ABSTRACT

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.

摘要

从公元 600 年到 1600 年，三角形箭头是北美东部的主要射弹点形式。尽管三角点的研究比早期技术少，但在过去 25 年中，人们对它们的形态、功能和时间关系进行了重要研究。阅读这些作品的一个重要观察结果是，区域之间和区域内的三角形形式存在明显的可变性。然而，这种变异性尚未通过定量手段进行广泛研究。在这项研究中，我们检查了来自亚德金河上游河谷的两个 Piedmont Siouan 遗址的 199 个点的集合，其历史可追溯至公元 1300-1600 年。我们使用判别函数分析分析了七个离散属性，并为这三种形式的同时存在和形态随时间变化的证据找到了定量支持。我们随后通过检查这些类型的背景和破损模式来讨论它们在社会、政治和经济活动中的作用。然后，我们将我们的结果与北美东部其他地区的结果进行比较，以解决为什么会随着时间的推移发生这种可变性和变化。