ABSTRACT
This chapter employs two proxy methods, frequency analysis of hafted bifaces and summed probability analysis of C dates, to estimate and characterize human, population histories in the south-eastern United States. It evaluates the impact the Younger Dryas may have had on the population histories of Paleoindian and initial early Archaic peoples in the region. The Pleistocene transition was a period of tremendous environmental dynamism coincident with the Younger Dryas event. The majority of pollen sites in the lower Southeast extending back to the Younger Dryas exhibit cooler, moisture conditions. At Cahaba Pond in north-eastern Alabama, a rise in pine at the terminus of the Younger Dryas indicates wetter conditions. Of paramount importance in considering possible cultural responses of human populations to the Younger Dryas is accurate temporal control for the various Paleoindian hafted, biface forms and associated assemblages found throughout the south-eastern United States.
