LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: WHERE IS THE BEST AREA IN A LARGE ALLUVIAL VALLEY TO STUDY SITE SELECTION OVER LONG TIME SPANS?

Known archeological site distribution is largely controlled by local environments for reasons of site selection, site preservation, and site identification. Archeological site identification in the Lower Mississippi Valley is in part dependent on the erosion and deposition patterns of the river. On a large scale, the latest Quaternary and Holocene sediment that fills the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley and is likely to be contemporaneous with human occupation is wedge-shaped, and thickens from the upstream (north) portion of the valley to the downstream (south) Gulf of Mexico coastline. A single active meander belt is present in the upstream portion of the valley and up to six (one active and five abandoned) meander belts are present in the central and lower alluvial valley. The abandoned meander belts are in the process of being buried by overbank sediment and become less distinct with time and to the south where deposition is thicker. The best portion of a major alluvial valley to study site selection over a long time span is in the central valley because abandoned meander belts of various ages provide areas where site erosion is not significant and site burial is absent or minimal so that site identification is relatively easy. In the northern valley, north of approximately 35.5 degrees North latitude (central Arkansas/southern Tennessee), erosion of older sites is a problem as the river continually reworks its meander belt. In the southern valley, south of approximately 33.5 degrees North latitude (south of Greenville, Mississippi), burial of older sites makes identification of older sites difficult.