The Dunkirk Schooner Fight $3.95
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EARLY POLYNESIAN CONTACT? • 15,000-YEAR-OLD TEXAS SITE • MESOAMERICA MEETS THE SOUTHWEST american archaeologyFALL 2011 a quarterly publication of The Archaeological Conservancy Vol. 15 No. 3 The Dunkirk Schooner Fight $3.95 FALL 2011 americanaa quarterly quarterly publication publication of of The The Archaeological Archaeological archaeology Conservancy Conservancy Vol. Vol. 15 15 No. No. 2 3 COVER FEATURE 12 THE BATTLE FOR THE DUNKIRK SCHOONER BY MIKE TONER 12 A salvor firm is contesting the State of New York for the rights to this 19th-century shipwreck. 20 MAKING A CASE FOR THE PRE-CLOVIS BY ELIZABETH LUNDAY Archaeologists are excavating a 15,500-year-old site in central Texas. 26 REASSESSING WINTERVILLE MOUNDS BY WILLIAM L. ELLIS HIO Centuries of occupation brought dramatic O , changes to this site. Archaeologists are N KRO trying to understand what occurred there. A ES/ P 32 THE MESOAMERICAN—SOUTHWEST ACK PA CONNECTION J BY DAVID MALAKOFF Was there extensive contact between 44 new acquisition the peoples of these regions? A GLIMPSE OF CONNECTICUT’S PAST The Conservancy signs an option for 38 POLYNESIAN CONTACT? its first preserve in the state. BY JULIAN SMITH Some researchers believe that Polynesians 45 new acquisition visited the New World before Columbus. LEARNING ABOUT THE APISHAPA Roper’s Walk offers insights into a little-known culture. 46 new acquisition 26 AN ENIGMATIC SITE Researchers have largely ignored Newton-Hopper for the last several decades. 47 POINT acquisition FROM MISSISSIPPI TO LIBERIA The Conservancy obtains the Prospect Hill plantation, from which roughly 300 slaves immigrated to Liberia. N 48 POINT acquisition PRESERVING A PUEBLITO The Conservancy acquires an 18th-century structure surrounded by a modern subdivision. DAVID N.B. JACKSO DAVID 2 LAY OF THE LAND 50 FiELD NOTES 52 REVIEWS 54 EXPEDITIONS 3 LETTERS COVER: The Dunkirk Schooner sits at the bottom of Lake 5 EVENTS Erie. A legal battle is taking place between a company 7 IN THE NEWS that wants to raise the well-preserved schooner and put it on display, and the State of New York, that wants to • Nineteenth-Century Village Uncovered in Central Park preserve it by leaving it on the lake floor. • Maryland’s Oldest Settlement • Fire at Bandelier National Monument CREDIT: Captain Steve Gatto american archaeology 1 Lay of the Land Following Ancient Peoples OORE P N n this issue of American Archae- name a few) with the Aztecs, Toltecs, DARRE ology we tackle one of the most and others. Evidence of trade between Mark Michel, President Idifficult and vexing problems of southern Mexico and the Southwest is archaeology—the movement of ancient growing with the recent discovery of Americas, it is certainly possible that people and goods over long distances. chocolate at Chaco Canyon. they could have visited. New technolo- (See “The Mesoamerican-Southwest Possible evidence of a Polynesian gies like ancient DNA could provide Connection,” page 32, and “Polyne- presence in California adds another strong evidence. We must approach all sian Contact?” page 38.) For decades aspect to the debate over the peopling these theories with an open mind, and archaeologists have debated the extent of the New World. Pre-Columbian con- American Archaeology will continue of trade and influence between ancient tacts from Europe and elsewhere have to report on the most current evidence cultures in the present day United States been proposed for many years. Only as it becomes available. and the advanced cultures of Meso- one—a Viking colony in Labrador—has america. The mound-building cultures been proven. But the search continues. of the Southeast have some similarities While it is unlikely that travelers before (temples on pyramids and art forms to Columbus had much impact on the 2 fall • 2011 Letters ANCIENT SEAFARERS Nineteenth-Century • SUMMER DRIVING TOUR Coeducation • THE LEGENDARY EDGAR LEE HEWETT american archaeology SUMMER 20111 americana quarterly publication of The Archaeological archaeology Conservancy Editor’s Corner Tamara Stewart’s otherwise Vol. 15 No. 2 fascinating article on Edgar Lee Mike Waters’ lengthy archaeological experience Hewett (Breaking The Rules,” dates back to the ninth grade, when he was Summer 2011) contains one Caves and working on a site in San Diego. More recently big historical blooper. Refer- Cenotes: he’s been working in central Texas, investigat- ring to the New Mexico The Maya’s ing a site known as Friedkin that he believes is Normal School (teachers’ 15,500 years old. (See “Making A Case For The college) in Las Vegas under Sacred Pre-Clovis,” page 20.) Hewett’s presidency (1898- Places Early in his career, Waters' accepted the 1903), Stewart writes that hypothesis that, some 13,000 years ago, the Clo- “the school welcomed vis became the first people to enter the New women both as students $3.95 World. The Clovis First model was then the most and professors, a prac- AA Sum 2011 mag C.indd 1 convincing explanation for the settlement of the tice that was then unheard 5/18/11 4:32:25 PM Americas. But Waters was always willing to con- of.” Far from being “unheard of,” coeducation in public colleges sider the possibility of a pre-Clovis settlement, and universities was routine by 1898. There have been women should someone uncover convincing data. professors in the U.S. since the 1850s (probably the first was in That someone, as fate would have it, turned 1853 at Antioch College), although faculties were still overwhelm- out to be him. But he hastens to add that his ingly male in 1898. faith in the Clovis First model was also weak- Normal schools in particular had been chock full of women ened by the work of other archaeologists over since their beginnings at the end of the 1830s, including female the course of the last two decades. Waters is heads as early as 1866 (Framingham Normal School, in Massa- now a firm believer in the pre-Clovis model, as chusetts). The historical record of the subordination of women is depressing enough. We don’t need to invent history to make are many other experts. “I think most people it worse. have shifted away from Clovis First,” said Dennis James Turner Stanford, a distinguished first American scholar. Cavanaugh Professor of Humanities Consequently, one of American Archaeol- History Department and Graduate Program ogy’s most vigorous debates, Clovis versus in History and Philosophy of Science pre-Clovis, appears to be winding down. But University of Notre Dame does that mean the issue is settled? Have recent discoveries like Friedkin and Paisley Caves— where archaeologists have reported finding Sending Letters to 14,000-year-old human coprolites—added so much weight to the pre-Clovis argument that American Archaeology there’s really nothing left to argue? American Archaeology welcomes your letters. Gary Haynes, another first American scholar, Write to us at 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902, thinks not. The debate may be losing vigor, but Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517, or send us e-mail it won’t end, he said, until “we find a human skeleton that is directly dated older than Clovis.” at [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit Archaeologists have found some impressive pre- and publish letters in the magazine’s Letters Clovis data, but no one has found that. 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 conservAncy! 5301 Central Avenue NE, Suite 902 Albuquerque, NM 87108-1517 • (505) 266-1540 he Archaeological Conservancy www.americanarchaeology.org is the only national nonprofit organization that identifies, Board of Directors acquires, and preserves the Gordon Wilson, New Mexico CHAIRMAN most significant archaeological Cecil F. Antone, Arizona • Carol Condie, New Mexico sites in the United States. Since Donald Craib, Virginia • Janet Creighton, Washington • Jerry Golden, Colorado t its beginning in 1980, the W. James Judge, Colorado • Jay T. Last, California Conservancy has preserved more than Leslie Massou, Massachusetts • Dorinda Oliver, New York Rosamond Stanton, Montana 425 sites across the nation, ranging in age from the earliest habitation sites in Conservancy Staff North America to a 19th-century frontier Mark Michel, President • Tione Joseph, Business Manager army post. We are building a national Lorna Wolf, Membership Director • Sarah Tiberi, Special Projects Director system of archaeological preserves to Shelley Smith, Membership Assistant • Melissa Montoya, Administrative Assistant ensure the survival of our irreplaceable Patrick Leach, Administrative Assistant cultural heritage. Regional Offices and Directors Jim Walker, Vice President, Southwestern Region (505) 266-1540 Why Save Archaeological Sites? 5301 Central Avenue NE, #902 • Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108 The ancient people of North America Tamara Stewart, Projects Coordinator • Steve Koczan, Field Representative left virtually no written records of their Paul Gardner, Vice President, Midwestern Region (614) 267-1100 cultures. Clues that might someday 3620 N. High St. #307 • Columbus, Ohio 43214 solve the mysteries of prehistoric Josh McConaughy, Field Representative America are still missing, and when a ruin is destroyed by looters, or Jessica Crawford, Regional Director, Southeastern Region (662) 326-6465 leveled for a shopping center, precious 315 Locust St. • P.O. Box 270 • Marks, Mississippi 38646 information is lost. By permanently George Lowry, Field Representative preserving endangered ruins, we Cory Wilkins, Regional Director, Western Region (530) 592-9797 make sure they will be here for future 517 State Street, Wheatland, California 95629 generations to study and enjoy. Andy Stout, Regional Director, Eastern Region (301) 682-6359 How We Raise Funds: 8 E. 2nd. St. #101 • Frederick, Maryland 21701 Funds for the Conservancy come Will Sheppard, Field Representative from membership dues, individual contributions, corporations, and foundations. Gifts and bequests of money, land, and securities are fully american archaeology® tax deductible under section 501(c) PUBLISHER: Mark Michel (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.