Resource or Ritual? The Role of Lithic Caches in the Colonization and Socialization of Midwestern Landscapes

Clovis lithic caches (points, bifaces and blades/flakes) have been documented across the heartland, especially west of the Mississippian River. With few excep-tions, researchers have interpreted Clovis caches as utilitarian deposits used by pio-neering populations of mobile hunters to provision vast unexplored and lithic-poor landscapes. Non-utilitarian or ritual interpretations of these and other early caches have not been fully explored. In this paper, we explore ritual interpretations of early caches from a landscape perspective. We compare and contrast Clovis caches with Dalton caches and other early Holocene caches from the Mississippi Valley. By an-alyzing the content, condition, and context of caches, we develop lines of evidence that support the notion that many early caches were ritual offerings used to create cultural (socialized) landscapes.