THE PROJECTILE POINT CLASSIFICATION PROJECT: A ...

(FINAL REPORT)

THE PROJECTILE POINT CLASSIFICATION PROJECT: A Classification of Projectile Points in Existing Archaeological Collections from North Carolina (Phase II)

by I. Randolph Daniel, Jr.

and R. P. Stephen Davis, Jr.

R. P. Stephen Davis, Jr. Principal Investigator

Technical Report No. 26 Research Laboratories of Anthropology The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Report prepared under a Survey and Planning Grant from the United States Department of the Interior and administered by the North Carolina Division of Archives and History

September 1996

(FINAL REPORT)

THE PROJECTILE POINT CLASSIFICATION PROJECT: A Classification of Projectile Points in Existing Archaeological Collections from North Carolina (Phase II)

by I. Randolph Daniel, Jr.

and R. P. Stephen Davis, Jr.

R. P. Stephen Davis, Jr. Principal Investigator

Technical Report No. 26 Research Laboratories of Anthropology The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Report prepared under a Survey and Planning Grant from the United States Department of the Interior and administered by the North Carolina Division of Archives and History

September 1996

ABSTRACT Typological classification of projectile points found at prehistoric archaeological sites has long been recognized and employed by archaeologists as a reliable means of assessing site age and cultural affiliation. The purpose of this study was to classify projectile points in existing collections from prehistoric sites in North Carolina to provide more detailed cultural and chronological information about those sites. These collections are curated at the Research Laboratories of Anthropology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A similar study, conducted in 1989?1990 and subsequently designated Phase I, classified 22,244 projectile points and 105 other artifacts from 1,313 archaeological sites in North Carolina (Davis and Daniel 1990). The present study, conducted in 1995?1996, classified 25,508 additional projectile points from 1,725 North Carolina archaeological sites in 85 counties. Together, these studies have now classified 47,752 projectile points (and 105 other artifacts) from 2,822 sites in 86 of North Carolina's 100 counties. These represent approximately 76% of the projectile points from known sites (excluding those retrieved from major site-excavation projects and sites outside North Carolina) in the collections of the Research Laboratories of Anthropology.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION

PAGE

INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 1

BACKGROUND......................................................................................................................... 1

ARTIFACT ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................ 2

Site Number .................................................................................................................... 2

Catalog Number.............................................................................................................. 2

Projectile Point Type Descriptions................................................................................. 2

Raw Material Types........................................................................................................ 8

Modification Types......................................................................................................... 8

RESULTS.................................................................................................................................... 8

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................... 9

REFERENCES CITED............................................................................................................... 10

TABLES

Table 1. Coding format used for the Projectile Point Classification Project................. 12

Table 2. Distribution of analyzed artifacts by county................................................... 13

Table 3. Summary of analyzed projectile points........................................................... 16

APPENDIX 1. Results of the Projectile Point Classification Project (Phase 2)....... A-1 to A-149

[Note: Copies of Appendix 1 are on file at the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology, Raleigh, and the Research Laboratories of Anthropology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]

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INTRODUCTION

Typological classification of projectile points has long been used by archaeologists as an effective means of judging site age and cultural affiliation. Because the Research Laboratories of Anthropology (RLA) at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill curates the largest collection of points from North Carolina archaeological sites, an artifact classification project was initiated in 1989 with a Survey and Planning grant to provide typological data that would enhance the State's archaeological site files. This initial phase (designated Phase I) of the Projectile Point Classification Project was undertaken to provide more detailed cultural and chronological information about numerous prehistoric archaeological sites recorded during early archaeological surveys of North Carolina. Although the locations of these sites had been known for many years, the cultural components at these sites were largely unknown or poorly recognized. Phase I focused on artifacts collected before 1960 from sites in piedmont North Carolina and classified 22,245 projectile points and 105 other culturally diagnostic artifacts from 1,313 prehistoric archaeological sites (Davis and Daniel 1990).

While the primary purpose of this initial inventory was to upgrade the State's archaeological site files housed at the Office of State Archaeology, the data contained in this inventory also comprise an important source of information for future research and have allowed the Research Laboratories of Anthropology (RLA) to manage and utilize its collections more effectively. Given the positive results of this initial study, funds for a second phase of the project (designated Phase II) were requested to examine approximately 22,000 additional projectile points from an estimated 1,400 sites that remained unclassified in the RLA collections. These artifacts came from survey and donated collections from archaeological sites in the Mountains and Coastal Plain, as well as from collections from sites in the Piedmont obtained after about 1960.

This second phase of the project, reported here, was partially funded by a Survey and Planning grant from the United States Department of the Interior and administered by the Office of State Archaeology, North Carolina Division of Archives and History. These funds were matched by cash and in-kind support from the Research Laboratories of Anthropology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

As with the initial study, artifact classification was conducted by I. Randolph Daniel, Jr., in consultation with R. P. Stephen Davis, Jr. Two student assistants, Sarah Hopton and Brian Overton, aided the study by retrieving artifacts from the RLA's curation facility on the UNC campus, conducting preliminary artifact sorting, and entering data into computer files.

BACKGROUND

Background research and preparation largely followed that undertaken during the Phase I study. The computer-coding format developed for Phase I was used to insure compatibility between the results of the two studies. This format permitted coding of the following attributes for each analyzed artifact: (1) state site number, (2) RLA catalog number, (3) tool type, (4) raw material type, and (5) type of modification (if any) (Table 1). During the Phase II study, it was necessary to add one additional tool type (Pigeon Side-Notched) and an additional raw material

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