PALEOINDIAN SITE LOCATION IN NEW JERSEY

Paleoindian settlement patterns in the State of New Jersey are poorly understood in comparison with other parts of the Northeast. This study is designed to evaluate settlement pattern data using logistical models of land use, against available ethnographic and archaeological data. Current data indicate that settlement patterns reflect high residential mobility, most typical of foragers. However, two competing hypotheses are presented which may explain the absence of base camps in the region. The first scenario is that the distribution of sites (short-term camps) represents only a portion (or subset) of a larger settlement-subsistence unit. According to this model, the New Jersey region only served as a hunting territory; bases are beyond the current state boundaries or are inundated under the Outer Continental Shelf. The second scenario is that the distribution of sites represents highly mobile foragers making use of the entire region according to an annual subsistence-settlement cycle most resembling ethnographic Eastern Subarctic groups. According to this model, the settlement system was typified by frequent residential shifts by individual family units (and even smaller task groups) between coastal, interior and upland zones.