Multiscalar Settlement Ecology Study of Piedmont Village Tradition Communities, A.D. 1000–1600. Issue 2 (3rd May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jones, Eric E.; Ellis, Peter
• Is Part Of: Southeastern archaeology. Volume 35:Issue 2(2016)
• Page Start: 85
• Page End: 114
• Publication Date: 2016-05-03
• Subjects: Southeastern Piedmont -- Piedmont Village Tradition -- settlement ecology -- spatial analysis; Southern States -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Indians of North America -- Southern States -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1179/2168472315Y.0000000007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0734-578X

Abstract

Abstract : This research analyzes the spatial patterning of settlement sites in relation to landscape features to determine the factors that influenced settlement location choices for Late Precontact (A.D. 1000–1600) Piedmont Village Tradition (PVT) communities in the Yadkin, Dan, Haw, and Eno river valleys of the Piedmont Southeast. We employ geographic information systems to estimate characteristics of past landscapes, nearest neighbor analysis to describe basic settlement patterns, and discriminant function analysis to determine spatial correlations between settlements and landscape features. We examine the data on three scales and also assess potential changes over time. Results indicate that settlement location choices were broadly similar on the regional scale, but specific influences varied between and within valleys and over time. When examined with current archaeological, ethnohistoric, and linguistic information, the results suggest that PVT communities engaged in regional interaction networks in highly variable ways and that the relationship between subsistence and settlement varied according to settlement size. Using these results, we explore the roles PVT communities played in the formation and maintenance of natural and cultural landscapes in the Late Precontact Southeast.