Early Terminal Late Woodland Ceramic Assemblages from the Vaughn Branch Upland Locality in the Northern American Bottom

Three early Terminal Late Woodland occupations were discovered in the dissect-ed uplands of the northern American Bottom during ISAS excavations as a part of the IDOT proposed FAP-310 project. Two sites, Grove and Bay Pony, are situated on upland ridges adjacent to Vaughn Branch, an intermittent stream draining into the Mississippi River floodplain. An additional Terminal Late Woodland occupa-tion was uncovered at the Vasey site situated south of Vaughn Branch on the bluff edge overlooking the Mississippi River floodplain. A unique ceramic assemblage dated to the transitional Late Woodland/rerminal Late Woodland or early stages of the Terminal Late Woodland period was recovered from the Grove site. This assemblage is characterized by undecorated cordmarked to the lip vessels that are frequently tempered with chert. The Bay Pony ceramic assemblage is character-ized by the presence of Late Bluff jars, the majority of which are made of Madison County Shale paste, and are believed to represent a Loyd phase affiliation. The early Terminal Late Woodland ceramic assemblage at the Vasey site represents a hybrid of cordmarked to the lip vessels intermixed with the Late Bluff jars, and possibly as-sociated with the Collinsville phase. The discovery of these assemblages adds new data for understanding Early Terminal Late Woodland taxonomy in the Northern American Bottom.