PIDBA - Alexandria Archive Institute

PIDBA: Challenges Related to the Curation
and Dissemination of Paleoindian Data at
a Hemispheric Scale
SAA 2010 St. Louis
Erik N. Johanson-1, David G. Anderson-1, D. Shane Miller-2,
Stephen J. Yerka-1, Derek T. Anderson-2, J. Christopher
Gillam-3 and Ashley Smallwood-4
-1Department
of Anthropology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
-2Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721
-3 South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina,
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
-4
Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
Abstract
The Paleoindian Database of the Americas (PIDBA), available on-line at http://pidba.utk.edu, represents a repository of nearly 30,000 projectile
points, attribute data on over 15,000 artifacts, and image data on over 8,000 points from across the Americas. While PIDBA’s point data
continues to proliferate thanks to the collection and compilation of primary data from dedicated archaeologists, new content has also been
added and curated. This includes radiometric and bibliographic databases, and artifact distribution maps. PIDBA’s new content fosters more
research opportunities, but also presents a challenge for accessibility. New web content and design has addressed issues related to public
access.
McCary Fluted Point Survey in Virginia
1947-2009 - 1045 Fluted Points.
Brennan’s First Regional Compilation 1982
(n=5820 points)
The origins of PIDBA are owed to individuals such as Ben McCary who initiated the first fluted point survey in 1947 and to Louis Brennan who in
1982 assembled the first regional compilation of fluted points in the Eastern US.
Through the promotion of an ethos of data sharing, PIDBA has gone beyond what these early surveys accomplished. Currently, PIDBA is a multinational research project comprised of professionals from universities across the US and South America, which curates data on nearly 30,000
artifacts as well as 8,000 images of projectile points.
In just about every state or province, someone is
recording information about fluted projectile
points.
Image courtesy (Courtesy: Tommy Charles, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology)
In the Southeast alone, 10 of the 12 states have active Paleoindian surveys. Within those states, 75 individuals have already provided data.
More contributors results in more data, however, more contributors also results in less standardized recording within those surveys. Differing
recorded attributes and inconsistencies of completed fields produces incongruent datasets when comparing multiple independent surveys or
published works.
PIDBA offers a Paleoindian Point Data Form template with a recording attribute key. This exemplifies our early efforts to standardize incoming
point data as well as to encourage broad participation in point recording. In fact, the majority of the recorded points curated digitally on PIDBA
are from amateur archaeologists and other enthusiasts.
Examples of completed point forms
Examples of Completed Point Forms from Georgia
To date some 1600 forms like this exist for Georgia, and over 8,000 from North America, and are available in pdf format.
“Collection and
publication of primary
data is critical!”
-David G. Anderson
The importance of developing and integrating large datasets....
A challenge for the 21st century.
The primary goal of PIDBA is to give researchers the opportunity to evaluate a large scale bi-continental dataset otherwise only available at the
state level or below. PIDBA's data is freely available and easily accessible via http://pidba.utk.edu. Acknowledgments to PIDBA are encouraged.
Instructions for citation are detailed in both the 2010 and 2005 PIDBA publications.
2010 PIDBA (Paleoindian Database of the Americas) 2010: Current Status and Findings. (David G. Anderson, D. Shane Miller,
Stephen J. Yerka, J. Christopher Gillam, Erik N. Johanson, Derek T. Anderson, Albert C. Goodyear, and Ashley M.
Smallwood). Archaeology of Eastern North America 38 (In Press)
2005 Paleoindian Database of the Americas: 2005 Status Report. Current Research in the Pleistocene 22:91-92. (David G.
Anderson, D. Shane Miller, Stephen J. Yerka, and Michael K. Faught).
The PIDBA research team is continually active in obtaining and incorporating new data—both from unpublished and ongoing research as well as
published work dating from the early twentieth century until the present. Runs of entire journals have been examined for relevant metric data on
Paleoindian points.
Two decades of collection and curation of point
data started by David G. Anderson
(Photograph courtesy: Tommy Charles, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology)
Evolution of data dissemination from floppy disks to cd-roms, now to on demand web access of metric data and associated point images.
Paleoindian
Database of
the Americas
Primary Data Is
Available Online at:
http://pidba.tennessee.edu/
PIDBA contains compilations of radiocarbon dates and bibliographic references relevant to Paleoindian research, as well as numerous links to
other web sites, and serves as a backup repository for information in state or province level data collection projects. The radiocarbon database
includes over 200 determinations from the Southeastern United States. The downloadable bibliography is currently over 2,600 entries that are
broadly concerned with the Paleoindian period in the Americas. PIDBA also curates and provides web access to over 8,000 point images.
In Georgia over 1600 Paleoindian
points have been recorded since
1986.
Using Georgia as a case example of PIDBA’s contents, it contains over 1,600 recorded points with 31 associated attributes. Corresponding
images of each point are also available through http://pidba.utk.edu. These images ideally consist of both an obverse and reverse as well as a
side photo of the point. Where color photos are not available, or often in addition to the color photos, line drawings are available.
Current format of PIDBA as pictured above. Attribute and location data separate from images.
Relational
Database
Form
Roughly 10,000 points
currently in the new
database—primarily
from the Southeast.
PIDBA is moving towards a more sophisticated and uniform curation of point data within a relational database. The effort is a response to
incomplete and subjective recording techniques that have evolved and devolved over the decades since the first point survey. The new
database will allow for a standard form to be completed and submitted by the contributor. Also, a sophisticated standard point recording form
will help minimize oversights such as resharpening, break type, and reported raw material.
Database
Attribute
Variables
•Over 120
Attributes
•Translates to
over 1.2 million
cells for the
Southeast alone
With so many unique attributes expanded on a bi-continental scale, PIDBA faces a data challenge. A significant portion of time is alloted
towards transforming existing data into a usable form for PIDBA. In addition to the attribute database, PIDBA also assembles and curates both
a Paleoindian bibliography and a radiocarbon database.
PIDBA
Bibliography
A portion of the
downloadable
bibliography
containing over
3,000 entries
The downloadable bibliography is currently over 3,000 entries that are broadly concerned with the Paleoindian period in the Americas.
http://pidba.utk.edu/references.htm
PIDBA Radiocarbon
Database
A portion of the
downloadable
radiocarbon database
containing over 1000
determinations
The radiocarbon database includes 1,000 determinations in all of North America and over 200 determinations from the Southeastern United
States. Ongoing assembly of this database encourages the contribution of non-posted entries. http://pidba.utk.edu/dating.htm
AD 2010 (n= 29,393 Points, 1933 Locations)
Alaska, Canada, and
Mexico now included!
A overview map of PIDBA’s artfact sample locations. 1,933 locations for nearly 30,000 artifacts across North America.
Distribution of Point Types
within PIDBA
Utilizing the large dataset, PIDBA provides evidence for the distribution of point types throughout the Paleoindian period.
Artifact Sample
April 2010
Total Sample n= 29,393 Points, 1933 Locations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ARTIFACT TYPE
Unknown Fluted
Clovis
Clovis Variant
Ross County
Folsom
Redstone
Gainey
Cumberland
Barnes
Quad/Beaver Lake
Suwannee/Simpson
Dalton
Early Side Notched
Corner Notched
Bifurcate
AGE ESTIMATE
13,000 cal BP
13,000 cal BP
13,000 cal BP
13,000 cal BP
12,000 cal BP
12,000 cal BP
12,000 cal BP
12,000 cal BP
12,000 cal BP
12,000 cal BP
12,000 cal BP
11,000 cal BP
11,000 cal BP
10,000 cal BP
9,000 cal BP
# ARTIFACT
n= 8479
n= 3415
n = 30
n = 36
n= 2132
n= 280
n= 70
n= 612
n= 295
n= 847
n= 675
n= 2601
n= 835
n= 6270
n= 151
# LOCATIONS
1650 locations
670 locations
19 locations
20 locations
292 locations
149 locations
47 locations
121 locations
44 locations
100 locations
85 locations
205 locations
62 locations
117 locations
41 locations
*Age Estimate Used For Ice Sheet/Sea Level Mapping Purposes
Distribution of Paleoinidan point types by frequency of reported points and frequency of unique locations. Each point type is able to be plotted
geographically and compared to previous inferences of distribution (i.e. Justice 1987). PIDBA’s data provides empirical evidence to aid in
delineating the bounds of each point type.
Recent PIDBA based Analyses:
• Comparing different recording approaches
• Mapping shoreline, ice sheets, and pluvial lakes locations over
time in the late Pleistocene
• Using the Data to Explore Colonization and Settlement
• Empirically determining the distribution of Paleoindian point
types
The dedicated curation and dissemination of large datasets is exemplified by PIDBA. Highlighting current research serves to aid in providing
support as to why collecting and sharing data is critically important to the future of archaeology.
OTHER USES FOR PIDBA
Comparing State Site File and PIDBA Point Locational Data
Image courtesy: O’Donoughue, Jason
2007 Paleoindian Settlement In The Southeastern United States: Insights From Regional Databases. Current Research in the
Pleistocene 24:126-129.
Many locations where fluted and other Paleoindian points have been found in recording projects have not been reported to the appropriate
site files. Analyses using PIDBA documenting the kinds of data either missing or that may be over or under-represented are thus proving useful
not only in research but also in records and collection management.
Using Appropriate Sea Level Data
20k
19k
18k
17k
16k
15k
14k
13k
12k
11k
10k
9k
-140m
-125m
-125m
-120m
-118m
-110m
-100m
-75m
-68m
-55m
-45m
-30m
Lambeck, Kurt, Yusuke Yokoyama, and Tony Purcell
2002 Into and out of the Last Glacial Maximum: sea-level change during Oxygen Isotope Stages 3 and 2.
Quaternary Science Reviews 21:343–360. Image from Figure 11, p. 258.
Beringia ca 17,000 to 20,000 cal yr BP
Upcoming shoreline Research:
Employing high resolution bathymetric data to infer possible migration routes of Pleistocene populations. (David G. Anderson and Stephen J.
Yerka).(manuscript under review, Current Research in the Pleistocene).
Carribean/Gulf of Mexico 20,000 cal yr BP
Upcoming shoreline Research:
Employing high resolution bathymetric data to infer possible migration routes of Pleistocene populations. (David G. Anderson and Stephen J.
Yerka).(manuscript under review, Current Research in the Pleistocene).
Mapping Icesheet/Periglacial Lake Data
12 k rcbp 14.1 k cal BP
Dyke, A S; Moore, A; Robertson, L
2002 Deglaciation of North America. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 1574.
Mapping Icesheet/Periglacial Lake Data
11 k rcbp 13 k cal BP
Dyke, A S; Moore, A; Robertson, L
2002 Deglaciation of North America. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 1574.
All Fluted Points, Ice and Lakes at 13 k cal yr BP
Useful applications of PIDBA data: When fluted point locations are plotted against environmental obstacles interesting patterns or problems can
occur.
All Fluted Points, Ice and Lakes at 12,000 cal yr BP
A retreating glacial front at 12,000 calendar years bp suggests the most northern fluted points occur later in time after the ice cover has melted.
?
Ambiguous Support for Ice Free Corridor
and Northwest Coastal Entry Models
?
No Data
Leap frogging indicated!
Slide (modified somewhat) courtesy Scott Meeks
The irregular distributions do
not support the “Overkill” or
“Wave-of-advance” model.
(Martin 1973; Mosimann and Martin 1975).
Images courtesy Image from Matsch 1976 North America and the Great Ice Age. McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York
?
LEAP FROGGING INDICATED!
?
No Data
Slide (modified somewhat) courtesy Scott Meeks
Some Support for An Eastern Origin for
Fluted Point Technology
Slide (modified somewhat) courtesy Scott Meeks
This same data has also been used to
argue for European/Solutrean
colonization!
Slide (modified somewhat) courtesy Scott Meeks
Clovis
Distribution
ca. 11,050 -10,800 14C yr BP
ca. 13,050 – 12,900 cal yr BP
(Waters and Stafford 2007)
(Anderson 1990:165; Anderson, O’Steen, and
Sassaman 1996:15)
Clovis
Images courtesy Darryl P. Miller
Fluted
Points
(including Clovis,
excluding later
fluted types)
13,000 12,000 cal
BP
n=11,906
points
>1500
locations.
The Emergence of
Subregional Cultural
Traditions
Inferred later Paleoindian
subregional cultures.
Now we are trying to more
precisely demit these possible
cultures.
Anderson, David G.
1995
Paleoindian Interaction Networks in the Eastern
Woodlands. In Native American Interaction: Multiscalar Analyses
and Interpretations in the Eastern Woodlands, edited by Michael S.
Nassaney and Kenneth E. Sassaman, pp. 1–26. University of
Tennessee Press. Image from page 10.
Folsom
Distribution
ca. 10,800-10,200 rcbp
ca. 12,900 – 11,800 cal BP
Perino, Gregory
1985 Selected Preforms, Points, and Knives of the North
American Indians, Volume 1. Points and Barbs Press, Idabel,
Oklahoma. Image from p 134.
Folsom Cluster
Justice, Noel D.
1987 Stone Age Spear and Arrow Points of the Midcontinental and
Eastern United States. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Images
from pp. 28, 29, Plate 1.
Folsom Points
12,000 cal BP
n= 2132 Points 292 Locations
Point image courtesy:
http://www.sdsmt.edu/wwwsarc/collectn/stone/folsom.jpg
Redstone
Distribution
ca. 10,900?-10,700? rcbp
ca. 12,950? – 12,750? cal BP
(Anderson 1990:165; Anderson, O’Steen, and
Sassaman 1996:15)
Redstone
Redstone
ca. 12,950? – 12,500? cal BP
ca. 10,900?-10,500? rcbp
Anderson, David G.
1995 Paleoindian Interaction Networks in the Eastern
Woodlands. In Native American Interaction: Multiscalar
Analyses and Interpretations in the Eastern Woodlands, edited
by Michael S. Nassaney and Kenneth E. Sassaman, pp. 1–26.
University of Tennessee Press. Image from page 10.
Justice, Noel D.
1987 Stone Age Spear and Arrow Points of the Midcontinental
and Eastern United States. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press. Images from pp. 20, 23.
Redstone Points
12,500 cal BP
n= 265 Points
138 Locations
Point image courtesy: http://www.usprojectilepoints.com/Pages/Searches/Points/Redstone.html
Cumberland
Distribution
ca. 10,800-10,600 rcbp
ca. 12,900 – 12,700 cal BP
(Anderson 1990:165; Anderson, O’Steen, and
Sassaman 1996:15)
Cumberland
ca. 10,800-10,500 rcbp
ca. 12,900 – 12,500 cal BP
Anderson, David G.
1995 Paleoindian Interaction Networks in the Eastern
Woodlands. In Native American Interaction: Multiscalar
Analyses and Interpretations in the Eastern Woodlands,
edited by Michael S. Nassaney and Kenneth E.
Sassaman, pp. 1–26. University of Tennessee Press.
Image from page 10.
Cumberland Points
12,000 cal BP n= 610
Points 119 Locations
Point image courtesy:
http://lithiccastinglab.com/castpage/maycumberland.htm
Suwannee/
Simpson
Distribution
10,900?-10,200? rcbp
ca. 12,9500 – 11,800 cal BP
Anderson, David G.
1995 Paleoindian Interaction Networks in the Eastern
Woodlands. In Native American Interaction: Multiscalar
Analyses and Interpretations in the Eastern Woodlands,
edited by Michael S. Nassaney and Kenneth E.
Sassaman, pp. 1–26. University of Tennessee Press.
Image from page 10.
Suwannee/Simpson
Points
12,000 cal BP n=
608 Points 85
Locations
Point image courtesy:
http://lithiccastinglab.com/images/simpsonvesperdoublesmall.jpg
Later point distributions may indicate the range or habitual
use areas of the peoples making these artifacts.
Anderson, David G., and Michael K. Faught
2000
Paleoindian Artifact Distributions: Evidence and Implications (David G. Anderson and Michael K. Faught) Antiquity 74:507-513. Image from page 511.
Barnes and Cumberland Points, Ice and Lakes at 12,000 cal yr BP
Plotting regionally, PIDBA reveals breaks in point type overlaps such as between Barnes and Cumberland points (above) and Folsom points
(next slide).
Folsom Points, Ice and Lakes at 12,000 cal yr BP
The seemingly distinctive stylistic break may be related to increasing population isolation due to drift, or perhaps to groups whose subsistence
or at least hunting/point-using adaptations were primarily directed to Plains/bison as opposed to Eastern Woodlands/white tailed deer,
respectively.
The impact of the Younger Dryas on
Paleoindian culture as seen by PIDBA
• Onset coincides
with the end of
Clovis point type
Slide amended, courtesy of Scott Meeks
MPI
(Full Fluted)
EPI (Clovis)
The hypothesis being that the Younger Dryas (YD) heightens subsistence stress and uncertainty thus producing a noticeable shift in point
distribution from Clovis to the Full-Fluted horizon.
Western North America
Folsom
Southeastern North America
Folsom Redstone Cumberland Barnes
After 12.9 ka
After 12.9 ka
Clovis
13.2-12.9 ka
The Post-Clovis “Full fluted” Horizon
Image courtesy Douglas J. Kennett
Characterized by points with deeply indented bases and short to full flutes, of which the Redstone, Gainey, Barnes, Cumberland, and Folsom
type. Fluting by instrument assisted percussion.
Clovis to
MPI
Proportional
Raw
Material
Distributions
A discernable reduction in the use of Metavolcanic, Quartz Crystal, and Dover/Waverly/St. Louis cherts while an increased reliance on Fort
Payne from the Early to Middle Paleoindian period.
Numbers of points by material type for Clovis and
Middle Paleoindian point types
An overall marked decline in recorded points from the Early to Middle Paleoindian period.
2500
West
Southeast
2309
2088
2000
1842
1500
939
1000
500
0
Fluted*
PostClovis
Clovis
PostClovis
Clovis related*
Image courtesy Douglas J. Kennett
A regional dichotomy appears when comparing point type frequency for Clovis and post-Clovis. In essence, the overall decline in points within
PIDBA is not ubiquitous across the continent.
Southeastern North America
2600
2594
1993
2000
1717
1500
947
1000
500
0
Clovis
Post-Clovis
Full Fluted
Post-Clovis
Unfluted
13.2?-12.9 ka? 12.9?-12.6 ka?
Image courtesy Douglas J. Kennett
The post-Clovis decline is prominent when exclusively considering the Southeast.
12.6-12 ka?
Dalton
12?-11 ka
CLOVIS
When the Early and Middle Paleoindian periods are plotted by raw material type and location, a probable range contraction occurs in the
Southeast.
FULL-FLUTED
Both fewer points and a reduction in geographic extent by raw material type occurs during the transition from the Early to Middle Paleoindian
period.
Numbers of Paleoindian Points (l), and Sites (r), found During the Nottoway
River Survey. Note the drop post-Clovis
Image courtesy: McAvoy, J. M.
1992 Nottoway River Survey Part I: Clovis Settlement Patterns; The 30 Year Study of a Late Ice Age Hunting Culture on the Southern Interior Coastal Plain of
Virginia. Archeological Society of Virginia Special Publication Number 28, Richmond. Figures from pages 161 and 162.
Regional patterns within the data curated by PIDBA is also replicated within local patterning studies. For instance, McAvoy (1992) notes a drop
in both the frequency of points and sites following Clovis.
The Paleoindian Database of the
Americas (PIDBA)
http://pidba.utk.edu
Through the promotion of an ethos of data sharing, PIDBA has
become a rare example of how both large and small, proprietary
and published, datasets should be handled. The data curated by
PIDBA remains highly influential and valuable for modern
Paleoindian research. Complicating these analyses with PIDBA
data are issues of sampling biasing and representativeness. Such
criticisms dictate that sources of biasing be identified and
controlled for within datasets—a challenge for any large scale data
project. As a digital repository of nearly 30,000 projectile points
with attribute data on over 15,000 artifacts, and image data on
over 8,000 points, methodological problems have also plagued
PIDBA. Continual innovations conducted by members of the
PIDBA research team (consisting of over 20 archaeologists,
graduate students, and undergraduate students) allow the
addition of new content. The contribution of new data from
professional and avocational archaeologists facilitates the growth
of PIDBA.
2010 PIDBA (Paleoindian Database of the Americas) 2010: Current Status and Findings. (David G. Anderson, D. Shane Miller, Stephen J.
Yerka, J. Christopher Gillam, Erik N. Johanson, Derek T. Anderson, Albert C. Goodyear, and Ashley M. Smallwood). Archaeology of
Eastern North America 38 (In Press)
Many concerns, ideas, and observations related to PIDBA are discussed in greater detail within the 2010 Anderson el al. paper appearing in
AENA. In addition to instructions on the proper way to reference PIDBA, the 2010 AENA paper contains many other references relevant to
paleoindian and data-based research.
PIDBA Papers
2010 PIDBA (Paleoindian Database of the Americas) 2010: Current Status and Findings. (David G. Anderson, D. Shane
Miller, Stephen J. Yerka, J. Christopher Gillam, Erik N. Johanson, Derek T. Anderson, Albert C. Goodyear, and Ashley M.
Smallwood). Archaeology of Eastern North America 38 (In Press)
Employing high resolution bathymetric data to infer possible migration routes of Pleistocene populations. (David G.
Anderson and Stephen J. Yerka).(manuscript under review, Current Research in the Pleistocene).
2005 Paleoindian Database of the Americas: 2005 Status Report. Current Research in the Pleistocene 22:91-92. (David G.
Anderson, D. Shane Miller, Stephen J. Yerka, and Michael K. Faught).
PIDBA Meeting Papers and Posters (recent)
PIDBA: The State of the Database. (Erik N. Johanson, David G. Anderson, D. Shane Miller, Stephen J. Yerka, Derek T.
Anderson, J. Christopher Gillam, and Ashley M. Smallwood). Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern
Archaeological Conference, Mobile, Alabama, 6 November 2009.
Potential Human Population Decline/Reorganization during the Younger Dryas in North America. (David G. Anderson,
Albert C. Goodyear, Thomas W. Stafford, Jr., James Kennett, and Allen West). Poster presented at the American
Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, 16 December 2009, San Francisco, California.
Paleoindians in North America: Evidence from PIDBA (Paleoindian Database of the Americas). Poster presented at the
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Atlanta, Georgia, 24 April 2009. (David G. Anderson, D. Shane
Miller, Derek T. Anderson, Stephen J. Yerka, J. Christopher Gillam, Erik N. Johanson, and Ashley Smallwood)
The Effect of the Younger Dryas on Paleoindian Occupations in Southeastern North America: Evidence from Artifactual,
Pollen, and Radiocarbon Records. Poster presented at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco,
California, December 2008. (David G. Anderson, Scott C. Meeks, D. Shane Miller, Stephen J. Yerka, J. Christopher Gillam,
Albert C. Goodyear, Erik N. Johanson, and Allen West)
* Posters available for download
http://pidba.utk.edu/references.htm