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Early Archaic
[8000-6000 BC] |
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Then ... Suddenly, and without warning, the Paleoindian period ended and the Early Archaic began! (It was on a Thursday, right before lunch)... ummm... ok... anyway.... |
 Palmer style projectile points were made at the beginning of the Early Archaic period... (3), (6), (7)
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| Now, where were we?... oh... um... forager/collector model... Foragers have uniform resources available to them so they live in one spot, use up all the stuff, then move to another spot. Collectors don't have uniform resources, so they do stuff like store food, if food is seasonally unavailable; keep all their tools longer, if stone isn't locally available; and send out groups from "home" to collect stuff. |
This Palmer projectile point was found near the scraper on the above left. It has a ground base and pronouced serrations. |
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 This Palmer projectile point is made of crystal quartz. |
Early archaic peoples of the Piedmont were probably some combo of forager and collector. In fact different groups probably used different strategies. | This here scraper was found right near that there Palmer point on the left. It is very similar in shape and size to the scraper above... but the working edge is very worn.
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 Kirk Corner Notched beveled
Kirk corner notched points were used during the early Archaic. They traditionally occur in higher stratigriph... stratigraf... sgratigr... they aren't supposed to be as old as Palmer points (3, 6).
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What is the difference between a Kirk and a Palmer point? my answer: At first famous archaeologists said Palmers were smaller with ground bases. But not any more! Now-a-days you measure half the distance between the medial points of the axial ridge and multiply it by half the distance of the proximal to the medial point of juncture of the top half of the haft. Raise that number to square root of the axial tang length correction factor, and, if you get five, you got a Palmer... or was it four?. But seriously folks, people who know what they are doing say if you measure the distance between the notches (tang width), and then measure the distance from the base to the top of the notches (tang length), the ratio of tang length:width should average about 0.5 for Palmers and about 0.65 for Kirks (3:p. 59)... (see my wonderful illustration below) 
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| Very smart archaeologists came up with a theory that Early Archaic Piedmontians were only Piedmontians during the summer and early fall (5:chpt 3, 1:p. 356). |
 Kirk Corner Notched |
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 Kirk Corner Notched |
 Early Archaic tool with smooth conical tip probably a drill |
The theory goes that each group of folks would travel up and down it's own river basin. In the fall they would all meet at the Fall Line (lots of roots and stumps and other trip hazards - ok, maybe not). There they would trade stuff with folks from other basins, and find significant others (so the theory goes). In the winter they would head more towards the beach, find a home 'till spring, and then spread out and eat beach stuff. Then in the summer and early fall they would head back to the Piedmont, spread out and eat deer, acorns and hickory nuts .... etc. |
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However, other smart archaeologists aren't so sure about the annual commute up and down the river theory. Some think that folks had "territories" that spanned river basins. The idea is that folks needed good quality lithic material and would set up territories based on proximity to these materials. Morrow Mountain in the Uwharrie Mountains is a good source of high quality rhyolite, which was the stone of choice for Early Archaic NC Piedmontians (3, 5:chpt. 5).
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 Look, a Kirk Stemmed Point. wow. Kirk stemmed points are associated with the latter part of the Early Archaic (3, 4, 6) . |
Kirk Stemmed
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The North Carolina Piedmont forests had lots of oaks and hickories by the early archaic (5:chapt.1). These things provided lots of yummy nuts and stuff, when properly processed. Deer were also eaten a lot. This brings up another theory: the optimal foraging theory (1:pp. 90-92). This one combines economics and ecology. The idea is that people make choices of food types based on the greatest net energy gained. So based on this, people ate the food that gave them the most calories for the least effort (yeah right, then why don't we eat bugs???). |
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Another way to maximize efficiency is by technology. Long before Archimedies, possibly during the late Paleoindian, someone figured out that that one can achieve tremendous mechanical advantage by using a stick to toss a spear as depicted in the brilliantly artistic animation on the left (1:pp. 114 & 358). Not only did one achieve tremendous mechanical advantage, one could also throw a spear harder and faster.... oh...um...nevermind... |
| On the right is an outstandingly creative illustration of a sprear throwing doohickey handle known by smart people everywhere as an "atlatl" (which is why I call it a spear throwing doohickey). |
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upper: spear lower: arrow
| Here are a few examples of various of Early Archaic point styles in the North Carolina Piedmont... | ||||
Kanawha Stemmed
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Bifurcated Kirk Corner Notched 
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Quasi-Bifurcated Kirk Stemmed 
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Big Sandy
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Extra-Local Lobbed Point extra-local stone, extra-local style 
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