The soil‐artifact context model: A geoarchaeological approach to paleoshoreline site dating in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA

Archaeological investigations in the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan have revealed numerous sites associated with Mid‐ and Late‐Holocene paleoshorelines of the ancestral Great Lakes. The sites typically contain stone flakes and fire‐cracked rock, with no preserved floral or faunal material and rarely any diagnostic artifacts or dateable carbon. Because of the association with dated shorelines, many workers have assumed the sites are Archaic occupations (ca. 5000–2000 B.P.). However, the actual ages of the sites is often unclear, as later Woodland cultures (2000–500 B.P.) may have also used the abandoned shorelines. Based on expected pedological and archaeological characteristics, a soil‐artifact context model was used at eight paleoshoreline sites to provide a preliminary means of relative dating. Sites that were correlative with shoreline development (i.e., Archaic) have artifacts that are deeper within the soil profile, soil horizon boundaries that cut across midden concentrations, and some artifacts that are iron‐stained from Spodic horizon development. In contrast, sites that are not correlative with the time of shoreline development (i.e., Woodland) have artifacts that are at or very near the ground surface and archaeological features, if present, will cut across soil horizons, and artifacts tend not to be iron‐stained. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.