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1
Rajnovich, Grace. "A Study of Possible Prehistoric Wild Rice Gathering on Lake of the Woods, Ontario." North American Archaeologist 5, no. 3 (January 1985): 197–215. http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/ak95-mgd4-nydy-kg2u.
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Archaeological surveys of Lake of the Woods have located about 200 prehistoric sites including Palaeo, Archaic, Middle Woodland (Laurel) and Late Woodland (Blackduck and Selkirk) components. None have contained direct evidence of wild rice usage prehistorically, but this may be due to the archaeological record rather than a real reflection of non-use of wild rice. This article presents a discussion of the palynological record of the area to determine the advent of wild rice and a settlement pattern study of Middle and Late Woodland components in relationship to known wild rice stands. Both Middle and Late Woodland components tend to cluster around wild rice stands. This factor, along with the palynological record, leads to the hypothesis that wild rice was gathered as early as the Middle Woodland period on Lake of the Woods.
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Lovis, William A., Kathryn C. Egan-Bruhy, Beverley A. Smith, and G. William Monaghan. "Wetlands and Emergent Horticultural Economies in the Upper Great Lakes: A New Perspective from the Schultz Site." American Antiquity 66, no. 4 (October 2001): 615–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2694176.
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The Schultz site (20SA2) is a benchmark site for understanding the Woodland adaptations of the Upper Great Lakes, although its older excavation data is not comparable with recent Eastern Woodlands research, which consistently uses fine-grained recovery techniques. The 1991 Schultz-site research collected supplementary and upgraded subsistence and environmental data to address questions about regional transformations from hunting and gathering to horticulture. In addition, questions regarding the role of aquatic and wetland resources, and how environmental change affected the availability and productivity of these alternative resources, were addressed. Results of faunal, floral, and geoarchaeological research reveal that Woodland economies in the Saginaw region of the Upper Great Lakes were keyed to environmental changes affecting wetland availability and productivity. The Early Woodland presence of cucurbits does not appear economically important until later when it is combined with more reliable supplementary food sources. Although chenopod is present during the Middle Woodland and early Late Woodland, wetland plant and animal resources act as surrogates for other starchy and oily seeded annuals common in other portions of the Midwest and in the Mid-South. Maize apparently does not achieve economic significance until the Late Woodland period. A model of this combined northern and southern strategy is developed.
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Jennings, Steven A., and Deborah L. Elliott-Fisk. "Packrat Midden Evidence of Late Quaternary Vegetation Change in the White Mountains, California-Nevada." Quaternary Research 39, no. 2 (March 1993): 214–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/qres.1993.1024.
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AbstractPackrat (Neotoma spp.) middens from the White Mountains indicate climatic and plant community conditions for the last 19,000 yr. During full-glacial times (ca. 19,000 yr B.P.) and at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary juniper woodlands were 600 m lower in elevation than at present. Midden assemblages and stable-isotope data suggest lower temperatures and increased precipitation relative to the present into the early Holocene. Two early Holocene middens (ca. 8000 yr B.P.) from lower elevations of the White Mountains contain fragments of pinyon pine and indicate that both pinyon and juniper grew at a site that today supports only a pinyon woodland. Two middle Holocene middens (ca. 5000 yr B.P.) indicate that there was an upward migration of pinyon-juniper woodlands along a high-elevation ecotone, but little change in the middle of the pinyon-juniper woodland. Middens from the late Holocene indicate that present-day plant communities were in place by ca. 2000 yr B.P. or before.
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Solounias, Nikos, Florent Rivals, and Gina M. Semprebon. "Dietary interpretation and paleoecology of herbivores from Pikermi and Samos (late Miocene of Greece)." Paleobiology 36, no. 1 (2010): 113–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/0094-8373-36.1.113.
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A large sample of the Pikermi and Samos ungulates was examined by microwear analysis using a light stereomicroscope (561 extinct and 809 extant comparative specimens). The results were used to infer the dietary adaptations of individual species and to evaluate the Pikermian Biome ungulate fauna. Many of the bovids have wear consistent with mixed feeding, although a few mesodont taxa apparently enjoyed an exclusive browsing and or grazing diet. The giraffids spanned the entire dietary spectrum of browsing, mixed feeding, and grazing, but most of the three-toed horses (Hippotherium) were hypsodont grazers. The colobine monkey Mesopithecus pentelici displays microwear consistent with a mixed fruit and leaf diet most likely including some hard objects. Similar results were obtained from prior scanning electron microscopy microwear studies at 500 times magnification and from the light microscope method at 35 times magnification for the same species. Results show that diet can differ between species that have very similar gross tooth morphology. Our results also suggest that the Pikermian Biome was most likely a woodland mosaic that provided a diversity of opportunities for species that depended on browsing as well as species that ate grass. The grasses were most likely C3 grasses that would grow in shaded areas of the woodland, glades, and margins of water. The ungulate component of the Pikermi and Samos fauna was more species-rich and more diverse in diet than the ungulates observed in modern African forests, woodlands, or savannas, yet dietarily most similar to the ungulates found in woodland elements of India and to some extent of Africa. It is unlikely that the Pikermi and Samos ungulates inhabited dense forests because we find no evidence for heavy fruit browsing. Conversely, a pure savanna is unlikely because many mixed feeders are present as well as browsers. Extant woodland African species are morphologically and trophically very similar to the African savanna species. Therefore the evolution of grazing and of hypsodont morphology for Africa may have evolved within the Plio-Pleistocene woodlands of Africa. Our results show that major dietary and morphologic ungulate evolution may take place within woodlands rather than as a consequence of species moving into savannas both during the late Miocene of Pikermi and Samos and during the Pleistocene–Recent of Central Africa.
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Woolsey, Cora A. "Shifting priorities apparent in Middle and Late Woodland ceramics from Nova Scotia." North American Archaeologist 39, no. 4 (October 2018): 260–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0197693118806070.
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In the Maine–Maritimes Region, the Late Woodland (1350–500 BP) Period is thought to have been accompanied by a decrease in ceramic quality because of less-skilled potters. Although ceramics made during the Late Woodland tend to physically degrade easier than earlier ceramics because of coarser pastes and less well-joined coils, the reasons for the change in manufacturing practices have not been explored. Using the ceramic assemblage from the Gaspereau Lake Reservoir Site Complex in King’s County, Nova Scotia, Canada, this study used simple statistical techniques to suggest that potters increasingly used more expedient manufacture through time. These practices would have enabled potters to turn out pots under tighter deadlines to support large-scale gatherings that probably became more prevalent during the Late Woodland Period.
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Waller, Joseph N. "Late Woodland Settlement and Subsistence in Southern New England Revisited: The Evidence from Coastal Rhode Island." North American Archaeologist 21, no. 2 (April 2000): 139–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/dgvh-cxyy-k3yf-rwjk.
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Archaeological investigations at Woodland sites in the Narragansett Bay drainage have aided in a refinement of Late Woodland settlement and subsistence models. Popular theory holds that intensive maize horticulture and the formation of tribal villages occurred relatively late in the prehistoric period or possibly were the result of European Contact. Archaeological investigations in coastal sections of Rhode Island indicate that village settlements and likely intensive maize horticulture were elements of Late Woodland settlement and subsistence behavior in and around Narragansett Bay and not Contact period phenomena.
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Pagoulatos, Peter. "Late Woodland Settlement Patterns of New Jersey." North American Archaeologist 22, no. 3 (July 2001): 201–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/6y2t-ptwn-mw42-nj8l.
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Johnson, Alfred E. "Late Woodland Adaptive Patterns in Eastern Kansas." Plains Anthropologist 32, no. 118 (November 1987): 390–402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2052546.1987.11909398.
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Watson, Jessica E. "AN UPDATED HISTORY OF PRE-CONTACT NEW ENGLAND: NEW AMS DATES FOR THE HORNBLOWER II AND FRISBY-BUTLER ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES." Radiocarbon 62, no. 5 (April 3, 2020): 1437–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2020.19.
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ABSTRACTFaunal assemblages from the pre-Contact period sites Frisby-Butler and Hornblower II on Marthaʼs Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA, remain unstudied since excavation during the 1980s. This project establishes radiocarbon (14C) dates from faunal remains and evaluates occupation and abandonment at each site. 14C measurements were collected from 17 specimens and 13 dates from previous analyses were re-examined. Dates were identified from the archaeological time periods Transitional Archaic (2700–3700 BP), Early Woodland (2000–2700 BP), and Late Woodland (450–1200 BP) at Frisby-Butler. Occupation likely represented seasonal visitations during autumn and winter to hunt based on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) demographic profiles. A combined dataset of new and re-calibrated 14C measurements from Hornblower II date to the Late Archaic (3700–6000 BP), Early Woodland, Middle Woodland (1200–2000 BP), and Late Woodland periods. Settlement was focused on gathering warm-weather foods like demersal fish and lakebirds. Together, the sites demonstrate periodic seasonal use of the southwest coast of the island throughout the Late Holocene and fit within an established regional pattern in southern New England.
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Stewart, R. Michael. "The millennia-long use history of triangular bifaces." North American Archaeologist 41, no. 4 (September 10, 2020): 168–207. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0197693120954170.
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Relatively small, triangular bifaces often considered to be projectile points have a demonstrable use history that includes the Middle Archaic, Late Archaic, Early Woodland, late Middle Woodland, Late Woodland, and Contact periods of regional archaeology. Radiocarbon dates and other data are used to document this extensive history using the Upper Delaware Valley of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York as a case study. Observed trends are evaluated in a broader regional context. The degree to which triangles of different ages can be distinguished from one another is addressed and suggestions for future research are made.
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Madrigal, T. Cregg, and Julie Zimmermann Holt. "White-Tailed Deer Meat and Marrow Return Rates and Their Application to Eastern Woodlands Archaeology." American Antiquity 67, no. 4 (October 2002): 745–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1593802.
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Zooarchaeological hypotheses concerning prehistoric transport, processing decisions, and social stratification are often tested by correlating archaeological element frequencies with indices of the economic utility of carcass parts. Such indices have not been developed for one of the largest and most important mammals in Eastern Woodlands prehistory, the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We present kilocalorie (Kcal) yields and return rates of meat and marrow from a sample of several white-tailed deer. We then compare the meat and marrow data with skeletal element abundance in two Late Archaic assemblages from New York and a Middle Woodland/early Late Woodland assemblage from Illinois. In both examples, archaeological element abundance is positively correlated with marrow yield and return rate, but negatively correlated or uncorrelated with meat yield and return rate. These results do not provide evidence for differential transport of higher meat-yield carcass parts, but instead may indicate differential processing of high-yield marrow bones after entire deer carcasses were transported to the sites.
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Gardner, Paul S. "New Evidence Concerning the Chronology and Paleoethnobotany of Salts Cave, Kentucky." American Antiquity 52, no. 2 (April 1987): 358–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/281789.
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Recent research has resolved problems surrounding the chronology and archeobotanical record of the Salts Cave Vestibule. Formerly, widely disparate radiocarbon dates made assignment of the site to either the Late Archaic or Early Woodland period equally problematic. Eight new radiocarbon determinations from Vestibule charcoal indicate an occupation in the first millennium B.C., confirming an assignment to the Early Woodland period. Previous analyses of carbonized plant remains from stratified deposits in the Vestibule indicated that the domestication of two native plants, sumpweed and sunflower, preceded the introduction of cucurbits into this part of the Eastern Woodlands. Data from other Midwestern sites have contradicted this generalization. A recent analysis of a second series of archeobotanical samples indicates that cucurbits were present at Salts Cave as early as the domesticated native annuals. These new data render the archeobotanical record of Salts Cave less anomalous than previously, and support the currently accepted reconstructions of prehistoric subsistence change in the Eastern Woodlands.
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Middleton, Barry, and Laura Norman. "Remote Sensing Analysis to Quantify Change in Woodland Canopy Cover on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona, USA (1935 vs. 2017)." Land 10, no. 4 (April 9, 2021): 393. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land10040393.
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Since the late 1800s, pinyon–juniper woodland across the western U.S. has increased in density and areal extent and encroached into former grassland areas. The San Carlos Apache Tribe wants to gain qualitative and quantitative information on the historical conditions of their tribal woodlands to use as a baseline for restoration efforts. At the San Carlos Apache Reservation, in east-central Arizona, large swaths of woodlands containing varying mixtures of juniper (Juniperus spp.), pinyon (Pinus spp.) and evergreen oak (Quercus spp.) are culturally important to the Tribe and are a focus for restoration. To determine changes in canopy cover, we developed image analysis techniques to monitor tree and large shrub cover using 1935 and 2017 aerial imagery and compared results over the 82-year interval. Results showed a substantial increase in the canopy cover of the former savannas, and encroachment (mostly juniper) into the former grasslands of Big Prairie. The Tribe is currently engaged in converting juniper woodland back into an open savanna, more characteristic of assumed pre-reservation conditions for that area. Our analysis shows areas on Bee Flat that, under the Tribe’s active restoration efforts, have returned woodland canopy cover to levels roughly analogous to that measured in 1935.
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Cwynar, Les C. "A late Quaternary vegetation history from Lily Lake, Chilkat Peninsula, southeast Alaska." Canadian Journal of Botany 68, no. 5 (May 1, 1990): 1106–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b90-139.
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Pollen and plant macrofossil analyses of a radiocarbon-dated core from Lily Lake on the Chilkat Peninsula, southeast Alaska, provide evidence for the history of the Pacific Coastal Forest. A Pinus contorta woodland with an abundance of herbs and ferns initially became established after deglaciation (10 870 years BP). By 10 330 years BP, Alnus viridis had become a significant component of the pine woodland while herbs and other shrubs declined. At 9480 years BP, Picea sitchensis and Populus were locally present and P. contorta populations declined. Tsuga heterophylla, which dominates the modern vegetation, became locally established at 7880 years BP. The last major component, Tsuga mertensiana, joined the vegetation about 6710 years BP. The modern closed forest, dominated by T. heterophylla and P. sitchensis, became established about 2870 years BP. The arrival times for the dominant species are compatible with dates from other studies that suggest a northward migration along the coast. Key words: fossil pollen, Alaska, Quaternary, plant migration, coastal forest.
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Cleland, Charles E. "Comments on “A Reconsideration of Aboriginal Fishing Strategies in the Northern Great Lakes Region” by Susan R. Martin." American Antiquity 54, no. 3 (July 1989): 605–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/280787.
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Martin's suggestion that there is great continuity in subsistence strategy through the Middle and Late Woodland periods of the Northern Great Lakes is rejected. She fails to produce convincing evidence for the use of gill nets during Middle Woodland times and to account for the difference in fish fauna on sites of these two periods. Also addressed here is the possible consequence of economic specialization on population size and fluctuation. It is concluded that unlike Middle Woodland populations, those of the Late Woodland fluctuate rather dramatically. Finally, it is suggested that whatever the cause of the population loss and mechanisms of replacement, these shifts likely have important implications for periodicity in ceramic style change.
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Woolsey, Cora A. "A Direct-Dated Ceramic AMS Sequence from the Gaspereau Lake Reservoir Site Complex, Maine–Maritimes Region, Northeastern North America." Radiocarbon 62, no. 2 (January 14, 2020): 419–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2019.149.
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ABSTRACTThe Gaspereau Lake Reservoir Site Complex in Nova Scotia, Canada, yielded a large ceramic assemblage that permitted the first fine-grained analysis of ceramic change in the region at the Middle–Late Woodland Transition from ca. 1550 BP to ca. 1150 BP. The aim of this study was to refine the standard regional chronology first proposed by researchers J B Petersen and D Sanger. To do this, ceramics were directly dated using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), and the assemblage was categorized and analyzed to identify clusters of attributes. Ten AMS dates were acquired on carbonized food residue on the interiors of pottery and yielded the largest continuous ceramic sequence in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. This sequence was used to infer a change in manufacturing practices between the Middle (2150–1300 BP) and Late (1300–500 BP) Woodland periods and to propose five new subperiods between 1650 BP and 950 BP. Increasing incidence of coil breaks and temper percentage from the Middle to the Late Woodland were found to be chronologically sensitive. The analysis showed that, at Gaspereau Lake, a gradual shift from finely decorated and manufactured pottery to expediently made pottery suggests that pottery was made in larger numbers to support large-scale gatherings.
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Curry, Dennis C., and Maureen Kavanagh. "The Middle to Late Woodland Transition in Maryland." North American Archaeologist 12, no. 1 (July 1991): 3–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/3l2x-5xrr-53pe-htv7.
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Raber, Paul A. "The Intensification of Rockshelter Use in the Late Woodland/Late Prehistoric Period." North American Archaeologist 31, no. 3 (July 2010): 367–403. http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/na.31.3-4.f.
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Bates, Jonathan D., Robert N. Sharp, and Kirk W. Davies. "Sagebrush steppe recovery after fire varies by development phase of Juniperus occidentalis woodland." International Journal of Wildland Fire 23, no. 1 (2014): 117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf12206.
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Woodland ecosystems of the world have been changed by land use demands, altered fire regimes, invasive species and climate change. Reduced fire frequency is recognised as a main causative agent for Pinus–Juniperus L. (piñon–juniper) expansion in North American woodlands. Piñon–juniper control measures, including prescribed fire, are increasingly employed to restore sagebrush steppe communities. We compared vegetation recovery following prescribed fire on Phase 2 (mid-succession) and Phase 3 (late-succession) Juniperus occidentalis Hook. (western juniper) woodlands in Oregon. The herbaceous layer on Phase 2 sites was comprised of native perennial and annual vegetation before and after fire. On Phase 3 sites the herbaceous layer shifted from native species to dominance by invasive Bromus tectorum L. (cheatgrass). After fire, shrubs on Phase 2 sites were comprised of sprouting species and Ceanothus velutinus Dougl. (snowbrush). On Phase 3 woodland sites the shrub layer was dominated by C. velutinus. The results suggest that Phase 2 sites have a greater likelihood of recovery to native vegetation after fire and indicate that sites transitioning from Phase 2 to Phase 3 woodlands cross a recovery threshold where there is a greater potential for invasive weeds, rather than native vegetation, to dominate after fire.
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Theler, James L., and Robert F. Boszhardt. "Collapse of Crucial Resources and Culture Change: A Model for the Woodland to Oneota Transformation in the Upper Midwest." American Antiquity 71, no. 3 (July 2006): 433–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0002731600039767.
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The Driftless Area of the Upper Midwestern United States offers a case study for the transition from hunter-gatherer (Late Woodland Effigy Mound) to agricultural (Oneota) societies between ca. A.D. 950 and 1150, a period that coincided with northward expansion of Middle Mississippian cultures from the American Bottom. Previous studies have not adequately explained the regional disappearance of Effigy Mound cultures, the appearance of Oneota cultures, or the cultural changes that occurred during this period. Our analysis considers ecological (deer and firewood) and cultural (population packing, community organization, hunting technology, and warfare) factors to develop a testable model applicable to broader regions. We propose that increasing Late Woodland populations reached the region's “packing threshold,” disrupting a flexible seasonal round based on residential mobility and triggering shortages of two essential resources, white-tailed deer and firewood, which in turn led Late Woodland groups to abandon vast portions of the Driftless Area. The intrusion of Middle Mississippian peoples from the south created additional disruption and conflict. Remnant Woodland and Mississippian peoples amalgamated briefly in the region's first villages, which were palisaded. After A.D. 1150, Oneota cultures emerged, reoccupying specific localities in clustered settlements.
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Tiffany, Joseph A. "Late Woodland Societies: Tradition and Transformation Across the Midcontinent." Annals of Iowa 60, no. 3 (July 2001): 270–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.17077/0003-4827.10481.
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Sherwood, Sarah C., John H. Blitz, and Lauren E. Downs. "An Integrated Geoarchaeology of a Late Woodland Sand Mound." American Antiquity 78, no. 2 (April 2013): 344–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.7183/0002-7316.78.2.344.
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AbstractThe Graveline Mound (22JA503) is a sand platform mound in Jackson County, Mississippi, built on a low, late Pleistocene terrace on the Mississippi Sound. The Late Woodland mound (A.D. 590–780) is composed of local soils, and its presence today is a testament to the ancient builders’ knowledge of earthen construction materials and methods. Central to the study of the mound is an integrated geoarchaeological approach that uses stratigraphy and micromorphology to decipher material source and selection, construction techniques, and periodicity, in combination with more traditional artifacts, revealing the activities that created this ultimately monumental space. The mound was built in three rapid stages beginning with a low earthwork demarcating a ritual precinct used during late spring/early summer. Stage II quickly followed with a series of alternating zoned fills, sealing the space that was then subsequently covered by Stage III, a massive hard red surface that marked the location with a platform mound.
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Jennings, Thomas A. "San Patrice: An Example of Late Paleoindian Adaptive Versatility in South-Central North America." American Antiquity 73, no. 3 (July 2008): 539–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0002731600046862.
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Coincident with the climatic changes occurring during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, a number of regionally distinct Paleoindian projectile-point styles emerged throughout North America. This paper examines one understudied and poorly understood Late Paleoindian style, the San Patrice point. Although traditionally considered woodland-adapted hunter-gatherers, projectile-point distributions indicate that San Patrice groups, utilizing the same hafting and resharpening technologies, also made significant use of plains resources. Raw material sourcing reveals that while all San Patrice populations focused on local toolstone sources, plains bands were more mobile than those in the woodlands. These findings have implications for our greater understanding of Paleoindian adaptations. While some hunter-gatherers developed specialized, environmentally specific strategies, San Patrice groups adopted more generalized strategies enabling them to succeed in diverse settings.
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Perttula, Timothy K. "Caddo Populations in Northeast Texas: A Response to Taylor and Creel." American Antiquity 78, no. 1 (January 2013): 195–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.7183/0002-7316.78.1.195.
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AbstractI question Taylor and Creel’s (2012) conclusion regarding the biological relationship between Late Prehistoric Caddo farmers and the earlier Archaic and Woodland forager populations in northeast Texas. Because their study did not include the analysis of non-metric dental traits from Late Archaic (ca. 5000-2500 B.P.) and Woodland (ca. 2500-1150 B.P) forager populations that lived in northeast Texas before ca. A.D. 850, the absence of these data impedes any evaluation of their conclusion about the biological relationships between the Caddo and ancestral populations.
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Mensing, Scott A. "Late-Glacial and Early Holocene Vegetation and Climate Change near Owens Lake, Eastern California." Quaternary Research 55, no. 1 (January 2001): 57–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/qres.2000.2196.
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AbstractPollen and algae from Owens Lake in eastern California provide evidence for a series of climatic oscillations late in the last glaciation. Juniper woodland, which dominated the Owens Valley from 16,200 to 15,500 cal yr B.P., suggests much wetter conditions than today. Although still wetter and cooler than today, the area then became fairly warm and dry, with woodland being replaced by shrubs (mainly sagebrush) from 15,500 to 13,100 cal yr B.P. Next, Chenopodiaceae (shadscale) increased, woody species declined, and lake levels fell—all evidence for a brief (ca. 100–200 yr) drought about 13,000 cal yr B.P. The climate continued to oscillate between wet and dry from 13,000 to 11,000 cal yr B.P. After 11,000 cal yr B.P., low lake levels and the increased dominance of desert shrubs indicate the beginning of warm, dry Holocene conditions. The region's climate was unstable during the Younger Dryas but uncertainities in dating prevent identification of the Younger Dryas interval in the Owens Lake record. Comparison of the Owens Lake record with studies in the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin suggest that the climate was generally wetter between 13,000 and 11,000 cal yr B.P., with warmer summers, although no consistent pattern of climate change emerges.
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Luedtke, Barbara. "Analysis of the Copper Bead from Calf Island, Massachusetts." North American Archaeologist 19, no. 2 (October 1998): 163–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/vdt6-r2n1-21fc-m3u8.
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Given the increasing interest in copper analysis and the relative scarcity of prehistoric copper artifacts in the Northeast, those of us with unpublished data have an obligation to make them available to other researchers. Therefore, this article presents new metric and chemical data on a copper bead from the Calf Island site, a Late Woodland fishing and hunting camp in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. In addition, several new radiocarbon dates from the site are presented and discussed. It is suggested that beads may have been increasing in quantity and variety during the Late Woodland period in eastern Massachusetts.
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Dunnell, Robert C., and Diana M. Greenlee. "Late Woodland Period “Waste” Reduction in the Ohio River Valley." Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 18, no. 3 (September 1999): 376–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jaar.1999.0347.
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Josephs, Richard L. "Micromorphology of a Late Woodland Cave Site, East-Central Iowa." Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 32, no. 1 (January 2007): 71–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/mca.2007.003.
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Selden, Robert Z. "Modeling Regional Radiocarbon Trends: A Case Study from the East Texas Woodland Period." Radiocarbon 54, no. 2 (2012): 239–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.v54i2.15972.
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The East Texas Radiocarbon Database contributes to an analysis of tempo and place for Woodland era (∼500 BC–AD 800) archaeological sites within the region. The temporal and spatial distributions of calibrated 14C ages (n = 127) with a standard deviation (ΔT) of 61 from archaeological sites with Woodland components (n = 51) are useful in exploring the development and geographical continuity of the peoples in cast Texas, and lead to a refinement of our current chronological understanding of the period. While analysis of summed probability distributions (SPDs) produces less than significant findings due to sample size, they are used here to illustrate the method of date combination prior to the production of site- and period-specific SPDs. Through the incorporation of this method, the number of 14C dates is reduced to 85 with a ΔT of 54. The resultant data set is then subjected to statistical analyses that conclude with the separation of the east Texas Woodland period into the Early Woodland (∼500 BC–AD 0), Middle Woodland (∼AD 0–400), and Late Woodland (∼AD 400–800) periods.
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Selden, Robert Z. "Modeling Regional Radiocarbon Trends: A Case Study from the East Texas Woodland Period." Radiocarbon 54, no. 02 (2012): 239–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0033822200046956.
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The East Texas Radiocarbon Database contributes to an analysis of tempo and place for Woodland era (∼500 BC–AD 800) archaeological sites within the region. The temporal and spatial distributions of calibrated14C ages (n= 127) with a standard deviation (ΔT) of 61 from archaeological sites with Woodland components (n= 51) are useful in exploring the development and geographical continuity of the peoples in cast Texas, and lead to a refinement of our current chronological understanding of the period. While analysis of summed probability distributions (SPDs) produces less than significant findings due to sample size, they are used here to illustrate the method of date combination prior to the production of site- and period-specific SPDs. Through the incorporation of this method, the number of14C dates is reduced to 85 with a ΔTof 54. The resultant data set is then subjected to statistical analyses that conclude with the separation of the east Texas Woodland period into the Early Woodland (∼500 BC–AD 0), Middle Woodland (∼AD 0–400), and Late Woodland (∼AD 400–800) periods.
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Bennike, Ole, and Morten Fischer Mortensen. "A multi-disciplinary macrofossil study of late glacial to early Holocene sediments from Søndre Kobberdam, Hareskovene, Denmark." Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark 66 (June 29, 2018): 113–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.37570/bgsd-2018-66-05.
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During the early part of the Allerød period, from c. 13 600 to 13 330 years BP, unstable soils with a tundra-like open, treeless vegetation with Betula nana and Dryas octopetala were found around Søndre Kobberdam in Hareskovene. Open Betula pubescens woodland was not established until the middle Allerød about 13 330 years BP. During the Younger Dryas, Betula nana and Dryas octopetala spread again, and Betula pubescens almost disappeared. From the onset of the Holocene warming an open tundra landscape characterised the area. About 11 300 years BP Betula pubescens started to recolonise the region and Populus tremula and Pinus sylvetris arrived at c. 11 000 years BP, replacing the open landscape by woodland. Along the margin of the lake Carex paniculata, Carex riparia and Cladium mariscus were growing. The lake fauna included a rich and diverse fauna of molluscs that thrived in the carbonate-rich waters. We did not find any evidence for the local presence of Pinus sylvestris during the late glacial.
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Caley, P. "Factors affecting the success rate of traps for catching feral pigs in a tropical habitat." Wildlife Research 21, no. 3 (1994): 287. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wr9940287.
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Factors affecting the success rate of traps for catching feral pigs inhabiting a tropical habitat in the Northern Territory, Australia, were identified by constructing a generalised linear model relating capture rates of pigs to environmental variables. Capture rates were influenced most significantly by time of year, being highest during the late dry season and lowest during the late wet season. The next-most important variables were the presence of fresh pig-tracks at the trap site before construction, and vegetation type, with capture rates higher in closed forest, open forest and woodland habitats than in open woodland and low open woodland habitats. Other variables that significantly influenced capture rates were whether pigs had previously eaten bait at the trap site, presence of rooting, bait type, and distance from water. The model developed here provides a useful framework of planning and conducting feral pig trapping programmes in the Northern Territory and other similar tropical habitats.
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Roberts, J., and P. Rosier. "The impact of broadleaved woodland on water resources in lowland UK: I. Soil water changes below beech woodland and grass on chalk sites in Hampshire." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 9, no. 6 (December 31, 2005): 596–606. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-9-596-2005.
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Abstract. The possible effects of broadleaved woodland on recharge to the UK Chalk aquifer have led to a study of evaporation and transpiration from beech woodland (Black Wood) and pasture (Bridgets Farm), growing in shallow soils above chalk in Hampshire. Eddy correlation measurements of energy balance components above both the forest and the grassland enabled calculation of latent heat flux (evaporation and transpiration) as a residual. Comparative measurements of soil water content and soil water potential in 9 m profiles under both forest and grassland found changes in soil water content down to 6 m at both sites; however, the soil water potential measurements showed upward movement of water only above a depth of about 2 m. Below this depth, water continued to drain and the soil water potential measurements showed downward movement of water at both sites, notwithstanding significant negative soil water potentials in the chalk and soil above. Seasonal differences occur in the soil water content profiles under broadleaved woodland and grass. Before the woodland foliage emerges, greater drying beneath the grassland is offset in late spring and early summer by increased drying under the forest. Yet, when the change in soil water profiles is at a maximum, in late summer, the profiles below woodland and grass are very similar. A comparison of soil water balances for Black Wood and Bridgets Farm using changes in soil water contents, local rainfall and evaporation measured by the energy balance approach allowed drainage to be calculated at each site. Although seasonal differences occurred, the difference in cumulative drainage below broadleaved woodland and grass was small.
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Hill, Molly K. "Dental Reduction and Diet in the Prehistoric Ohio River Valley." Dental Anthropology Journal 17, no. 2 (September 3, 2018): 33–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.26575/daj.v17i2.144.
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Post-Pleistocene dental reduction has been documented around the globe. Dietary change is a common factor in many of the selectionist models explaining this reduction. The current study examines tooth size in the prehistoric Ohio River Valley of Indiana and Kentucky to determine if a dental reduction occurred from the Late Archaic to the Mississippian periods and, if so, to see if dietary shifts are associated with dental reduction. Data from 282 individuals are compiled from 21 sites that span from 5000 BC to AD 1400. These sites represent Late Archaic foragers, Early/Middle Woodland early horticulturalists, Late Woodland mixed-economy horticulturalists, and Mississippian agriculturalists. Previous studies have indicated that the diet became less abrasive through time in this region but became harder from the Late Archaic to the Early/Middle Woodland just to became softer again thereafter. Buccolingual diameters were taken for all suitable permanent teeth. Standard descriptive statistics, ANOVA, percent differences, and rate of change were calculated for each dental measurement to determine the degree of change between the various temporal groups. It was found that a dental reduction occurred in the Ohio River Valley that was more pronounced in females and in the maxillary molars. The general reduction in tooth size mirrors the reduction in dietary abrasiveness. By contrast, it does not seem to follow the course of dietary hardness.
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Harris, Arthur H. "Wisconsinan Pre-Pleniglacial Biotic Change in Southeastern New Mexico." Quaternary Research 40, no. 1 (July 1993): 127–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/qres.1993.1063.
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AbstractInterpretation of a 1.5-m mid- to late- Wisconsinan stratigraphic sequence containing fossil vertebrates from the Animal Fair Site in Dry Cave, Eddy County, New Mexico, suggests a progression of habitats, all cooler and moister than today. Mid-Wisconsinan semiarid, moderately warm grasslands or grassy woodlands initially were replaced by cooler, more mesic, grassy woodlands; these were followed by cool, relatively dense sagebrush-grassland-woodland with elements from mixed-coniferous forest. A minor reversal of trend toward earlier, warmer conditions appears at the top of the section. Species collected from each level were basically harmonious until climatic deterioration, documented by invasion of new biotic elements at the end of the mid-Wisconsinan, permitted incursion of taxa associated with more boreal areas; these replaced most of the local fauna but failed to dislodge several taxa with southern affinities.
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Scott, Louis. "Pollen Analysis of Hyena Coprolites and Sediments from Equus Cave, Taung, Southern Kalahari (South Africa)." Quaternary Research 28, no. 1 (July 1987): 144–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(87)90039-1.
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AbstractEquus Cave, in Quaternary tufa near Taung in the semiarid woodland of the southern Kalahari, yielded 2.5 m of sediment in which a rich assemblage of bones and coprolites was preserved. The fossils were accumulated mainly by hyenas during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Pollen from coprolites reflects diet as well as vegetation over relatively large areas visited by hyenas, while pollen from sediments represents more local sources. The pollen sequence derived from coprolites and sediments demonstrates how the vegetation evolved from open grassland with small shrubs and occasional trees during the late Pleistocene, to open savanna with more small shurbs, then, during the last 7500 yr, to modern savanna. Temperatures were not more than 4°C cooler and it was slightly moister than today during the late Pleistocene phase; it became gradually warmer but relatively dry before optimal temperature and moisture conditions developed around 7500 yr B.P. Climatic conditions slightly less favorable for woodland occurred during part of the late Holocene.
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Farnell, Richard, Norman Barichello, Katherina Egli, and Gerry Kuzyk. "Population ecology of two woodland caribou herds in the southern Yukon." Rangifer 16, no. 4 (January 1, 1996): 63. http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/2.16.4.1222.
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Since the mid 1980's, the Aishihik herd of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) declined from approximately 1500 to 583 animals. During the same period a nearby herd, the Wolf Lake Herd increased from approximately 664 to 1249 animals. This paper compares aspects of the ecology of these two herds to determine how these relationships conform to a general model of caribou population ecology described by Seip (1992). Comparisons include caribou demographic characteristics and distribution patterns, predator densities, abundance of alternate prey, human hunting and snow depth on caribou winter range. Ecological differences between herds were apparent in the ratio of prime bulls to cows, the abundance of moose (Alces alces), the occurrence of coyotes (Canis latrans), late winter snow conditions, and access to hunting. We hypothesize that the Wolf Lake herd was able to grow because wolves {Canis lupus) preyed mainly on the relatively abundant moose population. A highly clumped winter caribou distribution may have further reduced the impact of wolf predation on the Wolf Lake herd. In contrast, the decline of the Aishihik herd was accompanied by a relative scarcity of moose, few prime aged caribou bulls probably due to a more liberal trophy harvest, and wider late-winter dispersion that offered wolves greater access to caribou. The decline may have been exaggerated by the peak in the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) cycle which may have temporarily improved wolf pup survival. We suspect that moose are normally the primary prey of wolves in the Yukon and that a decline in moose eventually results in their being too scarce to offer an economical prey choice, prompting a prey switch to caribou. Results of our analyses conform incompletely to Seip's (1992) model for woodland caribou population ecology, particularly because the Wolf Lake herd prospered where moose were relatively abundant.
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Brown, Glen S., Frank F. Mallory, and James Rettie. "Range size and seasonal movement for female woodland caribou in the boreal forest of northeastern Ontario." Rangifer 23, no. 5 (April 1, 2003): 227. http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/2.23.5.1706.
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A preliminary examination was conducted of range size and distribution of female woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in northeastern Ontario. Annual and seasonal ranges were calculated using satellite telemetry data collected for 30 female caribou between 1998 and 2001. The mean annual home range size of collared females was 4026 km2. Seasonal ranges varied in size depending on time of year (P<0.05). Calving and summer ranges were significantly smaller than autumn and late winter ranges. Early winter ranges were significantly larger than calving ranges and smaller than late winter ranges. Overall, range sizes of female woodland caribou in northeastern Ontario were larger than those reported for caribou in other Boreal Forest regions across Canada.
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Whittle, A., A. J. Rouse, J. G. Evans, C. Barker, C. Cartwright, G. Cruse, I. Dennis, et al. "A Neolithic Downland Monument in its Environment: Excavations at the Easton Down Long Barrow, Bishops Cannings, North Wiltshire." Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 59 (1993): 197–239. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0079497x00003790.
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Excavations at the Easton Down long barrow were part of a wider programme of research into the Neolithic sequence and context of the Avebury area in north Wiltshire. The short barrow, on high chalk downland to the south-west of Avebury and the upper Kennet valley, and containing only a few inhumations according to Thurnam's 19th-century investigation, dates to the later 4th millennium BC. Test pits around the barrow produced very little struck flint, and virtually no colluvium in the adjacent dry valley to the west. The mound covered a thin calcareous turfline above a rubbly soil, probably formerly cultivated. The pre-barrow molluscan fauna, soil micromorphology and other environmental data indicate a clearance adjacent to woodland. In the secondary fill of the flanking ditches there is a succession from renewed woodland to open conditions in the Late Neolithic.The Easton Down monument falls relatively late in the regional sequence of long barrow construction. Its setting was probably one of scattered, non-permanent clearances in woodland. Woodland was still widespread on the higher downland of the region in the middle of the Neolithic. Renewed and bigger-scale clearance towards the end of the Neolithic may be connected with the construction of very large monuments elsewhere in the region. The later prehistoric landscape became both more open and less diverse.
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Jacobs, Bonnie F. "Palaeobotanical studies from tropical Africa: relevance to the evolution of forest, woodland and savannah biomes." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 359, no. 1450 (October 29, 2004): 1573–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1533.
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Fossil plants provide data on climate, community composition and structure, all of which are relevant to the definition and recognition of biomes. Macrofossils reflect local vegetation, whereas pollen assemblages sample a larger area. The earliest solid evidence for angiosperm tropical rainforest in Africa is based primarily on Late Eocene to Late Oligocene ( ca . 39–26 Myr ago) pollen assemblages from Cameroon, which are rich in forest families. Plant macrofossil assemblages from elsewhere in interior Africa for this time interval are rare, but new work at Chilga in the northwestern Ethiopian Highlands documents forest communities at 28 Myr ago. Initial results indicate botanical affinities with lowland West African forest. The earliest known woodland community in tropical Africa is dated at 46 Myr ago in northern Tanzania, as documented by leaves and fruits from lake deposits. The community around the lake was dominated by caesalpinioid legumes, but included Acacia , for which this, to my knowledge, is the earliest record. This community is structurally similar to modern miombo, although it is different at the generic level. The grass–dominated savannah biome began to expand in the Middle Miocene (16 Myr ago), and became widespread in the Late Miocene ( ca . 8 Myr ago), as documented by pollen and carbon isotopes from both West and East Africa.
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O'Connell, Michael, Beatrice Ghilardi, and Liam Morrison. "A 7000-year record of environmental change, including early farming impact, based on lake-sediment geochemistry and pollen data from County Sligo, western Ireland." Quaternary Research 81, no. 1 (January 2014): 35–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2013.10.004.
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AbstractDetailed, chronologically tightly constrained, lake-sediment-based geochemical and pollen records have enabled local changes in soil erosion, woodland cover and composition, and prehistoric farming impact to be reconstructed in considerable detail. The profile opens shortly after 7800 BC when tall canopy trees were well-established and presumably in equilibrium with their environment. A distinct perturbation that involved an increase in pine and birch, a decrease in oak and a minor opening-up of the woodland is regarded as the local expression of the 8.2 ka climate anomaly. Lack of response in the geochemical erosional indicators is interpreted as evidence for drier conditions. A short-lived, over-compensation in climate recovery followed the 8.2 ka event. Neolithic farming impact is clearly expressed in both the pollen and geochemical data. Both datasets indicate that Neolithic impact was concentrated in the early Neolithic (3715–3440 BC). In the interval 3000–2700 BC there appears to have been a break in farming activity. The pollen data suggest substantially increased farming impact (both arable and pastoral) in the Bronze Age, with maximum farming and woodland clearances taking place in the late Bronze Age (1155–935 BC). These developments are poorly expressed in the geochemical record, possibly due to within-lake changes.
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Hawley, Marlin F. "The Hanthorne Site (14LT335), a Late Woodland Site in Southeast Kansas." North American Archaeologist 24, no. 2 (April 2003): 167–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/g3h0-cgyw-7tdc-v4a6.
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In 1946, Albert C. Spaulding, while at the University of Kansas, investigated a mound in southeast Kansas. The mound, composed of earth and fire-cracked rock contained artifacts and several burials. Based largely on the presence of cord marked ceramics, the mound can probably be assigned to the Late Woodland, perhaps ca. A.D. 700 to 900. The mound may be an incipient burned rock midden, possibly related to the gathering and processing of nut mast, particularly acorns, in autumn and possibly too the processing tubers, roots, or bulbs in spring. Buried within mound fill were several inhumations, indicating that it also served a mortuary function. An unconfirmed report of a projectile point embedded in one human vertebra hints at violence. Description of the site and the excavations are based on Spaulding's notes, while the small collection of artifacts from the site, curated by the Museum of Anthropology at the University of Kansas, was analyzed. The limited data from the investigation is herein compared to other, similar sites in the region.
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Gartner, William Gustav. "Late woodland landscapes of Wisconsin: ridged fields, effigy mounds and territoriality." Antiquity 73, no. 281 (September 1999): 671–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00065273.
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Sauer (1925) saw the terrestrial scene as more than a natural arena for human action. He recognized the repeated human impact on a living earth which created an ever-changing stage of landscape. Geographical conceptions of landscape have changed in the intervening 75 years. Today, geographers acknowledge the historically contingent qualities of nature and society and their inter-relationships (Zimmerer 1994).
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Nolan, Kevin C., Paul Sciulli, Samantha Blatt, and Christine K. Thompson. "A Late Woodland red ocher burial cache from Madison County, Ohio." North American Archaeologist 36, no. 3 (April 29, 2015): 197–236. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0197693115572768.
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Hoard, Robert J. "Late Woodland Along the Lower Missouri River Valley and Adjacent Areas." Plains Anthropologist 48, no. 188 (November 2003): 71–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2052546.2003.11949324.
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Martin, Susan Rapalje. "A Reconsideration of Aboriginal Fishing Strategies in the Northern Great Lakes Region." American Antiquity 54, no. 3 (July 1989): 594–604. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/280786.
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Aboriginal northern Great Lakes fishing strategies varied with season, target species, and organization of the labor force. The placement of Woodland archaeological sites complied with the structure of these fisheries, but their locations do not reflect prey specificity or one specialized technology. Rather, resource-general locations suggest an essential step in the process of specialization. Flexibility in settlement and social styles existed among prehistoric foragers of the midlatitudes, as did a variety of solutions to food-getting problems. Slow, accretional processes rather than temporally discrete growth processes were responsible for Late Woodland site characteristics in this region. Stable locational-selection patterns are visible through reexamination of the historical data base and through statistical analyses of environmental factors associated with sites at a number of Woodland localities.
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Boyd, Matthew, and Clarence Surette. "Northernmost Precontact Maize in North America." American Antiquity 75, no. 1 (January 2010): 117–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.7183/0002-7316.75.1.117.
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Corn (Zea mays ssp. mays) was a key economic plant in the Americas, yet little information exists on the northern limit of maize consumption before European contact. Based on the analysis of carbonized food residue on pottery for plant microfossils (phytoliths and starch granules) from 58 precontact archaeological sites, we report the first evidence of maize consumption in the subarctic boreal forest. Recovery of maize microfossils from several widely distributed Laurel phase (Middle Woodland/Initial Shield Woodland) vessels indicates that the diffusion of corn into this region was surprisingly early (ca. A.D. 500) and may have initially spread through long-distance exchange networks linking temperate and boreal North America during the Woodland period. After A.D. 1000 maize was a widespread component of diet and was consumed by every major Late Woodland culture in the region. These results have profound implications both for the history of this cultigen and for small-scale human societies in northern North America.
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Crawford, Gary W., David G. Smith, and Vandy E. Bowyer. "Dating the Entry of Corn (Zea Mays) into the Lower Great Lakes Region." American Antiquity 62, no. 1 (January 1997): 112–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/282382.
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Five accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) dates on corn (maize or Zea mays) from the Grand Banks site, Ontario, range from cal A.D. 540 to 1030. These are the earliest directly dated corn samples in the Lower Great Lakes region. The presence of corn during the Princess Point Complex, a transitional Late Woodland phase preceding the Ontario Iroquoian Tradition, is confirmed as is an early presence of the Princess Point culture in Ontario. Maize appears to have spread rapidly from the Southeast and/or Midwest to Ontario. The corn cupules and kernel remains are fragmentary, as they are elsewhere in the Eastern Woodlands during this period. The limited morphological data indicate that the corn is a diminutive form of Eastern Eight-Row, or Eastern Complex, maize.
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Shen, Hui, Xiaoqiang Li, Robert Spengler, Xinying Zhou, and Keliang Zhao. "Forest cover and composition on the Loess Plateau during the Middle to Late-Holocene: Integrating wood charcoal analyses." Holocene 31, no. 1 (October 8, 2020): 38–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683620961486.
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The question of what the ecology communities of the Loess Plateau looked like before the extensive anthropogenic reshaping processes of the late-Holocene has stirred a long debate. A better understanding of these human-induced changes will not only help us understand the extent of paleoeconomic practices, but also inform future conservation actions on this ecologically fragile landscape. This paper presents a systematic study of wood charcoal from a series of archaeological sites, demonstrating that woody plants and woodlands were widely distributed and geographically diverse on the Loess Plateau in response to the East Asian Monsoon. In the Guanzhong Basin, oak ( Quercus spp.) woodlands were associated with a few tropical-subtropical taxa, which changed to oak and pine ( Pinus spp.) mixed forests on the eastern plateau, while on the northern plateau coniferous woodlands were dominant. On the western Loess Plateau, oak and elm ( Ulmus spp.) woodland and spruce ( Picea spp.) forests were widespread. The charcoal results suggest that human impacts on the dominant species might have begun as early as ca. 3500 cal yr BP, with oak replaced by Prunus as the dominant taxon, including many economically significant species, such as peaches ( P. persica) and apricots ( P. armeniaca). Furthermore, the charcoal data show that due to warm and wet climatic conditions in the mid-Holocene, the distribution of tropical-subtropical taxa shifted markedly northwards into the Guanzhong and Tianshui Basins, and the central part of the eastern Loess Plateau, which became characterized by high frequencies of Bamboo.
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O’Donnell, Lorna. "Woodland dynamics and use during the Bronze Age: New evidence from Irish archaeological charcoal." Holocene 27, no. 8 (April 1, 2017): 1078–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683616683252.
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Swathes of roads and pipelines cut through the Irish landscape during the ‘Celtic Tiger’ years (approximately 1994–2008) leading to an unprecedented number of archaeological excavations and creating a unique opportunity for extensive research of past landscapes on a broad scale. The vast quantities of bulk soil samples suddenly available necessitated the development and adaptation of new methodologies. Despite the huge volumes of these samples, of which charcoal is the most ubiquitous ecofact, to date charcoal analysis has been considerably under-utilised in the study of past Irish woodlands. This research presents one of the largest Bronze Age archaeological charcoal datasets in Europe. It provides new palaeoecological evidence contributing to the understanding of woodland cover transformation on the island of Ireland during the late-Holocene period. The most common taxa identified in the charcoal assemblage compare well with regional pollen diagrams, particularly the use of Quercus and Corylus. With intensifying human activity during the middle Bronze Age, the proportion of Maloideae, a light demanding family rose. This is the first clear evidence of anthropogenic influence during the middle Bronze Age in Ireland derived from archaeological charcoal. The size of the charcoal dataset makes it possible to evaluate woodland cover and resourcing from two perspectives – both archaeological and palaeoecological.