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tends to follow gentler slopes with rolling elevations ranging from about 490 to 590 ft
<br /> above Mean Sea Level.
<br /> The soils in this region are generally formed from materials resulting from
<br /> weathering slate (Dunn 1977 : 4) . These soils include the Georgeville-Herndon- Tatum
<br /> association, mostly found along the western half of the corridor. Dunn describes these
<br /> soils as "Gently sloping to moderately steep , well drained soils that have a surface layer
<br /> of silt loam and a subsoil of clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, and clay , on uplands"
<br /> (Dunn 1977 : General Soil Map after p . 94, see also p . 5 ) . Lands closer to the Eno River
<br /> tend to be part of the Tatum- Goldston association described as "Sloping to steep, well
<br /> drained soils that have a surface layer of silt loam and slaty silt loam and a subsoil of silty
<br /> clay, silty clay loam, and slaty silt loam; on uplands " (Dunn 1977 : General Soil Map after
<br /> p . 94 , see also p . 5 ) . The remaining soils, north and east of the Eno River, tend to fall
<br /> within the Georgeville-Herndon association of "Gently sloping to moderately steep , well
<br /> drained soils that have a surface layer of silt loam and a subsoil of clay loam, silty clay
<br /> loam, silty clay and clay; on uplands (Dunn 1977 : General Soil Map after p . 94 , see also
<br /> PP • 4 - 5) •
<br /> This region is composed of metasedimentary and metavolca.ruc rocks (e . g. ,
<br /> andesitic- dacitic tuffs) and lithics falling within the Mafic igneous complex (Wilson and
<br /> Carpenter 1975 : Plate 1 ) . It also contains a wide variety of minerals . The region was
<br /> mined historically . A crushed stone mine and a copper mine are listed as inactive mines
<br /> in the 1970s . The copper mine was located north of St . Mary ' s Road, east of Pleasant
<br /> Green Road . The crushed stone mining operations were located south of St . Mary ' s in
<br /> the same vicinity, south and west of Buckwater Creek Wilson and Y ( Carpenter 1975 : Plate
<br /> 3 ) .
<br /> Historically the project area would have been covered in a mixture of hardwood
<br /> forest ( e . g . , oaks , poplars, hickory, sweetgum, maple, beech, ash) and pine (e . g . , loblolly)
<br /> (Hargrove 1982 : 4) . These forests would have provided a rich resource base for animals
<br /> such as deer, beaver, .mink, rabbit, turkey, quail, opossum, raccoon, and even bison.
<br /> Predators such as wolves, bobcat, bear, and mountain lions would have hunted these
<br /> animals . Waterfowl and other birds, such as the passenger pigeon, would have also
<br /> inhabited the region (Hargrove 1982 : 4 after Dunn 1977 ; Shelford 19749 Lawson in Lefler
<br /> 1967) . This rich habitat also provided a fine resource base for human beings throughout
<br /> much of the historic period .
<br /> Prehistoric Overview
<br /> Archaeologists have identified a series of general prehistoric cultural periods
<br /> based on distinctions in material culture, site distribution patterns , and concomitant
<br /> changes , in the cultural spheres of technology, economy, belief structures , and social
<br /> organization. These cultural periods are discussed below.
<br /> Paleo - Indian Period-
<br /> At the end of the Pleistocene and beginning of the Holocene , the cool and dry
<br /> climate and associated boreal tundra and spruce/pine forest was replaced by a cooler and
<br /> wet environment with an associated deciduous forest cover (Anderson and O ' Steen
<br /> 1992403 ; Daniel 1994 : 6 ; Goodyear et. al . 1989 : 19-23 ) . Early native groups would have
<br /> adapted to these changing environmental conditions . The earliest recorded human
<br /> 4
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