Dimensions of Middle Archaic Cultural Adaptation at the Black Earth Site, Saline County, Illinois

Until recently, relatively little data existed concerning cultural adaptation during the Middle Archaic period (6000-3000 B.C.) in southern Illinois. Maxwell (1951), MacNeish (1948), Fowler (1959), and others identified and discussed cultural materials that are now associated with the Middle Archaic adaptive strategy. Most of their initial research concerning the Middle Archaic was largely descriptive in nature, in accordance with the existing paradigm.