Shane Miller | Mississippi State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Shane Miller

My dissertation project utilizes a theoretical perspective derived from historical ecology to exp... more My dissertation project utilizes a theoretical perspective derived from historical ecology to explore the trajectory in prehistoric subsistence that began with the initial colonization of the region and eventually led to the domestication of indigenous plants, such as goosefoot and maygrass, roughly 5,000 calendar years ago. Because a major handicap for exploring prehistoric subsistence in eastern North America is the rarity of sites with preserved flora and fauna, I apply formal models derived from behavioral ecology to stone tool assemblages and archaeological site distributions to evaluate models that have been proposed for the emergence of domesticated plants. Based on my results, I argue that the origins of plant domestication came about within the context of a boom/bust cycle that has its roots in the Late Pleistocene and culminated in the Mid-Holocene. More specifically, warming climate caused a significant peak in the availability of shellfish, oak, hickory, and deer, which generated a "tipping point" during the Middle Archaic period where hunter-gatherer groups narrowed their focus on these resources. After this "boom" ended, some groups shifted to other plant resources that they could intensively exploit in the same manner as oak and hickory, which included the suite of plants that were subsequently domesticated. This is likely due the combined effects of increasing population and declining returns from hunting, which is evident in my analysis of biface technological organization and site distributions from the lower Tennessee and Duck River Valleys. Consequently, these conclusions are an alternative to Smith's (2011) assertion that plant domestication in eastern North America came about as a result of gradual niche construction with no evidence for resource imbalance or population packing

Geoarchaeology

Lithic raw material variation is valuable for assessing the scale of human mobility, differential... more Lithic raw material variation is valuable for assessing the scale of human mobility, differential access to and from raw material sources, and prehistoric exchange patterns. Recent advancements in non-destructive reflectance spectroscopy have proven to be more accurate in provenance investigations compared with the macroscopic (visual) identification technique for lithic artifacts. Here, we use visible/near-infrared

Southeastern Archaeology, 2021

Prior to 2010, the only major literature on the manifestation of the Shell Mound Archaic in the M... more Prior to 2010, the only major literature on the manifestation of the Shell Mound Archaic in the Middle Cumberland River Valley of Tennessee was an unpublished dissertation and technical or avocational reports. This absence is so profound that in her seminal volume “Feasting with Shellfish”, Cheryl Claassen includes only four shell-bearing sites within the Middle Cumberland River Valley. However, recent research reveals that there are nearly 40 Archaic shell-bearing sites in the region. This presents a major cultural phase that has to date been virtually overlooked in the major literature. In this volume, editors Tanya M. Peres and Aaron Deter-Wolf bring together discussions of recent research by ourselves and others at Archaic shell-bearing sites, combined with contemporary examinations of prior investigations, which until now have been difficult for scholars to access. Volume in process, Summer 2017

We use the Ideal Free Distribution from Behavioral Ecology as a null model to interpret the distr... more We use the Ideal Free Distribution from Behavioral Ecology as a null model to interpret the distribution of previously recorded archaeological sites in the Tennessee and Duck River Valleys in central Tennessee from the appearance of Clovis sites in the terminal Pleistocene though the Early Holocene (~13,250-8,880 cal yr BP). We hypothesized that the distribution of Clovis sites would be skewed towards lower elevations, and then subsequent populations would spread to higher elevations over the course of the Younger Dryas and Early Holocene as boreal forests were replaced by mixed hardwood, deciduous forests. Our results are consistent with other studies that have proposed that the Cumberland Plateau and the Appalachian Highlands were not intensively occupied until well after the disappearance of the Clovis culture. Using data provided by the Digital Index of North American Archaeology, we expand our analysis to the entirety of the Tennessee River Valley to explore the colonization of the South Appalachian Mountains in the American Southeast. (Slide) The early record of the American Southeast is well-known for its sheer abundance of sites and artifacts. This observation is built upon two historical themes in Southeastern Archaeology: 1) numerous large-scale projects beginning with the WPA and continuing with contemporary cultural resource management, and 2) the long tradition of private collectors working with professional archaeologists. However, one area that seems to be a blank spot in this coverage is the Appalachian Summit, and to a lesser degree, the Cumberland Plateau. Both Lane and Anderson and Stackelback and Maggard have argued that the dearth of Paleoindian period sites in these areas may be historical in nature in that they may just be the last stops in the colonization of the region. (Slide) Conversely, Stephen and I have argued that there might be an environmental explanation as well: higher elevations were still covered with boreal pine forests, which have low biodiversity when compared to the oak hickory forests found at lower elevation. These positions aren't incompatible, but we argue that taking an approach using human behavioral ecology, and in particular Fretwell and Lucas's Ideal Free Distribution, helps provide context for why some places were sought out initially by people, and other places seem to have been avoided until the Early and Middle Holocene. Here, we summarize our previous arguments for the colonization of the Cumberland Plateau, then extend our argument to the entire Tennessee River drainage.

PaleoAmerica, 2021

Kuhn and Miller (2015) suggest that changes in projectile point life histories could result from ... more Kuhn and Miller (2015) suggest that changes in projectile point life histories could result from (a) increased replacement costs due to limited raw material access, or (b) a decline in average hunting returns. In northern Alabama, where raw material access can be held constant, we use variation in biotic structures to make predictions for life histories of Clovis to Big Sandy projectile points over the course of the Younger Dryas (12,900-11,700 calendar years ago). Then, using data from the Alabama Paleo Point Survey and private collections, we find a decrease in projectile point size through time, and fluctuations in resharpening. These trends follow changes in forest structure, average prey size, and hunting returns. We conclude that there are no abrupt technological changes coeval with the Younger Dryas onset. However, with the Younger Dryas terminus and subsequent Holocene warming, foragers in northern Alabama made significant changes in projectile point technology.

PaleoAmerica, 2021

ABSTRACT Various chronologies of the earliest Native American occupations have been proposed with... more ABSTRACT Various chronologies of the earliest Native American occupations have been proposed with varying levels of empirical support and conceptual rigor, yet none is widely accepted. A recent survey of pre-Clovis dated sites (Becerra-Valdivia and Higham 2020) concludes a pre-Last Glacial Maximum (>26,500–19,000 cal yr BP) entry of humans in the Americas, in part based on recent work at Chiquihuite Cave, Mexico. We evaluate the evidence used to develop this inference. To provide clarity, we present three explicit dispersal models for the earliest human dispersals to the Americas: Strict Clovis-First (13,050 cal yr BP), Paleoindian (<16,000 cal yr BP), and Pre-Paleoindian (>16,000 cal yr BP, encompassing pre-LGM, preferred by Becerra-Valdivia and Higham (2020)), and we summarize the current genetic and archaeological evidence bearing on each. We regard all purported Pre-Paleoindian sites as equivocal and the Strict Clovis-First model to be equally unsupported at present. We conclude that current data strongly support the Paleoindian Dispersal model, with Native American ancestors expanding into the Americas sometime after 16,000 cal yr BP (and perhaps after 14,800 cal yr BP), consistent with well-dated archaeological sites and with genetic data throughout the western hemisphere. Models of the Americas’ peopling that incorporate Chiquihuite or other claimed Pre-Paleoindian sites remain unsubstantiated.

Environmental Archaeology, 2020

The colonisation of North America and subsequent adaptation to climate change are major research ... more The colonisation of North America and subsequent adaptation to climate change are major research foci in the American Southeast. Here, we used the Ideal Free Distribution from Behavioural Ecology and projections of fossil pollen to generate predictions for landscape use. We tested these predictions against the distribution of previously recorded projectile points in the Paleoindian Database of the Americas and archaeological sites in the Digital Index of North American Archaeology for the Tennessee River drainage from the appearance of Clovis sites in the terminal Pleistocene though the Late Holocene (∼13,250-3,000 cal BP). We found that the distribution of points and sites were initially skewed towards lower elevations, and then spread to higher elevations over the course of the Younger Dryas into the Middle Holocene, which is consistent with predictions of the Ideal Free Distribution. However, during the Middle Holocene, sites are more clustered, which is consistent with a shift to an Ideal Free Distribution with Allee effect that was likely driven by a broader distribution of oak-hickory forests. Finally, the distribution of sites after the Middle Holocene was more dispersed, which is consistent with a shift to an Ideal Despotic Distribution.

Geoarchaeology, 2022

PaleoAmerica, 2021

ABSTRACT Archaeologists working in Mexico recently claimed evidence for pre-Last Glacial Maximum ... more ABSTRACT Archaeologists working in Mexico recently claimed evidence for pre-Last Glacial Maximum human occupation in the Americas, based on lithic items excavated from Chiquihuite Cave, Zacatecas. Although they provide extensive array of ancillary studies of the cave's chronostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental record, the data they present do not support their central argument, that these lithic items are anthropogenic and represent a unique lithic industry produced by early human occupants. They give limited consideration to the most plausible alternative explanation: that the assemblage is a product of natural processes of disintegration, roof fall, and mass movement of the cave fill, and thus the lithic materials are best explained as geofacts. We assess the evidence by considering the alternative hypotheses (1) that the observed phenomena are artifacts or (2) that they result from natural processes. We conclude that hypothesis 2 is more strongly supported and that Chiquihuite Cave does not represent evidence for the earliest Americans.

With this inaugural issue of the Occasional Papers series of the Southeastern Paleoamerican Surve... more With this inaugural issue of the Occasional Papers series of the Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey, we are pleased to offer this monograph by D. Shane Miller which was based on his masters thesis research at the Topper site. His excavations, conducted over 2006-2007, resulted in a 64m square block, the largest contiguous unit yet excavated at Topper. Situated in a previously plowed firebreak on the southern hillside exhibiting partial erosion, it was decided to take advantage of this situation and recover the basal Clovis remains in the undisturbed portion of the profile. This strategy worked well and allowed Miller to fairly quickly access a large, relatively well preserved portion of the Clovis deposit as found in the lower firebreak. Miller presents the first thorough analysis of the Clovis occupation of what has been called the Hillside at Topper, reconstructing the geoarchaeological matrix so necessary for contextualizing these important 13,000 year old artifacts. In the course of his study, he does yeoman service by systematically analyzing the assemblage and stratigraphy by considering a variety of relevant agencies that might have formed or even deformed the original deposit. He provides a compelling reconstruction of the natural and cultural formation processes and concludes that the Clovis deposit as it is found on the hill slope is reasonably intact and interpretable and well suited for archaeological inferences.

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2019

The examination of comingled ossuary collections creates unique analytical issues as bones are ra... more The examination of comingled ossuary collections creates unique analytical issues as bones are rarely articulated, requiring that the skeletal elements be examined on an individual basis. A result is that the estimation of crucial demographic information like age at death and sex becomes problematic and attempts to ascertain this information involve a high degree of error. Bearing these issues in mind, however, the focus of this project is to identify and interpret signs of osteoarthritis, osteochondritis dissecans, and osteochondral fracturing, as well as to score for the presence and degree of musculoskeletal markers, on patellae from the ossuary at Tell Abraq. A secondary goal of this project was to utilize the patellae to elicit both estimations of minimum number of individuals and the ratio of sex within the population. Preliminary results indicate a high prevalence of osteoarthritis, osteochondritis dissecans, and enchondral fracture that was not correlated to estimated sex. This lack of correlation may be due to several factors, including difficulty in sex estimation based on metric analysis of a single element, a skewed sex distribution, or an actual lack of correlation. Regardless of the difficulties of estimating sex in a comingled collection, it seems clear that both men and women were exposed to conditions that fostered the development of osteoarthritis and that trauma to the knee was a common occurrence for those ultimately interred in the ossuary.

American Antiquity, 2016

In eastern North America, there are few stratified sites dating to the Late Pleistocene epoch (&a... more In eastern North America, there are few stratified sites dating to the Late Pleistocene epoch (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; 11,700 cal B.P.). Instead, researchers have relied on the distribution of surface sites and isolated finds to make inferences about how the early inhabitants of the region used the landscape. While proxies for modern recovery bias have been found to affect artifact recovery at a national scale, in the southeastern United States, I argue, they are poor predictors for the frequency of Clovis type bifaces (ca. 13,250–12,850 cal B.P.) from counties in the southeastern United States as reported in the Paleoindian Database of the Americas (PIDBA). Instead, counties with the highest density of Clovis bifaces are near sources of lithic raw material, and in particular the intersection of major rivers, physiographic boundaries, and lithic raw material sources. I contend that these locations could represent seasonal aggregation loci. Alternatively, they could reflect areas where lithic raw material is more readily available, which may have resulted in higher rates of artifact discard. Determining which of these hypotheses is a more accurate reflection of past human behavior requires that we untangle the degree to which the amount of time people spent at these locations was successive versus coeval.

ABSTRACT Archaeological investigations by the authors along the Cumberland River near Nashville i... more ABSTRACT Archaeological investigations by the authors along the Cumberland River near Nashville in 2009 and 2010 recovered materials from stratified deposits at three archaeological sites that collectively span the Early Archaic through Early Woodland periods. A series of 29 AMS radiocarbon determinations, all but five obtained from close interval flotation sampling of stratigraphic columns, document the age of these deposits. Two shell midden deposits at sites 40DV14 and 40CH171 were dated to the Mid-Holocene, between ca. 5800 to 6200 14C yr BP. Numerous dates were obtained from artifact bearing deposits above and below the shell midden at 40CH171, demonstrating that the site was occupied throughout the Middle Holocene and into the Late Holocene, from ca. 8000 to 4000 14C yr BP. A third site, 40DV307, was characterized by pit features dating to the early Woodland period, ca. 2700 14C yr BP. This research greatly expands the inventory of absolute dates from secure archaeological context in the western portion of the Middle Cumberland River valley, and demonstrates the utility of careful fine screen/flotation procedures for the recovery of datable materials from deeply stratified sites in riverine environments.

Geoarchaeology

Southeastern Archaeology, 2021

PaleoAmerica, 2021

Environmental Archaeology, 2020

Geoarchaeology, 2022

PaleoAmerica, 2021

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2019

American Antiquity, 2016

In the American Southeast, there are only a limited number of securely dated sites from the Late ... more In the American Southeast, there are only a limited number of securely dated sites from the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, and type descriptions are often cobbled together across subregional projectile point guides. Many of these projectile point types are poorly defined and lack any kind of chronological underpinning. One such type, the stemmed Jude, has a limited distribution in northeastern Mississippi, but has recently been recovered from dated, Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene context at the Hester site in Amory, Mississippi. Here, we argue that this type may be among the earliest stemmed varieties in the American Southeast.

Goodyear and Charles (1984) conducted the first systematic survey of the Allendale Chert Quarries... more Goodyear and Charles (1984) conducted the first systematic survey of the Allendale Chert Quarries along the Savannah River near Martin, South Carolina. Using primarily pedestrian survey and bucket-augering, they identified twenty quarry-related archaeological sites, including the well-known Big Pine Tree and Topper sites. In 2015 and 2018, Mississippi State University field schools conducted controlled shovel testing of a section of the Allendale Quarry. Using data from 702 shovel tests, we argue that using distance-decay as a null model, it is possible to identify activity areas beyond simply the extraction of raw material to produce stone tools. simply the extraction of raw material to produce stone tools.

The Early Holocene is a critical period in the American Southeast nestled between the end of the ... more The Early Holocene is a critical period in the American Southeast nestled between the end of the Pleistocene and emerging cultural complexity of the Mid-Holocene. An important avenue of inquiry has been connecting the few reported, well-dated sites with the distribution of surface finds to explore how people organized mobility across landscapes. The most cited examples of this are Anderson and Hanson (1988), Daniel (2001), and Hollenbach (2009). We introduce papers exploring the impact of these works throughout the Southeast.

Aerial LIDAR scanning conducted by the NERRA in 2016 detected two shell rings on the coast and in... more Aerial LIDAR scanning conducted by the NERRA in 2016 detected two shell rings on the coast and interior of Pockoy Island, South Carolina. Due to rapid coastal erosion and rising sea levels, the shell rings are at risk of being destroyed in the near future. In 2019, a Mississippi State University survey field school in conjunction with the SCDNR conducted a phase one survey across the entirety of Pockoy Island to record additional sites and to delineate the boundaries of the shell rings. This poster provides a summary of the MSU survey project, along with the initial spatial distribution results.

In 1996, Anderson and Sassaman edited " The Paleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast " a collectio... more In 1996, Anderson and Sassaman edited " The Paleoindian and Early Archaic Southeast " a collection of chapters that have provided a valuable compendium of resources for studying the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene record of the region. In the 20 years since its publication, five major questions continue to be at the forefront of the archaeology in the region: 1) When did people first arrive? 2) Where did they come from? 3) Who were they? 4) How did they adapt to local resources and environmental changes? and 5) How did this shape subsequent cultures in the Holocene?

The complex hunter-gatherers of the Middle and Late Archaic periods in the Tennessee River Valley... more The complex hunter-gatherers of the Middle and Late Archaic periods in the Tennessee River Valley of the American Southeast are well-known for displaying evidence of intergroup violence, including scalping and trophy taking. On the other hand, these time periods are also known for the emergence of exchange networks centered on items including bone pins and bifaces. I argue that the co-occurrence of exchange networks and intergroup violence was likely the result of iterated "live and let live" or "tit for tat" strategy for coping with increasing demographic pressure.

The excavations at Hester during the 2017 MSU excavation field school resulted in 1,600 individua... more The excavations at Hester during the 2017 MSU excavation field school resulted in 1,600 individual artifacts being piece-plotted across the excavation block. Diagnostic Paleoindian/Early archaic flaked stone artifacts recovered include Dalton, Jude, and Big sandy point types. While pottery was recovered from all of the units excavated, Feature 2 within unit N548E393 contained the highest denisty of pottery found in the units excavated during the field school. The soil horizons identified during the 2017 investigations were comparable to those reported by Brookes (1979). The diagnostic Paleoindian/Early Archaic artifacts were recovered from the dark, reddish-brown soil horizon.Three pit features were identified during the 2017 excavations at Hester. Unfortunately, the dark soils at Hester made the identification of subsurface features difficult to identify, but once recognized, the features were bisected and sediment samples, along with charcoal samples, were collected for flotation and further analysis. Magnetic gradiometry results from August 2016 at Hester showing the possible locations of the 1974 trench and 1978 excavation block Abstract: Archaeological sites in the Southeastern United States with Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene occupations are rare. Previous excavations by Sam Brookes at the Hester Site (22MO569) revealed a site containing Paleoindian/Early Archaic deposits. The 2017 Mississippi State University excavation field school identified a buried soil containing Paleoindian/Early Archaic diagnostic flaked stone tools, including Dalton, Jude, and Big Sandy point types. This poster presents preliminary results of the excavation and analyses to identify post-depositional processes that may have affected the site.

The Swag Site (38AL137) was recorded during the initial survey of the Allendale chert quarries by... more The Swag Site (38AL137) was recorded during the initial survey of the Allendale chert quarries by Albert Goodyear and Tommy Charles in 1984. While subsequent work fo-cused on the Topper and Big Pine Tree sites, the Swag site was overlooked until a systematic survey conducted in 2015 identified several localities with buried archaeological deposits. In May 2016, a field school conducted by Mississippi State excavated 10m 2 block in one of these localities that produced artifacts that are comparable to Clovis components at Topper and elsewhere in eastern North America.

Our reliance on diagnostic biface types to assess site chronology has not diminished, despite app... more Our reliance on diagnostic biface types to assess site chronology has not diminished, despite appreciable improvements in the accuracy and reliability of radiocarbon dating. However, chronological information in the most widely used typological reference for the eastern US (Justice [1987]) has not been updated in three decades, and provides estimates of types’ age ranges from outdated or incomplete chronological data. Using Bayesian modeling of radiocarbon dates from sites throughout the eastern US, we refined the age ranges for 17 temporal diagnostics extending from the Paleoindian through the terminal Late Archaic periods in the Lower Mid-South. The results are compared with estimated ranges as provided by Justice.

Introduction The Mississippi Paleoindian and Archaic Point Survey was initiated in 1968 by archae... more Introduction The Mississippi Paleoindian and Archaic Point Survey was initiated in 1968 by archaeologists at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and due largely to the efforts of Sam McGahey over the next 30 years, grew to include over 2,100 points at the time of his retirement in 2003. The survey was idle for a decade, but was recently reinstituted with the help of numerous avocational " citizen scientists " who share an interest in Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene hunter-‐gatherers. Intact Paleoindian and Early Archaic sites are rare in Mississippi, and most of the projectile points that are recovered from these time periods are isolated Qinds from disturbed contexts like Qields and streams. These points are often the only artifacts that remain from early cultural groups, and our interpretations about the people who used them are based on locations of Qinds, raw material types, and morphometrics. This poster reintroduces the updated Mississippi point survey, provides examples of the variety of early points found throughout the state, and examines distributions of styles and material types across time and space.

In these essays, contributors describe an emergency riverbank survey of shell-bearing sites that were discovered, reopened, or damaged in the aftermath of recent flooding. Their studies of these sites feature stratigraphic analysis, radiocarbon dating, zooarchaeological data, and other interpretive methods. Other essays in the volume provide the first widely accessible summary of previous work on sites that have long been known. Contributors also address larger topics such as GIS analysis of settlement patterns, research biases, and current debates about the purpose of shell mounds.

This volume provides an enormous amount of valuable data from the abundant material record of a fascinating people, place, and time. It is a landmark synthesis that will improve our understanding of the individual communities and broader cultures that created shell mounds across the southeastern United States.

The Cumberland River Archaic of Middle Tennessee, 2019

For thousands of years, the inhabitants of the Middle Cumberland River Valley harvested shellfish... more For thousands of years, the inhabitants of the Middle Cumberland River Valley harvested shellfish for food and raw materials then deposited the remains in dense concentrations along the river. Very little research has been published on the Archaic period shell mounds in this region. Demonstrating that nearly forty such sites exist, this volume presents the results of recent surveys, excavations, and laboratory work as well as fresh examinations of past investigations that have been difficult for scholars to access.
In these essays, contributors describe an emergency riverbank survey of shell-bearing sites that were discovered, reopened, or damaged in the aftermath of recent flooding. Their studies of these sites feature stratigraphic analysis, radiocarbon dating, zooarchaeological data, and other interpretive methods. Other essays in the volume provide the first widely accessible summary of previous work on sites that have long been known. Contributors also address larger topics such as GIS analysis of settlement patterns, research biases, and current debates about the purpose of shell mounds.
This volume provides an enormous amount of valuable data from the abundant material record of a fascinating people, place, and time. It is a landmark synthesis that will improve our understanding of the individual communities and broader cultures that created shell mounds across the southeastern United States.

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2019

Preliminary results indicate a high prevalence of osteoarthritis, osteochondritis dissecans, and enchondral fracture that was not correlated to estimated sex. This lack of correlation may be due to several factors, including difficulty in sex estimation based on metric analysis of a single element, a skewed sex distribution, or an actual lack of correlation. Regardless of the difficulties of estimating sex in a comingled collection, it seems clear that both men and women were exposed to conditions that fostered the development of osteoarthritis and that trauma to the knee was a common occurrence for those ultimately interred in the ossuary.