I don’t have the full paper yet but here is the abstract. Somewhere on the Tusk or Scribd I have the conference poster which was a precursor to this paper. [Found it!] Note that David Anderson is the keeper of the Paleo-Indian Database
When does this stuff move from kooky — to compelling??
Multiple Lines of Evidence for a Possible Human Population Decline during the Early Younger Dryas
David G. Anderson1, , , Albert C. Goodyear2, James Kennett3 and Allen West4
1 Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
2 South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
3 Department of Earth Science and Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
4 GeoScience Consulting, Dewey, AZ, USA
Received 5 November 2010; revised 10 April 2011; accepted 11 April 2011. Available online 22 April 2011.Abstract
Three approaches are used to test whether or not human populations across North America were affected by abrupt climate change and/or other environmental factors associated with the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) cooling episode at ca. 12,900 cal BP. They are: (1) frequency analyses of Paleoindian projectile points from across North America; (2) time series of lithic assemblages from eleven Paleoindian quarry sites in the southeastern United States; and (3) summed probability analyses (SPA) of radiocarbon dates from cultural (human-related) sites across North America and parts of the Old World. The results of each analysis suggest a significant decline and/or reorganization in human population during the early centuries of the YD, varying in extent by region. Archaeological settings formerly heavily utilized, such as stone quarries in the southeastern U.S., appear to have been largely abandoned, while over large areas, a substantial decline occurred in the numbers of diagnostic projectile points and cultural radiocarbon dates. Later in the YD, beginning after about 12,600 cal BP, there was an apparent resurgence in population and/or settlements in many areas, as indicated by increases in projectile points, quarry usage, and human-related radiocarbon ages.Pre-cursor conference poster
