The Jim Pitts site: a stratified Paleoindian site in the Black Hills of South Dakota

The Jim Pitts site is a multicomponent Paleoindian locality in the Black Hills of South Dakota, with a rare Goshen residential occupation. All Paleoindian components were comprised in the Leonard paleosol. The deepest component at the site is a Goshen level dated to 10,185 ± 25 B.P. It correlates with a late fall-early winter camp site. Over the course of its use parts of at least five bison were procured and introduced to the site. Above this level an array of point styles, including Goshen, Folsom, Agate Basin, several Fishtail points, James Allen, Cody, and Alberta, have also been found. The following study provides a typological and technological description of the point assemblage and weighs the implications of the chrono-cultural stratigraphy for reconstructing the Paleoindian cultural landscape. It questions the validity of some types, particularly Goshen, as cultural and chronological markers. Ultimately, the evidence presented here reinforces a model in which multiple Paleoindian point types occur simultaneously on the central and northern Great Plains. This in turn challenges a unilineal view of Puleoindian culture history. El sitio Jim Pitts es una localidad multi-componente Paleoindia en los Black Hills de Dakota del Sur, con una infrecuente ocupacion residencial Goshen. Todos los componentes Paleoindios estan comprendidos en el paleosuelo Leonard. El componente mas profundo del sitio es un nivel Goshen fechado en 10,185 ± 25 a.P., el cual se correlaciona con un campamento otohalinvernal durante el cual partes de al menos cinco bisontes fueron procurados e introducidos al sitio. Sobre este nivel, una variedad de puntas de proyectil incluyendo Goshen, Folsom, Agate Basin, varias puntas cola de pescado, James Allen, Cody, y Alberta tambien fueron halladas. El analisis que sigue aporta una descripcion tipologica y tecnologica de los con juntos de puntas y examina las implicaciones de la estratigrafia crono-cultural para la reconstruccion del paisaje cultural Paleoindio. Se cuestiona la validez de algunos tipos, particularmente el tipo Goshen, como un indicador cultural y cronologico. La evidencia presentada fundamentalmente refuerza un modelo donde mtiltiples tipos de puntas Paleoindias ocurren simultaneamente en las Grandes Llanuras centrales y septentrionales, que desafia la perspectiva unilineal de la historia cultural Paleoindia.
Questions of chronology have shaped Paleoindian archaeology since the early days of the debate surrounding the antiquity of in North America. Prior to the development of radiocarbon dating, the Paleoindian [...]