Ohio Archaeology Blog

Finding a Saber-tooth Cat in Ohio?

2012-02-06T17:18:00.005-05:00

In his regular column for the Columbus Dispatch, on January 22nd John Switzer discussed the potential for finding a fossil of the Saber-toothed Cat in Ohio He cited this huge predator with its “canine teeth 9 inches long” as the “holy grail of all Ice Age animals. He interviewed Dale Gnidovec, curator of the OSU Orton Geological Museum, who said “I think we will eventually find the cat’s remains in Ohio.”

Almost everyone is familiar with the Saber-tooth Cat – more specifically known to science as Smilodon fatalis. The genus, Smilodon, comes from the Greek words for chisel or blade plus tooth and the species name, fatalis, from the Latin for deadly. Hence literally the scientific name means the “deadly blade tooth.” The canines are relatively thin in cross-section and serrated on the inside edge. Some paleontologists think they used these to slash at the soft under-belly of baby mammoths and mastodons – eviscerating them and then quickly getting out of the way until they died from their wounds. It does not sound like much fun for the victim!

While roughly the height and length of an African Lion, Smilodons were more massive in build and would generally outweigh a lion. There are various reports of African Lions as large as 572 to even 690 pounds – but most reliable sources for wild lions (as opposed to zoo lions) give an average of 265 to 420 pounds. The Saber-tooth cat was reported to weigh in at as much as 750 pounds – so they were really big and powerful.

Why No Ohio Finds?

But with such massive bodies and impressive looking canines – why have they not been found in Ohio? For that matter, they are actually quite rare everywhere in the fossil record. Wait! What about the LaBrea Tar Pits where they have dug up more than 2,500 individuals of these animals? That hardly sounds rare! In fact, however, when you look at the time-span of fossils in the LaBrea Tar Pits, it turns out that fossils of the Smilodon were left behind only once every 11 years. In the rest of its range, they are truly rare – with only one to a single handful of finds in most states plus a number of states like Ohio without any records.

The answer as to why Smilodon fossils are so rare is quite simple once you hear it. First, all fossils of Pleistocene mammals are quite rare compared to the number of animals that lived in any one area over the thousands of years of the Ice Age. In order to survive as fossils, they have to become buried fairly quickly – like in lake sediments or a bog, or (if you are including Siberia and Alaska) frozen sediments or actual ice. When most animals die on dry land, their flesh is consumed and the bones are scattered by both predators and scavengers. Then the sun bleaches the bones making them brittle, followed by freeze-thaw cycles that break them down further. Furthermore, what bones the scavengers don’t destroy, rodents chew on the bones to get the calcium – so very little survives for more than two or three years. Most Pleistocene fossils found today are discovered buried in muck – where they have laid protected from the elements, from scavengers and rodents. Obviously, only a small fraction of animals that died were left in such favorable conditions for preservation.

Add to the difficulty of creating a fossil in the first place is the fact that Smilodon are large predators at the very top of the food chain. There is a graphic ecological principle referred to as the pyramid of mass. You note that on the simple one shown here we display three basic levels – referred to as trophic levels. They represent the loss of energy transferred from one level to the next. There is a tremendous amount of energy loss from one level to another – typically 90% of the energy available is lost. So, it takes 10,000 pounds of plants to support 1,000 pounds of an herbivore – with 90% or 9,000 pounds worth of energy burned up in digestion, movement, growth and other processes. Then those 1,000 pounds of herbivore can support only 100 pounds of the carnivore that eats it. So to support an entire pride of saber-tooth cats it takes a lot of mastodons and mammoths. As a result, in a living system the apex predators are quite scarce. Add up the relatively low numbers of top predators with difficulty of preserving a fossil, plus the luck of finding those fossils that survive the thousands of years after extinction – and you can see that it takes a lot of luck to find the fossil remains of a 700 pound top predator.

But who knows – you could be the one to stumble upon that first record ever of a Saber-tooth cat from Ohio! (When you do – give me a call!)

Bob Glotzhober
Senior Curator, Natural History

Read John Switzer’s entire column at (http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/01/22/saber-toothed-cat-might-have-been-on-prowl-in-ice-age-ohio.html ).

2nd Annual Contemporary Gunmakers and Allied Artisans Show, Marietta, Ohio

2012-02-06T11:57:00.008-05:00

This Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the Campus Martius Museum in Marietta

Have you ever wondered about the Kentucky flintlock long rifles used by Daniel Boone or Simon Kenton in the frontier days of the 1700’s? By studying the wonderful sets of parts that have been recovered during military archaeology projects in Ohio, what can be learned about the life and times of people who used huge flint muskets in the Ohio wilderness at places like Pickawillany, Fort Laurens, Fort Meigs and Fallen Timbers? How were they made and how were they used? Do you know that the muskets of the Revolutionary War were often nearly as long as the fellow using it was tall? Why was that? You might be surprised to learn that the phrase Kentucky Long Rifle is actually a misnomer. The rifles made famous by Boone, Kenton and thousands of other frontier folk really had very little to do with Kentucky. Flintlock long rifles actually developed from a Pennsylvania German tradition or school of gun building that had it’s beginnings in the mid-1700’s in the boroughs and townships of Lancaster and Lebanon Counties in Pennsylvania and some adjoining areas of Maryland and Virginia. From there it spread out and moved west with the frontier. This eastern tradition of long barreled, full stock gun building and its allied trades reached Ohio by the early 1800’s. Here it developed into what is referred to as the National Road Tradition. It was a distinctive school of gun making that would ultimately produce aesthetically pleasing and well designed half-stock rifles, artistically decorated and typically of a lighter caliber than their Pennsylvania counterparts.
You might also be surprised to know that there are artisans today that still produce these functional works of art much the same way their forefathers did two or more centuries ago. This is an official invitation to attend the 2nd Annual Contemporary Gunmakers and Allied Artisans Show this Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the Campus Martius Museum in downtown Marietta Ohio. The show will be from 9:30am to 4:00pm. Museum admission is $7 for adults and $4 for students. Free for OHS members and children under 5. Here is an excellent opportunity to see the rifles, powder horns and hunting pouches as re-created by modern masters in that still time honored tradition. For further information contact Bill Reynolds at the Campus Martius Museum (800-860-0145) or see the attached link describing this and other activities this year at the Campus Martius Museum.

It should be mentioned here that Mr. Larry Bryner, gun builder extraordinaire and friend of all things Marietta, was severely injured in a farming accident late last fall. Larry was one of the founding members of the Association of Ohio Long Rifle Collectors as well as a participant at last year’s event. He is an artist in the truest sense and a genuine master in the Ohio gun building tradition. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him for a speedy recovery.
Bill Pickard
Thanks to the NMLRA for the use of their calendar picture
http://campusmartiusmuseum.org/

New Ohio History Grant Fund!

2012-02-03T15:34:00.008-05:00

Tax time is a great time to support Ohio history. We’re asking you to ask you family and friends to support Ohio history through their Ohio income tax returns. They can voluntarily donate a part of their income tax refund to OHS. We hope when you ask them, you’ll say you’re a donor, too.

The Society will use the donations to create the Ohio History Grant Fund, a competitive matching grant program for local history and historic preservation projects across the state. The History Fund will give us yet another opportunity to support excellence at our more than 860 sister organizations across Ohio—this time in the form of widely available "pass through"-type grant funding. That means more and better exhibits, better collections care, better public programs, and better preservation of Ohio’s historic built environment. More than that, however, the History Fund is yet another, very tangible way to connect Ohioans with their pasts, to understand their present and to create better futures.

To contribute to OHS for the Ohio History Grant Fund, see line #25d on your Ohio Form IT1040; line #18d on Ohio Form IT1040-EZ, or line 13d-4 of the TeleFile worksheet. Look for " NEW – Ohio Historical Society" on the forms.

A Foxy Villager

2012-02-03T08:56:00.004-05:00

In mid to late January there were several sightings of Red Foxes on the grounds of the Ohio Historical Society, including outside the windows at the Archaeology Park/Bird Sanctuary and the Ohio Village. The greatest number of sightings seems to have been foxes going to or coming from the Ohio Village. While most staff were thrilled with these sightings, a few raised a question concerning staff and visitor safety.

Red Foxes typically weigh in at 10 to 15 pounds – about the size of a house cat. Of course, with longer legs and a thick coat of fur and long fluffy tail, they tend to look bigger, especially in winter with a prime fur coat. In more rural areas they quickly learn to stay out of sight and generally fear people. In urban areas they gradually become accustomed to some activity – especially when that activity stays behind windows or even inside of cars. Farmers often note that wild animals ignore them while on a tractor or in a truck – but take off immediately when they get off the tractor or exit the car. Foxes are most active at twilight times and during the night, but with the shortened winter days it is not uncommon to see them during daylight hours. We are also now in fox breeding season – which explains why one of the sightings near the business office this week, was of a pair headed toward the Village.

Foxes eat a wide variety of food – with lots of mice and rabbits on the list but also plant material. Given the opportunity, a bird or even garbage is not out of the question. People are definitely not on their menu. They are excellent mousers – and may help keep down the mouse population in the Village. I have seen “camp foxes” in national park campgrounds (especially further north) where they sneak around looking for handouts something like raccoons and may become quite tame. In most situations, however, they avoid people.

Since sending an e-mail to all staff sharing some insights on foxes, fox behavior, and the limited danger from foxes, I have heard from several other folks about sightings in and around urban/suburban areas of Columbus. If you see a fox – wonderful! Enjoy the experience. But never try to feed any wild animal and avoid leaving any food outside. Food left outside for pets often attracts wild animals like fox, raccoons, opossums and rats. Feeding may make them loose their natural fear of people and even become aggressive. Garbage cans need to have tight fitting lids. A few simple precautions avoid problems.

Rabies is generally quite uncommon in foxes. In the U.S., cases of rabies in “tested” wild animals showed 38% in raccoons, 28% in skunks and only 6% in foxes. Note – this was not a study of free-roaming animals – but of animals trapped because they were suspects. In the total population the percentages may be even lower. In sixty plus years of roaming woods and fields seeking out wild animals – I’ve only seen a single raccoon that acted like it might be rabid (turns out it was distemper).

As said before, most fox will avoid close contact with any person. More tame wild ones might not immediately run, but will not let you get close. In the unlikely event that you observe behavior changes which might include acting aggressive toward people, or acting lethargic, weak or sickly, give them a wide birth, and contact authorities. Otherwise, just enjoy the neat experience if you should be so lucky!

Bob Glotzhober
Senior Curator of Natural History

Photo credit: “ODNR Photo by Al Staffan, OHS Collections’

Groundhog Day Doubters Beware!

2012-02-02T15:55:00.003-05:00

It is a proven and testable fact.

If the groundhog sees its shadow today, we will have another six weeks of winter, as opposed to the typical month and half.

Bob Glotzhober, Senior Curator, Natural History

Groundhog image from“ODNR Photo by Al Staffan, OHS Collections”

REMEMBERING ROGER KENNEDY

2012-02-01T14:52:00.005-05:00

Roger G. Kennedy, former director of the National Park Service, former director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and all around Renaissance Man, died at the end of September last year.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Roger in 1990 when he was working on filming the first episode of Roger Kennedy's Rediscovering America for the Discovery Channel. The program was to cover the grand sweep of eastern North American prehistory, with a focus on the great mound-building civilizations and, what he would go on to refer to as, America's "Hidden Cities" (see his book with that title). Although Cahokia, the great Mississippian-era city in Illinois, qualifies as a city under almost any definition, archaeologists generally do not regard the large Hopewell earthworks as "cities." Roger, however, was expansive in his definition: "…by city we mean a place in which a large number of people gather for common purposes." Therefore, he was perfectly justified in encompassing Ohio's Fort Ancient, the Newark Earthworks, Mound City and Serpent Mound within his marvelous narrative.

In 1990, I was a relatively new curator at the Newark Earthworks State Memorial. Roger, with characteristic flair, referred to me in his book as "chatelaine" for the earthworks. (I still wish I could make that my official job title!)
Roger and his film crew interviewed me at the Munson Springs site, a Paleoindian camp site between Granville and Newark, as well as at the Newark Earthworks. We also enlisted a troop of local boy scouts and experimented with (mostly) aboriginal tools to see how long it would take to build the earthworks. (It turns out a motivated team of young men can move a lot of earth in a surprisingly short period of time!)

Roger became interested in the idea of the Great Hopewell Road, which I was then only beginning to formulate; and he decided we needed to rent a helicopter and fly the route. So he arranged for the helicopter and we did just that. It was August, so we didn't see much through the morning haze except a profusion of vegetation, but Roger became convinced that a Hopewell Road did, indeed, connect Newark and Chillicothe and even extended on to Portsmouth! I have never been willing to go that far – literally or figuratively, but I agree that if there was a Great Hopewell Road connecting Newark and Chillicothe, there should be other Hopewell roads connecting other great Hopewell earthwork sites.

There is a funny story regarding the Rediscovering America video. You may notice in the picture of Roger and me together that we have a very similar build. (I only look taller in the image because I'm standing uphill.) Anyway, Roger had gone back to Washington, while the film crew continued shooting video at several of the sites. The director decided he needed footage of Roger walking around Serpent Mound to go with the close-up footage they had shot earlier in the week. Instead of waiting, they had me come to the site, put on a wig and Roger's hat and walk around pretending to be Roger while they shot their video. So if you get a chance to see the program, the guy that appears to be Roger walking around the Serpent is actually me.

My most recent contact with Roger was nowhere near as much fun as our helicopter ride. We corresponded in March of 2010 regarding our joint involvement in another video project -- the Lost Civilizations of North America video. Roger elected not to sign the statement that several of us who were involved wrote and which I posted on this blog in December of 2010, but that didn't mean he was happy with the way his interview had been used.

I will miss Roger. And Ohio's ancient earthworks have lost a mighty champion.

Brad Lepper

Professor Moorehead's Frog

2012-02-01T11:26:00.009-05:00

Pictured above is OHS Archaeology Collections item A67/ 24. As a type it can be placed among other large zoomorphic or animal form pipes typically referred to, at least by some astute observeres, as altar pipes. Exactly how they functioned an a particular society isn't really known. It is fashioned from fine grained sandstone and made in the unmistakable form of a Bull Frog. It was recovered from a site overlooking the Miami River near Waynesville, Ohio and acquired by Warren K. Moorehead some time in the late 1880’s – early 1890’s. Moorehead is famous (some say infamous) for the manner of his archaeological pursuits in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most notably at Fort Ancient and the Hopewell Mound Group in Ohio and at Cahokia in Illinois. His activities also took him to areas as diverse as Maine, the Arkansas River Valley and the American Southwest. He was also a prolific publisher of books and other volumes describing his fieldwork exploits as well as detailed photographs of objects and collections assembled by Moorehead and other antiquarians of his day. He went on to compile a career that was colorful to say the least. Actually Moorehead was a somewhat complicated individual who in his later life became a strong proponent of Native American rights (see the earlier blog post entitled Warren King Moorehead at Wounded Knee). A two or three sentence description here really doesn’t do him justice.

Artistically detailed zoomorphic smoking pipes have a long history in the Ohio Valley beginning with platform pipes created in the Middle Woodland or Hopewell Period of about 100 BC to AD 400. They are notable for the exquisite manner in which they were created and the fantastic variety of animals they represented. Typically the Hopewell forms were relatively small platform style effigy pipes but created in such detail that it is often times possible to identify one species from another in their renderings. Not just to distinguish a hawk from an owl but what type of hawk or what type of owl the artisan had in mind. Individual specimens or small groupings of effigy pipes have been found in Hopewell contexts in Ohio and elsewhere in the greater Mississippi Valley. There were however two rather famous great caches of effigy platform pipes recovered in the south central Scioto Valley in Ohio. The Tremper Cache of 145 pipes was recovered from the Tremper Mound located just north of Portsmouth. Of these 85 were of the effigy type while the others displayed a cylinder to vasiform or vase-like shaped smoking bowl that range from less than an inch to over four inches in height. Much of the Tremper Cache is on display at the Ohio Historical Center. There was also a cache of nearly 200 animal and human effigy pipes and other materials recovered by Squier and Davis (most notably Davis) from Mound Eight at Mound City near Chillicothe. Due in large part to a resentful break-up of their partnership these eventually ended up in the British Museum where they remain today. There is also a history of large zoomorphic pipes in the Hopewell period as demonstrated by those recovered from the Seip Mound by Henry Shetrone, but they are more the exception than the rule. These were carved from steatite or some other relatively soft stone not native to Ohio and were probably imported into the site from regions south of the Ohio River. A number of the large Seip pipes are also in display at the Ohio Historical Center.

For a number of reasons including the raw material used, the subject matter and how it is presented A 67/ 24 likely falls into a later period of around AD1000 -1600 where large zoomorphic pipes seem to be more prevalent but as an isolated find it isn’t possible to ascribe it to a particular period of Ohio pre-history. But in the tradition of the platform pipes from the Tremper Mound and Mound City and some of the later large pipes, especially those from the south , the Moorehead pipe is notable for the very true to life manner in which it was rendered. Art historians refer to this detailed and life-like quality as “verism” although this term is usually reserved for statuary from Roman and Greek antiquity. However, A67/ 24 is particularly exceptional in the details used in its presentation. Just like a living Bull Frog the front legs are bowed outward at the elbows and the front feet turned in with the toes splayed in a fan-like manner, exactly as it would be seen sitting at the edge of a pond. Even the protruding distal ends of the tibiofibula or the “heels” of the rear feet are represented with a true sense of realism. Similarly, the frog’s eyes distinctively bulge from the top of the head as typically seen on some other frog renderings in the OHS archaeology collections but here a detail as subtle as the protective nictitating membrane was thought important enough to be at least slightly indicated. Often times features like these are presented in a more generalized or abstract manner if at all. It seems evident that whoever created the Moorehead pipe was a true master who was particularly observant and almost a slave to the details of natural realism. The Moorehead Frog Pipe, item A67/ 24, is now on display in the Encountering the Sacred section of the Following In Ancient Footsteps exhibit at the Oho Historical Center.

For further reading see Exploration of the Tremper Mound by William C. Mills in Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Quarterly, Volume XXV and Masterworks in Pipestone: Treasure from Tremper Mound by Martha Potter Otto in Timeline Magazine, October 1984.
Bill Pickard

Jurassic Park Revisited?

2012-01-24T10:58:00.006-05:00

Is it possible to resurrect the long extinct Wooly Mammoth? If so what would be next? A Neanderthal? A Megalodon Shark? As for the last two I would think not but some think it’s possible to clone a Wooly Mammoth and bring it back into a world where it hasn’t walked for more than ten millennia. Is this a rehash of a tossed out Jurassic Park script? Not really and there are more than a few scientists that think such a project has possibilities.
Attached is a link to a site that recounts a similar article that was passed on to me a while back. I guess you’ll just have to read it and judge such a venture on its own merits. Enjoy!

Bill Pickard

http://news.discovery.com/animals/mammoth-cloning-technology-reserrect-110117.html

REMOTE SENSING DISCOVERIES AT OHS SITES

2012-01-21T22:53:00.010-05:00

In my January column in the Columbus Dispatch I write about Jarrod Burks’ and Robert Cook’s discoveries of “lost” earthworks using magnetometry, a geophysical remote sensing technology that can detect subtle changes in the magnetic properties of soils, which can reveal some kinds of archaeological sites without having to dig into the ground.

Ancient earthwork foundations and filled ditches are dramatic, but they are not the only kinds of archaeological sites that remote sensing methods can detect; and magnetometry is only one of many remote sensing technologies available for archaeological investigations.

The Ohio Historical Society (OHS) now routinely uses remote sensing surveys at sites prior to any planned construction activities that have the potential for disturbing the traces of past activities hidden beneath the surface that are, after all, part of the reason we preserve and interpret these sites in the first place. Over the past several years, these projects have resulted in important new discoveries many of which have been reported in this blog.

At Fort Laurens, Ohio’s only Revolutionary War era fort, we traced the outlines of the 18th century military occupation using metal detector surveys. We discovered a scattering of metal objects beneath the sod, including a deposit of around 200 musket balls that were intended to have been used by the U.S. soldiers stationed at the fort, but which were lost in an unfortunate accident. This work began as an attempt to discover the location of the 1764 blockhouse built by Henry Bouquet’s forces on or near this site, but it was expanded over the years in response to various proposed construction projects across the property. Jarrod Burks is now engaged in a remote sensing survey of the entire site.

At Serpent Mound, prior to the construction of updated toilet facilities, Burks conducted a remote sensing survey of the areas that were going to be affected by the excavations necessary to install the new septic system. Burks located features that we decided to save by re-routing the proposed water lines around them.

At Fort Ancient, Burks used a variety of methods to examine an area that was going to be used as an access route for heavy equipment employed in repairing damaged segments of the earthworks. Burks discovered traces of a previously unknown circular arrangement of large posts, now referred to as the Moorehead Circle. We decided to alter our plans to avoid disturbing this area, but subsequently it has become the focus of a multi-year investigation led by Robert Riordan of Wright State University.

In each case, remote sensing technologies revealed important clues to our past that might otherwise have been lost. In the Serpent Mound example, the results of the survey were used to preserve the remains of the ancient feature. At Fort Laurens and Fort Ancient, the results were used to focus archaeological investigations on specific anomalies, which have revealed important new insights about these remarkable places.

Stay tuned to this blog for announcements of discoveries that are sure to be made by forthcoming remote sensing investigations at some of the most important historic and prehistoric sites in the State of Ohio.

Here is a link to my column in the Dispatch:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/science/2012/01/22/technology-offers-peek-into-past.html

Here is a link to a previous blog post on the discovery of the large collection of musketballs at Fort Laurens:

"Ft Laurens Musketball Concentration: evidence of a fight or fiasco?"
http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2007/03/ft-laurens-musketball-concentration.html

Here is a link to a previous blog post on Serpent Mound project:

"New discoveries at Serpent Mound"
http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-discoveries-at-serpent-mound.html

Here is a link to a previous blog post on Fort Ancient's Moorehead Circle:

"Secrets of the Moorehead Circle"
http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2011/08/secrets-of-moorehead-circle.html

Brad Lepper

OHIO'S EFFIGY MOUNDS – THE SERPENT AND THE "ALLIGATOR"

2012-01-20T13:29:00.010-05:00

Recently, I had another opportunity to talk to the folks at Ohio's Wilderness Center. On this occasion, science educator Joann Ballbach, general naturalist Gordon T. Maupin, and conservation biologist Gary Popotnik and I chatted about Serpent Mound as well as Ohio's other, less renowned, effigy mound, the so-called "Alligator."

Our conversation was recorded and has been posted as part of the January 19th "Wild Ideas" podcast.

Serpent Mound, at more than 1400 feet long, is the largest effigy mound in the world whereas "Alligator" Mound is a much smaller 200 feet long. Radiocarbon dating and other evidence situate both of these effigies in the Late Prehistoric era (circa AD 1000-1650), which not coincidentally overlaps the time period when all of the hundreds (or even thousands) of effigy mounds were being built in the Upper Midwest.

My sense is that the Serpent and the "Alligator" mounds represent the Great Serpent and Underwater Panther, masters of the Beneath World in the traditions of many Native American cultures. The folklorist George Lankford, in his book Reachable Stars, argues that the Serpent and Underwater Panther actually are manifestations of one supernatural being: "…the Native view, rooted in shape-shifting and symbolic imagery, seems to find much less distinction between the two."

These mounds, then, may have been monumental shrines dedicated to this potent spirit.

If you're interested in learning more, here is a link to the Wilderness Center webpage:
http://www.wildernesscenter.org/podcasts/

My interview is on Podcast #145 and starts at about the 20 minute mark, but you also may enjoy the wide-ranging discussions of various aspects Ohio's natural environment that precede the conversation about Ohio's effigy mounds.

Here are links to a few related blog entries:

The Serpent and the "Alligator": Ohio's ancient effigy mounds
http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2010/01/serpent-and-alligator-ohios-ancient.html

The Snake's Tale: How Old Is Serpent Mound?
http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2011/05/snakes-tale-how-old-is-serpennt-mound.html

New Discoveries at Serpent Mound
http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-discoveries-at-serpent-mound.html

And for even more information about Ohio's effigy mounds, check out my articles in Timeline:

Lepper, Bradley T.
1998 Great Serpent. Timeline Vol. 15, Number 5, pages 30-45.

2001 Ohio's "Alligator." Timeline Vol. 18, Number 2, pages 18-25.

Brad Lepper

"SMALL TALK" ON OHIO'S ANCIENT EARTHWORKS ON FEBRUARY 5TH

2012-01-19T14:25:00.006-05:00

I hope you all will be able to join me for an informal discussion about Ohio’s Ancient Earthworks as part of the Ohio Historical Society’s conversational “Small Talks” series.

On Sunday, February 5th from 2-3 pm, I will talk about the latest theories concerning the origins and purposes of Ohio’s amazing earthworks as well as the status of the effort to nominate eight of Ohio's earthworks to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Those sites include four Ohio Historical Society sites, the Newark Earthworks, Fort Ancient, Seip Mound and Serpent Mound, along with the several sites belonging to Hopewell Culture National Historical Park.

The remarkable mounds and earthen enclosures were built by a number of ancient American Indian cultures over many centuries and for a variety of purposes, but there remain many unanswered questions: Why are many of the earthworks so enormous? Why are many aligned to the rising and setting of the sun and moon? Were the earthworks centers for a vast network of trade and commerce?

For my views on these and whatever other questions you bring with you, join me at the Ohio Historical Society's Discovery Theater on Sunday February 5th at 2 pm.

After the "Small Talk," if there's any interest, I'll lead a guided tour of our new archaeology exhibit in the Museum of the Ohio History Center -- Following in Ancient Footsteps, where you can see some of the most spectacular works of art ever produced by Ohio's mound-building cultures. Those remarkable objects will speak louder than any words you'll hear from me!

I will hope to see you there!

Brad Lepper

Digging the Past Archaeology Day, Saturday January 21st, 2012 in Marietta

2012-01-17T09:03:00.004-05:00

If you have the winter-time blahs and think you might feel a little cooped up this weekend you are invited to the Second Annual Digging the Past Archaeology Day from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm this Saturday January 21st at the Campus Martius Museum in beautiful and historic Marietta Ohio. The museum is built on the site of Campus Martius, the original fortified settlement at Marietta constructed in 1787 by Rufus Putnam, Manasseh Cutler and the other settlers from New England. Marietta would go on to become the first permanent town in the Old Northwest Territory. It is also home to some of the best preserved prehistoric earthworks in Ohio great antique shops and the Rossi Pasta factory. So there is plenty to do at the museum and see in town to make the trip worthwhile. Digging the Past will include displays, lectures and presentations on current archaeological research, artifact identification and flint knapping.Admission is $7 for adults and $4 for students. It’s free for OHS members (a good reason to join) and for children under 5. For further information call the Campus Martius Museum at 1-800-860-0145 or see the attached link.
Bill Pickard

http://campusmartiusmuseum.org/events.html

WILLIAM C. MILLS – SECOND CURATOR OF ARCHAEOLOGY, BUT FIRST DIRECTOR OF THE OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY

2012-01-16T12:48:00.009-05:00

In 1928, the year of the death of William Corless Mills, second Curator of Archaeology and first Director of the Ohio Archaeo-logical and Historical Society (OAHS, now OHS), a new publication began called Museum Echoes.

Now the OHS membership newsletter Echoes, the title evoked the sounds within a then fifteen year old building, now known as Sullivant Hall on High Street, but built in 1913 as the Ohio State Museum. The structure, its collections and archaeological archive, and the growth of the OAHS as a strong and vibrant institution is due in no small part to the work of William C. Mills.

Mills' Archeological Atlas of Ohio, published in 1914 and well known to scholars as his masterwork, probably would have come out a few years earlier were it not for the priority of the Museum Building; like much of Mills’ efforts, he built on work begun by others, but those labors were made complete and brought into public view and wider understanding through the managerial skill and political adeptness of this nearly accidental archaeologist.

When Mills met Warren Moorehead, OAHS’ first Curator of archaeology, the new assistant curator was six years older than his superior, having been trained as a pharmacist with a smattering of medical training, working in Kansas and a number of small towns around Ohio. The work of a druggist didn’t look like a real calling for him, but he did serve as secretary of the Newcomerstown archaeological society, where his reports on local discoveries came to the attention of A. A. Graham, secretary of the OAHS.

Shortly afterwards, in 1897, Mills came back to the Ohio State University where he had begun a course of study sixteen years before, interrupted by his decision to try pharmacy college in Cincinnati, and marriage to Olive Buxton in 1885. In 1898, 38 years old, Mills received his Bachelor of Science in horticulture and forestry, began working in Orton Hall with Moorehead as assistant curator, and quickly found himself in charge of the nascent collections and operations as Moorehead went to the desert southwest on an extended leave to treat his pulmonary tuberculosis.

This period of leave ended with Moorehead’s resignation, and the executive committee of the society offered the job to Mills, which he accepted. Three years later, at the excavation of the Adena Mound in Chillicothe, Mills would be responsible for discovering the Adena Effigy Pipe, a rare piece of figurative and functional art which is one of the great treasures of Ohio, and was a symbol to Mills of the importance of his work in archaeology for the rest of his life. In 1902, Mills earned a Master of Science degree from Ohio State, and directed the moving of the collections and archives to Page Hall in the following year.

But through the remaining decades of William Corless Mills’ life, he would not restrict himself to any one subject. He established the Department of Natural History of the OAHS, and was well known for his skill in ornithology and horticulture, active in a number of professional societies including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Anthropological Society, American Ethnological Society and the American Ornithological Union (among many other awards & memberships). All this, while supervising digs at sites as varied as Tremper Mound, with its famous cache of effigy pipes, and Seip Conjoined Mound. His work at those sites, as well as the Harness and Baum Works, were always quickly and fully published in the pages of the OAHS quarterly and annual reports.

For both Moorehead and Mills, the major part of their salary was actually through Ohio State as both teacher of classes and curator for collections on OSU’s behalf, a tangled set of loyalties and obligations that began to be unwound with the 1921 creation of the position Director of the Museum for OAHS, with the executive committee stepping back into a more traditional role as a governing board of trustees. Mills was the first Director of the OAHS, leaving the original position of Curator of Archaeology open for his assistant, as he had succeeded Moorehead, and Henry Shetrone became the third holder of that post.

An intriguing footnote is that apparently, during his early days holding multiple roles both on behalf of the society and with the university, he was president and treasurer of the Ohio State Athletic Association. When he showed that the program was operating in a major deficit situation, the association asked Mills to fix things, which he answered could only be done if “he be given complete management of all athletics - football, basket-ball, baseball and track work.” They did so, and in one year this early athletic director of Ohio State sports turned a $3,000 deficit into a $8,500 surplus!

It had to be that same kind of astute understanding of people and processes that worked for Mills to get both the State legislature and legendary OSU President William Oxley Thompson to work together to build the Museum Building on High Street, starting in 1913, with the next major wing added in 1926. (In 1970, OHS moved to their current home near the fairgrounds, and the building was given to OSU and renamed Sullivant Hall.) I find myself sorry that the Museum was never named Mills Hall before the handover, because in many ways, that’s who built both the building itself and the collections within it – as well as shaping the early outline of the OAHS as an organization. Those departments still serve the same scientific and educational purposes today which so caught the interest and attention of William Corless Mills in the 1890s.

The Columbus Dispatch rightly wrote in their pages the day after Mills’ passing: “Nothing in nature or in the life of man was without its interest for him.”

For more information about Mills, check out a tribute published after his death in the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quaterly Vol. 38, 1928; page 205-219:

http://publications.ohiohistory.org/ohstemplate.cfm?action=toc&vol=37

You also could read the following short essay in Timeline:

Lepper, Bradley T.2010 William C. Mills: “Tracer of Lost Civilizations.” Timeline Vol. 27, Number 1, 2010; page 8.

Contributed by Jeff Gill, Newark Earthworks Center, the Ohio State University

HENRY SHETRONE AND THE MOUND-BUILDERS

2012-01-13T12:52:00.008-05:00

Henry Clyde Shetrone was a Columbus newspaper reporter who became one of Ohio's most productive archae-ologists. Between 1921 and 1928, he was the Curator of Archaeology for the Ohio Historical Society and served as the Society's Director from 1928 until 1947. He died in 1954, but he left a legacy of great achievements in archaeological research, preservation, and public education.

He was born in Millersport in 1876 and served in Cuba during the Spanish American War. He came back to Ohio and eventually became a reporter. He wrote stories on archaeology and became good friends with William C. Mills, then Curator of Archaeology at the Ohio Historical Society. In 1913, Mills offered him a job as a staff archaeologist.

Shetrone conducted archaeological investigations across the state and made many contributions to our understanding of Ohio's ancient cultures. He unearthed many of the most extraordinary artifacts displayed in the Ohio History Center's new exhibit "Following in Ancient Footsteps," but he did more than excavate sites. He also took the lead in preserving sites for future generations. A partial list of the sites acquired by the Ohio Historical Society during Shetrone's tenure as director includes Fort Hill, Leo Petroglyph, Flint Ridge, the Newark Earthworks, Seip Mound, Shrum Mound, and Williams Mound.

Shetrone was the last of the great self-educated professional archaeologists. He never graduated from college, yet he was one of the most prolific archaeologists of his generation. Although flawed by today's standards, many of his contemporaries regarded his field techniques as superlative. Clark Wissler, one of America's foremost early anthropologists, wrote that "Shetrone does not dig a mound, he dissects it as carefully and intelligently as a surgeon approaches a complicated internal structure."

Shetrone published many articles on his research, but his greatest published work was his 1930 book entitled The Mound-Builders. A few years ago, the University of Alabama Press reprinted this book as part of their "Classics in Southeastern Archaeology" series, so it's widely available again. I contributed the introductory essay on Shetrone's life and work.

Although Shetrone's views on mound-builder archaeology certainly are dated, The Mound-Builders remains an historically important synthesis of the state of the art as of 1930. It is extensively illustrated and his descriptions of excavating at some of Ohio's most famous archaeological sites are well worth reading.

Shetrone dedicated the book to "the average man and woman who, … lack the time and opportunity for digesting the rather extensive but often unavailable literature on the subject." The Mound-Builders is a fitting testament to Shetrone's contributions to archaeology and to the ancient people whose achievements he worked so hard to understand, preserve and share with the world.

Brad Lepper

EARTHWORKS DON'T FARE TOO WELL IN OHIO LICENSE PLATE SLOGAN SURVEY

2012-01-11T13:39:00.003-05:00

The results are in for the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles survey of slogans relating to Ohio to feature on new license plates.

Out of about 400,000 votes cast, the "Newark Mounds" came in 27th with 763 votes and "Serpent Mound" came in 30th with 642 votes.

The big winner was the state motto – "With God All Things Are Possible" with 286,159 votes.

"The Heart of It All" came in 3rd with 7,501 votes.

Thanks to all of you that cast votes for Ohio's earthworks!

For more information about the results of the survey, check out this article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2012/01/ohio_license_plate_slogans_god.html

Brad Lepper

A presentation on The War of 1812 Double Horse Burial at Ft Meigs to kick off winter lecture series at SunWatch Village

2012-01-09T12:04:00.008-05:00

As part of the 2012 “Archaeology of Conflict” lecture series, co-sponsored by SunWatch Village and the Archaeological Institute of America, there will be a presentation on the Double Horse Burial discovered in 2001at Fort Meigs. Fort Meigs is located just outside Perrysburg, Ohio and was pivotal in the war in the northwest during the War of 1812. In the spring and summer of 1813 Fort Meigs was twice invested by combined British and Native American forces and twice successfully defended. However, success was not without cost for the American side with both the regular army and the Kentucky Militia in particular sustaining heavy losses. Often overlooked in the history of such conflicts are the parts played by horses and how their losses may have been as heartfelt to their rider as the loss of a human comrade - if not more. Further research into the events at Ft Meigs in 1813 has tentatively identified one of the horses (and its rider) as part of an action at Fort Meigs on May 5, 1813 that prevented further losses to the American side. You should attend to find out exactly what might have happened. It’s an excellent program.
The “Archaeology of Conflict” series is free and open to the public. The SunWatch Village and Museum is located at 2301 W. River Road in Dayton, Ohio off I-75, exit #51, south of downtown Dayton (the exit for Welcome Stadium and Edwin Moses Boulevard). See the attached link.
Bill Pickard

http://www.sunwatch.org/program-a-events/special-events

Help Spread the Word: Ohio has a new funding tool for history projects!

2012-01-06T17:20:00.001-05:00

Ohioans have a new and important way to demonstrate their support for history and historic preservation in Ohio.

For the first time, taxpayers will be able to donate a portion of their state income tax refund to the Ohio Historical Society. The Society will use the funds to create a new grant program to support history-related projects throughout Ohio. From the fund, matching grants will be awarded for projects including exhibits and public programs, repair and rehabilitation of historic properties, care for historic objects and documents, education initiatives and much more, in communities across the state. The new grant program will be open to the hundreds of history-related organizations, academic institutions and local governments looking for support of their local history-related initiatives.

Now an Ohio tax refund can MAKE HISTORY! when a portion is donated to the Ohio Historical Society for the new History Grants Fund. Questions? Give us a call at 614-297-2341

Warren King Moorehead at Wounded Knee

2011-12-29T00:00:00.004-05:00

December 29, 1890 is a date well known among Native American people. It marks an event slowly becoming better known across the more general study of United States history. Dee Brown, the Western historian borrowed a memorable phrase for a book title from Stephen Vincent Benét’s poem “American Names,” which closed with the line “Bury my heart at Wounded Knee.”

That popular history told a story of the American West from the perspective of Native Americans, using the events of the Wounded Knee Massacre as a lens to refocus the narrative on the Indian experience.

On Dec. 29, 1890, at least 150 Lakota Sioux (some argue it was closer to 300) were shot down in a panic by soldiers of the Unites States Army’s 7th Cavalry, of whom over 30 also died, mostly at the hands of their own 500 strong fellow troopers’ gunfire – arrayed, as they were, in a circle around the 350-plus Indians, mostly women & children with a few older men and a hundred or so younger warriors.
The first curator of archaeology for the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society (now the Ohio Historical Society, or OHS) was present at the Pine Ridge Reservation and near Wounded Knee Creek in 1890. Not at the massacre, Warren K. Moorehead, just 24 years old, was present at Pine Ridge for the preceding two months as a correspondent for the New York based The Illustrated American.

“The Illustrated American” hired young Moorehead because he had just published a well-reviewed novel of life on the Pine Ridge Reservation, entitled Wanneta, the Sioux. A story that we might call a “young adult” novel today. The story echoes a popular contemporary best-seller, Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson, better known for her non-fiction polemic A Century of Dishonor about mistreatment of Native American people across the continent (another book Moorehead would adopt as a model 24 years later).

Wanneta did not sell quite as well as Ramona, but respectably enough to gain a lecture tour across the east coast in the fall of 1890, and an offer to go find out more about what was starting to show up in wire service accounts out west as the “Ghost Dance.” Moorehead had the advantage of having just been on the same ground where the Ghost Dance was reported as most active, spending the previous February with a fascinating character named George E. Bartlett, a U.S. Marshal for Pine Ridge and a city west of there already infamous as Deadwood, South Dakota.

Bartlett had worked as a sales representative for the gunpowder company owned by relatives of Warren Moorehead (his King family relations from Xenia, this apparently being the reason he and Bartlett knew each other in the first place), and also ran a small trading post of his own on a creek through part of the Pine Ridge Reservation. From the wild days as a Pony Express rider and then Marshal in Deadwood, Bartlett had picked up the Indian name “Huste,” which was explained to be a dialect word for . . . “Wounded Knee.” Was the creek already called that, or did Bartlett’s nickname literally name the location? We will probably never know for sure.

What we do know from Moorehead’s papers and journals, held at the OHS Archives, is that Bartlett/Huste had invited the young man out in February, had taken him around to the camps and settlements of the Lakota Sioux across the Nebraska/South Dakota border, and after the relative success of Wanneta had continued to suggest Moorehead come out again to write about this Ghost Dance phenomenon.

With the support of an editor named Minton at The Illustrated American, Moorehead got a ticket from New York to Chadron, Nebraska where Bartlett owned a ranch, and quickly found himself welcomed in the camp of Red Cloud, a greatly respected Lakota leader.

Moorehead never claimed to speak any of the Lakota dialects he encountered, but the articles he later wrote included a variety of Indian words, and of course his friend and guide George Bartlett spoke a number of Sioux tongues quite well. After almost eight weeks of travel and camping among the various settlements across the Pine Ridge area, he was called into the headquarters of Gen. John R. Brooke, commanding officer of the Department of the Platte.

According to Moorehead’s journal, Brooke informed him that as he was the only correspondent who spoke the “hostiles” language, and was accepted enough to overnight in their camps, he was considered a liability to the Army as they tried to bring order to the Pine Ridge situation: so two soldiers would escort him directly to his quarters, watch him pack, and take him to the next train east.

As the first shots rang out along Wounded Knee Creek on Dec. 29, 1890, Warren Moorehead was fuming in a train car, writing out his account of the meeting with Gen. Brooke the day before. As Col. Forsyth and the 7th Cavalry were holstering their weapons and dismantling the Hotchkiss guns that had contributed so much to the one-sided slaughter, Moorehead still knew nothing of what had happened behind him.

But not for long. After a hurried New Year visit to his family in Xenia, Moorehead pressed on to Washington, D.C., where he carried the case of Red Cloud and the Pine Ridge Lakota all the way to the White House, arguing that neither the national interest nor simple justice were served by the poor treatment he had seen, let alone by a massacre such as everyone in the east was now hearing about, and seeing from early photographs (some of which may have come from top-of-the-line equipment Moorehead left behind for his colleagues).

After having heard only vaguely sympathetic statements from congressional leaders and President Benjamin Harrison, Moorehead went on to New York, telling his tale to Minton and the Illustrated American staff. They opened up the magazine’s pages and art department for what their correspondent had to tell, and he published half-a-dozen long pieces praising the moral and personal character of Red Cloud and other Indian leaders he had met, explaining their way of life as it had changed since “the coming of the white man,” and doing his best to present the Ghost Dance in a reasonable light.

Of the Wounded Knee Massacre he could say little, but he closed his series by tearing into the system of Indian agents and allocations, and asking for justice from the U.S. government to the much abused, often maligned Lakota and similarly situated tribes in the west. On reading Moorehead’s righteous rant, the wonder isn’t that it took almost twenty years for him to be named to the federal Bureau of Indian Commissioners, but that he was invited at all.

The bulk of Moorehead’s career was ahead of him in the wake of Wounded Knee. His youthful wanderings and relatively random diggings at Fort Ancient and in Licking & Muskingum counties left a visual record of pillage and unmistakable evidence of an emphasis on personal collecting that would dog his reputation down to the present day. What is very clear in his writing about Native Americans, both long ago in the archaeological record, and today in his United States, is that Warren King Moorehead saw things differently after the events of 1890. He took away from Wounded Knee not only an amazing news story, but a strong sense of the connection between the stones and bones he had so casually juggled in his teenage days, and the proud people whose homes he had shared. His approach to the material culture he now excavated in Ohio was rooted in a living relationship to Native American people. There was both more respect for, and a passion for justice to the descendants of the people who had built a place like Fort Ancient.

Over the next 49 years, there would be few more vocal and active advocates for Native American justice than Warren King Moorehead. In print, in speeches, in lobbying up and down the corridors of Washington, and in exposes of corruption and mismanagement, Moorehead was tireless in his efforts to speak for Indian people without an advocate or a voice in the government, express deep concerns about the Dawes Act and its application to Indian landholdings, conducting hearings in 1911 investigating bribery and redirection of funds in the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota, writing a book length study on his own in 1914 of the national situation regarding BIC management, and supporting the independent Meriam Report of 1928 to the BIC. Moorehead was only formally silenced in 1933 by the complete closure of the Bureau of Indian Commissioners, and their re-constitution as a Bureau of Indian Affairs without him, but his friend John Collier was named the new Commissioner of Indian Affairs of what is better known today as the BIA. No longer a commissioner, he kept writing until his death in 1939 on respect and fair treatment for Indian nations across the US.

How that passion, beginning at Wounded Knee Creek, shaped his archaeological practice in the years to come, will be a fascinating subject for further study and review.

Contributed by Jeff Gill

RARE DNA VARIANT MAY DISPROVE PALEOLITHIC MIGRATION TO AMERICA ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

2011-12-28T23:28:00.005-05:00

A new analysis of the rare mitochondrial DNA haplogroup C4c in Native American populations shows that it has a parallel genetic history with the X2a haplogroup thought by some to indicate a connection between early Paleoindians in eastern North America and the Upper Paleolithic Solutrean culture in France and Spain.

According to Baharak Hooshiar Kashani, of the Dipartimento di Genetica e Microbiologia at the Universita di Pavia in Italy, and his several co-authors, C4c has clear roots in Asia and is found in Great Lakes and Great Plains Native American populations. These are the same areas in which the X2a haplogroup has been identified suggesting that “these two lineages possibly arrived together from Beringia with the same Paleo-Indian group(s) that entered North America from Beringia through the ice-free corridor between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets” at around 18-15,000 years ago.

The researchers further conclude that this finding “definitively dismisses the controversial hypothesis of an Atlantic glacial entry route into North America.”

The paper was published in the latest volume of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Vol. 147, pages 35-39.

Brad Lepper

Support Ohio Archaeology On Your 2011 Ohio Income Tax Form

2011-12-23T15:22:00.002-05:00

Anyone interested in Ohio archaeology has a new and convenient way to demonstrate their support. For the first time, Ohio taxpayers will be able to donate a portion of their income tax refund, or make a targeted donation if they are not receiving a refund, to support history-related, including archaeology, projects throughout Ohio!

The 2011 Ohio individual income tax forms will provide a “tax check-off” option — a blank box where you can designate an amount of your refund for donation.

The Ohio Historical Society (OHS) will administer the grants program and will be working with a variety of interested groups, including the Ohio Archaeological Council, to develop criteria for the grant proposals. Hopefully, the program will be up and running in the spring.

The OHS income tax check-off was approved as part of the state’s two-year budget that was signed into law by Gov. John R. Kasich on June 30. The Society does not know how much the new tax check-off will generate, but officials estimate it to be at least $200,000 per year.

Remember: tax time is also your time to support Ohio archaeology!

VIDEO: GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY OF OHIO EARTHWORKS

2011-12-21T09:02:00.012-05:00

Watch Dr. Jarrod Burks on the December 2011 episode of Video News on the Archaeology Channel!

"Magnetometer survey by Dr. Jarrod Burks in Ohio relocates part of the 1000 foot wide Shriver Circle, a now invisible Woodland Period (300 B.C. - A.D. 500) earthworks feature, suggesting that remote sensing can revolutionize our understanding of Ohio earthworks."

"Suggesting"?!? Remote sensing IS revolutionizing our understanding of Ohio earthworks!

Here's the link:

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/VideoNews.html

REVIEW OF "LOST CIVILIZATIONS" DVD NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

2011-12-20T18:54:00.008-05:00

Part One of the review of the Lost Civilizations of North America DVD, co-authored by Kenneth Feder, Terry Barnhart (former OHS Curator of History), Deborah Bolnick and me, is now available online at the Skeptical Inquirer's website.

It is gratifying that this review now will be more widely accessible.

I hope the second and third parts to the series follow soon!

Civilizations Lost and Found: Fabricating History - Part One: An Alternate Reality

"While it is tempting to ignore the documentary as nonsense, the high production values coupled with the selective inclusion of academically credible scholars have resulted in its gaining international attention. Glenn Beck featured it prominently and favorably in the August 18, 2010, broadcast of his television program, and the website promoting the DVD claims it won the Best Multicultural Documentary Award at the 2010 International Cherokee Film Festival.

In a series of three articles, we will provide a scientific commentary on the interpretations expressed in this video concerning the ancient history of North America, using the documentary itself as emblematic of a far broader attempt to write an alternative history of the New World that is wholly unsupported by any archaeological or historical evidence."

Here is the link to the entire article:

http://www.csicop.org/si/show/civilizations_lost_and_found_fabricating_history_-_part_one_an_alternate_re

Brad Lepper

HOPEWELL ASTRONOMY

2011-12-17T22:58:00.005-05:00

It is becoming increasingly clear that many of Ohio's ancient earthworks incorporate alignments to astronomical phenomena, such as the apparent rising and setting of the Sun on the summer and winter solstices and the various moonrises and sets that demarcate the complicated 18.6-year-long cycle of the Moon.

A still unanswered question is why ancient people were so fascinated with these astronomical events. They certainly would provide a precise and convenient means of keeping track of time, but there is evidence that humanity's interest in these celestial rhythms goes back tens of thousands of years. Why were these early cultures so interested in having such an accurate calendar?

Simon Fraser University archaeologists Brian Hayden and Suzanne Villeneuve offer a compelling hypothesis in their article "Astronomy in the Upper Paleolithic?" published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal.

In order to get a handle on why ancient hunters and gatherers would have been so focused on the sky, Hayden and Villeneuve decided to look at historically-documented hunters and gatherers to see whether these relatively recent groups had similar interests and, if so, why. They examined data concerning 79 complex hunter-gatherer societies and discovered that 63 of them (80%) “exhibited some solstice observation or monitoring and/or calendars" and, surprisingly, most often the monitoring related to the Moon.

Complex hunter-gatherers are groups that rely on hunting wild animals and gathering wild plants for a living, but live in highly productive environments that permit them to gather a reliable surplus of food. This surplus allows them to have relatively high population densities, live at least seasonally in sedentary communities, engage in trade of high prestige artifacts, and compete with one another in the holding of extravagantly sumptuous feasts. Hayden and Villeneuve argue that their great interest in astronomy was fueled by the need to schedule these feasts, which could be complicated affairs with enormous social implications.

The Hopewell culture practiced some horticulture, but the people relied principally on hunting and gathering for the bulk of their diet. As a result, they share many of the characteristics of complex hunter-gatherers. Their monumental earthworks with astronomical alignments may have been pilgrimage centers operated by secret societies that competed with each other for prestige as well as religious or political authority. Holding big feasts within an impressive architectural arena on occasions featuring dramatic astronomical conjunctions would have been one way to demonstrate your groups' superiority on many levels.

Hayden and Villeneuve write, "If secret-society knowledge encompassed sophisticated solar, lunar and other celestial observations and knowledge, we might expect the highest-ranking members of secret societies to actively seek out ways to develop even more secret knowledge based on understanding celestial movements such as cycles of lunar or solar eclipses."

The initiation of such a spiritual arms race may have been the spark that ignited the explosive Hopewell florescence.

For further discussion of this topic, check out my column in the Columbus Dispatch:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/science/2011/12/18/earthworks-created-for-more-than-farming.html

Here is the full reference for the paper by Brian Hayden & Suzanne Villeneuve
2011 Astronomy in the Upper Paleolithic? Cambridge Archaeological Journal 21(3):331-355.

For an extended discussion of the astronomical alignments at the Hopewellian Marietta Earthworks, see this previous blog post:

It's That Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2010/12/its-that-most-wonderful-time-of-year.html

Brad Lepper

Ohio World Heritage Conference Held to Discuss Ohio Earthworks

2011-12-12T13:39:00.010-05:00

The Ohio Historical Society, in collab-oration with the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and the University of Cincinnati’s Center for the Electronic Reconstruction of Historical and Archaeological Sites (CERHAS) held the first Ohio World Heritage Conference from November 5-8, 2011.

The conference was convened to develop a strategy for the nomination of the eight Ohio earthwork sites being considered for the prestigious World Heritage List maintained by United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

In 2008, eight Ohio earthworks were selected by the United States Department of the Interior for inclusion on the United States’ Tentative List of sites to be submitted to UNESCO for inscription on the World Heritage List based on two nominations prepared by the National Park Service and the Ohio Historical Society. One nomination was for Serpent Mound in Adams County, constructed by the Fort Ancient culture.

The other nomination was of Hopewell Ceremonial Sites: the Newark Earthworks in Licking County, Fort Ancient in Warren County, and the five earthworks included in Hopewell Cultural National Historical Park in Ross County: Mound City, Hopeton Earthworks, Hopewell Mound Group, Seip Earthworks, and High Bank Works.

Conference participants included scholars from across the nation: archaeologists, anthropologists, and cultural landscape historians; museum and park administrators with experience in the intensive nomination process; and Native Americans to whom these sites are sacred.

During the four-day conference participants toured most of the earthworks to gain a better under-standing of the sites and their attributes. Four formal discussion sessions were moderated to discuss issues related to the development of the nominations.

At the conclusion of the conference, participants were optimistic about the progress of the nominations, but were well aware of the work remaining to document the merit of the sites. The earliest either of the nominations could be inscribed on the World Heritage list would be 2014, and there is no guarantee of this.

The conference was funded by The Ohio State University Newark Earthworks Center, the Ohio Humanities Council, the Ohio Archaeological Council, Cincinnati Preservation Association, Warren County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Ross County Convention and Visitors Bureau and with donations from individuals as well as funds from the Ohio Historical Society and Hopewell Cultural National Historical Park.

Ohio Historical Society

RESPONDING TO "THE LOST CIVILIZATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA" DVD – PART 3: REAL MESSAGES IN DNA

2011-12-08T11:18:00.002-05:00

The January/February issue of the Skeptical Inquirer, "the magazine for science & reason," includes the final installment in a three-part series of articles written by physical anthropologist Deborah Bolnick, archaeologist Ken Feder, historian Terry Barnhart (a former Curator of History for the Ohio Historical Society), and me responding to the claims put forward in the video documentary The Lost Civilizations of North America.

The title of this article is "Civilizations Lost and Found: Fabricating History. Part Three: Real Messages in DNA" and it addresses the claim made in the documentary that the presence of the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup "X" in American Indian populations provides evidence for a pre-Columbian migration of Israelites to the Americas. It does not.

The article concludes:
"There is no credible evidence to suggest that any Old World peoples migrated to the Americas after the initial incursion from Siberia prior to the tentative forays of the Norse beginning at around 1000 CE other than limited contacts between Siberia and the American arctic."

For more information on what we're learning from studying ancient Hopewell DNA, check out these previous blog posts:

Ancient DNA from the Ohio Hopewell
http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2006/06/ancient-dna-from-ohio-hopewell.html

Ancient DNA from the Illinois Hopewell
http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2006/10/ancient-dna-from-illinois-hopewell.html

New study of ancient DNA reveals population history of northeastern North America
http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-study-of-ancient-dna-reveals.html

Brad Lepper