Date Approved

2014

Date Posted

2-11-2015

Degree Type

Open Access Senior Honors Thesis

Department or School

Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

First Advisor

Bradley Ensor

Second Advisor

E.L. Cerroni-Long

Abstract

There has been little archaeological research on prehistoric settlement patterns for Southeast Michigan with which to understand how humans interacted with their environments and landscapes. Based on James Krakker's hypotheses on agricultural settlements and limited-use prehistoric components (PCs) in Southeast Michigan, agricultural settlements should be associated with well-drained soil adjacent to arable soil suitable for cultivation, and they should be located within 1 km of a river while limited use PCs should be located further inland. This thesis uses survey data from the 20092012 Eastern Michigan University Archaeology Field School seasons to test Krakker's hypotheses in the Willow Metropark, Wayne County, Michigan. The results of this study indicate that agricultural settlements were associated with well-drained soils adjacent to arable soils and they were located within 1km of a river. However, limited-use PCs were not always located further inland. These results support Krakker's hypotheses on Late Woodland period settlements or camps but may suggest limited-use PCs were less influenced by landform and distance from the river.

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