CATOCTIN CREEK: A MASON ISLAND COMPLEX SITE IN THE MIDDLE POTOMAC VALLEY by Sevrie S. Corson submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts m Anthropology Chair: Richard J. Dent Charles W. McNett, Jr. Dean of die College Date 2003 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 AMERICAN t P.SiTY LIBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1417253 Copyright 2003 by Corson, Sevrie S. All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 1417253 Copyright 2004 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ©COPYRIGHT by Sevrie S. Corson 2003 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CATOCTIN CREEK: A MASON ISLAND COMPLEX SITE IN THE MIDDLE POTOMAC VALLEY BY Sevrie S. Corson ABSTRACT This study examinesthe Late Woodland component of the Catoctin Creek site in Loudoun County, Virginia as it fits into the larger archaeological landscape of the Middle Potomac Valley. There were three discrete archaeological complexes known in the region in the Late Woodland Period: the Montgomery Complex, the Mason Island Complex, and the Luray Complex. The Catoctin Creek site is considered a part of the Mason Island Complex, an archaeological classification of culturally similar sites whose inhabitants shared a common tradition in their methods of maki ng pots, burying their dead and settling their villages. A detailed description o f the 1970 Potomac River Archaeological Survey (PRAS) excavational findings and artifacts of Catoctin Creek show the veracity of the site as a model of the Mason Island Complex. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wanted to thank the archaeological community of the Middle Potomac Valley in general for their support. Whether it was copying a report they wrote twenty years ago or looking in a file for a survey report, they were quick to offer to help and advice. I would especially like to thank Kristin Montaperto and Dave Hunt o f the Smithsonian who spent two long days examining the Catoctin Creek skeletons with me. Additionally, the owner of the property in 1970, Mr. McKimmey, deserves my appreciation for allowing the excavation crew access to his field. I would like to thank Joe Dent, my advisor, and Charlie McNett for bearing with on the long road to completion of this thesis. I tended to work in spurts in deference to my toddler’s attitude of the week, and that could not have been easy to follow. Lastly, I would like to thank my husband, my son and Debbie Taub for supporting me throughout the process. As editors, babysitters, or just good listeners, they kept me sane and pushed me to finish. in Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.......................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................iii LIST OF TABLES.............. vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.. ........ vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.............................. 1 Research Objectives.................................................................................................... 1 Late Woodland Setting............................................................................................... 1 The Catoctin Creek Site .......... 4 Methodology ....... 7 CHAPTER TWO: THE LATE WOODLAND IN THE MIDDLE POTOMAC VALLEY.. ................... 10 General Characteristics .......... 11 The Montgomery Complex................ ..... 12 The Luray Complex...... ..... 18 CHAPTER THREE:THE MASON ISLAND COMPLEX.............................................. 24 Archaeological History............ .... 24 Traits.. ....... 25 Sites........... 28 CHAPTERFOUR:THE CATOCTIN CREEK SITE....................................................... 41 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Location 41 Excavational History................... 43 Site Plan................... 47 Stratigraphy.......... .... 51 Features.. ...... 54 CHAPTER FIVE: THE CATOCTIN CREEK SITE: MATERIAL CULTURE ........ 72 Artifacts 72 Radiocarbon Date............. 88 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ...... ....91 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................. .................................95 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Radiocarbon Dates of Montgomery Complex Sites............ .... 14 Table 2: Radiocarbon Dates of Luray Complex Sites .... 19 Table 3: Tempering Material at Mason Island Sites........................... .... 27 Table 4: Radiocarbon Dates of Mason Island Complex Sites.......................................... 31 Table 5: Rust’sStratigraphy for Catoctin Creek ...... 47 Table 6: Artifact Quantities from Selected Excavation Units.......................................... 51 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Map of Major Montgomery and Luray Complex Sites..................................... 17 Figure 2: Map of Mason Island Complex Sites .... 30 Figure 3: Catoctin Creek Site Plan.................................................................................... 48 Figure 4: Detail of Catoctin Creek Site Area A................................................................ 49 Figure 5: Stratigraphy at the Catoctin Creek Site.................... 53 Figure 6: Burial 1 ...... 63 Figure 7: Burial 2............ 64 Figure 8: Burials 3 and 4.................... .... 65 Figure 9: Burial 5..... 66 Figure 10: Burial 6 ........................................... 67 Figure 11: Burial 7 ....... 68 Figure 12: Headdress of Burial 7 ...... 69 Figure 13: Decorated Rimsherds ............... 78 Figure 14: Miscellaneous Sherds and Pipes... .... 79 Figure 15: Projectile Points and Assorted Tools..... ..... 83 Figure 16: Hammerstones andGround Stone Tools........... ..... 84 Figure 17: Bone and Shell Artifacts................... 89 vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION RESEARCH OBJECTIVES This thesis is an analysis of the Catoctin Creek site (44LD15), assigned by regional archaeologists to the Mason IslandComplex of the Late Woodland Period. The Catoctin Creek site is located within the Piedmont region of Northern Virginia on the first terrace of the Potomac River(Rust 1986:1,21). The Late Woodland component recovered from the site was instrumental in the formulation of the Mason Island Complex by WilliamGardner and Charles McNett, Jr. (Franklin 1979:77-80; Peck 1980:15-16; Sacchi 1980:50-52,61). The identification of a Mason Island Complex site is based upon the site’s geographic location, mortuary treatments and pottery types (Franklin 1979:26; McNett n.d.:fV:37; Sacchi 1980:51). Currently, there is limited information on the Mason Island Complex in the published record. I have chosen to write a descriptive analysis of the Mason Island component at Catoctin Creek in aneffort to add valuable and accessible information to the archaeological picture of the Middle Potomac Valley in the Late Woodland Period. LATE WOODLAND SETTING The archaeological excavation of sites in the Middle Potomac Valley in the Late Woodland Period (A.D. 900-1600) have revealed numerous agricultural villages situated 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 along the floodplains of the Potomac, Shenandoah and Monocacy River Valleys. Occupational midden, storagepits, palisades and burials all suggest the villages were for the most part occupied intensively year round. Short forays into outlying areas provided the necessary resources to sustain the population while still allowing the villagers to stay near their crops. As long distance trade decreased and people became more sedentary, clusters of villages became increasingly insular (Custer 1986b:155-156; Dent 2002:15; Hantman & Klein 1992:143-152; Jirikowic 1995:65-74,91-98; Kavanagh 1982:79-82; Potter 1993:141-147; Walker & Miller 1992:165-167). In addition to geographic proximity, certain settlements often show remarkable similarities in pottery style and burial treatment, suggesting a related group of people known as an archaeological complex. A complex is based upon a spatially and temporally limited grouping of archaeological sites with shared traits