Spatial Distribution Of Debitage At A Chert Procurement Site And A Cultural History Assessment On Orange Lake In North Central Florida

This project evaluated a 90 acre parcel of property located on the southern shore of Orange Lake in NCFL (North Central Florida). A cultural resource management style survey was conducted to determine what archeological evidence for prehistoric activity was present. In addition to this general assessment, this research was conducted in order to identify specific settlement patterns in the area and determine if they corresponded with the settlement strategies already identified for wetland environments within the area of north central Florida. Further, after a tool stone procurement zone was identified a study examining debitage size grade drop-off trends was conducted in an effort to separate quarrying and non-quarrying activity areas. The field work was conducted by excavating shovel test units 50 by 50 centimeters square and one meter deep. These were completed with a two person crew utilizing a shovel and quarter inch screen. Observations during each shovel test were recorded, artifacts bagged, and the unit location was recorded using a GPS unit. In the lab, artifacts were sorted based on sets of characteristics for each artifact type. Particular interest was awarded to debitage by sorting it into one of four screen size categories. Further separation was based on chert type and thermal alteration. These data were evaluated in terms of a distance drop-off model using correlation to explore proximity to local chert sources. The results of these tests proved there was not a sole quarry location in the northwest corner of the property as originally speculated but instead that raw tool stone had once outcropped along the entire length of the shore line. The drop-off tests reinforced the knowledge that chipped stone refuse generated at a quarrying site is unique to this site type. This means that the proportion of debitage size grades and frequency of thermally altered material changes in a predictable manner the further a shovel test is from the original stone source, as do the types of stone tools. In conclusion, raw tool stone acquisition and the manufacturing of tools from this source was of great importance for the prehistoric people of the area. The discovery of solid evidence for habitation beginning in the Early Archaic and growing in intensity forward into the Mississippian also shoOrange Lake was exploited throughout prehistory for the access to tool quality chert as well as fresh water and the ecotone environment of hardwood hammocks and prominent wetlands