Hayti Bypass

This 400 page volume presents the results of excavations at the Hayti Bypass site conducted for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department. Over 200 features were excavated at the site, providing some of the best available data on Woodland and Early Mississippian occupations in the Mississippi River valley of the Missouri Bootheel. Ten radiocarbon dates and an extensive ceramic assemblage demonstrated the presence of a significant Middle Woodland component. The Mississippian component, part of the Varney tradition, dates to ca. A.D. 1050.

This site report presents extensive analyses of ceramics, lithics, features, and subsistence remains. The botanical analysis is especially significant as it represents one of the few studies of Woodland and Mississippian subsistence conducted with modern flotation techniques. It revealed that both the Woodland and Mississippian occupants grew significant amounts of native seed crops; maize is also common in the Mississippian component, though at a relatively low level.