Digitized Honors Theses (2002-2017)

Date of Award

7-2003

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Degree Name

BS

Department

Anthropology

Faculty Mentor

Phil Carr, Ph.D.

Advisor(s)

Greg Waselkov, Ph.D., Doug Haywick, Ph.D.

Abstract

The Middle Archaic period (6000–4000 BC) in the Southeast United States has often been characterized as technologically simple and socially undifferentiated. This study reexamines that view through analysis of the John Forrest Site in Claiborne County, Mississippi. The surface assemblage—including bifaces, blade cores, and an unusually high number of stone beads—reveals evidence of specialized craft production and symbolic activity rarely attributed to Middle Archaic hunter-gatherers. Raw material studies show deliberate selection of local gravels, with color preferences in bead manufacture suggesting symbolic or social significance. Comparative analysis with assemblages from Watson Brake, Jaketown, Denton, Slate, Keenan Bead Cache, and Cad Mound demonstrates strong regional parallels in bead and core technologies, while highlighting the exceptional scale of production at John Forrest. These findings challenge traditional models of highly mobile, small-scale societies and instead point to increasing organizational complexity and craft specialization in the Lower Mississippi Valley during the Mid-Holocene.

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