Paleoindian and Early Archaic South Carolina: An Update

Presented at the 74th Annual Southeastern Archaeological Conference

In 1996, Kenneth Sassaman introduced a model of Early Archaic settlement, using data from the South Carolina Collectors Survey to infer the geographic range of macrobands. Sassaman called for more regional-scale analyses, and for greater attention to social factors underlying Early Archaic assemblage variability. Over the past 20 years, many researchers have addressed those broad suggestions. Significant Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites have been recorded in South Carolina, and GIS-based analyses have evaluated hypotheses and remodeled patterns of mobility and settlement. Ongoing efforts to document assemblage integrity and variability are adding to our understanding of a dynamic landscape.