The LaGrange Rock Shelter is an archaeological site located on private property between
Leighton
Leighton may refer to:
Places
In Australia:
* Leighton, Western Australia, a beachside locality
In the United Kingdom:
*Leighton, Cambridgeshire
*Leighton, Cheshire
*Leighton, North Yorkshire
**Leighton Reservoir
* Leighton, Shropshire
*Leighto ...
and
Muscle Shoals in
Colbert County, Alabama, near the original campus of LaGrange College. The shelter measures 70 feet long by 15 feet deep (21m by 4.5m) and is located beneath a
sandstone outcrop overlooking a dense series of
Paleoindian sites in the valley below, which may have led to it being chosen for excavation.
Excavations of the site occurred over two seasons, beginning in 1972 with Charles Hubbert as principal investigator and ending in 1975 with Vernon J. Knight Jr as principal investigator, with both seasons under the direction of
David L. DeJarnette David Lloyd DeJarnette (1907-1991) was an archaeologist and professor with the University of Alabama, generally considered the "Father of Alabama Archaeology".
Education and early career
DeJarnette was born in Bessemer, Alabama in 1907 and studied ...
of the
University of Alabama. Lower levels of the shelter produced
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
samples that were
radiocarbon dated to approximately 11,280 BC, placing estimates of the site's habitation within what is believed to be the
Paleoindian Period. At the time of the discovery, only one other site east of the
Mississippi River had been dated to that age.
The charcoal consisted of small flecks associated with light debitage below a definitive Early Archaic to Late Paleoindian (
Dalton culture) zone.
After careful consideration, DeJarnette and Knight suggested that the charcoal originated from an upper level and migrated to the lower level due to breakdown of the original shelter floor.
Although the
Paleoindian date may be questioned, the site also contained a remarkable Early Archaic burial, one of the oldest burials uncovered in the State of Alabama.
The site was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
References
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Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama
National Register of Historic Places in Colbert County, Alabama
Paleo-Indian archaeological sites in the United States
Rock shelters in the United States
Former populated places in Alabama
Archaeological sites in Alabama
Native American history of Alabama
Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama