Mud Bay Wet Site Mud Bay Wet Site

ANCIENT LIFE AND DEATH • ARCHAEOLOGY FROM THE SKIES • WHERE THE BISON ROAMED american archaeologyWINTER 2007-08 a quarterly publication of The Archaeological Conservancy Vol. 11 No. 4

WorkingWorking atat thethe MudMud BayBay WetWet SiteSite $3.95

american archaeologywinter 2007-08 a quarterly publication of The Archaeological Conservancy Vol. 11 No. 4

COVER FEATURE 12 WATERLOGGED WONDERS BY DOUGLAS GANTENBIEN A large portion of the Pacific Northwest’s ancient material culture was extremely perishable. But the exceptional preservation of the Mud Bay site has allowed archaeologists to recover such amazing items as 700-year-old basket fragments.

20 ARCHAEOLOGY FROM THE SKIES Aerial photographer Adriel Heisey displays his passion for photographing archaeological sites. adriel heisey adriel

28 A PICTURE OF ANCIENT LIFE AND DEATH BY KRISTIN OHLSON An excavation in Ohio offers insights into the Woodland peoples.

34 WHERE THE BISON ROAMED gill larry BY MARLENA HARTZ Archaeologists are studying how Paleo-Indians and later people hunted bison and other game at the Lubbock Lake Landmark. 2 Lay of the Land 3 Letters 40 A PASSION FOR FIELDWORK BY TAMARA STEWART 5 Events Legendary archaeologist Cynthia Irwin-Williams overcame 7 In the News obstacles to make her mark in the field. New Ancient Lineage Discovered • Maya Mystery Solved • Sixteenth-Century 46 new acquisition Spanish Shipwreck Found A TIME OF TRANSITION The Spier 142 site speaks to a period of change in 50 Field Notes west-central New Mexico. 52 Reviews

47 new acquisition 54 Expeditions LEARNING ABOUT A PREHISTORIC FARMING VILLAGE COVER: The Conservancy obtains a Fort Ancient site in Kentucky. Jolene Grover, a member of the Squaxin Island Tribe, and Carolyn Dennler work at a 48 point acquisition waterlogged shell midden at the Mud Bay site in southwest Washington State before the tide covers it. A PIECE OF CLINTON’S DITCH Photograph by Dale Croes The Conservancy obtains part of the original Erie Canal. american archaeology 1 Lay of the Land

An Example of Conservation Archaeology

ince 1939, archaeologists have almost continuously for some 13,000 been intermittently excavating years, and consequently archaeologist Sthe Lubbock Lake Landmark in Eileen Johnson, the site’s director, calls West Texas. In the intervening 70 years, it a “persistent place.” a lot has changed in the science of In these 70 years of research,

Mark Michel, President darren poore archaeology and our understanding archaeologists have developed many of the people who visited the lake in new techniques from Carbon 14 dat- can take their time to study the search of bison and other game. In this ing to DNA analysis. Because the site deposits, using the latest methods issue of American Archaeology (see remains intact, these new technologies and theories. This is exactly what The “Where the Bison Roamed,” page 34), can be used to glean new information Archaeological Conservancy is trying we take a look at current research at with each successive generation of to accomplish with its national system this important site. Owned and man- researcher, and after 70 years of exca- of hundreds of permanent preserves aged by Texas Tech University, Lubbock vations, only about five percent of the that will guarantee a research base for Lake Landmark is an ongoing labora- site has been excavated. The landmark generations to come. tory for the archaeology of the south- demonstrates why conservation archae- ern Great Plains. It has been occupied ology works so well. Archaeologists

2 winter • 2007-08 Letters

Too Politically Correct Editor’s Corner Most of the sources I have seen state 500 to For decades archaeologists and Native 550 deaths at Fort Mims, not 250 as stated in “Clarifying an Historic Event,” in the Fall Americans have had a notoriously issue. Many of the people were Creeks or strained relationship. But there is evi- part Creek. There were about 250 scalps dence that the times are changing. taken. I like your magazine for the most Our feature “Waterlogged Wonders” (p. part, but it’s a little too politically correct 12) covers the collaboration between at times, as is evident in this instance archaeologist Dale Croes and Squaxin by trying to minimize the death count. Island Tribal member Rhonda Foster, who codirect the excavation of the Mud Steve Cole Bay site. Morresville, Indiana Croes’ institution, South Puget Sound Community College, has a writ- Gregory Waselkov, the principal investigator of the Fort Mims’ ten agreement with the Squaxin Island investigation, replies: Tribe’s Cultural Resources Department “The whole population of Fort Mims,” according to Albert James Pickett’s 1851 that incorporates both the college’s History of Alabama, numbered “five hundred and fifty-three souls.” Estimates archaeological expertise and the tribe’s made within days of the battle, however, put that total around 400. Neither figure cultural knowledge in this project. Croes equates with the death toll of the August 30, 1813, battle. Some fort occupants believes this cooperative relationship is escaped, and many others were captured by the Redstick Creeks. Three weeks the future of archaeology. after the battle, the U.S. burial party placed 247 bodies of fort occupants into two Sonya Atalay is an archaeologist mass graves and noted the hastily covered remains of at least 100 attackers. Modern at the University of Indiana, a member sources on the Redstick War of 1813–1814 contain more than their share of errors of the Ojibwe tribe, and chairwoman and myths. Rectifying long-standing errors isn’t politically correct, just correct. of the Society for American Archaeol- ogy’s Committee on Native American Sending Letters to American Archaeology Relations. She believes that relations American Archaeology welcomes your letters. Write to us at 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, between the two sides are “definitely Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517, or send us e-mail at [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit and getting better.” The catalyst for this publish letters in the magazine’s Letters department as space permits. Please include your name, improvement is the Native American address, and telephone number with all correspondence, including e-mail messages. Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which, in certain circum- Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation 1. Publication Title: American Archaeology. 2. Publication No.: 1093-8400. 3. Date of Filing: September 18, 2007. 4. Issue stances, requires archaeologists to con- Frequency: Quarterly. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: 4. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $25.00. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: The Archaeological Conservancy, 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, Albuquerque, sult with tribes. But Atalay is surprised NM 87108-1517. 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher: same as No. 7. 9. Names and Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher—Mark Michel, address same as No. that numerous collaborations between 7. 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(D) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail): (1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included emerged since NAGPRA became law on PS Form 3541: 0; (2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541: 0; (3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail): 65; (4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside in 1990 tends to be more respectful of the Mail (Carriers or other means): 1,614. (E) Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)): 1,679. (F) Total Distribution (Sum of 15C and 15E): 28,047. (G) Copies not Distributed: 3,962. (H) Total (Sum of 15F and Native American culture and traditions 15G): 32,009. (I) Percent Paid (15C/15F x 100): 94.01%. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Number Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date: (A) Total No. Copies (net press run): 32,800. (B) Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside than its predecessors, Atalay observes. the Mail): (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies): 19,875; (2) Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form That’s not to say that all the problems are 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies): 0; (3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mails Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution resolved. But enough progress has been Outside USPS: 3,703; (4) Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail): 2,588. (C) Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15B (1), (2), (3), and (4)): 26,166. 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Michael Bawaya, Editor. american archaeology 3 Welcome to The Archaeological Conservancy! 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902 Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517 • (505) 266-1540 he Archaeological Conservancy www.americanarchaeology.org is the only national nonprofit Board of Directors organization that identifies, Gordon Wilson, New Mexico CHAIRMAN acquires, and preserves the Cecil F. Antone, Arizona • Carol Condie, New Mexico most significant archaeological Donald Craib, Virginia • Janet Creighton, Washington • Janet EtsHokin, Illinois sites in the United States. Jerry EtsHokin, Illinois • Jerry Golden, Colorado • W. James Judge, Colorado tSince its beginning in 1980, the Jay T. Last, California • Dorinda Oliver, New York Conservancy has preserved more Rosamond Stanton, Montana • Vincas Steponaitis, North Carolina than 355 sites across the nation, Dee Ann Story, Texas • Stewart L. Udall, New Mexico ranging in age from the earliest Conservancy Staff habitation sites in North America to Mark Michel, President • Tione Joseph, Business Manager a 19th-century frontier army post. Lorna Wolf, Membership Director • Sarah Tiberi, Special Projects Director We are building a national system of Shelley Smith, Membership Assistant • Melissa Montoya, Administrative Assistant archaeological preserves to ensure the survival of our irreplaceable Regional Offices and Directors cultural heritage. Jim Walker, Vice President, Southwest Region (505) 266-1540 5301 Central Avenue NE, #902 • Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108 Why Save Archaeological Sites? Tamara Stewart, Projects Coordinator • Steve Koczan, Field Representative The ancient people of North America Paul Gardner, Vice President, Midwest Region (614) 267-1100 left virtually no written records of their 3620 N. High St. #307 • Columbus, Ohio 43214 cultures. Clues that might someday solve Josh McConaughy, Field Representative the mysteries of prehistoric America are still missing, and when a ruin is Jessica Crawford, Southeast Region (662) 326-6465 destroyed by looters, or leveled for a 315 Locust St. • P.O. Box 270 • Marks, Mississippi 38646 shopping center, precious information George Lowry, Field Representative is lost. By permanently preserving endangered ruins, we make sure they Gene Hurych, Western Region (916) 424-6240 will be here for future generations to 6031 Freeport Blvd., #100H • Sacramento, California 95822 study and enjoy. Julie L. Clark, Field Representative Andy Stout, Eastern Region (301) 682-6359 How We Raise Funds: 8 E. 2nd. St. #200 • Frederick, Maryland 21701 Funds for the Conservancy come Sonja Ingram, Field Representative from membership dues, individual contributions, corporations, and foundations. Gifts and bequests of money, land, and securities are fully tax american archaeology® deductible under section 501(c)(3) of the Publisher: Mark Michel Internal Revenue Code. Planned giving editor: Michael Bawaya (505) 266-9668, [email protected] provides donors with substantial tax Assistant editor: Tamara Stewart deductions and a variety of beneficiary ART Director: Vicki Marie Singer, [email protected] possibilities. For more information, call Mark Michel at (505) 266-1540. Editorial Advisory Board David Anderson, University of Tennessee • Jan Biella, New Mexico Deputy SHPO The Role of the Magazine: Todd Bostwick, Phoenix City Archaeologist • Pam Edwards-Lieb, Mississippi Chief Archaeologist American Archaeology is the only Bill Engelbrecht, Buffalo State College • Mark Esarey, Cahokia Mounds State Park popular magazine devoted to presenting Charles Ewen, East Carolina University • Barbara Heath, University of Tennessee the rich diversity of archaeology in Robert Hoard, Kansas State Archaeologist • Peggy McGuckian, Bureau of Land Management the Americas. The purpose of the Rick Minor, Heritage Research Associates • Sarah Neusius, Indiana University of Penn. magazine is to help readers appreciate Claudine Payne, Arkansas Archaeological Survey • Mark Schurr, University of Notre Dame and understand the archaeological Kevin Smith, Middle Tennessee State University • Fern Swensen, North Dakota Deputy SHPO wonders available to them, and to raise Ruth Van Dyke, Colorado College • Robert Wall, Towson University their awareness of the destruction of Rob Whitlam, Washington State Archaeologist • David Whitley, W & S Consultants our cultural heritage. By sharing new Richard Woodbury, University of Massachusetts discoveries, research, and activities in an enjoyable and informative way, we hope National Advertising Office we can make learning about ancient Marcia Ulibarri, Advertising Representative America as exciting as it is essential. 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108; (505) 344-6018, [email protected] How to Say Hello: By mail: The Archaeological Conservancy, American Archaeology (issn 1093-8400) is published quarterly by The Archaeological Conservancy, 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517. Title registered U.S. Pat. and TM Office, © 2007 by TAC. Printed in the United States. Periodicals postage paid Albuquerque, NM, and additional mailing offices. Single copies are $3.95. A one-year membership to the Conservancy is $25 and includes receipt Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517; of American Archaeology. Of the member’s dues, $6 is designated for a one-year magazine subscription. READERS: For new memberships, renewals, by phone: (505) 266-1540; or change of address, write to The Archaeological Conservancy, 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517, or call (505) by e-mail: [email protected]; 266-1540. For changes of address, include old and new addresses. Articles are published for educational purposes and do not necessarily or visit our Web site: reflect the views of the Conservancy, its editorial board, or American Archaeology. Article proposals and artwork should be addressed to the editor. www.americanarchaeology.org No responsibility assumed for unsolicited material. All articles receive expert review. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to American Archae- ology, The Archaeological Conservancy, 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517; (505) 266-1540. All rights reserved. American Archaeology does not accept advertising from dealers in archaeological artifacts or antiquities. 4 winter • 2007-08 Museum exhibits • Tours • Festivals Meetings • Education • Conferences Events

n NEW EXHIBITS Manitoba Museum Arizona State Museum Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada—The University of Arizona, Tucson— Based new exhibit “Manitoba First Farm- on stunning photographs from Ari- ers” presents the story of the suc- zona Highways magazine, the new cessful early farming communities exhibit “Ancient Arizona Architecture” established by First Nations peoples features images of prehistoric settle- on the plains of southern Manitoba ments across the state. The majority long before contact with Europe- of ruins depicted in this photographic ans. The exhibit features artifacts exhibition are located on federal lands and interpretations from the 15th- and protected under various federal century Lockport Site and the 17th-

rt M useum A rt laws including the Archaeological century Snyder II site, demonstrating Resources Protection Act. (520) 621- that pre-European farming was more 6302, www.statemuseum.arizona.edu. successful and extensive than previ- Fenimore exhibits (Through February 15, 2008) ously thought, and explores the wide range of plants initially domesticated Fenimore Art Museum Abbe Museum by First Nations peoples. (204) 956- Cooperstown, N.Y.—The complex Bar Harbor, Maine—The intriguing 2830, www.manitobamuseum.mb.ca relationships between distinct cultures exhibition “Layers of Time: Archaeol- (New permanent exhibit) creates a remarkable dynamic, especially ogy at the Abbe Museum” takes visitors when one culture attempts to make through a number of major archaeo- n CONFERENCES, a pictorial record of the other. The logical excavation projects conducted LECTURES & FESTIVALS exaggerations and inaccuracies of the by the Abbe throughout Maine. Dis- Pueblo Grande Museum resultant imagery can have an intense impact on both cultures. For America and cover what the archaeologists set out 31st Annual Indian Market most of the world, the Great Plains evokes to learn and what information they December 8–9, Steele Indian School images of painted tepees, savage buffalo actually uncovered. Among the myriad Park, Phoenix, Ariz. The Indian Mar- hunts, and warriors on horseback wearing artifacts are a cast of the skeleton of ket features over 300 Native Ameri- elaborate feather headdresses. The new a carefully buried 4,000-year-old dog can artists presenting items such as exhibition “Myth & Reality: The Art of and a group of remarkably preserved paintings, sculptures, jewelry, and the Great Plains” features Plains artists’ arrowheads dating from 2,000 to baskets. The event also includes representations from their own culture 1,200 years ago. (207) 288-3519, music, dance performances, and art- through the lens of four distinct subjects: horses, women, the “other,” and the www.abbemuseum.org/exhibits.html ist demonstrations. Traditional native Battle of Little Bighorn. 1-888-547-1450, (Long-term exhibit) foods will be served. (602) 495-0901, www.fenimoreartmuseum.org. (Through www.pueblogrande.com December 30)

Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum Lafayette, La.—The new traveling Field Museum exhibit “Transforming Tradition: The Pottery of Mata Ortiz” presents the work of contemporary artists from the town of Mata Ortiz, who have rediscovered the artistic rt M useum A rt tradition of their ancient ancestors and mastered the art of creating some of the finest contemporary ceramic vessels in the country. Over 20 exquisite ollas show off intricate geometric designs, decorative painting and incising, and beguiling animal forms. The exhibit also includes ceramic vessels from the 14th- and 15th-century Casas Grandes culture that inspired the modern-day revival of this complex artistic tradition.(312) 665-7332, www.fieldmuseum.org/

niversity and L ulu H illiard U niversity aul exhibits/traveling_ortiz.htm (January 27–April 30, 2008) P american archaeology 5 Events Georgia Museum of Art University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.—“Real Western Wear: Beaded Gauntlets from the William P. Healey Collection” presents 73 pairs of beautifully decorated gloves that reflect the design diversity and technical

virtuosity of the Plains, Plateau, and Great A rt Basin Indian artists who produced them from the 1890s through the 1940s. These unique adorned leather gloves effectively blend the practicality of everyday items

geared for use in the frontier with beautiful M useum o f G eorgia designs from the tribes in these areas. (706) 542-4662, www.uga.edu/gamuseum (Through January 6, 2008)

17th Annual World Championship Society for Historical Archaeology Hoop Dance Contest 2008 Conference on Historical February 9–10, Heard Museum, Phoenix, and Underwater Archaeology Ariz. Experience the fast-paced preci- January 9–13, Hyatt Regency, Albu- sion and grace of hoop dancing when querque, N.M. The public benefits performers from the United States and of historical archaeology, the theme Canada compete for cash prizes and the of this year’s conference, will be World Champion title. Visitors can enjoy explored in various symposiums, dance performances as well as fry bread sessions, panel discussions, work- and other Native American foods. (602) shops, and forums. Several special 252-8848, www.heard.org sessions will also feature the historical archaeology of New Mexico and Fifth Annual Tulane Maya the Southwest. There will be tours of Symposium & Workshop Chaco Canyon, Acoma Pueblo, Santa February 15–17, Tulane University, New Fe, and other sites in the region. Orleans, La. The theme of this year’s sym-

(301) 990-2454, www.sha.org posium and workshop is “Sacred Cenotes, M useum S o c iety c al M issouri H istori Hidden Caverns: Rituals, Beliefs, and Every- Missouri Historical 20th Anniversary Southwest day Life Relating to Caves and Cenotes Society Museum Symposium: Movement, Connectivity, among the Maya.” Researchers will explore and Landscape Change the physical and sacred geography of St. Louis, Mo.—The year 1607 January 17–19, Arizona State Univer- the Maya region, Maya origin stories and marked a turning point in world sity, Tempe campus. A retrospective beliefs focusing on caves and cenotes, history with a collision of empires, cultures, and ideas. The traveling session honoring the symposium’s and rituals associated with these locales. exhibition “Jamestown, Quebec, 20th anniversary will revisit topics (504) 865-5164, http://stonecenter. Santa Fe: Three North American from the original 1987 symposium. tulane.edu/MayaSymposium Beginnings Stirring the Melting Three additional sessions will Pot,” co-organized by the Virginia explore the relationships between Southwest Indian Art Fair Historical Society and the people and their landscapes, both February 23–24, Arizona State Museum, Smithsonian’s National Museum social and physical, a theme that University of Arizona, Tucson. Meet 200 of American History, tells the story dominates Southwest archaeological of the most renowned Native American of dramatic twists of fate, strategic alliances, and violent conflict research today. These sessions will artists and shop for top-quality art- between the three mighty European address human movement, landscape work including pottery, Hopi kachina empires and the native people living change, and the connections among dolls, paintings, jewelry, baskets, rugs, in North America. (314) 746-4599, groups at local and pan-Southwestern blankets, and other goods. The fair www.mohistory.org (Through scales. Two poster sessions will also features artists demonstrations, March 16, 2008) present updates on current research Native American foods, music, and around the American Southwest. dance performances. (520) 621-6302, www.public.asu.edu/~ndwilso1 www.statemuseum.arizona.edu

6 winter • 2007-08 In the NEWS

New Ancient Lineage Discovered The find indicates greater genetic diversity among early Americans.

ncient DNA extracted from the 5,000-year-old remains of A two individuals has revealed a mitochondrial haplogroup previously unknown in the New World. The individuals, two young adult males discovered at the China Lake site in central British Columbia, Canada, were found to belong to haplogroup M. This discovery suggests that there was a greater genetic diversity among ancient Ameri- cans than researchers had assumed, said Ripan Malhi, a molecular anthro- pologist at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, who conducted the DNA tests. Researchers had identified five haplogroups—a term used to describe Canadian M useum o f Civilization genetic lineages—in the mitochon- The China Lake site in British Columbia, Canada. The 5,000-year-old remains of two drial DNA of living Native Americans. individuals were accidentally discovered here in 1982. Those haplogroups are known as A, B, C, D, and X, and it was assumed that shorter and their bones were thinner Once these tests were concluded, the these remains would fall into one of than the roughly 100 other ancient individuals were reburied. these groups. Malhi said he was “very human skeletons that have been found Like the five known Native Ameri- surprised” to find that wasn’t the case, in this region. can haplogroups, M has been traced so surprised, in fact, that he at first Cybulski met with the Canoe back to Asia, so it is consistent with the assumed that the samples he tested Creek Band of Salish Indians in 2002 to theory that the first Americans were were contaminated. But additional test- get permission for testing. There have Asian people who crossed Beringia ing confirmed the results. been cases where Native Americans en route to the Americas. “This type of The remains were accidentally have opposed DNA testing of ancient lineage may have come in with the first discovered in 1982 during a road remains that they believe to be their Americans, or it may have come in later construction project. “We think they ancestors. The legal wrangling sur- in time,” Malhi said. “I wouldn’t be sur- were buried together or within a short rounding Kennewick Man is the best- prised if we discover more haplogroups period of time of one another,” said known example of this. But this posed in the future.” He speculated that the M Jerry Cybulski, the curator of physical no problem for Cybulski, who wanted haplogroup could have “died out” over anthropology at the Canadian Museum to test the remains to see if they were time. “That could be the result of ran- of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec. related. “We’ve had an ongoing relation- dom extinction processes.” A bone sample from the remains was ship with the Canoe Creek Band,” he The remains of a female of similar radiocarbon dated to roughly 5,000 said. Consequently, the Canoe Creek age were also found near China Lake, years ago. Cybulski analyzed the skel- allowed Cybulski, Malhi, and their and DNA testing revealed she belonged etons in 2000. These individuals were colleagues to conduct the DNA tests. to haplogroup A. —Michael Bawaya american archaeology 7 In the NEWS So l v i n g a Ma y a My s t e r y The discovery of manioc planting beds may explain how large populations were fed.

xcavating south of a well-preserved Maya village in El Salvador last summer, scientists from the University of EColorado discovered 1,400-year-old planting beds of cultivated manioc. This discovery may answer the question of how large Maya cities were able to produce enough food to feed multitudes of people. “This field was a jackpot of sorts for us,” said archaeologist Payson D. Sheets, who directed the excavation. Evidence of manioc domestication may account for how the Classic Maya supported such dense populations at urban sites like Tikal in Guatemala and Copán in Honduras. At its peak, Tikal had a population of over 100,000, Sheets said, and Copán had about 20,000 people. Both cities had insufficient land for maize agriculture to feed all of the people. Scholars have ayson D . S heets ayson

long suspected that pre-Columbian Maya farmers engaged in P large-scale cultivation of crops other than maize, beans, and Christine Dixon excavates the manioc planting beds in Cerén. squash. They had speculated that the Maya could have mastered the cultivation of manioc, a root crop common today “Manioc cultivation among the Maya was known before in the American tropics. But archaeologists and paleobota- our discovery, from archaeologists finding manioc pollen,” nists have discovered no convincing evidence of large-scale Sheets explained. “But what was not known is how it was cultivation until now. cultivated, and whether it was a garden plant providing only a little to the diet, or whether it was a staple. The formal planting beds that we found indicate the latter.” One manioc plant was found in a garden during previous research at the site. This led researchers to think that manioc must have had a minor place in the diet, Sheets said. But the recent research disproved that assumption. Ten feet under the ash and soil, Sheets and his crew uncovered the planting beds of manioc. Manioc bushes grow as high as ten feet, and their tubers as long as three feet. The manioc field was found at Cerén, a small village of roughly 200 people located about 20 miles northwest of San Salvador. Around a.d. 600, the eruption of a nearby volcano buried the town’s buildings, artifacts, and landscape under a thick layer of ash. Consequently, some people refer to Cerén as the “Pompeii of the New World.” The layer of ash made for the site’s exquisite preservation. Sheets is now searching for more evidence of large-scale

manioc cultivation in the Maya region. Most other sites are Christine D ixon Payson D. Sheets holds a manioc tuber in his left hand and a not as well preserved as Cerén. Consequently, he’s collabor- plaster sample of a tuber in his right. The archaeologists made ating with other researchers to employ techniques like plaster casts of the hollow spaces they found in the beds to starch grain analysis that can identify manioc cultivation. confirm manioc had grown there. —Steven McFadden 8 winter • 2007-08 In the NEWS New Technology Identifies Old Trade Patterns Photon activation analysis gives insight into ancient trade in Alaska. S usan D un c an A medical-grade linear accelerator is used to conduct photon activation analysis. This machine was originally designed for cancer therapy.

daho State University research- “The interesting thing about it conducts PAA. “This is the only accel- ers are using a technology called is people are changing political alle- erator center in the world doing this I photon activation analysis (PAA) to giances all the time,” Maschner said, kind of work,” he said. identify Native American trade patterns explaining that political changes were Maschner and the physicists first in Alaska. PAA identifies the elemental reflected in different trade patterns. He used the process to experiment with signatures of artifacts, but, unlike other said he doesn’t understand the reasons obsidian and rocks from lava flows in technologies that can also identify for the frequent political changes, “but southeastern Idaho. They found they these signatures, it doesn’t damage the I’m working on it.” His research has also could accurately match samples to par- artifacts. revealed that some of the trade routes ticular flows. Maschner then began using Archaeologist Herbert Maschner stretched for several hundred miles, PAA to analyze the Alaskan spear points. has used PAA to identify the signatures mostly over water. To conduct the analysis, Maschner of several hundred basalt spear points The Native American tribes that and his colleagues use a medical-grade that were recovered from 20 sites on own the artifacts requested that no linear accelerator designed for cancer the Aleutian Islands and the western destructive testing be done. Other therapy. The machine shoots a beam Alaska Peninsula. The spear points date technologies such as neutron activation of electrons through a tungsten block, from roughly 200 to 5,000 years ago. analysis can also identify an object’s and as a result the artifact is bombarded Maschner has determined that the spear elemental signature, but in the process by gamma rays that temporarily irradi- points’ basalt came from six different they damage the object being tested, ate it, revealing its elemental signature. sources. Having identified their signa- in some cases making it radioactive “It does not destroy the samples,” said tures, he can make assumptions about for years. “Almost by accident,” Masch- Maschner. That’s because of the short trade between the sites. For example, ner said, “I ran into Frank Harmon and half-lives of the isotopes created by the if spear points found at two sites have Doug Wells, a couple of physicists” at process. “In less than two weeks I can the same signatures, he assumes those Idaho State. The university operates give the artifacts back to the tribe.” two sites were trading with each other. the Idaho Accelerator Center, which —Steven McFadden american archaeology 9 In the NEWS Sixteenth-Century Spanish Shipwreck Discovered The vessel was likely involved in an attempt to colonize Florida.

niversity of West Florida (UWF) researchers discovered a Span- Uish ship that was sunk off the coast of Pensacola almost 450 years ago. The wreck was found in the summer of 2006 and testing of the site continued through last summer. On September 19, 1559, a hurricane raged across the Gulf of Mexico, wreaking havoc with a Spanish fleet of 11 ships commanded by explorer Don Tristan de Luna, who hoped to establish a permanent colony on the Florida Panhandle. The storm sent as many as seven ships to the bottom of Pensacola Bay. Two years later, in 1561, the colony at the site of present-day Pensacola was abandoned altogether. According to Gregory D. Cook, a UWF

nautical archaeologist, the sinking of Florida o f West I nstitute, U niversity A r c haeology the ships was a major factor in the Researchers are excavating the shipwreck, which is in about 12 feet of water. abandonment. No trace of the colony has been found on land. The survey was conducted by towing one of the vessels from the Luna fleet. Though it wasn’t the first time a magnetometer behind a boat. The The ship apparently held food Spain tried to establish a colony in magnetometer registers any magnetic stocks and other supplies for the colo- Florida, the Luna expedition was, at that deviations from the normal environ- nization campaign, which was financed time, the most ambitious attempt, Cook ment, such as the presence of ferrous by the Spanish crown. No human said. If the hurricane had not struck the metals from a historic shipwreck. remains were found at the site; appar- fleet, there is a good chance that Luna While searching the bay floor, the ently most of the crew had gone ashore would have succeeded in establishing students noticed several large, round as the hurricane loomed. the first colony in Pensacola. stones, which are not native to the “It’s an amazing site,” said Cook. One of the sunken ships was dis- Pensacola area. They then discovered Test excavations suggest the wreck is a covered in 1992. Then in the summer more buried stones, ceramics, and lead small to medium-size vessel with a hull of 2006, two field school students dis- sheathing. Subsequent testing proved roughly 60 feet long. The shipwreck covered the shipwreck during UWF’s that the stones were ballast, and that is approximately a half-mile offshore, underwater archaeology field school. under the ballast lay the intact wooden in about 12 feet of water. A barge is The students were investigating a hull structure of a shipwreck. Dates now anchored above the site to give magnetic anomaly the researchers from the ceramics and other associated researchers better access to the wreck. had previously found during a survey. finds indicated that the ship was likely —Steven McFadden 10 winter • 2007-08 In the NEWS Earliest Consumption of Cacao Discovered Mesoamericans drank fermented beverage 500 years earlier than thought.

hemical analysis of residues Though cacao is known for its role taken from samples of pottery in producing chocolate, these results Cvessels recovered by archaeolo- indicate that it was first used to make gists excavating in western Honduras a fermented beverage, said archaeolo- have revealed evidence of the earliest gist John Henderson of Cornell Univer- usage of cacao beverages. The cacao sity, the lead author of a report that plant was later used by subsequent appeared in the Proceedings of the Mesoamerican cultures like the Maya National Academy of Sciences. and Aztecs to make chocolate drinks Though the chemical analysis that played an important role in their can’t corroborate this conclusion, the social, economic, and spiritual lives. researchers believe that the shape of The pottery vessels were recov- the vessels suggests that it was a fer- ered at Puerto Escondido, a small, mented beverage made from the pulp affluent village in the lower Río Ulúa that surrounds the seeds in the cacao Valley, an area known for its produc- plant. The earliest pottery samples with th ovar tion of high-quality cacao in the 16 theobromine came from long-necked T century. The sherds, which were found vessels designed for pouring liquids. in stratified deposits, indicate domestic Younger samples came from vessels olanda Y olanda activity dating as far back as 1500 b.c. that were designed with a flaring neck

ing by w ing by A number of the samples contained that would have been better suited to dra theobromine, a chemical compound producing froth, which was a common associated with cacao. The testing indi- element of Mesoamerican chocolate cates that cacao was consumed there This long-necked vessel is the same type drinks made from cacao seeds. by at least 1100 b.c., some 500 years that yielded evidence of the earliest —Michael Bawaya earlier than previously thought. cacao usage. Another Attempt to Amend NAGPRA Legislation could give Native Americans custody of Kennewick Man. he U.S. Senate’s Committee would have major consequences. The The court ruled that Native Ameri- on Indian Affairs has approved bill is sponsored by Senator Byron cans failed to prove cultural affilia- T legislation that would amend Dorgan, D-North Dakota. “The amend- tion with Kennewick Man, as man- the Native American Graves Protec- ment seeks to “clarify Congress’ intent dated by NAGPRA. This legislation tion and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in the original statute of who should “would automatically make NAGPRA in a way that would allow Native be consulted, and who may use the cover any prehistoric remains found American tribes to take custody of consultation provisions of NAGPRA,” in this country,” said Alan Schneider, 9,400-year-old Kennewick Man as according to Barry E. Piatt, communi- the lead attorney for the scientists. well as all other ancient remains. The cations director for Sen. Dorgan. “It could radically affect the ability legislation must be approved by a If Congress passed the legislation to learn about the peopling of the vote of the full Senate as well as the it would in effect overturn a 2004 Americas.” House of Representatives in order to decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court A similar bill was approved by become law. of Appeals in favor of a group of scien- the Indian Affairs Committee in 2005, The legislation makes two minor tists who sued the federal government but Congress didn’t pass it. changes to NAGPRA’s wording that for the right to study Kennewick Man. —Michael Bawaya

american archaeology 11 Waterlogged Wonders

AA largelarge open-twinedopen-twined basketbasket isis carefullycarefully cleanedcleaned withwith paintbrushespaintbrushes andand aa finefine sprayspray fromfrom gardengarden

larry gill larry hoseshoses beforebefore it’sit’s removedremoved fromfrom thethe ground.ground. 12 winter • 2007-08 Much of the ancient material culture of the Pacific Northwest was made of perishable substances. Exceptional preservation at the Mud Bay wet site has allowed archaeologists to recover fragile ancient artifacts. By Douglas Gantenbein

erhaps 600 years ago, a young ancestor of the Squaxin Island Tribe in what is now Washington State lost a treasured possession: a tiny war club, Pless than two inches long, crafted from a small cedar stick and a pebble, held together with strips of cherry bark. That child’s loss was archaeology’s gain. Due to an accident of geology, the soft wood and bark of the club survived hundreds of years buried in the shore- line mud of Puget Sound, the glacier-carved, multi-fingered body of saltwater that juts south into Washington from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was uncovered last August during an excavation along the shores of one of Puget Sound’s many inlets, a place where the Squaxin (pronounced SKWOK-sin) gathered food for centuries. “This little kid contributed a lot to archaeology,” says Dale Croes, an archaeologist at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC), who for nine years has co-managed an investigation with the Squaxin. “He probably was pretty dis- tressed by (losing the club) at the time. But it’s a pretty spectacular find.” The war club is one of hundreds of artifacts unearthed at the site known as Mud Bay but referred to as Qwu?gwes by the Squaxin, a tribe of several hundred that has lived in the Puget Sound area for many centuries. Along the shores of Mud Bay in Eld Inlet, one of seven inlets the tribe traditionally utilized, members of a particular family whose longhouse was located nearby regularly camped to catch shellfish and salmon, and hunt game as long as 700 years ago. About three feet below the surface is a layer of blue-green clay that once was the floor of ancient Lake Russell, which was formed some 16,000 years ago when glaciers blocked water from draining out through Puget Sound. Around 1,000 years ago, a massive earthquake caused the lakebed and much of the surrounding area to drop by some nine feet, drowning surrounding forests but also creating new tidal estuaries that proved to be ideal habitat for shellfish and salmon. Not long after the earthquake, members of what are now referred to as the Southern Lushootseed language group, descendants of maritime clans that had long inhabited the area and ancestors of the Squaxin, began to harvest shellfish and salmon there. Normally, the primary evidence of such a site would be durable artifacts made from stone, bone, and shell. But in addition to these types of items, Mud Bay is also yielding artifacts made of perishable materials such as the war club. The researchers have also found ropes, various kinds of baskets, and gillnets made of cedar bark and root. (The inner layer of cedar bark was peeled and shredded into long fibers that were woven to make everything from baskets to clothing.) “Ninety percent of the material culture on the Northwest coast was american archaeology 13 The crew works at the wet portion of the site while the tide is out. It is estimated that only two percent of the site has been excavated.

in wood and fiber,” says Croes. “So when we start to see that and the shifting course of a freshwater spring that flows out 90 percent, it really adds to our understanding” of the site. through the bay, the Munros noticed a thick layer of shells The Mud Bay site is located on a picturesque tidal inlet just below the surface. The thousands of broken rocks that just south of Olympia, the state capital. Ralph Munro, who littered the ground at low tides were also unusual. So in once served as Washington’s secretary of state, owns the 1989 they contacted Croes, whom they knew from working property. The Munros used the site as a swimming beach. together on a state centennial project that year. Over the years, as the beach eroded due to storms, tides, “They showed me a shell dump, but I knew that was modern material—Pacific oysters that were being excavated,” says Croes, an amiable 59-year-old. “But when I looked at where the bank was eroding, I could tell this was an ancient site from the midden and all the fire-cracked rock.” For several years the site was left undisturbed. Then in 1998, Croes had a new student in one of his classes—Rhonda Foster, a member of the Squaxin Island Tribe who was the director of the tribe’s Cultural Resources Department. Foster realized that many of the archaeological sites within her traditional lands were not surveyed nor recorded with the State of Washington. After inspecting the Mud Bay site, SPSCC and the tribe agreed to assemble a field school for one season to record this site and teach students how to conduct a survey. A piece of cedar rope was found during the survey, prompting a test excavation that uncovered a piece of cedar bark gillnet. In 2000 SPSCC and the Squaxin Island Tribe signed an GILL

agreement to excavate the site, with Croes and Foster codi- LARRY Squaxin Island Tribal archaeologist Larry Ross examines a recting the project. Both parties saw an opportunity to marry section of the shell midden. the college’s archaeological expertise to the tribe’s cultural 14 winter • 2007-08 knowledge. The Squaxin wanted to learn archaeological skills to help them preserve their ancestors’ artifacts. They also wanted “to correct the inaccurate histories written by non-tribal representatives,” Foster later wrote in a paper about the project. “Archaeologists have often exploited the tribes,” she says. “Here we’re helping students learn how to work with tribes, and teaching tribal members how to work with archaeologists.” The site has three components—a deep shell midden that extends for about 300 feet along the beach; an area several yards inland where stone ovens, charcoal, and fire- shattered rock indicate shellfish, salmon, and other foods were cooked; and an area in the northernmost and highest Dale Croes (left) talks with Mike Davis, the state elder of the portion of the site, where testing has uncovered house post- Shaker Indian Church, who said a prayer over the basket before molds, family-size hearth areas, and house floors. The shell removal. The church was started by tribal members. midden component is called a “wet site” because the cultural material is waterlogged. Most work to date has taken place in exchanged for a garden hose and tongue depressors. The the midden and the cook areas. spray from the hose—a fine mist is used when uncovering The cultural material in the wet site, including wood and delicate items—removes the sand and natural debris such cord items, is remarkably well preserved. The researchers have as pieces of wood and fiber, what Croes calls “vegetal mats.” uncovered waterlogged materials—the tidal action and the The tongue depressors, which have pointed ends, are used freshwater spring that flows there keep them wet—about 20 to dislodge the debris that the hose can’t. The sand and veg- inches below the surface in an oxygen-free environment. This etal mats are then gathered in a dustpan and run through environment is also free of the bacteria and fungus, which fine screens that capture small artifacts. require oxygen, that cause organic materials to decay. Croes estimates only about two percent of the site When excavating a wet site, shovels and trowels are has been excavated because he and Foster are focusing on GILL LARRY Dale Croes and several members of the tribe carefully lift the huge basketry piece onto a plywood platform so that it can be transported to a laboratory. american archaeology 15 Sharing the Past Archaeologists are trained to believe that “we own the past,” says Dale Croes. When working on his first dig in 1968, he was surprised that a visiting Native American felt a connection to the items that were being uncovered. But the times, and Croes, have changed. He now codirects an archaeological project in which his institution, South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC), works in full partnership with the Squaxin Island Tribe’s Cultural Resources Department. Though partnerships between archaeologists and tribes aren’t that unusual, Croes says that most of them are informal. The SPSCC’s agreement with the Squaxin is far “more than a handshake.” In fact, Croes considers it a model for archaeology in the future. Their agreement calls for training tribal members in archaeological techniques, sharing expertise and knowledge between the tribe and archaeologists, and displaying the recovered artifacts with both a scientific and cultural interpretation in the Squaxins’ museum. “The agreement brings together the science of archaeology and the cultural component of the tribe,” says archaeologist Larry Ross, the Squaxin’s cultural resource specialist. That cultural knowledge can inform archaeologists in their interpretations of the evidence they uncover. Ross also believes the SPSCC-Squaxin agreement will be emulated by others due to changes in federal laws that expand the jurisdictions of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs). In addition to having exclusive jurisdiction on their reservations, THPOs share jurisdiction with State Historic Preservation Officers on their traditional territories, which are the lands on which they have historically hunted and gathered, fished, traded, conducted ceremonies, and buried their dead. Ross estimates 1 that the Squaxin’s traditional territories cover about 2 /2 million acres in western Washington. Having jurisdiction means the THPO has to be consulted during any activity involving the federal government, such as a construction project, that could affect historic properties on these territories and therefore require archaeological work. The THPO program requires that tribes be trained in archaeology as part of a comprehensive cultural resource management strategy that protects and preserves archaeological sites, burials and cemeteries, customs, beliefs, and traditional practices. The agreement provides a framework for this training to take place. GILL The SPSCC-Squaxin agreement also clearly defines the commitment

each party is making to the other, and it’s revised as necessary and LARRY renewed every two years. Since hiring Ross, for example, the tribe isn’t A traditional Squaxin Welcome Pole was given to the property owners by the tribe as an expression of appreciation. Beneath as reliant on SPSCC’s archaeological expertise as it once was. “The the head are two extended hands, a gesture meaning “come into agreement has shifted more and more toward working together on the my heart; you are welcome.” The pole also looks over the site to courses” SPSCC offers,” says Ross. If the college is offering a course protect it. It is crowned by a raven, the crest ofa Squaxin family on Native American history in the Pacific Northwest, for example, the that lives near the site. The seven red and black paddles at the tribe gives input as to what will be taught. If an SPSCC student hopes to base represent the seven inlets of the tribe’s traditional territory. publish a paper about Mud Bay research in an academic journal, the tribe reviews the paper prior to submission. “We actually do edit,” Ross says. Sometimes there are differences between native and European cultural perspectives, Ross acknowledges, but those differences haven’t been problematic. “There’s certain knowledge that’s always guarded” by the tribe, Croes says. When a large basket fragment was removed from the shell midden and taken to the tribal weavers last summer, non-Squaxin crew members, Croes included, were excused so that the weavers could analyze the fragment in private. Many archaeologists, according to Ross, consider themselves to be experts about a particular tribe despite lacking “a personal relationship with anyone in the tribe.” He says students have come from all over the country to work at Mud Bay in order to experience that relationship.

Ross, who isn’t Native American, was once one of those students. dale croes Recovered artifacts are displayed with both a scientific and cultural “It’s never an easy thing,” Croes says. “Like any relationship, it has interpretation in the Squaxins’ Museum Library and Research Center. its ups and downs. But it works most of the time.” —Michael Bawaya 16 winter • 2007-08 These artifacts were all recovered from the wet site. (Top) A green ground slate knife. (Middle) A two-strand rope fashioned from cedar. (Above) The toy war club in situ. (Right) A projectile point made of red jasper.

education rather than excavation. Excavating a site with dry and wet components offers a broader educational experience for the field school students. Working with the Squaxin also gives Croes and the SPSCC students insights into the lifestyles of the site’s former inhabitants that they would otherwise lack. “That combination has really created benefits for the students we’ve had here,” says Croes. For example, one of the first significant finds was a 21-square-foot fragment of a fiber net. The tribe recognized it as a gillnet woven from western red cedar bark and designed to catch small types of salmon such as coho and steelhead. Only two other similar nets have been found in the Pacific Northwest. Hundreds of salmon jaws were still lodged in the net, an extraordinary occurrence given that nets were always dale croes cleaned after a catch. The tribe concludes this resulted from an accident, one possible scenario being that this portion of the net snagged and was cut loose. An excavator scrutinizes a strand of cherry bark used to bind objects. american archaeology 17 GILL LARRY Student Heather Haigh records the layers of the ancient shell midden by carefully drawing them. The bottom layer is 700 years old.

“It’s huge,” Croes says, assessing the value of the Squaxin’s over time that informed the production of these artifacts. cultural knowledge. “They told us that the decorations (on a Mud Bay’s stone, bone, and wooden tools and projectile basket uncovered last summer) could have indicated who points resemble those found at other sites as far away as Brit- the family was that owned the basket,” he says. “How would ish Columbia. But the basketry does not. The items found at we know that if we weren’t sharing information?” Mud Bay have distinctive weave and decorative patterns, as Three types of cedar basketry have been recovered from does the basketry produced by other tribes. This indicates the wet site: checker-weave matting used for making mats that the knowledge used to make some of these items was and bags for carrying goods or tools; fine twill used primarily widely shared. “Things like a good fish hook or a good net for ornamentation; and open-weave baskets that were used went lightning quick between people,” says Croes. “But some to carry heavy loads of clams and other items. They have also things aren’t transmitted because they represent who you found scores of bone and stone projectile points and tools, are, an identity,” he adds, referring to ethnographic evidence jadeite adz bits, the remains of two fish traps, basket-making that tribal identity was expressed in basketry styles. debris, and thousands of wood chips. “A lot” of woodworking The large shell midden speaks of massive shellfish took place there, Croes says. The people fashioned planks for gathering. More than 210,000 intact shells representing houses, poles for fish traps, and paddles for canoes. five major shellfish species have been collected—Olympia Croes, with the help of other researchers such as Mark oysters, butter clams, bay mussels, littleneck clams, and horse Collard of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, clams. The midden’s bottom layer is 700 years old and people Canada, employs cladistics to place Mud Bay’s artifact assem- continued to dump empty shells there until the 1800s. It’s blage in a cultural and historical context with other sites in assumed that the recovered baskets and nets are of a similar the region. Cladistics is a method of analyzing the evolution- age since they were found near the bottom of the midden. ary relationships between groups that is commonly used in The researchers believe the site was a huge processing biology. In this case, Croes and his colleagues are trying to site where a large family likely gathered to catch seafood, trace the constancies and changes in cultural knowledge much of which was dried to preserve it for those times when 18 winter • 2007-08 the salmon weren’t running or storms and tides prevented where the government tried to convert them to farming. shellfish harvesting. Preserved shellfish were also valuable They were moved to make way for settlers. trade items. Squaxin oral traditions recount that members In the years that followed, loggers stripped the hills of the Yakama tribe, who lived 150 miles to the east beyond around Eld Inlet, causing sediment to wash into the narrow the Cascade Mountains, and members of tribes to the south, inlet, hence the site’s name. Mud Bay has become something visited Mud Bay to trade for dried clams. of a wasteland due to sediment run-off, pollution, over-fish- Croes surmises that Olympia oysters were cooked and ing, and other ills that have had an impact on much of the eaten on the spot because, due to their high fat content, area. Fish and shellfish populations are diminishing. It seems they didn’t dry well. “That must have been pretty pleasant,” a far cry from the place that offered the incredible bounty he says. Shellfish were cooked by placing them in baskets evident in the midden at Mud Bay. made from coiled cedar bark that were so tightly woven that “I’m guessing that our people didn’t have to work too they held water. Rocks heated as high as 600 degrees Fahr- hard when it came to gathering natural resources because enheit were placed in the baskets, and the contents quickly the clams, fish, cedar, and other resources were so plenti- steamed or boiled. (The researchers’ conclusions about the ful,” Margaret Henry, a cultural resources technician with the temperature are based on subjecting rocks to 600-degree tribe, speculates about her ancestors. heat and discerning fire-crack patterns that match those of Regardless of the environmental depredations, the site rocks found at the site.) is no less significant to the tribe. “It’s very powerful to be out Evidence shows that the Mud Bay occupants didn’t take here and realize that our ancestors made these things,” she their bounty for granted. Butter clam shells found at the site continues. “I pray every day before I come down here, and I have growth rings that show the vast majority of them were never know what I’m going to find. It’s very exciting.” seven to 10 years old. Butter clams can live to be 15 years old, and are edible when much younger. So it seems the DOUGLAS GANTENBEIN is the Seattle correspondent for the Economist. clams were harvested on a regular cycle, with an eye toward His article “The History and Beauty of the Pacific Northwest” appeared in ensuring their survival. the Summer 2007 issue of American Archaeology. The occupation of Mud Bay continued into the 19th century. In 1854 the Squaxin’s ancestors signed the Medi- For more information about the Mud Bay/Qwu?gwes excavations, visit cine Creek Treaty with the federal government that resulted the web site www.library.spscc.ctc.edu/crm/crm.htm and click on the in their displacement to Squaxin Island, north of Mud Bay, link “Qwu?gwes Articles.” GILL LARRY The day’s work has concluded as the tide floods the wet site. Two members of the crew watch as the water advances. american archaeology 19 ARCHAEOLOGY FROM THE SKIES Aerial photographer Adriel Heisey offers his perspective of several archaeological sites.

While Adriel Heisey’s parents worked the land, he was determined to take to the air. Though he was born of farmers in Pennsylvania, he found a home in the skies of the Southwest, where he has taken countless photographs. In these pages Heisey shares a number of his stunning pictures as well as the inspirations that led to

adriel heisey adriel his unusual career.

y desire to fly had much to do with seeking an own body. No translating is required. I am moving freely in expanded yet personal sense of the earth. I still space, under expert control, at the service of beauty, mystery, Mhave vivid recollection of things I saw on my early and deeper understanding. flights. I wasn’t so much drawn to the mechanics of flight My original inspiration for this aerial photographic as I was to its power to reveal. Indeed, I remember being endeavor was the landscape of the Colorado Plateau, and I frustrated with how high the instrument panel rose into continue to find my deepest satisfaction in capturing some- the view out the airplane’s windshield—I wanted to see. I thing of the spirit of the land in its native state. However, my recall also feeling an annoyance with all the piloting tasks ongoing study of the forces that shape the land leads inevita- that interfered with long gazes at the world below. These bly to the human story, and that has come increasingly into memories are amusing in light of my present flight activi- my photographic repertoire. I feel a wave of triumph when I ties, where great visibility and simplicity of operation reign come upon a spot where a small patch of prehistory bleeds supreme, and all for the purpose of making photographs. through the overlay of modernity. I carried a camera with me on every flight. I practically There is something almost heartbreakingly poignant made it a religion; each flight was a small miracle, and if I about the remnants on the landscape of lifeways so long for- wanted to grow as a photographer, I must always be ready to gotten, and perhaps forever to be unknown. Like life itself, witness the unexpected. Many flights yielded no images, and they seem tragically vulnerable to the ravages of time. I’m many others only a few banal ones, but the presence of the sure that the source of the poignancy is the haunting echo of camera spurred me to keen observation. our own mortal- People always ask, “How can you fly and shoot at the ity in these dwin- same time? Isn’t that dangerous?” I always answer with some dling structures. variation of, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” The reason is —Adriel Heisey twofold. First, I’m capable of it thanks to thousands of hours at the controls; I know every little nuance of the aircraft and its environment. Second, it gives me a clear channel to my own creative intention. In the finest moments I am united with the machine such that it becomes an extension of my 20 winter • 2007-08 Monsoon storm clouds glower over the valley of the Rio Casas Grandes in the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua. Flying in a thunderstorm is dangerous, so keeping a close eye on my escape route back to the Nuevo Casas Grandes airport, I ventured over the tidy adobe walls of Paquimé to capture this image.

american archaeology 21 s Branching out from the Southwest, I made my first trip to Cahokia Mounds State Historic Park in southwest Illinois and photographed Monks Mound (foreground), the largest man-made earthen mound in North America. s

Home of the famed Sun Dagger site, Fajada Butte rises some 450 feet above the floor of Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico. On a frigid January evening I orbited patiently until only the upper sandstone layers basked in the sun’s last light. 22 winter • 2007-08 s The reconstructed great kiva (foreground) at Aztec Ruins in northwest New Mexico is brought to life by early morning sunlight just after the New Year. I had to endure the bitter wind in my open-air pilot’s seat to take this photograph. american archaeology 23 s I glided quietly along the massive walls of Cave Canyon, my passage timed to the arrival of sunlight on the Upper Cliff Dwelling in Tonto National Monument in central Arizona. The payoff was a few minutes of intense color as the fiery light of sunrise ignited the warm hues of the weathered volcanic cliffs. s

The Blythe Intaglios in southeastern California loom large on the barren gravel benches above the Colorado River. This is one of several major figures that seem made for airborne viewing. 24 winter • 2007-08 s Flying low and slow I can juxtapose subjects that can’t be seen together at ground level. At Mesa Verde, in southwestern Colorado, I captured Sun Temple (foreground) and Cliff Palace (background). american archaeology 25 s This picture taken at dawn at Angel Mounds State Historic Site, near Evansville, Indiana, shows the relationship between this former Mississippian town and the Ohio River, which dominates the landscape. s

In wind chill too cold to measure I flew after a heavy snowfall to take this image of Chaco Canyon’s Pueblo Bonito. 26 winter • 2007-08 s It’s not unusual to find petroglyphs on the ground in Hawaii. These pillows of hardened lava made perfect slates, and they have endured for centuries. s

This geoglyph in southern Arizona was unrecorded until I discovered it in flight one evening in 2002. In virtually pristine condition, it remains protected only by its remoteness. american archaeology 27 A Picture of Ancient Life and Death

Brian Redmond (right) and graduate student Metin Eren examine the floor of an excavation unit for evidence of features. Valerie Valoppi Valerie

ot far from a Lake Erie beach near Sandusky, Ohio, The Danbury site a group of students with the Cleveland Museum of NNatural History’s field school sat around the edge of in northern Ohio a square test unit on a grassy lot and picked at the soil with small metal trowels and sharpened bamboo picks. It almost is yielding new looked as if they were unearthing an elaborate sand castle. Then one of the students leaned over the odd shapes information about before them and said, “There’s a mandible.” He took out a soft brush, whisked it to reveal the bone in a large wedge of dirt, and then pointed to several small nuggets in the the Woodland soil, which turned out to be teeth. The other students were curious but unfazed by the presence of the bone. After all, peoples. they had already uncovered nine craniums in this burial pit. They knew from their experience at this site that many more By Kristin Ohlson bones were probably hidden below. 28 winter • 2007-08 Whelk shell pendant halves and a reassembled shell pendant were recovered from a Late Woodland burial. More than 200 decorative shells were found in this burial that contained three people.

“It’s very rare as a scientist that you get to work with surface. Because of its artifact-rich history, the site was added real bones,” said Char Shryock, a high school biology teacher to the state’s inventory of archaeological sites in 1977. from Fairview Park, Ohio. “Even in medical school, they’re The Ohio Historic Preservation Office suggested that often working with pristine fiberglass models. Here, the Spatz hire an archaeological contractor to conduct a survey of bones are dirty and broken and very real.” the property even though the state’s preservation laws didn’t Over the course of the last four summers, Brian Red- require one. Spatz complied, hiring Ohio Valley Archaeologi- mond, curator and head of archaeology at the Cleveland cal Consultants to do a series of shovel tests, the first excava- Museum of Natural History and director of this field school, tion of the site. Although no human remains and only a few has presided over a series of remarkable discoveries at the artifacts were discovered, the consultants reported that the Danbury site. He and his crew have been able to establish site covered at least 10 acres. that groups of Native Americans maintained seasonal camps United States Construction removed the trailer park and at this site for at least 4,500 years. On this gentle rise on a peninsula jutting into the Sandusky Bay, they fished, cooked, made pots from the deposits of clay along the riverbanks and lakeshore, built structures, and—with an intriguing range of styles and pageantry—buried their dead. “This site is significant because there are so many time periods represented here, from the Late Archaic all the way to the Late Prehistoric,” Redmond says. “There are very few places in this part of the country where so many time periods are represented—and that’s only what we’ve found in 10 percent of the site. It’s very informative about the changes in these cultures over time.” Remarkable as it is, the Danbury site could have easily been covered with summer homes, its archaeological treasures destroyed. A row of houses stands just a few feet from this excavation unit. Last summer the archaeologists were digging in lot number four, one of the last undeveloped par- cels of an 81-lot housing development known as Cove on the Bay. United States Construction, which is owned by developer Greg Spatz, bought 30 acres of the peninsula for his housing development in the late 1990s, when it was roughly divided between cornfields and a trailer park. Spatz’s plan atural History Cle v eland Museu m of N atural for a housing development probably dismayed local collectors, who had been wandering the site for decades, picking A wolf jawbone, which had been part of an ornament or mask, was up bits of worked stone and pottery that were lying on the among the artifacts found in an Early Woodland burial. american archaeology 29 remove the remains the following summer so they wouldn’t be destroyed. This was a costly decision for Spatz. “Those are expensive lots,” he says. “People wanted to buy them, but we wouldn’t sell. We froze all construction until everything is exhumed, excavated, and studied.” Coincidentally, both Greg Spatz and Redmond grew up in the Cleveland area. When they were boys, both spent hours entranced by the Cleveland Museum of Natural His- tory’s tableaus of pre-Contact Native American life in northern Ohio. Those hours at the museum led Redmond to a career in archaeology and left Spatz with a lifelong interest in ancient people. Redmond has been directing excavations at Danbury since 2004, and the project may continue next summer. Spatz has provided earth-moving equipment, protective fencing and security for the site, and amenities such as portable toilets for the researchers. He’s also committed to leaving five lots that might contain burials undeveloped until they are either fully excavated or purchased for preservation. He noted on the property deeds that the area is an archaeological site and alerted homeowners that human remains had been found. They created a conservation easement near a cemetery where the bones and grave artifacts are reburied after they have been documented and studied. There is no evidence of cultural affiliation between these ancient peoples and any living tribe, consequently Spatz arranged for the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe whose ancestors lived in the area during the 1700s and 1800s, to conduct the reburials in private ceremonies. The work at Danbury began as a salvage operation, which is often characterized by archaeologists hurriedly recording and recovering as much data as possible while bulldozers idle nearby. However, Redmond says the project has become a model of cooperation among the developer, archaeologists, and Native Americans. Since Spatz hasn’t pressured the archaeologists to finish their work, Danbury has become more like a typical research project, with Red- Brian Redmond uses a bamboo pick to clear dirt from a bone. mond and his team conducting a systematic investigation. The excavators use wood picks so as not to scratch the bones. The researchers have used this opportunity to study Dan- bury’s various occupations and the periods of time during built some houses at the northern end of the site. In sum- which they occurred. mer of 2003, a heavy equipment operator who was digging During his first summer at the site, Redmond hada a trench for utility lines uncovered bones. Gary Spatz, the bulldozer remove a foot of topsoil that had been disturbed company’s vice-president and Greg’s brother, was informed. Gary telephoned Greg, who was in Florida at the time, say- ing, “Houston, we have a problem.” The local coroner quickly determined that the bones were ancient. The Spatz brothers turned to local amateur archaeologists for advice, but when a news crew photographed one of the amateur archaeologists carrying the bones around in a Jack Daniels box, a number of people, including Native Americans, became upset. Brian Redmond heard about the discovery and contacted Greg Spatz. Relieved to deal with professionals, the History Cle v eland Museu m of N atural developer agreed to allow Redmond and his students to The Late Woodland burial contained these drilled shell disk beads. 30 winter • 2007-08 The purpose of this banded slate birdstone is unknown, but it’s possible it was used as a weight on a spear thrower known as an atlatl.

by plowing from several lots. He found a large number of species coming up the streams in the early spring. This was organic stains in the subsoil, which the researchers then one of the most productive ecosystems for fish and water- excavated by hand, uncovering human remains in 20 of fowl in the Great Lakes region.” these areas and hearth features in two of them. The researchers also discovered evidence of earlier and As the excavation proceeded, the researchers uncov- later occupations, including what appears to be a village ered a large Early Woodland settlement dating from approxi- from the 1500s that was protected by a stockade fence. mately 1000 to 800 b.c. They found an abundance of pot- “It’s unusual to find an Early Woodland site along the tery with cord impressions that served either as decorative Lake Erie shore,” Redmond says. “Most of the other sites features or to make the pots easier to grip. There was also are located back up in the valleys of the major rivers—the evidence of ancient cooking, storage, and trash pits. There Black, the Vermilion, the Sandusky, and the Huron—on high, were thousands of fish bones and scales, but relatively few steep cliffs.” lithic items such as projectile points, which would have The burials discovered in 2004 and during subsequent been used for hunting. Walleye pike spawn in spring, and the seasons revealed surprising information about the people abundance of their bones led Redmond to conclude that this who occupied Danbury. The researchers found graves in was “a warm-season occupation,” primarily for fishing, that which individuals were laid on their backs with arms and probably extended from spring to early fall. legs extended. They found others in which individuals were “The western end of Lake Erie was one of the greatest flexed into a fetal position. They found multiple burials, as fisheries in prehistory,” Redmond explains. “If you look at the well as very large multiple burials, called ossuaries, in which records of the first Europeans who came to this area, they many individuals’ remains had been disinterred from some talked about the amazing number of walleye and other other location, cleaned, and disarticulated, with the bones atural History Cle v eland Museu m of N atural Researchers have recovered these flint spear tips and knife blades. The style of the object on the far left indicates it’s approximately 9,000 years old. The remaining points date to about 1000 b.c. during the Early Woodland period. american archaeology 31 An aerial photograph of the area being developed for homes. Sandusky Bay is in the foreground and the excavation area, bordered by the line of plastic orange construction fencing, is under the trees in the center of the photograph.

then arranged or bundled together by type. One of these without the powerful hereditary chiefs that existed in other ossuaries contained the remains of at least 30 individuals. parts of North America,” Redmond says. “Finding this kind of Redmond believes the deaths weren’t caused by con- thing at Danbury indicates they may have had similar types flict and that the bodies were taken to Danbury when the of social status. There was perhaps more complexity to their community made its seasonal trek to Lake Erie. He thinks the social relations than we thought.” size of the ossuary indicates the importance of the Danbury The 2006 burial, which was dated to the Early Woodland site to these people. period, contained three individuals and a range of artifacts “They went to a lot of time and effort to rebury their including a birdstone carved from gray slate, a wolf jaw that dead here,” says Redmond, who estimates that only a community of several hundred people could produce 30 deaths within a year. “It shows they thought of this place as a permanent settlement, not just somewhere that they came to once but wouldn’t return to.” Two burials unearthed in 2005 and 2006 respectively, are the most significant finds of the entire excavation. The 2005 burial, which was radiocarbon dated to around a.d. 950, during the Late Woodland period, contained three people and more than 200 decorative shells. Half of a whelk shell pendant was inserted in the mouth of one of the individuals, with another 50 shell-disk beads arranged around the head and body. The other bodies were also decorated with shells, including the other half of the pendant. All the shells came from the gulf of Mexico, indicating that these people obtained objects from the gulf through long-distance trade. The evidence also suggests that these three individu-

als had some sort of special status within their group. “We History Cle v eland Museu m of N atural tend to think of these Late Woodland societies as egalitarian, A drilled whelk shell pendant found in the Late Woodland burial. 32 winter • 2007-08 This perforation tool is made from the tibia of a raccoon. It was discovered in a feature that also contained pottery dating to about a.d. 1400.

had either been part of an ornament or a mask, a stone point them and other scientists to study the remains in order to and an antler point, and a pipe. The pipe had been smashed learn about the health and habits of these peoples. Since the with a rock and some of its pieces were inside the grave. Red- 1980s, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History has had mond interprets this as a ritual killing of the pipe to release a policy that prohibits the excavation of Native American the spirits of the deceased. The presence of these objects remains unless they’re in danger, which is the case at Dan- suggests a level of ritual that is rare for Early Woodland sites. bury. Though the Wyandottes would prefer that the remains The Danbury site provides an unusual opportunity for be reburied without scientific analysis, they have agreed to archaeologists to examine these burials, as well as allowing participate in an arrangement whereby physical anthropolo- gist Paul Sciulli of Ohio State University, and other scientists, examine the remains prior to reburial. The scientists are determining the lifestyles and health of these individuals. For example, they’re doing stable carbon and stable nitrogen isotope analyses of the bones, which reveals information about the individuals’ diet. Remains with high nitrogen values indicate heavy fish consumption, while high values of carbon indicate heavy maize consumption. Samantha Blatt, a bioarchaeology Ph.D. student studying under Sciulli, is examining the teeth of the individuals to assess their oral health and diet. “You can really see a dif- ference in dental health” in the later burials, Redmond says. Around a.d. 900 these people switched from hunting and gathering to agriculture, and they consumed a lot of maize. Maize is a starch that turns into sugar, which caused their teeth to deteriorate. It is unclear if the field school will return in the summer of 2008 to the Danbury peninsula. The Wyandottes are interested in purchasing the undeveloped lots that have yet to be excavated. If they do, Redmond’s work at the site will be finished, as the still-covered burials will be safe from the predations of the backhoe. If the Wyandottes don’t buy the land, Redmond will likely continue the investigation and perhaps gain more insights into the lives and deaths of these ancient peoples.

KRISTIN OHLSON is the coauthor of Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil. Her article “The Wonders of the Ohio Mound- builders” appeared in the Summer 2006 issue of American Archaeology. atural History Cle v eland Museu m of N atural

A potsherd protrudes from the wall of a partially excavated post For more information about the Danbury excavations, visit www.cmnh. mold. Further excavation revealed more sherds. org/site/ResearchandCollections_InThe Field.aspx american archaeology 33 People have been drawn to the Lubbock Lake Landmark since Paleo-Indian times. Archaeologists are examining how ancient people hunted bison and other animals here, WhereWhere and how they adapted to a changing landscape the over the millennia. the By Marlena Hartz

BisonBison Jodi Miller RoamedRoamed

This life-size sculpture of a prehistoric bison is found on the landmark’s grounds.. 34 winter • 2007-08 young woman kneels in a trench, shallow but wide underground pool that still supplies water her bare feet smeared with mud. Using a paintbrush to Texas and several other states. and a small trowel, she gently unearths the frac- In 1936, hoping to reactivate the spring for various Atured rib of an ancient bison. Some of the earliest occupants reasons, the City of Lubbock created a huge U-shaped of North America hunted, butchered, and processed a bevy reservoir by dredging and breaching the aquifer. That same of mammals near a watering hole here in this valley on the year, in the piles of dredged dirt, two teenage boys stumbled northern edge of Lubbock in west Texas. upon the first evidence of prehistoric occupation at the In fact, people have occupied the 300 or so acres now landmark—a projectile point fashioned during the Folsom known as the Lubbock Lake Landmark for some 13,000 Period, some 12,000 years ago. years. “For as long as people have been in the New World, The first excavations, which were funded by the Works they’ve been here, and they’re still here,” said Eileen John- Project Administration, were conducted in 1939 and 1941 son, the landmark’s director and a curator at the Museum of by the West Texas Museum (now the Museum of Texas Tech Texas Tech University. Texas Tech owns the landmark and the University). The Texas Memorial Museum conducted excava- museum operates it. Johnson, a slight woman whose brown tions in the late 1940s, during which several Folsom basin hair is tinged with silver, has devoted her career to investigat- kills were discovered. The first ever radiocarbon date for ing the landmark. Over the past four decades, researchers Paleo-Indian material came from 11,000-year-old samples of have recovered a cache of evidence dating from the Paleo- charred bones from one of the kill sites. Indian to the historical periods ranging from ancient pro- Originally from the San Francisco Bay area, Johnson came jectile points and extinct animal bones to rusty nails and to the landmark in 1972 via Kansas, where she was a graduate broken beer bottles. This data has given researchers a sketch student. Prior excavations had focused on the Paleo-Indian of how people once used the area. items, so researchers were largely unaware of the evidence Johnson directs excavations each summer intent on from other periods. “By the third field season I realized that creating a detailed chronology of the landmark’s past occu- there was … a much greater record,” Johnson recalled. “It was pants and understanding how they adapted over the millen- an unparalleled opportunity for extensive research.” nia to cultural and environmental changes. The site was discovered accidentally. The spring-fed watering hole dried The site, which has been designated and filled with sediment, burying traces of its ancient occu- a National Historic Landmark, a State Archaeological Land- pants. The watering hole was fed by the Ogallala Aquifer, a mark, and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Jodi Miller The crew excavates the deposits of three different Paleo-Indian periods. The person in the lower right excavates the Firstview bison bone bed. The person in the middle exposes part of the Plainview bison kill area, and the students on the left are working in the Folsom deposits. american archaeology 35 of the reservoir, she excavated the dry deposits of the subsequent Paleo-Indian cultures Folsom, Plainview (circa 11,000 years ago), and Firstview (10,000 years ago). The excavation area, which is roughly the size of half of a tennis court, is located on the banks of the now extinct watering hole. The animal bones embedded in these deposits had also been submerged for many years and her primary objective was to assess their conditions. She discovered that the water had made the bones very fragile. “It makes it much more time consuming and difficult to recover them,” Johnson said. Despite this, the researchers photographed, catalogued, and recovered some of the bones, the largest of which are from bison, the smallest from tiny frogs. “What we see in general,” Johnson said, “is the landmark at this time appears to be like the grocery store. Because of the small kills—two to four bison per kill—it appears that small groups of people are coming to get their meat supply.” Bison remains were found in stratified deposits that indicate they were butchered at the edge of the watering hole. Johnson’s earlier excavation of this bone bed revealed that the bison bones in the Folsom deposit were in distinct piles consisting of three carcasses. Bison herds were apparently small during this time and the Folsom people probably Tech U niversi t y Texas L ubbock ake and m ark, Museu of hunted in groups of three or four, Johnson said. She and other Five major strata are seen in this profile. The strata are numbered researchers hope to learn how the bison were herded prior from oldest to youngest, with stratum 1 representing Clovis times.

Places, has a virtually complete cultural sequence from the Clovis period, the earliest generally accepted period of human occupation in North America, to historical times. “The landmark represents what we call a persistent place,” Johnson said. “Because there were a variety of resources, people came back to the landmark time and time and time and time again,” Johnson said. The archaeological deposits are encased in distinct strata on the banks of the reservoir. The Clovis deposits are the deepest, roughly 30 feet below the original surface. In some sections of the reservoir, the deposits from the later periods are clearly stacked above Clovis in chronological order. Over the years, the reservoir’s water level has risen and fallen (it has dried up for long periods) due to fluctuations in the water table. In the 1970s, Johnson’s crew found a bone bed of large mammals, including extinct mammoth, camel, horse, short- faced bear, and bison, that they radiocarbon dated to the Clovis period. They also found pounding stones and anvils they believe were used to break the bones. A Clovis point was found out of context in a pile of dredged dirt on the berm above the bone bed. Water table fluctuations submerged the Clovis deposits since the 1980s. Johnson had hoped to resume excavation

of the Clovis remains this summer, but January through Jodi Miller July marked the wettest period in Texas since the National Ashley Koen excavates an 11,000-year-old Plainview bison kill Weather Service began keeping records in the early 1900s, and butchering area. In front of her is the deeper 12,000-year-old and the heavy rains altered her plans. Instead, in another area Folsom level, where a bone bed was exposed. 36 winter • 2007-08 Paleo-Indian peoples from Folsom through Firstview.” She’s discerned a few changes during this period. The Clovis people were hunting a variety of large and small animals. Some of the large animals, such as the horse, camel, and mammoth, went extinct; some of the smaller animals, such as the muskrat, no longer served as prey, having abandoned the area due to environmental changes around 10,000 years ago. Near the piles of bison bones researchers have discovered chert flakes that were used as butchering tools and other tiny flakes resulting from the resharpening of those tools. “Most of our butchering kits through time rely heavily on these amorphous flakes that are utilized and then just discarded,” Johnson said. The hunters also fractured bison femurs, or other long bones, and used these as tools to remove hides, tear through tendons, and extract bison meat. Once the meat was separated from the bones, the Paleo-Indians left the rest of the carcass, along with the flakes and bone tools. “There are probably several reasons why they minimized their tool kit and why they relied on expediency, but one would be (that) because they Eileen Johnson has been excavating Lubbock Lake since 1972. are on foot, and the less you have to carry, the better it is,” Johnson said. Apparently they preferred to carry the knowl- to being killed with projectile points. “There is no evidence edge of tool production rather than the tools themselves. of traps,” she said, and the bison were large, dangerous That tool kit remained essentially the same over the animals. She presumes hunting parties surrounded small millennia. During the Paleo-Indian period, the flakes were herds of cows and calves. complemented by projectile points that served to kill and butcher prey. This tradition carried over into Archaic times. Johnson says she’s also studying “the During the Plainview and Firstview periods, the number subsistence patterns and changes in butchering and technol- of bison carcasses increased to six or seven. Johnson believes ogy that occurred throughout the early Holocene with these this increase may reflect larger herds during these times. As Jodi Miller

Alicia Kennedy prepares a recovered specimen in the conservation laboratory at the landmark’s Quaternary Research Center. Frequently fragile materials, particularly bone, are initially stabilized in the field and then taken in a block of sediments to the laboratory, where further excavation is done under controlled conditions. Once removed from the encasing sediments, the fragile objects are cleaned and, if necessary, further stabilized, so that researchers can analyze them. american archaeology 37 This Clovis point (left) was recovered in the pile of dredged dirt These Plainview points were recovered from the Firstview points recovered during on the berm above the Clovis period landmark. All three have been reworked and previous excavations. The intact point bone bed. Next to it is a Folsom resharpened for use as butchering tools in the has a reworked base that’s been beveled; point. Both have been resharpened processing of the bison carcasses. the other two are bases of broken points. for use as butchering tools.

the size of kills increased, butchering methods evolved, she Little excavation has taken place in the also believes. At the start of the Folsom period, the hunters Archaic strata because, sandwiched between younger and laid out carcasses. After the Folsom period, the Paleo-Indians older deposits, it is difficult to access. The archaeologists have, stacked the bones atop each other, intermingling bones from however, discovered hearthstones, tools, and animal remains. different bison. “It may be more of an assembly line sort of One excavation exposed a large oval pit that contained thing and that may go along with having a few more bison to burned rock and ash. No bones were found in the pit, leading process,” she said. Although bison were a major food source researchers to conclude it was used to process vegetal matter, from Folsom through Firstview times, the contents of bone which would mark another shift in subsistence patterns. beds indicate that smaller game, such as puddle ducks and Environmental data collected from micro-vertebrates muskrat, made up a larger part of the Paleo-Indian diet. and invertebrates at the site has revealed that the landmark Another modification from Clovis to post-Clovis times region witnessed dramatic climate changes. In early Paleo- is the change from what are referred to as processing sta- Indian times, the landmark was lush with meadow grass and tions to kill/butchering locales. During the Clovis period, deciduous trees. By the Late Archaic period, the region was the carcasses of various large and medium-size animals were semi-arid. The grasslands of west Texas had gone from tall, to brought to processing stations for what Johnson calls “sec- mixed, to short. Today, the landmark is acres of short, amber ondary butchering.” At kill/butchering locales, which were grasses and sparse trees. Lean jackrabbits and twittering typical of post-Clovis times, the animals were killed and birds have replaced giant shaggy bison. slaughtered, leaving behind fairly complete carcasses. Why the massive animals, such as mammoth and giant

exhibit gallery is equipped with dioramas that take people through Learning Ancient Lessons thousands of years of cultural and environmental changes. There’s more going on at Lubbock Lake Landmark than excavating The educational programs reflect the research by focusing bison kill sites. In addition to the research, the landmark also on science and archaeology, cultural history, and environmental emphasizes education. The landmark features the Robert A. “Bob” history, says Sue Shore, the landmark’s education manager. Nash Interpretive Center, which includes an auditorium, an exhibit Shore was preparing for Celebration Week, an annual festival for gallery, and a learning center. The learning center has classrooms adults and children that focuses on the region’s cultural history. and a small collection of items recovered from the landmark. The The festival features various programs and workshops as well as demonstrations by artisans such as potters and weavers. Attendees will learn some of the skills of everyday prehistoric life, like “how you cook in the stomach of an animal,” Shore said. This kitchen technique was commonly used prior to the invention of pottery. Shore also organizes annual festivals with archaeological and environmental themes. The landmark offers summer classes for children ages six through 12 on archaeology and cultural and environmental history. It also provides educational programs on these same topics for kindergarten through high school teachers. “We’ve done teacher- development workshops on water issues,” said Shore, referring to a matter of vital importance throughout the landmark’s long occupation. “How are we going to manage our water resources, because they’re dwindling?” The answer to this question, she said, might be found by understanding water usage over the millennia.

“We can very clearly trace what’s happened to our water here over Tech U niversi t y Texas L ubbock ake and m ark, Museu of the last 12,000 years,” Shore said. These ancient lessons might A group of children visits the interpretative center. inform modern water conservation efforts. —Michael Bawaya

38 winter • 2007-08 of Texas Tech U niversi t y Texas L ubbock ake and m ark, Museu of A three-dimensional life-size diorama in the Robert A. Nash Interpretive Center depicts a group of Folsom hunters skinning and butchering a bison at the edge of a pond as a storm approaches. It’s based on the accumulated evidence from the various Folsom kill and butchering locales.

armadillo, disappeared from the landscape is still a subject of landmark long enough to kill and butcher their food, and debate. A recent theory proposes that a comet hit the earth and then they moved on. This was so until the historical period. caused the extinction of numerous species. Johnson believes “Aboriginal activities came to an end as Europeans (buffalo sweeping climatic and ecosystem changes may have taken a hunters and then settlers) began to use the area,” Johnson toll on the animals, which didn’t adapt as well as people. and coauthor Vance Holliday wrote in a 1989 Journal of Researchers have concluded that people stayed at the Quaternary Science article. Rifle cartridges, beer bottles, buttons, and other assorted artifacts have been found in historical deposits. In the 1870s, Anglo-Americans hunted buffalo in the region. In 1881, the Singer Store, the first com- mercial business in the region, opened to cater to the needs of settlers and cattle ranchers. In Johnson’s view, research at the landmark has only just begun. Less than five percent of the sprawling site has been excavated. Seventy-one years have passed since those two teenage boys stumbled upon a Folsom point atop a pile of dirt. Thirty-five years have passed since Johnson arrived on the windswept plains of west Texas. “Thirty-five years later, we are still just scratching the surface,” she said. It’s understandable. In the lifetime of the landmark, this is all just the blink of an eye. Jodi Miller Ribs and thoracic vertebrae of ancient bison were exposed in the Folsom level. The bones are very fragile because the clayey MARLENA HARTZ is a reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. sediments encasing them have expanded and contracted during wet and dry cycles through the millennia, which causes cracking For more information about Lubbock Land Landmark, visit and other damage to the bones. www.depts.ttu.edu/museumttu/lll/visitus.html american archaeology 39 LEGENDS OF ARCHAEOLOGY A Passion for Fieldwork Cynthia Irwin-Williams overcame poor health and sexual discrimination to become a renowned archaeologist. By Tamara Stewart

“… The experience of Being, in the Field, in the Wilderness, on the Quest to Unlock the Secrets of the Past … The incomparable joys of Comradeship Telling the old stories, singing the old songs.

What a Joy! What a Joy!” U niversity and E thnology/ H arvard A rchaeology -- Excerpt from “Coming Home from the Field,” a poem by Cynthia Irwin-Williams, written May 29, 1989, Reno, Nevada Peabody Museu m of Peabody Cynthia Irwin-Williams discusses stratigraphy with another archaeologist at the Hell Gap site in eastern Wyoming in 1963.

40 winter • 2007-08 P ETER B . GEORGE Irwin-Williams stands on the top edge of 300-foot-high Sky Village Mesa, 50 miles northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where crews excavated several Basketmaker III sites during the Anasazi Origins Project in 1970.

utting a handsome profile in her white sleeveless fieldwork at pre-ceramic sites around Colorado, sparked by a blouse, work pants, and black beret, Cynthia Irwin- fascination with the Paleo-Indian and Archaic periods of the CWilliams cleared rooms of more than 900 years of American Southwest. accumulated sediment. Working alongside students and In 1957, Irwin-Williams graduated magna cum laude volunteers at the massive Salmon Ruins pueblo in the 1970s, with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Rad-cliffe Col- Irwin-Williams trained and directed more than 700 people lege, and the following year she earned her master’s degree during the excavation of about one third of this 300-room there. Brushing aside the notion of that time that female northwestern New Mexico settlement, a major 11th-century archaeologists were best suited for library studies or labo- outlier of Chaco Canyon. This was just one of the formidable ratory work, Irwin-Williams vigorously pursued fieldwork. tasks that this determined woman eagerly embraced during While in graduate school she joined a Harvard-run Paleo- her distinguished career. lithic excavation in southern France, only to be relegated to Despite the dust, hard work, and frequently challenging secretarial and other menial tasks. Women were not allowed living conditions, being “in the field,” working with in the classroom during lectures related to the project, so colleagues, volunteers, and students to solve the mysteries she took notes from the hallway. of past peoples, was Irwin-Williams’ favorite time. One could She later said of the experience: “...the only thing I can have hardly guessed what a highly accomplished, energetic say about it is that I learned more about how not to run archaeologist she would become given her chronic asthma a project than anything else that summer.” This experience as a child. “I was simply determined to overcome this made her even more committed to running her own projects disability which could easily have made me a semi-invalid,” and treating the field crews, which would consist of men she explained later to writer Barbara Williams during an inter- and women in roughly equal numbers, fairly. Her stay in view for the book Breakthrough: Women in Archaeology. France wasn’t entirely bad, however, as she there adopted Since the ages of 12 and 14 respectively, Irwin-Williams the custom of wearing a black beret, which became her and her brother Henry were fascinated by archaeology. fashion signature. While in high school, and then college, they participated in Irwin-Williams earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from

american archaeology 41 Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Unable to find work in the Albuquerque area, Irwin-Williams accepted an offer from George Agogino to help establish an anthropology department at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) in Portales, more than 200 miles away. Thus began her weekly treks from Albuquerque to Por- tales, where she taught from 1964 until 1982. During her tenure there she helped build a highly successful department with a 4,000-square-foot laboratory that housed some of the most sophisticated equipment in the country for analyzing ceramics and stone tools. In 2000, the university established the Cynthia Irwin-Williams Lec- ture series in her honor. Irwin-Williams focused on pre-ceramic sites through the 1960s, serving as principal investigator for a multidisci- plinary team that investigated sites in the state of Puebla, in central Mexico. Her strati- graphic skills were honed at the famous Paleo-Indian site Hell Gap on the high plains of eastern Wyoming, where she and her brother worked with Agogino and renowned Uni-

versity of Arizona geoarchae- R ichard Sm igielski ologist C. Vance Haynes from A worker perched on the remnants of a wall sets up a grid system at Salmon Ruins in 1970. Irwin- 1961 to 1966. Williams (left), was among the first archaeologists to use a grid system when excavating pueblo rooms. Irwin-Williams was fascinated with the evolution of Harvard University in 1963, one of only three women to highly mobile Archaic hunter-gatherer societies to sedentary receive a doctorate in any field from Harvard at that time. “It Puebloan groups that depended on agriculture, created makes for a kind of do-or-die point of view,” she said about ceramics, and developed complex social and religious organ- the sexual discrimination she endured throughout her aca- izations. To gather more data about that evolution, Irwin- demic training. “The result for me was that I began to do Williams directed ENMU’s Anasazi Origins Project, leading individual independent research much earlier than people excavations in the Arroyo Cuervo region in northwestern who found it easier to join large projects. Exclusion from the New Mexico from 1964 and 1971. (She often worked on mainstream opportunities led to a fierce determination to two projects simultaneously.) Her work at this site led to do it on my own.” her greatest contribution to American Southwest archae- But before long the mainstream opportunities presented ology. Synthesizing data from the Anasazi Origins Project themselves. Shortly after her graduation from Harvard, Irwin- with Archaic evidence from various excavations in the Four Williams married nuclear physicist and fellow Harvard Corners region, as well as other parts of Arizona, and east- graduate David Williams, who took a job at Sandia National ern California, Irwin-Williams developed the first—and still

42 winter • 2007-08 R ichard Sm igielski In the early morning of a day in 1972, Irwin-Williams poses next to a vehicle before driving to an excavation site in the Rio Puerco Valley.

widely used—chronology for the northern Archaic tradition, “At that point, there was no doubt in my mind that we which she termed the Oshara, and which she viewed as the chose the right person for the job,” Alton later wrote. “Her predecessors of the Anasazi. incredible energy, as well as her ability to raise money for the Based on characteristic tool kits, settlement patterns, project, perfectly complemented the vision and the goals we and other traits, she divided the Oshara tradition into a num- had for Salmon Ruins.” ber of sequential phases that included the Jay phase (5500 After securing funding from numerous sources, Irwin- to 4800 b.c.), the Bajada phase (4800 to 3200 b.c.), the San Williams began work at the E-shaped masonry pueblo. José phase (3200 to 1800 b.c.), the Armijo phase (1800 to In 1970, she and a volunteer crew cleared brush from 800 b.c.), and the En Medio phase (800 b.c. to a.d. 400). Many the rooms, mapped the site, and conducted initial testing. scholars consider Irwin-Williams’ chronology essential to Irwin-Williams ran the Salmon Ruins excavations until 1978, understanding the culture history of the Southwest. developing innovative techniques such as a computerized Her success at ENMU led San Juan County Museum database to deal with the massive quantities of informa- Association board members Harry Hadlock and Alton James tion. She was also one of the first American archaeologists to offer Irwin-Williams the monumental challenge of exca- to divide excavation areas within pueblo rooms into a grid vating Salmon Ruins in northwestern New Mexico in 1970, system, which provided much more precise information a challenge she accepted. Prompted by rumors that this about stratigraphy and artifact distribution. In 1972, she Chaco Canyon outlier would be sold and subdivided, James coined the now-popular term “Chaco Phenomenon” to and Hadlock had convinced San Juan County to purchase describe the interconnected system of sites around Chaco the 22-acre site and lease it to the museum association with Canyon. This inspired other researchers to broaden their the stipulation that the association would find a professional focus when investigating Chaco. archaeologist to excavate it and that a museum and research “She was doing a lot of groundbreaking work in a man’s facility would be built. field, which was very difficult, and she had to be tough,” says

american archaeology 43 treated all of us like her family,” says Durand. “She was truly astonishing—a driven ball of energy with a sharp mind and a twinkle in her eye.” A male archaeologist driving a well- equipped jeep once challenged her, and her little Volkswa- gen, to a race along some 30 miles of backcountry dirt roads northwest of Albuquerque. “She blew him out of the water,” recounts Durand. “She could shovel dirt with the best of us and was a great role model for women, and always fair and very supportive of both men and women up and coming in archaeology.” Some of the best archaeological discussions Durand and Irwin-Williams had occurred during the periodic “head banging” sessions she arranged. She and a small group of uins archive S al m on R uins Irwin-Williams and Alton James stand in front of the Salmon archaeologists would camp at or near a site they were work- farmhouse in this 1970 photograph. ing on, discussing their project around the fire until late into the night. “She was a font of ideas, but fieldwork was the Larry Baker, the current executive director of Salmon Ruins. aspect of archaeology that was really near and dear to her Baker met Irwin-Williams when he worked on the Anasazi heart,” Durand says. “Her people and her research were all Origins Project. “But she was also very personable and broke that mattered,” he says, recalling a time when she inherited down lots of traditional barriers—students and staff had a some valuable land in Colorado that she promptly sold to lot of direct access to her. She allowed us a lot of freedom to fund her work. explore and introduce our own ideas into the research, which The Center for Desert Archaeology (CDA), a non-profit was just fabulous in terms of a learning experience.” He adds preservation and educational organization, partnered with that “she had a great ability to look at micro-stratigraphy and Salmon Ruins to publish a three-volume report in 2006 titled sort out what was going on,” a trait that was instrumental to Thirty-Five Years of Archaeological Research at Salmon dealing with the complexities at Salmon Ruins. Ruins, New Mexico, edited by CDA archaeologist Paul Reed. A Irwin-Williams began excavations at Salmon Ruins, as summary volume on Salmon Ruins and the surrounding Mid- well as a broad survey and excavations of Anasazi sites in dle San Juan region is planned for publication in spring 2008. the Rio Puerco Valley, shortly after fieldwork on the Anasazi “With the research recently begun anew at Salmon, we hope Origins Project concluded, leaving her little time to publish a to make good on the work Cynthia initiated by producing a definitive work on the results of the latter investigation. “She series of publications that honors her legacy,” says Reed. was always thinking about the next step, which left some Indeed, Irwin-Williams contributed much during her 54 things hanging and undone,” Baker recalls. Irwin-Williams years, both to the profession of archaeology during a time and her colleague, Philip Shelley, managed to compile and when women were not readily accepted in the field, and edit a five-volume report on the Salmon Ruins excavations, to her students and colleagues, who remember her with but a synthetic volume summarizing the years of work and great fondness. By the time of her premature death, she had putting the research into a broader perspective was cut short authored and co-authored more than 60 publications on by Irwin-Williams unexpected death in 1990 from heart and archaeology, geology, paleontology, climatology, remote sens- pulmonary failure. ing, desertification, and human physiology. Baker and Stephen Durand, another long-time friend and Her awards and appointments were numerous, includ- colleague of Irwin-Williams, eventually finished the manu- ing her election as the second woman president of the Soci- script on the Rio Puerco Valley project, titled Prehistory of ety for American Archaeology in 1977, the youngest archae- the Middle Rio Puerco Valley, Sandoval County, NM, that was ologist of either gender to serve in that capacity. She was partially written at the time of her death. “It was something also featured as one of 45 distinguished women in a 1987 Cynthia really wanted to see as well,” Baker says. The Archaeo- traveling Smithsonian exhibit titled “Daughters of the Des- logical Society of New Mexico published the book in 2003. ert: Women Anthropologists and the Native American South- While preparing the manuscript, Baker and Durand west, 1860–1980.” But friends and colleagues remember her came across a poem Irwin-Williams had written the year best for her exuberance, her love for archaeology, and her before her death titled “Coming Home from the Field.” The loyalty and sense of fairness. “Everyone deserves a chance,” poem conveyed her love for fieldwork, for the lifelong friend- she declared, and she provided hundreds of volunteers and ships she had made, and for the joys of “the always novel and students with just that. intriguing Quest for the Unknown.” They fittingly included it as the frontispiece to their publication. TAMARA STEWART is the assistant editor of American Archaeology and the “She didn’t have any kids of her own, so she sort of Conservancy’s Southwest project’s coordinator.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PRESS www.UofUPress.com • 1-800-621-2736 new acquisition A Time of Transition The Spier 142 site speaks to a period of change in west-central New Mexico.

he El Morro Valley saw the rapid parts of the Cibola area, particularly establishment of a number of the area around modern Zuni Pueblo, T communities during the mid-13th which appear to have seen more con- century when thousands of ancestral tinuous settlement.” Puebloan farmers set up permanent Following the abandonment of residence in the high elevation area. It early settlements such as Spier 142 was during this time of transformation and Scribe S near the end of the 13th that large settlements such as the Con- century, inhabitants resettled into servancy’s latest New Mexico acquisi- nearby massive, walled sites. “The Spier tion, and another nearby Conservancy 142 site combines aspects of the later preserve, Scribe S, were built in the large, nucleated pueblos with some of valley. the patterns seen in earlier more dis- The new site is considered to be persed settlement clusters, and thus is one of the largest Pueblo III-period an excellent location for studying this communities in the valley. It was important transition,” Schachner added. recorded as Site 142 in 1916 by Leslie The entire El Morro Valley appears to Spier, an archaeologist with the Ameri- have been relatively rapidly depopu- can Museum of Natural History who lated during the early 14th century. Jim Walker worked in the area in the early 20th These rocks are from collapsed walls. The Conservancy recently acquired century. It’s estimated to have 165 the site’s main roomblock in a bargain- masonry rooms in its main roomblock surface ceramics that were collected in sale-to-charity transaction. A manage- and an additional 195 rooms and a pos- the 1970s, concluding that the site was ment plan will be created for the site in sible great kiva in adjacent areas. This briefly occupied betweena .d. 1250 and consultation with the Zuni tribe, who well-preserved site is thought to have 1290. consider the site to be ancestral. at least two and possibly three walled “The mid-13th century is particu- —Tamara Stewart plaza areas. Greg Schachner, an archae- larly interesting because it was during ologist at the University of California, this time that the El Morro Valley was Conservancy Los Angeles, reanalyzed over 1,300 transformed from a relatively empty Plan of Action zone, probably used primarily for hunting or other similarly transient activi- SITE: Spier 142 CULTURE AND TIME PERIOD: Proto- ties, into the demographic center of Zuni, a.d. 1250 to 1290 population along the Zuni River and STATUS: Saved from possible its tributaries,” said Schachner. “One development of the intriguing aspects of El Morro ACQUISITION:The Archaeological archaeology is that the vast majority of Conservancy has an option to purchase the area’s sites appear to date to a rela- 160 acres of the site for $90,000 in a tively short interval between roughly bargain sale to charity. a.d. 1240 and 1325, and nearly all of HOW YOU CAN HELP: Please send the sites, other than a few of the larg- contributions to The Archaeological est pueblos, were occupied only during Conservancy, Attn: Spier 142, 5301 the first 25 to 35 years of this interval. Central Ave. NE, Suite 902, Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517. This pattern is quite unlike most other 46 winter • 2007-08 new acquisition

Learning About a Prehistoric Farming Village The Conservancy obtains a Fort Ancient site in Kentucky.

entucky’s prehistoric people first started to experiment with gardening during the Late Archaic period. K However, it wasn’t until the Late Prehistoric period (a.d. 1000–1750) that agriculture became the primary subsistence pursuit of Fort Ancient groups. It’s at that point that archaeologists start to find evidence of Kentucky’s first true village farmers. The Florence site, located in Kentucky’s Cen- tral Bluegrass Region, is an outstanding example of a farming village that dates to the Middle Fort Ancient period (a.d. 1200–1400). In 1989 and 1990, William Sharp, then with the Univer- sity of Kentucky’s Program for Cultural Resource Assessment, and David Pollack, of the Kentucky Heritage Council, led the Terry M cQuo w n Terry excavation of a small portion of the site. The archaeologists The Fort Ancient people farmed this land hundreds of years ago. found a plaza where residents probably held events and conducted rituals in the center of the village. There is a low contained between 25 and 30 structures (only one of which mound near the north edge of the plaza where people of has been completely excavated) and had roughly 150 to 180 special social standing may have been buried. Three separate inhabitants. It’s located near a smaller, slightly earlier Fort areas that served different purposes radiate out from the Ancient village. Sharp and Pollack think that the residents of plaza like concentric rings. The area closest to the plaza is a this village moved to the Florence site to establish a larger cemetery where adults and adolescents were buried. Beyond village. that was the residential area, where the village’s inhabitants The Florence site holds tremendous potential to tell lived in basin-shaped structures. Trash was deposited in pits archaeologists more about life during the Fort Ancient in the area farthest from the plaza. Infants and children were period. The owners, Virgil and Bruce Florence, have taken also buried in the refuse area, perhaps indicating that they great care of the site over the years and are donating it to the had not been completely accepted into the community. Conservancy to ensure that this important piece of the past The site yielded stone tools, worked bone and shell will be preserved for future generations. —Terry McQuown artifacts, and thousands of potsherds. The residents ate a diet similar to that of other Fort Ancient peoples, consist- Conservancy ing largely of cultivated corn and beans, with deer, elk, bear, and turkey providing most of the meat. The village may have Plan of Action Site: Florence Culture AND Time Period: Fort Ancient, a.d. 1200–1400. Status: The site is threatened by development. Acquisition: Although the site is being donated, the Conservancy needs $5,000 to cover closing costs and help offset management expenses. How You Can Help: Please send contributions to The Archaeological Conservancy, Attn: Florence Site Project, 5301 Central Ave. NE, Suite 902, Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517.

american archaeology 47 new AC TS T I F point-3 AR ONE F T E X A S IN D IAN O F acquisition ST A Piece of Clinton’s Ditch The Conservancy obtains part of the original Erie Canal. t e M u s eum a Y ork S t N e w This painting, done by artist J. Erwin Porter in 1960, portrays the Genesee Valley Canal that began near downtown Rochester. The Genesee Valley Canal was part of the enlargement of the original Erie Canal.

he Conservancy’s newest New “Clinton’s Ditch” (then-Governor De- United Sates by accelerating the move- York acquisition, the Clinton’s Witt Clinton championed the canal), the ment of goods and people westward. TDitch preserve, is located near original Erie Canal was begun in 1817 Due to the demands of increasing the yellow brick roads of The Wizard of and completed in 1825. Clinton hailed traffic, the canal was enlarged, recon- Oz author L. Frank Baum’s birthplace in the achievement with an inaugural ride figured, and diverted at various sec- Chittenango. The site, which contains a down the entire 363-mile canal that con- tions during the next several decades. prehistoric component, also features a nected the Great Lakes with the Atlantic With these improvements came a new segment of the original Erie Canal. Ocean. The “ditch” did nothing less than name: the Enlarged Erie Canal. Because Dismissed by its detractors as transform New York and the entire of these improvements the section of 48 winter • 2007-08 the canal at the Clinton’s Ditch site was largely abandoned. Eventually it was backfilled, but evidence of the canal is still discernable today. In addition to a segment of the canal, the site contains a dry dock from the same period. Dry docks were used for the construction and repair of canal boats. The docks came in a variety of shapes and sizes, and employed a variety of means to extract the boats and their massive tonnage from the canal and place them within the dry dock for repair. Entire canal boats have been found submerged and largely preserved within the Erie Canal. Saving the site will guarantee future researchers a wealth of information on a variety of questions R alph P enner pertaining to the canal and canal boats. Clinton’s Ditch also holds the The Clinton’s Ditch site is to the right of this section of the later, enlarged canal. remains of a Middle-to-Late Woodland prehistoric site that appears to have on this component of Clinton’s Ditch Button, who agreed to sell it. The Old been centered around nearby Chit- may yield interesting new information Erie Canal State Historic Park and the tenango Creek. The site has yielded on prehistoric settlement in the area. Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor over a hundred prehistoric artifacts Members of the nearby Chit- are located in close proximity to the including flakes, pottery, burned bone, tenango Landing Canal Boat Museum Clinton’s Ditch preserve. Today the Erie and charcoal. Two possible prehistoric brought the site to the Conservancy’s Canal is a popular tourist destination features were identified during an attention. The Conservancy then nego- and park used by hikers, fishermen, and archaeological survey. Future research tiated with the property owner, Bette kayakers. —Andy Stout

POINT Acquisitions

Clinton’s Ditch

The Protect Our Irreplaceable National Treasures (POINT) program was designed to save significant sites that are in immediate danger of destruction. american archaeology 49 CONSERVANCY Field Notes Y oung a L i s a Field school students work at Creswell Pueblo. In addition to excavating, the students were involved in public outreach.

Research and Outreach pithouse village to understand the addition to witnessing the excavation, differences and similarities in late the teachers had an opportunity to SOUTHWEST—Last summer 15 under- 13th-century pithouse and pueblo question the students about their work. graduate students from all over the communities. The teachers also received information country participated in the second The excavations at Creswell Pueblo about the Homol’ovi as well as materi- year of excavations at Creswell Pueblo, are part of a larger program, called the als to help them incorporate archaeol- a Conservancy site located within Homol’ovi Undergraduate Research ogy into their curriculum. Homol’ovi Ruins State Park in northeast- Opportunities Program, which is funded ern Arizona. Homol’ovi is best known by the National Science Foundation’s for its large, late 13th- and 14th- century Research Experiences for Undergradu- Research Continues at Barton pueblos that were ancestral Hopi vil- ates and the University of Michigan, NORTHEAST—Members of the West- lages. Creswell Pueblo, which was with support from Arizona State Parks. ern Maryland Chapter of the Archaeo- inhabited during the late 13th century, The goal of the program is to provide logical Society of Maryland teamed was the first pueblo built in the area. students with hands-on experience in with students at Towson University The site is remarkable because, archaeological research and real-world to continue the investigation of the until about a.d. 1200, the Homol’ovi training in public outreach. Toward Conservancy’s Barton Archaeological lived in pithouses rather than aboveg- that end, local teachers were invited Preserve in western Maryland. Based round pueblo rooms. Information from to Homol’ovi Ruins State Park to learn upon data recovered during last sum- Creswell Pueblo is being compared to a about the archaeology and the impor- mer’s excavations, it appears likely that nearby and roughly contemporaneous tance of the area to Hopi people. In Barton’s Keyser village component was 50 winter • 2007-08 the Conservancy in order to protect it from future development, mining, and grazing while still allowing for educational tours, research, and public programs. Since that time, Wells, along with local resident Suzie Frazier and other community members, formed Los Vecinos del Rio, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and improvement of the quality of life in the traditional communities of the northern Rio Grande Valley. In 2001, the Vecinos del Rio, in partnership with San Juan Pueblo (now known as Okhay Owingeh), the Bureau of Land Management, local schools, Northern New Mexico College, volunteer archaeologists, and rock art spe- cialists, initiated the Mesa Prieta Petro- Bo b Wall Excavators expose an area that contained a large storage pit. glyph Project to survey and record the thousands of rock art panels within the inhabited in the early to mid-1400s, and of the site. Located on the slopes of preserve and on adjacent lands along the people were perhaps the last pre- the Mesa Prieta escarpment overlook- the mesa. Now in its sixth year, the Contact period inhabitants at the site. ing the Upper Rio Grande, the site volunteer recording teams work with Excavations revealed several large includes more than 6,000 petroglyphs Native American and Hispanic youth, storage features next to the house, one carved into basalt boulders that date who learn rock art recording skills and of which appears to have been bark- from Middle Archaic (ca. 3900 b.c.) to receive a stipend for their participa- lined. One of the storage features was historical times. It is known for its vari- tion. The project is currently working enclosed by postmolds. The house was ety and density of images of shields and to create a geographic-information- also surrounded by a veneer of ash and flute-playing animals, and its historical system-linked database to store all the burnt organic material. images and inscriptions, which are rare information, and to develop related The periphery of the Susquehan- at other sites in the Rio Grande region. educational curricula for local grade nock component, a Contact-period In December 2000, Wells donated schools and maintain a lending library settlement occupied at about the time a conservation easement on the site to of rock art resources for teachers. James-town was settled in 1607, was also further defined. Work on the deepest component of the site, which was radiocarbon dated to approximately 10,000 b.c., has revealed an extensive workshop area containing large soft hammer flakes, unifacial tools, and chert manufacturing debris. Thus far no diagnostic projectile points have been recovered. Remainder Interest in Wells Petroglyph Site Donated to Conservancy SOUTHWEST—This fall, Katherine Wells, owner of the 156-acre Wells Petro- glyph site in northern New Mexico, donated her remainder interest in the Jim Walker site to the Conservancy. The donation gives the Conservancy full ownership The site’s thousands of petroglyphs vary greatly in form and style. american archaeology 51 Reviews

The Architecture of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico Edited by Stephen H. Lekson (University of Utah Press, 2007; 263 pgs., illus., $55 cloth; www.UofUpress.com) In the 11th century, when everyone else in the Southwest was build- Circular Villages of the ing small, crude structures, Puebloans in Chaco Canyon constructed magnificent, well-planned, five-story buildings using masonry instead Monongahela Tradition of earth and rubble. More than anything, it is this monumental archi- By Bernard K. Means tecture that defines the Chaco culture that was the center ofthe (University of Alabama Press, 2007; Pueblo universe from about a.d. 850 to 1130. Abandoned for some 196 pgs., illus.; $57 cloth, $35 paper; 900 years, these monuments still amaze us today, which is why Chaco www.uapress.ua.edu) Canyon has been designated a national park and UNESCO World Between a.d. 1000 and 1635, the Monongahela Heritage Site. people dominated southwestern Pennsylvania This timely volume is an in-depth study of Chacoan architecture and adjacent parts of Ohio and West Virginia. through the eyes of 13 outstanding Chaco scholars. Editor Stephen They lived in dwellings arranged around a Lekson of the University of Colorado organized this topic as part central plaza and enclosed by a circular of a broader “Chaco Synthesis” project to pull together the latest in wooden stockade. This ring-shaped pattern Chaco thinking. The chapters focus on great houses, great kivas, and is common in the Eastern Woodlands, Great the spatial alignments of them in the overall community. More than Plains, and elsewhere. Drawing on excavation 150 maps, floor plans, elevations, and photos illustrate the text, data from work done in the 1930s in Somerset making it easily understandable for the reader. County, Pennsylvania, author Bernard Means Of special interest is the chapter constructing a three-dimen- reconstructs several Monongahela villages and sional model of “downtown” Chaco Canyon in 1130, as it was com- recalibrates their occupation dates. ing to an abrupt end. Here’s where the new technologies of Global Using this data, Means is able to make Information System mapping and computer imaging combine to an analysis of the social groupings, population produce a realistic vision of the past, turning ruins into buildings and estimates, and economic status of residents in grainy images into detailed maps. We can see how all the structures the circular villages. He finds these villages were in the canyon were connected by wide, straight “roads,” often tied to far from uniform. Their sizes varied widely, as did celestial events. The chapter on cosmological expression goes even the complexity of the sites. The plazas were the further in trying to tie this community to the heavens. principal social space within the village, home to So what does all of this say about Chaco culture? Some say it graves as well as storage and refuge areas. was a valley of peaceful farming villages and others find the capital Means has produced a useful and intriguing of an empire. The dozen Great Houses in the park could be Puebloan study of an important Eastern culture we are still towns, expressions of ritual, or perhaps royal palaces. This volume struggling to understand. gives new insights and perspectives that bring us much closer to the answers than ever before. 52 winter • 2007-08 Reviews

The Year the Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian Edited by Candace S. Greene and Russell Thornton (University of Nebraska Press, 2007; 347 pgs., illus.; $45 cloth; www.nebraskapress.unl.edu)

Winter counts are pictorial calendars, originally on buffalo hides, by which Plains Indians kept track of their past. Each year was marked with a picture of a memorable event, and they cover California Prehistory: Colonization, some 200 years of Lakota or Western Sioux history. The pictures Culture, and Complexity are arranged sequentially in spirals or rows. Contact with Euro- Edited by Terry L. Jones and Kathryn A. Klar peans brought the introduction of new materials like paper and (AltaMira Press, 2007; 408 pgs., illus,; $100 cloth; pens, and artists like George Catlin and Carl Bodmer introduced www.altamirapress.com) new drawing techniques. The Smithsonian Institution has the largest and most com- California boasts one of the most diverse archaeolo- plete collection of winter counts, and 14 are presented in detail in gies in North America, and it is a daunting enterprise this volume. All of them include the “year the stars fell,” the spec- to try to get it into one volume. In 2003, the Society tacular Leonid meteor shower of 1833–34. The images served as for California Archaeology sponsored a symposium mnemonic devices for community members and for the winter to update California archaeology. They got some 43 count keeper, who was responsible for recording and remem- scholars to participate, and this volume is the result. bering events. At various times throughout the year he would It is a masterpiece of scholarship that reflects the unroll the calendar and retell the stories of the past. The group monumental changes in Golden State archaeology used this device to keep track of their history as well as to index during the past 20 years. events in their lives like the birth year. Since some winter counts Topics include searching for the first Californians, span more than 100 years, it is clear that they were often passed linguistic prehistory, rock art, and mitochondrial DNA down from one keeper to another. By the 1870s, copies of winter studies. The authors look at marine and terrestrial counts were being commissioned by non-Indian collectors and a environments that determine human characteristics thriving cottage industry developed into the 20th century. as well as the people who occupy them. Editors The Smithsonian collection is a core winter count resource, Terry Jones of Cal-Polytechnic and Kathryn Klar of and this volume is the first time it has been published. Candace the University of California, Berkeley, have done an Greene, Russell Thornton, Christina Burke, and Emil Her Many outstanding job of assembling a vast store of infor- Horses are noted scholars of winter counts and provide generous mation and making it readable and understandable to background and commentary. Individual illustrations are shown the non-expert. It is an essential resource for anyone and explained in the context of winter count knowledge. Richly interested in California archaeology and a model for illustrated, The Year the Stars Fell is an outstanding contribution other regions to emulate. —Mark Michel to the understanding of the cultures of the Plains Indians. american archaeology 53 THE ArchAeological Conservancy

A Spectacular River Trip Yampa River When: May 31–June 7, 2008

Join us for a downriver adventure through the spectacular Dinosaur National Monument. One of the highlights, Whirl- pool Canyon, was first described by the explorer John Wes- ley Powell. In addition to the beautiful scenery, this 70-mile journey down the Yampa and Green rivers is an opportunity to visit remote archaeological sites, including Freemont culture rock art panels and prehistoric rock shelters.

The Yampa River offers breathtaking scenery. d no b le d avi

Upcoming Tours A Peruvian Adventure Land of the Inca Machu Picchu remained a secret to the outside world until 1911, when archaeologist Hiram Bingham discovered it almost by accident. Perched on a ridge more than 2,000 feet above the Urubamba River, this ancient city is among the most spectacular sites in all of the Americas. And Machu Picchu is just one of the many highlights of the Conservancy’s two-week Peruvian tour. From the coastal city of Lima to the magnificent tombs of the Moche at Sipán, we’ll explore some of Peru’s most fasci- nating sites. alker Accompanied by an expert in Peruvian archaeology, j im w we’ll learn about the vast empires that once reigned. The complex architecture of Machu Picchu is a testament to the Incas’ The adventure begins with visits to several archaeologi- sophistication. It’s one of the New World’s most amazing sites. cal museums in Lima, where you’ll become familiar with the country’s past cultures. Then, we’ll explore the pyra- New World. Several days in the Inca capital of Cuzco will give us mids at Sipán and Túcume. At Chan Chan, we’ll tour the ample time to explore sites such as Coricancha, an Inca temple remains of one of the largest pre-Columbian cities in the where the walls were once covered in gold. 54 winter • 2007-08 The Mound Builders’ Legacy Ohio Mound Builders Massive mounds and earthworks, some nearly 70 feet tall and others covering hundreds of acres, are the legacy of the Hopewell and Adena cultures that dominated the Eastern United States from 800 b.c. to a.d. 400. Archaeologists have found exotic mica objects, copper ornaments, burials, and the remains of wooden structures at many of the mound sites. The significance of the mounds, which often were built in animal and geometric forms, is still a subject of great study. Our tour begins in Columbus, with a visit to the Hopewell collections at the Ohio Historical Center. From the Newark Earthworks, a magnificent Hopewell Mound complex that once covered more than seven miles, the tour heads to Chillicothe and Hopewell Cul- ture National Historic Park, now a flourishing center of Hopewell research. You’ll also visit Serpent Mound, a massive effigy mound that stretches more than 1,400 s an d avi sq uier feet. Throughout the tour, expert archaeologists give their insights into the world of the mound builders. Serpent Mound is seen in the center of this historical map.

Exploring the Land of the Anasazi Best of the Southwest The American Southwest is home to some of the best-preserved evidence of prehistoric civiliza- tions in the New World. The magnificent ruins of Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde are but two vivid reminders of the complex cultures that dominated the region between the 10th and 14th centuries. The Best of the Southwest tour includes these two settlements as well as other prehistoric sites and modern pueblos where ancient traditions persist. In New Mexico, you’ll visit remarkable sites such as the cliff dwellings at Bandelier National Monument; the “Sky City” of Acoma, a pueblo flourishing atop a high mesa just as it did 600 years ago; and San Ildefonso Pueblo, which is famous for its mark michel pottery. Several nights will be spent in Santa Fe, The Conservancy’s Best of the Southwest tour features spectacular providing an opportunity to enjoy the city’s muse- archaeology such as these cliff dwellings found at Mesa Verde National Park. ums and shops. american archaeology 55 Patrons of Preservation The Archaeological Conservancy would like to thank the following individuals, foundations, and corporations for their generous support during the period of August through October 2007. Their generosity, along with the generosity of the Conservancy’s other members, makes our work possible.

Life Member Gifts of $1,000 or more Juan L. Riera, Florida Mary Faul, Arizona Betty Banks, Washington Sarah Sheehan, California Walter and Yvonne Grossenbacher, Arizona Robert and Evie Beckwith, Florida William and Priscilla Robinson, Arizona Harlan Scott, Delaware Michele Caram, Maryland Brenda M. Sullivan, Virginia June Stack, Pennsylvania Marilynn A. Cowgill, Colorado Deborah B. West, Virginia Edwin C. Daly, California Evelyn T. Wolfson, Massachusetts Foundation/Corporate Gifts Rachel A. Hamilton, North Carolina Richard Woodbury, Massachusetts The Lacy Foundation, Georgia Douglas M. Jones, New Mexico The Namaste Foundation, Indiana Ellen Kohler, Pennsylvania Anasazi Circle Gifts of $2,000 or more Roland and Martha Mace, New Mexico Anonymous Bequest Jane M. Quinette, Colorado Lloyd E. Cotsen, California Ann M. Swartwout, Michigan

Since the inception of the Conservancy’s Living Spirit Circle in 2002, participation has grown to over 100 members. These dedicated members have included the Conservancy in their long-term planning to ensure that America’s past will always have a future. This elite group is open to those who wish to make a lasting contribution by including the Conservancy in their will or estate plans, or by making a life-income gift such as a charitable gift annuity. The Conservancy would like to thank the following Living Spirit Circle members for their thoughtfulness and generosity.

Anonymous (2) Barbara Fell, Illinois Neil E. Matthew, Arizona Jon and Lydia Sally, Ohio Dee Aiani, Illinois Mr. and Mrs. Preston Forsythe, Kentucky Mark Michel, New Mexico Beverly A. Schneider, Tennessee Michael F. Albertini, Washington Jeanne H. Fox, California Janet E. Mitchell, Colorado Charles Sheffer, Arizona Dorothea E. Atwell, Maryland Veronica H. Frost, Ohio Jeffrey M. Mitchem, Arkansas Walter Sheppe, Ohio Carole F. Bailey, California Derald L. and Bridget Glidden, California Lois Monteferante, New York Harriet N. Smith, New York Carol M. Baker, Texas Sonja A. Gray, Florida Ms. Sandra Moriarty, Colorado Rosamond L. Stanton, Montana Olive L. Bavins, California Norman and Gilda Greenburg, Lynn A. Neal, Arizona Dee Ann Story, Texas Earl C. Biffle,Missouri North Carolina James A. Neely, Texas Paula M. Strain, Maryland Judith A. Bley, California Reed J. Hallock, Florida David G. Noble and Ruth Meria, Jerry M. Sullivan, Texas Denis Boon, Colorado Rodney G. Huppi, California New Mexico Ronald L. and Pat Taylor, Virginia Marcia M. Boon, Colorado Barbara J. Jacobs, Washington D.C. Jan and Judith Novak, New Mexico Don and Jeanne Tucker, Oregon Jean Carley, Oregon Mr. and Mrs. Felipe C. Jacome, Arizona Lee O’Brien, Indiana Elizabeth W. Varsa, New Mexico Debra Chastain, Colorado Joyce Kaser, New Mexico Dorinda J. Oliver, New York Steven Vastola, Connecticut Elva B. Cook, California Dona P. Key, Oregon Margaret A. Olson, Wisconsin James B. Walker, New Mexico Donna Cosulich, Arizona Walter and Allene Kleweno, New Mexico Priscilla A. Ord, Maryland Stephen L. Walkinshaw, Texas George Dalphin, New Mexico Lavinia C. Knight, California Michael R. Palmer, New Mexico Mark and Sandra Walters, Texas Richard W. Dexter, Wisconsin Derwood K. Koenig, Indiana Margaret P. Partee, Tennessee Karl W. and Nancy Watler, Colorado William G. Doty and Joan T. Mallonee, Luella D. Landis, Connecticut Tim Perttula, Texas Kathleen D. Wells, New Mexico Alabama Jay and Debbie Last, California Donald E. Pierce, New Mexico Ron and Carol Whiddon, New Mexico Patricia H. Douthitt, Ohio Debby Leitner Jones, Maryland Helen Marie Redbird-Smith, Oregon Katheryne Willock, Arizona Willa H. Drummond, Florida Margaret A. Lussky, Minnesota Barbara A. Reichardt, California Barbara E. Nichols Wolf, Colorado Robert C. and Mary Dunnell, Mississippi Osceola W. Madden, Florida Caryl Richardson, New Mexico Kathrin W. Young, Alaska Hazel L. Epstein, California William L. Mangold, Indiana Jean L. Ring, California Robert D. Zimmerman, Nevada Phoebe B. Eskenazi, Virginia Laura Marianek, Ohio Joy Robinson, California Wendell E. Zipse, Arizona Mary Faul, Arizona Robin Marion, New Jersey Susan J. Rudich, New York Robert G. Zirkle, Texas

56 winter • 2007-08 Return to Babylon: Travel- ers, Archaeologists, and Monuments in Mesopota- mia. New updated edition. Brian Fagan tells the story of archaeology in Iraq from the time of the great Arab geographers through the looting of the Iraq museum. (browse this and dozens more books in archaeology at www.upcolorado.com)