RETHINKING THE CLOVIS • HOPEWELL MYSTERIES • ANASAZI MIGRATION DEBATE american archaeologyWINTER 2008-09 a quarterly publication of The Archaeological Conservancy Vol. 12 No. 4

NineNine MileMile ’sCanyon’s EndangeredEndangered

$3.95 RockRock ArtArt

american archaeologyWinter 2008-09 a quarterly publication of The Archaeological Conservancy Vol. 12 No. 4

COVER FEATURE 12 DRILL, BABY, DRILL? BY MICHAEL BAWAYA Archaeologists and environmentalists argue that in ’s amazing Nine Mile Canyon is being threatened by gas exploration.

20 EXCAVATING A BOOM TOWN BY WES SANDER The discovery of gold and silver brought people from all over the world to Virginia City.

Archaeologists are learning how the AN WHITE I V various classes and ethnicities interacted. 12 EARL

26 RETHINKING THE CLOVIS BY DAVID MALAKOFF New research is changing conceptions of this ancient culture.

32 EXAMINING THE MYSTERIES OF THE HOPEWELL BY KRISTIN OHLSON The discovery of several strange features at the site puzzles archaeologists.

39 REXAMINING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM 39 center archaeological crow canyon BY TAMARA STEWART It’s been assumed that the Anasazi migrated 2 Lay of the Land from the Four Corners to the northern Rio Grande 3 Letters region by the late 1200s. Archaeologists are now revisiting this assumption. 5 Events 7 In the News 46 new acquisition Village Found • Eighteenth-Century Religious EVIDENCE OF THE MISSISSIPPIANS Cache Discovered • Early Human Impact in the Arctic IN VIRGINIA The Ely Mound is one of only two remaining 50 Field Notes Mississippian mounds in the state. 52 Reviews

48 point acquisition 54 Expeditions THE MISSISSIPPIANS’ SECOND CITY The Conservancy preserves part of a vast COVER: Utah’s Nine Mile Canyon has thousands of rock art images, such Mississippian settlement. as this hunting scene, that may be threatened by energy development. Photograph by Bill Bryant american archaeology 1 Lay of the Land

The Importance of Preserving Ancient Mounds

he of southern sites have been destroyed by urban challenged the imagination sprawl, modern , and loot- Tof the nation in the 19th century, ing. But these new discoveries at Fort leading to extensive excavations by the Ancient and elsewhere prove that there newly created class of scholars known as is still much to learn if only we can pre- archaeologists. Some of the most spec- serve the remaining sites, including those Mark Michel, President tacular sites were also the first to be per- that have been badly damaged. When darren poore manently preserved for the benefit of the the Conservancy bought the Hopewell several smaller mound builder sites, add- general public. In this issue of American Mounds (now part of Hopewell Culture ing to our extensive collection of mound Archaeology we examine new discover- National Historical Park) in 1980, skep- preserves in the Ohio Valley. All of them ies at Fort Ancient (see “Examining the tics declared that it was too damaged by promise to yield dramatic new informa- Mysteries of the Hopewell,” page 32), one many excavations and modern agricul- tion about these long gone people once of the most spectacular of the Hopewell ture to yield more significant informa- scholars have the opportunity to inves- preserves near Cincinnati. Even though tion. The new discoveries at Fort Ancient tigate them. We need to redouble our Fort Ancient has been extensively exca- and at the Hopewell site itself tell a dif- efforts to save what remains, so the infor- vated and studied, archaeologists have ferent story. Within the past few years, mation will still be available for future uncovered dramatic new features in the the Conservancy led an effort to preserve generations to study and enjoy. last year. Spruce Hill, a Hopewell site similar to Most of the ancient mound builder Fort Ancient, and we’ve also purchased

2 winter • 2008-09 Letters

H O H O K A M D I S A P P E A R A N C E s N E W D E A L A R C H A E O L O G Y s T H E 9 2 0 - M I L E D I G Wc[h_YWdWhY^W[ebe]o 4/:: & Undervaluing Archaeological Sites a quarterly publication of A Map The Archaeological Conservancy Vol. 12 No. 3 Editor’s Corner I was deeply disappointed to read Would Be Nice of the out of court settlement In the fall 2008 Archaeologist Donald Hardesty between the Illinois Historic issue of Ameri- and his students have concluded Preservation Agency and the can Archaeology that one of the best ways to learn developer in your News article there is an interest- about life in boom town Virginia “Important Mississippian Site ing article about City is to examine its saloons. Destroyed.” If the tiny settlement 6ODPWFSJOHUIUI$FOUVSZ New Philadelphia. When the Comstock Lode was paid by the developer for dam- 'SFODIBOE*OEJBO5SBEF Despite the fact discovered, people from the far aging a site is any indication of $3.95 that it is on the reaches of the globe flocked to what the settlements will be AA fall08 front end.indd 1 National Register Virginia City. By the 1870s, it was in the future, archaeological sites are in 8/19/08 3:21:25 PM of Historic Places packed with people and saloons, peril. This is a mere drop in the bucket to and has been proposed for National many of which were open all day a major developer. Any developer would Historic Landmark status, nowhere in to serve the miners who needed a be glad to pay this amount to be able to the article is the location given. There respite from their labor. continue on his or her merry way to com- is no Illinois state map showing the Wild West saloons were sup- plete a project. Obviously this developer location either. Surely the location can- posed to be the places where free had no concern for the history or archae- not be a secret. These are significant flowing whiskey led to high stakes ology of the area, only the big bucks he oversights and I sincerely hope that poker games, which in turn led to would receive for completing the project. they will be addressed in future issues. barroom brawls that climaxed in gunplay. At least that was a com- Sandy Jo Drebenstedt M. Stephen Miller mon scenario in the Wild West Merrill, Wisconsin West Hartford, Connecticut of legend. But as you’ll see in our feature “Excavating A Boomtown,” Sending Letters to American Archaeology Hardesty and his colleagues have found that Virginia City’s residents American Archaeology welcomes your letters. Write to us at 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517, or send us e-mail at [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit and were more interested in sitting publish letters in the magazine’s Letters department as space permits. Please include your name, down to good food and drink— address, and telephone number with all correspondence, including e-mail messages. served on decorated plates and in crystal stemware—than they Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation 1. Publication Title: American Archaeology. 2. Publication No.: 1093-8400. 3. Date of Filing: September 29, 2008. 4. Issue were in busting up the joint. 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, That’s not to say that every- 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. body behaved, or that all the 7. Editor—Michael Bawaya, address same as No. 7. Managing Editor—N/A. 10. Owner: The Archaeological Conservancy, address same as No. 7. 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or saloons were nice places to bring More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None. 12. Tax Status: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months. 13. Publication Title: American Archaeology. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: Spring 2008. 15. Extent the kids. There were poker games, and Nature of Circulation: Average Number of Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months: (A) Total No. Copies (net press run): 33,500. (B) Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside the Mail): (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated high stakes or otherwise, and on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies): 19,947; (2) Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 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, people did get shot. In fact, one Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS: 4,971; (4) Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail): 974. (C) Total Paid Distribution (Sum of 15B (1), (2), (3), and (4)): 25,892. (D) of the saloons Hardesty excavated Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail): (1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541: 0; (2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541: 0; (3) Free or Nominal Rate doubled as a shooting gallery. But Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail): 70; (4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail (Carriers or other means): 1,296. (E) Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)): some establishments also offered 1,336. (F) Total Distribution (Sum of 15C and 15E): 27,258. (G) Copies not Distributed: 6,242. (H) Total (Sum of 15F and 15G): 33,500. (I) Percent Paid (15C/15F x 100): 94.99%. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Number Copies of Single reading rooms, dancing, and bowl- Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date: (A) Total No. Copies (net press run): 34,500. (B) Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside the Mail): (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal ing. No doubt life in Virginia City rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies): 19,832; (2) Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies): 0; (3) Paid Distribution was hard, but Hardesty’s work has Outside the Mails Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS: 4,066; (4) Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail): 716. (C) Total shown that the legend of the Wild Paid Distribution (Sum of 15B (1), (2), (3), and (4)): 24,614. (D) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail): (1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies Included on PS Form 3541: 0; (2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County West was just that. 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): 50; (4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail (Carriers or other means): 2,295. (E) Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)): 2,345. (F) Total Distribution (Sum of 15C and 15E): 26,959. (G) Copies not Distributed: 7,541. (H) Total (Sum of 15F and 15G): 34,500. (I) Percent Paid (15C/15F x 100): 91.30%. 16. This Statement of Ownership will be printed in the Winter 2008 issue of this publication. 17. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. 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 organization that identifies, Board of Directors acquires, and preserves the Gordon Wilson, New Mexico CHAIRMAN most significant archaeological Cecil F. Antone, Arizona • Carol Condie, New Mexico sites in the . Donald Craib, Virginia • Janet Creighton, Washington • Janet EtsHokin, Illinois t Since its beginning in 1980, Jerry Golden, Colorado • W. James Judge, Colorado the Conservancy has preserved more Jay T. Last, California • Dorinda Oliver, New York than 370 sites across the nation, Rosamond Stanton, Montana • Vincas Steponaitis, North Carolina ranging in age from the earliest Dee Ann Story, Texas • Stewart L. Udall, New Mexico habitation sites in to Conservancy Staff a 19th-century frontier army post. Mark Michel, President • Tione Joseph, Business Manager We are building a national system of Lorna Wolf, Membership Director • Sarah Tiberi, Special Projects Director archaeological preserves to ensure Shelley Smith, Membership Assistant • Melissa Montoya, Administrative Assistant the survival of our irreplaceable Caitlin Lanigan, Administrative Assistant • Patrick Leach, Administrative Assistant cultural heritage. Regional Offices and Directors Why Save Archaeological Sites? Jim Walker, Vice President, Southwest Region (505) 266-1540 The ancient people of North America 5301 Central Avenue NE, #902 • Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108 left virtually no written records of their Tamara Stewart, Projects Coordinator • Steve Koczan, Field Representative cultures. Clues that might someday solve Paul Gardner, Vice President, Midwest Region (614) 267-1100 the mysteries of prehistoric America 3620 N. High St. #307 • Columbus, Ohio 43214 are still missing, and when a ruin is Josh McConaughy, Field Representative destroyed by looters, or leveled for a shopping center, precious information Jessica Crawford, Southeast Region (662) 326-6465 is lost. By permanently preserving 315 Locust St. • P.O. Box 270 • Marks, Mississippi 38646 endangered ruins, we make sure they George Lowry, Field Representative will be here for future generations to study and enjoy. Julie L. Clark, Field Representative, Western Region (916) 424-6240 6130 Freeport Blvd., #100H • Sacramento, California 95822 How We Raise Funds: Andy Stout, Eastern Region (301) 682-6359 Funds for the Conservancy come 8 E. 2nd. St. #101 • Frederick, Maryland 21701 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 Internal Revenue Code. Planned giving Publisher: Mark Michel provides donors with substantial tax editor: Michael Bawaya (505) 266-9668, [email protected] deductions and a variety of beneficiary Assistant editor: Tamara Stewart ART Director: Vicki Marie Singer, [email protected] possibilities. For more information, call Mark Michel at (505) 266-1540. Editorial Advisory Board The Role of the Magazine: David Anderson, University of Tennessee • Jan Biella, New Mexico Deputy SHPO Dennis Blanton, Fernbank Museum of Natural History • Todd Bostwick, Phoenix City Archaeologist American Archaeology is the only popular magazine devoted to presenting Sarah Campbell, Western Washington University • Pam Edwards-Lieb, Mississippi Chief Archaeologist the rich diversity of archaeology in Bill Engelbrecht, Buffalo State College • Charles Ewen, East Carolina University the Americas. The purpose of the Gayle Fritz, Washington University • Barbara Heath, University of Tennessee magazine is to help readers appreciate Robert Hoard, Kansas State Archaeologist • Robert Jeske, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and understand the archaeological Barbara Little, University of Maryland • Peggy McGuckian, Bureau of Land Management wonders available to them, and to raise Patricia Mercado-Allinger, Texas State Archaeologist • Rick Minor, Heritage Research Associates their awareness of the destruction of Mark Schurr, University of Notre Dame • Fern Swensen, North Dakota Deputy SHPO our cultural heritage. By sharing new David Whitley, W & S Consultants • 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: American Archaeology (issn 1093-8400) is published quarterly by The Archaeological Conservancy, 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, The Archaeological Conservancy, Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517. Title registered U.S. Pat. and TM Office, © 2008 by TAC. Printed in the United States. Periodicals postage paid 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, 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. No responsibility assumed for unsolicited material. All articles receive expert review. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to American Archae- www.americanarchaeology.org 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 • 2008-09 Museum exhibits • Tours • Festivals Meetings • Education • Conferences Events

n NEW EXHIBITS of Mata Ortiz in northern Mexico, who Anchorage Museum have rediscovered an artistic tradition Anchorage, Ak.—The Alutiiq Museum’s of their ancient ancestors and mastered award-winning exhibit “Ginaquq (Like the art of creating painted ceramic ves- a Face): Sugpiaq Masks of the Kodiak sels. Over 20 exquisite ceramic vessels Archipelago” features wooden masks are on display, featuring intricate geo- and a bird-shaped feast bowl collected metric designs, decorative painting and from villages around the Kodiak archi- incising, and animal forms such as pigs pelago. In 1872, young French anthro- and ducks, as well as ceramics from pologist Alphonse Pinart traveled the the 14th and 15th century site of Casas Kodiak archipelago by kayak, assem- Grandes that inspired the modern-day historical m useu of southern florida historical bling one of the most extensive collec- revival of this complex and delicate Historical Museum of Southern Florida tions of Alutiiq ceremonial masks in the artistic tradition. (312) 922-9410, www. Miami, Fla. —The fascinating exhibit world. Last May, masks from the collec- fieldmuseum.org (Through January 11) “Tropical Dreams: A People’s History tion returned to Alaska for the first time of South Florida” tells the 12,000-year- in 136 years. They tell the Alutiiq story Albuquerque Museum old story of South Florida and the Caribbean beginning with the arrival of and inspire Alaskans to explore the Albuquerque, N.M.—The traveling ex- pre-Columbian Indians and continuing rich cultural heritage of Kodiak’s native hibit “Jamestown, Quebec, and Santa to the development of the multicultural people. (907) 343-4326, www.anchor- Fe: Three North American Beginnings” metropolis of modern times. Throughout agemuseum.org (Through January 4) tells the dramatic, often violent, story of the ages, the story has been European settlement in the New World characterized by the immigration of Field Museum in three languages and through the people from many different places and cultures into the region. These peoples Chicago, Ill.—Back by popular demand, eyes of the powerful, the dispossessed, brought their dreams with them, and the exhibit “Transforming Tradition: Pot- and the enslaved, commemorating the remade South Florida again and again tery from Mata Ortiz” presents the work 400th anniversary of three lasting settle- to fulfill those dreams. (305) 375-1492, of contemporary artists from the town ments in Jamestown (founded in 1607), www.hmsf.org (Permanent exhibit)

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Philadelphia, Pa.—The new exhibit “Fulfilling a Prophecy: The Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania” features never before displayed objects from the private collections of Lenape people, in addition to historic and contemporary pho- tographs and archaeological objects from the museum’s collections. Conventional histories declare that all but a few elderly Lenape people left Pennsylvania by the beginning of the 19th century. Many Lenape were indeed driven westward, and settled in other parts of the United States and Canada. Yet, some Lenape secretly remained in the state. Children of the little known Lenape-European marriages of the 1700s stayed on their homelands (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, northern Dela- ware and southern New York) and continued to covertly practice their traditions for of archaeology and anthropology and archaeology m useu of ania v more than 200 years. Now, the descendants of these people have come forward to tell their story. The exhibition features ancient masks, cornhusk dolls, jewelry, a beaded umbilical cord bag, and other traditional arts, as well as a number of once-secret family heirlooms. (215) 898-4000, www.museum.upenn.edu (New long-term exhibit) ersity of pennsyl uni v ersity american archaeology 5 Events Quebec (founded in 1608), and Santa 300 top Native American artists selling Fe (founded in 1609). Co-organized by hand-crafted items such as sculpture, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of jewelry, basketry, and paintings. There American History and the Virginia His- will be traditional foods, music and torical Society, the exhibit includes rare dance performances, artist demonstra- native and European artifacts, maps, tions, and a children’s craft area. (602) documents, and ceremonial objects 495-0901, www.pgmarket.com from museums and royal collections on both sides of the Atlantic. (505) Winter Solstice at 243-7255, www.cabq.gov/museum December 21, Serpent Mound, Peebles, (Through March 29) Ohio. Hundreds of luminaries will sur- round the serpent effigy as you stroll Abbe Museum along a footpath surrounding the ser- Bar Harbor, Maine—For generations, pent and experience the mystery and Northeast Native American traditional power of this monumental earthwork. artists have passed on their culture Sitting atop a plateau overlooking the through beadwork, basketry, and Brush Creek Valley, Serpent Mound is woodcarving. The new traveling exhi- the largest and finest serpent effigy in bition “North by Northwest: Wabanaki, the United States. Nearly a quarter of a Akwesasne Mohawk, and Tuscsarora mile long, it apparently represents an Traditional Arts” presents the traditions uncoiling serpent associated with the of Northeast native artists through Fort Ancient culture. (800) 686-6124, the work and words of more than 35 614-297-2300. http://ohsweb.ohiohis- artists living and working primarily in tory.org/calendar/ Maine and upstate New York. These arts reflect the values and traditions of Society for Historical Archaeology’s contemporary communities, with each 42nd Annual Conference on Historical generation recasting old forms into new and Underwater Archaeology expressions. (207) 288-3519, www. January 7–10, Fairmont Royal York and ethnology archaeology m useu of peabody abbemuseum.org (Through August) Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. More Peabody Museum than 1,000 archaeologists and histori- ans will gather in Toronto for educa- of Archaeology n CONFERENCES, tional sessions and workshops exam- LECTURES & FESTIVALS ining the theme “The Ties that Divide: and Ethnology La Fiesta de Tumacácori Trade, Conflict, and Borders.” There December 6–7, Tumacácori National will be numerous workshops, round- Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.— Historic Park, Tumacácori, Ariz. Join table luncheons, and panel sessions. The exhibition “Fragile Memories: in this annual celebration of the rich The conference also features social Images of Archaeology and Community multicultural legacy of the Santa Cruz events, a range of historical walking at Copán, 1891-1900” presents Valley, featuring more than 50 craft and tours in downtown Toronto, guided information and images from the food booths, live entertainment, and behind-the-scenes museum tours, and Peabody’s pioneering archaeological children’s activities. Sunday’s events full day excursions to important sites expeditions to Copán, including scenes begin with a procession to the church in southern Ontario. (301) 990-2454, of the developing local community. The followed by a traditional Mariachi Mass. [email protected], www.sha.org exhibition includes thousands of 19th Established in January 1691 by Jesuit century images from theexpedition and Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, Tumacá- Old Pueblo Archaeological Center’s explores what effect the excavations had cori Mission will celebrate its grand Third Thursdays Monthly Presentations on the local village. (617) 496-1027, re-opening in January, following eight The third Thursday of each month, Old www.peabody.harvard.edu years of restoration. (520) 398-2341, Pueblo Auditorium, Tucson, Ariz. Each (Through March) www.nps.gov/tuma program features an expert speaking about a research project or cultural 32nd Annual Pueblo Grande Indian Market topic. Free admission no reservations December 13–14, South Mountain Park, required. (520) 798-1201, www.old- Phoenix, Ariz. The market features over pueblo.org 6 winter • 2008-09 In the NEWS New Discovery Sheds Light on Hunley’s Fate Evidence suggests crew may have been asphyxiated.

ew evidence from the Hunley, the world’s first successful com- Nbat submarine, suggests that her eight-man crew may have died from asphyxiation rather than drowning, as was previously thought. A preliminary study of the submarine’s pump system conducted by researchers at Clemson University’s Warren Lasch Conserva- tion Center shows that it was not set to bilge water out of the crew compart- ment that night, which could indicate that the chamber did not flood. On the evening of February 17th, 1864, the H. L. Hunley sank the USS Housatonic. Then, after signaling to shore that the mission had been accomplished, the Hunley and her crew mysteriously vanished. Many have speculated that the submarine was damaged by the explosion, causing the vessel to take on water. When the Hunley was lifted from the ocean floor off the South Carolina coast in 2000, the pump system was in place holding the same settings it had the night she was lost. Earlier this year, the pumps were carefully removed, giving scientists the first opportunity to learn what steps, if any, the crew may have taken to save their lives.

riends of the H unley F riends of Archaeologist Maria Jacobsen, who directs the excavation of the Hunley, A conservator works in the area of the submarine where the pump was located. called the new discovery “intriguing,” but cautioned that they are only begin- it is very possible the crew would have calmness at the time of death or a sud- ning to understand how the complex used both pumps [forward and aft] den event. Each man apparently died nine-valve pump system worked and rather than rely on the bilge system at his assigned station, and one of the what it can reveal about what hap- alone,” Jacobsen said. two hatches was found tightly locked. pened that night. Discovering the pur- Previously uncovered forensic If water had rushed in, it’s likely that pose and position of each valve will evidence provides other clues that the there would have been evidence of provide critical information. “If water crew may not have drowned. There panic and the men would have rushed was rushing into the submarine at dan- was very little intermingling of the to the hatches, which offered the only gerous levels the night it disappeared, crew’s bones, suggesting a general means of escape. —Paula Neely american archaeology 7 In the NEWS

Ancient Hohokam Village Found Excavations in Southeastern Arizona reveal major Classic period population center.

rchaeologists working in advance of a road construction project Anear the planned Marana District Park north of Tucson have discovered an extensive Hohokam village. The site, known as Yuma Wash, dates from a.d. 1150 to 1450 and was one of the largest villages in the northern Tucson Basin during this time, which is known as the Classic period. Yuma Wash was investigated by researchers with the Arizona State Museum and Old Pueblo Archaeological Center beginning in

1982. The Tucson-based firm Desert I nc. A rchaeology, Archaeology was hired in 2007 to con- duct data recovery and do supplemen- tal excavations. “The finding of prehistoric remains within the adjacent district

park was a surprise because the site D esert D eborah S wartz, in that area was recorded as dating to Archaeologists excavate a Hohokam pithouse in the midst of a road construction project. the historic period, and there was very little evidence of prehistoric material completion of analysis. ship of this site to nearby contempo- on the surface,” said Deb Swartz, who The Hohokam inhabited the area raneous sites, including the Marana directed the fieldwork. “Initial blading along the Santa Cruz River in what Mound site, a Classic period platform by the Town of Marana exposed six is now central and southern Arizona mound site, located approximately 18 prehistoric cremations, which halted from about 300 b.c. until a.d. 1450, at to 20 kilometers to the northwest,” says construction and allowed us to exca- which time they left the region. They Swartz. “There is no evidence that the vate the portion of the Yuma Wash site were intensely agricultural and created Yuma Wash site ever had a platform within the park.” many miles of canals. There mound, so the relationship and differ- More than a thousand features is evidence of an irrigation canal run- ences between the two sites will be have been identified, including an ning from the Santa Cruz River to Yuma interesting.” adobe compound and 16 associated Wash. The site’s human and dog buri- Desert Archaeology has been adobe rooms, nearly 100 pit structures, als represent one of the largest samples working closely with members of the more than 300 human burials, and 26 ever excavated at a Classic period site Tohono O’odham Tribe, Hohokam dog burials. Over 55,000 artifacts that in the Tucson Basin, and researchers descendants, to repatriate the site’s include fragments, stone, bone, expect their analyses will provide sig- human remains to the tribe. A portion and shell tools, and an abundance nificant new information on site struc- of the site will be preserved in the Dis- of other marine shell artifacts were ture, subsistence, burial practices, and trict Park, where the Town of Marana also recovered, most of which will be demography. is planning to develop an interpretive donated to Arizona State Museum upon “We will be looking at the relation- trail and display. —Tamara Stewart 8 winter • 2008-09 In the NEWS Eighteenth-Century Religious Cache Found in Annapolis Artifacts reveal details of early American slaves’ heritage. niversity of Maryland archaeolo- gists have discovered a football- Usized clay bundle filled with hundreds of metal pieces and a stone axe four feet below Fleet Street near the Maryland Capitol in the historic district of Annapolis. Based on pottery sherds found in the excavation, the bundle, which is thought to be one of the earliest examples of traditional Afri- can religious artifacts found in North America, dates between 1700 and 1720 and was originally left in a gutter. X-rays taken of the bundle indicate that it served as a container to hold the 300 pieces of lead shot, a dozen nails, and about 25 pins, some of which had

AND M USEU been bent. A stone axe was embed- ded in the bundle, its blade sticking out and pointing up. While the bundle was made using local materials, it is African, rather than African-American, in design, making it unlike any other religious or West African spirit caches previously uncovered in Annapolis, according to Mark Leone, who directed K PAR SA M FORD , J EFFERSON PATTERSON the excavation.

PATRICIA Leone contacted Frederick Lamp, This photograph shows the x-ray of the clay bundle. The archaeologists x-rayed the curator of African art at Yale University, bundle to determine its contents, which included lead shot, nails, and pins. for help identifying the object. Lamp agreed that the use of compacted clay hoodoo, an African-American amalgam indication of the high level of public and iron indicate the object’s African created much later and practiced in tolerance for African religious practices origin, and that the combination of secret,” said Leone. “The significance in colonial Annapolis. He and his team these materials was thought to increase is that Yoruba religion was intact and have found numerous African-Amer- the object’s spiritual power. Lamp said practiced in public.” ican religious artifacts dating to some the practice of combining fire-altered The Annapolis Department of Pub- 50 years later, all of which had been metal with compacted clay is well lic Works contracted for the excava- buried under doorsills, under hearths, documented among the Mande groups tion along Fleet and Cornhill streets in or in northeast basement corners, indi- in what are now Sierra Leone, Guinea, advance of a planned underground util- cating the rituals associated with these and Mali, and among the Yoruba people ities installation project. The area was artifacts were later practiced secretly. of Nigeria and Benin. The Yoruba and part of the early Annapolis’ waterfront The bundle is currently on display at Fon of Benin considered the axe blade and the bundle, lying next to the street, the Banneker-Douglass Museum, Mary- a symbol of Shango, their god of thun- would have been clearly visible. Leone land’s Center for African-American His- der and lightning. “This was not yet interpreted the bundle’s visibility as an tory and Culture. —Tamara Stewart american archaeology 9 In the NEWS Fossils Reveal Early Human Impact in the Arctic Research shows whalers affected ecosystem 800 years ago.

team of Canadian researchers has determined that Thule whalers, A ancestors of the present day Inuit, made a dramatic impact through their hunting practices about 800 years ago on Somerset Island in the Canadian Arctic. Paleolimnologist John Smol, co- head of Queen’s University’s Paleoeco- logical Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory and a member of the team, noted that during productive seasons, the Thule might have landed four to six bowhead whales. Although they used well over 60 percent of the animal for food, fuel, and building mate- rials for their houses, the decompos- ing bones and flesh of the whale, and probably those of seals and other sea mammals, slowly leached nutrients into

the soil and a nearby pond, markedly sutherland patricia altering the area’s ecology. “It seems John Smol (left) and his colleagues take a core sample from a pond on Baffin Island. totally ironic since we tend to think of the high Arctic as being unaffected by algae that could grow there. is directing the project, said they are humans locally,” Smol said. The researchers also believe moss hoping to use sediment analysis to cor- To reconstruct this history, the growth increased as a result of human roborate radiocarbon dating. team collected sediment cores from interference, and it may have encour- Paleolimnology, the science of the bottom of the pond and analyzed aged the Thule to stay in the area, reconstructing the paleoenvironments the fossils of tiny algae cells preserved since moss was used to insulate their of lakes, ponds, and streams, is helping in each layer. The algae fossils indicated dwellings. Even though the whalers scientists reconstruct the Arctic climate a substantial increase of moss growth left four centuries ago, the legacy of and temperature changes, which may and nutrients in the water, coinciding their impact on the ecosystem remains explain why populations increased with deposits of nutrient-rich whale- today. “The lakes are still nutrient rich or disappeared over time. A series of bones and other refuse. “Butchering and there are still atypical mosses and warm years, for example, would affect four whales a year, each the size of a algae there,” Smol said. sea ice hunting. “Paleolimnology is a living room, is like spreading fertilizer He and other researchers are cor- very useful tool for providing proxy over the land and lakes. It’s a big nutri- ing lakes near earlier Arctic cultures evidence to support hypotheses about ent supplement,” Smol said. It’s impact including Dorset sites on Baffin Island. archaeological data,” Sutherland said. was so large that it changed the type of Archaeologist Patricia Sutherland, who —Paula Neely 10 winter • 2008-09 In the NEWS Ancient Bone Awl Found Tool indicates early occupation in northern Indiana. greg reinhardt

The bone awl was discovered under a layer of shells in an ancient lake bed.

he discovery of a 10,400 year-old similar to what you see at Archaic from ancient times, according to Chris- bone awl in northern Indiana is sites,” Schmidt said. “Thus we have evi- topher Moore, who was among the stu- T leading researchers to surmise dence that that way of life was up and dents who found the tool and is now that the Great Lakes region was settled running 10,000 years ago. The glaciers a graduate student at the University of very early. The awl, which was fash- were probably gone by 15,000 years Kentucky. Moore studied the awl fur- ioned from the leg bone of a white- ago. Then by the time the environment ther. He said this is the first bone tool tailed deer, was preserved in the sedi- recovered, people were right there liv- of its age from this region that has been ment of a glacial lake. The prehistoric ing, and setting cultural practices for subjected to microtrace analysis, which bone tool is the oldest such the next 3 to 5,000 years.” is a detailed study of the microscopic ever documented in Indiana. Archaeological finds from the Paleo- scratches and grooves on its surface. Christopher Schmidt, director of Indian and Early Archaic eras are more Scratches and notches on the the Indiana Prehistory Laboratory at common in surrounding states such as 5-inch bone tool indicate it probably the University of Indianapolis, led the Illinois and Ohio. “We knew something was used to punch holes in leather, per- excavation of the site. Schmidt and had been going on in Indiana,” Schmidt haps for clothing. The activity suggests his team of students were excavating said, “but we just have not come across that the site, which is located at the mastodon remains in 2003 when they that many artifacts. This find gives us edge of the lake, was not just a hunting uncovered the awl. The tool was dated insight into this dynamic time period camp, but also a place where domestic 1,000 years later than the mastodon. after the retreat of the glaciers.” chores were performed. “The style of bone point is Bone tools rarely survive intact —Steven McFadden american archaeology 11 Drill,Drill, Baby,Baby, Drill?Drill?

Trucks make their way through Nine Mile Canyon en route to the top of the West Tavaputs Plateau, where more than 200 gas wells are located. The dark, oily substance on the road is dust suppressant.

12 winter • 2008-09 Boasting myriad and pictographs, Utah’s Nine Mile Canyon has been called the world’s largest art gallery. Unfortunately it’s located just below the Tavaputs Plateau, where extensive natural gas exploration is taking place. Archaeologists and environmentalists argue that the gas exploration is endangering the rock art. The Bureau of Land Management, which owns the land, is struggling with its conflicting goals of preservation and energy development.

By Michael Bawaya Im a ges/ Dougl s C. P i z ac AP american archaeology 13 Some people think this work, known as the Owl Panel, was created by the Ute Indians. But the Hopi also say that some of the panel’s elements relate to their oral traditions.

tah’s Nine Mile Canyon, according of the estimated 10,000 images pecked to the U.S. Bureau of Land and painted on sandstone walls. These UManagement’s (BLM) website, has ancient pictures of hunters and shamans, “the greatest concentration of rock art bighorn sheep, warriors with shields, sites in the U.S.A.” For tourists, a dirt and mysterious geometric designs, road that winds through the narrow 70 among others, have endured for over a mile-long canyon offers access to many millennium. BRYANT BI LL This is often referred to as the Santa Claus panel or Santa and the Reindeer. It features two figures presiding over mountain sheep and elk. It was probably made by the Fremont over 1,000 years ago. 14 winter • 2008-09 gle r s pan je rry

This truck passing near the Great Hunt Panel, one of the canyon’s most iconic works, leaves a cloud of dust in its wake.

The BLM’s web page neglects to A mere two-hour drive southeast of , the West Tavaputs Plateau is a steep geological uplift of erosional mention, however, that Nine Mile’s cliffs that has few roads and fewer people. Nine Mile Can- remote “scenic byway” has, in recent yon’s main road provides the easiest access to Barrett’s gas years, become an industrial corridor for wells. At present, an average of 106 industrial vehicles ply the route daily, a rumbling armada that is now a regular feature wastewater and carbon dioxide trucks, of the Nine Mile landscape. drilling rigs, tractor trailers, and other At issue is whether the West Tavaputs’ natural gas can be extracted without destroying Nine Mile Canyon’s archaeolog- associated oil and gas vehicles that ical riches. The BLM’s congressional mandate is to oversee its generate copious dust. 270 million acres for “multiple use,” such as recreation, cattle grazing, energy development, environmental protection, and The gray plumes often rise to over 100 feet above the cultural resources preservation. Inevitably, some uses take valley floor, choking the air and smothering the canyon like a priority over others. “This is the whole problem with BLM. dirty blanket. Everyone with an interest in Nine Mile Canyon It has a bifurcated mission in that it exploits and protects acknowledges the severity of the problem. And anyone who the land,” said Dick Moe, president of the National Trust for visits the canyon eats his share of dust. “Oh, sure,” said one Historic Preservation, which put Nine Mile on its list of 11 BLM biologist from the nearby Price field office, which over- most endangered places in 2004. “Nine Mile Canyon is a clas- sees Nine Mile Canyon. “You gain five pounds just driving sic case where they can’t reconcile the mission.” down the road,” he joked. Several years ago, that very concern prompted the BLM Archaeologists, environmentalists, and rock art buffs to commission a study on the dust’s impact on Nine Mile’s aren’t laughing. Neither are the Hopi, who claim an ances- rock art. In addition to the dust problem, archaeologists and tral connection to Nine Mile Canyon. The tribe, along with preservationists had become increasingly worried about others, has repeatedly raised concerns about damage to the magnesium chloride, a chemical Barrett used to suppress rock art from accumulating dust since 2004. That is when the dust. Magnesium chloride, which is essentially a salt, has the BLM gave the Denver-based Bill Barrett Corporation the only worked sporadically due to the heavy traffic and poor green light to drill for natural gas in the West Tavaputs Pla- condition of the road, and it’s known to be corrosive. teau above Nine Mile Canyon. Last February, the BLM’s dust study was released to the american archaeology 15 On average, more than 100 trucks a day travel through Nine Mile Canyon, raising huge amounts of dust.

public. Its findings were inconclusive, leaving open the ques- that these sites were defensive, a response to social strife tion of whether Barrett’s truck traffic was polluting Nine brought on by extended drought, dwindling food supplies, Mile’s rock art panels with chemical-laden dust. The study was and an unsustainable population. part of the BLM’s massive review, known as an Environmental Jerry Spangler, a Fremont specialist and the executive Impact Statement (EIS), of a Barrett proposal that sought to director of the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance, expand its drilling operation from some 200 current gas wells an antiquities preservation group, theorized that the Fre- to as many as 600. By law, all development projects on BLM mont traveled back and forth between Nine Mile Canyon land must identify the expected collateral damage to other and other canyon drainages in central Utah, such as Range resources, such as wildlife, air and water quality, and archaeo- Creek Canyon, that spill into the Green River. Of all the main logical sites. If significant impacts are forecast, then the BLM canyon tributaries in the area that the Fremont frequented, has to explain how it will reduce or offset the damage. Nine Mile has the greatest number of petroglyphs and picto- The BLM approved Barrett’s expansion, which is con- graphs. Said Spangler, “There was something special about tingent on a final version of the EIS that is still in the works. this place that drew the ancients here.” Because of the study’s inconclusiveness, the BLM is allowing Oil and gas executives are equally in awe of Nine Mile Barrett to continue using the Nine Mile corridor. Canyon. “There’s just a very few precious places where the geologic conditions have conspired to allow a concentration n 1931, Donald Scott, a Harvard University archaeologist, of natural gas to occur at a point where it’s economically described Nine Mile Canyon as “almost a continuous pic- extractable,” Duane Zavadil, manager of environmental affairs Iture gallery.” Experts credit the Fremont people as being for the Bill Barrett Corporation, said to PBS in 2004. “This is a primarily responsible for the rock art. Though the culture very rare area in those terms.” remains poorly understood, it is known for its abstract pat- A year later, Barrett geologists hit pay dirt in the West terns and figures with triangular bodies, splayed hands, and Tavaput’s ancient bedrock, and it’s estimated that the extract- bucket-shaped heads. able gas deposits are worth six to eight billion dollars. The Nomadic farmer-foragers, the Fremont lived in Utah for company immediately applied for a “full-field” development, a millennium before disappearing around a.d. 1350. The few which triggered the need for the EIS. Last winter, when the prehistoric sites that have been analyzed in Nine Mile Can- BLM issued its draft EIS, archaeologists and environmentalists yon, including pithouse structures and perched were dumbfounded that the agency didn’t acknowledge the high in the cliffs, date to around 1100. Researchers speculate impacts from road dust caused by Barrett’s truck convoys.

There’s no question that the dust is covering some of the rock art, but it’s uncertain if the chemicals it contains are affecting the panels. 16 winter • 2008-09 IVAN WHIT E IVAN E AR L

The draft, which addresses environmental impacts on an the West in recent years. By contrast, as Spangler pointed out, area that includes, but also extends well beyond Nine Mile, there are “three pages devoted to discussion of long-term prompted 58,000 comments, including one by the U.S. Envi- cumulative impacts” to Nine Mile’s archaeology that would ronmental Protection Agency concerning air emissions. accrue “from the 30- to 40-year life of the project.” Nobody was more scathing in his criticism than Blaine There is, however, repeated reference in the EIS to the Miller, the lone BLM archaeologist in the Price, Utah field Energy Policy Act of 2005, with statements to the effect that office. “There’s nothing in [the EIS] about how bad the dust “operators must fulfill their obligations and responsibilities is, what the effects are on the rock art, no attempt to mitigate under Federal leases to explore, develop, and produce com- any of it,” said Miller. “The whole mitigation package for cul- mercial quantities of hydrocarbons...” Spangler and other tural resources is that BLM will talk to Bill Barrett and see if critics contended that when it comes to the management of they want to be involved in placing some interpretive signs Nine Mile Canyon, the BLM isn’t even trying to balance its in Nine Mile.” multiple uses. Though he’s an expert on Nine Mile Canyon, Miller The Advisory Council for Historic Preservation, a federal wasn’t permitted to read the EIS until after it was released to agency that serves as an advocate for the country’s historic the public. He’s been barred from working on any projects resources, sent a letter in late September to the BLM’s Utah related to the Bill Barrett Corporation since 2004, after he director, Selma Sierra. The letter stated that Barrett’s project warned of severe impacts to the archaeology from dust and “may have substantial impacts on important historic proper- vibration. Barrett officials requested that Miller be removed ties, including potential adverse effects to prehistoric rock from any oversight capacity, complaining he was too anti- art in Nine Mile Canyon.” It’s unusual for the council, which development and too protective of the canyon. “I use natu- said it was acting on behalf of the Hopi and other groups ral gas to heat my house,” Miller said. “I have nothing against with whom the BLM refused to meet with to discuss the natural gas, I just think that there’s responsible ways of drill- Barrett project, to intervene in BLM matters. ing for it and fly-by-night ways.” When asked if energy development was being given The EIS for the Barrett expansion runs more than 1,000 priority over archaeological preservation, Mike Steiwig, who pages. There are extensive sections devoted to wildlife issues, manages the Price BLM office, responded “Someone getting specifically the project’s anticipated impact on sage grouse, higher priority or higher needs? I wouldn’t characterize it whose numbers have rapidly declined in recent years due that way.” But, he added, “we do have an energy policy that largely to oil and gas development that has boomed across BLM is mandated to follow.” BRYANT BI LL american archaeology 17 The EIS is being conducted by a BLM-supervised third party contractor. To examine the dust issue, Howard turned to Constance Silver, a Vermont-based conservator who special- izes in restoring rock art. By the time Silver arrived in Nine Mile Canyon in July 2007, other energy producers were also drilling for gas higher on the plateau and using Nine Mile as a transportation corridor. On October 1, 2007, Howard sent Silver an email saying: “If the results show mag chloride on the rocks, then so be it. That is what we need to be aware of so that they can mitigate any impacts. Don’t feel awkward to share the results. You need to clearly explain why mag chloride is bad for the rock art. Some people say that the dust is protecting the rock art.” Later that month, upon receiving a laboratory report, Silver sent Howard an e-mail informing her of the results: “They found magnesium chloride all over the place, alas.” Silver believed that the presence of magnesium chloride was a “critical marker” that would prove how dust was being spread along the Nine Mile road. Such a marker meant that the accumulation of dust was produced by the truck traffic and not from other causes, like wind, or from prior uses in the canyon, such as the mining and cattle grazing that have occurred over the last hundred years. During an interview in January 2008, Silver described her findings as “very alarming,” noting that magnesium chlo- ride had been detected all through the canyon and it had the potential to harm the rock art panels. “It’s vicious stuff,” gle r Span

she said. “It peels concrete.” But magnesium chloride’s effect J e rry In addition to its rock art, Nine Mile Canyon has dozens on the sandstone rock art is another matter, according to of Fremont residential structures, such as this one. Silver. When preparing her report, she consulted with sev- It also has pithouses and granaries. eral chemists who questioned whether a small amount of it could harm the sandstone. n 2005, the BLM realized it had to address the vexing dust Silver noted in her report that the dust kicked up by issue in Nine Mile Canyon. For years, a large portion of vehicular traffic “does create a very serious conservation Ithe canyon has been eligible for inclusion in the National problem for the rock art.” Yet, as to whether or not industrial Historic Register. In order to be listed on the register, any traffic was the principal cause of the dust on the rock art, the adverse effects from development on this section of the conservator demurred, concluding that she “cannot provide canyon had to be examined. Consequently, the BLM sought definitive answers at this stage of the research.” federal funding for a dust study, but was turned down. In the winter of 2007, public meetings were held on the By 2006, Barrett’s operation had grown to dozens of EIS for Barrett’s proposed expansion. By that time, nobody, wells, which consequently increased its traffic through the including Barrett executives, was denying that the road canyon. Efforts to tamp down the dust with magnesium was deteriorating and that trucks were raising tremendous chloride had limited success. The constant traffic was taking amounts of dust. During one of those meetings Howard, who its toll on the road, and perhaps on the rock art. There was is Nine Mile Canyon’s supervisory archaeologist, repeated also the fear that magnesium chloride was escaping with the that she had heard that “dust preserves the rock art.” dust and settling on the rock art. “Kevin Jones, Utah’s state archaeologist, was bewildered. In an August 2006 e-mail sent to her colleagues and to “I think that would be a pretty odd statement to make, that Barrett executives, BLM archaeologist Julie Howard, who dust is protecting the rock art,” he said. “You don’t know works out of the Division of Lands and Minerals in Salt Lake what is in the dust. It might contain chemicals or something City, explained the need for action, citing the legal impera- you don’t want on there.” He added, “Maybe we should dust tive and the BLM’s quandary: “We are aware of the dust all our most valuable art pieces. Maybe we should cover all concerns but we have no scientific information other than our Jasper Johns with a layer of Nine Mile dust.” public input concerning the effects of dust on rock art in Nine Mile Canyon.” e have not so much as flipped over a single Soon after, Barrett paid for the dust study, which is a arrowhead,” Barrett’s Duane Zavadil said last crucial aspect of the EIS the company was already paying for. “W spring. Zavadil called the dust issue a “tempest 18 winter • 2008-09 in a teapot.” How do you know that all of the dust is a direct result of truck traffic, he asked. In fact, there appears to be little consensus among archaeologists on what constitutes a “direct” impact versus an “indirect” impact. The Utah BLM has categorized the dust problem as an indirect impact, which, some critics charge, has allowed it to avoid addressing the problem. Wilson Martin, who heads Utah’s State Historical Preservation Office, in Salt Lake City, said part of the problem is that “no one understands how to treat” indirect impacts. “There are secondary impacts from roads all through Utah.” Spangler countered that, “if a road is putting up dust and that dust is getting on rock art, then that is a direct impact.” It’s been suggested that Barrett route its traffic to alterna- tive roads that bypass the main canyon, but this could result in other environmental problems. The company also insists that these roads are too steep and rugged for its trucks to navigate. A recent road engineering study commissioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation contended that the alternative roads are a viable option; however, the study did not take into account the potential environmental impacts. Paving the main canyon road has also been sug- gested, but the estimated cost is as high as $160 million, and that, too, would have environmental consequences. In the meantime, Barrett has stopped using magnesium chloride and is now testing two different types of enzymes that are commonly used as dust suppressants. But Spangler and oth- ers said that if these enzymes get on the rock art, no one knows what their effects will be. The top photo of a rock art panel featuring a two-headed snake was Last August, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, The taken in 2003 before gas exploration began. The above photo of the Wilderness Society, and the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition, a same panel, taken in 2007, is covered with dust. group dedicated to protecting the rock art, sued the BLM for allowing Barrett to increase its number of gas wells while the EIS is still pending. It remains to be seen what actions the BLM will take. Silver said she made a number of recommenda- tions in her final report, including that the dust be removed from the rock art and that “environmentally acceptable” methods of dust suppression be imple- mented. When asked if the agency intended to act on Silver’s recommendations, BLM spokesperson Megan Crandall said she couldn’t comment because the EIS, which includes Silver’s study, hasn’t been completed. IVAN WHIT E IVAN

E AR L MICHAEL BAWAYA is the editor A truck spays suppressant to keep the dust down. of American Archaeology. american archaeology 19 Excavating A Boom Town

Gold and silver brought people to Virginia City from all over the world in the mid-to- late 1800s. Archaeologists are examining the social dynamics of this remarkable time.

By Wes Sander

Virginia City’s historic buildings serve as a reminder of its 19th-century heyday.

20 winter • 2008-09 The famed Civil War photographer Timothy H. O’Sullivan took this image of the Savage Mine during his 1867 visit to Virginia City.

ue to the discovery of the Comstock Lode, the coun- library of congress try’s largest silver ore deposit, Virginia City, in west- places as Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, into a Dern Nevada, was transformed from a mining camp dense urban setting where roughly a thousand reside now. into one of the West’s most cosmopolitan cities in only a few When the mines were depleted in the late 1870s, people years. The Comstock Mining District, which was founded in began to leave and the city faded. By the 1930s it was a ghost 1859, yielded millions of dollars worth of gold and silver and town of fewer than 500 people. it led to the development of mining technologies and tech- Virginia City is now a National Historic Landmark, and niques that were adopted throughout the world. since 1993 archaeologist Donald Hardesty of the University Virginia City became famous, and at its height it packed of Nevada, Reno (UNR), has been directing the excavations about 25,000 people, many of them from such far-flung of various sites there. Hardesty has studied the technology A K ER M A X WH I TT american archaeology 21 preservation officer of Nevada, who has served as the histo- rian for the Comstock excavations. For example, the excavation of O’Brien and Costello’s Shooting Gallery and Saloon, which was located in a bad section of town, turned up a large number of ceramic tea- service artifacts, revealing an unexpected refinement for an establishment that specialized in the combustible mix of alcohol and firearms. Last summer, UNR doctoral student Sarah Heffner led the excavation of Maguire’s Opera House, which was built in 1863. In the Wild West opera houses may indeed have occa- sionally offered Verdi and Puccini, but their stock in trade was various other types of entertainment, some of which were far coarser than La Traviata. Maguire’s was short-lived, perishing in the city’s great fire of 1875, but it represented the height of regional culture. Mark Twain, then a reporter in Virginia City, rushed back from a visit to San Francisco for the theater’s opening in 1863, and he later lectured there. As with saloons, theaters like Maguire’s can provide a glimpse of Virginia City’s social life. Informed by historical records, Heffner knew where Maguire’s once stood, but she didn’t know if the fire had destroyed all archaeological evi- dence of the opera house. Heffner and her crew found the burn layer as well as fragments of glass ceramics pieces and an intact Chinese medicine bottle. On the last day, the researchers encoun-

tered a mortar-like substance beneath the burn layer of the A K ER 1875 fire that appears to represent the building’s foundation.

They also found nails and glass fragments below the burn M A X WH I TT Archaeologist Donald Hardesty stands in the ruins of layer from an occupation that predates Maguire’s and could the old Barbary Coast neighborhood in Virginia City. be associated with the founding of Virginia City.

and culture of 19th-century mining in the Western states, and since 1993 he’s focused on the culture of Virginia City. Toward that end, Hardesty directed excavations at four of the city’s saloons because they were fixtures of the Old West that offered insights into a society, revealing how its ethnicities, genders, and classes interacted, as well as giving a glimpse of daily life. The saloons of legend were rough and tumble places primarily patron- ized by European American men. The Chinese, Native Americans, African Americans, and other minorities found their recreation elsewhere. But the Vir- ginia City excavations are proving this to be a fiction. “One of the insights we gained with saloon archaeology was that they were places of leisure featur-

ing a wide range of foods, frequently of congress library serving women and even children, and African American artist Grafton Brown created this lithograph of Virginia City that they had fine crystal and elegant during an 1860 visit to the newly-founded mining camp. His work subsequently décor,” says Ron James, the state historic appeared in a poster published in California. 22 winter • 2008-09 Marginalized By History before Kelly Dixon, in 2000, led this excavation. It was, in “Virginia City is such a classic place, it’s such a fun tourist fact, the first excavation of an African American saloon in the trap,” says Heffner. Much of that fun derives from a local Old West. Unlike the Bucket of Blood, the Boston Saloon had storytelling tradition with roots stretching to the city’s early no place in Virginia City lore. African Americans have been days, when Twain, among other writers, spun yarns that sen- “marginalized” in the historical record of the mining West, sationalized frontier violence in the pages of the Territorial Dixon says, a situation that her work is redressing. Enterprise, the largest newspaper. Today, Old West gunfights Dixon learned of the Boston Saloon’s African American are performed each afternoon during the summer in a small connection through historical documents. An 1866 article amphitheater along C Street. A farm tractor pulls the “tourist in the Territorial Enterprise referred to the saloon as “the train” (as the archaeologists call it) through town, its driver popular resort for many of the colored population.” The offering tales from the boom times, some more factual than saloon occupied the same location for nine years, an unusu- others. Families stop for food and drinks at the Bucket of ally long time for any business in a mining boomtown, and its Blood Saloon, whose name was a fixture in the Virginia City owner, William A. G. Brown, closed it in 1875, shortly before portrayed by the television show Bonanza. the great fire. There were more than 100 saloons in and around Vir- The researchers found historical documents that ginia City in the 1870s. Newspaper advertisements from that describe two African American saloons, including one in period tried to attract customers with such inducements as Virginia City, as being dives, but the archaeological evidence meals, Cuban cigars, reading rooms, billiards, poker, bowl- indicated that was not the case with the Boston Saloon. “We ing alleys, and female entertainment and companionship. If found out that it was pretty fancy,” says Dixon. Her team those failed to please there were also cock fights, dog fights, uncovered faunal remains that suggested the saloon’s patrons “chicken arguments,” and shooting galleries, all of which dined on better cuts of meat than did the customers of the could be washed down with a range of alcoholic beverages. three other saloons Hardesty’s teams have investigated. They In a parking lot behind the Bucket of Blood, archaeolo- also discovered brandy snifters, crystal stemware, and deco- gists investigated the remains of another drinking establish- rative platters. ment known as the Boston Saloon, which was owned by The archaeologists also recovered a large number of clay an African American. There had been little research of the pipes. Some bore engraved makers’ marks such as Glasgow, African American community of boomtown Virginia City which suggests it was made in Scotland and also indicates A K ER M A X WH I TT Field school students Sara Gray and Kate Cousineau excavate the Maguire’s Opera House site. american archaeology 23 A K ER M A X WH I TT Virginia City’s main street features a number of well-preserved commercial buildings from the 1860s to the 1870s.

An Outdoor Museum archaeology having provided the answer. From archaeologist Donald Hardesty’s perspective, “From a research point of view, there’s no par- Virginia City’s tourist trade is good and bad. On one ticular advantage,” Hardesty says. “It was simply a hand, it tends to reinforce fictions, such as Virginia City way of popularizing, of making people aware of what having been a Wild West town marked by gunfights, that kind of research could be done in Virginia City. It’s Hardesty tries to correct. On the other hand, he tries to kind of turning the dig into an outdoor museum.” And engage the tourists in his projects in order to educate a well attended outdoor museum at that, given that the them about Virginia City’s past. Public archaeology, as Boston Saloon dig, according to James, drew approxi- this method is referred to, was little used in the West mately 10,000 people. prior to 1993, when Hardesty teamed with historian Ron As for looting, James relates the story of a local James to investigate the Hibernia Brewery, one of Vir- man who had participated in the public archaeology ginia City’s many drinking establishments. Since then, program. One day he confronted two looters who were public archaeology has become the standard practice digging for artifacts, telling them to leave. The looters for fieldwork in Virginia City. assured him the owner of the land had given them per- Looting had been a problem for years, and Hard- mission to dig. The man, who knew the landowner, was esty and James were faced with the dilemma of how convinced the looters were lying. He went back to his to conduct their excavations without exacerbating this house and then returned shortly carrying a shotgun, problem. “How do you ethically and effectively manage and the looters beat a hasty retreat. Public archaeology the archaeological resources” of a large, accessible hasn’t ended looting in Virginia City, James acknowl- place like Virginia City, James asks rhetorically, public edges, “but it’s been diminished greatly.”

24 winter • 2008-09 that Virginia City residents had access to international goods. with the notion of the melting pot. During their leisure DNA evidence taken from one of the pipe stems revealed time, however, these people sought the company of their that it was smoked by a woman. This, in addition to a variety own kind. of fancy buttons and dress beads, leads Dixon to surmise that Archaeological and historical evidence indicates the women, whether workers or customers, were far more pres- Chinese, unlike the African Americans, kept to themselves as ent at this saloon than the others the archaeologists have much as possible. During an excavation of a Chinese store, excavated. Hardesty’s crew found nothing but Chinese artifacts, which suggests that they weren’t mingling with other people. They Prosperity And Prejudice were “the most despised of the ethnic groups,” according to As was the case with the other saloons, the Boston Saloon’s James, who noted the Chinese would accept less pay than artifacts speak of its refined atmosphere. It was a place of the other workers. A mining union formed in Virginia City in relaxation and recreation, of escape from the labor of hard- 1863, and its members feared the Chinese, who numbered as rock mining. “It did seem to be relatively tame,” Dixon says. many as 2,000, made up a labor force large enough to bust “A place to get a good meal and fine drink.” She thinks the the union. saloon’s customers were doing quite well for themselves Despite this enmity, the Chinese also appeared to pros- during this post-Civil War period, benefiting from Virginia per. While many Virginia City residents contented themselves City’s wealth as well as its opposition to slavery. with local goods, the Chinese could afford to import goods Unlike other minorities, African Americans did not settle from their homeland. in a particular section of town, but were dispersed through- After 15 years of digging, Hardesty and his colleagues out the community, often sharing lodgings with European have shown that Virginia City was something quite different Americans and various immigrants. But that’s not to say that from what legend, and even history, have portrayed. There is African Americans and other groups didn’t experience rac- “another level of society that needs to be represented in the ism. “Their lives were composed of a complex juxtaposition history books,” says Dixon. “We have a shared cultural heritage of integration and prejudice and of neighborly acceptance in the American West,” and the contributions of African Ameri- and ill treatment,” Dixon wrote in a paper on the Boston cans, Chinese, and many other groups should not be ignored. Saloon. Virginia City’s boom resulted in people of diverse back- WES SANDER, an independent journalist based in Sacramento, California, grounds and cultures being forced together, in accordance covers people, issues and events in the West.

A B C A K ER

D E F M A X WH I TT These artifacts were recovered during last summer’s excavations: (A) an eyeglass; (B) a Chinese bottle; (C) a bottle fragment; (D) a medallion; (E) a pin; (F) a bottle stopper. american archaeology 25 Rethinking the Clovis Some of the most fundamental assumptions about the Clovis are changing due to recent excavations. By David Malakoff

These Clovis artifacts, consisting of whole and broken points and preforms, were recovered from the Gault site in Texas. Gault has also yielded tools that were not previously associated with the Clovis. center for the study of the first americans the center first the of study for

t took the archaeologist just a few moments to identify and mastodons… that they made these certain tools… that the stone tool that Michael Collins had handed him. “He they spread across this empty continent. But we’re seeing said: ‘That’s easy, it’s an adze,’ and handed it right back,” a lot more diversity in behavior and technology at a lot of recalled Collins, an archaeologist at the University of these newer sites… I think they are really challenging the ITexas in Austin. But when Collins explained that research- traditional view of Clovis—and changing it.” ers had recently found the wood-chipping tool deep in Collins isn’t the only scholar reconsidering Clovis. the 13,000 year-old Clovis level at Gault, a site in Texas, the Other archaeologists said that over the last few decades, archaeologist grew skeptical. “He said, ‘Then it can’t be an thousands of Clovis artifacts found at sites across the Eastern adze because the Clovis didn’t make adzes.’ He just couldn’t and Southern United States are providing new insights into imagine it!” the technology and lifestyle of these early Americans as well That encounter at a meeting not long ago suggested as fodder for longstanding debates over where they came that “we’ve gotten into a bit of a rut about how we think from, how they spread, and why they ultimately disappeared. about Clovis,” Collins said. “There’s this common idea that Some scholars, for instance, argue that the finds show that they were these big game hunters following the mammoths Clovis came from Europe, not Asia, and that they were not 26 winter • 2008-09 Researchers excavate and document a concentration of rocks at the Gault site that is thought to be one of only two

TARL known man-made pavements dating from the Clovis era in North America. Gault Project, Project, Gault

the first humans in the New World. Others see evidence that Texas A&M University. And the best “explanation of the avail- the Clovis period was abruptly ended by a catastrophic col- able genetic, archaeological, and environmental evidence is lision with a comet. that humans colonized the Americas about 15,000 years ago” Many scholars agreed that the new finds are redraw- as northern glaciers began to melt, Goebel and his coauthors ing the map of Clovis archaeology in the U.S. Traditionally, Michael Waters and Ennis O’Rourke conclude in a lengthy the field was “kind of a Western thing,” said Dennis Stanford, March 2008 review in the journal Science. an archaeologist at the Smithsonian. “Now, there’s far more In that scenario, the earliest Americans migrated south Clovis stuff from the East than from the West. There are little from Alaska along a newly ice-free Pacific Coast. Then, they counties in Maryland and Virginia that have more Clovis headed east along the southern margins of the remaining sites than the entire state of New Mexico.” And the search is glaciers, the authors say, “possibly following traces of mam- on for even more Eastern sites—including some now deep moth and mastodon to Wisconsin. Clovis could have origi- beneath the sea. nated south of the continental ice sheets.” That scenario, Those sites could add to what is already a growing other scholars point out, squares nicely with evidence from mountain of Clovis artifacts, ranging from humble stone several of the oldest known Clovis sites, such as the Lange- chips to elegant bone tools. “The sheer volume of material is Ferguson site in South Dakota and the Anzick site in Mon- wonderful, just stunning,” said archaeologist Al Goodyear of tana, where researchers have radiocarbon dated materials to the University of South Carolina. “But it also raises all kinds about 13,000 years ago. of questions, and makes me wonder all the more about what Still, it’s not a story that sits well with Stanford and oth- Clovis was, where it came from, and what happened to it.” ers. Over the last decade, he’s come to believe that it’s just as likely that the ancestors of Clovis originated in Europe. Debating Clovis In part, Stanford bases his argument on what he called “the Archaeologists first discovered evidence of the Clovis in just remarkable” similarities between Clovis tools found the 1930s at near Clovis, New Mexico, the in the Eastern United States and so-called Solutrean stone town that lent its name to the culture. These days, schol- tools produced in Western Europe about 19,000 years ago. ars generally agree that these people originally occupied In papers and talks, Stanford and his allies have argued that the New World more than 13,000 years ago, and that their stone artifacts found at pre-Clovis sites like in hallmark is the , which has two faces marked central Virginia appear to have been worked in a style that by distinctive grooves, or “flutes,” at the base. These points combines Clovis and Solutrean technologies. “And we’re see- were often used to hunt big game, such as mammoths and ing more things from the East that look just like Solutrean all mastodons. The Clovis people, or at least their technology, the time,” he said. spread rapidly across North America, and then disappeared The Solutrean hypothesis remains a decidedly minority less than 1,000 years later. view. But it has called attention to the “incredible” densities of There’s less agreement on a host of other issues, how- Clovis artifacts in the East, Stanford said. He and some other ever. Take, for example, the questions of where the people archaeologists believe this suggests that there was an early who made Clovis points came from, and when they arrived Clovis “homeland” in areas like the Ohio and Tennessee river in North America. One widely held view is that they were valleys, and that the technology then spread west. This idea related to Paleolithic people in Siberia who migrated across rests on an old rule of thumb in archaeology known as the the Bering Land Bridge, said Ted Goebel, an archaeologist at “age-area hypothesis.” It holds that sites with more artifacts, american archaeology 27 This map shows that the preponderance of fluted points, most Y erka of which are Clovis, have been found in the East. The majority of Clovis points have been found out of context. ay S te p hen J ay such as those in the East, are older than those with less. “So so you get more fluted points,” said Julie Morrow, an archae- in this case you may be seeing some sort of a demographic ologist with the Arkansas Archeological Survey. It could also explosion, a kind of a Clovis pot boiling in the Eastern wood- be that the Eastern sites, though younger than those in the lands, then it boiled over,” says Goodyear. West, were occupied longer, and consequently yielded more If the East was the Clovis homeland, it stands to rea- artifacts. son that the sites there would be older than those in the West, where the people would have subsequently migrated. A Brief Flowering? (The reverse would be true in the case of a Western Clovis Establishing reliable dates has also been a problem with homeland.) But due to the paucity of reliable dates in the Western Clovis sites. In a bid to clarify matters, two research- East, archaeologists haven’t been able to establish a migra- ers published a study in Science in 2007 that took a careful tion pattern. “Dating has been a real problem,” said Goodyear, look at the 22 Clovis sites that have produced published noting that many Eastern Clovis points have been found out radiocarbon dates, and they came to some controversial of context. “Unfortunately, from an archaeology perspective, conclusions. after you pick up a point or two from a plowed field, there The researchers, archaeologist Michael Walters of Texas is not much left you can do to date them,” he said. And in A&M University and Thomas Stafford, the director of Stafford those cases where Clovis artifacts such as points are found in Research Laboratories and an expert in radiocarbon dating, context, it’s difficult to find the associated organic material, threw out the dates from half the sites, saying they were such as animal bone, that’s necessary to radiocarbon date “problematic” and did not “provide accurate or precise the stone artifacts. Organic materials “don’t last long in the chronological information.” They said some sites, such as soils out here,” according to Goodyear. Blackwater Draw in New Mexico, had Clovis artifacts but Some researchers believe that the greater number of flawed dates. Others, such as a site at Indian Creek, Montana, Clovis artifacts in the East may be a bit of a statistical illusion. had good dates but lacked artifacts. “One explanation is that you have more people living in the After reanalyzing and redating some materials from the East, and a whole lot more people out looking for artifacts, remaining 11 sites, Waters and Stafford were surprised to find 28 winter • 2008-09 This map show’s the approximate locations of Clovis-era sites. Though Clovis was once thought of as a Western-based culture, the sites are fairly evenly distributed between the West and the East. E volution Gra p hics

that the Clovis period was far briefer than typically believed. But the study offers little support to those, like Stanford The dates suggested Clovis technology arrived in North and Goodyear, who think it’s possible Clovis moved east America no earlier than 13,300 years ago. And it survived at from Europe, and not west from Asia. There’s no pattern most 450 years (about half the usual estimates) and possibly “that would indicate movement of people in one direction as little as 200 years. A growing number of pre-Clovis sites, or another,” the authors concluded. For instance, while the the authors wrote, “suggests that human populations already study’s second oldest site is in the East, at Sloth Hole in existed in the New World before Clovis.” So Clovis wasn’t Florida (13,050 years old), there are sites with similar ages first, but it was fast, as it appears the technology spread in the West. The study’s youngest sites are similarly spread across the continent in just a handful of generations. out in no obvious pattern, so the debate over Clovis’ origins Critics have been quick to attack the study. Many archae- is likely to continue. ologists, for instance, question the decision to drop some of the 22 sites from the analysis. Others caution that there are too few sites to draw sweeping conclusions. But Goodyear, Quarry Hunters for one, thinks that “at a minimum, they’ve dated the heart Eastern Clovis sites are providing new insights into how of what we know as Clovis, whether you are in Arizona or these ancient people behaved and survived. Evidence from Virginia.” And he believes the results “pretty much put to rest these sites, according to Goebel, suggests a different lifestyle the idea that Clovis entered an empty continent. It looks like than that seen in the Southwest, where the sites are often the technology is getting handed along by existing groups. smaller. Eastern sites have yielded a bounty of lithic tools There may not have been a lot of people, but Clovis doesn’t other than points that, he said, could indicate the Clovis come in with nobody present.” were more sedentary than previously thought. american archaeology 29 Sites like Topper in South Carolina and Williamson in Virginia demonstrate how effective the Clovis were at find- ing and exploiting outcrops of chert, jasper, and other types of rock that they favored for point making. In the East, said Goodyear, “you can’t find a major chert source without find- ing Clovis.” Other sites are indicating how flexible and adaptable Clovis could be. Along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia, Darrin Lowery, a doctoral student in geoarchaeol- ogy at the University of Delaware, says he has found more than a dozen Clovis sites that sit far from any quarry. “They are making do with what they have— picking varying size, quality, and shaped stones up out of the ancient river beds and making points and tools,” he said. “So they didn’t neces- sarily need a quarry.” Bill Gardner Bill Gault, a Texas site with Eastern characteristics such as a The site in Virginia yielded large amounts of debris quarry, has yielded more than a million artifacts ranging from resulting from the manufacture of Clovis artifacts. stone chips to points and tools. (Gault was recently acquired by The Archaeological Conservancy.) “We are seeing all kinds Clovis made their points. “It looks like there’s a number of of new tool types, and a much wider array of activities than specific behaviors, or steps, associated with Clovis technol- at any other site,” said Collins, who directs Gault’s investiga- ogy,” said Collins, who is of the opinion that the best way tion. There’s the aforementioned adze, for instance, which to identify a Clovis point is to examine the manufactur- suggests intensive woodworking. There are also what appear ing process that produced it rather than the shape of the to be stone leather punches, scrapers, and an array of stone point. In fact, he believes if researchers employ this form blades. Microscopic analyses of marks on the blades suggest of analysis, “a lot of fluted points we call Clovis aren’t, and they had “all kinds of specialized uses,” Collins said. “Cutting lot of artifacts that don’t look like Clovis probably are.” The meat, bone, dry grass, green grass, wood. They are doing a redefinition could mean current maps of Clovis distribution lot more than just going out and hunting big game. They’re are fatally flawed, or even that people using different tool- hunkering down, they’re utilizing lots of resources.” making technologies existed side-by-side in North America The massive quantity of rock chips and partially com- during the Clovis period. pleted, broken, and worn-out tools found at Gault and other Still other sites—most notably Sloth Hole in Florida— sites have given researchers a clearer picture of how the are giving researchers a rare look at Clovis tools made from bone. “In three square meters, I’ve got four Clovis points, nine ivory tool fragments, and about 4,300 ivory shavings,” said Andy Hemmings of the University of Texas. He did his doc- toral research at the site, which sits in a partially submerged limestone sinkhole. “It’s one of the richest bone sites we’ve seen, and it opens a whole new window into what they were doing.” Sloth Hole, added Goodyear, “may be a good indica- tion of the bone tools we are missing elsewhere.” These rich sites provide just a fragmentary picture, according to Morrow. “We’re still not seeing important cul- tural material, like spear shafts, cordage, hides, and baskets

that took a lot of investment of time and energy,” she said. Similarly, the lack of animal bones at many sites makes it difficult to determine just how much the Clovis depended llustrator llustrator on big game like mammoths, and how much they hunted I smaller prey. “We’re still trying to squeeze a lot of informa- enior tion out of stones, and that’s hard,” said Morrow. S To get beyond that challenge, archaeologists say they need to find even richer Clovis sites that can be reliably arcia Bakry, Bakry, arcia H istory M useum on N atural N ational dated. One place they are looking is offshore along the M clovis SOLUTREAN ancient “Clovis coastline” that was submerged when sea Though there are differences in their shape, some archaeologists levels rose at the end of the last ice age. “If you could drain believe the highly unusual flaking exhibited in both Clovis and the North Atlantic by a couple hundred feet, you’d find a Solutrean points proves the two are related. ton of giant-sized Clovis sites along the 13,000-year-old 30 winter • 2008-09 D ou g las K ennett The black line at the Murray Springs site in Arizona is a layer of soil that some researchers believe resulted from the explosion of a comet near the Great Lakes. This distinctive soil layer, which is often referred to as black mat, has been identified at a number of Clovis sites.

coastline,” Lowery said. Indian populations to plummet. Hemmings agreed, adding that he and James Adovasio The idea has met with some pointed rebuttals from of the Mercyhurst College Archaeological Institute in Erie, other scientists. Last August, for instance, a team led by Briggs Pennsylvania, are using sonar to map submerged Clovis and Buchanan of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada, pre-Clovis coastlines west of Florida. They are especially published another PNAS study that found “no evidence of a interested in finding old riverbeds. “Onshore in Florida, there population decline” among Paleo-Indians after the proposed are huge Paleo-Indian sites at virtually every river conflu- comet collision date. ence,” Hemmings said. “If we can find them offshore, I think Still, “it does appear that Clovis came to a fairly rapid end,” we have a chance of finding sites every bit as good or better Goodyear said. “Maybe not snuffed out, but it doesn’t appear than Sloth Hole.” Excavating them, however, won’t be easy, there was a smooth and unbroken demographic transition” since it will require training archaeologists as technical div- to later cultures. One clue that Clovis populations crashed ers and specialized equipment. is an apparent and sudden decline in the number of stone artifacts that appear in the archaeological record just post- Hit By A Comet? Clovis at many Eastern sites. “You see a lot of Clovis points, These new sites might also offer clues as to what ultimately then far fewer Gainey or Redstone points,” he said, referring caused the Clovis demise. The conventional wisdom is to the points of cultures that immediately succeeded the that a change in climate—to a dryer, cooler period called Clovis. But that pattern isn’t as distinct at other sites, so there the Younger Dryas that coincides with the disappearance may have been a great deal of variation in how long Clovis of mastodons and mammoths—either killed off the Clo- hung on. “The story is probably different from place to place, vis or forced them to dramatically alter their lifestyle and and it’s going to be interesting trying to understand why.” technology. But some researchers, including Goodyear and As a result of the new and sometimes conflicting data, nuclear scientist Richard Firestone of the Lawrence Berkeley Goodyear and other archaeologists, after years of studying the National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, have proposed Clovis, are finding this ancient culture to be more enigmatic that it was a comet. than ever. “We used to let a handful of Clovis sites in the West The theory, published in October 2007 in the Proceed- dictate our perceptions and understanding,” said Hemmings. ings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), was “Now the Eastern sites are really broadening our understand- inspired by a mysterious, carbon-rich layer of soil that is pres- ing.” That, perplexing as it may be, “is a good thing.” ent at many Clovis sites and dates to about 12,900 years ago. The layer, the researchers suggest, was created by a comet DAVID MALAKOFF is a freelance writer living in Alexandria, Virginia. His that exploded near the Great Lakes region, sparking massive article “A New Deal For Archaeology” appeared in the Fall 2008 issue fires that brought about the Younger Dryas and caused Paleo- of American Archaeology. american archaeology 31 ExaminingExamining thethe MysteriesMysteries ofof thethe HopewellHopewell

Researchers examine a portion of a trench where postholes from the Moorehead Circle

JODI MILLER have been exposed. 32 winter • 2008-09 Archaeologist Bob Riordan has been excavating the site since 2006. n a hot day last July, Bob Riordan and a handful of his field school students stood at the edge of a 200-foot circle marked by slender white stakes, wearily waiting for the sun to change the angle of shadow at the bottom of an excavation unit. They Oneeded to photograph a cluster of stones stuffed into a large posthole before they packed away their equipment and covered up for the winter. It was a quiet end to a season of discoveries bewildering in their profusion. For the last three summers, Riordan—an archaeologist at Wright State University—and his team have been investi- gating a hitherto quiet corner of Ohio’s Fort Ancient, a mon- umental hilltop enclosure built by the Hopewell culture, a Middle Woodland civilization that thrived in eastern North America from around 100 b.c. to a.d. 500. They’ve found evi- dence of many startling features such as the large circle— based on remote sensing and the depth of the post holes, Riordan believes it was once formed by 200 large posts that were anchored in place by up to 30 tons of rock—as well as Archaeologists’ concept a 13-by-14 foot pit of burned soil at its center. Despite the fact that Fort Ancient has been written about and explored of the Fort Ancient since at least 1809, Riordan’s work here upends much of site has changed over what people have believed about Fort Ancient. “Here is this grassy field that people have been running the years. The recent around on for years,” he says. “There’s been a lot of work done at this site, but no one realized there was this huge and discovery of several apparently significant feature right underground. It’s amaz- ing that it escaped detection.” unusual features there These features might have gone unnoticed for another hundred years if hadn’t eaten a section of the enclo- continues to puzzle them. sure’s three-and-a-half miles of earthen walls. The Ohio His- torical Society (OHS), which manages the property, planned to repair the wall, and sent Jarrod Burks—an archaeologist By Kristin Ohlson and remote-sensing expert—to conduct a geophysical study american archaeology 33

ty ie c o s

l ca ori

st i h io h o

Warren K. Moorehead is pictured at an unknown site some time in the early 1900s. Fort Ancient’s mysterious circle was named after him.

in advance. The OHS wanted to make sure workers didn’t by a circular anomaly 200 feet wide. In fact, the whole area inadvertently disturb or destroy something of archaeological was a treasure trove of anomalies. Burks created an interpre- significance. “We weren’t trying to find things,” Burks says. “We tive map of his findings that shows what looks like a giant were trying not to find things so that they could fix the wall.” rounded circle with a small open mouth. Within are three But as he paced a grassy acre within Fort Ancient’s North large, boxy anomalies—including the burned earth-feature at Fort, Burks’ magnetometer indicated something strongly the center—and a lot of smaller ones. He sent e-mails about magnetic under the ground. When he downloaded the read- his discoveries to other archaeologists with an interest in ings a few hours later, he saw evidence of a large, roughly the Hopewell. oval feature. He thought it might be the foundation of an old Bob Riordan remembers reading Burks’ e-mails with building, perhaps from one of the farmers who plowed and growing excitement. He had spent the last 20 years working grazed cattle here before Fort Ancient became Ohio’s first and leading a field school at the Hopewell hilltop enclosure state park in 1891. To test this theory, he conducted an elec- called Pollock Works. He knew that Burks’ images suggested trical resistance survey that could detect foundation stones, features that were highly unusual for the inside of hilltop but the survey found nothing. enclosures. Riordan was even more excited when the OHS This led Burks to surmise that his magnetometer invited him to investigate these discoveries. detected a large pit of burned soil beneath the surface. When Since 2006, Riordan and his crew—12 students, three Ohio’s iron-rich soil burns at over 600 degrees centigrade, all staff, and five volunteers in the 2008 season—have opened the iron particles become like little compasses lined up to four excavation units to determine what the Hopewell peo- magnetic north. Even when they cool down, they remain in ple were doing here. They’ve dubbed the area Moorehead that configuration for centuries if left undisturbed. Circle, after archaeologist Warren K. Moorehead, who worked Burks and the OHS expanded the area of exploration, at Fort Ancient in the last decades of the 19th century and and they found that the burned-soil feature was surrounded convinced the state legislature to turn it into a state park. 34 winter • 2008-09 The central pit filled with burned soil is seen in the center of this photograph. Riordan thinks the soil was burned elsewhere and then brought here. JODI MILLER american archaeology 35 underscores the extraordinary feat of engineering that is Fort Ancient. Visitors descend the highway’s wicked curves into the Little Miami River gorge, cross over the river itself, and then climb 240 feet on the other side, through dense forests of oak, hickory, ash, maple, paw paw, and sassafras. Fort Ancient’s walls are now so overgrown on the west side that unwitting drivers might not even notice them, at least not until they crest the hill and find themselves at the inner edge of a giant earthen enclosure. Located 35 miles northeast of Cincinnati, Fort Ancient encloses about 100 acres. The walls line a plateau surrounded by rivers and steep drop-offs on all but one side—Moorehead’s favored eastern approach, where a pair of four-foot parallel walls once stood between twin mounds outside and lined a partly paved ancient road. There are 67 open- ings in the enclosure’s main walls, which have a maximum height of 23 feet. They were recorded at 27 CHA RLO TT E H LLL- C OBB feet during the 1930s. Based on a study of erosion patterns, archae- ologists estimate that some were VI S / C OLORIZED B Y originally more than 35 feet tall.

The walls enclose two large A ND D areas, called the North Fort and

the South Fort, with a long jag- S QUIRER This is a colorized version of Squirer and Davis’ map of Fort Ancient. It appeared in their landmark work Ancient ged neck between them. Archaeologists believe the walls Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, published in 1848. originally contained up to 480,000 cubic tons of soil, some scraped from the surface of the plateau, some dug from bor- Riordan now believes that this circle may have been the hub row pits, and some dragged up from 80 feet below the rim of of Fort Ancient’s ceremonial activities, though perhaps only the South Fort. In the 1990s, archaeologist Robert Connolly for a brief period of time. determined that the Hopewell also brought in soil to fill in gullies on the plateau and create areas where people could arren Moorehead thought visitors should walk and congregate—a feat that may have required as much always approach Fort Ancient from the east, soil again as was needed to build the walls. W where people on foot, horses, or carriages—and Fort Ancient is one of the 10,000 mounds and other now by car, on State Route 350—ascend from a gentle valley earthen structures that puzzled European settlers moving about a mile from the site. into Ohio. The earthworks quickly began to disappear under “Great embankments…burst upon the vision and the farmers’ plows and the relentless march of urbanization, give one an impression never to be forgotten,” Moorehead a process that continues today. Some of the earthen walls exclaimed in a 1908 monograph. “The view thus obtained create huge geometric patterns on plateaus and flat flood is surprisingly beautiful and it excels in its impressive gran- plains. Others, like Fort Ancient, create irregularly shaped deur anything in the way of a picture of prehistoric ruins enclosures on hilltops. Since 18th and 19th century Indians in America.” were ignorant of their origin and purpose, many Europeans However, the view from the west is also impressive—and posited that these earth works were built by a sophisticated 36 winter • 2008-09 ancient mound-building race—perhaps related to the Incas middle of the 20th century, archaeologists concluded that or Aztecs, perhaps a lost tribe of Israel—who were killed or Fort Ancient was not a defensive structure, but a Hopewell driven off by the ancestors of contemporary Indians. ceremonial site. Warren Moorhead conducted the first systematic exca- Nonetheless, few Hopewell artifacts have been found vations at Fort Ancient, but his conclusions perpetuated two within Fort Ancient, although two caches were uncovered basic misconceptions. As its name implies, Fort Ancient was near the old parallel walls outside. In fact, there was no evi- long considered a defensive fortification. Moorehead and dence of Hopewell activities inside Fort Ancient, aside from others believed that the walls were once crowned with the act of building the walls, until the 1980s. Then, archae- palisades and that some of the openings were gated. The site ologists Patricia Essenpreis and David Duszynski studied the contains many man-made ponds around the walls and some connection between four small Hopewell mounds and open- observers considered them defensive moats, even though ings in the earthen walls. They found alignments that cor- many were inside the walls. “That it (Fort Ancient) is defen- respond to the summer solstice sunrise as well as significant sive most persons will admit, although military men, mea- lunar movements. These alignments suggest that Fort Ancient suring it by modern standards, observe many weak points,” may have been, in part, a giant calendar that marked annual Moorehead wrote. events using the sun and decade-long events using the moon. But later archaeologists concluded otherwise, noting Jack Blosser, Fort Ancient’s historic site manager and resident there was no evidence that the walls held palisades or that archaeologist, believes there may have been more such align- the openings were gated—in fact, many of the openings ments before natural and human forces altered the walls. were paved with limestone and seem designed to welcome visitors. A fort of this size would have required a large num- iordan’s team has found some of the postholes ber of people to defend it; however, there is no evidence that make up the circle. The posts were removed—a that a significant population lived there during the period of R “decommissioning” that is often found at Hopewell time, approximately 100 b.c. to a.d. 300, that the walls were sites. “It implies a formal abandonment of the structure,” built and used. Riordan says. “They pull the posts rather than just letting There were prehistoric settlements near and inside them rot in place.” Fort Ancient, but these were of much more recent vintage. They’ve also found postholes that suggest two partial Moorehead and other early archaeologists erroneously con- circles curled inside the larger one and still other postholes cluded that the people who lived at these settlements were that suggest a small circular structure surrounding the pit of the same ones who built the walls. Thus, the Fort Ancient burned soil. There are also four smaller pits there, and three culture, dating from around a.d. 900-1650, was erroneously mysterious parallel trenches filled with sand and gravel. At named for a site built by the earlier Hopewell people. By the the edge of the great circle, the researchers revealed more i C ER HAS o f Cin c inn at U niver s i ty A digital reconstruction of the large circle of wooden posts found at the Stubbs Earthwork in 1998. Stubbs is located a few miles from Fort Ancient, and its circle is comparable in size to the Moorehead Circle. american archaeology 37 n s in g Pa L ind a Students use trowels to excavate the site in 2006. Just below them lay the central pit filled with burned soil and other features.

trenches and postholes, as well as stone paving. tools gives them a different dimension.” The 28-inch deep burned soil pit evinces great effort for Riordan is eager to return to Fort Ancient next season a mysterious purpose. Riordan believes the soil was burned for further investigation. In addition to continued examina- to an orangish red in another location and then brought tion of the central burned-soil feature, he and his team will here and scattered by hand. His conclusion is based on the explore the circle’s opening, follow the gravel-and-sand filled absence of layers of ash that successive burnings would have trenches and try to determine their purpose. Riordan antici- produced. The soil is also unnaturally pure. Riordan submitted pates at least several more years of work at Fort Ancient as samples for flotation testing, in which the soil is immersed he attempts to establish the chronology and relationship of in water so that it separates from lighter-weight charcoal, its different features. Preliminary radiocarbon dating results carbonized seeds, and other items. “It’s a method often used suggests that the large circle could date to the second cen- to recover dietary remains,” he says. “But we found only four tury a.d. and the central burned soil pit to the third century. tiny bits of charcoal. This soil is really clean, biologically as Despite the difference in these dates, Riordan believes well as artifactually.” the two features were part of the same phenomenon. He’s The site has also yielded approximately 2,500 potsherds. waiting for the results of radiocarbon dating of other fea- Many came from an apron of earth around the burned-soil tures that could give him a clearer picture. In the meantime, pit, where the team found layer upon layer of sherds. Whole the OHS contracted for additional geophysical surveys in pots appeared to have been smashed, left in place, and then another area of Fort Ancient not far from the Moorehead buried. “It’s meaningful behavior,” Riordan says. “It meant Circle. Several new anomalies were discovered, including something to them, but we don’t know what it means.” one that might be a small earthwork. It’s possible that some of the activity at the Moore- Archaeologists’ definition of Fort Ancient has changed head Circle had something to do with mortuary practices, over the years. Moorehead and other early researchers since archaeologists have tied ritualistic behavior at other imagined it as a bloody battleground in which the mythic Hopewell sites to burials. However, Riordan’s team hasn’t mound-builder race contended with the ancestors of modern found any evidence of burials or the lavish grave goods Indians. For most of the 20th century, archaeologists saw it that often accompanied them. They have found mica frag- as a ceremonial or social place like a cathedral or a state fair, ments, a cut bear canine, a tiny bit of fabric, and about 150 a place ancient people visited and then left without a trace. bladelets, which are double-edged stone tools. Most of the Riordan has shown that the Hopewell were digging, building, bladelets are broken and show wear along the cutting edge, and burning within Fort Ancient’s walls, and through addi- suggesting everyday use. “I find these things really fascinat- tional excavation and analysis he hopes to understand why. ing,” says Joe Schaffer, a graduate student in archaeology at Southern Illinois University who’s analyzing source materi- KRISTIN OHLSON is the coauthor of Kabul Beauty School: An American als for the bladelets. “Normally, we just see the Hopewell Woman Goes Behind the Veil. Her article “A Grand Tradition of Mound mounds and the monumental architecture. Looking at their Building” appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of American Archaeology. 38 winter • 2008-09 Reexamining Conventional Wisdom Researchers have long thought that the Mesa Verde Anasazi had migrated in large numbers from the Four Corners to the northern Rio Grande region by the late 1200s. Using new evidence and methods, a number of archaeologists are revisiting this assumption, generating a lively debate. By Tamara Stewart al Center A r c haeologi al Crow Canyon This aerial shows a roomblock at Sand Canyon Pueblo in southwestern Colorado. Sand Canyon was one of the final residences built by the Anasazi people in the Mesa Verde region. It was abandoned around a.d. 1280. This massive depopulation was dramatic in its scope For some 900 years, the Anasazi of the Four Corners and finality: pre-Columbian farmers never again occupied region thrived in the high desert, growing corn, beans, and the Four Corners region. At the same time, Pueblo people in squash, and raising turkeys. By the late 13th century, they the Northern Rio Grande area of what is now north-central resided in numerous large villages with elaborate masonry New Mexico were coalescing into large villages and under- structures. They had moved many times through the centu- going social changes that culminated in modern Pueblo ries, adapting to changing environmental and social condi- culture. Conventional archaeological wisdom has long held tions. Their adjustments worked well until the a.d. 1200s that these two events were linked, with the Four Corner’s when the degree of climate change, combined with a more migrants joining existing communities to form the modern populated region, made previous solutions ineffective. Com- pueblos of the Rio Grande. However, despite a century of petition for dwindling resources peaked, some people left archaeological research, there is still little consensus among the region for less crowded areas, and there is evidence of researchers as to how the depopulation of the Four Corners violent clashes leading to the abandonment of several major region contributed to the development of the Northern Rio settlements. By the 1280s, the last of some 25,000 people left Grande pueblos. the region, never to return. “One of the longest-held myths in archaeology has to american archaeology 39 do with the movement of the Mesa Verdeans to the North- Grande was experiencing greater than normal precipitation, ern Rio Grande,” says Jeffrey Boyer, of the Museum of New which allowed agricultural settlement to expand into areas Mexico’s Office of Archaeological Studies (OAS) in Santa Fe. such as the Galisteo Basin south of Santa Fe and the Pajarito “Every one of us was taught, and current students are still Plateau near Los Alamos. These conditions continued until being taught, that the Mesa Verdean folks came to the North- about 1500, and some migration advocates hypothesize that ern Rio Grande between a.d. 1250 and 1300. The immigra- these climate changes encouraged movement from the Four tion assumption is so deeply embedded in Southwestern Corners to the Rio Grande, where the newcomers blended archaeology that to question it is to threaten our long-held in with local residents with whom they likely already had beliefs about the origins and identities of historical and mod- social and economic ties. ern Pueblo peoples and about our efforts as archaeologists. Though not abundant, a few Rio Grande traits and prac- In short, [it’s] heresy.” And yet, contend Boyer and several tices could reflect Mesa Verde influence. For instance, hall- colleagues at OAS, there is still little or no direct evidence to mark features of the latter region, such as D-shaped and support this scenario. T-shaped doorways, have been documented at the Northern The migration assumption is being revisited by archae- Rio Grande settlement of Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. Circular ologists at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, stone shrines that appear in the Rio Grande region after the Colorado, as well as by OAS and other Rio Grande archaeolo- mid-1200s resemble features in the Mesa Verde region, and gists, with very different conclusions. the appearance of reservoirs in the Northern Rio Grande after about 1250 might have resulted from the arrival of immigrants from the northwest, where reservoir construc- A Major Migration tion and maintenance was a well established practice. There The idea of a mass migration to the Rio Grande has persisted was also an increase in turkey husbandry in the Northern largely due to a traditional archaeological view that holds Rio Grande in the late 1200s, just as there had been in the that few people resided in the Rio Grande region prior to a.d. Four Corners region at an earlier time. 1200. According to this view, a population boom beginning Scott Ortman, director of research at Crow Canyon, in the a.d. 1200s encouraged Pueblo peoples to aggregate makes the case for a substantial migration to the Rio Grande into much larger villages than were previously seen in the using multiple lines of evidence. “I’m pulling together bio- region. Some of the black-on-white pottery made by the logical, linguistic, oral tradition, and material culture evi- Pueblo residents looks Mesa Verdean, which seems to fit dence which suggest that the ancestors of the Tewa-speaking with the Four Corners migration to the Rio Grande scenario. pueblos, one of the largest Pueblo ethnic groups in the Rio Oral traditions recorded by early researchers at some Rio Grande region today, did in fact live in the Mesa Verde region Grande pueblos have also contributed to this view. and migrated to the Northern Rio Grande over the course of In addition to the Great Drought of 1276 to 1299, paleo- the 13th century,” he says. Tewa is one of five Kiowa-Tanoan environmental studies show that fluctuations resulting in less languages spoken by the Pueblo people of New Mexico and precipitation and lower temperatures in the Four Corners also refers to the people who spoke the language. region began by a.d. 1239. At the same time, the Northern Rio Ortman analyzed skeletal craniofacial dimensions from d M. G ri m es Center / Davi A r c haeologi al

Black-on-white mugs have often been found in the last Mesa Verde villages occupied by the Anasazi, but they are rarely seen in the Northern Rio Grande region. Archaeologists debate the meaning of this and other differences in the two regions’ material culture. Crow Canyon 40 winter • 2008-09 riel H eisey Ad riel This D-shaped structure is located in Hovenweep National Monument, which is in the Mesa Verde region. The architecture of the late Mesa Verde villages was elaborate and it included types of buildings that are not found in the Northern Rio Grande.

about 900 individuals dating between a.d. 1100 and 1600 Ortman acknowledges that “the disjunctions between from sites across the Four Corners and Northern Rio Grande Mesa Verde and Rio Grande material culture are really inter- regions. Although the underlying genetic basis of craniofacial esting,” and he suggests they could have resulted from a variations is not well understood, there is good reason to social movement that “encouraged Mesa Verde migrants to believe that the two are related. Ortman found that Classic turn their backs on many of their traditions in favor of those period (a.d. 1325-1600) samples from the ancestral Tewa being developed by earlier inhabitants of the Rio Grande.” region of the Northern Rio Grande are more similar to the The context and nature of the Four Corners depopulation Four Corners region samples than they are to pre-1200 sam- could have determined whether the people wanted to, or ples from the Rio Grande region. This suggests to Ortman were able to, retain their previous identity. He contends that that Rio Grande peoples are direct biological descendants of the combination of moving to a new place and perhaps try- earlier Four Corners groups. ing to escape the past may have led to dramatic changes in Ethnohistorical information records Tewa place names Mesa Verde material culture or the wholesale adoption of for several locations in southwestern Colorado, and Ortman Rio Grande traditions. contends that Tewa oral traditions refer to archaeological A recent paper by archaeologists Tammy Stone of the sites in the Mesa Verde region and place their former home- University of Colorado and William Lipe of Washington State land in southwestern Colorado. Together this information University compares evidence for the Mesa Verde migra- indicates to Ortman that the Tewa ancestral language was tion to the Northern Rio Grande with the contemporane- spoken in the Four Corners region in the 13th century, and ous Kayenta Anasazi migration to the Point of Pines region that they brought it to the Rio Grande during the large-scale in the Mogollon Mountains of Arizona. With their D-shaped migration. , large room suites, and distinctive ceramic technology “What these data suggest is that the many thousands and design, Kayenta migrants clearly stood out among the of people who migrated to the Tewa and Galisteo Basins in Mogollon residents. Conversely, Stone and Lipe propose that the 13th century colonized a frontier landscape in such a Mesa Verdeans who came to the Rio Grande region appear way that the language, gene pool, and historical identity of to have blended in with the area’s existing residents. They the immigrants were preserved,” he says. The Tewa Basin lies surmise that, while the Mesa Verde migration involved large north of Santa Fe and is the home of the historic and modern numbers of people, it consisted of families or small groups Tewa pueblos, while the Galisteo Basin southeast of Santa Fe moving over the course of several decades, whereas the Kay- was the home of people historically referred to as Tano or enta migration was a large group moving en masse. Southern Tewa. “My take on it is that migrations from the central Mesa american archaeology 41 that migrating groups from the Mesa Verde region would also have been caught up in, possibly affecting the extent to which they stood out among local groups. Indigenous Development While most researchers agree that at least some Four Corners’ groups found new homes among the ancestors of several of the present-day Rio Grande pueblos, Boyer and several other OAS archaeologists are uncomfortable with the mass migration model, stressing instead the region’s indigenous development. Based on information from the New Mexico site database, OAS researcher Steven Lakatos estimates that about 10,600 people inhabited the Northern Rio Grande region during the Developmental period (a.d. 600-1200), that the regional population increased throughout this and the following Coalition period (a.d. 1200-1325), and that by 1300 the region’s population was roughly 16,000 to 20,000 people. “Since most archaeologists debating these questions have little first-hand knowledge of Rio Grande culture his- tory, they have minimized the pre-a.d. 1200 population of the Rio Grande,” says OAS director Eric Blinman. “There is a huge resident population in Middle and Late Developmental times, and we don’t necessarily have to import them from anywhere in ensuing centuries.” The presence of a large Pueblo population in the Northern Rio Grande before the late 13th century suggests it would have been difficult for

several thousand Mesa Verdean immigrants to be accom- E ri c Blin m an Black-on-white pottery from the Galisteo Basin (top) bears a modated. According to OAS researchers, that issue is not resemblance to late 13th century Mesa Verde Black-on-white adequately addressed by migration advocates. pottery (above). But archaeologists have determined that they A ceramic type known as Galisteo Black-on-white are not related. became prevalent in the late 13th century in the Galisteo

Verde region almost certainly occurred and were probably substantial, but that there was rapid cultural change at the same time, and this cultural change affected not only the migrants, but the people who were already there,” says Lipe.

By the late 13th century, Rio A r c hives/ AH 4-MM-6/ Grande groups themselves were undergoing significant settlement transformations from clustered homesteads to densely populated pueb- los organized around large, open plaza areas that were

different from earlier settle- c e d R esear h/ A rroyo H on o Ad van ments in both the Northern Rio Grande and Four Corners hool for Sc hool regions. This transformation Mike Marshall b y Photo likely reflected major social There are some architectural similarities between the Mesa Verde and Northern Rio Grande regions. and possibly religious change This D-shaped kiva at Arroyo Hondo in the Northern Rio Grande suggests a Mesa Verde influence. 42 winter • 2008-09 Crow Canyon archaeologists believe that the Anasazi abandoned the Mesa Verde region and migrated primarily to the Tewa-speaking pueblos along the Northern Rio Grande. The Office of Archaeological Studies researchers contend that the Anasazi departed from the San Juan Basin area and moved primarily to the Keres- speaking pueblos in the Middle Rio Grande region. University of Colorado archaeologist Steve Lekson thinks that, in addition to migrating to most of the pueblos, the Anasazi also traveled farther south to the sites Gallinas Spring, Pinnacle Ruin, and Roadmap. evolution gra p hi c s Basin, where few people lived until the 1200s. The timing concludes that the Galisteo variant developed out of its local and similarity of this new ceramic type to Mesa Verde Black- predecessor Santa Fe Black-on-white. on-white, the most popular style in the northern Four Cor- “The stylistics of Galisteo Black-on-white are perfect ners region, has fostered arguments that the Anasazi brought Santa Fe Black-on-white, not Mesa Verde Black-on-white,” these pots, or at least their technology and design, with them Blinman explains. “I’m surprised that Dutton’s efforts have when they moved to the Rio Grande. been ignored, but it does make for a better story to bring in That possibility inspired the research of Bertha Dutton a flood of outsiders.” of the Museum of New Mexico’s Laboratory of Anthropol- Pointing to the long-term cultural continuity of the ogy. Beginning in the mid-1950s, Dutton led excavations at Northern Rio Grande and a lack of telltale continuities in Las Madres, a Coalition period site in the Galisteo Basin, to material culture supportive of mass migration, the OAS try to prove a Mesa Verde connection. Instead, she deter- group questions Ortman’s migration model. OAS researcher mined the site’s ceramics were produced locally and their Nancy Akins notes that Michael Schillaci, a biological anthro- style differed from Mesa Verde. OAS researcher Dean Wilson pologist at the University of Toronto at Scarborough who has examined the resources, technologies, and styles of the studied the same cranial data as Ortman, concluded there two regions and determined that the apparent similarities is a “much stronger relationship” between the people who in ceramic traditions are due primarily to similarities in the lived in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico and local raw materials from which the ceramics were made. He the Rio Grande pueblos than between Mesa Verde and the american archaeology 43 Steve Lekson ourtesy steve lekson c ourtesy Another Migration Steve Lekson, an archaeologist at the University of Colorado, says people have been moving in and out of the Four Corners area for centuries. “I think people left the Four Corners and went to the Rio Grande, to Acoma, to Zuni, and to Hopi.” He’s also found evidence of an Anasazi migration much farther south, at Pinnacle Ruin, a site in southeast New Mexico near the city of Truth or Consequences. Pinnacle Ruin, which Lekson has excavated for eight years, is one of three large sites in the area that has yielded Mesa Verde-style pottery. The site has as many as 200 rooms and was occupied from the middle to late 1200s to about 1450. The largest of these sites, Gallinas Spring, has about 400 rooms. The population of the Four Corners region was signifi- cant enough, Lekson surmises, that evidence of a considerable

migration to southeast New Mexico does not disprove the John F it c h Mesa Verde-style pottery has been discovered at Pinnacle Ruin. migrations posited by Crow Canyon or OAS researchers.

Rio Grande pueblos. Schillaci thinks there was a genetic of the Rio Grande, and that there are no lakes in the Mesa connection between the Mesa Verde and the Rio Grande Verde region. peoples, but not necessarily due to mass migration. “Biologi- “We feel strongly that, if Pueblo peoples in the North- cal similarities can result from a number of things, not just ern Rio Grande came to the region from the Four Corners, migration,” he says. there would be oral traditions of that move,” Boyer says. The OAS archaeologists also dispute Ortman’s linguistic “In fact, though, there are not, particularly for the Tanoan evidence. “No one speaks Mesa Verdean, so there is no way peoples. The Keres refer to a place called ‘White House,’ to actually link the Tewa—or any other Northern Rio Grande whose identity is not actually established, but Tanoan stories group—with the Four Corners using linguistics,” says Boyer. are clear in asserting their continuous presence in the Rio Lipe contends that historical linguistics has long used geo- Grande Valley.” Keres or Keresan is a language that is spoken graphically specific terms to make inferences about migra- by five Rio Grande pueblos today and is unrelated to the tions, and such methods are valid. However, Boyer points out Kiowa-Tanoan languages spoken by most of the other New that there are also Hopi, Zuni, and Keres names for places in Mexico pueblos. the Four Corners, which argue against an exclusive relation- The OAS archaeologists believe that some Mesa Verde ship between Four Corners and Tewa peoples. Anasazi probably made their way to the Northern Rio Pueblo oral traditions speak of many years of migrations Grande region, but that they did so in small groups that were that finally brought them to their present locations along quickly assimilated into existing communities, rather than the Rio Grande and in northeastern Arizona. Researchers are the large migration proposed by Ortman. OAS archaeologists again examining these stories to inform their interpretations also hypothesize that southern San Juan Basin people moved of ancestral migrations. Although the OAS archaeologists into the Rio Grande during the late-12th century. Archaeo- acknowledge the oral traditions that Ortman cites, they say logical evidence indicates that peoples in these two areas that these are Keres traditions, while published Tewa tradi- engaged in trade during the Early Developmental period and tions are not consistent with a Mesa Verde origin. Tewa tradi- this, according to James Moore of the OAS, prepared the way tions refer to emergence from a lake to the north, but Boyer for the later movement into the Northern Rio Grande. notes that the Mesa Verde region is not north but northwest Moore sees migration as proceeding incrementally 44 winter • 2008-09 y Mike Marshall. b y A r c hives/ AH 3-MM-7/Photo c e d R esear h/ A rroyo H on o Ad van hool for Sc hool Two T-shaped doorways, the one above from Arroyo Hondo in the Northern Rio Grande, and the one below from Chaco Canyon in the San Juan Basin. This architectural style is also common in the Mesa Verde region.

According to Moore, these groups, the ancestors of the modern Keres people, eventually settled in the middle Rio Grande region between present-day Albuquerque and Cochiti Pueblo, where eastern Keres pueblos retain street- like layouts and south-oriented kivas very similar to those of the late 13th century Mesa Verde region and unlike the eastern orientations of adjacent Tewa villages. The Middle Rio Grande region was sparsely populated around a.d. 1200 according to Lakatos’ population reconstruction, making it a prime location for immigrants to establish villages. “We think the Four Corners folks were proto-Keres, related culturally and linguistically to the Chacoans and other residents of the San Juan Basin,” explains Boyer. “Our work continues to demonstrate that the Tanoan residents of the Northern Rio Grande have a continuous home in the region, that their ancestors have always been in the region, and that the archaeological record supports the oral tradi- Janet W orne Janet tions that say that the Northern Rio Grande has always been during the 12th and 13th centuries, with communities along their home.” the southern edge of the San Juan Basin serving as way sta- Despite their disagreements, the OAS archaeologists tions to the Northern Rio Grande. He believes that in the echo Ortman’s statement that “it is critical that our field late 12th century these southern San Juan people proceeded acknowledge this lack of consensus and take opposing along the western fringe of the Northern Rio Grande region views seriously, as this will be the best way for research in from the lower Jemez Valley to the southern Pajarito Plateau, this area to advance.” where sites such as Casa del Rito and Saltbush Pueblo have kiva features and village layouts with southern San Juan char- TAMARA STEWART is the assistant editor of American Archaeology and the acteristics, supporting this scenario. Conservancy’s Southwest region projects coordinator. american archaeology 45 new acquisition Evidence of the Mississippians in Virginia The Ely Mound is one of only two existing Mississippian mounds in the state.

he Ely Mound site is situated near Rose Hill, in Lee County, Vir- Tginia, and sits on a gentle slope near a small stream, with the Cumber- land Mountain and Cumberland Gap National Historic Park appearing as a dramatic backdrop to the northwest. The Ely Mound is one of only two remaining examples of a Mississippian that remains standing in the state of Virginia. Dating to the Mississippian Period (a.d. 1100 to 1500), this rare and important site was tested in the 1870s by Lucien Carr, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and acquired by the Conservancy in early October. According to State Archaeologist Michael Barber, “The site is legendary in Virginia archaeol- ogy and it was one of the first sites I was made aware of in that first intro- ductory class to archaeology 30 some years ago. It is unique and has always been a concern due to its extreme importance.” The mound and its asso- ciated occupation could offer infor- mation concerning the development of complex societies in southwestern Virginia during the Late Woodland/ Mississippian period, and the interac- tions of these societies with groups in North Carolina and Tennessee. In the 1870s Carr, the assistant curator of Harvard’s Peabody Museum Ely Mound, seen in the center of this photograph, was excavated by of Archaeology and Ethnology, named Harvard’s Lucien Carr in the 1870s. Carr’s research helped prove the site after the property owner Rob- that Native Americans built Ely and other prehistoric mounds ert Ely. Carr was the only person to excavate the mound, and he described Andy Stout Andy 46 winter • 2008-09 new acquisition

built by a lost race of mound builders or by the ancestors of Native Americans. Carr is credited as being one of the first researchers to conclude it was the Native Americans. However, it was not until 1894 when Cyrus Thomas pub- lished his monumental Report on the Mound Explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology that the lost race hypothesis was finally discredited. The only other work at the site was by Alan Crockett, an anthropology student from the University of Ten- nessee, in 1979. Crockett conducted a surface survey of two fields in close proximity to the mound, neither of t ka which had been plowed in over 50 years. Crockett’s work contributed to

T hom as Kl a a better understanding of the A road sign notes the proximity of Ely Mound. around the mound. It’s assumed that a settlement existed near the mound, but it in an 1877 report as a “truncated bear canine tooth, shell beads, two thus far one hasn’t been discovered. oval…about three hundred feet in cir- shell ear pins and a with Maureen Meyers, a Ph.D candi- cumference at the base, and nineteen a weeping eye motif. As Harvard pro- date at the University of Kentucky, feet in height.” He also noted that the fessor Lucius H. Cheney and Charles B. has recently conducted excavations at site was in cultivation for many years. Johnson, of Gibson’s Station, Virginia, the Carter Robinson Mound, which is These measurements were taken from were excavating the burials at the site, located approximately six miles south a six feet by four feet shaft that Carr Carr reported that “just as Prof. Cheney of Ely and is the only other known and his crew excavated through the had declared with great earnestness his extant Mississippian mound in Virginia. center of the mound. They also dug a belief of saving the entire skeleton, a “It is likely that Ely and Carter Rob- four-feet-wide side trench. sudden rush of spectators to the brink inson were contemporaneous, but it Carr noted the top of the mound of the side excavation, to see what was is unclear if one mound served as an was level and oval shaped. His crew going on, caused a section at the top of administrative center for the region,” excavated the decaying stumps of a the wall to collapse.” Professor Cheney Meyers said “These mounds appear to series of cedar posts on the slope that, was killed and Johnson was severely be remnants of Mississippian frontier according to oral history, once com- bruised. settlements, probably an extension of pletely encircled the mound. This led Carr eventually found a third skel- Mississippian groups in northeastern Carr to surmise that there had once eton, a male, buried with projectile Tennessee who may have moved into been a structure on the summit. points, and a “chunky stone.” He also the area to expand trade opportunities.” According to Carr’s report, on the uncovered numerous hearth features Meyers also noted that future research first day of his testing at Ely Mound, containing burned earth, ash, and a vari- will define the role of these frontier the crew encountered two graves: one ety of animal bones, as well as charred groups in Mississippian economies and containing the remains of an adult ears of corn containing kernels, pot- the formation and variation of hierar- woman with shell beads, and the tery, bone tools, and projectile chy within border regions. other containing the remains points. The 20-plus-acre property contain- of two children that were During the 19th century ing the Ely Mound was donated to the buried with a black there was sub- Conservancy in October by the estate stantial contro- of Mrs. S.C. Hobbs. The Conservancy versy regarding had been trying for more than 10 years whether mounds to acquire the site. Crockett, who lives in the Eastern near the mound, has agreed to serve as United States were the site steward. —Andy Stout american archaeology 47 new point-3 T S T IFAC T EXAS I ND IA N S acquisition AR E S TON O F

The Mississippians’ Second City The Conservancy preserves part of a vast Mississippian settlement. w f o r d C ra J essica Mound D is the largest, though not the tallest, mound at the Carson site. The dark area in the foreground is a soil stain. These stains are found throughout the site and they’re often the telltale mark of an archaeological feature beneath the surface.

n his 1894 Bureau of Ethnology publication on the recently acquired four of Carson’s six remaining mounds mounds of the Eastern United States, Cyrus Thomas using emergency POINT funds. Ipublished a map of the site in north- The Mississippian peoples depended heavily on agri- western Mississippi that included more than 80 mounds. At culture, especially corn, to feed their large populations, and the height of its occupation during the Mississippian Period centuries later this part of Mississippi is still known for its (ca. a.d. 1000- 1500), Carson was second in size to , production of cotton, soybeans, corn, and rice. Farmers the huge Mississippian city in southwest Illinois. While recently leveled and plowed this area, removing one to two the exact boundaries of this enormous site are unknown, feet of topsoil, beneath which were fired clay indicating it is estimated that it is one mile in length from east to burned house floors, dark stains that appeared to be stor- west and half a mile north and south. Much of the site has age and trash pits, and large pits containing burials. been destroyed over the years, and the Conservancy has Human remains are protected by Mississippi state 48 winter • 2008-09 law, and with the cooperation of the site’s owners, John Con- said Jay Johnson, an archaeologist with the University naway, an archaeologist with the Mississippi Department of of Mississippi. Archives and History, recovered the remains and mapped and The Conservancy hopes to pre- photographed the features. Researchers with the University serve more of this phenomenal site. of Mississippi assisted Connaway with the fieldwork, and they —Jessica Crawford also conducted a remote sensing survey that indicated there are numerous archaeological features in and around the areas where the mounds once stood. Connaway, who was con- cerned about the long- term preservation of the site, was instrumental in bringing it to the Conservancy’s atten- A cat- tion. There is much to serpent learn from Carson. For bowl was instance, it’s uncertain recently whether the entire site was recovered from the y a occupied at once or if different Carson Mound site. w areas were used at different times. A common creature in “This is an opportunity to write a new Southeastern Native American

John Conn a chapter on the prehistory of Mississippi,” mythology, the cat serpent is believed to have been part cat and part snake.

POINT Acquisitions

Carson Mounds 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

New Research at Jaketown

SOUTHEAST—The cul- ture (ca. 1500 b.c.–1000 b.c.) is noted for earthen mound construction and extensive long-distance trade indicated by the presence of non-local cherts on Poverty Point sites. These materials, such as novaulite and red jasper, were used in the manufacture of highly polished stone objects such as jasper beads. Sites bearing Poverty Point influence extend into both Arkansas and Mississippi from the culture’s type-site, the Poverty Point site in northeast Louisiana. The Conservancy owns approxi- mately 70 acres at the , which is located in west-central Missis- sippi. Last fall, for the first time since the 1950s, research took place at Jake- town. Lee J. Arco, a doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis, began excavations and soil coring in Research and Outreach order to investigate the site’s chronol- ogy, occupation, and the changes in SOUTHWEST—Last summer 15 under- the physical landscape that may have graduate students from all over the influenced its duration. country participated in the second Research in Louisiana’s Tensas River Basin, an area where the flourished, has shown evidence of changes in the Mississippi

River system that caused large-scale w f o r d

floods that would have devastated the C ra basin’s inhabitants and may have played a role in the decline of the Poverty Point J essica culture. It’s possible the same thing Washington University doctoral student, Lee J. Arco, examines the different occupation occurred at Jaketown, which is located strata visible in a unit at the Conservancy’s Jaketown site in Mississippi. on a former Mississippi River channel. Arco excavated a unit that reveal- (a.d.1000) layers. The Poverty Point and Arco believes this layer was deposited ed the various occupations at Jake- Woodland/Mississippian occupations by large scale flooding much like what town, from Poverty Point to the later were separated by a thick layer of soil occurred in the Tensas River Basin. Woodland (500 b.c.) and Mississippian that showed no cultural material, and Samples of the soil were taken and will 50 winter • 2008-09 be analyzed to confirm that they are river, and not cultural, deposits. In order to learn more about the seven mounds at the site, Arco also took over 40 soil core samples kudos and will return later in the year to make a detailed topographic map of the site.

Hedgepeth Site Expanded Mark Michel Receives SOUTHEAST—In 2004, the members of Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award the Hedgepeth family donated 10 acres containing two mounds and habitation Conservancy president Mark Michel recently areas known as the Hedgepeth site to the received the prestigious Louise DuPont Conservancy. The Hedgepeth site is one Crowninshield Award, the national preser- of several mound sites in northeastern vation movement’s highest accolade, from Louisiana that date to the Middle Archaic the National Trust for Historic Preservation Period (4000–2000 b.c.), and it is also one (NTHP). He was one of 21 national award of the best preserved. winners to be honored by the NTHP during Last year, Joe Saunders visited its 2008 National Preservation Conference in Hedgepeth with the intention of creating Tulsa, Oklahoma. a topographical map of the site and taking Michel, who cofounded the Conservancy in 1980, was cited soil core samples. While working at the for his “energetic leadership (that) has built the Conservancy into site, he discovered a low rise that appeared a national organization with a strong and supportive constituency to be a mound just south of the Conser- of more than 23,000 members.” vancy’s property line. While mapping, he The National Preservation Awards are bestowed on distin- discovered four additional mounds and a guished individuals, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, section of an embankment. He informed and corporations whose skill and determination have given new the Conservancy of his discovery and meaning to their communities through preservation of our archi- suggested that the preserve be enlarged tectural and cultural heritage. in order to include these mounds. Real- izing the importance of preserving these discoveries, the Hedgepeth family agreed to sell the Conservancy the land—approx- American Archaeology Wins National Design Award imately 10 acres—on which they sit. Current research suggests that American Archaeology’s creative director mound building was taking place in the Vicki Marie Singer won the bronze award Southeast as early as the Middle Archaic in Folio Magazine’s annual Ozzie Awards. Period (4000 b.c.) and then ceased for Singer took third place in the best use of approximately 1,000 years before resum- photography in the association/non-profit ing. Radiocarbon results indicate that the category for her design of the feature mounds at the Hedgepeth site were con- article “Archaeology From the Skies,” which structed about 3000 b.c., during the latter appeared in the Winter 2007-08 issue. part of Middle Archaic mound building. To Folio’s Eddie and Ozzie Awards recognize excellence in maga- date, Hedgepeth is the “youngest” Middle zine editorial and design. This year’s competition drew more than Archaic mound group and therefore holds 2,800 entries, and approximately 100 expert judges spent weeks potential to explain why the tradition of selecting the winners. mound construction suddenly ceased. american archaeology 51 Reviews

Moundville By John H. Blitz (University of Alabama Press, American 2008; 152 pgs., illus., $20 paper; Indian Places www.uapress. Edited by ua.edu) Frances H. Kennedy The Archaeology of Everyday Life at Early Moundville (Houghton Mifflin, By Gregory D. Wilson 2008; 368 pgs., (University of Alabama Press, 2008; 171 pgs., illus., illus., $30 cloth; $30 paper, $55 cloth; www.uapress.ua.edu) www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com)

This book features an exciting collaboration Moundville is the nation’s second largest prehistoric mound builder among a great variety of experts—279 of site, sprawling over some 325 acres on the banks of the Black Warrior them—who span several disciplines and hold River in northwestern Alabama. Occupied and used from about a.d. a variety of world-views. Because it takes an 1120 to approximately 1650, it consists of some 29 earthen mounds open-ended approach to the history of place, it arranged around a great plaza, a mile-long stockade, and hundreds of expands beyond the traditional boundaries of a dwellings for thousands of people. It was at times a heavily populated reference manual. Archaeologists, professors, town as well as a political and religious center that lasted some 530 Native American scholars, museum directors, years. writers, historians, administrators, and tribal The University of Alabama Press has released two new books that dignitaries all contribute to this insightful greatly expand our knowledge and appreciation of this great prehis- guidebook, which documents 366 important toric complex. The first is a long overdue pocket guide to Moundville Native American landscapes and is skillfully by John Blitz of the University of Alabama. Moundville is the book compiled and edited by Frances Kennedy. to read before, during, and after a visit to the site, which is managed The book is segmented into five regions as a park by the University of Alabama Museums. Richly illustrated encompassing the lower 48 states. Significant with 50 color photos, maps, and figures, and written for the general places are noted in brief entries that may include public, Moundville tells the story of the modern struggle to save the anything from a legend, to contemporary uses site from destruction, the archaeologists who have studied it, and the and controversies, to a simple site description. ancient Mississippian people who built it. This approach encourages the reader to browse. The second book, by Gregory D. Wilson of the University of Cali- The United States is a big place, and we are fornia at Santa Barbara, is more scholarly in nature but still of inter- reminded of the grand scale of its landscape, est to the general reader. It covers the period before a.d. 1350, when as well as the layers of history that mark the large numbers of people still lived at the site. The community was land and the memories of the people who have composed of numerous and separate multi-household groups, prob- inhabited it. The volume includes maps, color ably similar to kin groups described by the first Europeans to visit the photographs, a bibliography, brief biographies of southeastern Untied States. Elite groups exercised authority through the contributors, and an index. feasts, funerals, and other ceremonial events. The commoners main- This would make a wonderful gift for those tained considerable economic and ritual autonomy through diversi- who enjoy traveling by car or armchair. It should fied food production activities. Wilson’s study of diverse household certainly inspire numerous road trips and further groups is not only revealing of Moundville’s composition, but also has reading. Royalties from the book will go to the much to tell us of Mississippian life in general as it unfolded across National Museum of the American Indian. the Southeast. —Cynthia Martin Both of these new volumes enhance our understanding of Mound- ville and the it represented for so many years. 52 winter • 2008-09 Reviews

The Chumash World at Palenque: Eternal City of the Maya European By David Stuart and Contact George Stuart By Lynn H. (Thames & Hudson, 2008; Gamble 272 pgs., illus., $35 cloth; (University thamesandhudsonusa.com) of California Press, 2008; With its spectacular setting on the mountainous edge of the Chiapas 376 pgs., illus., coastal plain in southern Mexico, its remarkable art and architecture, $50 cloth; and its dramatic history, Palenque is for many the most beautiful and www.ucpress.edu) captivating of all the Maya cities. During the Classic Maya period (ca. a.d. 250-900) Palenque grew, prospered, and collapsed, leaving When the first Spanish colonizers reached behind nearly a square mile of dramatic limestone ruins. the Southern California coast in 1769, they Father and son archaeologists George and David Stuart have encountered a robust Native culture known written a book that tells the story of this wonderful place. We know as the Chumash. They lived in large towns a lot about Palenque because the inhabitants left behind numerous that were laid out in a regular fashion and inscriptions that tell of kings and trade, families and gods, religion made a living by hunting and gathering from and wars. the food rich sources both on land and in George Stuart was the long-time staff archaeologist for the the sea. They used large canoes to navigate National Geographical Society and his son David, a leading epig- the Pacific Ocean, and they occupied the rapher, has been an important figure in deciphering ancient Maya Santa Barbara Channel Islands as well as writing. Their love affair with Palenque began with a visit in 1968, the mainland. Some of their houses were when David was three, and it continued with the first Mesa Redonda so large that they could domicile some Palenque conference in 1973, and many since. 60 people. Powerful chiefs who controlled The central figure in Palenque history is King Pakal, who ruled extensive trade networks entertained the for some 68 years and died at the age of 80. He built the great pal- Spanish at lavish feasts. ace and the Temple of the Inscriptions that contains his tomb with University of California at San Diego its unbelievable sarcophagus. Under Pakal’s leadership, Palenque archaeologist Lynn Gamble uses history, became a powerful center with innovative art and architecture archaeology, ethnography, and ecology to unmatched in the Maya world. Pakal’s son Kan Bahlam built on his re-create the story of these fascinating father’s accomplishments, taking Palenque to its pinnacle of power people, focusing on Chumash culture, and influence. One hundred years later, it collapsed. households, politics, economy, and warfare. The Stuarts relate all this history along with detailed descrip- She also explores the larger issues involved tions of the major temples, tombs, and palaces. The latest archaeo- in a complex hunter-gatherer society. logical research and translations of Maya writing are fully explained. Sadly, much of the remains of the ancient The history of research at Palenque is another fascinating part of Chumash culture has disappeared under the the story, particularly the discovery of Pakal’s magnificent tomb unrelenting development on the Southern in the bowels of the Temple of the Inscriptions in 1952. Palenque California coast. But the modern Chumash contains 167 dramatic illustrations that bring the inscriptions and are prospering once more. Gamble’s book sculptures to life. It is the story of a great ancient city that should is a seminal study of a great culture. not be missed. —Mark Michel american archaeology 53 THE ArchAeological Conservancy

Aztecs, Toltecs, and Teotihuacános When: March 28-April 6, 2009 How Much: $2,595 per person ($250 single supplement)

Two thousand years ago, cultures that have long since vanished from Central Mexico constructed magnificent temples and pyramids. Today, these monuments of the Aztecs, Toltecs, and Teotihuacános remain a testament to the fascinating people who built them. This tour takes you to a number of m ark ic h e l sites including those once inhabited by the Teotihuacán was once one of the great cities of the New World. Olmec, a culture once known throughout the region for its art style. You’ll also visit You’ll explore Teotihuacán, once a great urban center with a population of the monuments of the Aztec, a civilization 200,000. John Henderson, a Cornell University archaeologist and author of that witnessed the arrival of the Spanish. The World of the Ancient Maya, will lead the tour.

Colonial Chesapeake When: April 18-25, 2009 How Much: $1,795 per person ($300 single supplement) From early European settlements to later colonial capitals, the Chesapeake Bay region has played an important role in the founding and development of our nation. Join the Con- servancy as we spend a week exploring the area’s rich and diverse historic culture. Our exciting journey will take us from Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America, to the historic shipping city of Alex- andria, Virginia, where tobacco merchants once dominated the shores of the Potomac River. Along the way we’ll visit the first capi- tal of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, explore the bay-front town of Annapolis, stop in at Mount

Vernon, and experience the colonial flavor e ric J a m es town t i on V ir g n ia / His to of Williamsburg. During our adventure, local scholars will join us to share their expertise

and explain how archaeology has assisted P reserva APVA Jamestown attracts thousands of visitors each year. them in interpreting the region’s past. 54 winter • 2008-09 Fierce Peoples of Florida’s Mangrove Coast When: May 2-8, 2009 How Much: $1,495 per person ($345 single supplement)

For over a thousand years the , Tocobaga, and Seminole people domi- ker l

a nated southern Florida. They developed

m w complex civilizations, created breath- ji taking artwork, and constructed monu- Useppa Island is one of the destinations on the tour. The entire island is a site. mental earthworks. Time and again, they defeated those who attempted to capital, to the Everglades’ river of grass. subjugate them. This exciting journey Along the way, you will visit the key sites of Florida’s original inhabitants, will take you from the ancient mound explore the unique estuarine environment these people inhabited, and encoun- center at Crystal River to the manmade ter a variety of wildlife such as manatees, dolphins, and alligators. Scholars of island of Mound Key, the Calusa’s Florida’s past will join the tour to offer their expertise.

San Juan River Trip When: May 31-June 7, 2009 How Much: $1,795 per person ($175 single supplement)

Join our river adventure through the heartland of the Anasazi world. From the vantage point of Utah’s San Juan River, you’ll experience one of the most scenic regions of the Southwest. We’ll begin our adventure by visiting sites on land for two days, then we’ll board our boats and float down the San Juan for four days, stopping often to visit Anasazi ruins accessible only by river. At night we’ll camp under the spectacular Southwestern sky. O l ss on E rika The San Juan River tour features beautiful scenery. american archaeology 55 Since the inception of the Conservancy’s Living Spirit Patrons of Living Circle in 2002, participation has grown to nearly 100 members. These dedicated members have included Spirit the Conservancy in their long-term planning to ensure Preservation that America’s past will always have a future. Circle This elite group is open to those who wish The Archaeological Conservancy to make a lasting contribution by including the The Archaeological Conservancy Conservancy in their will or estate plans, or by making a life-income gift such as a charitable gift annuity. would like to thank the The Conservancy would like to thank the following Living Spirit Circle members following individuals, for their thoughtfulness and generosity. foundations, and Michael Albertini, Washington Mark Michel, New Mexico corporations for Dorothea E. Atwell, Maryland Janet E. Mitchell, Colorado Carol M. Baker, Texas Jeffrey M. Mitchem, Arkansas their generous Carole F. Bailey, California Lois Monteferante, New York support during Olive L. Bavins, California Sandra Moriarty, Colorado Earl Biffle, Missouri Lynn Neal, Arizona the period of Judith Bley, California James Neely, Texas August through Denis Boon, Colorado David Noble and Ruth Meria, New Mexico Marcia Boon, Colorado Jan and Judith Novak, New Mexico October 2008. Their generosity, Harryette Campbell, Missouri Ms. Lee O’Brien, Indiana along with the generosity of the Debra Chastain, Colorado Dorinda J. Oliver, New York Conservancy’s other members, Jean Carley, Oregon Margaret A. Olson, Wisconsin Elva B. Cook, California Priscilla A. Ord, Maryland makes our work possible. Donna Cosulich, Arizona Michael R. Palmer, New Mexico George Dalphin, New Mexico Margaret Partee, Tennessee Richard W. Dexter, Wisconsin Tim Perttula, Texas Life Member Gifts William G. Doty and Joan T. Mallone, Alabama Donald E. Pierce, New Mexico of $1,000 or more Patricia H. Douthitt, Ohio Helen Redbird-Smith, Oregon Betty Banks, Washington Willa Drummond, Florida Barbara A. Reichardt, California Robert and Evie Beckwith, Florida Professor and Mrs. Robert C. Dunnell, Mississippi Caryl Richardson, New Mexico Michele Caram, Maryland Hazel L. Epstein, California Jean L. Ring, California Marilynn A. Cowgill, Colorado Phoebe B. Eskenazi, Virginia Joy Robinson, California Edwin C. Daly, California Mary Faul, Arizona Susan J. Rudich, New York Rachel A. Hamilton, North Carolina Barbara Fell, Illinois Jon and Lydia Sally, Ohio Douglas M. Jones, New Mexico Ellen Kohler, Pennsylvania Mr. and Mrs. Preston Forsythe, Kentucky Beverly A. Schneider, Tennessee Roland and Martha Mace, New Mexico Veronica H. Frost, Ohio Charles Sheffer, Arizona Jane M. Quinette, Colorado Derald and Bridget Glidden, California Walter Sheppe, Ohio Juan L. Riera, Florida Sonja A. Gray, Florida Harriet N. Smith, New York William and Priscilla Robinson, Arizona Dr. Norman Greenberg and Dr. Gilda Greenberg, Roddy Stanton, Montana Brenda M. Sullivan, Virginia North Carolina Dee Ann Story, Texas Deborah B. West, Virginia Rodney G. Huppi, California Paula M. Strain, Maryland Evelyn T. Wolfson, Massachusetts Barbara J. Jacobs, Washington D.C. Jerry M. Sullivan, Texas Richard Woodbury, Massachusetts Mr. and Mrs. Felipe Jacome, Arizona Ron and Pat Taylor, Virginia Debby Leitner Jones, Maryland Donald and Jeanne Tucker, Oregon Anasazi Circle Gifts Diane Jones, Maryland Elizabeth Varsa, New Mexico of $2,000 or more Dr. Joyce S. Kaser, New Mexico Steven Vastola, Connecticut Anonymous Dona Pray Key, Oregon James Walker, New Mexico Lloyd E. Cotsen, California Walter and Allene Kleweno, New Mexico Stephen L. Walkinshaw, Texas Mary Faul, Arizona Lavinia C. Knight, California Mark and Sandra Walters, Texas Walter and Yvonne Grossenbacher, Derwood Koenig, Indiana Karl and Nancy Watler, Maine Arizona Luella and George Landis, Connecticut Mr. and Mrs. Richard Weick, Oregon Harlan Scott, Delaware Jay Last, California Ron and Carol Whiddon, New Mexico June Stack, Pennsylvania Joyce E. Lively and Ronald J. Kardon, California Katheryne Willock, Arizona Margaret A. Lussky, Minnesota Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Wilson, New Mexico Nancy Malis, Indiana David L. Wilt, Maryland Foundation/Corporate Gifts The Lacy Foundation, Georgia William L. Mangold, Indiana Barbara Wolf, Colorado The Namaste Foundation, Indiana Laura Marianek, Ohio Kathrin W. Young, Alaska Robin Marion, New Jersey Robert D. Zimmerman, Nevada Bequest Neil E. Matthew, Arizona Robert G. Zirkle, Texas Ann M. Swartwout, Michigan Barbara Mead, Michigan

56 winter • 2008-09 Current Annuity Payout Rates Age Rates 65 5.7% 75 6.7% 80 7.6% 85 8.9%