Rethinking taxonomies: Skeletal variation on the North Carolina Coastal Plain

Killgrove, Kristina (author)

Southeastern archaeology

0734-578X

28

1

87

100

2009

The current archaeological model of cultural interaction on the North Carolina Coastal Plain during the Late Woodland period (A.D. 800-1650) divides the region into three groups primarily on the basis of language and artifacts. Human skeletal remains were brought into this ethnolinguistic model in order to correlate the visual appearance of crania with material culture, even though few of the skeletal populations had been scientifically studied. In spite of mounting evidence in the past decade of increased social complexity in the Late Woodland, some researchers still attempt classification of sites based on a checklist of characteristics. The present study was undertaken in order to assess the current archaeological model as it relates to human skeletal remains on the Coastal Plain. Using biological distance statistics based on cranial nonmetric (epigenetic) trait expression, biological interaction among the various native groups living along the North Carolina Coastal Plain was investigated. Only one statistically significant difference was found among the thirteen skeletal populations, thus hindering easy classification of human skeletal remains into discrete populations. These results indicate that a new model needs to be created to better understand the spheres of interaction among the natives on the North Carolina Coastal Plain.

North Carolina Coastal Plain

uwf:22886