PREHISTORIC OVERVIEW of 
THE NORTH CAROLINA SANDHILLS

Paleoindian Period (10,500-8,000 B.C.)
The earliest humans, or Paleoindians, in the North Carolina Sandhills were the descendants of the first people to migrate across and colonize North America during the Ice Age (Pleistocene Epoch).  Paleoindian peoples entered the Sandhills at a time when the climate and natural environments were quite different from the present.  Temperatures were colder, winters harsh, and northern tree species and more hardwoods existed on the landscape.  Broad-scale changes in climate, vegetation, and the types of animals occurred at the close of the Pleistocene throughout North America.  Numerous species of large mammals, including camels, llamas, woodland musk oxen, horses, mammoths, and mastodons went extinct.  As they moved about the landscape, Paleoindians relied on many of these animals for food and other resources such as bone tools and hides for clothing,

The early portion of the Paleoindian period is marked by the Clovis point, which roughly dates to 9,500–8,900 B.C. Clovis and other fluted point types were exquisitely designed and crafted. Microscopic wear patterns on their bases and blade edges show that they were hafted to wooden shafts and used as either spear point or knife.  Clovis points are widely distributed across the North American continent, suggesting a high degree of mobility and at least some degree of interaction between groups.   

While only one Clovis point is recorded on Fort Bragg, reflecting a low density of Clovis sites throughout the Coastal Plain, several Late Paleoindian sites have been identified.  As part of the broader Dalton tradition that occurs over much of southeastern North America, several Hardaway-Dalton and Hardaway Side-Notched points have been found on Fort Bragg.  Hardaway points (ca. 8,500—7,500 B.C.) are well known from the North Carolina Piedmont site of the same name and are clearly precursors of subsequent Early Archaic points.  If the Clovis site on Fort Bragg represents an early explorer to the region, Hardaway sites represent the first real settlers.

Early Archaic Period (8,000-6,000 B.C.)
In the Early Archaic period, population growth and an infilling of the landscape is evident.  There is a significant increase in the number of Early Archaic sites compared to Paleoindian and the former sites are widely distributed, from upland ridges to lowland toe slopes and floodplains.  Following the decline of large fauna and the emergence of a more modern climate, groups began to exploit a broad range of resources, building seasonal rounds on scheduled, strategic movements across the landscape.  Sites dating to the Early Archaic period represent short-term hunting and collecting camps and larger upland base camps from which logistical forays were launched.  More substantial base camps may have existed on the Cape Fear River, where spring fish runs were probably vital resources throughout prehistory.  Highly mobile, Early Archaic hunters and gatherers organized themselves into small groups that coalesced annually in order to affirm social networks and important alliances.  The latter social aggregations may have occurred during resource-rich seasons such as fall nut, deer and turkey harvests or spring fish runs.       

The high degree of craftsmanship evident in the Paleoindian period continues in well-made Early Archaic toolkits consisting of corner-notched hafted points and knives and scrapers.  Early Archaic people were some of the most discriminating when it came to stone raw materials preferring the metamorphosed volcanic material found in the Uwharrie Mountains.  As Early Archaic cultures became regionally adapted, stone tools became increasingly distinct from one region to the next.  On Fort Bragg, Early Archaic sites are represented by Kirk and Palmer Corner-Notched, and Big Sandy Side-Notched projectile points. 

Middle Archaic Period (6,000–3,000 B.C.)
The Middle Archaic period witnesses gradual population increase in the Sandhills and throughout much of the Southeast.  This long period corresponds with another episode of environmental change.  While in the Midwest the continent underwent a warming and drying pattern known as the Hypsithermal, the Southeast became warmer and wetter and it is this period when the southern pine forest began to dominate the interior Coastal Plain. 

On Fort Bragg Middle Archaic sites are numerous but widespread.  Most of these sites appear to be similar in function indicating that groups moved their residences frequently, with less logistical organization than their predecessors.  Compared to the Early Archaic period, stone tools became simpler and toolkits less diverse and in the latter portion of the Middle Archaic, local quartz utilization increased significantly.  These trends may reflect changes in adaptation as well as population pressure restricting access to the Uwharrie Mountain stone preferred in the Early Archaic.         

Projectile points from this time period are subdivided into four types--Kirk Stemmed/Serrated (ca. 6,000--58,000 B.C.), Stanly Stemmed (6,000—5,500 B.C.), Morrow Mountain (ca. 5,500—4,000 B.C.), and Guilford (ca. 4,000—3,000 B.C.).  Kirk Stemmed/Serrated and Stanly Stemmed represent the early portion of the Middle Archaic and are relatively infrequent finds on Fort Bragg.  Morrow Mountain and Guilford points are some of the most common point types found.  The stark contrast in style and craftsmanship between these points and earlier ones has led some researchers to suggest a migration of people from the north into North Carolina.  The first solid archaeological evidence of atlatl use comes in the Middle Archaic period, though it might have been used earlier.  An atlatl (Aztec for spear thrower) is a device used to throw a dart with much greater velocity than a thrusting spear.                      

Late Archaic Period (3,000–1,000 B.C.)
The Late Archaic period in the Southeast and Middle South is broadly characterized by increases in population, social complexity, and long-distance exchange.  Population levels in the Sandhills during the Late Archaic are roughly consistent with the Middle Archaic.  While large shell midden sites appear along the coast and along major floodplains in the interior Coastal Plain, providing evidence for semi-sedentary populations, permanent architecture, tool and craft production, and ceremonial burial customs, evidence for these kinds of activities and large aggregation sites are absent from the Sandhills.  Here Late Archaic sites continue to represent short-term camps occupied during seasonal hunting and gathering forays as groups adapted to an established longleaf pine ecosystem.  The relatively low-density of resources in the longleaf pine forest may have fostered a relatively simple, more mobile egalitarian society.  Still, the adoption of widely popular stone tool technology (Savannah River Stemmed—see below), and the presence of soapstone sherds, suggests the local population was anything but isolated.        

A single stone tool acts as the most common symbol of the Late Archaic period.  The Savannah River Stemmed point is part of a broad spear tradition that stretches from the Southeast to New England.  These points are often large broad blades with square stems.  Through time these points decrease in size.  Savannah River points, especially the larger ones, were likely used as cutting tools or knives more than spear or projectile points.  

Toward the end of the Late Archaic a significant innovation occurs in container technology.  There is a shift away from basketry, which was likely used since Paleoindian times, towards vessels made of stone and clay.  Stone vessels were carved from steatite or soapstone, and were heavy, flat-bottom containers with side handles or lugs.  Early clay or ceramic vessels are rare but have been found in the Coastal Plain.  The earliest pottery seen in the Sandhills consists of fiber (plant) tempered, plain surfaced sherds.  These vessels may have been use as containers to hold stews or soups heated by placing hot rocks among the contents, similar to the way baskets were used in the Archaic period.  Later vessels tempered with sand and dried clay were probably placed directly on cooking fires. 

Early Woodland Period (1,000–300 B.C.)
The Early Woodland period is characterized by the widespread adoption of ceramic vessel technology, though limited use of steatite vessels still occurs.  The use of clay pots from the Early Woodland through late prehistory presents the archaeologist with an important tool for measuring the age of prehistoric sites.  Differences in clay recipes, vessel style and decoration changed through time and differed by region, allowing creation of ceramic types that reflect culture areas and time periods or phases.  In the Sandhills Early Woodland pots were made with granite, hornblende, or chlorite schist as tempering agents in the clay.  These minor ingredients originated in the Piedmont, revealing the continuation of Late Archaic procurement networks through which soapstone and Carolina Slate Belt materials were acquired.   

Stone tool technology is marked by a slight change in projectile point style.  Small stemmed points, similar to the smaller Savannah River stemmed variety appear to be the most common Early Woodland point.  These points include the Gypsy Stemmed and Swannanoa.  The overwhelming majority of these points from Fort Bragg are made of Uwharrie Mountain stone.  Also appearing in this time period is the earliest version of a new tool type, a triangular point called Badin.

The Early Woodland is represented by few sites on Fort Bragg, particularly when compared to the preceding Late Archaic.  This may reflect population decline or changes in regional settlement.  The Early Woodland remains one of the least understood periods in regional prehistory however, and further study may reveal more sites and diagnostic artifacts associated with this time.   

Middle Woodland Period (300 B.C.–A.D. 800)
A dramatic population increase occurs in the Middle Woodland period in the Sandhills as the number of sites increases greatly.  Most of these sites are identified by the presence of pottery.  Grog (fired clay) and sand tempered, fabric-impressed Hanover series pottery is generally associated with the Middle Woodland period and is the most commonly found type of pottery on Fort Bragg.  Throughout the southern Coastal Plain of North Carolina, Cape Fear series pottery is found in the Middle Woodland as well.  Cape Fear pottery is sand-tempered with cord-stamped exterior walls.

The Middle Woodland period in the Sandhills is characterized by the first major use of locally available quartz stone for making the tips for new bow and arrow technology.  The latter is thought to have been adopted throughout much of the southeast by A.D. 500.  The fact that quartz, not Uwharrie rhyolite or other Carolina Slate Belt stone, became the predominant raw material suggests less movement between the Piedmont and Sandhills and perhaps the first year-round residents of the Sandhills and neighboring Upper Cape Fear region.  

By the Middle Woodland period, prehistoric cultures throughout much of eastern North America are reliant to some degree on horticulture, focusing on domesticated plants such as sump weed, chenopod, and sunflower.  There is little archaeological evidence of these plants being cultivated or consumed in eastern North Carolina however, prior to the Late Woodland.  Indeed, the numerous Middle Woodland sites on Fort Bragg seem to reflect a mobile, hunting and gathering lifestyle.  These sites are notably different from earlier Archaic sites however, in their frequent location adjacent upland water sources.  Small family units occupied these lowland campsites on a seasonal basis. 

Late Woodland Period (A.D. 800–1500)
Pottery associated with the Late Woodland period in the Sandhills is only beginning to be understood.  A late variant of the Hanover series, tempered mainly with grog and no sand, appears to be present in the Sandhills as late as A.D. 1500.  Other Late Woodland pottery common along the southern coast, e.g., shell-tempered Oak Island series, is not found in the Sandhills.  The frequency of late Hanover pottery sites seems to be somewhat lower than preceding Middle Woodland sites, suggesting some possible population decline or perhaps a reduction in seasonal mobility.  Triangular arrow tips persist and continue to be made of quartz though there is a slight decrease in size.        

One of the more intriguing aspects of the Late Woodland period in the Sandhills is the development of a burial mound complex.  Several burial mounds existed in the Sandhills, and the largest mound, McLean, was located just east of Fayetteville near the Cape Fear River.  These burial mounds were accretional bone beds, where the dead were interred over a period of many years, and in some cases over multiple generations.  These sacred ritual sites symbolize the collective identity of lineage groups. 

Burial mounds in and around the Sandhills represent an intensification of mortuary ritual likely reflective of socially dynamic and relatively intense times.  The emphasis on communal or corporate identity may be a response to increased stress brought on by the risks inherent in reliance on cultivated crops.  Though evidence of agriculture is again lacking, tropical cultigens corn and beans appear in several sites in North Carolina during the Late Woodland as natives adopted agriculture.  A growing awareness of the external world and increasing territorialism may have been additional sources of social stress.  It is the Late Woodland period when social territories become clearly defined in the archaeological record, with the southern coastal region bordered by the Pee Dee (Muskogean) chiefdom to the west, Siouan hill tribes to the northwest in the Piedmont, Tuscarora (Iroquoian) in the northern Coastal Plain, and Algonquian tribes along the outer Coastal Plain.  Non-local trade items found in mounds (marine shell beads, smoking pipes, conch shells, copper and mica), reveal interaction with some of these other societies.  Interestingly, while the Mississippian chiefdom system developed to the south and west of the Sandhills, Late Woodland people of the North Carolina Sandhills did not participate.  In fact, evidence seems to suggest they preferred to ally themselves with the cultures of the Mid-Atlantic region.