Graduation Term

2016

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Department of Sociology and Anthropology: Archaeology

Committee Chair

James M. Skibo

Abstract

The Mather-Klauer Lodge site is a Terminal Woodland (c.a. AD 600- AD 1600) occupation of the west side of Grand Island, Michigan, where Echo Creek empties into Lake Superior. Excavations by Illinois State University field schools and the Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group identified a buried, compact, greasy living surface containing four hearth features, a storage pit, and over 20,000 pieces of lithic debitage. Analysis of the lithic assemblage shows that the organization of lithic technology at the Mather-Klauer Lodge site utilized the bipolar reduction technique to reduce locally available quartz cobbles with the goal of producing flakes of various shapes and sizes. Those that fit the technological needs of the inhabitants were then selected for use as utilized flakes or for further modification into triangular arrowheads or scrapers. Although local chert was present at the site, it is represented by low numbers of tools and debitage, suggesting chert tools were brought to the site, used, and maintained, but not manufactured there. Spatial analysis of the piece-plotted lithics using ArcMap's Hot Spot Analysis Tool (Getis-Ord Gi*) to determine statistical clustering identified three spatially distinct reduction localities, situated in close proximity to hearth features. Lipid analysis of the living surface soil produced evidence of fresh water fish, plant greens, roots, and berries (Malainey and Figol 2014). The results of these analyses, combined with ethnographic evidence, suggests that the Mather-Klauer Lodge site represents at least a spring-summertime occupation focused on exploiting the spring fish spawns and preserving some of their catch for later use in the summertime. The selection of hyper-local lithic raw materials and the expedient nature of the tool kit suggest that the population was seasonally-sedentary and had a restricted range of mobility in their subsistence activities. These data fit regional trends observed the Terminal Woodland period (Cleland 1989; Martin 1989; McHale Milner 1991).

Access Type

Thesis-Open Access

DOI

http://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2016.Mallo.A

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