ABSTRACT
Evidence for community and subsistence activity organization during the Late Archaic, Titterington phase of the Midwest has been notably lacking since its recognition as a cultural entity over 30 years ago (Perino 1954; Titterington 1950). Virtually all that we know of the Titterington phase in Illinois and Missouri is derived from inferences from artifact assemblages recovered from surface, nonfeature, or mortuary contexts (Cook 1976; Klippel 1969; Roper 1978; Turner 1965). The structure, size, and duration of settlements from this period have not yet been determined. Even the composition of a typical assemblage of artifacts and its chronological placement within Late Archaic frameworks remain subjects of conjecture. Although the distribution of Titterington sites in Illinois and Missouri is becoming somewhat better known, the utilization of this distribution to determine ecological adaptation within specific areas or localities of the Midwest is hazardous, especially in the absence of contextual subsistence information. What is clearly needed in the Midwest is the excavation of Titterington occupations that contain definable settlement perimeters and artifact assemblages in associated occupational contexts. One such occupation has in fact already been excavated in the American Bottom and is the subject of this chapter.
