Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter facts for kids
The Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter is a very important rock shelter located in Colbert County, Alabama in the northwestern part of Alabama, United States. It's a special place because of the amazing clues left behind by ancient people called Paleo-Indians. These clues help us understand how people lived thousands of years ago.
The shelter is found in Sanderson Cove, near a small stream that flows into Cane Creek. This area, with its tall bluffs, offered a safe and protected home for the Native American groups who lived there. Experts believe the Stanfield-Worley Rock Shelter is so important that it could become a National Historic Landmark.
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History of the Shelter
Archaeologists have found evidence that people lived at the Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter for a very long time. They were there from the Paleoindian Period all the way to the Mississippian period. This means people used the shelter for about 9,000 years!
The ground inside the shelter is like a layered cake. Each layer, called a stratigraphic zone, holds clues from different times. By studying these layers, scientists can learn how ancient societies in northern Alabama changed over thousands of years.
The Dalton Zone: Ancient Hunters
One of the most important layers is called the Dalton zone. This layer shows us about a group of Paleo-Indians from around 7000 BCE (about 9,000 years ago). Scientists used a method called radiocarbon dating to figure out how old these items are.
The tools found here tell us that the Dalton people were hunter-gatherers. This means they moved around to find food, hunting animals and gathering plants. Archaeologists found over 150 projectile points in this zone. These points were used on spears or darts for hunting. They also found other tools like scrapers and knives.
Some of the projectile points were from the Paleo-Indian time, like the long, thin Dalton points. Others were from a later time, the Archaic period, like the Big Sandy points with notches on the sides. People also made tools from wood, antler, and bone tools.
The Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter is special because it has well-preserved animal and plant remains. These remains help us understand what life was like back then. Scientists found bones from animals like deer, squirrel, turkey, and even porcupines. They also found bones of the extinct passenger pigeon.
Even though the Dalton people hunted similar animals to later groups, they didn't collect shellfish or process seeds. These activities became common for people in the Archaic period.
Later Periods: Middle Archaic to Mississippian
The layers above the Dalton zone also hold important discoveries. One layer, from the Middle Archaic period, contained three sets of human remains. It also had more projectile points, bone awls, and other tools. The very top layers showed evidence of people living there through the Archaic and Mississippian periods.
Archaeological Discoveries
How the Site Was Explored
Archaeologists started digging at the Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter in 1960. They got permission from the owner, Robert B. Stanfield. The project was a team effort between the Alabama Archaeological Society, the University of Alabama, and the Archaeological Research Association of Alabama.
The first two years of digging (1960 and 1961) were led by David L. DeJarnette and his team. They used a special method called the trench and block technique. Imagine digging trenches to create square sections of earth. This way, they could carefully dig down layer by layer, keeping track of everything they found. The pictures show these trenches and blocks. Over 11,000 items were found during these digs!
Why This Site Is Important
By 1960, it was clear that northern Alabama had many important Paleo-Indian sites. One example is the Quad Site near Decatur, Alabama. The Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter is especially important because it helped scientists figure out the exact age of Dalton projectile points. This made the site famous in studies about early North American history.
The 1960 dig alone found over 150 projectile points. This huge collection gave archaeologists a lot of information about many early cultures in Alabama. The points were sorted into many different types. Much of this information was later put into the Handbook of Alabama Archaeology, a key book for understanding Alabama's past.
Many experts praised the project for raising money to support archaeological research.
