DATING THE CONSTRUCTION OF EARLY LATE WOODLAND EARTHEN MONUMENTS AT THE JACKSON LANDING SITE IN COASTAL MISSISSIPPI

Abstract

Middle Woodland and early Late Woodland monuments generally have been interpreted as ceremonial spaces that integrated communities both within and among regions. This article presents information on the early Late Woodland component at the Jackson Landing site, a large site with a platform mound and semicircular earthwork, located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Earlier research is synthesized with more recent investigations of the mound to argue that the site’s monuments were built during the early Late Woodland period between approximately A.D. 400 to 700. Determining when Jackson Landing’s monuments were built is important because their construction provides a temporal baseline for regional and, perhaps, interregional social integration along the central Gulf Coast.     

PAPERS ON GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF WOODLAND AND CADDO SITES IN THE CADDO AREA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Abstract

Geophysical investigations on archaeological sites in the Caddo area of the Southeastern United States have become in recent years a critical part of the investigation of prehistoric and early historic Caddo sites, from small farmsteads and hamlets to large mound centers. The various articles gathered here provide substantive examples of the range of geophysical research that has been undertaken on Woodland and Caddo sites in southwestern Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, and East Texas, and how that research has led to a better understanding of the spatial structure and internal organization of habitation sites and mound centers.     

Refining Woodland Period Chronology and Interactions in Northeastern Missouri: Contributions from the Avenue of the Saints Project

The recently completed Avenue of Saints (AOS) highway project in the Mississippi Valley of northeastern Missouri resulted in the documentation of Woodland period sites ranging from approximately 200 cal BC to AD 1200. This article updates the existing Woodland chronology for this locality based on new information collected during the project. Data pertaining to Early, Middle, and Late Woodland sites are presented. The approximately 1,400-year occupation span provided researchers an opportunity to view diachronic trends in tool manufacture, subsistence economy, and landscape use. Based on regional comparisons of ceramic and lithic technologies and vessel decoration, the Woodland sequence in northeastern Missouri was influenced by population movements originating from east of the Mississippi River and from southern sources in the Salt River valley.     

EARLY WOODLAND SETTLEMENT AND MOUND BUILDING IN THE UPPER TENSAS BASIN,NORTHEAST LOUISIANA

Abstract

Traditionally overlooked because it lacks hallmarks of material and cultural complexity, Early Woodland in the Southeast is an interval of significant transformation in material culture, settlement, and social organization. Investigations at four sites in northeast Louisiana provide insights into changes taking place at this time. These sites are situated on a crevasse splay created by flooding at the end of the Archaic. This flooding is associated with an occupation hiatus ca. 3000–2500 cal B.P. Evidence suggests a rapid colonization of the crevasse splay by people using Tchefuncte pottery, and there is no evidence at these sites of stratigraphic or cultural continuity from Poverty Point. The Early Woodland occupation in the study area dates ca. 2400–2100 cal B.P., which is later than dates associated with Early Woodland in the Pontchartrain Basin and contemporary with Lake Cormorant culture sites farther north. Early Woodland in northeast Louisiana is marked by a diagnostic Tchefuncte ceramic assemblage and the presence of a settlement system composed of small villages or hamlets nucleated around a conical mound that presumably served as a ceremonial/ritual center. This mound was erected very rapidly; radiocarbon dates suggest it was constructed in no more than 10 years. Although mound building has been suspected, this is the first conclusive evidence it was an aspect of Tchefuncte settlement and ceremonial practices. Data from these sites bear on the question of cultural and demographic continuity and change at the Archaic to Woodland transition. Previous models emphasize continuity of populations with ceramic technology and styles diffusing into the lower Mississippi Valley. In contrast, our data support a model of Early Woodland repopulation of the lower Mississippi Valley from the south and east following a prolonged period of regional abandonment.     

Returning to the Kamp Mound Group (11C12): Results from Geomagnetic Survey and High-Density Topographic Mapping in Calhoun County,Illinois

This article addresses the use of high-density topographic mapping and geomagnetic fieldwork as part of an ongoing research program focused on evaluating the role of monumental architecture in the construction and maintenance of differing scales of community during Middle (ca. 50 cal B.C.–cal A.D. 400) and Late (ca. cal A.D. 400–1000) Woodland periods in the Lower Illinois River Valley. At the 2013 Center for American Archeology and Arizona State University field school, a 2.46-ha area at the Kamp Mound Group (11C12) containing Mounds 1, 6, 7, 8, and 9 was surveyed using magnetic fluxgate gradiometry and mapped using a high-density robotic total station. Our survey results demonstrate that highly disturbed mounds have significant interpretable structure that can be used as primary data to better understand spatial attributes related to evaluating site organization, distribution of activity areas in nonmounded space, and internal mound structure and composition.     

Coles Creek fauna procurement strategies: subsistence diversity among late prehistoric hunter-gatherer-horticulturalists in the Lower Mississippi Valley

In the late 1980s, a collaborative effort between Harvard University’s Lower Mississippi Survey and Tulane University’s Center for Archaeology launched a study examining the causes and consequences of subsistence change in the Lower Mississippi Valley. The Osceola Project contributed the first formal study of late prehistoric faunal remains within the Alluvial Plain, becoming the standard against which all subsequent Coles Creek faunal assemblages have been measured. Recent evidence recovered from three sites located in the Eastern Uplands presented the opportunity to compare and contrast vertebrate subsistence in these two distinct physiographic regions. We hypothesize that a clear distinction exists between lowland and upland Coles Creek procurement strategies. This article evaluates this claim by examining species diversity, spatial patterns, and temporal trends evident within an eight-site sample. The results suggest that the primary factor influencing Coles Creek fauna procurement was the immediate environment, and that the composition of Late Woodland period diets may be a reflection of efficiency of effort rather than food access or scarcity.     

The Late Woodland South Branch Phase: New Insights from the Mississippi Floodplain of Northeastern Missouri

Investigations associated with the Avenue of Saints highway project resulted in the documentation of a series of Late Woodland South Branch phase (cal A.D. 600–850) occupations in the Mississippi floodplain of northeastern Missouri. These settlements represent the first South Branch sites excavated in Missouri and provided an opportunity to update what is known about the phase. This article summarizes the artifact, feature, and subsistence data recovered. As a result of this work, it is proposed that the original South Branch phase (cal A.D. 400–600) be extended and divided into two phases: South Branch I (cal A.D. 400–600) and South Branch II (cal A.D. 600–850). Reinterpretations of some large South Branch bluff-base settlements as periodically occupied focal points on the landscape are offered.     

Cohabitants,Captives, or Trade: The Early Late Woodland Non-Weaver Ceramic Assemblage at the Marseton #2 Weaver Village in Mercer County,Illinois

The Marseton #2 site is a Weaver ring midden in the Mississippi Valley of Mercer County, Illinois, that was buried by a catastrophic flood event a few centuries after the site had been abandoned. Analysis of the more than 740,000 ceramic items from the village provides insights as to Weaver interactions with other non-Weaver early Late Woodland groups of the region. While the presence of non-Weaver ceramics at the village might represent trade items, or vessels manufactured by potters peacefully or forcibly brought to the site, it is suggested that a non-Weaver household producing Levsen-like ceramics was coexisting at Marseton #2 alongside multiple Weaver households.     

Mounds,Towns, and their Surrounds: An Archaeological,Historical, and Geophysical Approach to Burial Mounds,Residential Space,and Cultural Landscapes of the Late Woodland Springwells Site (a.d. 800–1400) at Historic Fort Wayne,Detroit

Historic Fort Wayne is located on the Detroit River in a landscape of heavy industry and marginalized urban neighborhoods (figure 1). Geophysical survey south of the Fort Wayne Mound—a Late Woodland Period burial mound enclosed by the Fort—indicates that pre-contact residential structures may be preserved at the site. Residential sites with mortuary monuments are uncommon in southeastern Michigan and represent an opportunity to better understand variation in Late Woodland settlement. Our approach combines existing archaeological research, historical records, and non-invasive geophysical survey in a culturally sensitive Native American site context presently unavailable for conventional archaeological excavation. We examine archaeological and historical records from Springwells and Late Woodland period settlements in the region to contextualize geophysical evidence from the site. The research prioritizes protection of Native American heritage sites in urban contexts together with ongoing archaeological interpretation of the Late Woodland cultural Landscape.     

SHEEPSHEAD COUNTRY: COASTAL WOODLAND SUBSISTENCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF MACK BAYOU AND OTHER NORTHWEST FLORIDA SITES

Abstract

Zooarchaeological analysis of faunal remains from the Mack Bayou site produced new data related to coastal Woodland subsistence on the northern Gulf Coast of Florida. When the Mack Bayou data are compared with data from other Woodland sites on the northern Gulf Coast, a strong pattern of estuarine and shallow coastal waters utilization is evident, with notable but fairly minor site by site variation. It is also evident from these data that sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) are a consistently important dietary component across the northern Gulf Coast, particularly on coastal sites in the Panhandle region of northwestern Florida.     

Woodland Pottery Function,Cooking, and Diet in the Upper Great Lakes of North America

A multidimensional approach to functional analysis was employed to examine pottery use, cooking, and subsistence in pre-European North American contexts. A variety of analytic techniques were applied to ceramic assemblages from two sites on the south shore of Lake Superior: the Middle Woodland Naomikong Point site and the Late Woodland Sand Point site. The analyses of both technical attributes and use-alteration traces suggest that a majority of pottery vessels from these sites were used for cooking throughout the Woodland period. Lipid residue analysis corroborates traditional subsistence information but specifies which foods were cooked in pottery vessels. Vessel size varies according to context rather than by time or by function, with larger vessels associated with ritual areas and smaller vessels originating from domestic spheres, a trend potentially related to feasting behavior. Interior carbonization patterns change in frequency between the Middle and Late Woodland periods, suggesting a shift in cooking and possibly subsistence practices.     

Petrographic Analysis of Late Woodland and Middle Mississippian Ceramics at the Iva Site (47Lc42), Onalaska,Wisconsin

The Iva site contained a rare effigy mound and Middle Mississippian (Ramey horizon) component within the Late Woodland Lewis phase territory of the Upper Mississippi River valley. Salvage excavations in 2002–2003 recovered fragments of numerous Angelo Punctated, Powell Plain, and Ramey Incised vessels, including examples of Angelo and Ramey in direct association. Petrographic analysis was conducted on seven grit-tempered and six shell-tempered vessels, eight of which are stylistically Mississippian. The results indicate that four of eight Mississippian vessels were likely manufactured in the American Bottom, with the other half being local imitations of Mississippian styles. These data are compared to contemporaneous Ramey horizon components in the Driftless Area of Cahokia's northern hinterland.     

Sourcing galena from a Middle Woodland habitation site in northeast Mississippi

Galena has been recovered mostly in mortuary contexts – burial mounds, burial caves, and associated mortuary facilities – from Middle Woodland sites in the Southeast. Three small pieces of galena from the Cork site (22OK746) in northeast Mississippi came from midden deposits at a site with no mound or burials. Lead isotope analysis was used to source the samples to the Central Missouri-Tri-State-North Arkansas region. Isotopes provide an excellent sourcing method because their ratios are stable and large comparative source datasets are available. Recovery bias may have led to underestimation of galena presence in Middle Woodland habitation sites.     

DENTAL ATTRITION AT THE INDIAN KNOLL (15OH2) AND BLACK EARTH (11SA87) SITES: EXTREME WEAR AS A STRESSOR IN LATE ARCHAIC POPULATIONS OF THE OHIO VALLEY

Abstract

This study investigates comparatively the prospect that excessive dental wear in certain Late Archaic populations in eastern North America was caused by extensive shellfish consumption and the associated ingestion of grit. Specifically, the amount and rate of dental wear at Indian Knoll, a large shell midden site in western Kentucky, are compared to those at the Black Earth site, a contemporary occupation in southern Illinois with no evidence of shellfish utilization. Results show no significant differences in dental wear between Indian Knoll and Black Earth and point correspondingly toward the alternative prospect that the intensification of Late Archaic food-processing technology using stone-grinding and hot-rock cooking was the proximate cause. Such technologies provided short-term caloric benefits, but long-term disease consequences for adults of child-bearing age. A decrease in young adult dental wear correlates with the adoption of both food production and pottery in the subsequent Woodland period.     

Settlement networks and the organization of lithic tool production in the Late Prehistoric period (a.d. 1000–1780), Lower Nueces River Valley,South Texas

Abstract

Evidence from one of several Late Prehistoric settlement networks in the Lower Nueces River Valley in Texas demonstrates that base camps were surrounded by smaller-sized temporary camps. Local groups utilized nearby stone quarries, moved raw material to their settlements and reduced cores, preforms, and bifaces into tools for domestic use and portable toolkits. The Lower Nueces River Valley settlement organization and tool production during this period suggest restricted mobility, base camp sedentism, and abundant resource supply. This organizational structure promoted a complex foraging economy and perhaps the emergence of territorial clustering.     

ZOOMORPHIC EFFIGY PENDANTS: AN EXAMINATION OF STYLE,MEDIUM, AND DISTRIBUTION IN THE CADDO AREA

Abstract

Caddo zoomorphic effigy pendants were crafted from a wide variety of raw material, such as freshwater mussel shell, Busycon perversum (whelk) marine shell, animal bone, and various types of soft stone. They have been documented at contemporaneous Late Caddo (A.D. 1400–1700) sites along the Red River in northeast Texas, southwest Arkansas, and northwest Louisiana; the Black Bayou, Big Cypress Bayou, and upper Sabine River basins in northeast Texas; the Ouachita River in south-central Arkansas; and the Arkansas River in central Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. This paper describes the development of a comprehensive corpus that investigates stylistic groups, differential raw material or medium utilized, and the spatial distribution of zoomorphic effigy pendants throughout the Caddo area. Results reveal north-south heterogeneity, suggesting the presence of broader traditional cultural narratives associated with a complex idea that is manifest regionally in distinct stylistic forms and linked to Caddo beliefs concerning Beneath World themes. Additionally, this stylistic and spatial analysis offers an additional dataset to further explore social, political, and economic linkages among and between contemporary Caddo groups around A.D. 1500.     

Made in the Nene Valley? Identifying the origins of mortaria using ICP analysis

The Nene Valley, in eastern central England, was a major pottery production centre in the Roman period. Many kiln sites have been identified in the Lower Nene Valley region and, although comparatively less is known about production in the Upper Nene Valley, substantial amounts of mortaria and other coarse wares have been recovered during excavations at Roman sites in the area, and much of it is thought to be locally made. However mortaria made in the Upper and Lower Nene Valley can be difficult to tell apart, and many also have similar forms and fabrics to mortaria produced in Mancetter–Hartshill, Warwickshire. Therefore ICP analysis was used in an attempt to identify the products of different regions.     

CHRONOLOGY,SITE FORMATION,AND THE WOODLAND-MISSISSIPPIAN TRANSITION AT BAYSHORE HOMES,FLORIDA

Bayshore Homes (8PI41) is a large mound and midden complex on Florida’s west-central Gulf Coast that was investigated originally by William Sears in the 1950s. From 1999 to 2009, the authors conducted survey, test excavations, and soil coring to address questions regarding site formation, chronology, and cultural affiliation. Radiocarbon dates and ceramic analysis indicate two separate occupations during the Woodland and Mississippi periods, cal. A.D. 140–565 and cal. A.D. 890–1390 (2 sigma). The earlier occupation is associated with the Manasota archaeological culture, sand-tempered plain pottery, burials in midden deposits, and interments in a sand mound accompanied by Weeden Island–related mortuary ceramics. The later occupation is associated with Weeden Island–related decorated and Pinellas Plain ceramics in midden deposits and represents the transition from terminal Weeden Island to the Englewood phase of Early Safety Harbor. A large burial mound and a platform mound are associated with this period of site use. Our results also indicate that the unusual ceramic sequence identified by Sears in the site’s large shoreline shell midden is the result of redeposition, which occurred sometime after cal. A.D. 1220. Possible explanations for the redeposition event include monumental mound construction or the elevation of the midden ridge to serve as a foundation for structures to protect them from rising sea levels or storm surges.     

Debating the Age of Serpent Mound: A Reply to Romain and Herrmann’s Rejoinder to Lepper Concerning Serpent Mound

The debate over the age of Serpent Mound (33AD01) is important because without a cultural context it is impossible to make meaningful statements about what this monumental effigy mound might have meant to its builders. In this response to Romain and Herrmann’s rejoinder, we clarify the provenience of the samples, which yielded the radiocarbon dates that contribute to our argument for a post–Late Woodland age for the effigy. In addition, we extend our critique of Romain and colleagues’ arguments to include the results of an independent study of soil cores extracted from the Serpent and surrounding landscape, which fails to corroborate Romain and colleagues’ assertion that a buried A horizon underlies the mound. Finally, we suggest that the construction of Serpent Mound may be historically linked to droughts in the Mississippi Valley that began at around AD 1100, which resulted in an influx of Mississippian refugees into the region.     

Shell beads from Mississippian sites in the northern Yazoo Basin,Mississippi

ABSTRACT

In this paper, which focuses on the Mississippian period in the northern Yazoo Basin, Mississippi, I present some interesting findings from research done over the past century. In this area, most shell beads come from surface collections, or from excavated burials in cemeteries or ossuaries. Burial styles include extended, flexed, semi-flexed, and bundles, with very few cremations having been encountered. Bead burials also seem to reflect both common and elite people, and there are some interesting discoveries concerning association of shell beads. I will use 33 archaeologically investigated major sites as examples to illustrate an unexpected paucity of shell beads and other shell ornaments at some of the most heavily populated Mississippian sites in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Two other sites with shell beads in the uplands will be used for comparison.