The Archaeological Conservancy

2014 Annual Report

1717 Girard Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87106

Board of Directors Regional Offices and Directors

Gordon Wilson, New Mexico, Chairman Jim Walker, Southwest Regional Director Cecil F. Antone, Arizona 1717 Girard Blvd. NE Carol Condie, New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87106 Janet Creighton, Washington (505) 266-1540 Jerry Golden, Colorado, Treasurer W. James Judge, Colorado Paul Gardner, Midwest Regional Director Jay T. Last, California 3620 North High Street, Suite 307 William Lipe, Idaho Columbus, OH 43214 Leslie Masson, Massachusetts (614) 267-1100 Mark Michel, New Mexico, (ex officio) Dorinda Oliver, New York Andy Stout, Eastern Regional Director Rosamond Stanton, Montana 8 East 2nd Street, Suite 101 Frederick, MD 21701 Officers (301) 682-6359

Mark Michel, President Jessica Crawford, Southeast Regional Director James B. Walker, Senior Vice-President and Secretary 315 Locust Street Paul Gardner, Vice-President P.O. Box 270 Tione Joseph, Chief Financial Officer Marks, MS 38646 (662) 326-6465 Conservancy Staff Cory Wilkins, Western Regional Director rd Mark Michel, President and CEO 620 3 Street, Suite 300 Tione Joseph, Business Manager Lincoln, CA 95648 Lorna Wolf, Membership Director (530) 592-9797 Sarah Shuler, Special Projects Director American Archaeology Magazine

Michael Bawaya, Editor Tamara Stewart, Assistant Editor Vicki Marie Singer, Art Director

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1717 Girard Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87106

December 31, 2014

Letter from the President

Since 1980, The Archaeological Conservancy has acquired more than 485 endangered archaeological sites across the country. 2014 was a great year for the Conservancy, as we continued our mission to preserve significant sites across the United States.

This year, the Conservancy continued our commitment to educating the public about the importance of archaeological sites. The preserves we protect are available to the public for guided tours, to descendants of the American Indians who once inhabited the sites, and to archaeologists and other qualified researchers for study. In addition to this, we host lectures around the country for our members and the general public.

Major funding for the Conservancy comes from our members, as well as from corporations, foundations, and special individual contributions. Income from our permanent Endowment Fund supplements regular fundraising. Often we raise money locally to purchase sites in a particular community. In emergency situations, we borrow from our revolving Preservation Fund.

The Conservancy’s quarterly magazine, American Archaeology, is the only popular magazine devoted to presenting the rich diversity of archaeology in the Americas. The magazine helps readers appreciate and understand the archaeological wonders available to them, and to raise awareness of the destruction of our cultural heritage. The ancient people of North America left virtually no written records of their cultures. Clues that might someday solve the mysteries of prehistoric America are still missing, and when a ruin is destroyed by looters, or leveled for a shopping center, precious information is lost. By permanently preserving endangered ruins, we are ensuring they will be here for future generations to study and enjoy.

We look forward to making 2015 our best yet.

Sincerely,

Mark Michel President

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4 2014 ACQUISITIONS Since its beginning in 1980, the Conservancy has acquired more than 485 endangered sites in 44 states across America. These preserves range in size from less than an acre to more than 1,500 acres. They include the earliest habitation sites in North America, a 19th-century frontier army post, and nearly every major cultural period in between. In 2014, the Conservancy rescued the following endangered sites:

Junction Group (Ohio) in this region as the Post Puebloan period, which ended On March 18, 2014 the Conservancy attended a public when the first Euro-Americans arrived in Kanab in 1776. auction in Chillicothe, OH and acquired the Junction Group Over the course of three years, the archaeological teams earthworks site. After having learned that the land would be excavated more than 60 major pithouse and storage features available for sale just 20 days prior to the auction, the and hundreds of small hearths, refuse deposits, and pits. Conservancy joined forces with several conservation organizations in the area in an attempt to preserve not just Potter Mound (Arkansas) the site itself, but the Potter Mound is located on the Little River in the surrounding woodlands northeast portion of the state. This area is dense with as well. The portion of mound sites, most of which date to the Parkin Phase the farmland we acquired (approximately A.D. 1350 to 1560) of the Mississippian is a 90 acre field period. This phase takes its name from Parkin, the largest encompassing the site of this type and an Arkansas State Archaeological Park earthworks. that the Conservancy played a major role in preserving. The earthwork Parkin is believed to have been the capital of the complex is approximately province of Casqui, 2,000 years old and has which was described by been the subject of intermittent archaeological research since Hernando de Soto when 1848. Our involvement with the site started in 1980 when he explored the area in the preservation of Hopewell Culture ceremonial centers the mid-16th century. became a central focus of our activities east of the The people of the Parkin Mississippi. The site has been in the hands of private Phase practiced large- owners, and this public auction was the first opportunity for scale corn agriculture the site to be transferred to an organization with a plan for and lived in villages consisting of two or three mounds that long term preservation. were located on rivers. The rivers provided defense on one side of their settlements, and they built palisades with moats Jackson Flat (Utah) for protection on the other three sides. Security was a major Jackson Flat Reservoir was constructed to store irrigation concern because tensions among competing groups resulted water for Kane County Water Conservancy users. Before the in endemic warfare. reservoir was built, archaeologists from HRA Inc. and other Potter Mound is named for the family that used to have a organizations excavated 10 prehistoric sites in the house on it. The entire site is about eight acres and aerial construction area, some of which were occupied by a group photographs show dark depressions in the soil around the of the Anasazi called the Virgin Branch. The portions of the site where the palisade and moat may have been located. In sites that were under the dam footprint and below the water 1974, when the Potter house was on the mound, the area line were completely excavated. between the two mounds was farmed, and deep plowing The Archaeological exposed at least 30 prehistoric burials. The burials are no Conservancy worked longer being disturbed and the house has since been with the Kane County removed. Pieces of metal, brick and an occasional marble Water Conservancy, the are the only traces of the house that remain, and they are Army Corps of mixed with much older sherds of Mississippian pottery, with Engineers, the State of their characteristic shell tempering. Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Koon’s Landing (North Carolina) Administration, and the For decades the exact location of Catechna, an 18th- Kaibab Band of Paiutes century Tuscarora settlement, eluded historians and scholars to protect two of the sites located above the reservoir’s who relied on historical documents to find the site. water line. These sites will become permanent archaeological Conflicting information and differing interpretations of preserves owned by The Archaeological Conservancy. historical maps had led them to conclude the site could be in The Conservancy’s sites have not been investigated, but entirely different locations. it’s assumed that in some way they resemble the excavated In the mid 1990s John E. Byrd and Charles L. Heath of sites. These were camps and villages that dated from the East Carolina University conducted a survey of the Archaic period about 6,000 years ago through what’s known 5 Tuscarora homeland in the Contentnea Creek drainage of now be preserved so that one day the Sally Warren Mounds North Carolina’s Inner Coastal Plain. As part of this project can reveal their secrets. they excavated a site called Koon’s Landing, which yielded a variety of cultural material including a Guilford projectile Wells Petroglyphs Addition (New Mexico) point and other lithic items, fire-cracked rock, and charcoal. The addition is a 25-acre tract adjacent to the Wells Byrd and Heath also found Cashie-phase pottery sherds. Petroglyph Preserve. The preserve was established in 2000 Archaeologists define the Cashie phase as the Tuscaroran when artist Katherine Wells donated 148 acres of her occupation of the Inner Coastal Plain of North Carolina property situated on the escarpment of Mesa Prieta, a 12 during the Late Woodland and Contact periods. These mile long basalt formation north of Española located discoveries led them to surmise Koon’s Landing could be between the Chama and Rio Grande rivers. The slopes of part of Catechna. the mesa contain basalt boulders covered with tens of thousands of petroglyphs. The glyphs have been stylistically Bird Hammock (Florida) dated to the Archaic, Pueblo and Historic periods, probably The Conservancy recently acquired the first of three spanning a period of time from 5500 B.C. to the present. tracts of an important site near the city of Tallahassee, in Images range from circles, spirals, stars, geometric patterns, northwest Florida. The Bird Hammock site is a multi- human and animal prints, to dancers, shamans, hunters, and component site consisting of two flute players. The preserve contains over 9,000 recorded burial mounds and two circular images. The 25-acre addition has been partially surveyed and or ring-shaped middens no-doubt contains hundreds if not thousands of additional consisting primarily of plant and images. animal food refuse. The site’s primary occupations were the Queen Esther’s Town (Pennsylvania) peoples of the Swift Creek and This 92-acre site contains the heart of Queen Esther’s Weeden Island cultures. These Town, a very significant sprawling series of contact period cultures inhabited parts of villages. Queen Esther is thought to have been of French Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, and Native American ancestry. She married a Delaware and they are known for their elaborate ceremonial Indian chief, and became a leader of the tribe. In the mid to complexes, mound burials, permanent settlements, extensive late 1700s, she was the leader of Queen Esther’s town, trade networks, and sociopolitical complexity. which consisted of about 70 houses and herds of cattle. The town was destroyed on September 27, 1778 as part of Sally Warren Mounds (Louisiana) General John Sullivan’s campaign against the Iroquois According to Louisiana state site files, the Sally Warren Confederacy. Mounds consist of “a large rectangular shaped mound” While Queen Esther’s site alone makes this site worth known as Mound A, and a “conical shaped burial mound” acquiring, the preserve contains five recorded archaeological known as Mound B. Their presumed function was listed as sites and, given its location at the confluence of the “burial mounds and possibly small village.” The site is Susquehanna and Chemung Rivers, probably many more. located on a natural levee next to Cocodrie Lake. Ceramic sherds provide evidence of extensive occupations The site, named for a previous landowner, was last of Owasco cultures between A.D. 900-1300. And even visited by an archaeologist in 1982, when it was discovered earlier occupations are indicated by temporally diagnostic that both mounds had been disturbed, and a complete projectile points dating to the Transitional (1200-1800 B.C.) human skeleton had been uncovered in Mound B. The and Archaic (1800-8000 B.C.) periods. This is the landowner was so rattled by the incident that he denied the Conservancy’s largest preserve in the eastern region. archaeologist access to the site shortly after he arrived. After this incident, the owner vigilantly protected the site, and Dresden Falls (Maine) the illicit digging stopped. As there was no time to do any The Dresden preserve, located along Maine’s scenic drawings or collect artifacts, the site file simply noted that Kennebec River, contains archaeological remains that date prehistoric material was observed, and there was a large area to the Early through Middle Archaic Periods, approximately of dark soil near one of the mounds with an extensive 10,000 to 5,000 years ago. Dresden is the largest site of this quantity of ceramics and lithics. “This site should definitely time period in Maine, and one of the largest in northern be tested before looters destroy it completely,” the New England. The site was originally discovered by Richard archaeologist wrote. Unfortunately, little more is known Doyle, an avocational archaeologist. It was subsequently about the Sally Warren Mounds. excavated by Arthur Spiess, Maine’s state archaeologist, who Monterey Holdings decided to donate Mound B to the uncovered intact hearth and pit features as well as numerous Conservancy. And at the behest of the company’s owners, projectile points, stone knives, and fish bones. Al Ater, a local landowner whose holdings included Mound The Conservancy obtained an additional 4.3 acres, A, agreed to donate it to the Conservancy as well. The two expanding the size of the preserve to 31 acres. This mounds that disappeared and were then rediscovered, will expansion was facilitated by Ed Friedman, the chairman of Friends of Merrymeeting Bay Land Trust, which transferred 6 the additional property to the Conservancy. The parcel archaeologist Tony DeRegnaucourt and others found them contains a substantial length of undeveloped shoreline that is in 2002. home to numerous species of waterfowl and rare plants. The expansion will help guarantee that such natural habitats, as Garoga (New York) well as additional areas containing cultural resources, are The Garoga site is perched on a hilltop overlooking permanently protected. Caroga Creek, a meandering tributary of the Mohawk River. Also referred to as Garogo, or Castle Hill, it contains the Fort Greenville (Ohio) remains of a 16th-century Mohawk village. This site has General Anthony Wayne was an important figure during yielded important information about Mohawk the early formation of the American military. He led troops demographics, village layout, and early trade with against the British during the American Revolution and was Europeans. appointed commander-in-chief of the United States Army The site was first excavated in the late 19th century by by President George Washington. During the 1790s he Samuel Frey, who discovered and named it. In 1905, not established a number of military forts along the long after Garoga’s discovery, M.C. Harrington did Northwestern frontier of the United States as westward additional testing that focused on pit features. Subsequently expansion continued. One of those forts, built in 1793 in David Dorn, then president of the now defunct what would soon become western Ohio, was Fort Leatherstocking Chapter of the New York State Greenville. Archaeological Association, excavated the site for a few At the time of its construction Fort Greenville was the days. From the time Frey conducted his investigations largest wooden fort in North America, covering over 50 through the early 20th century, Garoga also attracted looters. acres. General Wayne ordered that eight blockhouses be William Ritchie and Robert Funk of the New York State built about 250 yards away from the main fort to provide an Museum directed extensive excavations of Garoga in initial line of defense. Two years later, Fort Greenville would the1960s. They identified a minimum of nine longhouses be immortalized by the signing of the Treaty of Greenville within the main village area and they also confirmed the on August 3, 1795, which ended the Northwest Indian War location of a short double palisade that runs across the and laid the groundwork for Ohio to become a state in entrance to the village site. In addition to uncovering house 1803. patterns and the palisade, the archaeologists found two The fort was abandoned in 1796 and most of its ruins burials, numerous hearths, and close to 100 pit features. were destroyed as the town of Greenville sprang up on the site. The remains of Blockhouse 8, located across Mud Creek from the main fort, were preserved in a field for more than 200 years and largely forgotten until amateur

7 2014 TOURS For more than 20 years, the Conservancy has conducted tours ranging in length from four days to two weeks. Expert guides always accompany our tours, providing unique insights about the places we visit. Tour regions include the American Midwest, Southeast, Southwest, and East, as well as Mexico and Central and South America.

Maya of Yucatán and Calakmul journey down the Yampa and Green Rivers we visited January 9-19, 2014 remote archaeological sites, including Fremont culture From A.D. 300 to 900, a brilliant culture flourished in rock art panels and prehistoric rock shelters the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico – the Classic Maya. We visited some of their most Peru splendid sites, including June 20-July 5, 2014 Dzibilchaltún, Balankanche Machu Picchu remained a secret to the outside world Cave, Mayapán, and Chichén until 1911, when archaeologist Hiram Bingham discovered Itzá. it almost by accident. Perched on a ridge more than 2,000 We also dove deep into the feet about the Urubamba River, this ancient city is among forest to visit Calakmul, which the most spectacular sites in all of the Americas. And has been undergoing significant excavations in recent Machu Picchu is just one of the many highlights from the years. Calakmul is believed to be the largest of all the Maya Conservancy’s two-week Peruvian tour. From the coastal cities. More than 100 stelae and 6,500 structures have been city of Lima to the magnificent tombs of Moche at Sipán, discovered so far. During the Late Classic period it we explored some of Peru’s most fascinating sites. dominated the entire southern Yucatán. John Henderson, Accompanied by John Henderson, an expert in the one of the nation’s leading scholars of the Maya, region’s archaeology, we learned about the vast empires accompanied us on the trip. that once reigned in the land. The adventure began with visits to several archaeological museums in Lima, where we Guatemala Highlands and Copán learned about the country’s past cultures. Next we February 13-23, 2014 explored the pyramids at Sipán and Túcume, and then Rain forests, snow-capped volcanoes, and magnificent toured the remains of one of the largest pre-Columbian lakes make up the landscape of the ancient Maya in the cities in the New World at Chan Chan. Several days in the highlands of Guatemala. On our tour we experienced a Inca capital of Cuzco gave us ample time to explore sites complete spectrum of history from ancient Maya ruins to such as Coricancha, an Inca temple where the walls were modern-day Maya cities. Our travels took up from once covered in gold. Guatemala’s beautiful Lake Atitlán to the Honduran rainforest where we visited Copán, considered the crown Best of the Southwest jewel of the southern Maya cities. John Henderson from September 27-October 7, 2014 Cornell University accompanied us on the tour. The American Southwest is home to some of the best- preserved evidence of prehistoric civilizations in the New Aztecs, Toltecs and Teotihuacános World. The March 29-April 7, 2014 magnificent ruins of Two thousand years ago, cultures that have long since Chaco Canyon and vanished from Central Mexico constructed magnificent Mesa Verde are but temples and pyramids. Today, these monuments of the two vivid reminders of Aztecs, Toltecs, and Teotihuacános remain a testament to the complex cultures the fascinating people who built them. that dominated the This tour took us to a number of sites, including those region between the 10th previously inhabited by the Olmec, a culture once known and 14th centuries. The throughout the region for its art style. We also visited the Conservancy’s Best of monuments of the Aztec, a civilization that witnessed the the Southwest tour included these two settlements as well arrival of the Spanish. We explored Teotihuacán, once a as other prehistoric sites and modern pueblos where great urban center with a population of 200,000. Cornell ancient traditions persist. archaeologist John Henderson accompanied us on the tour. Peoples of the Mississippi Valley October 11-18, 2014 Yampa River Beginning in Memphis and following the Mississippi June 1-8, 2014 River south to Natchez, our week-long journey covered We went on a downriver adventure in Colorado and more than 5,000 years of history. The trip offered an Utah, where we floated through Dinosaur National exciting opportunity to learn more about the rich and Monument and experienced incredible scenery first described by explorer John Wesley Powell. On our 70-mile 8 complex mound-builder cultures that flourished along the Mississippi River Valley until the arrival of the Europeans. Oaxaca While taking in the October 24-November 3, 2014 charms of the Old South, We visited Oaxaca, Mexico, during one of the most we visited many important unusual festivals anywhere – the Day of the Dead. On this sites, including Emerald day, people prepare home alters and cemeteries to Mound, the third largest welcome the dead, who are believed to return to enjoy the Mississippian mound in the food and drink they indulged in during life. Rather than a United States. We also morbid occasion, this is a celebratory event. visited sites from historic Our tour explored the Mixtecan and Zapotecan times, including the Grand archaeological sites in the region, Mitla, Monte Albán, San Village of the Natchez and the Civil War battlefield at José Mogote, and Dainzú. We had the opportunity to Vicksburg. Several of the Conservancy’s preserves, such as explore Oaxaca’s museums and markets as well as several Watson Brake Mounds, which may be the oldest mound crafts villages featuring weaving, pottery, carved animals, site in North America, were featured on the tour. and other local art.

9 2014 RESEARCH All Conservancy preserves are open for research by qualified scholars. Here are some of the research projects that took place on Conservancy preserves in 2014.

Fort Tombecbe (Alabama) – The University of West Alabama held a field school at Fort Tombecbe and investigated the palisade from the original 1730’s French occupation.

Carter Ranch (Arizona) – This 39 room pueblo was partially excavated in the 1960’s by renowned southwestern archaeologist, Dr. Paul Martin, using a new theoretical approach to archaeological analysis termed “processual”, a technique to better understand social organization within a site using artifact analysis. Beginning in the fall of 2014, a graduate student from Northern Arizona University has Conservancy permission to conduct a mapping project to better understand the exposed architecture of the pueblo. His project also includes zero collection surface analysis of the artifacts on the ground at the pueblo.

Fast Preserve (California) – Lowell Thomas, a graduate student at California State University, Chico and archaeologist for Lassen National Forest, has designed and initiated a survey protocol for the Fast Preserve that entailed a comprehensive reconnaissance of the property and a detailed recording of the present cultural material. Thomas is still working on recording all the cultural features and elements encountered during the survey.

Croft Preserve (Idaho) – In May of 2014, employees of the Idaho Museum of Natural History captured data at the Croft Preserve (Owl Cave) that documented the current state of the preserve. This data can be used in the future to evaluate and monitor site erosion as well as to produce imagery for use in exhibits and other educational products. Two different methods of data capture were conducted; standard 2D photography and 3D laser scanning. In addition, a sample of owl pellets was collected. Carbon and nitrogen analyses will be conducted on the sample as part of a larger project on reconstructing the paleo-environment of the preserve.

Hewitt-Omstead (Iowa) – The University of Iowa’s Office of the State Archaeologist and the Fort Atkinson Historic Preservation Commission archaeologically investigated Hewitt-Omstead Trading Post in November of 2014. The research confirmed the presence of a raised garden–bed. Artifact analysis is underway.

Bogie Circle (Kentucky) – Surface reconnaissance of preserve was conducted prior to magnetometer survey and limited testing by Edward Henry, PhD candidate at the Department of Anthropology at Washington University.

Barton Mound (Maryland) – Dr. Bob Wall continued working at the Barton site by testing to locate paleo deposits and soils.

Carson Mounds (Mississippi) – The Mississippi Department of Archives and History salvaged human remains at the Carson site in 2014. The University of Mississippi and Tulane University studied the stratigraphy of Mounds D and B.

Cary Mound (Mississippi) – Dr. Ed Jackson of the University of Southern Mississippi conducted mapping and testing at the Cary Mound in conjunction with the Mississippi Trails project. This was to determine a precise date for the mound so accurate information can be included on the Mississippi Mounds Trail Marker sign at the site.

San Marcos Pueblo (New Mexico) - Students and faculty with the Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (SAGE) group continued their geophysical investigations using ground penetrating radar, seismic refraction, magnetometry, and electromagnetic techniques.

Junction Group Preserve (Ohio) – Dr. Jarrod Burks of Ohio Valley Archaeological Consultants is currently conducting a magnetometer survey of the 90-acre preserve.

Squirrel Hill (Pennsylvania) – Results of research conducted by Lydia DeHaven in 2013 were published as “A Geophysical Investigation and Cultural Reevaluation of the Monongahela Squirrel Hill Site.”

Gault Site (Texas) – Since 1998, a major excavation has been underway at Gault, led by Dr. Michael Collins and his team of researchers from the Gault School of Archaeological Research. Since 2008, tours and talks about the site have been presented to over 28,000 people. The researchers are finished with major excavation for the foreseeable future. They are continuing to do some tests and samplings and will primarily be working in the lab towards a preliminary publication of some of their findings in 2016.

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2014 LECTURES As part of the Conservancy’s public outreach program, we sponsor lectures around the country. This is an excellent opportunity to reach out to our members.

March – May 2014 – Ancient Sites and Ancient Stories 2014

Working with Southwest Seminars, this popular Santa Fe lecture series was held every Monday for three months and featured nine prominent archaeologists and scholars.

September 2014 – “In Search of Coronado and de Soto” Lecture Series

Our two-part series discussed the archaeology of Coronado and de Soto and included: Dr. Mathew Schmader, City Archaeologist and Superintendent of the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division; and Dr. Jeffrey M. Mitchem, Station Archaeologist at the Arkansas Archaeological Survey’s Parkin Research Station.

AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE The Conservancy’s 23,000 members received our quarterly magazine American Archaeology. Launched in 1997, American Archaeology is the only magazine devoted exclusively to the rich diversity of archaeology in the Americas. By sharing new discoveries, national news, events, and Conservancy successes, the magazine makes learning about ancient America as exciting as it is essential. It can be found in bookstores like Barnes and Noble across the United States. The Conservancy also distributes the magazine at archaeology meetings and other events.

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