Cantin, Mark E. (Anthropology Laboratory, Indiana State University)
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THEBES AND KIRK LITHIC TRADITIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR HOME RANGE SIZES
Many Midwestern archaeologists analytically treat the Early Archaic period as
a period in which the adaptive strategies and technological organizations of discrete
populations were relatively homogeneous. This study was designed to test whether
observable differences exist in Early Archaic technologies and to identify potential
reasons for why they may exist. To do so, a systematic examination of Thebes and
Kirk cluster points from southwestern Indiana was conducted, and a variety of
technological attributes were scored for each specimen. Both traditions incorporated
technological attributes which are considered to be the hallmark traits of Early
Archaic lithic technology and which indicate similar responses to the environment.
In this sense, the differences are more a matter of degree rather than kind.
The data set consists of 112 Thebes cluster points (Thebes, St. Charles, and Lost
Lake types) and 187 Kirk cluster points (Kirk- Corner Notched, Kirk Stemmed, and
Palmer types). The points were recovered in Data Center surveys conducted by the
Indiana State University Anthropology Laboratory (ISUAL) in a 17 county area of
southwestern Indiana that generally corresponds to the Wabash Lowland physiographic
province and its fringes. Each point was scored for the presence or absence of
blade beveling, blade serration, basal grinding, and heat treatment. In addition,
chert types were tabulated for each, and a determinations made of the "quality"
of chert types utilized. An estimate of the distance between the chert resource
that was exploited and the recovery spot was made for each point as well. The
results show disparate trends in the technologies of each cluster.
Although 16 and 17 chert types were identified in the Thebes and Kirk clusters,
respectively, five types (Wyandotte, Holland, Indian- Creek, Allens Creek, and
Attica) comprised about 90% of each cluster. Wyandotte chert accounted for 59%
of Thebes and 37% of Kirk cluster points, while the frequency of Holland chert
was around 20% for each. Attica chert was present in 5% or less in the clusters.
However, Allens Creek and Indian Creek cherts were utilized in 23% of the Kirk
sample but only in 9% of the Thebes collection.
There appears to have been a more stringent selection of high quality cherts on
the part of Thebes groups as contrasted with their Kirk counterparts. In the Thebes
sample, 81% of the points were made of high-quality cherts (largely Wyandotte
and Holland types) as opposed to 64% for the Kirk total. Of significance is the
fact that the frequency of the Kirk medium-quality cherts (mostly Allens Creek,
Indian Creek, and Attica types) was well over twice that for Thebes (32% versus
14%, respectively). Low-quality cherts were seldom utilized by either population.
"Local" cherts are defined as those that originated within a 0.0-3.0 km radius
of the recovery spot of a given point. "Semi-local" and "Foreign" cherts are defined
as those that originated within 3.0-30.0 km and +30.0 km radii, respectively.
These classes provide useful measures in the determination of distances traveled.
As such, 76% of Thebes cluster points were from foreign sources, as contrasted
with 65% of Kirks. In each case, the foreign chert category is dominated by the
Wyandotte type. Significant numbers of Wyandotte Thebes points are found at maximum
distances within the study area, while Kirk frequencies are drastically diminished
at the same distances. Kirk groups made nearly twice as much use of semi-locally
available resources as Thebes groups, registering at 25% as opposed to 13%, respectively.
Local cherts accounted for 10% of the Thebes assemblage, but this estimate was
skewed by one Data Center at which a number of Holland points were recovered at
Holland lithic workshops. Only 4% of Kirk points were made from local materials.
The triad of blade beveling, blade serration, and basal grinding is considered
as archetypical of Early Archaic technology. In this study, 65% of Thebes and
5% of Kirks were beveled, 32% of Thebes and 48% of Kirks were serrated, and 87%
of Thebes and 65% of Kirks were basally ground. In addition 3% of Thebes and 17%
of Kirks were heat-treated.
While the cluster frequencies given above would, at first, appear to indicate
vastly different technological responses to the environment, they actually reflect
similar adaptations to similar circumstances. The differences are not thought
to reflect degrees of mobility or curation behavior. The evidence does not indicate
that one group changed residential loci more often than the other. Both technologies
were organized for maximum extension of tool use-life. While Thebes technology
may at first appear to be more Paleoindian-like and Kirk technology may be seen
as a precursor to the Middle Archaic, the ata suggest that both technologies are
quite similar when viewed from another perspective. On another level of analysis,
the attribute and chert frequencies may be seen to represent potential differences
in the home range size of each group.
The greater use of semi-locally available materials in the production of Kirk
points is used as evidence of a more spatially circumscribed home range than what
the evidence suggests for the producers of Thebes points. Coincidentally, these
same semi-local materials were of medium-quality, and, therefore, heat-treatment
was employed on a greater scale to enhance tractability. Kirk points are generally
smaller and thinner than Thebes points. Such points were not amenable to beveling
practices. Instead, invasive lateral retouch was the method chosen for rejuvenation.
This is indicative of curated behavior necessary for highly mobile, hunter-gatherer
groups. Serration and basal grinding would extend the tool use-life as well. Therefore,
any notion of technological expediency cannot be supported.
Thebes groups made greater use of foreign cherts, which largely consisted of the
high-quality Wyandotte type, than their Kirk- using counterparts. This implies
a large home-range area and scheduled access to such deposits. The fact that Thebes
points are typically beveled and basally ground (which enhances tool efficiency
and extends use-life) is taken as evidence of a curated technology. That Thebes
groups utilized Wyandotte sources to a greater extent than Kirk-users does not
equate with the former's relatively greater technological need for cryptocrystalline
material to produce a tool kit. The apparently larger Thebes home range may have
brought them into more regular contact with Wyandotte deposits. It may have been
mapped or scheduled activity. It appears that Thebes groups utilized the best
available material within their home range. Kirk groups, although more spatially
restricted, appear to have also used the best materials in their own catchment.
This hypothesis is corroborated in studies of Early Archaic groups in other parts
of Indiana.
Through the patterns of chert usage identified in this study and others in the
state, it is postulated that Thebes home ranges may have been as much as one order
of (drainage) magnitude greater than those of Kirk-users. Potential Thebes home
ranges may have corresponded with the drainages of the lower Wabash and lower
Ohio rivers, the upper Wabash River, the upper White River, or other major segments
of the primary drainages of the state. Kirk groups may have been confined to secondary
drainages such as the lower West Fork White River, the Eel River, the Muscatatuck
River, or even Raccoon or Salt creeks. The interpretations of this study are to
be taken as preliminary hypotheses in need of testing,and further investigation
is required. [return to 1993 abstracts menu][continue to next]