Evaluating narratives of ecocide with the stratigraphic record at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Illinois, USA (original) (raw)

A record of sustained prehistoric and historic land use from the Cahokia region, Illinois, USA

Geology, 2014

In eastern North America, large prehistoric settlements were concentrated in and along the fl oodplains of the midcontinent, but few sedimentary records have been examined adjacent to these sites to evaluate the impacts of Native American land use on terrestrial ecosystems. Here we report a high-resolution and multiproxy paleoecological record from Horseshoe Lake, an oxbow lake in the central Mississippi River valley that is adjacent to the Cahokia site (Illinois, USA), the largest prehistoric settlement north of Mexico. Palynological and carbon isotope data document pronounced vegetation changes over the past 1700 yr driven primarily by land use, including 900 yr (450-1350 CE) of sustained prehistoric human impacts. Rapid forest clearance was followed closely by the proliferation of indigenous seed crops of the Eastern Agricultural Complex beginning ca. 450 CE, centuries before the emergence of Cahokia at 1050 CE. Agricultural intensifi cation that included the use of maize (Zea mays subsp. mays) followed this initial clearance, with peak land use intensity between 900 and 1200 CE. A large fl ood event ca. 1200 CE marks the onset of agricultural contraction and Cahokia's decline. Reforestation follows the abandonment of the Cahokia region at ca. 1350 CE. The Horseshoe Lake record thus indicates that regional agricultural activity began abruptly at 450 CE and intensifi ed over the following centuries, well before the formation of Cahokia and other large prehistoric settlements. The evidence that a major fl ood coincided with the onset of Cahokia's decline is noteworthy, but will require corroboration from additional records.

The Case of the Caldwell Mound: A Woodland Period Mound in the Central Scioto River Valley

MIDCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, 2020

This article presents a reconstruction and analysis of the Caldwell Mound located in the central Scioto River valley of southern Ohio. The mound contained a log tomb, at least four burials, and associated funerary objects. Four AMS radiocarbon dates place the Caldwell Mound within the last century BC and first century AD, and the mound contains evidence of practices historically associated with “Adena” and “Hopewell.” Few other records exist from this period in the region despite it experiencing perhaps some of the most dramatic socioreligious transformations in precolumbian North America. This analysis documents early evidence for the diversification and segregation of leadership roles based on the interpretation of three buried individuals. It also demonstrates the utility and efficacy of working with amateur-produced records and collections, even when incomplete, to reconstruct and glean insight from important Woodland period sites.

The Myrick Park Mounds (47Lc10), an Effigy Mound Site in Western Wisconsin (2018)

Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology , 2018

The earliest documented excavation of an effigy mound group by a professional archaeologist occurred in 1883 when Frederic Ward Putnam and local acquaintances excavated portions of four mounds at the Myrick Park site (47Lc10) in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Putnam worked on one effigy (similar to the short-tailed turtle form) and three conical mounds. Theodore H. Lewis visited the site in 1885 and mapped one additional conical mound. We examined documentation and collections housed at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. Artifacts include a portion of a Madison Cord Impressed jar (a common Effigy Mound offering) and a trailed rim sherd similar to terminal Late Woodland types. Human remains represent a minimum of 23 individuals: 18 adults and 5 subadults. Dental and skeletal evidence indicates a relatively healthy population with low levels of nutritional deficiency, early life stress, and trauma, similar to other regional Late Woodland populations.

The Myrick Park Mounds (47Lc10), an Effigy Mound Site in Western Wisconsin

Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, 2018

The earliest documented excavation of an effigy mound group by a professional archaeologist occurred in 1883 when Frederic Ward Putnam and local acquaintances excavated portions of four mounds at the Myrick Park site (47Lc10) in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Putnam worked on one effigy (similar to the short-tailed turtle form) and three conical mounds. Theodore H. Lewis visited the site in 1885 and mapped one additional conical mound. We examined documentation and collections housed at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. Artifacts include a portion of a Madison Cord Impressed jar (a common Effigy Mound offering) and a trailed rim sherd similar to terminal Late Woodland types. Human remains represent a minimum of 23 individuals: 18 adults and 5 subadults. Dental and skeletal evidence indicates a relatively healthy population with low levels of nutritional deficiency, early life stress, and trauma, similar to other regional Late Woodland populations.