Geoarchaeological investigations at the Ryan‐Harley Paleoindian site, Florida (8JE1004): Implications for human settlement of the Wacissa River Basin during the Younger Dryas

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Abstract Ryan‐Harley (8JE1004) in the Wacissa River of North Florida is one of few sites in the Eastern United States that contains an unfluted lanceolate point component (Suwannee) in a buried context. Extinct and extirpated faunal remains found within the Suwannee artifact layer at Ryan‐Harley have been cited as evidence of a Pleistocene faunal refugium in the Southeastern United States. In 2015, geoarchaeological excavations were undertaken to determine if the Ryan‐Harley Suwannee assemblage is culturally discrete and associated with Pleistocene fauna. Geoarchaeological data demonstrate that the archaeological component was exposed until ~8,000 calbp on a relict eolian landscape before burial. No radiocarbon ages were obtained on either extinct or extant faunal material from the site, and the excavated portion of the geologic stratum containing the artifact assemblage is devoid of other datable organics. Therefore, no unequivocal conclusion can be reached about the association of the extinct faunal material with the Suwannee artifacts. However, multiple lines of evidence fail to reject the hypothesis that the Ryan‐Harley lithic assemblage represents a single occupation of Suwannee point makers. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that the Suwannee occupation of Ryan‐Harley most likely occurred during the Younger Dryas (~12,900–11,700 calbp).

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