Geoarchaeology of Palaeo-American Sites in Pleistocene Glacigenic Deposits

Abstract

Initial peopling of the Americas is one of most discussed Word prehistory themes. This contribution provides some perceptions on the geological contexts, methods and approaches of investigations of the Late Pleistocene cultural occurrences associated with deeply buried geological contexts. It also raises some principal issues relating particularly to fieldwork strategies dealing with cultural evidence embedded by Pleistocene geological processes, more particularly in periglacial or glacial settings. Although these are discussed on the example of the cultural sequences from Canada, the methodological aspects and field reconnaissance implications are valid also for other formerly glaciated regions of northern Eurasia. A high number of Palaeo-American localities is anticipated as sealed in deeply stratified formations by using the standard survey techniques, despite the fact that some of these locations were subsequently exposed to major erosional processes and/or redeposition and present environmental hazards, but still may deliver undisputable traces of actual human presence antecedent of the Clovis horizon and other Final Pleistocene complexes largely clustering in the south-western portion of the U.S.