Geoarchaeology and late glacial landscapes in the western lake superior region, Central North America

Abstract

The transition from full glacial to interglacial conditions along the southern margin of the Laurentide ice sheet resulted in dramatic changes in landscapes and biotic habitats. Strata and landforms resulting from the Wisconsin Episode of glaciation in the area directly west of Lake Superior indicate a context for late Pleistocene biota (including human populations) connected to ice margins, proglacial lakes, and postglacial drainage systems. Late Glacial landscape features that have the potential for revealing the presence of Paleoindian artifacts include abandoned shorelines of proglacial lakes in the Superior and Agassiz basins and interior drainages on deglaciated terrains. The linkage between Late Pleistocene human populations and Rancholabrean fauna has yet to be demonstrated in the western Lake Superior region, although isolated remains of mammoth ( Mammuthus) have been documented, as well as fluted points assigned to Clovis, Folsom, and Holcombe‐like artifact forms. Agate Basin and Hell Gap (Plano‐type) artifacts also imply the presence of human groups in Late Glacial landscapes associated with the Agassiz and Superior basins. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Middle Pleistocene tunnel valley at Schöningen as a Paleolithic archive

“…Oviatt et al, 2003;Preece et al, 2006;Yansa, 2007;Ashley et al, 2008Ashley et al, , 2010. Even the shores of proglacial lakes have been recognized as inhabitable sites for early hunter-gatherers (Overstreet and Kolb, 2003;Hill, 2007).…”

Alluvial stratigraphy and geoarchaeology in the Big Fork River Valley, Minnesota: human response to Late Holocene environmental change

“…The Rainy River region of northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota was affected by two late Wisconsin age glacial advances: the Rainy lobe from the northeast and the St. Louis sublobe of the Red River-Koochiching lobe from the northwest (Hill 2007). The Rainy lobe retreated to the northeast forming a succession of moraines including the Vermilion, Rainy River, and Eagle-Finlayson moraines.…”

On the definition and practice of Geoarchaeology

“…After World War II, the North American perspective again tended toward broad landscape analysis, using geomorphology to map and predict early human occupation and as mentioned above, vitally help date sites, an early example being the High Plains Paleoecological Program, directed by F. Wendorf in the late 1950s and early 1960s (Huckleberry 2000;Butzer 2008). This approach was established, and later typified by the interdisciplinary works of many such as Haynes (Vance Haynes 1995), Waters (Waters 2000), Holliday (Holliday 2000) and Hill (Hill 2007).…”