r. Irl sll

ofher eases, a detailed reviett, of fhe eolleetions containing

exotic lithic raw materials led [o the discovery that their

collectors had bought or traded projectile points from dis-

2l

ANTHROPOLOGY

tant regions or had traveled to those areas. As a result, we

were unable to demonstrate that exotic specimens in these
collections were obtained from Niagara Frontier sites and it
seems more likely that they were brought into the region by
collectors within the past century. Only locally available
materials were used to make Kirk Corner Notched Cluster

bifaces from reported sites examined by professional

archaeologists in the Niagara Frontier,
Unlike areas farther west in the Lake Erie basin, avail-

able evidence does not suggest that exchange of raw

materials, high group mobility or other mechanisms for
moving stone tools over long distances were important
components of Early Archaic, Kik Corner Notched Cluster
cultural systems in the Niagara Frontier. Rather, an exclusively local focus, suggestive of limited mobility and/or
limited extemal contacts, is suggested by the lithic procurement evidence observed to date, even though stylistic
similarities suggest continued communication with other

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 6.2, maximum length (mm): 37.5, maximum width (mm): 30.1, shoulder width (mm) 23.2, maximum thickness
(mm): 7.1, base width (mm): 30.1, minimum haft width (mm): 21.5, haft
length (mm): 13.9, left notch width (mm): 4.9, right notch width (mm): 4.9,

leftnotch depth (mm): 2.6,nght notch depth (mm):2.0, left notch angle:
96.5", right notch angle: 114o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation
width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology:
side notched, cross section: bifacially beveled, basal grinding: heavy,
notch

or stem grinding: light, blade edge morphology: straight,

bevel

resharpening: bifacially beveled, serration: heavy. Notes: multiple basal

thinning scars, leaving hanging flake scars, grinding is present on the base
and in the notches but does not extend continuously around the basal ears.

Type: Icehouse Bottom Category 37 "pseudo-side notched, squared basal

tangs" (Chapman 197'l: 49-50),

BMS C2352c, field or study number: -, State/Province: New York,

County: Erie, Town/Site: Town of Brant, material: Onondaga chert, weight
(grams):6.2, maximum length (mm): >38.62, maximum width (mm): 24.3,

regions.

HLOM 186.24,37, field or study number: BMS study

State/Province: New

HLOM 186,24,37, field or study number: BMS study #14,

-, material:

State/Province: New York, County: Genesee, Town/Site:

York, County:

-,

#12,

shoulder width (mm) 21.1, maximum thickness (mm): 7.8, base width
(mm): 24.1, minimum haft v/idth (mm): 17.1, haft length (mm): 9.6, left

material:

notch width (mm): 5.1, right notch width (mm): 6.2, left notch depth (mm):

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 8.3, maximum length (mm): 39.5, maxi-

2.0, right notch depth (mm): 2.8, left notch angle'.62", right notch angle:

mum width (mm): 33.0, shoulde width (mm) 26.7, maximum thickness
(mm): 7.4, base width (mm): 33.0, minimum haft width (mm): 19.3, haft

ness:

Genesee, Towry'Site:

N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completetip missing, proximal end morphology: side notched, cross section:

82o, bifurcation depth (mm):

length (mm): 15.5, left notch width (mm): 8.9, right notch width (mm): 9.6,

beveled, basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem grinding: heavy, blade edge

left notch depth (mm): 4.5, right notch depth (mm): 4.6, left norch angle:
89', right notch angle: 84o, bifurcation depth (mm): 2.2, bifurcation width
(mm): 25.6, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: side

morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: moderate, serration: light.

Notes: base thinned by removal of multiple parallel thinning flakes, basal

notched, cross section: plano-convex with beveled edges, basal grinding:

cially, with emphasis on one face of each edge leading to alternately

beveled cross-section, probably originally corner notched with resharpening reduction of shoulders resulting in final side notched form. Type: Palmerficehouse Bottom Category 33 "Kirk Comer Notched, small with

heavy, notch or stem grinding: light, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel

resharpening: heavy, serration: absent, Notes: flattened cross-section suggested

in unresharpened portions of blade, basal grinding extends entirely

grinding heavy enough to leave flattened facets, heavily resharpened, bifa-

around the rounded basal ears and into the notches, resharpening was bifa-

ground base" (Chapman 1977:48).

cial on both blade edges, but with emphasis on one face for each cdge, lead-

ing to altemte bevel cross-section, extremc blade reduction and notch

HLOM 186,13.33, field or study number: BMS study #5,

State/hovince: New York, County: Genesee, Town/Site: -, material:

shape suggest that the point was originally corner notched with present side

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 2.5, maximum length (mm): 27.0, maxi-

notched appearance a product

of

use. Type: hybrid Kirkllhebes Cluster

mum width (mm): 20.4, shoulder width (mm) 20.4, maximum thickness
(mm): 5.1, base width (mm): 19.1, minimum haft width (mm): 12.6, haft

BECHS 7-34, field or study number: UB 1l'1613529, State/Province:

length (mm): 8.9, left notch width (mm): 5,0, right notch width (mm): 8.7,

New York, County: Erie?, Towry'Site: -, material: Onondaga chert, weight

(grams): 10.6, maximum length (mm): 51.4, maximum width (nrm): 32.3,

left notch depth (mm): 2.8, right notch depth (mm): 3.9, Ieft notch angle:

variant?

54o, right notch angle: 63o, bifurcation depth (mn:

N/4, bifurcation width

(mm): N/4, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: corner

shoulder width (mm) 26.2, maximum thickness (mm): 7.6, base width
(mm): 32.3, minimum haft width (mm):22.1, haft length (rnrn): 13.4, left

notched, cross section: flat, lasal grinding: light, notch or stenr grinding:

notch width (mm): 7.4, right notch width (mm): 7.2, left notch depth (mm):

absent, blade edge morphology: stright, bevel resharpening: absent, sena-

3.7,nght notch depth (mm): 3.5, left notch angle: 94", right notch angle:

tion: heavy. Notes: base appears to have been broken in use and reground,

ii2o, bifurcation depth (mm): 0.8, bifurcation width (mm): 22.0, complereness: complete, proximal encl morphology: side notched, cross section:

originally had prominent down-turned barbs. Type: Palmercehouse. Bottom Category 33 "Kirk Corner Notched, small with ground base" (Chap,

plano-convex, basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem grinding: heavy, biade

man 1977: 48).

edge morphology: st(ight, bevel resharpening: bifaciatty beveled, heavy,

R.MSC 88.119.119, field or study num'ber: A-249, Stats/Province:

Nw York, County: l.{iagzrra. TuwrVSit: Fcli ".itc f Ll-p 02), material:

serration; firie/extensive. Nolcs: large lhinning flakes un ventral side.

extending to the distal end

of the hafting element, Type:

Icehourse Bottom

Ononda-ga chert, weight (grams): 4.9. maximum tength (rnm): [37.7], mar--

Catogory 37 "pseudo-side notched, squared basal tangs" (Chapman 1977:

inlum width (mrn): 20.7, shoulder width (mm) 20.4, nraximum thickess
(rnm): 6.1, base width (mm): 17.1, minimum haft width (mm): 11.4, haft

49-s0).

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAI SCIENCES

22

length (mm): 7.1, left notch width (mm): 5.1, right notch width (mm): 4.7,
lcft notch depth (mm): 4,2, right notch depth (mm): 2.9, left notch angle:
67o, right notch Bngle: 69', bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width
(mm): N/4, completeness: tip missing, proximal end morphology: corner

or

pletely removed overhanging barbs, resulting in a near side notched profile. Type: Icehouse Bottom Category 31
medium, ground' base" (Chaprnan

1977

"Kirk Comer Notched, small to

47).

BMS C2352d, field or study number: -, StatelProvince: New York,

stem

County: Erie, Towy'Site: Brant, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams):

grinding: light, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening:

absent, serration: light. Notes: parallel oblique pressure flaking on blade

5.5, maximum length (mm): 37.2, maximum width (mm): 25.8, shoulder

notched, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: heavy, notch

surfaces, serrations pressnt but highly worn. Type: Palmerflcehouss Bottonr

Category 33

"Kirk Comer Notched, small with ground base" (Chapman

t977:48'1.
BECHS 60-805, field or study number: -, Staterovince: New York,
County: Erie?, Towry'Site: -, material: Onondaga chefl, weight (grams): 6.3,

maximum length (mm): 40.3, maximum width (mm): 28.2, shoulder width
(mm) 25.2, maximum thickness (mm): 6.5, base width (mm): 28.2, minimum haft width (mm): 19.0, haft length (mm): 13,9, left notch width (mm):

width (rnm) 25.3, maximum thickness (mm): 5.5, base width (mm): 22.9,
minimum haft width (mm): 16.2, haft length (mm): 10.7, left notch width
(mm): 3.9, right notch width (mm): 4,4, left notch depth (mm): 3.8, right
notch depth (mm):4.0, left notch angle: 49", right notch angle: 71o, bifurcation depth (mm):

N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4,

completeness:

complete, proximal end morphology: corner notched, cross section: flat,

basal grinding: light, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphol-

ogy: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: light, wom. Notes:

intentionally flattened cross-section achieved by thinning from both distal

by secondary pressure flaking

8.9, right notch width (mm): 7.5, left notch depth (mm): 2.9, right notch

and proximal ends, blade edges thinned

depth (mm): 3.6, left notch angle: 86o, right notch angle:72,5o, bifurcation

creating a sharp bifacial bevel along each edge; one comer notch is

depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete,

proximal end morphology: corner notched, cross section: plano-convex,

burinated. Type: Icehouse Bottom Category

31 "Kirk Comer Notched,

small to medium, ground base" (Chapman 1977:47).

basal grinding: light, notch or stem grinding: light, blade edge morphology:

BMS C16221c, field or study number: -, State/?rovince: New York,

convex, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: light. Type: Icehouse Bottom

Comer Notched, small to medium, ground base" (Chap-

County: Orleans?, Towry'Site: "Fort Neuter", material: Onondaga chert,

weight (grams): 3.7, maximum length (mm): 27.9, maximum width (mm):

BMS C2129b:2, field or study number: -, State/?rovince; New York,

21.7, shoulder width (mm) 21.7, maximum thickness (mm): 6.5, base
width (mm): 19.5, minimum haft width (mm): 15.5, haft length (mm): 8.3,

Category

3l "Kirk

man 1977: 41).

County: Chautauqua, Town/Site: Irving, material: Onondaga chert, weight

(grams): 4.5, maximum length (mm): 39.9, maximum width (mm): 22.7,
shoulder width (mm) 21.1, maximum thickness (mm): 6.3, base width
(mm): 22.3, minimum haft width (mm): 14.7, haft length (mm): 9.1, left

left notch width (mm): 4.6, right notch width (mm): 6.3, left notch depth
(mm): 2.1, right notch depth (mm): 2.5, Ieft notch angle: 61o, right notch
angle: 76o, bifurcation depth (mm); 1.1, bifurcation width (mm): 12.9,
completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: comer notched, cross

notch width (mm): 7.0, right notch width (mm): N/4, left notch depth (mm):

section: plano-convex, basal grinding: light, notch or stem grinding: light,

N/4, left notch angle: 52o, right notch angle: -,

bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcat on width (mm): N/4, completeness:
tip reworked, proximal end morphology: corner notched, cross section:

heavy/worn. Type: Icehouse Bottom Category 31

3.8, right notch depth (mm):

beveled, basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem grinding: light, blade edge

morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: light, seration: light. Notes:

blade covered by very finely executed pressure flakes, nearly diagonalcollateral near the

tip, notches appear to have been deep and narrow,

of large hertzian flakes from each face, Right

formed by the removal

blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, seration:

"Kirk Comer Notched,

small to medium, ground base" (Chapman 1977l.47).

BMS C30317, field or study number: SFI 1995.01, State/Province: New

York, County: Genesee, Towry'Site: Byron, Sharp's field #1, Locus 9,
material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 3.3, maximum length (mm):
38.2, maximum width (mm): 19.5, shoulder width (mm) 19.4, maximum
thickness (mm): 5.3, base width (mm): 17.5, minimum haft width (mm):

margin of blade has been so heavily resharpened that the right shoulder is

12.5, haft length (mm): 10.0, left notch width (mm): 7.1, right notch width

nearly missing, making measurement of the notch dimension impossible.

(mm): 4.5, lcft notch depth (mm): 3.2, right notch depth (mm): 2.2, left

Type: Icehouse Bottom Category 31 "Kirk Corner Notched, smali to

notch angle: 79o, right notch angle: 74o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4,
bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: haft damaged, one ear miss-

mediunr, ground base" (Chapman 1971:47).

BMS C2225s, field or study number: -, State/hovince: Ontario,

ing, proximal end morphology: corner notched, cross section: biconvex,

County: Niagara Regional Municipality, TowrVSite: Fort Erie, materal:

basal grinding: light, notch or stem grinding: light, blade edge morphol-

3i.6, raxi-

ogy: straight, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: heavy. Notes: heavily

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 5.2, maximum length (mrn):

Kirk Corner Notched, small variety/Icehouse Bottom

mum width (mm): 26.8, shoulder width (mm) 24.6, maximum thickness
(mm): 6.5, base width (mm): 26.8, minimum haft width (mm): 19.1, haft
length (mm): 1 i.4, Ieft nolch width (mn: 5.2, right ntch width (mm): 8. I ,

resharpened. Type:

left notclr clepth (mm): 3.2, right notch depth (mm): 2.8, Ieft nofch angle:
67o, right notch angle: 61o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width
(mm)r N/4, completenessr ecmplere, proximal ond morphology: clner
notched, coss sectiorl biconvex, basal grinding: heavy, notch or steln
grinding: heavy, blade. edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening:

County: Erie?, Town/Site: -, mateial: Onondaga chert, weight (grams):

3.1, maximum length (mrn): 40,8, maximum widih (mm): i7.6, shoui<ier
width (mm) 17.1, maximum thickness (mm): 4.9, base rridth (mm): ", rnin-

Category 25 (Broyles 1971, Chapman 1977:41).

BMS d41158, field or study number: -, State/Province: New York?,

imunr haft width (rnm): i0.4, haft length (nrm): 5., left notch widih (mm):

of

3.4, right notch width (mm): ., Ief't notch depth (mm): 2.4, right notch
depth (mm): -, ieft notch angie: 50", right notch angle: -, bifurcation depth

multiple parallel flakes from each side, heavy resharpening has nearly com-

(mrn): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, cornpletenessr haft damaged,

absent, serration: absent, Notes: strongiy basally thinned by the rernoval

ANTHROPOLOGY
one ear missing, proximal end morphology: corner notched, cross section:

23

phology: convex, bevel resharpening: Bbsent, senation: fine, regular, Type:

(mrn): 6.5, base width (mm): >28.2, minimum haft width (mm); 20.5, haft
length (mm): 11.1, left notch width (mm): 5.6, right notch widrh (mm): -,
left notch depth (mm): 7.4, right notch depth (mm): -, left notch angle: 56o,

Kik Corner Notched, small variety/Icehouse Bottom Category 25 (Broyles

1971, Chapman 1977l. 4l), also like small Nettling site Kirk Corner

right notch angle: 62o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width
(mm): N/4, completeness: haft damaged, one ear missing, proximal end

Notched Cluster points (Ellis er al. 1991).

morphology: comer notched, cross section: flat/plano-convex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel reshrpenirig: absent, serration: fine, lrlotes: oblique-transverse

biconvex, basal grinding: -, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge mor-

BMS C29613.004, field or study number: CFI-p4,

StateProvince:

New York, County: Genesee, Town/Site: Town of Byron, Call's Field #1,
Locus 5, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 10.3, maximum length
(mm): -, maximum width (mm): 30.4, shoulder widrh (mm) [31.0], maximum thickness (mm): 7.0, base width (mm): [22.0], minimum hafr widrh
(mm): 17.5, hft length (mm): 11.6, left norch width (mm): 10.1, right notch
width (mm): -, left notch depth (mm): 5.6, rght notch deprh (mm): -, lefr

parallel flaing across both faces of blade create an intentionally flattened

cross-section with marginal pressure flaking and fine blade edge serration;
base thinned by removal of parallel ribbon-like flakes on one face, shorter

thinning flakes on the other face. Typc: Kik Corner Notched, large varietyflcchouse Bottom Category 24 (Broyles I 97 1, Chaprnan 1977: 4l).

notch angle:44', right notch angle: -, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurca-

RMSC 88.118.108, field or study number: 4/280, State/province:

tion width (mm): N/4, completeness: tip and one barb missing, haft

New York, County: Niagara, Towr/Site: Lockport, Pell site (Lkp 002),
material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 14.1, maximum length (mm):

damaged, proximal end morphology: corner notched, cross section: planoconvex, basal grinding: light, notch or stem grinding: light, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: light. Notes: oblique collateral flaking runs completely across one face, remaining intact

60.3, maximum width (mm): 33.4, shoulder width (mm) 33.4, maximum
thickness (mm): 7.1, base width (mm): -, minimum haft width (mm): 18.4,

cdge has fine serration and heavily worn stubs of slightly largcr serrations.

haft length (mm): 11.1, left notch width (mm): 6.6, right notch width
(mm): -, left notch depth (mm): 6.1, right notch deprh (mm): -, left norch

Notes: heavily damaged by farm equipment, but with enough of base and

angle: 55o, right notch angle: -, bifurcation depth (mm):

blade remaining to reconstruct original shape, base was slightly concave.

Type: Kirk Comer Notched, large varietyflcehouse Bottom Category 24

(Broyles 1971, Chapman 1977:41).
BMS C2129b:1, field or study number: -, State/Povince: New York,
County: Chautauqua, Town/Site: Town of lrving, material: Onondaga chert,
weight (grams): 6.9, maximum length (mm): >54.1, maximum width (mm):
26.3, shoulder width (mm) 26.3, maximum thickness (mm): 5,6, base width

(mm): 20.2, miriimum hafr widrh (mm): 12.5, haft length (mm): 9.1, lefr
notch width (mm): 4.4, right notch width (rnm): 3.2, left notch deprh (mm):
6.8, right notch depth (mm): 5.0, Ieft notch angle:42o, right notch angle:
50o, bifurcation depth (mm):

N/4, bifurcation widrh (mm): N/4, complete-

noss: tip and one barb missing, proximal end morphology: corner notched,

N/4, bifurcation
width (mm): N/4, completeness: haft damaged, one ear missing, proximal
end morphology: comer notched, cross section: flattened/plano-convex,
basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: fine. Notes: parallel oblique flaking covers one face, producing a flattened cross-section;
fine senation is present along the base of one blade edge, with remnants of
bolder serration present near the tip of the othe blade edge. Type: Kirk
Corner Notched, large variety/Icehouse Bottom Category 24 (Broyles
1971, Chapman 1977:

4l).

BMS C21.868c, field or study number: -, StatelProvince: New york,

County: Erie, Town/Ste: Town of Alden, Gillmore Farm site, material:

grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening:

Onondaga chert, weight (grams); 6.0, maximum length (mm): 43.3, maximum width (mm): 27.1, shoulder width (mm) 22.9, maximum thickness
(rnm): 6.9, base width (mm): 27.1, minimum haft width (mm): 18.5, haft

Kirk Corner Notched, large varietyfcehouse

Iength (mm): l3.7,Left notch width (mm): 11.1, right notch width (mm):

cross section: flattened/plano-convex, basal grinding: light, notch or stem

absent, senation: Iight. Type:

Bottom Category 24 (Broyles 1971, Chapman 1977:41)

8.9, left notch depth (mm): 2.5, right notch depth (mm): 3.0, left norch

BMS C21876a, field or study number: -, State/Province: New york,

County: Erie, Town/Site: Town of Alden, Gillmore Farm site?, material:

angle: 640, right notch angle: 84o, bifurcation depth (mm): 1.5, bifurcation

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 5.2, maximum length (mm): -, maximum

width (mm): 26.0, slroulder width (mm) 25.4, maximum thickness (mm):

width (mm): 20.5, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology:

comer notched, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: light, notch or
stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: convex/asymmetric, bevel

5.3, base width (mm):21.1, minimum hafr width (mm): 15.9, haft lengrh

resharpening:

(mm): 8.3, left noteh wiclth (mm): 5.4, right notch *,idth (mm): 3.9, left
notch depth (mm): 4.0, right notch depth (mm): 3.4, left notch angle: 51",

resharpened, asymmetrically, leaving a blade considerably nanower than

light, serration: heavy/worn, Notos: heavily worn

and

right notch angle: 50", bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width

base; basc concve. "pe: Kirk Coner Notched, large variety/Icehouse

Bottom Category 24 (Broyles 1971. Chapman 1977:41, figure l8a. rop

(mm): N/', completeness: distal half missing, proximal end morphology:

righ.

corner notched, cross section: flattened/plano-convex, basal grinding; light,

BMS 8d,4,1065, field or study nurnbers: 5511017 and 1293,

State/Province: Nevr York, County: Erie?, Town/Site: -, material:
Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 7.8, maximum length (nm): 48,1, maxirurur width (tnm): 31.0, shoulde wicith (mm) 30.4, maxirnum thickness
(rrm): 8.0, bas widtlr (mm): 31.0, ninimu haft width (ram): 18.4, hafr

notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge rnorphology: convex, bevel

resharpening: absent, senation: fine. Type: Kik Corner Notched, large variety/Icel,ouse Bottm Ctegory 24 (Broyles 1971, Chapnan

{l frut It{ cf, x

State/Province: New

\7jl: 4l)

il ^- ruuJ
f,,i!, ruruL,
Nr'-!.^., ,Y
rrc uu
#/
^(,"J.,y rr!

York. Countv: Genesee, Town/Site: -. material:

length (mrn): 14.8, left notch width (mm): 12.5, right notch

virlth (rnm)l

nondaga chert, weighr (grarns): 1.4.8, maxinrurn length (mnr): 64.5, maxi-

12.0, Ioft notch clepth (mm): 5.3, right notch depth (mm): 6.5, left notch

mum width (rnm): 36,2, shoulder width (nrm) 36.2, maxirnum thickness

angle: 8lo, right notch angle:72", bifurcation depth (mm): 2.7, bifurcarion

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAT SCIENCES

L+

width (mm): 20.9, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology:

Bifurcate Tradition (N=18, Figure 3; Plates 3,7

,8)

corner notched, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or

stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: concave, bevel resharpen-

ing: absent, senation: absent. Notes: almost identical to BMS C21868c.

Type: Kirk Comer Notched, large varietycehouse Bottom Category 24
(Broyles 1971, Chapman 1977:41, figure 18a, top right)'

BMS C5797a, field or study number: -, Staterovince: Nerv York,

County: Chautauqua, Towry'Site: Town

ofLving, material:

Onondaga chert,

Sixteen projectile points in this survey can be assigned

to the Bifurcate Tradition, a sequence of chronologically
varying, but clearly related types formally defined as a tradition by Chapman (1975). Two additional specimens
most likely represent this tradition based on blade shape
and resharpening attributes.

County: Erie?, Towry'Site: -, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 6.0,

Bifurcate-based points, or bifurcates-the primary

diagnostic artifact of this tradition-are easily distinguished by their possession of an intentionally formed
basal notch that divides a stemmed, side- or cornernotched base into two lobes of more-or-less equal size.
Differences in the depth of this basal bifurcation, in overall base configuration (side notched, corner notched or
stemmed), in the prevalence of basal or notch grinding
and, to a lesser extent, in the treatment of the blade during
resharpening have been used to separate the varied points
of the Bifurcate tradition into a series of discrete, though
related, projectile point types, Excavations at wellstratified sites in the southeast and midcontinent, as \ilell
as dated single-component sites in the Northeast, have
conffumed a chronological sequence for the development
and disappearance of these types during the thousand-year

maxirnum length (mm): 47.6, maximum width (mm): 25.9, shoulder width

span represented by this tradition,

weight (grams): 6.5, maximum length (mm): 48.8, maximum width (mm):
25,4, shoulder width (mm) 24.0, maxirnum thickness (mm): .5, base width

(mm): 13.2, minimum haft width (mm): 12.5, haft length (mm): 5.9, left
notch width (mm): 5.1, right notch width (mm): -, left notch depth (mm):
3.0, right notch depth (nm): -, left notch angle: 59o, right notch angle: ',
bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, b'furcat'on width (mm): N/4, completeness:
haft damaged, one barb missing, proximal end morphology: corner notched,
cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding:

absent, blade edge morphology: straight/asymmetric, bevel resharpening:

absent, serration: heavy. Type:

Kik Comer Notched, large variety/lcehouse

Bottom Category 24 (Broyles 1971, Chapman 19'17:41), although resharpening trajectory also suggests similarities to Pine Tree Comer Notched
type (Justice 1987: 79-80, E. Smith 1995) and Nettling points (Ellis et al.
1991).

BMS Ed41131, field or study number: -, Staterovince: New York,

(mm) 25.9, maximum thickness (mm): 5.9, base width (mm): -, minimum
haft width (mm): 13.7, haft length (mm): 8.1, left notch width (mm): 5.6,

right notch width (mm): -, left notch depth (mm): 3.4, right notch depth
(mm): -, Ieft notch angle: 40o, right notch angle: -, bifurcation depth (mm): , bifurcation width (mm): -, completeness: haft damaged, proxirnal end morphology: corner notched, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: -, notch or

Chapman's definition of the Bifurcate tradition formal-

ized Bettye Broyles' (1971) observations at the St. Albans

site, which he confirmed through the excavation of a series
of deeply buried and stratified sites within the Little Tennessee River basin. Chapman's initial framework included

four sequential groups or clusters of related projectile

suggests

point types, from oldest to youngest named the MacCorkle

Stemmed Group, the St. Albans Side Notched Group, the

that remaining serrations represent stubs of heavily wom, bold serrations.

LeCroy Bifurcated Stem Group and the Kanawha

Type: Kirk Comer Notched, large variety/Icehouse Bottom Cate8ory 24

(Broyles 1971, Chapman 1977: 4l), with similarities to Nettling points

Stemmed Group (Chapman 1975). However, subsequent

stem grinding: light, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening:

absent, seration: light/wom. Notes: examination

of blade edges

(Ellis et al. 1991).

BMS 8d41252, field or study number: -, State/Province: New York?,
County: Erie?, Town/Site:

-, material: Onondaga chert,

,veight (grams):

17.9, maximum length (mm): 66.7, maximum width (mm): 33.2, shoulder

width (mm) 33.2, maximum thickness (mm): 8.2, base width (mm): -, minimum haft width (mm): 17.5, haft length (mm): -, left notch width (mm): -,

review, combining stratigraphic information with multidimensional statistical analyses, led him to reconsider this
framework and to simplify it into three statistically verifiable groups, the St. Albans group (typified by the St.
Albans Side Notched type and incorporating the MacCorkle Stemmed type), the LeCroy group (characterized

bifucation width (mm): N/4, completeness: tip and haft missing, proximal
end morphology: probably corner notched, cross section: biconvex, basal

by straight stemmed points, manufactured on a flake, with

a notched base) and the Kanawha Stemmed type, rvhich
post-dates the previous two and provides a transition from
classic bifurcate styles into Middle Archaic stemmed types
such as Stanly Stemmed, Kirk Stemmed and Morrow

grinding: -, notch or stem grinding: -, blade edge morphology; concave/convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: heavy. Type: Kirk

Mountain I Stemmed (Chapman 1980: 127),

Justiee (1987) further consolidated these groups into

Comer Notched, large variety[cehouse Bottom Category 24 (Broyles 1971,

two macro-stylisfic clusters representing the eariier haif

!-^
!
-.,^-^L:-^tlll-urpur
at..IrB tc lt-^^^-I-t^
rvau\-ulltru
(r(ICe LOe(
^l
\-lU5tel , :,-and thc
St.
Siclc
Notrrlicd
Gror.rps)
Albans
Sierrrnred an
(LeCroy
the
LeCroy
Clusfer,
ineolporating
later half

right notch width (mm): -, left notch depth (mm): -, right notch depth (mm):
-, left notch angle: -, right notch angle: -, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4,

Chapman 1977:. 41), although resharpening tlajectory also suggests

similaities to Pine Trs Corner Notched lype (Justioe 198?: 79-80, E
Smith

lOQS

nd Nttlina nnintc lFllis ef al lQQl

ANTHROPOLOGY

Bifurcated Stem and Kanawha Stemmed Groups) of the

Bifurcate tradition, Stothers (1996) employed a similar
taxonomic system, dividing the Bifurcate tradition into an
carlier "Large Bifurcate" group (roughly equivalent to
Justice's "Rice Lobed Cluster") and a younger "Small
Bifurcate" group (equivalent to Justice's "LeCroy Cluster"),

Although these frameworks reduce the nulnber of

names used to subdivide the tradition, they serve no other
apparent purpose and their clusterings are not clearly based

on empirical stratigraphic relationships or demonstrated

statistical relationships. Since the thn'ee groups established
statistically and stratigraphically by Chapman appear ro
have useful chronological implications (Chapman 1975,
1977, 1980), his subdivisions (St. Albans group, LeCroy
group and Kanawha group) of the Bifurcate tradition are
preferred in this paper.
The Bifurcate tradition has had an important role in the

history of northeastern Early Holocene archaeological

research. Although bifurcates were recognized as unique

forms even at the turn of the century (Holmes 1897, cited in

Chapman 1975: 235; Houghton 1909), their age was a

mystery until the late 1960s. Fitting (1964) and prufer and
Sofsky (1965) argued that small bifurcates in the Great
Lakes region (i.e. Lake Erie bifurcate and LeCroy-like
forms) were Late Archaic styles, based on a single date of

5,302t90 b.p. from the Rohr Rock Shelter site, West

Virginia, which had been shown to be erroneous (Dragoo
1959: 181). The recovery of these projectile point types
from well-sealed contexts at the St. Albans and Sheep Rock

Shelter sites (Broyles 1971, Michels and Smith 1967,

Michels 1968), in association with a string of internally
consistent Early Holocene radiocarbon dates, provided the
first unambiguous horizon styles for defining Early Archaic
components throughout eastem North America. The rapid
discovery of Early Archaic components in many parls of
the East ensued.

Ritchie (1971b) and Fitting (1975) recognized the challenge posed by Broyles' demonstration of these styles'
antiquity to their models of Early Holocene cultural and
environmental conditions (Ritchie 1965, lgjlb; Fitting
i968). Their answer was to view bifurcates in the Great
Lakes and Northeast as indicators of an anomalous period

of limited, transient human

presence

in the

otherwise

uninhabited Early Holocete boreal forests (R.itchie 1979).

The presence of small numbers of bifurcates '/as contrasted
with the implied absence of evidence for human occupations in this region during precedent and subsequent millen-

nia to strengthen the argument that, overall, the Early

Holocene forests were no place for humans,
Subsequent surveys of Early Hoiocene diagnostics iir
the Northeast liave tendee t sfress lhe Bifurcale fra<Ji{ion,
as can be seen in case studies from New York State. In
'liubowitz' (1979: 55) study, more than three-quarters of

25

the bifaces assigned to the Early Holocene (N=34 of 44)

belonged to the Bifurcate tradition. Nearly half (44Vo) of
the provenienced Early Holocene diagnostics surveyed by
Levine (1989) from the upper Hudson River valley collec-

tions were bifurcates. In Funk's analyses of collections

from the lower Hudson and upper Susquehanna River valleys, bifurcates comprised 100% and 77Vo of Early
Archaic diagnostics, respectively (Funk 1993: Tables 36,
38).

It is possible that the apparent dominance of bifurcates

throughout New York State and the Northeast signals sig-

nificant differences in population density, land use or

mobility during the ninth millennium b.p., as Ritchie
implied, However, Trubowitz (1979:57) noted that bifurcates tend to be easily identified and over-emphasized in
such studies due to their unique form; while Kirk Comer
Notched Cluster and other Early Holocene diagnostics
may be lumped into other taxonomic groupings such as the
Brewerton series and are, consequently, under-reported.

In this light, it is worth noting that in Niagara Frontier

collections, bifurcates comprised only I Vo of al|
identified Early Holocene specimens, represented just 29Vo
of specifically Barly Archaic projectile points, and were
less common than bifaces of either the Kirk Corner
Notched or Stanly Stemmed Clusters. This pattern differs
from the just-cited New York state analyses, yet replicates
those of Stothers (1996), who reports ratios of bifurcates to
Thebes and Kirk horizon points at the westem end of the
Lake Erie basin in proportions nearly identical to their representation in surveyed Niagara Frontier collections.6
These data suggest, for the Lake Erie basin at least, that
bifurcates are not the most commonly represented Early
Holocene or Early Archaic projectile point types and that
perceptions of their relatively greater role in the regional
Early Holocene record may be due more, as Trubowitz
suggested, to their uniquely identifiable form than to any
superordinate significance in the Early Archaic sequence.
Three bifaces in the Niagara Frontier survey appear to
be referable to the earlier half of the Bifurcate Tradition,
while thirteen represent its later manifestations. Two additional fragmentary points, with missing bases, may also
relate to this tradition based on semi-diagnostic resharpening and blade shape aiiributes.

Three points from Niagara Frontier collections are

assigned to the St, Albans phase, as defined by Chapman

(1975). Two specimens (BMS C29275 and RMSC

88.118.219) from the Hiscock and Pell sites of Genesee
and Niagara Counties, respectively, are rlatively Large,
broad bifurcated-base points with out-flaring, rounded or
iotrate ears flanking

-uroaci,

U-shaped

-trasal

nolches. The

hac
Hiscock
iiht b_
c'rinriino
in if ru.r!.'ci.-^
_r
_"- "'"
_"*"^b
- - _- cner"imcn
notchss atrd basal tifurcation. while the example from the
Pell site is unground. Neither point has well-clevelopecl
_

26

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

Figure 3. Regional distribution of Bifurcate Tradition bifaces in the Niagara Frontier region. Open symbols in shaded circles indicate specimens for which only county provenience is available. Open symbol within the unshaded square in Lake
Erie identifies one specimen for which provenience data is limited to the Niagara Frontier, generally. Shorelines of the
lower Great Lakes approximate modern locations, rather than Late PleistocenelBarly Holocene positions.

serrated margins.T Both points were made from Onondaga

chert.

In size and overall appearance these bifaces bear

similarities to the MacCorkle Stemmed type defined by
Broyles (1971:71) at the St. Albans site. They show even
cioser resemblances to "Bifurcate variant 1" from the Rose
Island site, Tennessee, a style that Chapman notes "may be
the earliest of the bifurcate types at Rose Island...related to
the MacCorkle Stemmed type" (Chapman 1975: 110-112,
245,P\ate XXXVIII: f and Category 22 ("Bifurcated base,
medium to large") at the Icehouse Bottom site, Tennessee,

trait occurred less frequently on Rose Island's "Bifurcate

variant L" style (777o had grinding on stem or side
notches, 29Vo had grinding in the basal notch, Chapman
1975: 110). The incidence and extent of grinding on early
bifurcates appears to vary widely from site to site and
region to region, suggesting that neither the light grinding
seen on the Hiscock site example, nor the absence of
grinding on the point frcrn the Pell site, should obscure the
other, compelling similarities linking these Niagara
Frontier specimens to early bifurcate styles found in
stratified sites farther south.

which Chapman (1977: 40) iinks to both MacCorkle

Stemmed and Rose Island "Bifurcate variant l" styles. Like

Unforiunately, fhe dating of fhe MacCorkle Stemmed

and Tellico basin variant styles is poorly controlled. At fhe

fhe latter, the bases on these Niagara Fronfier specimens are

St. Albans site, MacCorkle Stemmed points were found in

tire uppermost Khk horizons and constituted the eariiestreeognized trifurcate style. Based on fhcir stra.tigraphic
position, relative to raeliocarbein dates in overlying and

of <lut-flarirrg

deeply notched, creating the appearance

"er"s," and the shriulclers are prollullced anil h<irizcintal.
Although basal and lateral haff element grinding are considered diagnostic traits of MacCorkle Stemmed points in
Broyles' type definition (1971: 71, Justice 1987: 86), this

uncierlying strta, Froyies estimafed that MacCorkie

Stemmed points could be assigned a provisional date of ca.

ANTHROPOLOGY

8,800-8,700 b.p. (Broyles 1971: 71), At Rose Island,

"Bifurcate variant 1" points were found in situ within the
top of Stratum VIII and near the base of overlying Stratum
VII-G. Three racliocarbon dates from higher levels of

Stratum VII ranged from 8,8001270 [GX-3167) to

8,660t180 b.p. [GX-3598], supporting Broyles' chronological placement even though Chapman was unable to
define a separate MacCorkle-like phase at the site and
included it within the Tellico basin's St. Albans phase
(Chapman

197 5: 2lO-212, 1977 : 40, 1980).

Only one point referable to the St, Albans type (Broyles
1971) has been identified in Niagara Frontier collections,
This specimen (BMS EdA1120) is identified only as being

"local," implying

a general Niagara Frontier provenience.

It

is made from Bois Blanc chert, a Devonian silicate that outcrops along the southern margin of the Niagara Peninsula

from Fort Erie to the mouth of the Grand River, Ontario

(Eley and von Bitter 1989: 18-19, 29-30). While this may
suggest attribution to a site on the Canadian side of the bor-

der, the known distribution of Bois Blanc chert in

archaeological contexts cannot rule out the possibility that
it was recovered from a site in western New York.
Stylistically, this point resembles Broyles' (1971: 73)
"St, Albans Side Notched, Variety A" in having a deeply
notched base that has been ground from shoulder to
shoulder. BMS EdA1120 also closely resembles Chapman's
"Bifurcate variant 3" from the Rose Island site, which he
attributed to the St. Albans phase in the Tellico basin

(Chapman t975: 112-113). St. Albans Side Notched,

"Varieties A and 8," were associated with radiocarbon
dates of 8,830t350 b.p. and 8,8201250 b,p. ar the St.
Albans site (Broyles 1971), while the average of three dates

for the St. Albans phase at Rose Island was 8,720t250 b,p.
(Chapman 1975:213).
Nine bifaces (BECHS 66446, BMS C2149i, BMS EdA
964, HLOWBMS Study #8, RMSC 88.118.213, RMSC

88.118.214, RMSC 88.188.215, RMSC 88,188.216, and

RMSC 88.118.217) were assigned to the LeCroy Bifurcared
Based type as defined by Lewis and Kneberg (1955) and
subsequently refined by Broyles (1971) and Chapman
(1975). Diagnostic features of LeCroy Bifurcated Base
points are their small size and thin cross-section (especially
compared to the MacCorkle or St. Albans styles), their
deeply noteheel bases bifurcating straight or near{y straight
stems and their infrequently ground haft area margins (contra Justice 1987 : 91, Chapman I97 5: 106 noted rhar 28%o of
LeCroy points from Rose Island had ground lateral stem
edges),

Aithough many iliustrateci examples are heavily resharpened, to fhe extent that their points' bass ar wider than
fheir shnllldcrc nlhcr evemnlee irir
chnrrr that tirn
vv
J

pristine bnn included a "oroad, trianguiar blade (Broyles

l9l I : I,gurc 8; Uhaprrrarr i975: Piaic XXVI). Resharpcning
of these points often seems [o have irvolved heavy retouch

27

in the central portions of the blades' lateral edges but lesser

of the proximal shoulders and tips. Consequently, points abandoned during middle stages of resharpening exhibit one or both blade edges with incurvate or
recurved ("s"-shaped) margins. This reduction strategy,
although reported for MacCorkle Stemmed points (Justice
1987), appears especially characteristic of the latter half of
the bifurcate tradition, during which LeCroy and Kanawha
points were the dominant forms produced.
One LeCroy point in the Niagara Frontier sample
(BECHS 6U46) was recovered from the Barnard Street
Site, on the noflhem boundary of the Buffalo River floodplain in the City of Buffalo, NY. Another was recovered
from an unknown site on Grand Island, Erie County, NY.
reduction

Five LeCroy points (RMSC 88.118.2I3, RMSC

88.118.215, RMSC 88.118.216, RMSC 88,118.217 and

RMSC 88.118.214) were recovered from the Pell Site, in
Niagara County, NY, by the late Richard McCarthy. A
single example in the collection of the Holland Land
Office Museum, Batavia, NY (HLOMMS Study #8) is
from Genesee County, NY, without further site or
township data and BMS EdA964 is only known to be
"local," implying an origin in the Niagara Frontier.

The majority of the LeCroy points identified in

Niagara Frontier collections retain their broad V-shaped
blades. Some also exhibit well-defined down-tuming barbs
on the proximal blade comers, similar to those from the
Titicut area of Massachusetts (Chapman 1975: Plate LIX)
and the Haviland site, Schoharie County, NY (Fergusson
1996), Basal shapes vary within the sample, but fall within
the published range for the LeCroy type. Most of these
projectile points are quite thin and were probably made
from flakes rather than bifacial preforms. All but one were
made from Onondaga chert. The single exception (RMSC
88.118.213), from the Pell site, Niagara County, was made
from yellowish translucent vein qtJartz, which, although
not locally occurring in bedrock, can be obtained locally in
cobble form from secondary, glacially derived deposits in

till

and stream beds.

The age of LeCroy Bifurcated Base points is relatively

well-controlled both stratigraphically and radiometrically.

At the St, Albans site, LeCroy points were found in Zones

6-R stretiornhicallw henecth hnriznnc vuqvrvlve
horofarizl !..,
u,
Kanawha Stemmed points and above those dominated by

St. Albans and MacCorkle points. A radiocarbon date of

8,250t50 b.p. was obtained on charcoal from a hearth in
Zone 6 (Broyles 197: 69). At the Longworth-Gick sire,
near the falls of the Ohio River, a date of 8,420t110 b.p,
was obtained on charcoal from a layer (Zone 3) characterized by LeCroy and Kanawha points. Closer io tlie Niagara
Frontier, fwc singie-compnent Bifurcate tradition erupa-

tion sites with l,eCroy-like points have recently

been

reporied in southern Ontalio and centrai New York, Af the

Blue Dart site, Vy'aterioo County, Ontario, white pine char-

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

28

coal from a feature associated with LeCroy points was

dated, using the AMS Ct4 technique, to 8,320t60 b.p. (tTO-

At the Haviland Site, in Schocharcoal

found next to a LeCroyNew
York,
County,
harie
like bifurcate point was dated to 8,405t65 b.p, (Fergusson
1996: 2). A temporal range of 8,500-8,200 b,p. for LeCroy
points may be justified on the basis of this suite of radiocarbon dates and their stratigraphic positions at the St. Albans
29521, Lennox 1995: 2O).

and Rose Island sites.

Stratigraphically above LeCroy Bifurcated Base points

at the St. Albans and Rose Island sites were small stemmed
points with triangular blades and small, unground, straight
to slightly expanding stems (Broyles 1971: 59; Chapman
1975: 105-106). Broyles provided the type description for

these, calling them Kanawha Stemmed after the river

drainage in which they were first formally identified. The
principal formal difference between LeCroy and Kanawha
Stemmed types is in the depth of their basal bifurcations.
At the Rose Island site, basal bifurcation depths for LeCroy
points ranged from 2.M.0 mm, with a mean depth of 3.1
mm. In contrast, Kanawha Stemmed points had basal bifurcations only 1.0-1.5 mm deep, even though the lengths of
the stems on both styles were similar (Chapman 1975:
105-106, Plates XXVI, XXVil). Broyles' illustrations of
LeCroy and Kanawha Stemmed points from the St. Albans

site suggest similar metric differentiation (Broyles

1971:

Figures 3, 8). At these and other sites, LeCroy points also

tended to be more heavily resharpened, sometimes retaining very little oftheir original blade shape.
Four projectile points in Niagara Frontier collections
were assigned to the Kanawha Stemmed type. Two (HLOM
186.7.40/BMS Study #6 and HLOMMS Study #7) were
recovered from unidentified sites in Genesee County, New
York, one (FEHM 988.139.058) is from Fort Erie, Ontario,
and the last (BMS C30318) can be attributed only to the
greater Niagara Frontier region. HLOM/BMS Study #7 was
manufactured from Lockport Formation chert, while the
rest were made from Onondaga chert.
Kanawha and Kanawha-like projectile points have been
recovered from sites over most of the midwestern, mid-

Atiantic and northeastem states, as well as southern Oniario

(Wright 1978, Justice 1987, Ellis et al. 1990). Excavations
at the Russ site, Locus 2, in the upper Susquehanna River
valley of southern New York rccovered Kiurawha-like projectile points in association with hearths and a wide range
of other biface types (Funk 1979, Funk and V/ellman 1984:
Plate 6). These points differed slightly irom Broyles' type
deseription in having very narrow sfems with nearly parallel sides, rather than slightly expanding stems with rounded

corners. These points were iounci

t. ^ ^.-L^
fltrdltl

.t^a^.1 a^
O aa^,1^t^
u4ru
lu o.bwLalw

in

association with

l^
* I li^ /-7<l
n+'l i <
lr,p,
^*J TtitwvLLrr
lrlL-l ,Jl au

Most Kanawha or Kanawha-like projectile points

in westem New York collections were more
similar to those from the Russ site than to Broyles' published examples. Examples of the Lake Erie Bifurcated
Base type defined by Prufer and Sofsky (1965) and
dcscribed by Justice (1987: 92-95) are also similar to
some of the specimens identified as Kanawha Stemmed
forms in this paper and the "Kanawha-like" specimens at
identified

the Russ site. Chapman (1977) argues persuasively that the

Lake Erie Bifurcated Base type is poorly defined, includ-

ing specimens that fit within established ranges of

variability for either of the better-understood LeCroy or
Kanawha Stemmed types. Since the temporal range estab-

lished for the Kanawha-like projectile points at the Russ

site overlaps that from the Kanawha zone at the St. Albans
site, the issue may be moot when questions of chronological significance are under consideration. V/hether regional
differences in style can be ascertained at this temporal
horizon remains to be determined. Therefore, based on
available radiocarbon dates and formal similarities to
Stanly and Neville points, Justice's (1987: 95) suggested
temporal range of 8,200-7,800 b.p. for the Kanawha type
and its locally variant forms seems reasonable.
Two hafted biface fragments (BMS EdAl126 and BMS
C30139) are tentatively assigned to the Bifurcate tradition
due to the configuration oftheir blades, which have resharpening trajectories seen only on Bifurcate tradition points
in Niagara Frontier samples. The incurvate or sinuously
sigmoidal lateral blade edge resharpening found on these
points, with out-flaring or up-tuming projections at the
proximal blade edges, are resharpening attributes frequently found on LeCroy and Kanawha Stemmed points
(Broyles 1971, Justice 1987:91-97). The blade edges of
BMS C30139, from the Town of Byron, Genesee County,
NY, were also serrated and gently altemately beveled.
While the former attribute is commonly recorded on earlier bifurcates, beveling is not, although it is commonly
associated with earlier Early Archaic lithic traditions, The
size, slight beveling and serration of this example suggest
that it may relate to the earlier portion of the Bifurcate tradition. while the size and strface treatmnt of BMS

Ed'AI126 are more similar to the smaller, presumably

later, bifurcates in the present sample.

The relative scarcity, in the Niagara Frontier sample,

of early bifurcates assignable to the St, Albans or MacCorkle styles is worth noting although no clear conclusions
can be drawn from such a small sample, The relative proportions of early and late bifurcates varies greatly from
a-ri rainrr ln reoinn
"it^ t^ "i+n uruvv!vvb.v\!vJvJ

rrrhercvar

eliirlierl

/Rrarlc

Plate
b.p. was

1971; Chapman l75, 19?7; Aciovasio et ai. i995; Stothers

i996) and further investigations in the lower reat l-akes

of wo

region may reveal similar intra-regional variation, The

b.p. [Dic-4?3] (Funk and wellman l9tl4; tl4, Table

6, nos, 36-39). A smilar date of 8,160*50

l,

stratigraphic horizons af the St. Albans site that produced

Kanawha Stemmed points (Broyles 1971: 59).

obtained on charcoal from a hearth in Zone 4, one

ANTHROPOLOGY

recent identification of a large, MacCorkle Stemmed point

with well-defined overhanging barbs and heavily serrated
blade margins in a private collection from a site high on the
slopes of the Allegheny Plateau in southern Erie County,
NY, demonstrates that early bifurcates are present in the
region, even in locations frequently overlooked.
It may also be wofh noting that the bifurcate series, as
known from the Niagara Frontier, represents the first part of
the regional sequence that shows indications of regional
stylistic variation au,ay from southern and midcontinental
styles. Thus, the MacCorkle-like and St. Albans specimens

in Niagara Frontier collections differ from the "classic"

forms found at sites such as St, Albans and Rose Island, but
replicate minor, variant forms at those sites. LeCroy points
from the lower Great Lakes fit generally within that type
but frequently have longer hafting elements, like the
LeCroy-variant points from the Blue Dart and Kassel sites
in adjacent Ontario (Lennox 1995). Deeply barbed, overhanging blades, such as those known from New England
(Chapman 1975: Plate LIX) and eastern New York (Fergusson 1996) are also present in local collections. These
variants seem to be rare in illustrated collections from areas
south of the Great Lakes basin and New England, while
"classic" midcontinental LeCroy points, with elongated and
pointed stems flanking deep, v-shaped basal notches, are
similarly infrequent in regional collections from western
New York and adjacent Ontario,
By the end of the bifurcate horizon, Kanawha Stemmed
points from the lower Great Lakes region seem to share
more attributes with one another and the semi-discredited
Lake Erie Bifurcate type than they do with southern
Kanawha Stemmed points matching Broyles' type description from the St. Albans site. These similarities extend
beyond the local region, with eastem and perhaps northem
connections visible in the collections excavated by Funk
from the upper Susquehanna River valley. Without larger
assemblages or better control over the dating of different
styles at the local and the regional levels, it is hard to make

anything other than impressionistic statements; yet at that

level, the span of time covered by the Bifurcate horizon
appears to see the creation of greater stylistic unity and
communication within the Great Lakes/rlortheast region
and somewhat lcss integration with areas father south.

29

rnorphology: bifurcated base, side notched, cross section: plano-convex,

basal grinding: light, notch or stem grinding: light, blade edge morphology: concave/convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: absent. Type:
This point appears to be intemediate

in form between the MacCorkle

Stemmed and St. Albans Side Notched types, similar to Chapman's (197?:

40) Category 22 at Icehouse Bottom and Bifucate Vaiant

at the Rose

Island site, Tennessee, and may represent a local variant dating to the earlier portion of the Bifurcate tradition.

RMSC 88,118,219, field or study number: A-98, StatelProvince: New

York, County: Niagara, TowdSite: Lockport, Pell site (Lkp 002), mareial:
Onondaga chert, weiglrt (grarns): 8.2, maximum length (mm): 43.3, maximum width (mm): 36.9, shoulder width (mm) 36.9, maximum thickness
(mm): 7.3, base width (mm): 27.8, minimum haft width (mm): 21.8, haft
length (mm): I 1.0, left notch width (mm): 6.6, right notch width (mm): 5.5,

leftnotch depth (mm): 4.7,nght notch depth (mm):5.7, left notch angle:
45", right notch angle; 78o, bifurcation depth (mm): 3.5, bifurcation width

(mm): 9.7, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: bifurcated/side notched, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch

or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent, seffation: absent. Type: This point appers to be intermediate

in form between the MacCorkle Stemmed and St. Albans Side Notched

types, similar to Chapman's (1977: 40) Category 22 at Icehouse Bottom

and Bifurcate Variant

I at the Rose Island site, Tennessee,

and may

represent a local variant dating to the earlier portion of the Bifurcat kadition.

BMS 8d41120, field or study number: -, Staterovince: New york

or Ontario, County: Erie?, Towry'Site: -, material: Bois Blanc chert, weight
(grams): 5.3, maximum length (mm): 38.4, maximum width (mm): 21.4,

shoulder width (mm) 20.4, maximum thickness (mm): 7.0, base width
(mm): 14,4, minimum hft width (mm): 12.8, haft length (mm): 2.2, left
notch width (mm): 9.2, right notch width (mm): 7.6, left notch depth (mm):
1.8, right notch depth (mm): 1.7, left notch angle: 61o, righr notch angle:
74', bifurcation depth (mm): 2.6, bifurcation width (mm): 8.4, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: bifurcated base/side notched,

cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem grinding:

heavy, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, sena-

tion: bsent. Type: St. Albans Side Notched (Broyles

l97l;

Chapman

t9'15,19'7'r).

LeCroy group
BCI{S 66446, field or study nunber: I49, Staterovince: New
York, County; Erie, Town/Site: Buffalo, Ilamad Street site, matedal:
Onontlaga chef, wcght (grams): 3,8, maximum length (mm): >35.2, maximum width (mm): >27.6, shoulder width (mm) >27.6, maximum thick-

BMS C29275, field or study number: SF 9l-4, State/Province: New

York, County: Genesee, Towny'Site: Byron, Hiscock Site, surrounding

ness (mm): 5.0, base width (mm): 17.0, minimum hafr width (mm): 14.9,
haft length (mm): 11.1, left notch width (mm): 10.6, right notch width
(mm): -, left notch depth (mm): 4.6, right notch depth (mm): -, left notch

fields, locus H.S-2, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grarns): 8,7, maximum length (mm): 40.0, maximum width (rnm): 36.8, shoulde width (mm)

angle:44o, right notch angle:42o, bifurcation depth (mm): 4.0, bifurcation

width (mm); 10,8, completeness: tip and two babs missing, proximal end

36.8, maximum ihickness (mm): 7.7, base width (mm): 23.9, minirum irair

morphology: bifurcated and stemmed, cross section: plano-convex, basal

grinding: iight, notch or stem grinding: iight, bladc eCge morphology:

St,

Albans group

v,,idth (mrn): 19.8, haft length (rnnr): 8.9, left notch widrh (mm)i 6.0, iighr
notch width (rnm.): 5.7, left notch depth (mrn): 3,2.,,g,ht nofch deprh (mm):

straight, bevel resharpening: absent, serrationl absent, Type: [Croy

3,?, ieft notch angle: 62o, right notcli angle: I12", bifurcation clepth (mm):

(Broyies 197i, Fergusson 1996, Lennox 1995).

2.9, bifurcation width (rnm): I1.4, completeness: complete, proximal end

BMS C2149i, field or study numle: -, StateTProvirice: New York,

BULLETIN OF TIIE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

30

County: Erie, Towry'Site: Grand Island, material: Onondaga chert, weight

(grams): 7.2, maximum length (mm): 45.3, maximum width (mm): 35.4,

(mm): 4,4, base width (mm): -, minimum haft \/idth (mm): 11.2, haft
length (mm): 8.3, left notch width (mm): 7.2, nght notch width (mm): -,

shoulder width (mm) >35.4, maximum thickness (rnm): 5.6, base width
(mm): 18.5, mininrum haft width (nm): 16.8, haft length (mm): 8.4, left

right notch angle: 69o, bifurcation depth (mm): 3.3, bifurcation width

left notch depth (mm): 2.8, right notch depth (mm): -, left notch angle: 52o,

notch width (mm): 7.3, right notch width (mm): 9.5, left notch depth (mm):

(mm): -, completeness: one basal ear missing, proximal end morphology:

3.5, right notch depth (mm): 5.0, left notch angle: 52o, right notch angle:
46o, bifurcation depth (mrn): 3.2, bifurcation width (mm): 10.9, complete-

bifurcated expanding stem, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding:

ness: one blade edge barb missing, proximal end morphology: sternmed

bevei resharpening: absent, seration: absent. Type: LeCroy (Broyles 197i,

bifurcated base, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: absent, notch

Fergusson 1996, Lennox 1995).

or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpen-

absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edgc morphology: straight,

RMSC 88.118.216, field or study number: A-304, StatelProvince:

BMS EdA964, field or study number: 55/1038 and 939,

New York, County: Niagara, TowrVSite: Lockport, Pell site (Lkp 002),
material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 4.7, maximum length (mm):
37.7, maximum width (nm): 23.9, shoulder width (mm) 23.9, maxirnum

State/?rovince: New York, County: Erie?, Town/Site: -, material: Onondaga

thickness (mm): 5.8, base width (mrn): 18.4, minimum haft width (mm):

chert, weight (grams): 2,4, maximum length (mm): 25.3, maximum width
(mm): 21.9, shoulder width (mm) 21.9, maximum thickness (mm): 5.4, base

shoulder/stem angle: 128o, bifurcation depth (mm): 5.7, bifurcation width

width (mm): 13.6, minimum haft width (mm): 12.2, haft length (mm): ?.4,

(mm): 10.4, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: bifur-

left notch width (mm): 7.2,right notch width (mm): 7.9, left notch depth
(mm): 2.7, right notch depth (mm): 2.2, let notch angle: 46o, right notch

cated stemmed, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: absent, notch

angle: 69o, bifurcation depth (mm): 2.4, bfurcation width (mm): 5.6, com-

pening: absent, serration: absent. Type: LeCroy (Broyles 1971, Fergusson

pleteness: complete, proximal end morphology: stemmed/bifurcated base,

199, Lennox 1995).

cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding:

RMSC 88,118,217, feld or study number: A-226, StateTProvince:

New York, County: Niagara, Towry'Site: Lockport, Pell site (Lkp 002),
material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 4.2, maximum length (mm):
38.3, maximum width (mm): 24.4, shoulder width (mm) 24.4, maximum
thickness (mn): 6.0, base width (mm): 16.0, minimum haft width (mm):

ing: absent, senation: absent. Type: LeCroy (Broyles 1971,

Fergusson

1996, Lennox 1995).

absent, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serra-

tion: absent. Type: LeCroy (Broyles 1971, Fergusson 1996, Lennox 1995).

HLOM --, field or study number: BMS study #8, State/Province: New
York, County: Genesee, Towy'Site: -, material: Onondaga chert, weight
(grams): 5.5, maximum length (mm): 36.4, maximum width (mm): 37.9,
shoulder width (mm) 37.9, maximum thickness (mm): 5.6, base width

18.4, haft length (mm): 12.0,

left shoulder/stem angle: 104o, right

or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel reshar-

L2.4,haft length (mm): 9.1,left notch width (mm): 7.9, right notch width
(mm): 8.3, lcft notch depth (mm): 4.0, right notch depth (mm): 3,9, Ieft

35o, bifurcation depth (mrn): 2.0, bifurcation width (mm): 5.9, complete-

notch angle: 48', right notch angle: 53o, bifurcation depth (mm): 3.3,
bifurcation width (mm): 11.8, completeness: tip missing, proximal end
morphology: bifurcated expanding base, cross section: plano-convex,
basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge mor-

ness: complete, proximal end morphology: bifurcated/stemmed, cross sec-

phology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: absent. Type:

tion: flat, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding; absent, blade edge

LeCroy (Broyles 1971, Fergusson 1996, Lennox 1995).

(mm): 15.8, minimum hft width (mm): 15.7, haft length (mm): 7.0, left
notch width (mm): 8.8, right notch width (mm): 9,4, left notch depth (mm):
4,4, nght notch depth (mm): 4.9, left notch angle: 34o, right notch angle:

morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: light, serration: light. Notes:

RMSC 88,118.214, field or study number: -, State/Province: New

Overhanging barbs and wide blade are simila to an illustrated point from

York, County: Niagara, Towy'Site: Lockport, Pell site (Lkp 002), material:
Onondaga chert, weight (grams): .8, maximum length (mm): >41.0, max-

the Haviland site, Schoharie County, NY (Fergusson 1996) and others from

the vicinity of the Titicut Marsh, Massachusetts (Chapman 1975: Plate

LIX). Type: LeCroy (Broyles 1971, Fergusson 1996, Lennox 1995).
RMSC 88,118.213, field or study number: A-345, State/?rovince: $ew
York, County: Niagara, Town/Site: l,ockport, Pell site (Lkp 002), material:

imum width (mm): 33.0, shoulder width (mm) 33.0, maximum thickness

(mm): 6.3, bse width (mm): -, minimum haft width (mm): 14.3, haft
length (mm): 8.9, left notch width (mm): -, right notch width (mm): -, left
notch depth (mm): -, right notch depth (mm): -, left notch angle: 54o, right

vein quartz, weight (grams): 6.2, naximum length (nm): 44.6, rnaximum

notch angle: 48o, bifurcation depth (mm): 2,0, bifurcation width (mm): -,

width (mm): 21.5, shoulder width (mni) 21.5, maximum thickness (mm);

completeness:

8,1, base width (mm): 15.4, rninimurn haft width (mm): 13.9, haft length

proxirnal end nrorphology: bifurcated stemmed?, cross section: fiat, basal

(mm): 12.9, left shoulder/stem angle: 108', right shoulder/stem angle:

grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology:

104o,

tip missing and haft damaged with both ears

snapped,

light.

bifurcation depth (mrn): 3.8, bifurcation width (mm): 8.8, completeness:

ooncave/convex, bevel resharpenitg: absent, seration:

complete, proximal end morphology: stemmed bifurcated base, cross sec-

although base is snapped, blade form and overhanging barbs are very

tion: biconvex, basal grinding; absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blacle

similar to HLOI4MS study #8 and Haviland site specimens (Fergusson

1996). Type: LeCroy (Broyies i971, Fergusson i996, Lennox 1995),

edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: light,

T'ype: LeCroy (Broyles 1971, Fergusson 1996, Lennox 1995).
R.MSC 88.X18,2f 5, fiold or study nLmtrer: A-27'l , SttelPtovince: lr{ew

York, County: Niagara, Torvn/Site: Lockport, Pell site (Lkp 002), material:
Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 2.7, nraximur:r length (mnr): 35.8, raximum width (rm): 22,1, shouldc width (mm) 20.8, maximunl thickress

Kanrw ha

Notes:

tem,merl grau.s

BMS C30138, feld or study number X-I, State/Province: New

York?, County: Erie?, Town/Site: -, materia: nondaga chert, weiglit
(grams): 8,4, maximurn length Qnm): 50.3, maximutn width (mm): 38.3,

ANTHROPOLOGY
shoulder width (mm) 38.3, maximum thickness (mm): 6.3, base width
(mm): -, minimum haft width (mm): 14.7, hafr length (mm): 9.7, left norch
width (mm): 8.9, right notch width (mm): -, lefr notch depth (mm): 4.8, right
notch depth (mm): -, left notch angle: 53", right notch angle: -, bifurcation
depth (mm): 1.3, bifurcation width (mm): -, completeness: haft damaged,

3l

thickness (mm):7.4, base width (rnm): -, rninimum haft width (mm):21.6,

haft length (mm): -, left notch widrh (mm): -, right notch width (mm): _,
left notch depth (mm): -, right notch depth (mm): -, left notch angle: _,

right notch angle: -, bifurcation depth (mm): -, bifurcation width (mm):

proximal end morphology: bifurcated stemmed, cross section: planoconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge

edge morphology: convex/concave, bevel resharpening:

morphology: concave, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: absent. Type:

Kanawha Stemmed (Broyles 1971).

bevel, serration: heavy. Notes: general form

FEHM 988.139.058, field or study number: -, State/Province: Ontario,

County: Niagara Regional Municipality, Towry'Site: Fort Erie, material:

the Niagara Frontier survey sample.

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 10.0, maximum length (mm): 50.0, maxi-

York, County: Erie?, Towry'Site: -, materiai: Onondaga chert, weight

mum width (mm): 39.9, shoukle width (mm) 39,9, maximum thickness
(mm): 7.2, base width (mm): 18.0, minimum haft width (mm): 16.1, haft

(grams): 6.8, maximum length (rnrn): 45.7, maximum width (mm): 31.7,
shoulder \ryidth (mm) 31.5, maximum thickness (mm): 6.0, base width
(mm): -, minimum haft width (mm): 13.9, haft length (mm): -, left notch

of blade

light

alternate

ancl resharpening

trajectory, except beveling, fits the profile of bifurcate based points from

BMS 8d41126, field or study number: C2l4B, Staterovince: New

Iength (mm): 10.9, left notch width (mm): 14.9, right norch width (mm):
11.5, left notch depth (mm):4.4, righr norch depth (mm):5.3, left notch

width (mm): -, right notch widrh (mm): -, left notch depth (mm): -, right

angle: 47o, right notch angle: 68o, left shoulder/stom angle: 109", right
shoulder/stem angle: 117o, bifurcation depth (mm): 1.8, bifucation width

notch depth (mm): -, left notch angle: -, right notch angle: -, bifurcation
depth (mm): -, bifurcation width (mm): -, completeness: base damaged,

(mm): 12.1, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: bifurcated

proximal end morphology: unknown, cross section: beveled, basal grind-

expanding stem, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: absent, notch

ing: -, notch or stem grinding: light, blade edge morphology: con-

or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: concave/convex, bevel

resharpening: absent, senation: absent. Notes: edges raggedly retouched
producing pseudo-serrated appearance. Type: Kanawha Stemmed (Broyles

vex/concave, bevel resharpening: light, serration: absent. Notes: bladc surfaces thinned by soft hammer oblique transverse flaking with horizontal
transverse retouch. Notes: general form of blade and resharpening trajec-

t).
HLOM -, field or study numbe: BMS study #7, State/povince: New
York, County: Genesee, Towly'Site: -, material: Onondaga chert, weight

vey sample.

197

(grams):4.4, maximum length (mm): 36.2, maximum width (mm): >25.6,

shoulder width (mm) >25.6, maximum thickness (mm): 6.4, base width

(mm): 15.7, minimum haft width (mm): 14.0, hafr tength (mm): 9.7, left
notch width (mm): -, right notch width (mm): -, left notch depth (mm): -,
right notch depth (mm): -, left notch angle: 55o , right notch angle: -, bifurcation depth (mm): 1.3, bifurcation widrh (mm): 6.6, completeness: barbs
damaged, proximal end morphology: bifurcated expanding stem, cross sec-

tion: biconvex, basal grinding: light, notch or stern grinding: absent, blade
edge morphology: concave, bevel resharpening: absent, seffation: light.
Type: Most like Kanawha Stemmed (Broyles I97l), although basal grinding is rarely reported for this type.

HLOM 186,7,40, field or srudy number: BMS srudy

tory fits the profile of bifurcate based points from the Niagara Frontier sur-

EARLIER MIDDLE ARCHAIC (ca. 8,000-6,600 b.p.):

Stanly Stemmed (N=18; Figure 4; Plates 4,7 , B) and Morrow Mountaln (N=15; Figure 4; Plate 5) and Ev (N=l;
Figure 4; Plate 8) Clusters
Down the Appalachian spine of eastem North America,
along parts of the eastern seaboard and throughout the far-

of the Middle Archaic

(ca. 8,000-6,600 b.p,) are characterized by stemmed
bifaces of highly variable form. The earliest and bestknown members of this series, called Stanly or Neville
ther Northeast, the first two-thirds

#6,

Stemmed points, carry shallow bifurcations on short stems

Staterovincc: New York, County: Genesee, Towry'Site: -, material: Lock-

that link them formally and almost certainly developmentaily to the Kanawha Stemmed type of the late Bifurcate tradition. Later, the parallel ol' slightly contracting
stemmed Stanlyf.teville points are replaced by radically

port chert, weight (grams): 8.6, maxirnum length (mm): 49.4, maxinum
width (mm): 31.7, shoulder width (mm) 31.?, maximum thickness (mnr):
6.7, base width (rnm); 15.9, minimum hafr widrh (mm): 14,5, hafr lengrh
(mm): 8.7, left shoulder/stem angle: 129., righr shoulder/stem angle: I l0o,
bifurcation depth (mm): 1,2, bifurcation wiclth (mm): 7.9, completeness:
one barb damaged, proximal end morphology: bifurcated expanding stem,
cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch

or stem grinding:

absent, blade edge morphology: ooncaver bevel rcsharpening: absent, serra-

tion: light. Type: Kanawha Stemmed (Broyles 1971).

,9

_,

completeness: haft damaged, proximal end morphology: missing, cross

section: beveled, basal grinding: -, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade

ly un s s i g n e d p r o b o h I e b ifur c a te s
a:^rr i
^- study rurubsr; LB2:5 FS#4"59,
Lruiry,
ilets
^rnrrn

ty l s t k: al

rc
nrrs

Sate/povince:

llJcw York, Countyl {ienesr:e, Towry'Site: Town of Byron, L-Brook Fiejtl#2,

-5, mateEial: Onondaga chec, r',,ight (grams): 8.T, rnaximurn lengih
(mm); -, maxirnum width (mm): 36.i, shoulder widrh (mm) 36,1, maxirnum

loous

cortraeting, reduced or roundod stemmed projectile points

known as Morrow lr4ountain and Stark types in the

Southeast and Northeast, respectively. Excavations by
Chapman (1975, 1977, 1980) and others (Dincauze 1976;
Custer et al. 1994, 1996) in stratified sires daiing io this
interval suggest that fhe "classic" Stanly, Neville, Stark
and Morrow Mountain types represent temporally shifting
entral iendeneies within cnsiel!.ations of Middie Aichaic
stemmed pints ihal contained a fairly wicle range rrf
variability at any given point in fime. Despite this range, it
is ciear thar Middle Arciraic stemnled poinfs of the
Stanlyfrleville and Monow Mountain clusters represent a

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

32

distinctive and recognizable tradition derived from late

bifurcate styles.

other end of the sequence, during the midseventh millennium b.p., the picture becomes less unified.
Along the coastal plain and piedmont of the Atlantic
seaboard, stemmed forms leading ultimately to Late
Archaic forms of the so-called Piedmont tradition may
represent developmental continuity from the Middle
Archaic stemmed point tradition (Dincauze 1976), Around
the Great Lakes, in the northem Appalachians and throughout the upper Midwest, however, stemmed points dis-

At the

appear, apparently to be replaced around 6,400 b.p. by a

stylistically intergrading series of broad-bladed, side
notched forms unlike anything typical of the preceding millennia in the Northeast. In the upper Midwest, representatives of this post-stemmed tradition are known as Raddatz,

Godar, and Big Sandy (II) Side Notched points (Justice

1987: 67-69), while in the interior Northeast, around the
lower Great Lakes, Funk has suggested that these types be
called "proto-Laurentian," implying an historical relationship to the Late Archaic Laurentian tradition characterized by Otter Creek, Vosberg and Brewerton types (Funk
1988, 1991a). To the south, in the southern Appalachians

by Dincauze (1976) and Coe (1964), respectively, share the attributes described above, yet have
described

slightly tapering stems and shallow basal bifurcations that

make them quite distinctive. In form, size and documented
chronological position, these bifaces appear to be stylisti-

cally transitional from the late Bifurcate tradition

Kanawha Stemmed type, as Funk and ry'ellman (1984: 84)

demonstrated at the Russ site,

in New York's Upper

Susquehanna River valley. Eight projectile points

in

the

current sample conform to published descriptions of these

classic Neville or Stanly forms (BMS C29616.067, BMS

c30140, BMS C30141, HLOM 186.24.43, RMSC

88.118.272, RMSC 88.118.279, BMS C21875a and BMS
C30142). Seven are made from Onondaga chert; one
(BMS C30141) was manufactured from Lockport formation chert.s
Radiocarbon dates from the mid-South to the northeastem United States consistently place these forms in the
first half of the Middle Archaic, ca, 8,000-7,000 b.p. (Dincauze 1976: 229; Justice 1987: 97-98). At the Neville
site, levels dominated by the Neville type specimens pro-

duced radiocarbon dates

of 7,740t280 b.p. [GX-1746],

7,650t400 b.p, [GX-1747], 7,210t140 b.p. [GX-'1.922],

and central Midwest, Morrow Mountain-related styles

and 7,015f 160 b.p. [GX-1449] (Dincauze 1976: 195-196).

segue into short-stemmed and crudely formed broad-bladed

points of the White Springs cluster (Justice 1987: 108-l l0)
or the basally notched Eva styles (Ibid, 100-104). Although
these different styles intergrade to some degree and co-exist
at some sites, there is a clear suggestion that the earlier
Middle Archaic represents the last period characterized by
truly pan-Eastem projectile point styles. The later Middle
Archaic, after Neville/Stanly and Morrow Mountain/Stark,
witnesses the emergence of regional styles with fewer
apparent links to one another.
Eighteen specimens in the surveyed collections were
referable to the Middle Archaic Stanly Stemmed Cluster as
defined by Justice (1987) or to variant, contemporary forms

In the mid-south and midwest, similar dates have been

identified in early Middle Archaic components excavated

by Dincauze (1976), Chapman (1917), Funk and Wellman
(1984), Eisenberg (1991) or Custer et al. (1994, 1996).
Members of this eiuster are small, stemmed points with
hafting areas relatively equal in length and width, topped
by triangular, weakly to unserrated blades, Points existing
within this cluster are characterized by sharpiy angleci
haft/shoulder junctures (approximating right angles),
although somewhat acute and slightly obtuse angles are
known. it is not uncommon to find specimens with asymmetrie haft/shoulder angles. With their short, squared
sfems, sharp shoulder angles and trianguloid blades, mem-

bers of this sluster generaliy look iike smali Cluismas

trees, although reshar;"rening can reduce their width to
n-early spike-like forms identifiable only by their haft mor-

phology.

Neville and Stanly Stemmed points, named and

obtained on levels producing Stanly Stemmed projectile

points: at Icehouse Bottom and the Patrick Site, Tennessee,7,7901215 b.p. IGX-41231and 7,8101175 b.p. [GX-

4l2Il,

respectively (Chapman 1977: 163-164); at the

Ferry site, Illinois, 8,150t400 b.p. (Fowler 1957:262); at

the Habron site, Virginia, 7,390t100 b.p. (Rodgers 1968,

cited in Chapman 1977: 164); and at Russell Cave,

Alabama, 7,565*250 b.p. and 7,770t190 b.p. (Griffin
1974: l3). Although reported dates cluster in the eighth
millennium b,p., two very late dates, 6,560t100 b.p. [Y16551, from basal stratum 2 at the Sylvan Lake Rockshelter, initially reported as a date on Neville-related
material (Funk and Vy'ellman 1984) but later described
without specific cultural affiliations (Funk 1989), and
6,490t300 b.p. [RL-1261] (Cowan i991) on a Stanly component at the Spruce Run site in the Upper Ohio River valley, may imply continuity of this type into the last half of
the lt{iddle Archaic period. Disregarding extreme outliers
a temporal range of ca. "l ,900*'l ,250 b.p. can be suggested

for the "classic" Neville/Stanly form.

The majority of Neville/Stanly points identified in

Niagara Frontier collections fall within the range of
variability for published dimensions of Neville points
(Dincauze 1976: Table 2) and are best considered examples of thai type. I{owever, three poinfs 'within this group
/fJ:hla r)(r..r
I ,i O,4
t?fr
.)1A'7<^ .^' Tl\if e r'-?nt
UJvIIr' l.)\ o!
t ./\ n,le
trtt)
^-..
tl\lvl'Jv
eloser in measured attributes to Coe's (1964) and Justiee's
(1987) clescriptions of the Sranly type than to Dincauze's
(1976) measurements for the Neville type. A specimen

ANTHROPOLOGY

nearly identical to these three points was recovered from

Zone YI of the Muddy Brook Rockshelter, Putnam County,
New York, in association with classic, indented-base
Neville points (Tompkins and DiMaria 1979: figure 2c), in
a deposit dated to 6,825t325 b.p, [GX-l1447] (Funk 1989,
1991a).

Similarly wide, indented-base points, albeit with somewhat different biade configurations and frequent serration,
have been identified in other excavated early Middle
Archaic collections as correlates of southern Kik Stemmed
and Kirk Serrated bifaces. These appear to span the transition from the late Early Archaic, Bifurcate tradition, to
early Middle Archaic Stanly assemblages (Chapman L977,
Nance 1986, Justice 1987: 84), A potentially related, widebladed form from the Upper Susquehanna valley in New
York State, with a similarly indented base but projecting
ears, has been provisionally called the Wells Bridge type
and was associated with a date of 6,960t215 b,p. [Dic-752]
at the Russ site (Funk and Wellman 1984: 84, Table 1).
These wide-based variants, then, may span a fairly long
temporal span, perhaps ca. 8,200-7,000 b.p., within the
Early Holocene. No Wells Bridge or Kik Stemmed points
were identified with certainty in Niagara Frontier collections, although in the absence of a formal, written description of the Wells Bridge type, it is possible these were overlooked.

In most

excavated northeastern sites where Neville

points have been recovered, a suite of somewhat lessdistinctive straight based, stemmed forms are also found
(Dincauze 1976; Chapman 1977; Dumnt and Dumonr
1979; Funk 1979, 1991a, 1993; Funk and Wellman 1984;
Eisenberg 1991; Custer et al. 1994, 1996), The coassociation of these point types with the "classic" Neville
form in radiometrically dated, sealed deposits suggests that
they are also diagnostic of the Middle Archaic period. The
apparent scarcity of these forms in published southeastem
and midcontinental contexts reinforces the sense of an
increasingly distinctive northeastern character to Niagara
Frontier early Middle Archaic complexes.
Ten projectile points in this study (BECHS 66-448,
BMS CZIZZa, BMS C16655a, BMS C21861a:1, BMS

c29614.060, BMS 29614.109, BMS C30143, BMS

C3Al44, FEHM 988.140.021 and FEHM 988.140.23) are
attributed to this straight-based type, here called "I.{eville
variant" in keeping with the precedent Funk and Wellman
(1984) established for similarly configured points from rhe
upper Susquehanna River valley.e These points are distributed throughout the Niagara Frontier. BECI.IS 66-448 was
found in the village of kving, Chautauqua County, NY;
BMS C16655a came iiom the Town of Lockport, t{iagara
Count5,. NYr and Bblf9 CZlZZa., FHtr-trM 988.i4fi.23 and
FEHM 988.140.021 are, all from the cify of Fort Erie,
Ontario. One "Ncville varianf" point (BMS C2186la:1)
came from fhe Gillmore Farm site, Erie County, Ny ancl

33

four (BMS C29614.060, BMS C29614.109, BMS C30143

and BMS C30144) came from three sites in the upper
Spring Creek drainage of Genesee County, Ny. All were
made from Onondaga chert.

At the West Water Street Site, in north-central

Pennsylvania, both "classic" indented-base Neville/Stanly
points and the straight-based, stemmed "Neville variant"

forms were recovered from sealed strata dated to

7,390t110 b.p [Beta-63528] (Custer et aL 1994, 1996).
Simitar straight-based points were recovered throughout
the Neville phase levels (ca.7,700--7,100 b.p.) at the type
site in New Hampshire and were actually more common
there than the "classic" indented-base forms that are typically associated in the literature with the Neville type
name (Dincauze 1976: 27). Straight-based, straightstemmed projectile points were associated with dates of
7,880t145 b.p. (Dic-474) at the Russ site, locus 2, in the
Upper Susquehanna River drainage of south-central New
York (Funk and Wellman 1984: 84), ca. 7,300 b.p., at the
Dill Farm site, Connecticut (Pfeiffer 1986, cited in Funk
1993: 181), 7,170t225 b.p. [GX-l1448] af North Bowdoin
Rockshelter and 6,8251325 b.p. [GX-114471 at Muddy
Brook Rockshelter (Funk 1989; 1993: 181).
Comparing this suite of dates with those obtained
throughout eastern North America for sites with more

"classic" Neville and Stanly forms confirms the contemporaneity implied by their co-occurrence in wellsealed contexts at Neville, Russ, North Bowdoin Rockshelter and other sites. A temporal range of 7,800-6,800
b.p. may be suggested, with relevant radiocarbon dates
perhaps clustering in the more recent portion of this range,
ca.7 ,50V7,000 b,p,

Another form referable to the Middle Archaic in

Niagara Frontier collections has a short, broad, straightbased stem and a broad triangular blade with a shallowly
recurved barb on one or both shoulders. These points
appear to have been roughly formed by percussion flaking
with minimal pressure retouch to regularize and resharpen
blade edges. Bases and stems are unground. Four complete

points (BMS C21.29m, BMS C29614.099, BMS

C29647.013 and RMSC 88.118.144) of this type were
identified in this survey of curated collections, Three were
manufaciured from Onondaga chert and one (RMSC
88.118.i44) was made from Bois Blanc chert. Additional
fragmentary examples and specimens in private collections
are known.

Close analogs to these points have been recovered at

the lcehouse Bottom site, Tennessee, in stratigraphie association with the site's Stanly and Morrow Mountain componenfs (Icelrouse Foftorn Categories 11, i3 and 14, Chapmnn lQ7"l' 1l li finrrpc tl lq\
f irr. lllnri*n
, ir. i^f
the lower Tennessee River basin, similar points (called
there "Stemmed-Barbed points") were reovered from
Cultural Stratum 3 in association with Kirk Stemmed,
a.r

r-,/.

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

34

Figure 4. Regional distribution of Stanlyfi.Ieville, Morrow Mountain/Stark and Eva Cluster bifaces in the Niagara Frontier
region. Open symbols in shaded circles indicate specimens for which only county provenience is available. Shorelines of
the lower Great Lakes approximate modem locations, rather than Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene positions.

Cypress Creek and Eva/Monow Mountain styles. Radiocarbon dates for Cultural Stratum 3 at Morrisroe ranged from
7,5301150 b.p. [SFU-130] to 7,1101250 [SFU-121] (Nance

1986: Table 1).'0 Nance (1986: 24--25) notes similarities

betveen

this type and Cypress Hill points, but clear

similarities are also evident between "Stemmed-Barbed"

points and the EvaMorrow Mountain points from Morrisroe (Nance 1986: Figures 10-12). Similar points were present in the "Eva horizon" at the Cave Springs site, Nashville
basin, Tennessee, associated with radiocarbon dates span-

ning the period 7,30(H;,500 b.p. (Hofman 1986). One of

the bifaces associated with a charcoal sample dated to

t,390LIl0 b.p. [Beta-63528] at the West Water Street site,

Pennsylvania, represents a similar form with contracting
stem, straight to slightly cnvex base and a hookeef barb on
one shoulder of fhe blade (Custer et al. 1996: Figure 22e,
22f, respectively).
V,/e prcpcsc

thc provisional lsrn: "Byron Stemned"

poini for this style in the Niagara Frontier and eonsider it tct
be a Middle Archaic diagnostic type on the basis of com-

parisons

to dated examples in mid-Atlantic and mid-

continental stratified sites. Like classic Neville/Stanly and

"Neville variant" types, "Byron Stemmed" points appear
to be present at a sufficient number of sites, scattered over
a sufficiently wide region, to imply that they are not accidents or produets of a single flintknapper. Based on the
position of correlative types within stratified sequences
from the Tellico Basin, "Byron Points" are expected to be

transitional between the Neville/Stanly and Morrow

Mountain/Stark Stemmed Clusters and appear to have a
temporai range of ca. 7,50-6,500 b,p..
Classic Neville/Stanly points are present in small numbers in many collections and cannot easily be rnistaken for
anything other than temporally precedent Kanawha points,
with which they intergrade and from which they are generaliy thought to have developecl (Broyles 197i; Chapman
1975, 1977; Justice 1987). Stemmed "Neville variant" and
"Byron Stemmed" points may, on the other hand, be less
immediaetry re*agnizable, Ancecloial eviriclcs sJggesc
that they are frcquently dismissed by eolleetors and
archaeologists as "funny-looking Lamoka points." Several
factors argue against this assignment.

ANTHROPOLOGY

Fist, both of these forms share with Neville/Stanly

points a narrowly constrained and overlapping range of variation in metric haft attributes (haft length, base width,
shoulder/haft width and shoulder/haft angle), suggesting
that all were manufactured to fit into similarly socketed
foreshafts or shaft openings. Second, as noted above, in surrounding regions projectile points identical to the "Neville
variant" and "Byron Stemmed" types described in this
paper have been recovered from sealed and stratified
deposits that also produced classic Neville/Stanly forms
and were dated to the early Middle Archaic interval, yet did

not produce the weakly side notched or expanding base

projcctilc points that define the classic Late Archaic
Lamoka type (Ritchie l97la). Third, archaeological surveys directed by the senior author in upland portions of
Genesee County, New York, located both single- and
multiple-component sites producing either classic
Neville/Stanly or Lamoka points. "Neville variant" and
"Byron Stemmed" points were recovered from sites that
produced Neville/Stanly points but were not associates of
the Lamoka stylistic series on Lamoka phase sites.

At stratified sites in New England and in the midcontinental regions, Neville and Stanly points are succeeded by bifaces with similar blade forms but contracting
stems and rounded bases. The latter are known as Stark
Stemmed types in the Northeast and as Morrow Mountain
variants in the southeast and midcontinental regions. The
co-occurrence of Neville/Stanly and Stark Stemmedfforrow Mountain points, with transitional forms, in successive
strata at the Neville and Icehouse Bottom sites, among
others, suggests that they represent temporally successive

stages

in a developmental

sequence

of

stemmed point

forms.

Stark Stemmed (Dincauze 1976: 29-37) and Morrow

Mountain (Coe 1964: 3743, Justice 1987: 104-107) points
are characterized by contracting stems with rounded bases,
weakly rounded to angled shoulders, obtuse angles between
shoulder and stem and an overall expedient approach to
biface preparation. Cross-sections are frequently thick and
biconvex. The points' edges were formed and thinned by
direct percussion flaking from all margins of the point with
minimal pressure flaking used to define and sharpen the
edges. Hafting areas are rarely ground (3.3?o at the Neville
site) and are frequently incompletely thinned (377o of Stark
Stemmed points at the Neville site retained basal facets;

Dincauze 1976 33). Differences between Morrow

Mountain and Stark Stemmed foms are minimal, and, as
noted by Dincauze (I976:29^32) they are "homotaxial and
apparenfly oeval" styles (see also Justice 1987: 105).
Aithough similar in general form to the Rossville type
of tl:e ear1r llodiddle S/odlanc'l Bu-c|[i]l pha*e (Rirchie
1971a, Kinse;v et al. 1972), Sfark Stemmecl and l"{orrow
Mountain points have sharper shoulders, with a ciear break
in contour rather than the nearly smooth curve from base to

35

blade that characterizes Rossville points (Ritchie 197la:

46). Further, the temporal and spatial distribution of
Rossville points suggests non-overlap in the Niagara
Frontier region. The spatial distribution of documented
Rossville points is constrained to the eastem seaboard of
the Middle Atlantic and southem New England states, generally east of the Appalachian summit and reaching their

farthest west distribution in the major drainages penetrating the eastern flanks of the Appalachian Plateau (Ritchie

1977a, Fogelman 1988: 191, Funk 1993: 200).

Temporally, the period in which Rossville points occur
(ca. 2500-2100 b.p.) appears to be characterized in rhe
Niagara Frontier by late Meadowood and Fiopewellianinfluenced projectile point styles.
Seven Stark Stemmed points were identified in this
survey. One (BMS CZl862) was recovered in the 1920s by
Karl Polland from the Gillmore Farm site, Town of Alden,

Erie County. Another (BMS C2129c:2) was recovered

around the tum of the century near the village of lrving, in
the Town of Hanover, Chautauqua County, New York.
Five Stark Stemmed points (UB 1 0 99 I I 17 9, UB l09g / L37 6,
UB I 099/ 1 3 8 8, UB 1 099/1 444 and UB 1099 I 1929) were collected at the end of the nineteenth century by Dr. A. L.
Benedict from a site, or site complex, along the Niagara
River in the Town of Wheatfield, Niagara County.

It should be noted that with one exception

(U81099/1929) the points identified here as Srark
Stemmed types were manufactured with greater delicacy
than Dincauze's type description implies and would probably be classified as "Neville variants" in Dincauze's
(1976: 29) taxonomic framework for the Neville site,
However, Dincauze's "Neville variants" were found in the
same stratigraphic positions as Stark Stemmed points at
the Neville site, above "classic" straight- or concave-based
Neville points, and both share the contracting stems and
rounded bases characteristic of the Morrow Mountain and
Stark Stemmed types. Although these may be transitional

forms, it is equally likely that Dincauze's "Neville

variants" are simply better-made Stark Stemmed forms
and that the use of high-quality Onondaga chert in the
Niagara Frontier promoted more consistently well-flaked
examples of the type than at the Neville site, where low-

grade siltstones, tuffs and felsites were preferred for

manufacturing these bifaces (Dincauze

197

6: 33).

Four additional projectile points in the surveyed

Niagara Frontier collections (BMS C2l29c:1, BMS
C2l29c:3, BMS C29616.189 and U81099//29) are sufficiently sirnilar to Stark Stemmed points to include them
provisionally as variants of the type. These "Stark
Stemmed variants" share the same range of variability in
cnetric attributes as lr{iagara F-rontier Siark Sremmcd
spccimcns, diffcring only in hai'ing a basc shapec, iii pari,
by fracturing the corners of the stem or leaving part of the
striking platform intact to reate a faceted, rather than

BIILLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

thinned, proximal surface. As noted above, Dincauze

(1976: 33) reports that more than one-third of Stark
Stemmed points from the Neville site had faceted bases
and, s described below, coeval Morrow Mountain-related
points from sites in the midcontinental region of the United
States exhibit similar basal treatment.
"Stark Stemmed variant" points identified in this survey
were reovered primarily from the same areas that pro-

duced typical Stark Stemmedfforrow Mountain bifaces.

BMS C2129c:1 and BMS C2l29c:3 were collected in the
village of Irving, Town of Hanover, Chautauqua County.
UB|O99[429 was recovered from the same site complex in
Niagara County that produced five Stark Sternmed points,
BMS C29616.189 was recovered from the Call's Field 3
site, locus 10, in the Town of Byron, Genesee County, New
York in close proximity to loci characterized by Neville,
"Neville variant" and "Byron Stemmedt' points-all of
which are suspected to be contemporary or antecedent
Middle Archaic types.
The temporal range of Stark Stemmed and Morrow

Mountain points within the Northeast is not wellestablished, although their stratigraphic position at the
Neville site and other locations in the midcontinental
region clearly demonstrates a Middle Archaic age, At the
Neville site, Stark Stemmed points were found in greatest
numbers in Strata 5A and 48, overlapping with the precedent Neville and the subsequent Merrimack Stemmed
types. Radiocarbon dates from Stratum 5A include GX1746 17,740t280 b.p.l, GX-1922 17,2lOtI40 b.p., at the
5Al4B interfacel and GX-2531 4,715t240 b,p.l. Dincauze
(1976: 103) notes that the first sample listed replicates
dates from the underlying Stratum 58, while the last-listed
sample was one of two from the same square that were
anomalously early, for unknown reasons, and that GX-2531
dated a very small and possibly contaminated sample of
charcoal. Two charcoal samples from the interface of the
overlying Strata 4A and 48 produced overlapping radiocarbon dates of 5,910t180 b,p and 6,060130 b.p. [GX-1748
and GX-1921, respectively (Dincauze 1976: Table 8)1. A
range of 7,200-,000 b.p. encompasses the main strata
from which these points were recovered at their type site.

Similarly configured Morrow Mountain points were

3 at the Morrisroe siie,
Kentucky, in stratigraphic association with radiocarbon
dates of 7,530t150 b.p. (SFU-130), 7,180t130 (SFU-270),
7,110*250 b.p. (SFU-121) and 6,630t110 b.p. (Beta10476). Overlying Cultural Stratum 2, from which such
points were absent, produced dafes of 6,440*110 b.p. and
5,580*100 b.p, lBera-1047 5 and Beta-704] 4, respectivelyl,
suggesting a temporal range for this form between 7,50
and 6,500 !r"p. (l{ance i986). ln easfern'Iennessee's ?-eiiico
I;asin, Morow Mcunlain le"els af the Hov,ard alrd Icehouse
Bottom sites were dated to 1,225*165 b.p. [GX-47041 and
6,995t245 b,p. [GX-4124.1, respectively (Chapman 1980:
recovered from Cultural Stratum

Table 1).
Geomorphological data from the Niagara Frontier may
support this dating at the local level, Five Stark Stemmed
points (UB 1190i 1179, UB 119011376, UB 1190/1388,
UBl190/1444, U81190/1929) and one "Stark Stemmed
variant" point (UBll90ll429) in the present sample were
collected from a site complex (U8309) located on the east-

ern shoreline of the Niagara River, in proximity to the

southem shoreline of post-glacial Lake Tonawanda.'t Data
presented by Pengelly (1990) and Pengelly et aI. (1997)
suggest that this area, 175.0-i76.5 meters (575'-579')
above modern sea level (Douglas Perelli, pers. comm.),
would have been directly affected by fluctuations in Lake
Tonawanda's height,
Basal peat dates of 8,340t160 b.p. [BGS-1379] and
8,340t100 b.p. [BGS-1392], overlying thin lacustrine clay
deposits, were obtained from bogs in the former basin of

Lake Tonawanda's western extension onto the Niagara

Peninsula of Ontario by Pengelly (1990). Based on their
heights and correlative data from the eastem Lake Erie
basin, Pengelly et al. (1997:396) postulated a short-lived
lacustrine high stand (ca. 8,750-8,250 b.p.) with a peak
height at 177-180 m (581'-591') AMSL, circa 8,500 b.p.
Water levels apparently fell to approximately 172.5 m
(564') AMSL by 8,000 b,p. (Ibid.: 396). Geo-archaeological investigations in the Willoughby Bog, on the
Canadian side of the Niagara River opposite U8309, indicate that water levels rose again in the western Lake
Tonawanda basin between 7,670t240 b.p, (BGS-1386)
and approximately 6,000 b.p., reaching peak heights of
174.5-176 m (573'-577') AMSL around 7,000 b.p. (Ibid.:
384-385). During this period, U8309 would have been
located on the eastem bank of the upper Niagara River,
where it discharged into the end of a shallow, Iow-water
stage of Lake Tonawanda,

Approximately 6,000 b.p., Lake Tonawanda's waters

started to rise yet again and to expand rapidly in response
to the renewed influx of Upper Great Lakes drainage into
the Lake Erie basin that initiated the regional Nipissing I
transgression (Ibid.: 397). Mapped shoreline features and
radiocarbon-dated lacustrine and near-shore deposits
around the eastern basin of Lake Erie suggest the waterplane of the {ipissing I lake reached a peak height of
approximately 180 m (591') AMSL, circa 5,400-5,300
b.p., and then dropped again to ca. 175.5 m (576') AMSL
by 4,500 b.p, (Ibid. 397).
Data presented by Pengelly (1990) and Pengelly et al.
(1997) thus suggests site U8390 would have been submerged during the Nipissing high stand, ca, 5,700-4,700
tr.p., and also during an earlier Hoiocene high-stand, ca,
t( 1i{t .R 75f} h "r'*
n i)rrring
----"-c) the
--' lfiddlc r\rchaic hnrvever the
site wouLd have been habitablc a.nd loeated in proxinrity to
riverine, iacustrino and near-shore habitats of l-ake Tonawanda and the Niagara River. The presence of Stark

ANTHROPOLOGY

Stemmed and "Stark Stemmed variant" projectile points at

this site, and the absence of either earlier Holocene or later
Middle Archaic types, are consistent with the paleolacus-

37

faceted stems, while Levine (1989: 9) noted that 75Vo of

Stark points identified in a survey of upper Hudson River
drainage collections had faceted bases. This attribute was

trine reconstructions presented by Pengelly (1990) and

not noted for Neville points recovered from the same

Pengelly et al. (1997).

region, Based on reported radiocabon dates and general

similarities to the Morrow Mountain and Stark Stemmed
types, an age range of 7,500-6,500 b.p. may be suspected
for this relatively rare style in Niagara Frontier collections.
The apparent recurrence of these blunting basal modification techniques in disparate collections and in three
temporally linked projectile point types suggests that they
represent intentional manufacturing choices rather than
accidents or damage in use or after burial. Comparison
with reported collections from surrounding areas suggests
that this approach to basal preparation is consistent with a
Middle Archaic attribution and suggests they were made
after the main period represented by Neville/Stanly and
'lNeville variant" bifaces. Based on available dates, reasonable temporal ranges for the "Neville variant" and
"Byron Stemmed" styles might be ca.7 ,750-7,000 b.p and

A notewothy attribute of "Byron Stemmed," "Neville

variant" and "Stark Stemmed variant" points in Niagara
Frontier collections is the intentional preparation qf flattened, or faceted, stem bases. On "Neville variant" points
the flattened stem base was prepared by retaining part of
the striking platform from which the point was made, rather

tltan basally thinning the stem, as was done on Neville,

Stanly and Kanawha points. A straight-based "Neville
variant" point with unfinished base was recovered at the
'West
Water Street site in association with a radiocarbon
date of 7,390t110 b.p. [Beta-63528] (Custer et al, 1994:
figure 77f). Although Cusrer et al. (1,994: 173) interpret this
as an unfinished Neville point because it lacks an indented
base, the presence of utilized straighrbased specimens at
the same site (Custer et al. 1994: figure 78m, o-r) and
extensive resharpening on similarly formed specimens from
the Niagara Frontier and Middle Archaic components in
Tennessee (Chapman 1977) aryue against this explanation.
On "Byron Stemmed" points the same effect was
achieved by selecting a flake blank with cortex and orienting the preform so that the cortex-covered surface became
the base of the stem. Chapman (1977:33-35) records that
24Vo of Category 14 and 88Vo of Category 11 bifaces at
Icehouse Bottom (both morphological correlates of "Byron

Stemmed" points) had unfinished bases with or without

cortex. Since Category 14 bifaces were associated with the
site's Stanly component (dated7,790 215 b,p. IGX-41231,
Chapman 1,977: 163-L64) and Category 11 bifaces were
fouud in its late Middle Archaic Morrow Mountain component (dated 6,995t245 b.p. [GX-4124], Chapman 1977:
164), an increased incidence of this attribute through the
Middle Archaic may be suggested.
On "Stark Stemmed variant" points, the faceted basal
edge was made by striking multiple burination blows on a
contracting stem or by intentionally fracturing the base to
create a stem with a rounded profile when the blade is lying
flat and a flattened profile when viewed from the side.
"Contracting-stem, round-base" points recovered from the
Morrisroe site, Tennessee, seem to represent the samc styie.
Three of the four points illustrated have similarly formecl
bases with fractured basal margins (Nance 1986: Figure
13). This style first appears at Morisroe in the middle portions of Cultural Stratum 3 (7,530t1.50 b,p-7,110t250 b.p.
[SFU-130 and SFU-121, respectively]) and becomes more
eommon in fhe overlying Cultural Siraium 2, whieh produced radiocarbon dates of 6,440*110 [Beta,l0475l and
5,580*100 lBeta-104141 (Nance I986: T'able l). l)ncauze
(i976: 33) notes that 3'7Vo af Siark Sfemmed points at rhe
Neville site, New Flampshire, were charaoierized by

7,50M,750 b.p., respectively, while ca.7,5004,500 b,p.

may be appropriate for the "Stark Stemmed variant" style.
To summarize, comparisons with data from stratified
sites across the East suggest that Niagara Frontier assemblages from the first two-thirds

of the Middle

Achaic

period (ca. 8,000_6,600 b.p.) are characterized by a range

of indented- and straight-based, straight to contracting

stemmed points, among which are the contractingstemmed and indented-based "true" Neville and Stanly
point types. Correlates of Kik Stemmed and Kik Serrated
points, V/ells Bridge points, "Neville variants" and the
tentatively named "Byron Stemmed" points all appear to
have been manufactured and used during this period, and
may especially characterize the central portion of the span.
Towards the end of this period, contracting-stemmed and
rounded base forms related to the Morrow Mountain and
Stark Stemmed Clusters appear. Although points belonging to these latter two clusters are typically recovered in
rnidcontinental sites with basally notched Eva type projectile points or knives (ca. 7,30G-6,500 b.p., Hofman
1986) only one classic Eva point was identified in regional
Niagara Frontier collections (FEHM 988.139.060, from
Fort Eri.e, Ontario).
The functional and regional stylistic implications of the

range

of variafion

appareni

in earlier Middle

Archaic

biface assemblages are currently unexplored, However, the

retention of striking platforms, intentional breakage, or the
use of a cortex surface to create dulled or flat proximal
ends on hafting elements may be a chronologically significanf stylistic eomponenf of this series, becoming rnore

frequent towards fhe end of the eighth millennium b.p.

This suggests that "Neville variant" points may be
referable in the iower Great Lakes region to the end oi thc
period represented by "ciassic" Neville/Stanly forms, serv,

BULLETIN OF THE BI.JFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

38

ing as a transition between these and a Middle Archaic

in which Stark-like, "Byron Stemmed" or Morrow

Neville/Stanly Stemmed.

Mountain related types predominate.

This paper provides the first descriptive analysis and
identification of Neville, "Neville variant," Stark Stemmed,
"Stark Stemmed variant" and Eva-like projectile points
from western New York, although similar forms have been
previously recognized in eastern and central New York
(Funk and Wellman 1984, Levine 1989, Eisenberg 1991)
and southern Ontaio (Ellis et al. 1990). No Stanly or Morrow Mountain Cluster components have been excavated in
the Niagara Frontier, yet all available evidence suggests
that a range of small, stemmed, broad-bladed projectile
points marks the first two-thirds of the Middle Archaic
interval in the lower Great Lakes region, Cross-ties suggest

State/Province: New York, County: Cenesee, TownL,/Site: -, material:

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 4.5, maximum length (rnm): 40.1, maximum width (mm): 21.8, shoulder width (mm) 21,8, maximum thickness

phase

links with both far northeastern and midwestern

archaeological complexes, but stronger ties, overall, to the
northeastern regions where Neville and Stark Stemmed
points, and their variants, prevail,

HLOM 186.24,43, field or study number: BMS study #9,

(mm): 5.7, base width (mm): 12.4, shoulder/haft width (mm): 11.7, hafr
length (mm): 7.4, Left shoulder/stem angle: 107o, right shoulder/stem
angle: i13o, bifurcation depth (mm): 0.9, bifurcation width (mm): 4.9,
completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: straight stem,
indented base, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: bsent, notch or
stem grinding: light, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening:
absent, senation: absent. Type: Neville/Stanly Stemmed.

RMSC 88.118.272, Lield or study number: A-226, Staterovince:

New York, County: Niagara, TowrVSite: Lockport, Pell site (Lkp 002),
material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 3.4, maximum length (mm):
34.0, maximum width (mm): 18.2, shoulder width (mm) 17.1, maximum
thickness (mm): 5.6, base width (mm): 10.3, shoulder/haft width (mm):
10.5, haft length (mm): 9.7, left shoulder/stem angle: 123o, right
shoulder/stem angle: 120o, bifurcation depth (mm): 1.2, bifurcation width

(mm): 7.8, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: straight

Stanlyl N eville

C lus ter
BMS C29616.067, field or study number: CF3:7-FS67, State/Province:

New York, County: Genesee, Towy'Site: Town of Byron, Call's Field #3,
locus 7, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 2.2, maximum length
(mm): 32,0, maximum width (mm): 18.4, shoulder width (mm) 18.3, maxi-

stem, indented base, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch

or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: absent. Type: Neville/Stanly Stemmed.

RMSC 88.118.279, field or study number: A-223, Starovince:

New York, County: Niagara, TowrVSite: l,ockport, Pell site (Lkp 002),
material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 5.8, maximum length (mm):

mum thickness (mm): 4.4, base width (mm): 10.9, shoulder/haft width
(mm): 12.2, haft length (mm): 8.6, Ieft shoulder/stem angle: 100", right

>41.0, maximum width (mm): 27.8, shoulder width (mm) 27.8, maximum

shoulder/stem angle: 93o, bifurcation depth (mm): 0,8, bifurcation width

thickness (mm): 5.8, base width (mm): 13.3, shoulder/haft width (mm):

(mm): 6.7, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: straight

13.8, haft length (mm): 8.3, left shoulder/stem angle: 90o, right
shoulder/stem angle: 87o, bifurcation depth (mm): 1.2, bifurcation width

stem, indented base, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: absent,

notch

or stem grinding:

absent, bladc edge morphology: convex, bevel

(mm): 7.5, completeness: tip missing, proximal end morphology: straight

resharpening: absent, senation: absent. Type: Neville/Stanly Stemmed.

stem, indented base, cross seclion: biconvcx, basal grinding: absent, notch

BMS C30140, field or study number: ANR#52, Staterovince: New

York, County: Genesee, Town/Site: Town of Byron, Spring Creek #2,

pening: absent, senation: absent. Notes: parallel collateral flaking to thin

material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 1.9, maximum length (mm): -,

dorsal side, random flaking on ventral side. Type: Neville/Stanly

maximum width (mm): 21.5, shoulder width (mm) 21.5, maximum thick-

Stemmed, more similar to Stanly than to Neville type descriptions,

or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resha-

ness (mm): 6.5, base width (mm): 10,7, shoulder/Traft width (mm): 12.7, haft

BMS C21875a, field or study number: -, State/?rovince: New York,

length (mm): 9.3, left shoulde/stem angle: 129o, right shoulder/stem angle:
111o, bifurcation depth (mm): 0.4, bifurcation width (mm): 5.9, complete-

County: Erie, TowrVSite: Town of Alden, Gillmore Farm site?, material:

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 7.?, maximum length (mm): -, maximum

ness: distal half missing, proximal end morphology: straight stem, indented

width (mm): 24.7, shoulder width (mm) 23.9, maximum thickness (mm):

base, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grind-

7.1, base width (mm): 17.6, shoulder/haft width (mm): 19.2, haft length

ing: absent, blade edge morphology: -, bevel resharpening: absent, serra-

(mrn); 10.5, left shoulder/stem angle: 143', right shoulder/stem angle:

110', bifurcation depth (mm): 1.2, bifurcation width (mm): 8.1, completeness: distal half rnissing, proxirnal end rnorphology: straight stem,

tion: absent. Notes: cortcx remaining. Type: Neville/Stanly Stemmed.

BMS C30141, field or study nunrber: ANR#60, Staterovince: New

York, County: Genesee, Town/Site: Town of Byron, Call's Field #3, locus
14115, material: Lockport chert, weight (grams): 2.8, maximum length

indented base, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, stem grind-

(mm): >29.?, maximum width (mm): -, shoulder width (mm) -, maximum

thiekness (mm): 5.?, base width (mm): 10.3, shouldcr/haft width (mm): -,

serration: absent. Notes: basally thinned on both faces, Type:

haft length (mm): 8,9, left shoulderfttem angle: 121', right shoulder/stem
angle: -, bifurctin depth (rnm): 0,6, bifurcation v",idth (mm): 7.0, completeness: splil laterally, proximal end rnorphologyt staight stem, inderrted

ing: absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent,

StanlyAlcville, more similar to published descriptons of Staniy type.
Bl\{S C30142, field or study nurnber: ANR#55, StateProvince: New
York, County: Genesee, Towry'Sire: Town of tsyron, Call's Field #1, locus
6, materil: nondaga cher1, weight (grarns): 8.3, mximurn lengfh (mm): -

heavy,'olade edge rrrorphology: c'JnveJi, bevel iesharpening: absent, serra-

, maxirnurn width (mm): 30.1, shoulder width (mm) 25.7, maximum thickness (mm): '7.1, base width (mm): 18.1, shoulderlraft width (mm): i9.4,

tion: light, Notes: thermally altererl and split laterally in half. Type:

haft length (nrn): 9.4, left shoulder/stem angle: 129', right shoulder/stem

base, cross section: plano-convex/, basal grinding: heavy, stem grincling:

ANTHROPOLOGY
^ngle:

L26o, bifurcation depth (nrm): 1.6, bifurcation width (mm): 12.7,

completeness: distal half missing, proxirnal end morphology: straight stem,

39

43.0, maximum width (mm): 18.0, shoulder width (mm) 18,0, maximum
thickness (mm): 6.8, base width (mm): 10.3, shoulder/haft width (mm):

indented base, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: heavy, notch stem

10.2, haft length (mm): 9.4, left shoulder/stem angle:

grinding: heavy, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening;

absent, sention: absent. Notes: parallel collateral flaking over part of

shoulder/stem angle: 128o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width

(mm): N/4, completeness: tip missing, proximal end morphology: shaight

vsntral surface. Type: Stanly Stemmed, possibly tansitional from Kanawha

stem, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absenf, notch or stem grind_
ing: absent, blade edge mo{phology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent,
senation: absent. Type: "Neville vaiant".

Stemmed type.

BECHS 66-448, field or study number: I83, State/Povince: New

York, County: Chautauqua, Towy'Site: Town oflrving, material: Onondaga
chert, weight (grams): 4.1, maximum length (mm): 38.8, maximum width
(mm): 21.9, shoulder width (mm) 21,9, maximum thickness (mm): 6.6 ,
base width (mm):7.6, shoulder/haft widrh (mm): 11.6, haft lengrh (mm):
11.1, left shoulder/stem angle: 90", right shoulder/stem angle:

lllo,

bifurca-

tion depth (mm); N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete, proximal end rnorphology: straight stem, cross section: biconvex,
basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: light, blade edge morphol-

ogy: shaight, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: absent. Type: ,,Neville

variant".

BMS C2l22a, field or study numbcr:

State/Povince: Onrario,

County: Niagara Regional Municipality, Towry'Site: Fort Erie, material:

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 4.9, maximum length (mm): 50.6, maxi-

mum width (mm): 22.4, shoulder widrh (mm) 22.4, maximum rhickness
(mrn): 5.7, base width (mm): 10.2, shoulderraft width (mm): 12.2, haft

length (mm): 10.5, left shoulder/stem angle: 107o, right shoulder/stem

angle: 88o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/A,
completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: straight stem, cross

section: plano-convex, basal grinding: absent, notch

ll9o, right

BMS C29614.109, field or study number: CF2:2-109, Starerovince:

New York, County: Cenesee, TowrVSite: Town of Byron, Call's Field #2,
material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 5.6, maximum tength (mm):
38.2, maximum width (mm): 24.7, shoulder width (mm) 24.7, maximum

.t, base wrdth (m1): 1I.7, shoulder/hat width (mm):

12.7, haft length (mm): 10.7, left shoulder/stem angle: 86o, right

hrckness (mm):

shoulder/stem angle: 101o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width

(mm): N/4, completeness: complete, proximl end morphology: staight

stem, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem

grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening:

absent, senation: absent. Type: "Neville variant".

BMS C30143, field or study number: CFI:3, State/Province: New

York, County: Genesee, Towy'Site: Town of Byron, Call's Field #1, Iocus
3, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 4.1, maximum length (mm):
36.3, maximum width (mm): 22.7, shoulder width (mm) 22.7, maximum
thickness (mm): 5.7, base width (mm): 9.4, shoulder/haft width (mm):

12.5, haft length (mm): 7.6, left shoulder/stem angle:

shoulder/stem angle: 117o, bifurcation depth (mm):

ll5o, right
N/4, bifurcation width

or stem grinding:

(mm): N/4, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: straight

absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent, serra-

stem, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch o stem grind_

tion: absent. Notes: asymmetrically resharpened. Type: "Neville variant".

BMS C16655a, field or study number: 28, State/Province: New york,
County: Niagara, Towry'Site: Lockport, material: Onondaga chert, weight

ing: absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent,

senation: light. Notes: base is unthinned, leaving a remnant ofthe original
flake preform's striking platform. Type: "Neville variant".
BMS C30144, field or study number: ANR#58, Srate/Province: New

(grams): 2.9, maximum length (rnrn): 33.0, maximum width (mm): 19.5,
shoulde width (mm) 18,2, maximum thickness (mm): 5.3, base width

(mm): 9.7, shoulder/haft width (mm): 10.?, haft length (mm): ':.2, left
shoulder/stem angle: 90o, right shoulder/stem angle: 108o, bifurcation depth

(mm): N/4, bifurcation widrh (mm): N/4, completeness: complere,

proxmal end morphology: straight stem, cross section: plano-convex, basal
grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology:
convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: absent. Notes: asymmetrically resharpened. Type: "Neville variant".
BMS C21861a:1, field or study number: -, State/?rovince: New york,
County: Erie, Towny'Site: Town of Alden, Gillmore Farm site, material:
Onon<iaga chert, weighr (grams): 3.9, maximum tength (mm): 33,8, maximum width (mm): 23., shoulder width (rnm) 23.6, maximum thickness
(mm): 8.1, base width (mm): 10.0, shoulder/haft width (mm): 12.3, hafr
length (mm); 9.5, left shoulder/stem angle: 115., right shoulder/stem angle:

127', bifurcation depth (mrn): N/4, bifurcation widrh (mm): N/4, complereness: complete, proximal end rnorphology: straight stem, cross section:
biconvex, basal grinding: abscnt, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge

morphology: slraight, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: absent. Notes:

'hase
refains soma of original flake platfonn, Typc: "Nevi!!o 'rian(".

York, County: Genesee, Towry'Site: Town of Byron, Call's Field #3, locus
5, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 6.2, maximum length (mm): -

, maximum width (mm): -, shoulder width (mm) -, maximum thickness

(mm): 7.8, base widrh (mm): 11.0, shoulder/haft width (mm): 8.2, haft
length (mm): 7.3, Ieft shouldertem angle: 93o, rght shoulder/stem angle:
1480, bifurcation depth (mm): N/A', bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: tip missing and one barb damaged, proximal end morphology:

straight stem, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: absent, notch or

stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpen,
ir,rg: absent, serration: light or pseudo-serration. Notes: severely heat
damaged. Type:

"Neville variant".

FEHM 988.140.021, field or study number: -, Stareprovince:

Ontario, County: Niagara Regional Municipality, Towry'Site: Fort Erie,
vicinity, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 5.9,
maximum length (mm): 47.9, maximum width (mm): 19.0, shoulder width
Peace Briclge

(mm) I8.6, maxinum thickness (mm): 8.2, base wiclth (rnnr): 7.9,
shoulder/haft widtll (mm): i1,0, hafr lengrh (mm): 9.3, left shoulder/srem

York, County: Genesee, Town,/Site: T"own of tsyron, Call's Ficld #2,

angle: 87', right shoulder/stem angle: 133', bifurcation depth (mm); N/A,
bifurcation widtl': (mm)l N/4, completenessl com.ilute, pruxirrral end mornhologl,,: ttraight stern, cross sectior: biconvex, basal grineling: absent,
notch or stem grindingl absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel

material: Onondaga chert, rveight (grams): 4.2, maximurn length (mrn):

resharpening: absert, senation: bsent, Notes: stlaight stem with one

BMS C29614.60, fild or study number: CF2:60, Srarelplo..,ince: New

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

40

minimal thinning on base to crete a nanowing stem. Type: "Neville

ing: light, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent,

serration: light. Notes: base of stem consists of unmodified cortex. Type:

variant".

"Byron Stemmed", similar to Icehouse Bottom Category 14 ("Short Stem,

FEHM 988.140,023, field or study number: -, State/Provincer Ontario,

County: Niagara Regional Municipality, TowrVSite: Fort Erie, material:

Broad Blade," Chapman 1977:34-35) and Custer et al. 1996, figures 77f

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 6.0, maximum length (mm): 45.0, maxi-

RMSC 88.118,144, field or study number: A-309, State/Province:

New Yok, County: Niagara, Towy'Site: Lockport, Pell site (Lkp 002),

strong shoulder, large step fracture on other shoulder prevented completion;

mum width (mm): 22.0, shoulder width (mm) 22.0, maximum thickness

and 78h,k,m.

(mm):7.3, base width (mm): 10.0, shoulderlraft width (mrn): 11.7, haft
length (mm): 10.6, left shoulder/stem angle: ll8o, right shoulder/stem
angle: 117o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifucation width (mm): N/4,

material: Bois Blanc chert, weight (grams): 5.6, maximum length (mm):

completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: straight stem, cross

14,8, haft length (mm): 8.1, left shoulder/stem angle: , right shoulder/stem

section: bieonvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent,

angle: , bifurcation depth (mm):

blade edge morphology: staight, bevel resharpening: absent, serration:

pleteness: tip missing, proximal end morphology: contracting stem, cross

absent. Notes: stem is thick, diamond shaped in cross-section, and basally

section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent,

unthinned, retaining a flat faceted base that probably represents the original

blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration:

flake preform striking platform; resharpened asymmetrically. Type:

absent. Notes: basally thinned. Type:

"Neville variant".

34.9, maximum width (mm): 25.2, shoulder width (mm) 23.4, maximum
tbickness (mm): 7.2, base width (mm): 11.8, shoulder/haft width (mm):

N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, com-

"Byron Stemmed", similar to

("Short
Category
14
Stem,
Broad Blade," Chapman
Bottom
Icehouse
1977: 34-35) and Custer et al. 1996, figures 77f and 78h,k,m.

BMS C2129m, field or study number: -, State/Province: New York,

BMS C21862, field or study number: -, Staterovince: New York,

County: Erie, Towry'Site: Town of Alden, Gillmore Farm site, material:

County: Chautauqua, Towry'Site: Town of Irving, material: Onondaga chert,

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 7.2, maximum length (mm): 45.8, maxi-

weight (grams): 4.0, maximum length (mm): 32.9, maximum width (mm):
26.3, shoulder width (mm) 26.3, maximum thickness (mm): 7.0, base width

mum width (mm): 30.8, shoulder width (mm) 30.4, maximum thickness
(mm): ?,5, base width (mm): 7.4, shoulder/baft width (mm): 15.8, haft

(mm): 10.5, shoulderraft width (mm): 12.4, h^ft length (mm): 7."1, left

length (mm): 12.2,

shoulder/stem angle: 85o, right shoulder/stem angle: 83o, bifurcation depth

angle: 104o, bifurcation depth (mm):

orrow M ountain

luster

left

right shoulder/stem
N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4,

shoulder/stem angle: 109o,

(mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete,

completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: contracting stem,

proximal end morphology: straight stem, cross section: twisted, basal grind-

cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch

ing: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: light?, senation: light. Type: "Byron Stemmed",

absent, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, sena-

simila to Icehouse Bottom Category 14 ("Short Stem, Broad Blade," Chap-

BMS C2129c12, field or study number: -, State/Province: New York,

man L97'7:34-35) and Custer et al. 1996, figures 77f and 78h,k,m.

or stem grinding:

tion: light. Type: Stark Stemmed.

County: Chautauqua, Town/Site: Town

of Irving, material: Onondaga

DMS C29614,099, field or study number: -, State/hovince: New York,

chert, weight (grams): 6.2, maximum length (mm)r 43.1, maximum width

County: Genesee, TowrVSite: Town of Byron, Call's Field #2, locus 2,

material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 3,1, maximum length (mm):

(mm): 24.5, shoulder width (mm) 22.6, maximum thickness (mm): 6.9,
base width (mm): 11.2, shoulderraft width (mm): 13.7, haft length (mm):

30.6, maximum width (mm): 21.4, shoulder width (mm) 21.4, maximum
thickness (mm): 6.1, base width (mm): 12.6, shoulder/aft width (mm):

8.7, left shoulder/stem angle: 97", right shoulder/stem angle: I I 1o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: com-

14.6, haft length (mm): 7.0, left shoulder/stem angle: 127o, right

plete, proximal end mophology: contracting stem, cross section: bicon-

N/4, bifurcation width

vex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge

(mm): N/4, cmpleteness: complete, proximal end morphology: straight

stom, cross section: flattened, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grind-

morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: absent. Type:

shoulder/stem angle: 118', bifurcation depth (mm):

ing: absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent,

serration: light. Notes: base of stem consists of unmodified cortex. Type:

Stark Stemmed.

UI 1099, field or study number: 1929,

State/Province: New York,

"Byrcn Stemmed", similar to lcehouse Bottom Category 14 ("Short Stem,

llroad Blade," Chapman 1977:34-35) and Custer et al. i996, figures 77f

County: Niagara, Town/Site: Wheatfield, U8309, material: Onondaga

cherl, weiglit (grams): -, maximum length (mm): 55.0, maximum width
(rnnr): 29.0, shoulder width (mn 29.0, maximum thickness (mm): 9.0,

and 78h,k,m.

base width (mm):

BMS C29647.013, feld or study number: CF2:3-13, Staterovince:

New York, County: Genesee, Town/Ste: Town of Byron, Call's Field #2'

i2.0, shoulderlhaft width (mm): 17.0, haft length (mm):

12.0, left shoulder/stem angle: 140o, right shouldertem angle: 143o,
bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcat'on width (mm): N/4, completeness:

locus 3, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grarns): 10.9, maximum length

(mrn): 35,1, maximum width (mm): 37.1, shoulder width (ntm) 37.1, maxi-

complete, proximal end morphology: contracting stem/rounded base, cross

IU.u, uaJ wIutII (IItM,r: .4, Iruulocr/!ll I w!ullr

i:lade edge morphoiogy: convex, bevei resharpening: abserrt, serraiiorr:

mum tnlcKllcss tfllIIll:

section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent,

(mrt): 22,4, hafl length (mnr): 6.5, left shoulder/stem atrgle: B5', right
shoulcler/stem angle: 106", bifurcation depth (rnm): N/4, bifurcation width

sic definition of Strk Stemrned type (Dincauze 1976:29-37). Collected

(mm): l\J/A, complelencss: cornplete, proxmal end morphology: stright

by A. L. Benedict, July 26, 1900. Type: Stiuk Stemmed.

stcm, cross secion: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stern griud-

bsent. Not{is: Ilase finished by percussion

flaking around stem, Fits eias-

UB 1099, field or study nutnber: 1388, Staterovince: New York,

ANTHROPOLOGY

41

County: Niagara County, Town/Site: Town of Wheatfield, U8309, material:

BMS C2129c:3, field or study number: -, Stateovince: New york,

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): -, maximum length (mm): 54.0, maximum

County: Chautauqua, Town/Site: Irving, material: Onondaga chert, weight

(grams): 9.7, maxirnum length (mm): 52.2, maximum width (rnm): 25.2,

width (mm): 26.0, shoulder width (mm) 26.0, maximum thickness (mm):
9.0, base width (mm): 10.0, shoulder/haft width (mm): 14.0, haft lengrh
(mm): 13.0, Ieft shoulder/stem angle: 104., right shoulder/stenl angle: 102o,

shoulder width (mrn) 23.9, maximum thickness (mm): 8.4, base width
(mm): 10.7, shoulde/haft width (mm): 12.3, hafr lengrh (mm): 5.0, left

bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness:

shoulder/stem angle: 89o, right shoulder/stem anglc: 90o, bifurcation depth

complete, proximal end morphology: straight stem/rounded base, cross sec-

(mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete?,

tion: lenticular, basal grinding: none, notch or stem grirrding: none, blade

proximal end morphoiogy: contracting stem, cross section: biconvex, basal

grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology:

edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: absent.

Notes: Base is completely flaked and thinned. Would probably be classified

as a "Neville variant" by Dincauze (19'16: 29). Recovered by A. L.

Benedict, June 22, 1898. Type: Stark Stemmed.

UB 1099, field or study number: 1326,

StatelProvince: New york,

convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration; light, Notes: base appears to

have been intentionally fractured to produce a rounded base, flat in crosssection, like BMS C2129c:1, UB 1099/1429, BMS C2t29c:3 and BMS
C29616.189. Type: Stark Stemmed variant.

County: Niagara, Town/Site: Wheatfield, U8309, material: Onondaga chert,

BMS C2129c:1, field or study number: -, Staterovince: New york,

weight (grams): -, maximum length (mm): 42.0, maximum width (mm):

19.0, shoulder width (mm) 19.0, maximum thickness (mm): 6.0, base width

of lrving, material: Onondaga

chert, weight (grams): 8.7, maximum length (mm): 58.5, maximum width

(mm): 8.0, shoulder/haft width (mm): 12.0, hafr lengrh (mm): 11.0, tefr
shoulder/stem angle: 107o, right shoulder/stem angle: 14lo, bifurcation
depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete,

base width (mm): 11,0, shoulde/haft width

proximal end morphology: contracting stem,/rounded base, cross section:

plano-convex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade
edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: absent.
Notes: Base retains a facet from original preform's striking platform. Would
probably be classified as a "Neville variant" by Dincauze (1976:29). Collected by A. L. Benedict, Iune22,1898. Type: Stark Sremmed.

UB 1099, field or study number: 1179, Staterovince: New york,

County: Niagara, Towry'Site: Wheatfield, U8309, material: Onondaga chert,
weight (grams): -, maximum length (mm): 44.0, maximum width (mm):
19.0, shoulder width (mm) 19.0, maximum thickness (mm): 9.0, base width
(mm): 7.0, shoulder/aft widrh (mm): 10.0, haft length (mm): 10.0, left

shoulder/stem angle: 104o, right shoulder/stem angle: 115., bifurcation

depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete,

proximal end morphology: straight stem/rounded base, coss section:

.diamond, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge

morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: absent. Notes:

Simila to some "Neville vriants" as defined in this paper and seems to be
an intergrade. Basal edge retains a facet from original preform's striking
platform. Lateral margins heavily resharpened, leading to diamond,shaped
cross-section. Would probably be classified as a "Neville variant" by Dincauze (1976:29). Found by

A. L. Benedict, October ZB, lgg1-. Type: Srark

Stemmed.

County: Chautauqua, Towry'Site: Town

(mrn): 27.4, shoulder width (mm) 27.2, maximum thickness (mm): 6.4,

(mm): l2.Z,haft length (mm):

7.3, left shoulder/stem angle:96", right shoulder/stem angle: 104o, bifurca_

tion depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete?, proximal end morphology: contracting stem, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge

morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, senation: light. Notes:

blade is leaf-shaped and formed by parallel collateral indirect percussion
flaking with minimal pressure retouch to regularize edges; proximal end of
the stem appears to be intentionally fractured like UBl099/1429,
C2l29c:2, C2l29c:3 and C29616.189 to create a flattened end on a contracting stem. Type: Stark Stemmed variant.

UB 1099, field or study number: 1429, State/Province: New york,

County: Niagara, Towry'Site: Wheatfield, UB309, material: Onondaga
chert, weight (grams): -, maximum length (mm): 40.0, maximum width
(mm): 23.0, shoulder width (mm) 23.0, maximum thickness (mm): 9.0,
base width (mm): 8.0, shoulder/haft

width (mm): 12.0, haft length (mm):

11.0, left shoulder/stem angle: 106o, right shoulder/stem angle: 1030,
bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/A, completeness:
complete?, proximal end morphology: parallel stem,/rounded base, cross
section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent, notch or stem grinding: light,

blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration:

absent. Notes: Rounded base appears to have been formed by removing
burinated flakes from the corners of the stem. Collected by A. L. Benedict,

April 30, 1899. Type: "Stark Stemmed variant."

UB 1099, field or study nurnber: 1444, Stdte/province: New york,

County: Niagara, Towy'Site: Wheatfield, U8309, material: Onondaga chert,

weight (grams): -, maximum length (mm): 60.0, maximum width (mm):

27.0, shoulder width (mm) 27.0, maximum thickness (mm): 9.0, base width

(mm): 8.0, shoulder/haft width (mm): 15.0, haft lengrh (mm): 13.0, teft
shoulde/stem angle: 101o, right shoulder/stem angle: 89o, bifurcation depth

BMS C29616,189, field or study number: CF3:10-189,

State,frovince: New York, County: Cenesee, Towry'Site: Town of Byron,
Call's Field #3, locus 10, material: Lockport chert, weight (grams): 11.2,
maximum iength (mm): 55.5, maximum width 1mm): 28.0, shoulde width

(mrn) 25.3, maximum thickness (mm): 7,9, base width (mm): 12.5,
shoulder/haft width (mm): 13.0, hafr length (mm): 8.6, left shoulder/stern

(mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, complereness: hafr splir along

angle: i34o, right shoulcler/stem anglel 114o. bifurcation cfepth (nrm)l N/A,

length, proximal end morphology: contracting stem/rounded base, cross

oection: lenticular, basal gnding: absent, notcli r:r stem grinding: bsent,

bifucation rvidth (mm):

blade edge morphology: straight, bevel resharpening: absenl, serrafion;

absent. Notes: Would probably be classified as "Neville variant" by cefinitions of Dincauze (19,a6:29). Coilected by . L. Benedcr,
Type: Sfark Siemmed,

,riil 30,

189g,

N/4, completeness: complete?, proximal end

morphology: straight stcm, rounded fractured base, cross section: biconvex. basal grilding: bsent, noch or stem grinding: airsent, blade er)ge
morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: abscnt, serraton: absent. Ntes:
r.t^l^ :. r^^f
L)raoe is ia1-siiapeo aii ioiiiied y paraiicl cullateral jntiireci percussion
flaking with minimal pressure retouch to regularize edges; proximal end of

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATTIRAL SCIENCES

42

the stem appears to be intentionally fractured like UB 1099/1429, C2l29c:2,

C2l29c:3 and C29616.189 to create a flattened end on a contracting stem.

Type: Stark Stemmed variant.

Eva Cluster
FEHM 988.9.060, field or study number: -, State/Province: Ontario,
County: Niagara Regional Municipality, Towy'Site: Fort Erie Scout Camp,
material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 12.0, maximum tength (mm):
40.5, maximum width (mm)r 42.2, shoulder width (mm) 42.2, maximum
thickness (mm): 7,8, base width (mm): 21.8, shoulder/haft width (mm)l
18.2, haft length (mm): 8.5, left notch width (mm): 4.2,nght notch width
(mm): 7.4, left notch depth (mm): 7.6, right notch depth (mrn): 7.9, left

notch angle: 22o, nght notch angle: 31o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/A,
bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: basally notched, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: absent,

notch or stem grinding: absent, blade edge morphology: straight, bevel

resharpening: absent, serration: absent. Notes: very heavily resharpened
with knife-like wear resulting in asymmetric reduction of the lateral blade
margins, deeply basally notched with long projecting barbs extending to the
plane of the stem base, ends of notches formed by the removal of large hertzian flakes, straight base. Type: Eva?

Heavy Based Side Notched Cluster (N=8; Figure 5; Plates

6, 8)

Funk (1988, 1993) has proposed that the late Middle

Archaic period in New York State is characterized by an
unnamed tradition similar to the Big Sandy (II) and Raddatz complexes of the midwestem states. These complexes
are characterized by large, broad, side-notched projectile
points with squared basal ears. Grinding of the bases and
notches is common on the midwestem forms, but rarely
includes the lateral margins of the basal ears. Beveling is
not characteristic and blade edge serration is extremely
rare, especially relative to its presence on earlier side
notched forms, such as Big Sandy (I) and Graham Cave
Side Notched (Justice 1987).

In the lower Great Lakes region, this tradition is thought

to have developed into the early Late Archaic Laurentian

tradition with its characteristic Otter Creek, Vosberg and
Brewerton series bifaces (Funk 1988). Consequently, Funk
(1991a: 9) suggests the term "proto-Laurentian" to describe
this material. Although only one taxonomic unit. the "South
Hill" phase of southeastern New York state, has been provisionally defined for this tradition, Funk (1988, l99la, 1993:
188*190) has amassed data to suggest the presence of
related phases throughout the state at the end of the Middle
Archaic.
The most frequently cited diagnostic artifact type found
on sites provisionaily assigned to fhis tradition are "tter
Creek peiints or very similar large side-notched poiuts [that]

conform
,.L:..ff,,
!!I!!J

lo the original ftter Creekj type description

1,. s,.*--,,
.,l- rt-,,
,,1,"."-,.*q,., uuli,
,r,.,,.- *,.{,.i,,...
rtarrrrr Llurrrrrr,
rl(rrul
lll
ttt!l r-rl
tr!\. 1..,f{:'-,,

,.4
ur

rnedium size, squared tangs, and a straight to slightly

incurvate base, all of which are usually ground. The blade

is broad with triangular to excurvate edges and relatively
thick, but is short in contrast to the relatively straight-sided
blades on a majority of points from Vergennes sites in the

Champlain Valley" (Funk 1993: 188), A smaller form,

"intermediate between the Otter Creek and Brewerton
Side-Notched types" is also generally present at sites of
this period (Ibid.: 188, Plate 9, nos. 2-7).
Illustrated examples of this type from the McCulley
No. 1 site, Delaware County, New York (Funk 1993: Plate
9), and from the Shafer site, Schoharie County, New York

(Funk 1988: Figure 13) suggest that the larger variant

proto-Laurentian side-notched points assigned to the Blue
Hill phase are, overall, more massive than "classic" Otter

Creek points and differ in basal configuration, having

nearly straight basal edges, a thick basal pediment, wide
basal ears with parallel lateral edges and relatively highly
placed, deep and narrow side notches. The bases on illustrated examples of the larger variant points from the
McCulley (Funk 1993: Plate 9, no. 1) and Shafer (Funk
1988: Figure 13, nos. 11-14) sites range in width from
3.7-5.0 cm, with a mode around 4.M.3 cm. In comparison, classic Otter Creek points from Vergennes sites in
the Champlain Valley range from 2.5-3.2 cm in maximum
basal width (Ritchie 79'11.a: Plates 2O-22). Thus, while
there seems to be no reason to doubt a relationship to the
Otter Creek form, these larger points are called here
"Heavy Based Side Notched points" to differentiate them
provisionally from later Archaic forms. Funk's illustrations
suggest that resharpening strategies applied to these points
typically resulted in greater attrition to their blades' lateral
edges and length than to the width of the blade at its
proximal end, Heavily resharpened examples in local colIections exhibit relatively small triangular blades sitting
atop overly massive hafting elements.
Heavy Based Side Notched points appear to differ from
bifaces of the Thebes Cluster in having squared, rather
than rounded, basal ears and bifacial, symmetrical edge
retouch. Serration appears to be missing and alternate
blade retouch is not indicated. Both attributes are commoniy found on Thebes bifaces. Key differences with
Early Side Notched Cluster bifaces include deep basal
thinning, radically incurvate basal margins, downtuming
ears and broad, U-shaped side notches placed nearly at
right angles to ihe long axis of the point or angling slightly
upward into the blade. These attributes are found on Early
Side Notched Ciuster bifaces but do not seem to be typicai
of the Heavy Based Side Notched points.

The few available radiocarbon dates on components

producing "Heavy Baseri Side lt{otcrec points" in New
York clusler af the end of the sevenlh millennitm Lr.p. (ea.
6.300-5,700 b.p.), The basal zone of the Shafcr site prod'rced a date ot ,290f l9C to.p. (DIC-218) and a date of
6"025*205 b.p,, obtainecl on bone apafiie from a remted

ANTHROPOLOGY

43

Figure 5. Regional distribution of Heavy Based Side Notched Cluster bifaces in the Niagara Frontier region. Open symbols in shaded cicles indicate specimens for which only county provenience is available. Shorelines oi the lower Great
Lakes approximate modem locations, rather than Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene positions.

burial at the Clark site, along the St, Lawrence River, may
also relate to this tradition.

At the Sylvan Lake Rockshelter,

a point intermediate between "Heavy Based Side Notched,'

and classic Otter Creek forms was stratigraphically associated with a date of 5,670t75 b.p, [GX-11447], while rype
specimens of the "Heavy Based Side Notched" form were
associated with a date of 5,7301110 b,p. at McCulley No. I

(Funk 1991a). No sites producing such projectile points

in western New York. However,
the Zawatski Terracc site, aiong the Aiiegheny River in

089) can only be attributed to the Niagara Frontier region,

most likely to Erie County, New York. HLOM 196.34.371BMS Study #10 is from Genesee County, New york, but
neither site nor township provenience is available. BECHS
66--437 is from the Bamard Street Site, on the northem
floodplain terrace of the Buffalo River in the city of Buf_
falo, Erie County, New York, BMS C22lla was found on

have been directly dated

Bemus Point, along the northern shoeline of Lake

Chautauqua, Chautauqua County, New york" BMS

Cattaraugus County, produced a feature without associated

artifacts dated to 6,210tJ.2A b.p. [DIC-355]. This was over-

C24955 was recovered during excavations at the Hiscock

site, Town of Byron, Genesee County, unfortunately from
disturbed contexts, BMS C29795 was collected from an

lain by levels with Brewerton Side Notched forms and

hearths dated 5,630t115 b.p. [DIC-352] and 5,660t75
IDIC-3561 (Calkin and Miller l9t7: 3ffi*lil). The larier
dates suggest termiili ante quem for proto-Laurentian
manifestations in westem New York.
Eight exampl"s "onforming fo Ink's dcscripfrcns and
pr,rblishe.d photogra.phs of "!Icav5, Based Side Notclre<J
poirrfs" were icientifieri in Niagara F'rontier coiiections,
Three (BECHS 55-1074, BMS EdA 1006 and BMS EdA

unrecorded site located in the Spring Creek drainage,

Town of Byron, Genesee County. AII identified examples
are manufactured from nondaga chert, while recorde,j
sife locations include major stream margins, iake shores
and upland settings.
BECHS 55-1014, fielrJ r:r study nurntrer: -, State/province: tr.ew
York, County: ,rie?, 'fown/Site: -, material: Onondaga chert, weight
(grams): 10.8, maximum length (rnm): 39,9, ma,ximum rvidth (mm): 31.9,

BULLETIN OFTHE BUFFALO SOCIETY OFNATTIRAL SCIENCES

44

shoulder width (mrn) 28.9, maximum thickness (mm): 9,0, base width
(mm): 31.9, minimum haft width (mm): 17.6, haft length (mm): 14.5' left
notch width (mm): 8.0, right notch width (mm): 10'0, left notch depth
(mm): 6.7, right notch depth (mm): 6.2, left notch angle: 83', right notch
angle: 90", bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/A'
completeness: cornplete, proximal end morphology: side notched, cross

right notch angle: 92", bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width
(mm): N/4, completeness: tip missing, proximal end morphology: side
notched, cross section: biconvex, basal grinding: light, notch or stem
grinding: heavy, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening:
absent, senation: light. Notes: tip removed by large impact fracture,
squared basal ears, side notches produced by removal of large hertzian

section: plano-convex, basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem grinding:

heavy, blade edge morphology; convex, bevel resharpening: absent' serra-

flake removals from each side, leaving broad semi-circular flake scars sur-

tion: absent. Type: Heavy Based Side Notched.

BMS EdA 089, field or study number: -, Staterovince: New York,

County: Erie?, Towry'Site: -, materiai: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): ,
maximum length (mm): 41.1, maximum width (mm): 29.4, shoulder width

HLOM 186.34'37, field or study number: BMS study

#10'

State/Province: New York, County: Genesee, TowrVSite: -, material:

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 10.8, maximum length (mm): 43,3, maximum width (nm): 30.8, shoulder width (mm) 2B'3, maximum thickness

rounding notch termini on bodr faces. Type: Heavy Based Side Notched.

(mm) 27,2, maximum thickness (mm): 6,7, base width (mm): -, minimum
haft width (mm): 17.3, haft length (mm): 15.2, left notch width (mm): 7.5,

(mm): 8.5, base width (mm): 30.8, minimum haft width (mm); 22.0' haft
length (mm): 12.6,bft notch width (mm): 7'1, right notch width (mm): 6'3,

right notch width (mm): -, left notch depth (mm): 6.6, right notch depth
(mm): -, left notch angle: 87o, right notch angle: -, bfurcation depth (mm):

left notch depth (mm): 3.8, right notch depth (mm): 3'4, left notch angle:
74o, right notch angle: 97o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width
(mm): N/4, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: side

N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: right basal ear snapped,
proximal end morphology: side notched, cross section: plano-convex,
basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem grinding: light, blade edge morphol-

notched, cross section: bifacially beveled, basal grinding: heavy, notch or

ogy: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, seration: absent' Notes: based

on extrapolation from the remaining portion, the base of this point would

stem grinding: light, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening:

light, senation: light. Notes: grinding extends over base and ears into
notches. Type: Heavy Based Side Notched.

have been -29.8 mm wide, haft ears are squared, basal edge is straight;
grinding is present on the basal edge and in the interiors of the notches but

of the ears. Type: Heavy Based Side

BECHS 66-437, field or study number: 149, State/Province: New

York, County: Erie, Towry'Site: Buffalo, Barnard Street site, material:
Onondaga chel, weight (grams): 10.7, maximum length (mm): 46.5' maxi-

does not extend around the margins

mum width (mm): 32.5, shoulder width (mm) 32.1, maximum thickness
(mm): 7.9, base width (mm): 31.1, minimum haft width (mm): 18.2, haft
Iength (mm): 14.8, teft notch width (mm): 9.6, right notch width (mm): 8'5'

County: Genesee, Towr/Site: Byronfliscock site, material: Onondaga

chert, weight (grams): 19.7, maximum length (mm): 58.7, maximum width

left notch depth (mm): 5.7, right notch depth (mm): 7.7, left notch angle:
84", right notch angle: 82o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width
(mm): N/4, completeness: tip missing, proximal end morphology: side

Notched,

BMS C24955, field or study number: -, State/?rovincc: New York,

(mm): 36.8, shoulder width (mm): 36.8, maximum thickness (mm): 8.7,
base width (mm): 31.1, minimum haft width (mm): 19.4, haft length (mm):
14.1, left notch width (mm): 8.4, right notch width (mm): 7.9, left notch

notched, cross section: plano-convex, basal grinding: heavy, notch or stem

depth (mm): 6.7, right notch depth (mm): 7.8' left notch angle: 65", right
notch angle: 72o, bifurcation depth (mm): N/4, bifurcat'on width (mm):

grinding: heavy, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening:

N/A,, completeness: complete, proximal end morphology: side nohedflat

absent, senation: light. Type: Heavy Based Side Notched'

base, cross section: lenticula, basal grinding:

BMS EdA 1006, field or study number: -, State/Province: New York,

County: Erie?, Towy'Site: -, material: Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 6.6,

absent, blade edge morphology: convex, bevel resharpening: absent, sena-

maximum length (mm): 37.4, maximum width (mm): 28.7, shoulder width
(mm) 23,6, maximum thickness (mm): 7'4, base width (mm): 28.7' min!
mum haft width (mm): 17.3, haft length (mm): 12.6,left notch width (mm):
4.5, right notch width (mm): 8.2, left notch depth (mm): 4.2, right notch
depth (nrm): 3.7, left notch angle: 93o, right notch angle: 8lo, bifurcation

depth (mm): N/4, bifurcation width (mm): N/4, completeness: complete,

proximal end morphology: side notched, cross section: plano-convex, basal
grinding: heavy, notch or stem grinding: heavy, blade edge morphology:
convex, bevel resharpening: absent, serration: absent, Notes: heavily resharpened, Ieaving a small triangular blade ovel large squared base. Type:
Heavy Based Side Notched.
BFvfS C2211a,

field or study number: -, State/Province: Nerv Yotk,

County: Chautauqua, Town/Site: Bemus Point, Lrke Chautauqua, naterial:

Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 10,6, maxilnum length (mm): -, maximum
idth (nr:): 31.5. shoulder i'"'ic!th (rnrn) 27,?, maximum thickness Qnnt):
e < L,,,;.{rh .--\.
?1 riirn',[r lrqfr wi.ltlr lmnrl lR0 hfl lenollr

(mm): 14.1, left notch width (mm): 6.2, right notch width (mm): ?.8, ieft
notch depth (mm): 5.6, right notch depth (mm): 5.4, left notch angle: 95o,

light, notch or stem grinding:

tion: absent. Notes: lft basal ear may have been damaged and reworked
in use. Blade formed by soft hammer percussion flaking followed by pressure retouch along margins. Side notches formed by multiple, massive
flake removals from both sides, leaving large Hertzian scars at inner terminations of notches, Type: Heavy Based Side Notched.

BMS C29795, field or study number: -, Staterovince: New York,

County: Genesee, Towry'Site: Byron, Spring Creek drainage, material:
Onondaga chert, weight (grams): 1.8, naxirrur length (mm): N/4, rnaximum width (mm): 26.9, shoulder width Qnm): N/4, na,ximum thickness
(mm): N/4, base width (mm): 26.9, minimum haft width (mm): i8'0, haft
length (mm): N/4, left notch width (mm): N/4, right notch width (mm):

N/4, left notch depth (mm): =5.2, right notch depth (mm): =3.9, left notch
angler N/4, right notch angle: N/4, bifurcation depth (mm): N/', bifurcation rvidth (mm): N/^A, completeness: proximal end only, proximal end
morphology: sid notched/flt base, cross section: N/,4', basai grinding:
light, notch or stem grinding: heav,, blade erige mnrphology: l{/,4, bevel
resharpening: N/4. senation: N/4. Notes: Iasal configuration matches that

of ilMS C24955 ciosely and was probably founcl withirr a onc kilometer
radius of that specimen. Basal configuration leaves tlo doubt of stylistic

ANTHROPOLOGY
attribution, Type: Heavy Based Side Notched.

RESUMAND DISCUSSION
Perspectives on Early Holocene prehistory in the Niagara
Frontier have evolved dramatically over the past century.

At the turn of the twentieth century, discussions about

regional prehistory focused on the relationships between
Iroquoian and pre-Iroquoian, presurned Algonquian, cultures. The Native American past was considered to have
little time depth, at most a few thousand years prior to
European contact (Beauchamp 1900: 26), and traditional
stories and legends of the Native Americans living in the
Northeast were viewed as important guides to social and
cultural changes in the region's prehistory (Morgan 1904,
Houghton 1909). Archaeological investigations, then in
their infancy, viewed the entire material culture record of
the region as potentially useful sources ofdata for interpreting this epic story of conflict between two great cultural or
linguistic groups.
The discovery of stone tools with the bones of extinct
Pleistocene mammals in the American West during the
1930s, and the recognition that similar stone tools were
found throughout Nofh America, shattered this view of a
short chronology and left a vast void between the known
record of ceramic-producing agriculturalists and the emerging picture of Late Pleistocene hunters. Ritchie's (1932,
1936) demonstration that relatively complex, and possibly
sedentary, hunter-gatherers had occupied northeastern
North America even before the producers of "Algonquian"
ceramics, ushered in consideration of a new "archaic" age
of culture-history in North America.

By the 1950s and early 1960s, investigations into

Archaic culture-history had led to the discovery of deeply
buried, well-stratified cave and riverbank sites in many
parts of North America. These investigations revealed long
series of successive Archaic cultural phases and, with the
advent of radiocabon dating, the antiquity of these different Archaic cultures began to be understood. In the Northeast, however, deeply buried sites with well-separated strata
were late to be located or investigated and the prevailing
paradigrn for interpreting the region's Archaic prehistory
remained Ritchie's original framework, codified in seminal

works

of taxonomy (1961, l97la)

and culture-history

(1965, i969).
In Ritchie's original view, the earliest Archaic culture in
the region was the Lamoka phase, which was succeeded by
Brewetton, Frontenac Island and a series of other preagricultural, hunting and gathering phases (Ritchie 1 965).

The discovery, based on radioearbon dating, that all of

these were Late Holocene cultures, colnparable to other
regions' I-ate Archaic phases, left a 5,000 year hialLrs in
Norfheastem prehistory. T'he preferreel explanation for this
lriatrrc

-L^i^^^^^
rnti thn ota f O7r'lc ",ac ti.ar
[ui lo-1.,
J ra tj
!tvtvurtu

f.^-^^i
uutu(t!

forests bianketed the Northeast ard created an effeclive

45

barrier to human exploitation and occupation of the region.

Only with the replacement of that ecosystem by mixed
deciduous forests in the Late Holocene could the region be
fully settled. Interpretations of apparent Early Holocene
artifacts in scattered sites around the Great Lakes region

suggested that they represented unusual, short-lived,

unsuccessful or seasonal forays into the boreal Northeast
(Ritchie 1979), that they were actually Late Holocene
"look-alikes" for Early Holocene types from other regions
(Fitting 1964), or that the regions in which such artifacts
were found were actually fairly far south and demonstrated
the frontier beyond which Early Holocene settlements
were uncommon or absent (Ritchie and Funk 1971).
By the late 1970s, however, excavations at a small
number of sites in the Nofheast (Dincauze L976, Dumont

and Dumont 1979, Funk 1979, Tomkins and DiMaria

1979) demonstrated the presence of Early Holocene
archaeological sequences with chronometric and stylistic

links to better-known series from the Midwest and midSouth. Subtle but significant differences from southern
Early Holocene sequences also suggested that early nofheastem hunter-gatherers had developed their cultures in
situ, ruther than being part-time visitors or unsuccessful
pioneers.

About the same time, researchers in the heartland of

the proposed Great Lakes "boreal desert" began to question its ecological foundations and demonstrated the
presence of a relatively wide range of apparent Early
Holocene artifact styles in the region (Calkin and Milter
1977, V/right 1978, Trubowitz 1979). Although significant
starts were made by these investigators, their initial efforts
were not followed up, and greater advances in understanding Early Holocene prehistory were made in other parts of
northeastem and midcontinental North America.
Throughout much of eastern North America, research
on Early Holocene hunter-gatherers has proceeded well
beyond matters

of chronology, style and basic culture-

history. Current research in these areas tracks, and contributes to, more general theoretical concerns with post-glacial
adaptations, variability in hunter-gatherer social organzation, the emergence of sedentism, questions of diet and
subsistence, plant domestication, technological change,
cerernony and symbolism. In the Greai Lakes region, it
will be impossible to make significant contributions to
these issues until we establish the basic framework of a
chronometric cultural taxonomy for the Early Holocene.
Following the leads established in surrounding regions
rfitrin'
nasf fwo
-__"_-_ thc
''-- r-'*"" rlecadcs iT nnw seemc nncqihle fn
establish a provisional culture-historical framework for the
Eariy and Middle Archaic periods in Vy'estern I\ew York
anri ndincent f)ntario The lncni F.rlv ,Arr-hain scnn.n.
begins af the end of thc Pleistocene with the appearance of
a series of side-nofched projecfile point forms. Some, like

the Hi-Lo (ca. 10,40G-9,750 b.p.) and Hardaway (ca.

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

46

10,000-9,500 b.p.) forms, exhibit clear stylistic linkages to

precedent Paleoindian forms and are only broadly sidenotched. Others, like Big Sandy (I) (ca. 10,30G-9,750 b.p.),
Kessel (ca. 10,000-9,500 b,p.) and cunently un-named, but
related, side-notched members of the Early Side Notched
Cluster (ca, 10,25G-9,500 b.p.) seem more distinct from
Paleoindian prototypes. The significance of the apparent
differences in style and production strategies seen in these
bifaces and the implications of their possible con-

temporaneity within the region represent currently

unexplored questions.
By the middle of the tenth millennium b.p., Thebes and
Kirk Corner Notched Cluster bifaces are represented in the
archaeological sequences of midcontinental and southeastern North America. A restricted range of the varied
forms found within the Thebes Cluster is represented in
Niagara Frontier collections. The small number of Thebes
Cluster points identified in these collections and the limited
range of styles they represent reinforces suggestions based
on broader regional research that western New York is near
the distributional limit of Thebes Cluster forms (ca.
9,750-9,250 b.p.).

In contrast, the Kirk Corner Notched Cluster is wellrepresented in Niagara Frontier collections. Representative

of Chapman's earlier "Lower Kirk" (ca.

9,500-9,200 b.p.) and later "Upper Kirk" (ca. 9,500-8,500
b.p.) groups were present in collections with site, township
and county provenience. Surprisingly, bifaces similar to
those from the Nettling site, in southern Ontario, were
poorly represented in the Niagara Frontier collections.
The Bifurcate tradition (sens Chapman 1975) is present within the Niagara Frontier, but is not the pre-eminent
Early Holocene taxon implied by earlier studies. The prominence of bifurcates in past discussions may be a dual product of their historical role in research on the Early Archaic
and their uniquely identifiable form. MacCorkle Stemmed
specimens

(ca. 8,900-8,500 b.p.), St. Albans Side Notched (ca.

8,800-8,500 b.p,), LeCroy Bifurcated Base (ca,
8,500-8,200 b.p.) and Kanawha Stemmed (ca. 8,200-7,800

b,p.) points were identified in local collections. At their

earlier end, dates for the Bifurcate tradition overlap those
of the later, large Kirk Corner Notched series. The limited
number of early bifurcaie forms found in Niagara Frontier
collections, compared with the relatively strong representation of large Kirk Corner Notched points, may suggest that
the bifurcate series was adopted here later than in areas farthe south, where large (and presumed early) bifucates are
mr .^ffiffi^n

/Qtnthere

OO\

The appearance of Neville/Stanly points, the first in a

of small points with welldeveloperf shouiders on qaight rn eonfraerirlg slerrs.
marks fhc bcginnino of thc Middlc Archaic oeriorl Thc
wicie array of stemmeci forrns produceci in ihis periori
appear to have chronological irnplications, although rvith
sequence (ca. 7,900-6,600 b.p.)

considerable overlap among styles. "Classic" Neville/

Stanly forms (ca. 7,900-7,250 b.p.) are probably the earliest, developing formally from Kanawha and Kanawhalike forms at the end of the Bifurcate tradition. These are
followed, provisionally, by "Neville variant" (ca.7,750_
7,000 b.p.), "Byron Stemmed" (ca. 7,50G-6,750 b.p.) and
Stark/Stark variant points (ca. 7,250-6,500 b.p.).
Funk's (1988, 199L, 1993) masterful compilation of
data on the late Middte Archaic indicates that the end of
the Middle Archaic is probably marked by the production
of "proto-Laurentian" broad side-notched points formally

similar to, but differentiable from, Otter Creek and

Brewerton Side-Notched forms. The apparent gap between
the end of the Middle Archaic Stemmed tradition,

ca.

6,500 b.p., and the appearance of "proto-Laurentian" tradition diagnostics, ca. 6,300 b.p., will probably disappear
with further research and radiocabon dates from the Great

it is also possible that the mid-seventh

millennium b.p. should be characterized by one or more
additional types of hafted biface, Possible candidates for
this period include straight stemmed, crude, narrow points
similar to the Merrimack Stemmed type that follows Stark
Stemmed through much of New England. Potential correlates to this type exist in many Niagara Frontier collections, classified as "large Lamokas," "Bare Island points"
Lakes region, yet

or "untyped Narrow Point" styles. The reality

and
chronological significance of these overlapping and poorly

defined types are open to question and constitute

worthwhile subject for research,

As none of the artifacts studied in these Niagara

Frontier collections came from excavated sites with associated radiocarbon dates, the temporal ranges outlined
above are necessarily provisional and must ultimately be
verified by stratigraphically controlled excavations,
radiometric dates or demonstrable associations with sealed
geomorphic features of known age. However, the implications of temporal overlap between styles and the possible
production of several styles of hafted biface at any given
time are intended and reflect both the suggestions of available dating and the frequent use of multiple hafted biface

styles by ethnographically documented stone tool-using

societies (e.g. Murdoch 1892, Nelson 1896),
m
I I
Ll-----|
-f
'
----:--:lills ,-rrquclluy ur
purn.s
raore
r sllows Ll-tn tne
PruJecure
Niagara Frontir sarnple through the Early Hoiocene. In
constructing this table, projectile points referable to named
types were allocated proportionally to each of the 500-year
blocks during which they are thought to have been produced. For ex-ample, "Byror points" were split evenly
between the two 500-year intervals (7,500-7,000 b,p. and
7,00-6,500 b.p.) they are thought t represent. The table,
fherefore, provices an heurisfic framervork for vislralizing
the temporal distributior of projectile points identified in
ihis survey, To ihe exient that the collections we analyzed

are representative

of the larger population of Early

ANTHROPOLOGY

47

ESTTMATED
TEN,IPORAL INTERVAL

BIFACE STYTES PROPOSED FoR INTERVAL

6,500 - 6,000 b.p.

Heavy-Based Side Notched

7,000 - 6,500 b.p.

Byron, Stark, Stark variant, Eva

12

7,500 - 7,000b.p.

Neville, Neville variant, Byron, Stark

13

8,000 - 7,500b.p.

Kanawha, Neville, Neville variant,

11

800 - &000 b.p.

LeCroy, Kanawha

1"1

9,000 - &500 b.p.

Upper Kirk (large and small varieties), St. Albans group

17

9,500 - 9,000 b.p.

Thebes, Lower Kirk, Upper

Kirk (small variety)

12

10,000 - 9,500 b.p.

Hi-Lo, Hardaway, Early Side Notched, Thebes

12

1000 - 10,000 b.p.

Hi-Lo, Early Side Notched

Table 1. Provisional temporal distribution of Early Holocene bifaces reported in this sample. Bifaces were assigned proportionally to specific 500-year blocks based on chronological data summaizedn the text. It is assumed that more than one
style may have been in use, concurrently or sequentially, during each interval.

Holocene projectile points and sites that exist

in the

been the standard areas to which archaeological research-

Niagara Frontier, it may also provide an initial sense of

periods that are more heavily represented, or are less commonly recognized, within the larger region. The Early
Archaic Kirk horizon and a Neville/Stanly phase during the
early Middle Archaic seem to be the most commonly
represented intervals. The observed temporal distribution of
biface types in Niagara Frontier collections shows statistically significant between-cell variation from 10,000 to
6,000 b,p. (X'1=3.665, df=7, .80sps.90). Bifaces assigned
to the 8,50G-9,000 b.p. interval are present in significantly
greater numbers than would be expected by chance in an
evenly distributed sample of this size (n=96). Conversely,
bifaces representing the Heavy Based Side Notched clusfer
and assigned to the 6,504,00 b.p. interval appear io be
under-represented relative to eariier periods. The significance and implications of these observations remain to be
determined through further field research,
Moving beyond chronology, one intriguing pattem to
emerge from the Niagara Frontier eollecticns is that the

River drainage of western Pennsylvania (Adovasio ef al.

199-5) and tlre
trnner
midwesf lftrqtice I9R7\ ht G:-J
re :q-_:j
rcrelrr
*rI.*-_-_

earliest part

-^-^*r^
rvyvrLvu

of the

Holocene archaeological sequence

seems to show closer cultural connections to Early Archaic

e.levelopments in the midconfinent than to trajectories of

cultural change in northern Appalachia, the far Norfheast or

the East Coast. {.s a result of cunenf polifical boundar.ies

and past researhers' orientations, the latter regions have

ers and avocational archaeologists working in western

New York have looked to find parallels for patterning in
their data. However, Hi-Lo, Thebes and Early SideNotched types, which are common elements in midcontinental Early Archaic sequences, appear to be present
in the Niagara Frontier but are unreported from areas farther east than central New York State or the Allegheny
River drainage of Pennsylvania.

This pattem of midcontinental linkages in the Niagara

Frontier perpetuates connections established during the
Late Pleistocene. Hi-Lo, Holcombe, Crowfield and Bames
points have been identified in collections from Westem
New York (Smith et al. 1994; Tankersley 1995; Smirh
i995, Tankersiey et al. 1996, 1991). All of these Paleoindian to Early Archaic styles are recognized in southern
Ontario (Ellis and Deller 1990,1997; Ellis et al. 1990), the
westem basin of Lake Erie (Stothers 1996), fhe upper Ohio

-^^..J *^-.L
^-^^- f^-+L^^^^+ dilu
urlt qlvo
tatltvl
!4l
tuttt,

l\either lanceolate Flano-like bifaces nor concave*

based trangxioid points clerived frcm tr-ete Falecindian
forrs wer presenf in any surveyed Niagara Frontier col-

lcctions, 'fhese have beon proposed as the eariiesi

Holocene diagnostics in New England, the Maritime

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

48

Provinces and the Middle Atlantic States east of the

Appalachian Mountains (Ritchie 1980: 16-19, Doyle et al.
1985, Ellis and Deller 1990, Funk 1991b:60, Jones 1997).
Lanceolate, Agate Basin-like projectile points have
been reported along a narrow band stretching eastward
from Lake Superior (Julig 1984, 1994) through the St.
Lawrence drainage into northernmost New England and the
Canadian Maritime provinces (Doyle et. al. 1985). Radiocarbon dates from sites producing these lanceolate points
cluster in the interval 9,600-9,300 b.p. (Julig 1984, 1994;
Jones 1997), suggesting that lanceolate points in the northem Great Lakes and far Northeast are contemporaries of
Early Side Notched, Thebes and early Kik Corner Notched
Cluster diagnostics in areas farther to the south, including
the Niagara Frontier. Later dates from sites with lanceolate
points in the Gasp Peninsula are contemporary with the
Neville phase, suggesting that their production continued
into the Middle Archaic period in the Canadian Maritime
provinces (Jones 1997 : 7 5).

Concave-based, basally thinned triangular points,

another hypothesized earliest Early Archaic diagnostic on
the East Coast (Funk 1991b), have been dated to the Early
and Middle Archaic periods (ca. 8,800-6,000 b.p.) in the
Maritime Provinces (Keenlyside I99I: L7I), Newfoundland
(McGhee and Tuck 1975, Tuck 1977) and New Jersey
(Cavallo 1981, Funk 1991b), Although a derivation from
Late Paleoindian forms has been suspected, no chronometric or stratigraphic evidence to support this hypothesis
has yet come to light (Funk 1991b, Jones 1997).
The absence of these far northeastern and East Coast
Early Holocene forms, coupled with the presence of midcontinental styles in the Niagara Frontier, has potentially

significant implications for understanding patterns of

colonization, interaction and adaptation within the Northeast during the first millennia following deglaciation (see
Ellis and eller 1991 for ar extension of this view into the

Early Paleoindian period). These macro-regional differences in diagnostic artifact styles should also serve as
reminders that the range of artifact- and assemblage-level
variability within an area

as large as the Northeast is likely

to be much greater than initial taxonomies or culture histories have suggested, For a region like New York State,

which incorporates several major geographic zones, an

over-reliance on cuiturehistorical models and typoiogies
derived from excavations in the eastern, coastal and eastcentral portions of the stare (e,g. Ritchie 1969, 1971a,
I97lb,1980; Funk i976) may hinder, rather than advance,
fhe rlcvclnnrnenf

nf Acctttl.t.. reoinnal

nhrnnnlooieq

Developing an understanding of Archaic period cultural

sequences in the Niagara Frontier may require temporarily
niacins iesc reiiance on R.itchie's familiar lRxonom* nnd
pa;ring gretcr ffcrlfion to work r;nderway in closer and
geographically reiateci regions of the Great l-kes and Miciwest, including southem Ontario (e.g. Ellis and Ferris

1990), western Pennsylvania (Adovasio et al. 1995) and

Ohio (Stothcrs 1996).
While stylistic cross-ties suggest connections between
the midcontinental region and the Niagara Frontier during

the earliest Early Holocene, patterns of raw material

utilization differ. It has recently been suggested that longdistance movements of lithic raw materials characterize
the Early Archaic record in the Lake Erie basin and surrounding regions, implying highly mobile settlementsubsistence systems similar to Late Pleistocene Paleoindian strategies (Ellis, Kenyon and Spence 1990; Ellis,
Wortner and Fox 1991; Custer et aL. 1994; Stothers 1996,
't'.-L^-"1-.,
4WWJ

l OO?\
-r uL.
vL
t//
vv
/r 'Fhaca
^l

vi-","
rvvl

-^l'^
vvv

rL^^^
rvv

^f
u

archaeologists working in the Mid-Atlantic region who see

few differences, other than changes in artifact forms,

between Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene human
adaptations and who suggest that the Early Archaic should
be incorporated within the Paleoindian period (Custer
1989).

Data gathered

in this study contrasts markedly with

such a model. In curated Niagara Frontier collections,92To

of diagnostic Early Holocene artifacts were made from

locally available Onondaga chert. Another 4Eo were
manufactured from Silurian Lockport Formation chert,
which is available in glacial till throughout the region and
in outcrops less than 50 kilometers from all of the sites
where these artifacts were found. Vein quartz (n= I
specimen) is available in secondary (i.e. glacial) deposits
throughout the region, while Bois Blanc (n= 2 specimens)
and Haldimand (n=1 specimen) cherts outcrop along the
southern shorelines of the Niagara Peninsula just west of
the area included in this survey (Eley and von Bitter 1989:
29-30). Only one artifact, a Lost Lake point of the Early

Archaic Thebes Cluster, was manufactured from raw

material that originated more than 50 kilometers from its
findspot. In total, 997o of all the Early Holocene diagnostics identified in this survey were made from raw
materials available at bedrock sources within 50 km of the
sites in which they were found, At least 907o of these tools
were recovered from locations less than 20 km from primary sources of their lithic raw materials,
In contrast, Paleoindian site collections from westem
New York and adjaceni Ontario lypically include a range
of non-iocai lithic raw materials transported hundreds of
kilometers from their nearest source areas, These materials

can account for 15Vo or more of the total lithic assemblages at such sites (Gramly 1988, Ennis et al. 1995,
Tenkerslev
et al. lQ6. Tankerslev
et
al.
171 F.llis arrd
-"
^""""-'-'J
J
Deller (199?) note that presumed Late Paleoindian (Barnes
and Crowfield pirase) sites in the treat Lakes region show
an increasing use of iocaily available lithic resources
fhrough time, so the Early Holocene patterns identified in
this survey may perhaps be seen as an extensiorr of fhaf
trend.

ANTHROPOLOGY

Further, Early Holocene hunters and gatherers

in

the

Niagara Frontier were aware of, and utitized, Lockport

Formation chert, a lithic resource that occurs in relatively
small pieces, is available at few known outcrops and is relatively intractable due to its high fossil content. A Hi-Lo
point from the Pell site provides the earliest recorded use of
this material while further Early Archaic use is evidenced
in points referable to the Bifurcate tradition, Lockport chef
was used to produce Neville/Stanly points and appears to
be a ubiquitous, minority component of debitage from sites
of this period in upland Genesee County, Given the ready
availability of high-quality Onondaga chert throughour the
region, this exploitation of a lower-grade and highly localized lithic resource stands in opposition to the expectations
of models which view both Paleoindian ard Early Holocene
Native American lithic procurement systems as being
highly mobile and characterized by the movement of highquality cryptocrystalline materials over long distances.

Evidence from the Niagara Frontier suggests, instead,

that by the beginning of the Holocene hunter-gatherers in
the region had "settled in," knew the locations and potentials of even poor-quality lithic raw materials and found it

more expedient to incorporate procurement of those

materials into their annual economic cycles than to acquire

exotic raw materials. In short, the lithic utilization trends

observed in curated Niagara Frontier Early Holocene collections have more in common with expectations for Late
Holocene settlement-subsistence patterns than they do with
general views of Paleoindian approaches to lithic resource
utilization or the expectations of recently proposed models
for the Early Archaic in the Great Lakes region.
CONCLUSION: CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

Data presented

in this paper

suggest that the Early

Holocene archaeological record in the lower Great Lakes

region is richer and more interesting than has previously
been recognized. We hope to have shed some light on the
"missing years" of regional post-glacial prehistory, yet the

Early and Middle Archaic periods still remain poorly

understood, The connections we have drawn are undeniably
based heavily on arguments of stylistic similarity to collec-

tions from better-studied areas. These arguments must be

tested against data collected from controlled excavations in
the lower Great Lakes region,

The location, excavation and analysis of a series of

archaeological sites dating to the Early Holocene period is
therefore the most obvious and most immediate challenge
for the future. Excavation." will enalile us to verif;, or refufe
the hypotheses laid out in this paper and to confim or
reject T"rubowitz' earlier work concerning the temporal
placement of specifie projectile poinf. f.ypes and their rnges
of variation. T-hey mar also allow a,elditiora.l chronologically sensitive afiifaci fypes io be ideniieri, facilitatng the
plocess of dating Early Holocene sites rvithin the regional

49

archaeological record. With persistence, information

relevant to reconstructing settlement patterns and sub-

sistence systems will also be acquired. All of these data

will be needed to establish usable frameworks for assigning sites and features to components and phases in a local
culture-historical sequence and for addressing larger issues
of adaptation, social integration, cultural change and
stability during the early post-glacial period.
Among the issues still needing attention is a recon-

sideration of the ultimate significance of the RitchieFitting hypothesis. The identification of a relatively complete sequence of diagnostic artifact types spanning the
Early Holocene period in westem New York challenges
the gross outlines of that paradigm, but does not necessarily invalidate it. In recent surveys, Funk (l99la,b;
1993) and Funk and Wellman (1984) have argued that the
scarcity of Early Holocene cultural remains in upstate New

York accurately reflects lower prehistoric population

densities during the first half of the Holocene than in succeeding millennia. This represents a shift from the views
expressed

in the original Ritchie-Fitting hypothesis-that

the first half of the Holocene represented an occupational

hiatus or a phase

of extremely limited

land-use sand-

wiched between Late Pleistocene and Late Holocene peri-

ods characterized by relatively large populations or

extensive land-use patterns, Relative to these bracketing
periods, the first four millennia of the Holocene are still

generally seen as a time

of relatively low

population

densities and few archaeologically recoverable traces.

However, differences in the number of known archaeological sites in sequential, temporally defined phases can

relate to past demographic adjustments or alterations in

patterns of land use, as well as to differences in site location, preservation, modem land-use or research interests.
Currently, we have too little data to build adequate models
of settlement-subsistence systems, site types or economic
strategies for any period in the Early Holocene. Until that
is possible we cannot state with any confidence that there
were more, or fewer, people in the region during the Early
and Middle Archaic periods than during the Late pleistocene. In short, we can now say that the more extreme
expectations of the Ritchie-Fitting model are not met by
the Eariy Holocene record from the Niagara Frontier, but
we can neither accept nor reject its central hypothesis that
regional population densities were lower than preceding or
succeeding spans of time.
Vy'e also cannot verify or simplistically assume that the
prescncc of a sccming!y ccntinucus sequence of changing
projectile poini siyles in ihe lower Grcat Lakes region,
analogous to fhaf found in surrounding areas, implies continuous occupaton through the Earl3r F{olccene. ur critrol over typolngical variabrility end irs chron<-.logica significance through this span is far too ruciimentary to distinguish between thc record of a successful resident popu-

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

50

lation and one produced by episodic cycles of colonization,

occupation, abandonment and reoccupation. We are unable

to monitor fluctuations on a temporal scale approaching

human generations, the critical scale for evaluating detailed
models of adaptation or other cultural processes.

Stripped of its most extreme positions, the RitchieFitting model simply proposes that for much of the Early
Holocene the region's biomass productivity was too low to
sustain large or successful human populations and that
many areas were substantially unoccupied. As Trubowitz
and Miller recognized, the gross structure of the palynological record for the lower Great Lalces does not support
the view of a monolithic, low-productivity boreal forest, as
Ritchie and Fitting proposed. However, we cannot, on the
basis of available data, reject the possibility that the Early
Holocene landscape was one characterized by high biomass
"oases" scattered across the landscape and separated from

one another by lower-productivity forest. Many Early

Holocene localities recorded in this survey are closely connected to wetlands, stream channels and lake shores, perhaps indicating a focused wetland-oriented settlement system similar to that proposed by Nicholas (1988, 1994) for
upland-wetland mosaics in southem New England.
Thus, in the absence of adequate control over chronologically sensitive diagnostics, without detailed information

on regional resource distributions and with too little

archaeological data to reconstruct regional settlement pat-

terns,

it

may be impossible for us now to distinguish

record of cyclical occupation and abandonment of resourcerich localities within the lower Great Lakes region from a
record of long-term regional cultural continuity and in situ
development, However, these very different models have

significant implications for evaluating the Ritchie-Fitting

hypothesis, for understanding the responses of huntergatherers to changing Holocene ecosystems and for implementing the policy guidelines of the Native American
Graves hotection and Repatriation Act, which requires
archaeologists, museum curators and tribal representatives
to establish direct relationships of cultural affiliation
between living Native American communities and the
material and human remains of ancient cultures.
In surveys of eastem and south-central New York river
basins, Funk (i976, 1991a, 1991b, 1993) and Funk and
Wellman (1984) found evidence to suggest continuity in
diagnostic artifact styles through the Early Holocene,
Nonetheless, the numbers of sites from this period suggested to them far lower populations or far less-intensive
pattems cf land"use fhan in later parts cf the llclccene.
Funk and Wellman (1984: 87-88) advarced five hypotheses to explain this observation; 1) Early Holocene
hunter-gathererr may have produced, used and cliscarded
diagncstic artifacfs at significantly iower rates fhan did
iater resicients of the same regions, 2) Iiarly Floiocene sires
may have been differentially destroyed by modern urban

and rural development, 3) Early Holocene sites may have

been differentially distributed in valley bottoms and are
now deeply buried beneath later Holocene alluvium, 4)
Early Holocene human subsistence-settlement patterns
may have been substantially different from later strategies
of land use, with greater use of poorly studied uplands and
headwaters regions, and 5) Early Holocene diagnostic
artifacts may have been unrecognized or confused with
better-known later Holocene types.
After reviewing these hypotheses, Funk and Wellman
(1984: 88) concluded that "in prehistoric reality, sites and
associated debris were much more sparsely represented in
Early Archaic than in Late Archaic times [and] it is likely
that this sparseness was, at least in upstate New York, a

reflection of the relatively limited biological carrying

capacity of the dominant vegetation cover at the time of
the Pine-Oak period, ca. 8000-6000 8.C." Of the five
hypotheses they suggested, numbers one through three
were deemed unlikely on a priori bases or could not be
verified in the absence of clearly supporting evidence.
Hypotheses four and five were considered potential, if partial, explanations for the observed patterns, requiring more
extensive survey coverage in upland areas and more
detailed examination of extant collections.
Based on the data presented in earlier parts of this
paper, it should be clear that the authors feel many Eady
Holocene diagnostics have been incorrectly identified as
later Holocene types and that it is possible, by casting
interpretive and analytical nets wider, to re-evaluate older
collections and to restore many of these specimens to their

proper places in regional culture-historical sequences. If

fhis paper has demonstrated that conclusion, Funk and
Wellman's fifth hypothesis is supported and a strong case
can be made for reviewing the basis on which past conceptions of the regional Early Holocene record were built.
With regard to Funk and \y'ellman's fourth hypothesis,
we are still at too early a stage to know how common
Early and Middle Archaic sites are in much of our region,
especially relative to the material records of preceding or

succeeding phases. However, the results of a highintensity, full-Iandscape survey undertaken from 19921995 in the Spring Creek drainage, an upland, headwaters
region in Genesee County, NY, suggest that the Early
Holocene millennia were not periods of particularly
limited land use there (Figure 6). In the Genesee County
study area, investigated as part of the Buffalo Museum of
Science's Western New York Prehistoric I-and-Use Survey
(WNY+), Harl5r 4itldle Archaic components were far
Iess common than sites of Late and Terminal Archaic
hunfer-gathefers but were as common as, or even more frequently encounterecl than Paleoindian <r Middle and l-ate
Woodland sites.
Comparison of the Spring Creek survey data with the

temporal distfibution of archaeological compononts

ANTHROPOLOGY

5t

Sprin Geek swer', upld Ce Coutv

Nun6e of comporimtS p 1000 y,by'
zuciod. n=6, omporane

Pe.llndio

Ilte
Aduic

10,000

4,000

Tminl
Adrac

E-ly
Middle
2,200 Woodlnd 1,000

2,800

Radiocarbon Years 8.P., uncalibrated

Figure 6. Temporal distribution of assignable prehistoric components identified in the V/NY+ survey of the headwaters of
the Spring Creek drainage, Genesee County, New York. The y-axis records the number of components per 1000 yeats in
each archaeological subperiod. The span of each subperiod reflects current usage, based on uncalibrated radiocarbon
dates.

identified within the I-390 survey conidor (along the walls

of the main valley of the Genesee River, Trubowitz 1983),
and with the temporal distribution of projectile points in the
Holland Land Office Museum's collection from upland
Genesee County, NY, suggests potentially important patterning at the regional level (Figure 7). In all three case
studies, the Early Holocene archaeological record documents a rise from the Paleoindian to the Early Archaic periods. Significantly, the reported frequency of Early Archaic
sifes ard projectile points is higher in the uplands than in
the major river valley segrellts studied by Trubowitz, The
Middle Archaic record documents further divergence, with
increases over Early Archaic levels around wetlands in the
Spring Creek drainage and fall-offs elsewhere.

Tlie higher reported frequencies of Early and lr4iddle

Archaic sites in the upland settings of the Genesee drainage
(F{LOM an<i Spring Creek collections), relative to bettersturie.f tnrnk rirer r.,aileys (i-390 conidor) suggcsts fhat
Frnk and Wellman's third aid fourth hypotheses requir:e
serious considerafion and should be tesfed further.
However, our experience indicates that sites of aii time

periods in the upland suryey areas are typically small, are

characterized by low densities of material remains and
have few diagnostic artifacts. Evaluating this hypothesis
properly will require intensive, total coverage surveys,

each conducted over a number

of years with repeated

examination and mapping of all lithic scatters identified.

These rough comparisons of data from the Niagara

Frontier region clo not contradict the view that Early

Holocene sites are less common than Late Archaic components in the region (Funk 1991a, Ig93; Funk and
Wellman 1984). In all three Genesee area case studies,
rapid increases in site and afifact frequencies charucteze
the Late and Tenninal Archaie periods and, with the
exception of a ubiquitous decrease in site or aflifact numbers during the Midclle Woociiand period, each of the case
studies Cocuments different re$ponses during the Woodiand sequence. Overaii, the data, rough as it is, points to
fhc l-ate and 'lerminal Archaie periods as intercsting aird
anon:alous phases in regi.onal prehisiory, characterize<l hy
: -., -:-I
!
-,--:--,1
-,-l-parfrcu.larly
rniensrve
land-use
and/or high population
densities. It may be less important to ask why arly

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

52

I-390

swev, Gm Rivs tuI valev

yer intwal

% componrnts/1000
n=190 omponqts

Spring CrJ<

swey, upland

% corirponents/l0(

yea

n=Sorq)onmb

Ca Couty

intwal

0 Genffi Coutv

upland {LOM olltionl

%projecdle points71000 yeil itwal

n=203 projectile poits

Ite
6.000

10,000

Adrlc

Tmirul

4,000 A'dui"

Early

2,800

Mtddk

2,200 Woodlmd 1,000

Radiocarbon Years 8.P., uncalibated

Figure 7. Temporal distribution of prehistoric components identified in surveys of the Spring Creek drainage, Genesee
County, New York and the main valley of the Genesee River (data from Trubowitz 1983), compared with the distribtution
of diagnostic projectile points in the Holland Land Office Museum collection from upland Genesee County, New York,
The y-axis records the number of components or projectile points per 1000 years in each archaeological subperiod, while
the span ofeach subperiod reflects current usage based on uncalibrated radiocarbon dates.

Holocene sites are so rare than to wonder why sites of Late

Archaic hunter-gatherers are over-represented relative to

earlier and later periods.

Is it

possible that the low site

densities and limited site visibility that seem to characterize

Early and Middle ,Archaic and Early to Middle V/oodland

site distributions in
records of hunting-gathering and incipient horticultural
upstate New York are more typical

societies in this region? If so, what does the mid-Holocene

florescence imply and how could we reorient our research
foci to mov tc\/arC cnsiderations of the behavioral patierns that gener?ited ihese distribuiions through time and
acfoss space?
'I'L^
^-;^+^.--I r!\, \,^)srrr[.

l-'.^..-.1dr\! 'l",.,4 la.l.,

^a - r\rt5

TJnl^-^-n

recrd in the lower Greaf Lakes region challengcs regional

archaeologists to explore the social and economic dimensions of early post-Pleistocene hunting and gathering cul-

tures within the context of evolving post-glacial and mid-

Holocene environmental contexts, Over the past decade,

archaeologists and anthropologists have recognized that
temperate zone hunter-gatherers' adaptations and social
structures encompassed a greater range of variability than
that reflected among the hunter-gatherers who persisted
until recent times in ecologicaliy marginal parts of the
world. Sedentism, storage, incipient horticulture, invest-

ment in stationary facilities such as weirs, complex

mortuary programs and formalized cemeteries, warfare"
slavery and incipient class formation have been doeumented among ethnographicaily reported and archaeologically recinsfructed elperatt and northern huner-gatherr
soci,eties (Phillips and Brown 1983" Price and Brown
198s).

Cunent models of Early Arehaic cuiturai dynamics in

ANTHROPOLOGY

the midcontinental and southeastern United States view

those regions' earliest Holocene hunter-gatherers as highly
mobiie, generalized foragers, in some cases traversing
annual ranges more extensive than historically documented
Arctic caribou hunters or central desert Australian aborigines (Anderson and Hanson 1988), These broad-ranging
adaptations are viewed as responses to the development of

relatively productive, fine-grained or homogeneous

regional resource bases, in which short but frequent trips
between areas ofparticularly abundant production would be
a more effective strategy for locating population relative to
resources than sedentism or partial residential stability on a
seasonal or year-round basis (Binford i980, Cabie i996),
However, in northem regions, where seasonal variations

in

temperature and insolation vary sufficiently to create

of abundance and winters of need, other adaptations may be required to smooth out disparities in the
temporal availability of resources (Halstead and O'Shea
1989), Nicholas' (1988, 1994) work in southern New
England suggests that by the Early Holocene much of the
formerly glaciated landscape in the Northeast had attained
a coarse-grained regional resource structure, with certain
landforms (particularly post-glacial lakes and wetlands)
seasons

harboring biotic communities far more productive than

others. These "oases" wefe separated, one from another, by
intervening zones of far lower productivity that provided
subsidiary resources but were rarely foci of settlement or
subsistence activities. When this regional framework is
combined with paleo-climatological modeis suggesting
both longer/colder winters and hotter/drier summers (Davis
1984, Gunn 1996), the recunent use of specific, highly pro-

ductive and highly predictable resource zones through

logistically oriented settlement and subsistence strategies
(seres Binford 1980) is a reasonable expectation from current theoretical perspectives on hunter-gatherer land-use.
Bulk storage, a strategy for insuring the provision of

in times of need through the application of

intensive labor during periods of abundance and in
anticipation of delayed retums, is another approach for
dealing with seasonally fluctuating resource distributions.
Storage systems are frequently linked to procurement
resources

strafegies that intensively exploit faunal or floral resources

when they can be captured or gathered in abundance during
restricted periods of time and can be processed for storage
efficiently near the site of their procurement. Caribou and
buffalo drives, anadromous fish harvests and large-scale
acorn and seed gathering camps are familiar manifestations
of logistieally organized strategies cmployed by ethno-

graphically documented North American hunting and

gathering societies. FIowever, direct correiations betwcen
high seasr:rnality anel k:gistically organieed subistence/
settlement systems or fine-grained resource structures and
foraging adaptations may be simplistic.

The annual cycle over which a region's different

53

resources become available and the procurement costs

needed to acquire them, given available technology, have

direct impacfs on the ability of groups occupying those

regions to acquire alternative resources or to pursue fallback strategies in times of crisis. Complex interactions
between spatially defined distributions of resources, the

temporal structure of their availability, technology and

social structure can create dynamic patterns of change
through time that may appear as archaeologically chaotic
sequences in the absence of reliable, fine-grained data on
ecological, technological and social organization. ln areas
with such data, it can be demonstrated that changes in
technoiogy, social organization, resource bases or climate
can lead stable populations to shift between foraging and
collecting strategies, with significant changes in material
culture, over short periods of time (e.g. Minc and Smith
1989). Developing adequate models of the subsistencesettlement systems and organizational strategies employed
by Barly Holocene hunter-gatherers in the lower Great
Lakes region will require the acquisition of detailed data

on site distributions, material culture assemblages and

environmental patterning. While little of this data is currently in hand, legacies of high-quality paleoenvironmental research done in the region and archived
collections containing diagnostic Early Holocene material
culture provide firm foundations on which to build.
The potential significance of such research extends
beyond the local region. Archaeological fieldwork in
northeastem and midcontinental North America suggesfs
that some early and mid-Holocene hunter-gatherers may
have been part-time cultivators or intensive gatherers of
wild plants, proficient hunters, and fishermen who used
nets, weirs and lines to capture near-shore, riverine, and
deep-water species of fish and mollusks. A broad-scale
pre-agricultural economy may, in places, have permitted
seasonal, part-year or full-year settlement stability with
residential bases better comprehended as homesteads,
hamlets or villages than as camps or loci. Cemeteries,
Iong-distance exchange networks and elements of portable
art hint, in places, at a rich spiritual life and potentially
complex social arrangements. In other areas, and at different times, regional records suggest the decoupling of these
different comporlents and the emergence of more fluid
social arrangements. The causes of ihese changes and their

implications for long-term sociai change are poorly

understood.

Across eastem North America, regional variations in

economic intensification, sedentism. and complexity during the Early and Middle Hclocene are sfarting to be perceiveci. These giimpses suggest that the iong archaeoiogicai rccord preieiu.eori by Arehaie Periocl h.r"xrter-gatherers in
eastem North America still has great potential for contributing to an improved understanding of the richness and
cliversity of pre-agriculturai adaptations and to knowledge

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

54

about human settlement and use of the dynamically evolving landscapes of the early post-glacial period. There is no
reason to think that the archaeological record of the lower
Great Lakes region is incapable of contributing significant
and innovative information to emerging perspectives on the
Early Holocene cultural landscape.

ENDNOTES
Although it has become common for Great Lakes archaeologists to incorporate Brewerton, Vergennes and related
Laurentian phases, dating to 5,500-5,200 b.p., in the
Middle Archaic, this paper follows the original periodization for the Archaic established by Fowler (1959) and
endorsed by Funk (1991a). The termination of the Middle
Archaic is, therefore, placed at 6,000 b.p., with Laurentian
t

of 1.23: I across all reported collections from the

western Erie basin, In the Niagara Frontier collections
studied here, the ratio of Kik Corner Notched and Thebes

ratio

points (combined) to bifurcates was 1.61 : 1. Kirk

Stemmed points, although cited by Stothers (Ibid.) as an
Early Archaic type, have been found more frequently to be
correlates of post-bifurcate, early Middle Archaic traditions (Broyles 1971: 29, Chapman i977, Cable 1996) and
were excluded from these comparative calculations,

f this trait in the Niagara Frontier,

throughout the Early Archaic sequence, may be significant, especially when compared to its reported
? The infrequency

incidence in regions farther south,

An additional Neville point base in the collections of the

Buffalo Museum of Science (BMS C29652) was excavated

components considered early Late Archaic manifestations.

, It is likely that some of these hafted bifaces were utilized

as knives, saws or other cutting tools, and some were
clearly reworked to serve as hafted scrapers at some point

in

in their use-lives. Detailed use-wear studies to determine

tool function were, however, beyond the scope of this

this specimen demonstrates a distributional link between

the Neville specimens described here from western New
York and those areas farther east where the type is well-

limited study and, therefore, we use the terms hafted biface,

projectile point and point interchangeably throughout this
paper, following general ustom.
3

Due to an error that was not identified until this manu-

script was going to press, Broyles' dates, run by the University of Michigan and Yale University radiocarbon dating
labs, are reported herein with halved sigma levels. To bring
Broyles' dates into conformity with her published record
(Broyles 1.97I), al| error margins on dates from St. Albans
should be doubled.
a

Although the vicinity of the Shelby site is the best candi-

date for the "Fort Neuter" collection at the Buffalo

Museum of Science, it is also possible that proximity to
another presumed Iroquoian fortified village site was
implied by the recorded site name, Nevertheless, the term
"Fort Neuter" implies an origin near a site west of the
Genesee River valley, in western New York or adjacent
Ontario, the homeland of the Contact period Neutral (or
Neuter as it was colloquially called in the early twentieth
cenfury) coniederacy (Lennox and Fitzgerald 1990).
5

But

see

endnote 4 for alternative interpretations.

(1996: Tables 2*5) presents data on Early

Archaic prcjectile point frequencies from four d:ainage
segments in two river basins aiong tire southern shore of
wstom Lake H,rie, witb cnnsistent referenee to Kirk rmer
a Stothers

Notched" Thebes and bifurcate types. On average, the ratio

of Kirk Corner Notched and 'lhebes points (combinecl) to

bifurcatesranged from

i.86: i

to 0.86:

i, with an average

1956-57 by Mr. Howard Lindell from the western

in Seneca County's Montezuma

Marsh wetlands. Although outside the Niagara Frontier,
shoreline of Kipp Island,

documented.

, Note that this usage diffrs from that of Dincauze (L976:

29) who refers to straight-stemmed points with rounded
bases, intermediate in form between the Neville and Stark
Stemmed types, as "Neville variants." In this paper, points
with that configuration are refered to as "Stark variants" in
recognition of the convex bases they share with the Stark
Stemmed type.

'0 Another radiocarbon date, 6,630t110 lBeta-l0476],

from "Cultural Stratum 3, middle" at Morrisroe was in
reverse chronological order relative to other dates obtained
from the lower and upper portions of CS3 (Nance 1986).
This date is similar to those received from the site's over-

lying Cultural Stratum 2 and may be intrusive from that

level.

" Lake Tonawanda is the name given to a post-glacial

extension of Early Lake Erie, filling the Tonawanda Creek
drainage between the Niagara and nondaga esca{pments,
At its height in the Late Pleistocene, Lake Tonawanda
extended nearly 60 miles eastward from Niagara Falls but
fluctuated rapidly in extent and depth due to isostatic
rebound, changes in Great Lakes drainage pattems and sill
heisht adiustments at the lake's ouflets (Tinlcler et al.
1992). Carrelative high-water sfnds and slrandlines on the
Niagara Pcninsula of ntarir. reprsenf fluctuations in ctn-temporary wcstwald extensions of fhe sanre body of water
but have been given the name Lake Wainfleet to avoid
confusion with previously established literature on Lake

ANTHROPOLOGY

Tonawanda that did not recognize its extent in Ontario

(Kindle and Taylor 1913, D'Agostino 1958, Calkin and
Brett 1978, Calkin and Feenstra 1985, Pengelly 1990,
Tinkler et al. 1992, Pengelly et al. 7997).

ACKNO\ryLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank Walter Mayer (Buffalo and Erie
County Historical Society), Jane Davies and Erin Wilson
(Fort Erie Historical Museum), Jan Sheridan and Dennis
Farmer (Holland Land Office Museum), Brian Nagel,
Charles Hayes and Betty Prisch (Rochester Museum and
Science Center), Douglas Perelli and Elaine Herold (State
University of New York at Buffalo) for making collections
accessible to this project. We also wish to thank James
Pengelly and Keith Tinkler (Brock University) for reviewing draft segments of this manuscript and providing useful
comments based on their continuing research. Any errors or
omissions remaining despite these individuals' best efforts
are those of the authors alone.

55

G, Anderson and Kenneth E. Sassaman, pp. 3-15. Tuscaloosa,

AL: University of Alabama Press.
Ashton, Roger L.
1994 Evidence of Paleo-Indian and Early Archaic occupation in
Washington County, New York. The Bulletin, Iournal of the
New York State Archaeological Association 107:2O-24.
Beauchamp, V/illiam M.
1900

Aboriginal occupation of New York. Bulletin of the New york

State Museum32(7).

1894 The origin of the Iroquois. The American Antiquarian 16:

6t-9.
Binford, Lewis R.

Willow smoke and dogs' tails: hunter-gatherer settlement systems and archaeological site formation, American Antiquity 53:

1980

262-286.
Broecker, W. S. and G. H. Denton
1990 What drives glacial cycles? Scientific American 262: 48-56.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adovasio, J. M., G. F, Fry, J. Zakucia and J, Gunn

1974 The Boarts site: a lithic workshop

in Lawrence County;

Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Archaeologst 44(1-2): 31-11,2.

Adovasio, J. M., R. Fryman, A. G. Quinn, D. C. Dirkmaar and D. R.
Pedler

of the Upper Ohio Valley: a view from Meadowcroft Rockshelter. Paper presented for the symposium .,HunterGatherers into Horticulturalists: The Archaic prehistory of the
Ohio Area," Ohio Archaeological Council, 17-18 November

1995 The Archaic

1995, Cleveland, OH.

Allen, Kathleen
1988 Ceramic Style and Social Continuity in an lroquoian Tribe.
Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Buffalo.
Anderson, David G.
1995 Recent advances in Paleoindian and Archaic period research in
the southeastem United States. Archaeology of Eastern North

America 23: 145-176.

Andeson, David G. and Glenn T. Hanson
1988 Early Archaic settlement in the Southeastem United Sfates: a
case study. American Antiquity 53: 262-286.

Brown, James A. and Robet K. Viera

1983 What happened in the Middle Archaic? Inrroduction to an
ecological approach to Koster Site achaeology. In Archaic

Hunters and Gatherers in the American Midwest, edited by

James L. Phillips and James A. Brown, pp. 165-196. New
York: Academic Press.
Broyles, Bettye J.

l97l

Second Preliminary Report: The St. Albans Site, Kanawha

County, West Virgini. Morgantown: West Virginia Geological
and Economic Survey, Report of archaeological Investigations,
Number 3,

Cable, John S.
1996 Haw River revisited: implications for modeling terminal Late
Glacial and Early Holocene hunter-gatherer settlement systems

in the Southeast. Chapter 7 in The Paleoindan and Early

Archac Southeast, edited by David G. Anderson and Kenneth
E. Sassaman, pp. 107-148. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of
Alabama Press.

Calkin, Parker E. and C. Brett

1978 Ancestral Niagara River drainage: stratigraphy and

paleontological setting. Geological Society of America Bulletin

89:1140-1154.
Anderson, David G. and Kenneth E. Sassamarr (editors)

1996 The Paleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast. Tuscaloosa:

University of Alabama Press.
Anderson. David S., Lisa D. O'Steen and Kenneth E. Sass,man
1996 Environmental and chrouological consiclerations. Chapter 1 in
The Fleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast, edited by David

Calkin, Parker E. and B. H. Feenstra

1985 Evolution of the Lake Erie Basin. In Quatemary Evolution of
lhe I vrtt I rFc Dri!l^ hrr t. k ..,_^r!r dhd [; '^l.i*
udrrl, "-.,
PP.
1^ 1-^
/(,. u(t,t()l
,^!,\su! i(r(il u.j t0n4(,
ut
^^..r^-:
Jp!:ll
!.tpc
'+>.
30.

BULLETIN OF THE BTIFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

56

Calkin, Parker E. and Kathleen E. Miller

1977 Late Quatemary environment and man in western New York.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288:297-312.
Cambron, James W. and David C. Hulse
1983 Handbook of Atabam Archaeology, Part 1, Pont
Huntsville, AL: Alabama Archaeological Society.

Types.

Report. Cultural Resource Management report prepared for

U.S, Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore Dishict.
D'Agostino, J. P.
1958 Lake Tonawanda: History and Developmenf. Unpublished
M,A. thesis, epartment of Geology, State University of New
Yok at Buffalo.

John

Davis, O.
coas1984 Multiple thermal maxima during the Holocene. Science 225:
Jersey's
Paleo-Indian
site
in
New
1981 Turkey Swamp; a Late
617419.
1-18.
America
9:
plain.
of
EasternNorth
Archaeology
tat

Cavallo,

Chapman,

Jefferson

DeJarnette, David L., E. Kurjack and J. Cambron

1980 The Early and Middle Achaic periods: a perspective from

eastern Kentucky. In Proceedings of the Conference on

Northeastern Archaeology (Departnent of Anthropology

Research Reports Number /9), edited by James A. Moore, pp.
123-132. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts.
1.977 Archaic Period Reseach in the Lower Little Tennessee River
Valley-1975, Icehouse Bottom, Harrison Branch, Thirty Acre
Island, Calloway Island, University of Tennessee Department of
Anthropology, Report of Investigations, No. I 8.
1975 The Rose Island Ste. University of Tennessee Department
Anthropology, Report of Invesligations, No. 14.
Chales, Douglas K, and Jane E.

lg62ExcavationsattheStanfield-WorleyBluff Shelter. Journlof

AlabamaArchaeologyS(l-2):l-L24.
DeRegnaucourt, Tony

A Field Guide to the Pehistoric Point Types of Indiana and

Ohio, Revised Edition. Occasional Monographs of the Upper
Miami Valley Archaeological Research Museum, Number l.

1992

Dincauze, Dena F.

of

lgT6TheNeville Site:8,000Years at Amoskeag,Mnchester,New

Hampshire. Cambridge: Peabody Museum Monographs 4.

Buikstra

Doyle, R. 4., N. D. Hamilton, J. B. Petersen and D. Sanger

1985 Late Paleo-Indian remains from Maine and their conelations

1983 Achaic mofuary sites in the central Mississippi drainage: disin Northeastern prehistory. Archaeology of Eastern North
In
Archaic
tribution, structure and behavioral implications.
America
13: L-34.
by
Mdwest,
edited
Hunters and Gatherers in the American
pp.
New
York:
117-146.
James L, Phillips and James A. Brown,
Academic

Press.

Dragoo, Don W,
7959 Archaic Hunters

Coe, Joffre

L.

of the Upper Ohio Valley. Pittsburgh, PA:

Carnegie Museum Anthropological Series, no. 3.

1964 The Formative Cultures of the Carolina Piedmont. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 54(5).

Driskell, Boyce N.

1996 Statified Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene deposits at

Dust Cave, northeastern Alabama. Chapter 16 in

COHMAP
1988 Climatic changes of the last 18,000 yes: observations
model simulations. Scence241:1043-1052.

and

The

Paleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast, edited by David G.

Andeson and Kenneth E. Sassaman, pp, 315-330. Tuscaloosa:
University of Alabama Press,

Cowan,

1994 Stratigraphy and chronology at Dust Cave. Journal of

Verna

1991 The Middle Archaic in the Upper Ohio valley. Journa!

Middle Atlantic Archaeology 7: 43-52,

of

AlabamaArchaeology4:17-34.

Dumont, Elizabeth M, and Lewis A. Dumont

1979 Of paradigms and projectile points: two perspectives on the
Custer, Jay F.
Early Archaic in the Northeast. The Bulletin, Journal of the
Pennsula:
An
1.989 Prehistoric Cultures of the Delmarva
Archaeological Associarion 75: 38-51,
NewYorkState
University
of
DelawarePress.
Archeologicat Study. Newark:
Custer, Jay F,, Scott C. IVatson, and Daniel N.
1996 A summary of Phase lll
'rlr/fur

Bailey

Sircti Sirc (-,6CN175 I.ot.k Ilvcn.

.'Penns..,l.rni;:.
'J'Y.r'!'!

.p \t''-t
n rr,

", ,,..,

Dwyer, Thomas R., Henry T. Mullins and Steven C. Good

Tvest 1996 Paieoclimatic irnplicafions of Holocene lake-levei fluclua1iors,OwasccLakc, ltlcwYark.Gru!og;t24(6):519 522.

Clir,r,r Crr,rt.t,

data recovery excavations at the

tnh't
o
.,,....,'.,".

^ ^

o ;r

/i/
,.,\,/ t l'

-5:1.

1994 Data Recovery Investigafions of the West Water Street Site

(36CN175), Lock Hat,en, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, Final

Edwards, Thomas W. D, and V/illiam M. Buhay

1994 Isotope paleoclimatology in southern Ontario. LnGreat l"akes

ANTHROPOLOGY

5',1

Archaeology and Paleoecology: Exploring Interdisciplinary Ennis, Rachel, Marc Hess, John D. Holland, Vivian Honsinger,
Initiativesfor the Nineties, edited by RobertI. MacDonald, pp.
Kevin P, Smith, Kenneth B. Tankersley and Stanley Vander197-208, Waterloo, Ontaio: The Quatemary Sciences lnstitute,
laan
University of Waterloo.
1995 Survey and test excavations at the Arc Site, Genesee County,
New York. Current Research in the Pleistocene 1995: 9-10,
Eisenberg, Leonard
1991 The Mohonk Rockshelter: a major Neville site in New York
State, In The Archaeology and Ethnohistory of the Lower HudsonValley and Neighboring Regions: Essays in Honor of Louis

A. Brennan, edited by Herbert C. Kraft, pp. 159-176.

Fergusson, John P.

1996 The Haviland Site: the Early Archaic in Schoharie County.

The Bulletin, Journal of the New York State Archaeological

Associationl,l0:1-15.

Occasional Publications in Northeastern Anthropology, No. 11.

Eley, Betty E. and Peter H. VonBitter
1989 Cherts of Southern Ontario. Toronto: Royal Ontario

Ellis, Chris J. and D. Brian

Fie, Shannon M,, John Fountain, Eleazm D. Hunt, Ezra Zubrow,

Robert Jacobi, Kim Bartolotta, John Brennan, Kathleen Allen

Museum.

Deller

1997 Variability in the archaeological recod of norflreastem Early

Paleoindians: a view from southern Ontaio. Archaeology of
Easern North America 25 l-30.

and Peter Bush

1990 The analysis of encrustations in Iroquois ceamic vessels:
implications for the delineation of food resource areas. MASCA

Newsletter26.
Fitting, James E.

1990 Paleo-Indians, Chapter 3 in The Archaeology of Southern 1975 The Archaeology of Michigan: A Guide to the Prehistory of
Ontario to A.D . 1650, edited by Chris J. Ellis and Neal Feris,
the Great Lakes Regon (revised edition). Bloomfield Hills, MI:
pp. 37-63. Occasional Publication of the London Chapter, OAS,
Cranbrook Institute of Science.
Number5.London:OntarioArchaeologicalSociety. 1968 Enviromental potential and the postglacial readaptation in
1986 Post-glacial Lake Nipissing "waterworn" assemblages from the
eastern North America. American Antiquty 33(4): 441445.
southeastern Huron basin area, Ontario Archaeology 45:39-60. 1964 Bifurcate-stemmed projectile points in the eastern United
1982 Hi-Lo materials from southwestem Ontario. Ontario ArchaeolStates. Amercan Antiquity 30(l):92-94.
ogy 38" 3-22'
1963
1
963ronrr,
The Hi-Lo site: a Late Paleo-Indian site in Michigan. I4zlsArrhaeologisr 44(z): 87-96.
Ellis, Chis J. and Neal Fenis (ed,)
1990 The Archaeology of Southern Ontario to A.D. 1650. Fogelman,GaryL.

Occasional Publication of the London Chapter, Ontario 1988 Projectile Point Typology for Pennsylvania and the
Archaeological Society. London: Ontario Archaeological Northeast. Turbotville: Fogelman Publishing Company.
Society.
Fowler, Melvin L.
Ellis, Chis J,, Ian T. Kenyon, and Michael W. Spence
1959 Summary Report of Modoc Rockshelter, 1952, 1953, 1955,
1990 The Archaic. Chapter 4 in The Archaeology of Southern
1956. Illinois State Museum Report of Investigatons 8.
Ontario to A.D. 1650, edited by Cfuis J. Ellis and Neal Ferris,
Springfield.
pp. 65-1.24, Occasional Publication of the London Chapter, 1957 Ferry Site, Hardin County, Illinois. Illinois State Museum,
OAS, Number 5. London: Ontario Archaeological

Society.

Scientific Papers 8(1).

Ellis, Christopher J., Stanley rffortner and William A. Fox

lrritz, P., A. V. Morgan, U. Eicher and J. H. McAndrews
1991 Nettling: an overview of an Early Archaic "Kirk Corner- 1987 Stable isotope, fossil coleoptera and pollen stratigraphy in
Notched Cluster" site in southwestern Ontaria. Cnadin
Late Quaternary sediments from Ontario and New York State.
Journal of Archeology 15:144.
Falaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 58:
1.83-202.
Englebrecht,

William

of the lroquoian component. The Bulletin, Journal o.f the New York State

1.994 The Eaton Site: preliminary analysis

Archaeological A,ssociaton 107: i-8"

199i Erie. TheBulletin,Journal of the NewYorkState
cal Assotiation 102 1-1"2.

Archeologi-

the
52(1)i

1987 Factors maintaining low population density anong

prehistoric New York lroquois. American Antiquty

13--27,

Funk, Robert E.

!993 Archaeological Investigations in the [Jpper Susquehnna

Valley,NewYork,State,Volume 1, Buffalo: PersimmonPcss,
1991a The Middle Achaic ir l.lew Yark, Journal of Middte
Atlantic Archaeology 7:7*18.
l997bLate Pleistocene and Early Holocene human adaptations in

the Lower l{udson Valley. In The Archaeology and Ethnohisfory of the Lower Hudsorr Valley and Neighhoring

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATT]RAL SCIENCES

58

Regions: Essays in Honor of Louis A. Brennan, edited by

Herin

bert C. Kraft, pp. 49-67. Occasional Publications

Northeastem Anthropology, No. I

the early Holocene: evidence from Lake Superior. Science 224:

61-63.

1.

1989 Some conhibutions of archaeology to the study of cave and

rocksheltersediments: examplesfromeastemNewYork. Manin
the Northeast 37: 35-112.
1988 The Laurentian concept: a review. Archaeology of Eastern
North America L6: L42.
1979T'he Early and Middle Achaic in New York as seen from the
Upper Susquehanna Valley. The Bulletin, Journal of the New
YorkState Archaeological AssociationT5:23-37.
1976 Recent contributions to Hudson Valley prehistory, New
State Museum and Science Service Mernoir 22. Albany.

York

Halstead, Paul and John O'Shea

1989 Bd Year Economics: Cultural Responses to Risk and

Uncertainty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ilansen, Eric G.
1993 The Achaic Period of Western New York. In Prehistory of
WesternNewYork,edited byElaineB. Herold,pp. 15-21. Buffalo: State University of New York at Buffalo, Department of
Anthropology, Archaeological Survey.
Hansen, Eric G, and John McKendry

Funk,RobertE.andBethWellman
1984 Evidence

of Early Holocene occupations in the Upper

Susquehanna valley,

North America 12:

Gaudreau, Denise

1991 The McKendry Site: a multicomponent, shatified site in

ChautauquaCounty,NewYork. OhioArchaeologist4l(4).

New York State. Archaeology of Eastern

81-109.

Hofman, Jack L,
1986 Eva projectile point breakage at Cave Spring: pattern recogni-

C.

tion and interpretive possibilities. Midcontinental Journal of

1988a The distribution of Late Quatemary forest regions in the

Northeast: pollen data, physiography, and the prehistoric record.

In Holocene Humn Ecology in Northeastern North

America,
Plenum

edited by George P, Nicholas, pp. 215-256. New York:

Press.
1988b Paleoecological interpretation of geographic pattems in pollen data: spruce and birch in northeastem North America. In

Late Pleislocene and Early Holocene Pleoecology

nd

Archaeology 11(l): 79-96.

Holmes, William Henry
1897 Stone implements of the Potomac-Chesapeake tidewater province. Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 7893-94: 1-156.
Houghton, Frederick E.

1909 Indian village, camp and burial sites on the Niagara Frontier,
Archaeology of the Eastern Grea! Lakes Region, edited by
Bulletin of the Buffalo Socety of Naturl Sciences 9(3):
Richard S. Laub, Norton G. Miller and David W. Steadman, pp.
15-29. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, 263-374,
Volume 33.
Jeffries, Richard

Gramly, R. Michael
1988 Palaeo-Indian sites south of Lake Ontario, western and

rl/.

1995 The status

of Archaic period research in the midwestern

central
United States. Archaeology of Estern North America 23:
119-144.
New York State. In Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene
Paleoecology and Archeology of the Eastern Great Lakes 1988 Achaic period research in Kentucky: past accomplishments
and future directions. In Paleoindian and Archaic Research in
Region, edited by Richard S. Laub, Noton G. Miller and David
Kentuclq, edited by Charles D. Hockensmith, David Pollack
W. Steadman, pp. 265-280. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of
and Thomas N. Sanders, pp. 85-126, Lexington: Kentucky
Natural Sciences, Volume 33.
Heritage Council.

Griffin, John W.
1974 Investigations in Russell Cave. National Park Service

fions in Archaeology Number 13. Washington, DC:

of the Interior, National Park Service.
Gunn,

Publica-

Department

Joel
A frarnework for

Jochim, Michaei A.

L976 Hunter-GIherer Su-bsistence oncl. Settlement:

Model.New York: Academic Press.

Predictive

Jones, Brian D.

the Paleoindian/Early Achaic tansition. 1997 Th Late Paleoindian Hidden Creek Site in southeastem ConChapter 21, inThe Paleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast, necticut. Archaeologyof EasternNorthAmerica2S:45-80.
edited by l)avid G. Anderson ancl Kenneth F. Sassaman, pp"
415 420. Tuscaloosa, L: Uliveisity of latrarna Prcss,
Joyce. ithur A.
i988 Early/Midclle Holocene environrnents in fhe Miclclle Atlantic

1996

Halfman, J. D. and T. C. Johnson

1984 Enhanced atmospheric circulation over North.A.rnerica

during

region: a revise<i reconstruction. Tn Holocene Human Ecology

in Northeastet'n North.America, edited by George P. Nicholas,

ANTHROPOLOGY
pp. 185-214. New York: Plenum press.
Julig, Patrick J.
1984 Cummins Paleo-Indian site and its paleoenvironment, Thunder
Bay, Canada. Archaeology of Eastern North America lZ:

192-209.
1994 The Cummins Site Complex and Paleoindian Occupations in
the Northwestern Lake Superior Region. Ontario Archaeological Reports 2, Toronto: Ontario Heritage Foundafion.

59

years. Journal ofAtmospheric Sciences

43: 1726-1759.

Laub, Richard S., Mary F. DeRemer, Catherine A, Dufort and Wil_

liam L. Pasons
1988 The Hiscock Site: a rich Late Quatema-y locality in western
New York State. In Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene

Paleoecology and Archeology of the Eastern Great Lakcs

Region, edited by Richard S, Laub, Norton G, Miller and David

W. Steadman, pp. 67-81. Bullerin of the Buffalo Society of

Natural Sciences, Volume 33.

Justice, Noel D.
1.987 Stone Age Spear and

Arrow Points of the Midcontinental and

Eastern United States: A Modern Survey and Reference.

Bloomington: University of Indiana press.
Karrow, P, F. and B. G. Wamer
1990 The geological and biological environment for human occupa-

tion in southem Ontario. Chapter 2 in The Archaeology of

Southern Ontario to A.D. 1650, edited by Cluis J. Ellis and Neal
Fenis, pp. 5-36, Occasional Publication ofthe London Chapter,

Laub, Richard S., John Tomenchuk and Peter L. Storck

1996 A dated mastodon bone artifact from the Late pleistocene Hiscock Site. Archaeology of Eastern North America 24: l-17 .
Lennox, Paul A,
1995 The Kassel and BIue Dart Sites: two components of the Early
Achaic, Bifurcate Base hojectile Point Tradition, Waterloo
County, Ontario. Ontario Archaeology 56: l-32.

OAS, Number 5. London: Ontario Archaeological Society,

Lennox, Paul A. and lVilliam R. Fitzgerald

London Chapter.

1990 The culture history and archaeology of the Neuhal Iro_

quoians, Chapter 13 in The Archaeology of Southern Ontario
to A.D. 1650, edited by Chris J. Ellis and Neal Ferris, pp.
405456. Occasional Publication of the London Chapter, OAS,

Keene, Arthur S.

1981 Optimal foraging in a non-marginal environment: a model of

prehistoric subsistence strategies

in Michigan. In Hunter-

Gatherer Foraging Strate gies : Ethno graphic and Archaeologi cal Analyses, edited by Bruce Vinterhalder and Eric Alden
Smith, pp. 17 l-193. Chicago: University of Chicago press.

Number 5, London: Ontario Archaeological Society.

Levine, Mary Ann
1989 New evidence for postglacial occupations in the Upper Hud_

son Valley. The Bulletin, Journal of the New york State

Keenlyside, David L.
1991 Paleoindian occupations of the Maitimes Region of Canada.
ln Clovis: Origns nd Adaptations, edited by R, Bonnichson
and K. Tummire, pp. 163-173. Corvallis, OR: Center for the
Study of the First Americans, Oregon State University.

Kimball, Larry R.
1996 Early Archaic settlement and technology: lessons from Tellico.
Chapter 8 in The Paleoindin and Erly Archaic Southeast,
edited by David G. Anderson and Kenneth E. Sassaman, pp.
149-186. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama press,
Kindle, E. M. and F, B. Taylor

1913 Niagara Folio. United States Geological Survey .Arls, No.

190. Washington, DC.

Kinsey, W. F., H. C. Kaft, P. Marchiando and D. J. Wener

1972 Archaeology in the Upper elaware Valley. pennsylvania

Archaeologcal Association 98: 5-1.2.

Lewis, Thomas M. N. and Madeline Kneberg
7955 Eva: An Archaic Sir. Knoxville: The Univesity of Tennes_
see Press.

Lewis, C. F. M and T, W, Anderson

1989 Oscillations of levels and cool phases of the Laurentian Great
Lakes caused by inflows from glacial Lakes Agassiz and
B

arlow-Oj ibw ay. J o ur na. I of

al e o limi no

Io

gy 3 : 99-l 46.

Lowery, Darin and Jay F. Custer

1990 Recent archaeological investigations at the Crane point site,
Talbot County, Maryland. Current Reserch in the pleistocene

7:31-32.
Mason, Ronald
1.981,

J.

Greal Lakes Archaeology. New York: Acadenic Fess.

Historical and Museum Commissinn, Anthrorological Series,

|,1o. 2.

Flarrisburg, PA.

McAndrews, J. H.
i994 Foilen cliagrarns f'or srrthern ntario applied to archaeology.

Kutzbach. J. E. and P. .L Guetfer

ln /1---t

1986 The influence of changing orbital parameters and surface

boundary conditions on climate sirnulations for the past 1g,000

Interdisciplinary Initiatives for the Nineties, edited by Robet I,

MacDonald, pp. 1i9-196. V/aterloo, Ontai.io: The euaternary

I ^r.-.

--L--^t^-,,

^-)

D-t--^,
, .
ttt \ L,t/grLlrtu! tttg

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATI.IRAL SCIENCES

60

Nelson, Edward W,

Sciences Institute, University of Waterloo'

McGhee, Robert and James A. Tuck

1975 An Archaic Sequence from the Strait

of Belle Isle, Labrador.

Mercury
Series, Paper No.
of
Canada,
Survey
Archaeological
of
Man.
Museum
National
Ottawa:
34.

McNett, Chales W. (ed.)

1985 Shawnee Minisink:

Su'atfied Paleoindian'Archaic Site in

the Upper Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania. Orlandol

Academic Press.
Michie, James L.
1996The Taylor Site: an early occuPation in cenftal South Carolina.

Chapter 12 in The Paleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast,

edited by David G. Anderson and Kenneth E. Sassaman, pp.

1896 The Eskimo Around Bering Strait. Annual Report of the

Bureau of American Ethnology 18(1). Washington, D.C.: U.S'
Govemment Printing Office.
Nicholas, George P.
1994 Prehistoric human ecosystems in the Northeast: interpreting
past landscapes ard land use. In Great Lakes Archaeology and
Paleoecology: Exploring InterdisciPlinary Initiatives for the
Nineties, edited by Robert I. MacDonald, pp. 117-140. Waterloo, Ontario: The Quatemary Sciences lnstitute, University of
Waterloo.

1988 Ecological ieveiing: the achaeology and envionmental

dynamics of Early Postglacial land use. ln Holocene Human
Ecology in Northeastern North America, edited by George P'
Nicholas, pp.257-296. New York; Plenum Press.

238-269. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press'

Pengelly; James W.

Michels, Joseph W.
1968 Settlement pattern and demography at Sheep Rock Shelter:
thei role in culture contact. Southwestern Journal of Anthropol'

1990 Lake Erie levels in the northeastem Erie Basin and fhe forma-

tion of ephemeral Lake \ilainfleet in the southern Niagara

Peninsula during the Holocene Period. Honors B.A. thesis,
Brock University, St. Catherine's, Ont.

ogy 24: 681.

Michets, Joseph W. and ha F. Smith (eds.)
1967 Archaeological Investigations of Sheep Rock Shelter. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University, Department of
AnthropologY

Pengelly, James W,, Keith J. Tinkler, V/illiam G, Parkins and Fan'

cine M, McCarthy
1997 12,600 years of lake level changes, changing sills, ephemeral
lakes and Niagara Gorge erosion in the Niagara Peninsula and

eastern Lake Erie Basin. Journal

Miller, Norton G.
1973 Late-glacial and Postglacial VeSetation Change in Southwestern New York.S/le. New York State Museum and Science
Service, Bulletin 420. Albany: The University of the State of
New York.

of Paleolmnology

17:

377408,
Petersen, James B.

1995 Preceramic archaeological manifestations

in the Far

Northeast: a review of current reseach. Archaeology of Eastern

N orth Americ a 23 : 207

-229.

Minc, Leah D. and Kevin P, Smith

1989 The spirit

of survival: cultual responses to resource variability

in North Alaska. Chapter 7 in Bad Yer Economics: Cultural

Responses to Risk and IJncertainty, edited by Paul Halstead and
John M. O'Shea, pp. 8-39 Cambridge: Cambridge University

Morgan, Lewis H.
1.904 League of the Ho-de-no-satt'nee, or Iroquois. Edited by H. M.
Lloyd. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co.
Murdoch, Iohn
1892 Ethnological results of the Point Bauow Expedition, Annual
Reporl of the Bureau of American Ethnology 9' Washinglon,

Ame r ic an

Antiquity

61

(4)t 685-698'

Price, T. Douglas and James A. Brown (eds.)

1985 Prehistoric Hunler-Gatherers: The Emergence

Complexity. Orlando: Academic Press.
tu-.^ lUllr

U
Vd^ l,
^l

^-i nL^-l^.
dlu
vrrdrwr

of Cultural

e^fLt'
vr\J

tlillt. Mit l,ig,rn t\t,,hur,,i,,vi,r t 1(i):

r
u.
1

40.

-,__r ___l:-^^-L^I;tLrlui'rii;r
,r

lyti(; Ile lv.llTsiu Jlc. ploJccltlc Plna a)ps

dates ftom the lower "Iennessee River valley. Midcontinental
Journal of Archaeology 1 1(1); 1 1-50.

New York: Acatlemic Press.

1965 The McKibben Site (33TR57), Trumbull County, Ohio: a

contribution to the late Paleo-Indian and Archaic phases of

D.C,: U.S, Governmetrt Printing Office.

r- --f-

1996 Mid-Holocene evidence of Cucurbita sp. from cenhal Maine.

Phillips, James L. and James A. Brown (eds.)

1.983 Archaic Hunters and Gatherers in the Americn Midwest.

Press.

I\inue, Jstr

Petersen, James B. and Nancy Asch Sidell

Ritchie, william A.
1980 The Archaeolagy of New York State, Ret'ised Edition, Ht'

ANTHROPOLOGY
rison, NY: Harbor Hill

Books.

6t

58-83. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.

1979 Some regional ecological factors in the prehistory of man. The

Bullein, Journal of the Ncw York State Archaeological

Associa-

Schwert, Donald P, and Alan V, Morgan

tion75:14-22.
1971b The Archaic in New York. The Bulletin, Journal of the
York State Archaeological Association 52:2-12.

1980 Paleoenvironmental implications of a late glacial insect

assemblage from northwestern New York. Quaternary

New

Research 13:

93-l

10.

Typology and Nomenclature for New York Projectile

Points, Revised Edition. New York State Museurn and Science Schwert, Donald P., T. W. Anderson, A. Morgan, A. V. Morgan
Service, Bulletin No. 384, revised, Albany: The University of
and P. F. Kaow
thestateofNewYork.
1985 Changes in Late Quaternary vegetation and insect com1969 The Archaeology of Martha's Vineyard. A Framework for the
munities in Southwestem Ontario. Quaternry Research 23:
Prehstory of Southern New England. Gaden City, NY: The
20526.
Natural History hess.
1965 The Archaeology of New York State. Garden City, NY: The Shoshani, Jeheskel, Amold R. Pitting and Henry T. ti/right
Natural History hess.
1989 Kessell Side-notched point: first record from Michigan, Cr196l A Typology and Nomenclature for New York Projectile Points.
rent Research in the Pleistocene 6: 22-23.
New York State Museum and Science Service, Bulletin No. 384.
Albany: The University of the State of New York.
Smith, Edwad E., Jr.
1936NewevidencerelatingtotheArchaicoccupationof New York. 1995 The Swan's Landing Site (12Hr304): an Early Archaic (Kirk
Researches and Transactions of the New York State
Horizon) site in Harrison County, South-Cenhat lndiana. MidArcheologicl Association 8(l).
continental Journal of Archaeology Z0(2): l9Z-238.
1932 The Lamoka Lake Site. Researches and Transactions of the
New York Stqte Archaeological AssociationT(4).
Smith, Kevin P.
1995 Paleoindian manifestations in the Spring Creek drainage,
Ritchie, William A. and Robert E. Funk
Genesee County, NY. Current Research in the Pleistocene 12:
1.973 Aboriginal Settlement Patterns in the Northesl. New Yok
4345.
State Museum and Science Service Memoir 20. Albany: The
University of the State of New York.
Smith, Kevin P., John D. Holland and Kenneth B. Tankersley
1971 Evidence for Early Achaic occupations on Staten Island. 1994 Wanderers of the wetlands? The late Pleistocene occupation
PennsylvaniaArchaeologist4l(3):45-61.
of Western New York. Paper presented at the Society for
American Archaeology, 59th Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA,
Robinson, Brian S,
23 April,l994.
1996 A regional analysis of the Moorehead burial tradition:
8500-3700 B.P. Archeology of Eastern North America 24:
Starbuck, David R. and Charles E. Bolian (eds,)
95-148.
L980 Early and Middte Archaic Cultures in the Northeast.
Occasional Publications in Northeastem Anthropology, No. 7.
Robinson, B. S., J. B, Petersen and A. K. Robinson (editors)
Rindge, NH: Department of Anthopology, Franklin Pierce
1992 Erly Holocene Occupation in Northern New England.
College.
Occasional Publications in Maine Archaeology 9. Augusta:
Maine Archaeological Society and Maine Historic Preservation Storck, Peter J,
Commission.
1984 Glacial Lake Algonquin and Early Paleo-Indiar settlement
1.971a

patterns
Rodgers, C.

Lanier

1968 The Habron Site, Warren County, Virginia, Archaeological

Society of Virginia, Quarterly Bulletin23(2):90-98.
Rossignol, Jacqueline and LuAnn Wandsnider
1992 Space, Time and Archaeological l.andscapes, New
Flenum Press.
Qqccemn Kenneth

in

southcentral

Ontaio. Ontario Archaeology 4l:

3-28.
Srothers, David M.
1996 Resource procurement and band territories: a model for lower
Creat Lakes Paleoindian and Early Achaic settlement systems.

Yok:

Archaeologyof EasternNorthAmerica24:173-216.
Styies, Bonnie W., Steven R. Ahle, a$d h4elvin L. Fowler
10? I\t^^^^ D^^L h^1.^- -^.,.;t^,1 ,.^t ^;^ tt4tLt(tJ
rt"."^,.--,, unu
-.-- -t
Gtherers in the Americn Midwest, edited by James L. phillips

1996 alv .Archaic settlement ir.r the South Carolina coastal plain.
Clrapier 4 in'l'he Paleoindian and Early Archac Southeast,
edited by David G. Andeson and Kenneth E. Sassaman. pp.

and James
hess.

A. Brown, pp. 26t-298. New York:

Academic

62

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

Tankersley, Kenneth B.
1995 Seasonality of stone procurement; an Early Paleoindian

exam-

Demographc Patterns of North-Central Pennsylvania, W]Jliamsport, PA: The Lycoming County Historical Society.

ple in northwestern New York State. North American

Archeologist 16:

1*16.

Watson, Gordon D.

1990 Paleo-India and Archaic occupations of the Rideau Lakes.

Ontario Archaeology 50 5-26.
Tankersely, Kenneth 8., Iohn D. Holland and Royce L. Kilme
1996 Geoachaeology of the Kilmer Site: a Paleoindiar habitation in
tlre Appalachian Uplands. North American Archaeologist 17(2): Webb, Thornpson, III and Pahick J. Bartlein
1988 Late Quatemary climatic change in eastem North America:
93-1 11.
the role of modeling experiments and empirical studies. In Late
Pleistocene and Early Holocene Paleoecology and Archeology
Tankersley, Kenneth 8., Stanley Vanderlaan, John D. Holland and
of lhe Eastern Great Lakes Region, edited by Richard S. Laub,
Stephen Bland
1997 Geochronology of the Arc sitet aPaleoindian habitation in
Great Lakes region, Archaeology of Eastern North America

the
25'.

Norton G. Miller and David W. Steadman, pp. 3-13. Bulletin

of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, Volume 33.

3144.
Tinkler, Keith J., James W. Pengelly, William G. Parkins and Jaan

Terasmae
1992 Evidence for high water levels

in the Erie

basin during

Younger Dryas chronozone, Journal of Paleolimnology

the
7:

215-234,

White, Marian E,
1976 Late Woodland archaeology in the Niagara Frontier of New
York and Ontario, ln The Late Prehistory of the Lke Erie
Drainage Basin: A 1972 SymposiumRevised, edited by David
S. Brose, pp. 11G-136. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of
Natural History.
1961 Iroquois Culture History in the Niagara Frontier Aea of New

Tompkins,R, CurtandlauraDiMaria
1979 Excavations at Muddy Brook Rockshelter, 7975-7976: a
progress report. The Bulletin, Journal of the New York State
Archaeologicl

Assocition7:58-44.

York State. Anthropological Papers of the Unversity of

MichiganMuseumof Anthropology,No. 16, AnnAbor.
Winterhalder, Bruce and Eric Alden Smith
1981 Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies: Ethnographic nd
Archaeological Analyses. Chicago: University of Chicago

Trubowitz,Neall.

Press.
1983 Hghway Archaeology and Settlement Study in the Genesee
V lley. Occasional Publications in Northeastern Anthropology,
Wortner, Stanley, William Fox and Christopher Ellis
No. 8. George's Mill, New Hampshire.
1979 The Early Archaic in westem New York. The Bulletin, Journal 1990 An Early Archaic lithic assemblage from the Nettling Site in
of theNewYorkstateArchaeologicalAssociation7\:52-57. southwestem Ontario. Current Research in the Pleistocene 7:

57-59.
Tuck, James A.
1977 Ewly cultures on the Sftait of Belle Isle, Labrador. ln Amerinds Wright, James V,
and their Paleoenvironments in Northeastern North America, 1978 The implications of probable Early and Middle Archaic proedited by Walter S. Newman and Bert Salwen. Annals of
New York Academy of Sciences 288: 412480.

the

Turnbaugh, V/illiaur A.

1975 Mn, Land and Time: The Cultural Prehistory and

jectile points from southern Ontario. Candian Journal of

Archaeology 2: 5918.

ANTHROPOLOGY

PLATES 1-8

63

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

64

PLATE

1:

Hi-Lo, Dalton, Early Side Notched and Thebes Cluster bifaces from Niagara Frontier collections.

Top row

Hi-Lo and Dalton Cluster bifaces (left to right): BMS C24357, BMS C2l29a, RMSC 88.118.230, RMSC 88.118.123,
RMSC 88.118.97, RMSC 88.118.98, BMS Ci7588,

Center row
Early side Norched clusrer bifaces (left ro righr): BECHS 66-448, BMS C16221a, BECHS 60-805, BMS C2352d, RMSC
88. 1 18.150, RMSC 88. I 18. 169, RMSC 88, I 18. 159.

Bottom row
Thebes Cluster bifaces
c21856, BMS C2237b.

(left to right): RMSC 88.118.300, RMSC 88.118.296, BECHS 60-805, BMSC C1256, BMS

ANTHROPOLOGY

6s

66

BULLETIN OF THE BUPTALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

PLATE 2: Kirk Corner Notched Cluster bifaces from Niagara Frontier collections,

Top row (left to right):

BECHS 76-34, BMS C2352c, BMS C2l29b:1, BECHS 60-805, BMS C2225a, BMS C2352d, BMS C16221c, RMSC
88.1 18.1 19.

Center row (left to right):

BMS C30137, BMS 8d41158, BMS Ed41131, BMS CZI29\:2, BMS C21876a, BMS C29613.004,RMSC 88.118.108.

Bottom row (left to right):

BMS Ed41065, BMS C21868, BMS 5797a, BMS Ed41251,

BECHS 60-805 and BECHS 76-34 reproduced courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. RMSC 88.118.108 and
RMSC 88.118.1l9 reproduced courtesy of the Rochester Museum and Science Center.

ANTHROPOI-OGY

67

68

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATT]RAL SCIENCES

PLATE 3: Bifurcate Tradition bifaces from Niagara Frontier collections,

Top row (left to right):

BMS C29275, RMSC 88.118.219, BMS 8dA1120, BMS EdA964, BECHS 66-446, BMS C2149i, RMSC 88.118.217.

Bottom row (left to right):

RMSC 88.118.213, RMSC 88,118,216, RMSC 88.118.215, RMSC 88.118.214, BMS C30138, BMS Ed41126, BMS
c30r39.
BECHS 66-446 reproduced courtesy of the Buffato and Erie County Historical Society. RMSC 88.118.213' RMSC 88.118.214' RMSC
gg,11g.215, RMSC gg.11g.216, RMSC gg.118.217, RMSC S8,118.219 reproduced courtesy of the Rochester Museum and science
Center,

ANTHROPOL,OGY

69

70

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

PLATE 4: Neville/Stanly Cluster bifaces from Niagara Frontier collections.

Top row (left to right):

RMSC 88.718.279, RMSC 88.118.272, BMS C29616,067, BMS C30141, BMS C30140, BMS C29652*, BMS C21975a,
BMS C31042.

Bottom row (left to right):

BMS C21861a, BMS C16655, BECHS 66-448,8M5 CTlzza, BMS C29614.060, BMS C29614.109, BMS C30143, BMS

c30t44.
* BMS C29652 is from Kipp Island, Seneca County, New York and has been included for comparative purposes only. See endnote 8.
BECHS 66-448 reproduced courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. RMSC 88.118.279 and RMSC 88.118.272
reproduced courtesy of the Rochester Museum and Science Center.

ANI'HIOPOLOGY

7l

72

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY

OF-

NATURAL SCIENCES

PLATE 5: Morrow Mountain/Stark Stemmed Cluster bifaces from Niagara Frontier collections.

Top row (left to right):

RMSC 88.118.144, BMS C2129m, BMS C29647.013, BMS C29614.099,

Second row (left to rght):

BMS C21862, UB 1099/1388, UB r09911444,U8109911929.

Third row (left to right):

BMS C2129c:2, UB \09911179,U8 109911376.

Bottom row (left to right):

BMS C2129c:3, BMS C2I29c:1, BMS C29616.189, UB 109911429,

RMSC 8S.118.144 reproduced courtesy of the Rochester Museum and Science Center, UB 1099/1388, UB 1099/1444,U8 109911929,
UB 1099/1179, UB 1099/1376 and UB 109911429 reproduced courtesy of the Marian E. White Reseach Museum, Department of
Anthropology, Sfate University of New York at Buffalo.

ANTi{ROPOLOGY

'14

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

PLATE 6: Heavy Based Side Notched Cluster bifaces from Niagara Frontier collections.

Top row (left to right):

BMS Ed41006, BMS C2ZLIa, BMS EdA089.

Center row (left to right):

BMS C29795.

Bottom row (left to right):

BMS C24955, BECHS 66-437, BECHS 55-1074.

BECHS 66-437 and BECHS 55-L074 reproduced courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.

ANTI]ROPOLOGY

75

76

BULLETIN OF THE BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATI-IRAL SCIENCES

PLATE 7: Early and Middle Archaic bifaces in the Holland Land Office Museum collection,

Top row (left to right):

HLOM 96.321[HLOM 186.24.37|B}'/.S Study #12], HLOM 96.327 IHLOM 186.24.37|BMS Study #14], HLOM 96.324
IHLOM 186.13.33/BMS Study #51, HLOM 96.318* IHLOM 186,13.33/BMS Study #11], HLOM 96.328 [HLOM
1

86.33,36/BMS Srudy #41.

Bottom row (teft to right):

HLOM 96.325 IHLOM-/BMS Study #8], HLOM 96.326 THLOM-MS Study #71, HLOM 96.319 IHLOM 186.7.4018MS
study #61, HLOM 96.3t7 [HLOM 186.24,43MS Study #9], HLOM 96.322 IHLOM 186,34.37BMS Srudy #10].

* HLOM 96.318 is not described in this report but appears referable to the Kirk Comer Notched Cluster

All specimens on this plate reproduced courtesy of the Holland Land Office Museum. Catalogue numbers in brackets are those
reported in this manuscript. Preceding numbers (e.g. HLOM 96,325) represent permanent catalogue numbers that were assigned to
these artifacts during the time this manuscript was in preparation,

AN'|HROPOLOGY

77

78

BULLETIN OF THE BURALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

PLATE 8: Early and Middle Archaic bifaces in the Fort Erie Historical Museum collection.

Left to right:
FEHM 988.139.021, FEHM 988.139.058, FEHM 988,140.023, FEHM 988.140.021, FEHM 988.139.060.

All

specimens on this plate reproduced courtesy of the Fort Erie Histoical Museum, Ridgeway, Ontario.

ANTI]ROPOLOGY

79