Book chapter
Eastern Atlantic Coast
The Cambridge World Prehistory, pp.1293-1308
Cambridge University Press
08/05/2014
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/118772
Abstract
For the purpose of this chapter, we divide the region into a northeastern and southeastern Atlantic Coast (referred to hereafter as the Northeast and the Southeast), noting the similarities and differences in the two regions’ prehistory. Both regions have a long history of archaeological research stretching back to some of the earliest archaeological work in North America during the 19th and early 20th centuries (e.g., Jeffries Wyman, Frederick Ward Putnam, C. C. Abbott and William Henry Holmes).
Ecological Setting
The Northeast includes the modern states of New England and New York: this is essentially the previously glaciated northeastern United States. The Northeast includes two primary eco-regions (areas of general homogeneity in ecosystems and their components: geology, physiography and hydrology, vegetation, soil, climate and wildlife), (1) the coastal plain and (2) the interior highlands, which are bisected by a range of both large and small river valleys (Map 2.34.1). The Northeast also includes a series of large and small offshore islands that were formed during the Pleistocene, mostly by glacial moraines, and which are overlain by outwash deposits. These islands and landforms include Long Island, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and a series of smaller islands.
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Details
- Title
- Eastern Atlantic Coast
- Creators
- Elizabeth S Chilton - Washington State University, Office of the ProvostMeredith D Hardy - Southeast
- Publication Details
- The Cambridge World Prehistory, pp.1293-1308
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Identifiers
- 99900865633701842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Book chapter