Middle Woodland/Hopewell Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The horizons of Hopewellian archaeology have broadened in recent years from an almost exclusive focus on mounds and earthworks to include a view of the wider context surrounding these civic-ceremonial facilities. Since 1994 the National Park Service has been engaged in a long-term project intended to identify and evaluate the full range of domestic habitations and other special activity areas surrounding the Hopeton Works in Ross County, Ohio. This paper summarizes these efforts with a particular focus on the 1997 field season at the "Redwing" component, a small Hopewellian activity area located just beyond the walls at the Hopeton Works.

- by Hailey Paige
- •
- Archaeology, Material Culture Studies, Lithic Technology, Material Culture

Minimum Analytical Nodule Analysis (MANA) continues to gain popularity among lithic analysts as a compliment to refitting. Despite the increased use of MANA in the last two decades, all implementations focus on the same types of sites, those occupied by hunter-gatherers and our foraging ancestors. This paper represents the first formal attempt to explore the utility of MANA among groups with different levels of mobility and social organization. This is accomplished by examining the bladelet industry utilized by horticultural groups at two ceremonially oriented Hopewell earthworks. This attempt to expand the scope of MANA can be labeled as a success which yielded information on bladelet production and discard processes, as well as an additional line of evidence on temporal relationships at the sites. Issues were encountered, however, in data integration common when multiple archaeologists lead independent investigations at large sites. Additional issues arose with relatively few artifacts assigned to individual nodules and the subsequent difficulties in examining production skill and exchange. But even these issues point to new possibilities for research elsewhere to address new types of questions.

This document provides color illustrations for Chapter 9 of my book, "An Archaeology of the Sacred." As originally published the illustrations were limited to black and white. As the book made extensive use of LiDAR imagery, the color... more

Research at the Garden Creek and Biltmore Mound sites in western North Carolina provide the bedrock for our interpretation of the Middle Woodland period in the Appalachian Summit region. However, our understanding of Woodland period monumental architecture in western North Carolina beyond these sites is not as well developed. In this article I attempt to add useful data to this enterprise by presenting underutilized archival evidence for other, poorly understood mounds in the region. Through a close examination of nineteenth-and twentieth-century archival records, I suggest that the Woodland period built environment of the region was more complex than previously thought.

Attribute analysis of the lamellar blade assemblage recovered from the Buried Gardens of Kampsville (TBGOK) has provided information regarding manufacture, use, and discard patterns practiced by Havana Hopewell people living in the Lower Illinois River Valley. Microwear studies provide valuable data regarding the function of Hopewell blades. However those studies are very time-consuming and require unique skillsets and expensive equipment. The attribute approach taken here provides basic information about the size, shape, and condition of the lamellar blades as well as the raw material chosen for tool production. The results of this approach suggest that blades were not necessarily the end production of blade production. People appear to have broken whole blades into smaller work units, and modified them through retouch for specialized tasks. It also appears that they chose several specific types of Burlington chert and used varying degrees of heat treatment in the production of blades.

- by Peter Geraci
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- Digital Archaeology, Historic Preservation, Archaeological GIS, Lithics

Presents new findings showing the accomplishments of the Hopewell Mound Builders in astronomy, geometry, mensuration.

Sugar Run Mound (36WA359) is a Squawkie Hill phase Hopewel-lian burial mound located in Warren County, Pennsylvania. There were three separate periods of mound burial construction at this site.

- by Mark A . McConaughy
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- Middle Woodland/Hopewell

Sugar Run mound (36Wa359) and village (36Wa2) were excavated by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission in 1941 and 1942. Only a brief summary of the Sugar Run mound excavation was published in Pennsylvania Archaeologist in 1942. However, a formal inventory and analysis of remains recovered from the mound and village were never completed by the excavators. Materials from Sugar Run mound and village were recently inventoried as part of Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) requirements. Middle Woodland artifacts recovered indicate Sugar Run inhabitants were participants in the Hopewell Interaction Sphere network. This paper summarizes the work conducted at Sugar Run and the materials recovered at these sites.

- by Mark A . McConaughy
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- Middle Woodland/Hopewell

During the early part of the twentieth century, John C. Hartman of Waterloo, Iowa, documented archaeological sites and artifacts in Black Hawk County, Iowa. His legacy includes drawings, newspaper accounts, artifacts, and correspondence with other archaeologists. Hartman's work, coupled with more recent archaeological investigations like those conducted by the University of Northern Iowa at the Black Medicine site (13BH164), is used to refine what is known about the prehistoric use of the area. The results of this synthesis of old and new research suggest the possibility of a settlement system involving differential use of the landscape along the Cedar River.

- by Sarah Caldwell and +1
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- Archaeology, Archival Studies, Woodland Archaeology, Late Woodland and Mississippian societies

The Weedo(e)n Island site is well-known among archaeologists in the southeastern US as the type site of the Weeden Island culture, a mortuary complex shared by geographically wide-spread cultures ca. AD 200-900. Recent research (survey, excavation, analysis, radiocarbon dating) by multiple institutions focusing on the domestic sphere have added new details about the site’s history and use during the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods.

- by Robert J . Austin and +2
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- Archaeology, Southeastern Archaeology (Archaeology in North America), Prehistory, Florida Archaeology

An artifact-accompanied Early Woodland burial on a low plateau overlooking a bay of Lake Michigan was excavated and reinterred during the early fifth century CE. During that ritual unparched grains of wild rice (Ziziana aquatic) were... more

A werewolf is a human being believed capable of transforming into a creature resembling a wolf. Most people know the werewolf from legends dating to the European Middle Ages. Werewolves are also found, however, in the folklore of other cultures dating back thousands of years. In this paper, evidence for prehistoric werewolf transformations among Native American cultures of the Eastern Woodlands is considered. Physical evidence dating to the Archaic and Woodland periods includes wolf skulls modified to fit human skulls and human skulls modified with front teeth removed so as to accommodate cut wolf jaws. Drawing on recent advances in the cognitive sciences, the theories of conceptual blending and memorability of counter-intuitive concepts are used to explain this particular exemplar of the werewolf phenomenon.

In this paper it is shown how three ancient earthworks in Ohio incorporate alignments to the Milky Way in their design. These earthworks are: Serpent Mound, the Great Hopewell Road at Newark, and Mound City. It is suggested that the Milky Way alignments at these sites reference aspects of an ancient narrative concerning the Milky Way Path of Souls. The Milky Way Path of Souls was the path that souls of the deceased had to travel in order to reach the Land of the Dead. The narrative was (and is) widely known across North America. The findings in this paper represent updated and in some cases, revised findings using the computer simulation program, Stellarium.

- by William F Romain
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- Archaeology, Archaeoastronomy, Milky Way, Middle Woodland/Hopewell

Mockhorn Island in Northampton County, Virginia has an extensive late Quaternary geological and archaeological record. Investigations at 44NH440 and 44NH441 conducted throughout 2009 and 2010 on the island revealed evidence of drowned late prehistoric settlements. Excavations at 44NH440 exposed a drowned 1,500 year old midden area with evidence of prehistoric fishing. Excavations at 44NH441 documented a drowned 2,500 year old prehistoric house structure and an associated refuse area. In tandem with regional geologic evidence and sea level data, the island’s extensive archaeological record provides a more thorough understanding of the long-term human use of an Atlantic coastal island and the active role that marine transgression played on environmental and ecological change.

- by Darrin Lowery
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- Prehistoric Archaeology, Geoarchaeology, GeoArcheology, Coastal Processes

PowerPoint presentation for Serpent Mound Summer Solstice event, June 18, 2016.

What I wish to show in this presentation is how certain Hopewell sites may have been connected to each other through religion and mythology. The relevance of this to Chaco and the discussion at hand is not in the listing of specific attributes held in common; but rather, in the recognition of large-scale site entanglements and connections found in both cultures .

- by William F Romain
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- Native American Studies, Archaeology, Archaeoastronomy, Milky Way

Antiquarians of the nineteenth century referred to the largest monumental constructions in eastern North America as
pyramids, but this usage faded among archaeologists by the mid-twentieth century. Pauketat (2007) has reintroduced the
term pyramid to describe the larger, Mississippian-period (A.D. 1050 to 1550) mounds of the interior of the continent, recognizing
recent studies that demonstrate the complexity of their construction. Such recognition is lacking for earlier mounds
and for those constructed of shell. We describe the recent identification of stepped pyramids of shell from the Roberts Island
Complex, located on the central Gulf Coast of Florida and dating to the terminal Late Woodland period, A.D. 800 to 1050,
thus recognizing the sophistication of monument construction in an earlier time frame, using a different construction
material, and taking an alternative form.

- by Victor Thompson
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Architecture

The Elizabeth site is a bluff-top mortuary mound group constructed and primarily used during Hopewellian (Middle Woodland) times. Recent reanalysis of nonhuman skeletal remains from the site reveals that an intentional burial previously identified as a dog (Canis familiaris) is actually an immature bobcat (Lynx rufus). As a result of this discovery, we reevaluated eight other purported animal burials from Illinois Middle Woodland mounds, including seven dogs and a roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). The dogs all appear to be intrusive or unrelated burial events, but both the bobcat and the roseate spoonbill were definite Hopewellian mortuary interments. The roseate spoonbill was decapitated and placed beside a double human burial. But the bobcat was a separate, human-like interment wearing a necklace of shell beads and effigy bear canine teeth. To our knowledge, this is the only decorated wild cat burial in the archaeological record. It provides compelling evidence for a complex relationship between felids and humans in the prehistoric Americas, including possible taming.

- by Terrance Martin and +1
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Domestication (Zooarchaeology), Woodland Archaeology

This dissertation project examines for evidence of substantial differences in community and community identity, as expressed through culinary traditions and foodways, of Early and Middle Woodland populations in the western Great Lakes region from circa 100 BC to AD 400. The research compares culinary traditions and foodways of Early and Middle Woodland populations in southeastern Wisconsin using multiple lines of fined grained material data derived from the Finch site (47JE0902). As an open air Early to Middle Woodland (ca 100 BC to AD 400) domestic habitation, the Finch site serves as a case study for elucidating culinary traditions and foodways at the community level. Implementing a multi-faceted approach, this study integrates traditional plant macrobotanical studies, faunal analyses, ceramic morphological and use wear analyses, and absorbed chemical residue analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of the intersection between food and community in this region of North America.

At least 20 Middle Woodland mounds once existed along the Iowa-Mississippi River bluff at Toolesboro in Louisa County, Iowa. The mounds were investigated as early as the 1830s or 1840s, with most excavations occurring in the late nineteenth century. Although field records are sparse, available data permit insights into mound structure, mortuary practices, demographic and biological characteristics, and cultural connections. Mound construction and use began early in the Havana tradition, ca. 150 B.C., and continued for perhaps 200–300 years during the Hopewell horizon. Excavations revealed log-lined tombs containing burials associated with ceramics, copper axes and pins, platform pipes, exotic lithics and minerals, and other funerary objects. Toolesboro and nearby sites indicate full participation by southeast Iowa Middle Woodland populations in the Havana-Hopewell cultural network.

The Kautz Site (11DU1) is a multi-component archaeological site located in the DuPage River Valley in northeastern Illinois. It was inhabited at least six different times between the Late Archaic and Late Woodland periods ca. 6000-1000 B.P. The site was excavated over the course of three field seasons between 1958 and 1961, but the results were never made public. This thesis seeks to document the archaeology of the Kautz Site in order to better understand the site’s economic history. An environmental catchment analysis was conducted to evaluate the level of time and energy needed to acquire important resources like water, food, wood, and chert. A macroscopic analysis of the lithic assemblage provided information about the lithic economy at the site. The results of the landscape analysis suggest that the site was located in an economically efficient location, however the macroscopic analysis suggests that a source of raw materials for chipped stone tools was not easily accessible and as a result the inhabitants practiced a number of common adaptive strategies to cope with resource scarcity.

This report describes the results of an investigation of late Middle Woodland (A.D. 150-500) Mann phase settlement patterns in southwestern Indiana. The project represents an attempt to synthesize, update and enhance existing data relating to the Mann phase occupation of southwestern Indiana. The ultimate goal of the project was to document the range of settlement variability present in the Mann phase and produce a predictive model of Mann phase settlement location. Data collection was accomplished through records reviews, informant interviews and limited field survey. The report which follows presents a definition of the Mann phase, followed by a characterization of the existing archaeological database in theregion and a summary of the methods and results of the data collection phase of the research. A discussion of the range of variability in Mann phase site types is presented next, followed by the development and testing of a predictive model of Mann phase settlement location. Finally, conclusions and recommendations for further research are offered. Appendix A1 is not included to protect site location information.

Hopewell bladelets may be the most common diagnostic artifact of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere. As such, they are often recognized as a Middle Woodland "index fossil" and a key materialized indication of Hopewell ceremonialism. However, few formal analyses of their occurrence across space and time exist. Drawing on published reports, as well as an extensive review of the unpublished gray literature, I present a Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon-dated, bladelet-bearing features from across Ohio. The Bayesian model provides insight into previously unrecognized temporal variation in this element of Hopewell material culture. Results indicate that bladelets are present from around the BC/AD switch to nearly AD 500 in certain portions of the state. Analysis by major drainages indicates that bladelets occur earliest in southern and central Ohio before subsequently spreading north to the Lake Erie region. Understanding the spatial and temporal variation in artifact classes such as Hopewell bladelets is essential to explaining prehistoric cultural processes.

I explore in this paper the significance of the headdress interred on Burial 11 under Hopewell Mound 25 by reexamining its
archaeological context and the history of its interpretation. Following Shetrone’s (1926) initial interpretation, I argue that
it was an avian headdress that specifically portrayed a two-headed raptor. I support this reassessment with an iconographic
analysis of related representations from the Central Ohio River Valley, especially the imagery engraved on a femur from
Hopewell Mound 25. I also delve into what these two-headed raptors might have meant to people in the Eastern Woodlands.

- by Bretton Giles
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- Native American Studies, Prehistoric Archaeology, Iconography, Costume and Identity

In prehistoric North America, artifacts of copper occupy a position of prominence in the Hopewell societies of Ohio’s Scioto Valley. These artifacts also represent the social contacts and long distance interactions that brought copper to the Scioto Valley. Yet our understanding of Hopewell copper acquisition, and the movement of copper artifacts within the social networks of the Scioto Valley and beyond, has been limited due to the limited availability of geochemical data concerning provenance and variability. We begin to develop the foundation for understanding these important social issues by analyzing the elemental variability of Hopewell copper through the use of Laser Ablation Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. We analyze 24 samples from four known copper source regions and 52 samples from six prominent sites in the Scioto Valley. Results suggest that a majority of the artifacts are consistent with three sources in the Great Lakes, with a plurality classified as Isle Royale. However, 21 percent of Scioto Hopewell copper artifacts were most consistent with Southern Appalachian sources. High elemental variability argues against simple models of copper acquisition and suggests that different social groups had access to a variety of copper sources through varying social networks. Native copper regardless of source seems to have been channeled along similar social and symbolic pathways. Our results suggest that instead of being derived from the struggle to access a specific source, value is derived from the social relationships represented by the copper and the connotation of exotic connection embodied in both style and material.

Data on the type, provenance, and use characteristics of all known Ohio shark teeth, both fossil and modern, from archaeological sites and surface finds were compiled and published in 2011. Based on multiple lines of evidence, the 2011 publication concluded the likely source of the majority of the shark teeth, those from Middle Woodland Hopewell sites, was a land setting in southwest Florida. With the recent discovery of additional Ohio teeth, this article provides an update to the previous work and revisits the primary conclusions of the 2011 publication.

- by George H . Colvin
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- Archaeology, Sharks, Middle Woodland/Hopewell
- by Michael Spence
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- Great Lakes Archaeology, Middle Woodland/Hopewell

Ritual economy provides a powerful framework for examining aspects of the organization of craft production, especially in the absence of a strong, centralized political economy. This paper outlines the basic tenants of ritual economy and describes how this framework can expand the understanding of the organization of production in small scale societies. I apply these concepts in a case study based largely on microwear analysis of Hopewell bladelets from the Fort Ancient earthworks in southwest Ohio. Microwear analysis from many different localities excavated within and near the earthworks demonstrates that craft production was an important activity conducted using bladelets. Each of the localities in which crafts were produced concentrated on media distinct from the others. These findings have important implications for our understanding of Hopewell economy and social structure as well as craft production in general.

- by G. Logan Miller
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- Ritual Economy, Microwear Analysis, Middle Woodland/Hopewell

Max Weber's concept of routinization offers a useful framework for understanding the relationship between political economy and the organization of religious movements. Here, we apply this concept to a comparison of Hopewell and Mississippian, two of the most important religious movements in the precolonial Eastern Woodlands. We focus on two archaeological contexts in particular-Mound 25 at the Hopewell site and Mound C at Etowahto illustrate how Weber's concept allows for a more nuanced comparison than concepts associated with a more traditional neoevolutionary logic. [political economy, routinization, Mississippian, Hopewell]

- by Robin Beck
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- Religion, Native American Studies, Political Economy, Ancient economies (Archaeology)

This paper is a summary of recent fieldwork and analysis at Spracklen (33GR1585), a small
upland site in Greene County, southwest Ohio. Diagnostic artifacts and radiocarbon dates indicate that
the site was occupied sporadically from the Late Archaic through Late Prehistoric periods. The main
occupation—indicated by dozens of bladelets, several bladelet cores, and a high percentage of non-local
chert debitage—is consistent with Middle Woodland Hopewell remains. The feature, chipped stone, and
FCR assemblages indicate that the site was occupied for short periods. Comparison with similar sites
throughout the region illustrates similarities and new insights into the variation present in this upland
logistical camp.

The Logan Museum of Anthropology houses thousands of objects from Illinois archaeological sites. While many objects have useful associated documentation, some collections lack contextual data. Provenance investigations can restore provenience information, making neglected or forgotten collections useful for current and future research. Provenance research also provides insights about the history of archaeology and the construction of archaeological knowledge. Recent study of Middle Woodland collections from the Baehr and Montezuma mound groups in the Illinois River valley exemplifies the value of analyzing collection histories.

Ogden-Fettie is a Middle Woodland Havana-Hopewell mound group in the Central Illinois Valley. F v 196 is the midden area near the largest mound. The function of F v 196 is in question, because it does not conform to the settlement and function models that have been applied to other sites. The ceramic collection from F v 196 was typed and categorized into categories based on perceived function, either habitation or ceremonial. The majority of the pottery belonged to the Havana series, which is traditionally considered habitation pottery; however, many of the Havana sherds are decorated indicating a ceremonial function. The highly decorated pottery suggests F v 196 was a point aggregation that hosted rituals related to mound construction. There was great variation in the decoration types at Ogden-Fettie. Many of the decorations seen on pottery from F v 196 are not present at other Havana-Hopewell site. The great diversity in decoration types showed F v 196 was a gathering location for disparate groups who brought uniquely decorated pottery. The ceramic collection from Ogden-Fettie suggests the site shows a continuum of occupation from the Early Woodland up to Historic times. A small portion of the ceramic assemblage is represented by sherds exhibiting traits of two types of pottery.

- by Montana Martin
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- Hopewell Archaeology, Middle Woodland/Hopewell

Summary of the 2016 geophysical survey at Gast Farm (13LA12), located in the Mississippi River valley in southeast Iowa. Results included documentation of plowed-down mounds as well as circular-plaza forms of the Middle Woodland and Late... more

- by William Green and +1
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- Archaeogeophysics, Burial mounds (Archaeology), Midwest Archaeology, Middle Woodland/Hopewell

Sugar Run Mound (36Wa359) was a Squawkie Hill Phase Hopewellian burial mound located in Warren County Pennsylvania. The earliest burial phase included a central cist, a bird and possible celt/ax effigies made from large stone cobbles. Multiple cremations were interred under the features of Mound Unit 1. Mound Unit 2 consisted of two stone box tombs each containing an extended burial. Mound Unit 3 had an extended burial laid on the existing ground surface. The different modes of burial indicate the function of Sugar Run Mound changed through time. This paper explores those changes. Introduction:

- by Mark A . McConaughy
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- Middle Woodland/Hopewell

The distributions of Middle Woodland craft goods and raw materials across the Southeast attest to participation in interregional networks of material and ideological exchange, including the Hopewell Interaction Sphere. Existing models of these networks vary: some emphasize the role of Southeastern gateway centers in Hopewell production and exchange, while others suggest that Hopewell only thinly overlay local traditions. In this paper we explore how social network analysis integrated with geographic information systems can be used to assess these models. Our preliminary analysis of craft object distributions across important Middle Woodland sites highlights the challenges and potentials of extant Southeastern datasets for such investigations.

Florida. We suggest that such artifacts, often interpreted as fishing gear, instead were items of personal adornment and magic, and thus important in community public rituals and ceremonies. As such, they serve as useful indicators of regional and macro-regional exchanges among varying communities. By tracking the different styles and material types found at sites in Florida through a typological and network analysis, we argue that certain sites, such as Crystal River, played a larger role in connecting subregions in Florida, and may have served as cultural brokers across the macro-region due to their connections to Hopewell sites throughout the Eastern Woodlands. Furthermore, it appears that such connections were limited in time and given the prominence of plummets buried with certain individuals, we suggest that specific places and persons were entwined with some of these larger scale processes. Fig. 2. The Crystal River site (9CI1) map, showing its layout and architecture.