Color as a key characteristic in the terminal pleistocene fluted-point-period lithic economy in northeastern North America

Abstract

Red chert attributed to a small number of outcrops within the Munsungun Lake formation, northern Maine is nearly ubiquitous in late Pleistocene Fluted-Point-Period (FPP) archaeological sites throughout northeastern North America, including at sites hundreds of kilometers from this source. Red Munsungun chert also appears more frequently in FPP sites than any other material type in the region. The frequency of use and the distances over which this material was transported during the FPP differ qualitatively and quantitatively from other raw materials regularly found in FPP sites in the region. These differences in use, transport, and discard are not explained by technological considerations --such as texture or nodule size-- alone. One possible explanation for the unique treatment of this material during the FPP is color. Knappable brightly colored stone (including red) is uncommon in the Northeast which may have resulted in a specific preference for red Munsungun chert by stoneworkers during the FPP. The widespread transport and exchange of this material would also help maintain social relationships and information exchange between widely scattered bands, while the act of repeatedly returning to a specific location would have helped socialize a recently settled landscape.