Overall, the study of the Herrick Hollow sites indicated the presence of a series of specialized hunting and processing stations and campsites. The data suggest that a full range of lithic reduction activity was demonstrated across the site area, where bifacial tools were being created, maintained, and used on the sites, and expedient tools were made to process resources. In an economic, subsistence-based context, this landscape offered abundant resource reasons for visits by small groups involved in the procurement and the initial stages of processing of food, such as small game and deer, edible plants, such as nuts and tubers, and other resources, such as reeds and bark. But why would such a remote area be selected when other areas with easier access were available? The data from the sites do not support a purely economic interpretation for selection of this area. In fact, artifacts from the Early Woodland component did not fit this model at all, while multiple Late Woodland components suggested there may be other dimensions to interpretation besides subsistence.

Site Chronology and Function


click to view tableAs summarized above, the chronology of the Herrick Hollow sites was determined through projectile point typology, pottery typology, and AMS dates of carbon, maize, and acorn fragments. The Herrick Hollow sites were occupied as early as the Late Archaic period (4000-1500 B.C.), but were predominantly associated with the Early Woodland period (1000-500 B.C.) and the early portion of the Late Woodland period (A.D. 900-1200). As a whole, there is considerable consistency among the seven Herrick Hollow sites concerning land use, site function, and settlement organization, despite the differences in time periods.

First, none of the sites show evidence of long term occupation. Instead, land use appears to be short-term. This is an expected result considering the remote location of the sites. Second, all of the sites show evidence of late stage bifacial reduction as the dominant lithic process, although discarded bifacial tools are scarce. Instead, expedient flake tools are ubiquitous, and are the main processing tools present at each site. It is clear that the finishing and sharpening of bifacial tools was an important activity in this upland location, but discarded tools on these sites were mostly flake tools,

click to view tablewhich required little or no preparation. Finally, the sites with features show only minor amounts of food remains, most of which were either edible parts of maize, nuts, or berries. These low frequencies suggest that food was prepared elsewhere and carried to this upland location for immediate consumption. Likewise, the collection and preparation of resources on the drainage divide did not produce dense refuse. Very little organic material was found by flotation of soil samples. Either the organic refuse did not preserve, the resources collected were processed elsewhere, or collection and processing did not have the potential to produce dense debris. It is possible that activities such as hunting/trapping small game, or collecting bark, reeds, and medicinal plants would not leave the type and density of debris that would be visible on an archaeological site.

It would be easy to conclude that the Herrick Hollow sites are ancillary camps created within a logistical settlement system anchored by nearby residential sites. However, are we missing other interpretations by not looking more closely at the evidence? How much of the evidence actually supports an economic land use model for these sites? First, location is an issue. This remote upland area was not easy to access from the two main valleys to the north and south. Second, there is no evidence that these are long-term camps. So, why would people visit this area for short periods of time? If we back away from the single interpretation of resource procurement and processing, we can explore multiple dimensions to the selection of this landscape for repeated visits over time.



possible flintknapping activity upon boulderBradley (1993:26) referred to “special attention” features on the landscape that mark a spot of some social or other significance. Certainly, Herrick Hollow I’s boulder feature fits within this category. Meadowood cache blades, like those associated with this feature, carry highly charged ceremonial connotations since they tend to be deposited in human graves. It follows that production of these blades would also carry religious or symbolic significance. That they were produced in this remote upland context devoid of much evidence of resource procurement and processing speaks volumes. In addition, Meadowood sites are rare in this section of the Susquehanna and Delaware Valleys. A person or group had to travel scores of miles to reach this area where they only stayed for a short period of time. Here, the significance of the landscape, and probably the symbolic and historical memory of this spot marked by a boulder, trumps economic interpretations for this site.

For the Late Woodland, the very existence of upland sites reminds archaeologists that there was life beyond the village palisade. We are just beginning to acknowledge that agricultural communities accessed a variety of landscapes for equally diverse reasons. The uplands undoubtedly embodied symbolic meaning for Native Americans who repeatedly visited this landscape. It is likely that Herrick Hollow was visited by people who lived in semi-permanent villages on the floodplain of the Susquehanna and/or West Branch of the Delaware. Water coursing down these tributary valleys was crucial to the survival of the corn-beans-squash triad, plants embodied with symbolic meaning as the Sustainers of Life [Photo of 3 sisters]. It is probable that the wetland springs which gave rise to these streams would have been imbued with sacred connotations.

In this context, it is plausible that resources collected from, and activities performed in, this landscape assumed multiple layers of meaning in this symbolically charged arena. This would partially account for the repeated reuse of this relatively remote area. Resources were not simply being extracted – meaning was being constructed. Sweet grass collected from open meadows adjacent to small wetlands or black ash splints made from upland trees may have been crafted into ceremonial baskets that carried special meaning related to their origin from this symbolic landscape. Animals hunted in this symbolic arena also would likely have carried meaning beyond mere subsistence.

Economic interpretations of prehistoric land use patterns will always be important to archaeological research. However, there is more to prehistory than what people collected, harvested, and consumed. A more holistic interpretation of landscape provides us the opportunity to discuss diverse anthropological dimensions of variability in the prehistoric record.

Unique Contributions of the Study

Data recovery investigations on the series of prehistoric sites within the Herrick Hollow Brook drainage offered a unique opportunity to intensively investigate seven sites, primarily from the Early and Late Woodland periods, within the same physiographic context. The sites contribute to a newly expanding research base centered on upland archaeology, and provide a complex case study with which to examine land use in the uplands for both agricultural and pre-agricultural time periods. The use of the uplands is an emerging pattern during the Late Woodland period, especially along the drainage divides between major riverine valleys.

Another contribution of the Herrick Hollow Data Recovery addresses the use of the National Register district concept for archaeological sites, particularly small lithic scatters. When small lithic sites are evaluated in isolation, particularly at the Phase 1 level, they tend to suggest a low research potential. Low research potential includes a lack of diagnostics, features, and formal tools, which are normally traditional characteristics favored for National Register eligibility. Different assessments of significance can occur when a single site is evaluated in relation to a geographic context or a group of similar sites. A multiple resource archaeological district is an important tool for addressing these isolated cases that share important unifying characteristics. The Herrick Hollow sites demonstrated characteristics amenable for grouping within an archaeological district, which in turn provided a broader and richer context for interpretation. This series of small campsites and processing locations has provided valuable information on prehistoric land use, settlement patterns, and community organization, especially during the Early and Late Woodland periods. Formulation of the Herrick Hollow Archaeological District provided a larger context for assessing significance and recovering data relevant to a variety of archaeological and anthropological concepts.