•  
  •  
 

A TYPOLOGY AND ANALYSIS OF MIDDLE WOODLAND PROJECTILE POINTS AND OTHER LITHICS RECOVERED FROM THE LOWER DABBS SITE IN NORTH GEORGIA**

Abstract

For decades archaeologists have been interested in the operational sequence of material culture. This methodological tool has most often been applied to the study of ceramics and lithics. In lithic studies, studying the technical processes and the social acts involved in the step-by-step production, use, and disposal of tools has garnered considerable attention in recent years. At the Lower Dabbs Site, located near the Etowah Indian Mounds in north Georgia, there is an assemblage of projectile points that offers insight into the development of tool technology during the Middle Woodland period (300 BC-AD 600). The points come from many different contexts and are represented by various styles, forms, and materials. Additionally, other tools such as knives have been found in association with the projectile points. The purpose of this research is to: 1) recreate the techniques used (i.e. the different steps involved ) to produce these lithic tools; 2) create a typology for the assemblage; and 3) determine a chronological framework for the points. At present, there is little agreement in the archaeological community regarding the chronological ordering of Middle Woodland points in north Georgia. This is, in part, due to a lack of solid dating for small Middle Woodland villages like the Lower Dabbs Site. Radiometric and ceramic dating from sealed cultural features at Lower Dabbs provides for accurate dating of the projectile points found in these pit features. With this analysis, a better understanding of the social processes involved in the manufacture of points will be created as well as their intended uses within this Middle Woodland community. It is hoped the results observed at Lower Dabbs can also be used at other similar sites to more firmly understand the operational sequence of formal tool production.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS