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Lamp, David Accepted Thesis Spring 24.pdf (5.36 MB)

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Evaluating Paleoindian Use of Glacial Lakes and Wetlands in Ohio

Lamp, David Scott
http://orcid.org/0009-0008-2173-6523
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1713295451912915

Abstract Details

2024, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Environmental Studies (Voinovich).
The earliest known people in Ohio arrived nearly 13,000 years ago, during a period of climatic instability. Immense volumes of water caused by Late Pleistocene deglaciation left a mosaic of lakes and wetlands covering much of the state. Although no formal tests of intensive use of wetlands are known, optimal foraging models predict that glacially formed kettles, lakes, and wetlands would have been attractive to early hunter-gatherers entering the region. My research tests the expectation that Paleoindians would have focused their subsistence efforts on glacial water features. Using existing datasets from the Ohio Archaeological Inventory, Ohio Fluted Point Survey, and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Geological Survey, I test three hypotheses about Paleoindian glacial lake and wetland use. The results of statistical tests suggest that glacial water features throughout most of Ohio were favored locations for hunter-gatherers during the Early and Middle Paleoindian Periods. During the Late Paleoindian Period, use of these features declined throughout the state except for the Huron-Erie Lake Plains, where glacial water feature use intensified. The trend of decreasing use of glacial water features throughout the Paleoindian Period may result from decreased productivity in those settings as population increases and fewer wetland caused a shift toward greater diet breadth. My findings add detail to current models of Paleoindian behavior in Ohio and elsewhere. More broadly and with increasing relevance, these findings potentially help to understand human adaptation in the face of climate change.
Joseph Gingerich (Committee Chair)
Rebecca Snell (Committee Member)
Sarah Davis (Committee Member)
124 p.
Archaeology; Ecology; Environmental Geology; Environmental Science; Paleoclimate Science; Paleontology
Archaeology, Ohio Archaeology, Paleoindian, Fluted Point, Peopling of the Americas, Landscape Archaeology, Hunter-gatherers, Pleistocene, Clovis, Wetland, Glacial Lake, Paleoenvironment, Paleoecology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lamp, D. S. (2024). Evaluating Paleoindian Use of Glacial Lakes and Wetlands in Ohio [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1713295451912915

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lamp, David. Evaluating Paleoindian Use of Glacial Lakes and Wetlands in Ohio. 2024. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1713295451912915.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lamp, David. "Evaluating Paleoindian Use of Glacial Lakes and Wetlands in Ohio." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1713295451912915

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2024, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.