EARLY ARCHAIC SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF NEW JERSEY

Early Archaic settlement patterns in New Jersey are poorly understood in comparison with other parts of the Northeast. Current data indicate that settlement patterns reflect high group mobility, most resembling foragers, typified by frequent residential shifts between coastal/estuary and interior riverine zones. However, there is a differential distribution of Kirk and bifurcate components in the region between 10,000 and 8,000 B.P. Kirk components tend to represent multiple activity loci oriented toward terrace/floodplain riverine zones; bifurcate components are most often limited activity loci, oriented toward upland zones. Two hypotheses might explain this distribution. The first scenario is that the appearance of bifurcate points by 9,000 B.P. reflects an expansion of the earlier Kirk-biface tool tradition. According to this model, the appearance of bifurcate loci implies a widening of procurement extraction into upland zones. The second scenario is that the distribution of Kirk and bifurcate components represent separate and distinct temporal and cultural traditions. If this second scenario is correct, then these data represent a major settlement shift from larger population aggregates oriented toward riverine zones to smaller group dispersals into a greater variety of resource areas, with a focus upon upland locales.