Introduction

The Archaic Period in the Midwest is firmly dated from 10,000 to 2,500 years ago. Deeply stratified sites, reported on in this volume, represent occupations of some 7,500 years. Some sites, such as Koster and Modoc, contain a sedimentary and archaeological record for the entire period, whereas others, such as Phillips Spring, Rodgers Shelter, and Napoleon Hollow, contain a major part of the Archaic record (Figure 1.1). For the main, however, many of the sites reported in this volume are nonstratified and represent only one of the Archaic periods (Table 1.1). The term Archaic, to quote Howard Winters (1974:xviii),

has been defined in terms of the absence of pottery, burial mounds, agriculture, and settled village life, and the presence or absence of certain stone tools and preparation techniques thereof. And the general understanding of Archaic as a 'Stage' has long been a normative one, even though regional variants and such factors as seasonality have been recognized.