A ROCK ART REVOLUTION • SEARCHING FOR PIRATES • SUMMER TRAVEL SPECIAL american archaeologySUMMER 2007 a quarterly publication of The Archaeological Conservancy Vol. 11 No. 2 Tales of the Taino: ArArchaeologistschaeologists areare searsearchingching land and sea for evidence of the $3.95 people who first met Columbus. american archaeology a quarterly publication of The Archaeological Conservancy Vol. 11 No. 2 summer 2007 COVER FEATURE 31 BEFORE AND AFTER COLUMBUS BY MIKE TONER The Taino were the first Native Americans Columbus encountered in the New World. Who were these Y people and how were they affected by contact? 12 UNCOVERING BASQUES IN CANADA BY DAVID MALAKOFF It was known that the Basques hunted whales in northeast Canada in the early 1500s. But archaeologists are learning that they stayed longer and engaged in more activities than was previously thought. 18 SEARCHING FOR PIRATES 31 FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTOR BY TONY REICHHARDT Investigations at several sites are informing 24 archaeologists about the life of pirates. 24 A ROCK ART REVOLUTION BY TAMARA STEWART Rock art research has existed on the fringe of mainstream archaeology. But due to advances in dating, new interpretations, and other factors, its value is increasing. T 37 THE HISTORY AND BEAUTY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BY DOUGLAS GANTENBEIN Our summer tour takes you to this fascinating region. GEOFF STEWAR 44 new acquisition 2 Lay of the Land THE LEGACY OF THE KANSA 3 Letters A 19th-century village was home to hundreds of people. 5 Events 45 new acquisition 7 In the News OUT OF HARM’S WAY Evidence of Ancient Farming The Horn Mound is donated to the Conservancy. Found • Rare Paleo-Postmolds 46 new acquisition Identified • Revised Clovis Dates A LOOK AT CHURCH LIFE 50 Field Notes The Conservancy obtains an 18th-century church site in Virginia. 52 Reviews 47 new acquisition 54 Expeditions JOINING THE PAST AND PRESENT The Promontory sites will be preserved as open space in subdivision. COVER: Archaeologist Charles Beeker recovers a nearly complete Taino bowl 48 point acquisition from a remote sinkhole in a tropical A MONONGAHELA VILLAGE IS SAVED forest in the Dominican Republic. Photograph by John Foster The Kirshner site is an example of the Youghiogheny Phase. american archaeology 1 Lay of the Land Learning from Rock Art ntil recently, archaeologists and thinking of it as old graffiti. But other experts tended to dismiss things are changing fast as Tamara UNative American rock art as Stewart points out in this issue (see having little scientific value, even “A Rock Art Revolution,” page 24). DARREN POORE MARK MICHEL, President Innovative scholars like Dave Whit- ley and James Keyser are today ap- plying the latest in archaeological methodology to the study of this medium, yielding insights into the lives of ancient people. Their re- search is multidisciplinary, combin- ing cutting-edge technology with intellectual and methodological breakthroughs. We now know, for example, that much rock art is a record of the shamanic practices of ancient people, while other rock art holds insights into traditional life and belief systems. It is an interna- tional revolution that breaks new ground every year. Scientist are now coaxing carbon dates from pictographs and closing in on ways to date petroglyphs as well by measuring the rate that desert varnish forms on the altered rock. Dates are critical to matching the rock art to the people, and we have already learned that temporal assumptions can be wrong. Archaeologists and preservation- ists are joining forces with more traditional rock art scholars to record and protect this valuable resource. The art is delicate and subject to damage and vandalism, so there is much work to do. The Archaeological Conservancy is also moving forward with projects to preserve rock art in situ, and as the discipline expands efforts to protect it must also. 2 summer • 2007 Letters Reconsidering appear to be identi- Artifacts of cal in size, shape, Editor’s Corner Questionable and color, for Value “This is a very exciting time in Caribbean example, may ex- archaeology,” Bill Keegan informed me. I enjoyed reading hibit differences Keegan, an archaeologist with the Uni- Tony Reichhardt’s in embossed let- versity of Florida, had recently returned interesting and ters and num- from Puerto Rico, where he was con- balanced article, bers on bodies, ducting research on the Taino. He is also “The Difficulties of bases, and heels, one of the sources for our feature (see Deaccessioning,” in which reflect the different technolo- “Before and After Columbus,” page 31) your Spring 2007 issue. I would like gies used to make them. The bottles on this Caribbean culture who were the to comment on a couple of matters. may also manifest other unique fea- first residents of the New World that The page 34 photograph of artifacts tures that may provide information Columbus encountered. One of the reasons for this excitement, of questionable research value recov- useful to the historical archaeologist. Keegan said, is that many researchers had ered from a Civil War site using a These differences may reflect content, been tethered to the model of Caribbean metal detector shows a common origin, chronology, and other infor- archaeology developed by the late Irving problem. Why anyone would collect mation of value. I would guess that Rouse, one of the preeminent scholars in aluminum pull-tabs from the surface of the bottles shown in this photo- this field. According to Keegan, Rouse, of a site is beyond me, but this graph, the percentage of real redun- who retired from Yale in 1984, hypothe- frequently occurs. If they came dancies is very small. sized that various peoples undertook four from a subsurface excavated context, James E. Ayres migrations to the Caribbean islands, the their presence might indicate that Adjunct Lecturer, first about 4,000 years ago. The third the deposit was disturbed. If so, the Department of Anthropology migration, in about A.D. 1000, resulted archaeologist would be prepared to University of Arizona in the Taino culture; the final migration was the Spaniards, resulting in the deal with that issue. Not all pull- meeting of the Old and New Worlds. tabs are necessarily of questionable Jumping to Pre-Clovis Conclusions Each successive migration possessed tech- value. Context is key. nologies that eclipsed its predecessor’s. Your photograph on page 36 of I was disappointed to see your News Rouse’s model dominated Caribbean early 20th-century bottles from a article in the Spring issue about a research for roughly 50 years. “The dump near Washington, D.C. reflects possible pre-Clovis site in Walker, model became formalized, even fos- another problem. Calling these Minnesota. Recent reports are now silized,” Keegan said. At first he tried to “redundant collections” is mislead- saying that there is no proof of pre- interpret his own research in accords ing at best. I have no problem with Clovis habitation. It is sad when the with this model, but he found that it eliminating certain true redundan- latest craze—pre-Clovis—takes the “was like trying to put a round peg in a cies, if the site report or museum place of good scientific research. square hole.” “I don’t think that’s unusual in records account fully for all artifacts Todd Murphy archaeology” for a model to be elevated collected. However, artifacts that Rochester, Minnesota to dogma, said Keegan. But that can be troublesome, even stifling. Like a num- Sending Letters to American Archaeology ber of his colleagues—though certainly not all of them—Keegan eventually un- American Archaeology welcomes your letters. Write to us at tethered his thinking from Rouse’s, for- 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517, or send us e-mail mulating his own interpretations. Intel- at [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit and publish letters in the magazine’s lectual freedom is indeed exciting. Letters department as space permits. Please include your name, address, and telephone number with all correspondence, including e-mail messages. american archaeology 3 WELCOME TO THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902 CONSERVANCY! Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517 • (505) 266-1540 www.americanarchaeology.org he Archaeological Conservancy Board of Directors is the only national nonprofit Vincas Steponaitis, North Carolina, CHAIRMAN organization that identifies, Cecil F. Antone, Arizona • Carol Condie, New Mexico acquires, and preserves the most Donald Craib, Virginia • Janet Creighton, Washington • Janet EtsHokin, Illinois significant archaeological sites Jerry EtsHokin, Illinois • Jerry Golden, Colorado • W. James Judge, Colorado t Jay T. Last, California • Dorinda Oliver, New York in the United States. Since its beginning in 1980, the Conservancy has Rosamond Stanton, Montana • Dee Ann Story, Texas preserved more than 345 sites across Stewart L. Udall, New Mexico • Gordon Wilson, New Mexico the nation, ranging in age from the Conservancy Staff earliest habitation sites in North Mark Michel, President • Tione Joseph, Business Manager America to a 19th-century frontier army Lorna Wolf, Membership Director • Sarah Tiberi, Special Projects Director post. We are building a national system Shelley Smith, Membership Assistant • Yvonne Waters, Administrative Assistant of archaeological preserves to ensure Melissa Montoya, Administrative Assistant the survival of our irreplaceable Regional Offices and Directors cultural heritage. Jim Walker, Vice President, Southwest Region (505) 266-1540 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902 • Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108 Why Save Archaeological Sites? Tamara Stewart, Projects Coordinator • Steve Koczan, Site-Management Coordinator The ancient people of North America Amy Espinoza-Ar, Field Representative left virtually no written records of their Paul Gardner, Vice President, Midwest Region (614) 267-1100 cultures. Clues that might someday solve the 3620 N. High St. #307 • Columbus, Ohio 43214 mysteries of prehistoric America are still Jessica Crawford, Southeast Region (662) 326-6465 missing, and when a ruin is destroyed by 315 Locust St.