New Evidence for Late Paleoindian-Early Archaic Subsistence Behavior in the Western Great Lakes

Abstract

Late Paleoindian and Early Archaic subsistence behavior in the Western Great Lakes is an important research issue that has been hindered by a lack of zooarchaeological remains, as well as disagreements over the nature of the paleoenvironmental record and human foraging behavior. Prior reconstructions of early subsistence behavior have centered on a focused, big-game hunting strategy, despite very little solid evidence. Recently, two archaeological sites in northern Wisconsin containing Late Paleoindian faunal material have been excavated, the Deadman Slough site (47PR46) and the Sucices site (47DG11). The data from these sites, and similar recently discovered sites in northeastern North America, suggest that Late Paleoindian and Early Archaic peoples employed a generalized foraging strategy, utilizing a broad range of animal species from a wide array of environmental settings. This new archaeological evidence is utilized in conjunction with detailed paleoenvironmental data and information from cultural ecological studies to develop a model of Late Paleoindian-Early Archaic subsistence behavior for the Western Great Lakes.