Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9774-8707
Date Available
5-5-2025
Year of Publication
2025
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/School/Program
Anthropology
Faculty
Richard W. Jefferies
Faculty
Christopher Pool
Abstract
Concurrently occupied between circa 8,600-8,200 cal B.P., the Canton (15Tr1), Lawrence (15Tr33), Morrisroe (15Lv156), and Whalen (15Ly48) sites have similar stone tool assemblages. Though the sites are situated close to one another within the lower Tennessee and Cumberland River watersheds, the connection between the people who occupied each site remains unclear. Extensive lithic deposits representing all stages of tool manufacture were identified at both the Canton and Lawrence sites, and previous lithic analyses show that similar raw materials were being accessed by stone toolmakers at all four sites. To investigate the relationship between the people who occupied these sites, this research explores the practice of stone toolmaking represented within each assemblage through geometric morphometric and community of practice approaches. Using morphometric analysis of corner-notched hafted bifaces, five research goals will be addressed: 1) infer the degree to which the stone toolmakers were participating in a community of practice; 2) determine the functional and stylistic connection between the corner-notched hafted bifaces at the four sites; 3) determine the effectiveness of morphometric analysis of broken hafted bifaces; 4) assess the usefulness of typologies created by different researchers; 5) propose social factors supporting the late use of Kirk Corner Notched technology.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2025.151
Funding Information
This study was supported by the Susan Abbott-Jamieson Pre-Dissertation Research Fund Award in 2016.
Recommended Citation
Hanvey, Vanessa N., "Communities of Stone Toolmakers along the Lower Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers" (2025). Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology. 72.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/anthro_etds/72
Letter of permission from the Taylor & Francis Group to republish figures.
LetterOfPermission_Taylor&Francis_Jennings_etal_2023.pdf (147 kB)
Letter of permission from the Taylor & Francis Group to republish figures.
LetterOfPermission_WebbMuseum_Ahler_etal_2021.pdf (395 kB)
Letter of permission from the Webb Museum to republish figures.
