Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters by Eric E . Jones
Historical Archaeology, 2024
The development of commercial farming in the mid-19th century was a critical component of industr... more The development of commercial farming in the mid-19th century was a critical component of industrialization in the United States. This research examines when, how, and why farmers in the Town of Fenner, New York began this transition and helped to create one of the most productive dairy industries in the country. To do this, we examine the relationships between the spatial arrangement of farms, production strategies, surplus production, environmental features, and the built environment. Unlike surrounding towns and counties that were heavily shifting to dairy farming by 1850, most farmers in Fenner were increasing production through growth of a diversified set of agricultural activities. Soil quality, location relative to churches, and access to labor were important factors in this process. However, surplus production was unstable throughout the latter part of the century, likely due to the relative isolation of the town from population centers and market access therein. The result was a focus on diversified farming and community economic well-being over individual financial independence.
Southeastern Archaeology, 2021
Triangular arrowheads are overwhelmingly the dominant projectile point form across eastern North ... more Triangular arrowheads are overwhelmingly the dominant projectile point form across eastern North America from 600 to 1600 CE. Although triangular points have been studied less than earlier technologies, important research has been conducted over the last 25 years on their morphology, function, and temporal relationships. One important observation from reading these works is that there is noticeable variability within the triangular form both between and within regions. However, this variability has not been studied extensively by quantitative means. In this research, we examine a collection of 199 points from two Piedmont Siouan sites in the upper Yadkin River valley dating to 1300–1600 CE. We analyzed seven discrete attributes using discriminant function analysis and found quantitative support for the contemporaneous existence of the three forms and evidence of changes in morphology over time. We follow this with an examination of the context and breakage patterns of these types to discuss their roles in social, political, and economic activities. We then compare our results to those from other areas of eastern North America to address why such variability and changes over time may have occurred.
American Antiquity, 2020
This research seeks to understand the economic and social interaction patterns among dispersed Pi... more This research seeks to understand the economic and social interaction patterns among dispersed Piedmont Village Tradition communities in the North American Southeast, AD 1200-1600. Piedmont Village Tradition communities lived adjacent to Mississippian societies and have been categorized as a peripheral society because of this spatial relationship. We examine economic behaviors by constructing fall-off curves of local versus nonlocal lithic material proportions at settlement sites and examining the reduction behaviors and tool types at sites. The results support a possible gateway model for the acquisition and distribution of nonlocal materials that linked spatially proximate communities. To examine social interaction patterns, we conducted a Brainerd-Robinson analysis of ceramic attributes from six sites and combined our results with work by Rogers (1993). The results show sites with stylistic similarities are not the same sites that share lithic resources. We conclude that these spatially non-overlapping artifact patterns result from a heterarchical social organization with a high degree of independence between economic and social interactions. Finally, we contextualize our results within the current knowledge of Mississippian and Piedmont Village Tradition societies in the region to broaden the discussion of gateways in reciprocity-based economies, societies traditionally thought of as peripheral to complex societies, and coalescence.
Over 30 years ago, Kintigh and Ammerman (1982) outlined and applied a heuristic approach to spati... more Over 30 years ago, Kintigh and Ammerman (1982) outlined and applied a heuristic approach to spatial archaeology that balanced quantitative analyses and culturally and historically contextualized archaeology. The theoretical and methodological messages were that we need to do more than “eyeball” spatial patterns, we need to apply the proper analyses based on the characteristics of our datasets, and we need to ensure that our models, quantitative analyses, and resulting interpretations are based in the proper cultural and historical contexts. My goal in this paper is to examine how two of the concepts in this approach, significance and context, apply to a modern spatial archaeology that heavily utilizes geospatial computing tools. Although these tools help to solve several concerns that existed in the field 30 years ago, they can also cause others, such as mistaking autocorrelation for correlation or confusion about which of the multitude of available analytical tools is appropriate for particular questions and datasets. In this paper, I present a simplified version of the methodology I have used to address these concerns. I use archaeological, historical, and GIS-modeled data to compare the regional patterning of hierarchical and egalitarian societies in southeastern North America to examine why hierarchical sociopolitical organizations may have arose where they did. I end with a critical review of this approach and a discussion of how such research can be improved moving forward.
This research analyzes the spatial patterning of settlement sites in relation to landscape featur... more This research analyzes the spatial patterning of settlement sites in relation to landscape features to determine the factors that influenced settlement location choices for Late Precontact (A.D. 1000–1600) Piedmont Village Tradition (PVT) communities in the Yadkin, Dan, Haw, and Eno river valleys of the Piedmont Southeast. We employ geographic information systems to estimate characteristics of past landscapes, nearest neighbor analysis to describe basic settlement patterns, and discriminant function analysis to determine spatial correlations between settlements and landscape features. We examine the data on three scales and also assess potential changes over time. Results indicate that settlement location choices were broadly similar on the regional scale, but specific influences varied between and within valleys and over time. When examined with current archaeological, ethnohistoric, and linguistic information, the results suggest that PVT communities engaged in regional interaction networks in highly variable ways and that the relationship between subsistence and settlement varied according to settlement size. Using these results, we explore the roles PVT communities played in the formation and maintenance of natural and cultural landscapes in the Late Precontact Southeast.
From AD 1000-1600, the western North Carolina Piedmont was home to both hierarchically organized ... more From AD 1000-1600, the western North Carolina Piedmont was home to both hierarchically organized Mississippian societies and egalitarian Piedmont Village Tradition (PVT) societies. Given the spatial proximity of these groups and evidence of interaction between them, this is a prime area for studying the comparative geography and ecology of middle range societies (traditionally labeled tribes and chiefdoms). In this work, I analyze regional settlement patterns of and natural landscapes around Mississippian and PVT sites in the Yadkin/Pee Dee and Catawba River valleys using a combination of geographic information systems (GIS) to measure characteristics and discriminant function analysis to compare sites. The goal is to describe and explain the environmental factors that influenced the geographic distribution of sociopolitical complexity in the western North Carolina Piedmont. The site-specific results show clear differences in settlement location choice between Mississippian and PVT settlements. The landscape results show that Mississippian and PVT communities inhabited areas with different resource concentrations, suggesting that ecology played a role in the distribution of complex societies. This work is the first stage of a larger project aimed at understanding why complexity arose and persisted in particular locations throughout the Piedmont Southeast after AD 1000.
Event-history analysis is often used in the social sciences to study the occurrence of particular... more Event-history analysis is often used in the social sciences to study the occurrence of particular events over the lifespan of individuals and the impact of various factors on the rate at which those events occur. Like individuals, settlements can be analyzed and important events, such as founding or abandonment, can be studied using this method. Thus, as Richard Paine (1992) has noted, the technique can be useful in archaeological investigations of settlement processes. In this research we use it to explore the causes of settlement abandonment among a temperate shifting cultivators in an attempt to better understand the ecology of this adaptation and in order to evaluate the merits of the method. The sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) of northeastern North America present an interesting case study for applying event-history analysis to archaeological settlement dynamics because of the wealth of archaeological settlement data and detailed historic record that allows us to parse out historical factors and analyze the remaining ecological factors. We use event-history analysis as an alternative means for evaluating the relative and absolute effects of several variables that may have been predictive of the lifespan of settlements and the timing of their removal. The results suggest that the decision to move from a village was a complex process in which the population size of a village may have been the single most important, but not the only, determinant of settlement duration.
North American Archaeologist, Oct 15, 2012
Ecological studies of prehistoric and precontact tribal groups have tended to focus on the enviro... more Ecological studies of prehistoric and precontact tribal groups have tended to focus on the environmental aspects of ecology; far less research has explored the social, economic, and political interactions that influence interactions between a group and its environment and landscape. In this research, we present a comprehensive approach to studying tribal swidden agricultural ecology through the use of archaeological settlement patterns. We use a combination of ceramic analysis, landscape reconstruction, and discriminant function analysis to explore the relationships between settlement location, size, and various environmental and cultural features of the landscape. Our work focuses on societies of the upper Yadkin River Valley in the North Carolina Piedmont during 800–1600 CE. Our results indicate that sociopolitical factors strongly influenced ecology, suggesting that we take more inclusive approaches to studying the influences on the settlement and ecology of tribal cultures.
Eight years ago, Ramenofsky et al. (2003) characterized the discussion of the impact of Old World... more Eight years ago, Ramenofsky et al. (2003) characterized the discussion of the impact of Old World diseases on Native American populations as almost exclusively historical in nature. They specifically argued for the application of more evolutionary, genetic, and epidemiological theory to research into this topic. We agree with their assessment and further suggest that such research would greatly benefit from spatial analyses of disease spread as well. Using trend surface analysis of existing ethnohistorical and archaeological data pertaining to population sizes and disease events, we examine the spatiotemporal dimensions of 17th century depopulation in northeastern North America. The subsequent results allow us to predict possible depopulation rates for populations with very little demographic data. Further, our use of biological, historical, and cultural data to interpret the results represents an attempt to provide a more complex explanation for the variability in cultural survivability across the region and several possible avenues for productive future research. We believe research like this can significantly improve our understanding of how Old World diseases affected historic Native American populations and cultures and continue to impact them today.
Much of the discussion about North American pre-contact and contact period populations has focuse... more Much of the discussion about North American pre-contact and contact period populations has focused on continent-wide estimates. Although the associated work has produced valuable information on the demographic and cultural history of the continent, it has failed to generate agreed upon estimates, population trends, or detailed demographic knowledge of Native American cultures. Using archaeological settlement remains and methods developed in recent research on Iroquoian cultures, this study estimates and examines population trends for the Onondaga and Oneida cultures of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) from A.D. 1500 to A.D. 1700. Onondaga population appears to have increased until the mid-seventeenth century when drastic declines in settlement area and population size occur. This depopulation event is both several decades after first contact with Europeans and at least a decade after the first known depopulation event among the Haudenosaunee. Oneida populations show a much more complex history that suggests the need for more detailed analyses of contact period Native American population data. In conjunction with archaeological evidence and ethnohistoric information, the population trends generated by this study create a model of two pre-contact Native American populations and display the effects of European contact on those populations.
The Seneca are an original member of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and one of several ... more The Seneca are an original member of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and one of several Northern Iroquoian societies that inhabited northeastern North America during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This research explores their population history during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Previous studies of Northern Iroquoian populations identified steady population increase until contact with Europeans, no evidence of pre-contact diseases, and drastic depopulation resulting from interaction with European societies. Similar patterns were expected in this research. Using archaeological settlement data, collected with non- and minimally invasive survey techniques, and ethnohistoric information this article estimates the population trends of the Seneca. The results show a highly complex population history that includes pre-contact population losses, in- and out-migration episodes, significant losses from Old World diseases, and rapid population recovery.
The settlement patterns of sixteenth and seventeenth century Northern Iroquoian cultures have bee... more The settlement patterns of sixteenth and seventeenth century Northern Iroquoian cultures have been studied since the mid-1800s, resulting in an excellent sample of settlements and descriptions of their respective features. Research into the environmental and cultural factors responsible for creating these patterns has been a more recent undertaking. In this research, I examine the landscape and environmental characteristics of 125 Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) settlements and their respective catchments. I compare the pattern of settlement to a random distribution to determine the environmental and sociopolitical features that distinguish the two datasets. The results show that transportation routes, conditions favorable for agricultural production, and dense hardwood growth significantly influenced the placement of settlements. Defensive concerns appear to have been met more through spatially independent methods, such as palisade construction, than by living at elevated locations or those with dominant viewsheds. This information is helpful in not only understanding the Haudenosaunee settlement system, but also for developing effective methods for investigating the environmental and sociopolitical factors influencing the settlement of past societies.
Conference Presentations by Eric E . Jones
Poster presentation for Society for American Archaeology annual conference.
Virtual poster presentation for Society for Historical Archaeology annual conference.
Poster presentation for the Southeastern Archaeological Conference.
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Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters by Eric E . Jones
Conference Presentations by Eric E . Jones
The Southeast, particularly the Piedmont, is an ideal area to study the spatial and landscape components of complexity because it was one of the few areas of North America occupied simultaneously by complex and non-complex societies. Furthermore, this area has a long history of archaeological research and detailed accounts from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This three-year study will examine the environmental and cultural landscape features that influenced the patterning of societies of varying complexity. It will do this using a combination of archaeological excavation and survey, modeling of past landscapes using historical, geological, geographic, and environmental data, and geographic information systems (GIS)-based spatial analyses. The results will explain why some locations saw the development of social and political hierarchies and others did not.
With regard to broader impacts, Dr. Jones’ research will be one of the few projects to examine and compare the landscapes of non-hierarchical and hierarchical societies in North America. Understanding the origins of social hierarchies and related landscapes has the potential to inform us about our own social structure, specifically with regards to interactions with the environment. Undergraduates will be involved in all levels of research, including archival work, fieldwork, artifact and spatial analyses, and the presentation and publication of results. Each year Dr. Jones and students will organize public archaeology events inviting students, local residents, and representatives from local Native American communities to engage in conversations about local history, the importance of cultural historic preservation, and Native American cultures and history. Information from this research will also be integrated into the Wake Forest Museum of Anthropology and will be made available as a digital database for other researchers.
This volume challenges archaeologists to rethink the two major dichotomies of European versus non-European and prehistoric versus historic colonialism, which can be limiting, self-imposed boundaries. By bringing together contributors working in different regions and time periods, this volume examines the variability in colonial administrative strategies, local forms of resistance to cultural assimilation, hybridized cultural traditions, and other cross-cultural interactions within a global, comparative framework. Taken together these essays argue that crossing these frontiers of study will give anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians more power to recognize and explain the highly varied local impacts of colonialism.
The research in this volume represents a new wave of spatial research—exploring beyond settlement patterning to the process and the meaning behind spatial arrangement of past communities and people—and describes new approaches being used for better understanding of past Northern Iroquoian societies. Addressing topics ranging from household task-scapes and gender relations to bioarchaeology and social network analysis, Process and Meaning in Spatial Archaeology demonstrates the vitality of current archaeological research into ancestral Northern Iroquoian societies and its growing contribution to wider debates in North American archaeology.
This cutting-edge research will be of interest to archaeologists globally, as well as academics and graduate students studying Northern Iroquoian societies and cultures, geography, and spatial analysis.
Contributors: Kathleen M. S. Allen, Jennifer A. Birch, William Engelbrecht, Crystal Forrest, John P. Hart, Sandra Katz, Robert H. Pihl, Aleksandra Pradzynski, Erin C. Rodriguez, Dean R. Snow, Ronald F. Williamson, Rob Wojtowicz