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Archaeology As Restoration Ecology: a Model from Sunwatch

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Archaeology As Restoration Ecology: a Model from Sunwatch ARCHAEOLOGY AS RESTORATION ECOLOGY: A MODEL FROM SUNWATCH INDIAN VILLAGE/ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK (33My57) A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science Sara Rose DeAloia August 2004 This thesis entitled ARCHAEOLOGY AS RESTORATION ECOLOGY: A MODEL FROM SUNWATCH INDIAN VILLAGE/ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK (33My57) BY SARA ROSE DeALOIA has been approved for the Program of Environmental Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences by Elliot Abrams Professor of Anthropology Leslie A. Flemming Dean, College of Arts and Sciences DeALOIA, SARA ROSE. M.S. August 2004. Environmental Studies Archaeology as Restoration Ecology: A Model from SunWatch Indian Village/ Archaeological Park (33My57)(87 pp.) Director of Thesis: Elliot Abrams This research is intended to demonstrate how SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park presents possibilities for how restoration ecology and archaeology can augment and inform each other by looking at both the site and the environmental restoration at the site from an historical ecology perspective. There are two major themes of this work: first, the application of archaeological data to modern environmental issues and second, the importance of viewing landscapes as both natural and cultural phenomena which interact in a series of complex relationships throughout time. I present a comprehensive overview of the site, providing the paleothnobotanical data collected by previous researchers in order to show how such archaeological data can be used to inform restoration work. The research ends with a presentation of how SunWatch can provide a model for doing this work in other places, as well as a series of questions and criteria necessary for determining when and where it is appropriate. Approved: Elliot Abrams Professor of Anthropology Acknowledgements This research would not have been possible without the generosity of the staff at SunWatch Indian Village and the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, both in Dayton, Ohio. Specifically, Lynn Simonelli, Bill Kennedy and Andrew Sawyer generously opened their offices and filing cabinets to me and shared their resources and knowledge every time I asked. Finally, nothing can be written about SunWatch without recognizing the hard work and vision of J Heilman and the many staff and volunteers who have made SunWatch the singular place that it is today. I feel lucky to count myself among them and feel confident in saying that my experiences at SunWatch have had a profound effect on both my life and career. Also, thank you to my thesis committee, Elliot Abrams, Kim Brown and Ann Freter for all the feedback and support. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract................................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................4 Table of Contents.................................................................................................................5 List of Figures......................................................................................................................7 List of Tables .......................................................................................................................8 Preface..................................................................................................................................9 Introduction........................................................................................................................10 Chapter 2. Site Background (33My57)..............................................................................14 SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park, 2004...........................................14 Ecological Setting ..................................................................................................18 History of Reconstruction......................................................................................27 My History at SunWatch .......................................................................................33 Chapter 3. Environmental Reconstruction: The Data........................................................39 Research History....................................................................................................39 Paleoethnobotanical Data.......................................................................................47 Synthesis ................................................................................................................54 Chapter 4. SunWatch as a Model.......................................................................................57 Feedback to Science...............................................................................................60 Feedback to Education...........................................................................................61 Model .....................................................................................................................63 Future Work...........................................................................................................65 Conclusion .............................................................................................................67 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................70 Appendix A: Ten highest floods of the Great Miami River 1893-1913...........................77 Appendix B: Current Prairie Plants ..................................................................................78 Appendix C: Mortuary Practices ......................................................................................80 6 Appendix D: Ceramics......................................................................................................81 Appendix E: Archaeoastronomy at SunWatch and the West Side Ceremonial Center....82 Appendix F: Seasonality...................................................................................................84 Appendix G: Freshwater Mussels.....................................................................................86 Appendix H: Freshwater Snails ........................................................................................87 7 List of Figures Figures Page 1. SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park.................................................9 2. Sunrise shadow showing solar alignment on August 20..................................16 3. Site layout.........................................................................................................17 4. Reconstructed tall-grass prairie ......................................................................29 5. Reconstructed native garden............................................................................30 6. Scraping the floor of the Winter Solstice House..............................................34 7. The missing post hole discovered ....................................................................34 8. The missing post hole excavated......................................................................35 9. The reconstructed post.....................................................................................35 10. The new thatching method on Winter Solstice (2001) .................................... 38 11. The old thatching method on Second South House..........................................38 8 List of Tables Table Page 1. Percentage of food types in the SunWatch Diet...............................................42 2. Major fish and bird types by percentage of distribution throughout site ........43 3. Comparative table showing the percentage of distribution of mammals throughout the site ...........................................................................................43 4. Hectares of land needed to support the projected SunWatch Village population ........................................................................................................47 5. Charred wood identified from storage/trash pits and hearths.........................52 6. Small seeds recovered by flotation at SunWatch (various features)............... 53 9 PREFACE Figure 1: SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park I used to ride my bike to work at SunWatch every day for two years. It was about 14 miles roundtrip with two possible routes. One took me on the bike path by the Great Miami River which is one of the dirtiest, shallowest and most uninteresting rivers I have ever seen. The other route took me from downtown Dayton through the inner west side neighborhoods which are wracked with crime, poverty, drug use, pollution and very distinct segregation along color lines. Both routes forced me for the last two miles onto an unkempt pot-holed road with heavy landfill-bound traffic, Elco steel, a plastics factory, the waste water treatment plant and Waste Management, Incorporated offices complete with dumpster graveyard. The point is that on a bike I was in a prime position to really feel and see the difference between this landscape and the landscape which emanates out from the SunWatch site. The difference was almost tangible. Most visitors comment on this difference once they actually find the site, often thinking they have taken a wrong turn or missed a sign along the way. 10 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION In the end, the
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