Paleoindian Colonization of the Recently Deglaciated Great Lakes: Mobility and Technological Organization in Eastern Wisconsin

AbstractThis study examines a robust sample of lithic assemblages from east-central Wisconsin, including both early and late Paleoindian components and younger Archaic and Woodland material. Average transport distances exceed 200 km in both the early and late Paleoindian samples, but with an important shift from north-south to east-west movement. The Paleoindian/Archaic transition also marks a dramatic change in mobility and toolstone utilization, as Archaic and Woodland assemblages are composed almost entirely of local raw materials.