Praying Mantis: a Unique Glen Meyer Village in London
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Pearce Praying Mantis: A Unique Glen Meyer Village 97 Praying Mantis: A Unique Glen Meyer Village in London Robert J. Pearce This paper summarizes discoveries at the Praying branch ceramic types occurring at Praying Mantis Mantis site (AfHi-178), an unusual Early Ontario include Ontario Oblique, Glen Meyer Oblique, Iroquoian village in the Byron area of southwest Glen Meyer Linear Stamped, Glen Meyer Necked London, Ontario (Figure 1). The site exhibits and Stafford Stamped. Specific traits at Praying many unique aspects in terms of location, internal Mantis which are consistent with a number of village organization, burial practices and more other Glen Meyer sites (as tabulated in Wright generally, Iroquoian ceremonial behaviour, 1966:138-144) include a high incidence of including a house extension apparently purposefully collarless ceramic vessels (96.5%), a high inci- created to encompass several ritual features and dence of vessels with punctates and bosses, and associated activities. These unique aspects are the eclectic mixtures of exterior motifs (plain, simple focus of this paper. obliques, opposed obliques, cross-hatched obliques, horizontals and multiple bands com- bining different motifs) and techniques (linear Background stamp, dentate stamp, crescent stamp, turtle suture stamp, incised, push-pull) (for details of The Praying Mantis site was discovered in 1993 the site ceramic assemblage see Howie-Langs by the London Museum of Archaeology (now [1998]). Museum of Ontario Archaeology) during a rou- Wright (1966:101) assigned a time range of tine Stage 2 archaeological assessment of lands to 1000 to 1300 A.D. to the contemporaneous Glen be developed as a housing subdivision. Stage 3 Meyer (in southwestern Ontario) and Pickering assessment was completed later in 1993, and (in southeastern Ontario) branches of the Early then the site was totally excavated in the fall of Ontario Iroquois Stage. Since the time of Wright’s 1993 and spring of 1994 (London Museum of publication, a large number of radiocarbon dates Archaeology 1993, 1994). The site clearly falls have not only confirmed that general age range but into the Glen Meyer branch of the Early Ontario also extended it back slightly in time, such that “a Iroquoian stage based on its geographical loca- ca. A.D. 900 inception date appears most tion in southwestern Ontario (between clusters reasonable with the present evidence” (Williamson of Glen Meyer branch sites on the Caradoc Sand 1990:310). Plain to the west and Norfolk Sand Plain to the Due to the presence of specific motifs and east-southeast; see Williamson 1990) and con- techniques on the ceramic vessels, the Praying formity to a wide variety of characteristics as Mantis site is assigned to the latter portion or initially elucidated by Jim Wright in his defin- terminal end of the Glen Meyer sequence. These ition of “Glen Meyer” (J. V. Wright 1966:101). specific motifs and techniques include, especially, These characteristics include, for example, the the incised and push-pull horizontals on the nature of the ceramic assemblage (vessel forms, exterior, lip and interior of some vessels. Although motifs and techniques) and the presence of those traits are present at Praying Mantis, they crude, poorly-decorated elbow-shaped ceramic occur in minor amounts but nevertheless presage pipes, triangular chert projectile points and shale the subsequent Middle Ontario Iroquoian Stage pebble pendants. Characteristic Glen Meyer (Uren and Middleport Substages) where such traits 98 Ontario Archaeology No. 85-88/London Chapter OAS Occasional Publication No. 9 Figure 1. Site location in Byron, Southwest London (based on NTS 1:25,000). attain very high percentages. Specific instances of to the south. The site is located in a slight hollow such traits at Praying Mantis include just four or valley at an elevation of 276 metres (905.5’) vessels with an exterior rim motif of push-pull A.S.L., whereas to the immediate north the ter- horizontals, a single vessel with an exterior motif of rain rises sharply up the Byron Ski Hill (also incised horizontals, 18 vessels with horizontals known as Boler Mountain), to an elevation of (executed by both incising and push-pull) on the 300.8 metres (987’) A.S.L. The ski hill is the neck, and a single vessel with a push-pull horizontal highest point of land in London. The area just to motif on the interior. the west of Praying Mantis and at the base of Boler Mountain contains the headwaters of a small tributary flowing south into Dingman Settlement Pattern Creek. Thus, the Praying Mantis site location is surrounded on three sides by much higher land. The physical location of the Praying Mantis site The overburden soils in this area are a mixture of in itself is somewhat unusual (Figure 1). It was stony glacial till and sandy loam, but the subsoil situated on a small eastward extending lobe of the under the site was very yellow sand, which con- Caradoc Sand Plain (Chapman and Putnam tributed greatly to our success in recognizing the 1984:146) known as the Byron Annex, which, in dark black post moulds, black features and bright southwest London, is wedged in between the orange hearths. Thames River spillway to the north and the The Praying Mantis site did not sit in isolation, Ingersoll Moraine and Dingman Creek drainage since there is evidence for another Glen Meyer Pearce Praying Mantis: A Unique Glen Meyer Village 99 component on top of the Byron Ski Hill (AfHi- sibly indicate that other structures once existed at 78) and several Early, Middle and Late Ontario the site. Iroquoian components within a four kilometre The three houses were all oriented in a general radius. In fact, during the same assessment of the west-east direction, but there was some variation in 10.2 hectare subdivision that led to the discovery the orientation and placement of these three of Praying Mantis, three additional Glen Meyer houses within the village. With reference to the components, interpreted as activity areas associ- overall village plan (see Figures 2 and 3), the three ated with Praying Mantis, were also discovered by houses were labelled from south to north as House the Museum (London Museum of Archaeology 1, House 2 and House 3. Houses 1 and 2 were 1993); these were registered as the Off the Beaten parallel to each other, oriented on a longitudinal Path (AfHi-176), Grasshopper Ridge (AfHi-177) axis of almost 55 degrees west of grid north (thus, and Baby Hawk (AfHi-179) sites. Our selection running slightly northwest to southeast), and of site names here was purposeful, to recognize stacked closely together (average of 2.5 metres the abundant fauna that characterize the tiny but between north wall of House 1 and south wall of extremely diverse eco-zone where the sites were House 2) at the south end of the village. In located. Ready access to water, easily tillable soils contrast, House 3 was oriented almost true west- and plentiful floral and faunal resources no doubt east (longitudinal axis 90 degrees west of grid contributed to the selection of this location for north) and was placed well to the north, at the the Praying Mantis village. north end of the village. There was a minimal Praying Mantis was a village 0.23 hectare (0.57 distance of 12.5 metres and a maximum distance acre) in extent, consisting of at least three long- of 16 metres between the north wall of House 2 houses surrounded by a palisade. Discontinuous and the south wall of House 3. The space between rows of post moulds and a variety of features Houses 1 and 2 at the south and House 3 at the outside of the three defined longhouses may pos- north contained several individual features and Figure 2. Praying Mantis site plan. 100 Ontario Archaeology No. 85-88/London Chapter OAS Occasional Publication No. 9 ? B1 ? LEGEND House 3 Hearth B1 Burial Animal Burials (Otters & Raccoons) Pit with Shale Pits with Pebble Pendant Skeletal Remains Complexly of 3 Raccoons Decorated Dog Burial Ceramic Vessels Pits with Copper House 2 B2 Beads Pit withTurtle Pit with Stone Shell Rattle Human Effigy Amulet Sweat Lodge House 1 Midden 0 10 Grid N Figure 3. Interpretive map of the Praying Mantis site. clusters of features to indicate an extensive south side wall of the house was relatively clear exterior activity area or series of activity areas. In and uniform, but a confusing array of post fact, it was some of these exterior house features moulds and features including several overlap- that yielded the largest numbers of reconstructable ping or intersecting features along the north side ceramic vessels found at this site. wall made it very difficult to determine its precise House 1 was 21.0 metres long and 6.5 metres final alignment. All of the re-building required wide. An internal row of post moulds crossing the the re-alignment of interior support posts to house at its east end suggests that it was either accommodate the widening, and the construc- extended from an original length of 16 metres, or tion of the eastward extension of the house. This that it was internally partitioned with a storage alteration of the house is highly significant since cubicle at the east end. The house contained a total a burial pit with seven individuals, a unique pit of 39 interior house features, including four with an unusual array of animal bone deposited hearths aligned down the centre axis and 12 larger, into it, and a sweat lodge feature (all of which stratified refuse-filled pits. The features inside the will be discussed below) were all situated in the house were definitely clustered into three groups, area of the eastern house expansion (see Figure one at the west end (with one hearth), one in the 4).