A deeply stratified archaeological and sedimentary sequence in the Delaware river valley of the middle Atlantic region, United States
✍ Scribed by Michael Stewart; Jay Custer; Donald Kline
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1991
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 843 KB
- Volume
- 6
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0883-6353
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A stratified sedimentary and archaeological sequence over seven meters thick is under investigation on Upper Shawnee Island in the Upper Delaware Valley, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Artifact deposits identified to date include Early Archaic (7380 B.C.), possible Middle Archaic (4300/3300 B.C.), Late Archaic (1565 B.C.), and Middle and Late Woodland components. This paper focuses on the Early Archaic deposits at approximately 4.3 meters below the surface and the implications that the entire profile has for paleoenvironmental change. The sedimentary sequence represents several major changes in depositional processes. Of special interest is a dramatic decrease in landscape stability and an increase in flood depositions during the mid-Holocene, circa 4300/3300 B.C. Similar changes are evident a t archaeological sites in the Middle and Lower sections of the Delaware Valley and appear to be a reflection of regional climatic change.